jungle

so i spent the first day hiking up to the first waterfall and bathing in freezing cold water. on the way down we got to try various local liquors made from berries and other tropical fruits mixed with something similar to moonshine. Then we headed to a different lagoon to go swimming and kayaking. I accidentally stole someone's kayak. the next day we went to a different town that was having an Easter Celebration. so we got to check out an artisan fair with a lot of ceramics and wood work, a gastronomic fair were my friend any I ate probably six plates of food. Ceviche, fish grilled in a palm leaf, chicken grilled in a palm leaf, 2 plates of donuts, and flavored ice chips. We checked out a reenactment of the passion. Then went to check out the church. and 2 coffee shops. It was a lovely day as the streets were filled and others blocked off and completely painted with gorgeous images of Jesus. Oh and there was a castle a real castle in the middle of this little poor town a beautiful castle being built by some Italian guy, i do believe it is the only castle in all of Peru. The next day we traveled to the blue lagoon, we had to cross a river in a ferry that carried the cars and then headed on really muddy roads to the lagoon. then took a boat across the lagoon to our own private dock and hiked a little in the jungle saw a centipede that my friend did not realize was dangerous. had to keep my eyes on her because she likes to touch everything and rarely knows whether it could kill her or not. though i enjoyed her company a lot (Emma) because she is a spontaneous and sometimes brave character that loves traveling. so anyways we went swimming a bit and I did yoga on my dock and then a crazy rain storm rolled in for like 15 minutes and we were stuck in a cloud and the thunder seemingly vibrated the once tranquil lagoon and then it passed and the sun came back with strength and the lagoon was once again a strong sea blue. In the afternoon we took a walk to the next town, got picked up by a catering van to another town along the way, went back to hiking and then got picked up by a truck. By the time we were truly on our way it was already pretty late and the road was closed until six because of construction in which I thought one of the guys from the trucks waiting in line to pass was going to rip of this girl's head, then two other trucks wanted to pass and were stopped by two other guys standing in front of their cars. At six we continued saw a live viper that was then masterfully run over by a truck and picked up to be cooked for later. Once outside of the desired destination we ran into a 8 wheeler stuck in the mud trying to get up this hill which consequently blocked our path. so stuck again and the sun already set at six thirty we contemplated walking again though after realizing that neither of us had batteries for our small flash lights we waited for the truck to be pulled up the hill by ropes and twenty men. Man power better than wheel power. At 830 we finally got to the town and exhausted we showered and went to bed. Following morning we woke up early to hike two hours to another waterfall. It was muddy and one had to be very careful where they placed their foot so as not to slide down the hill. We took a guide because the senora at the hostel insisted it was necessary. it was thank you senora. we got to a river and had to cross it by foot because there was no bridge we had to then climb large rocks to get to the next pass. then came on great rock that we had to climb down to pass the river again. Emma fears falling I never thought i would get her to scale down but she did with some convincing then the guy said we had to swim across the river in a deeper part. but Emma did not want to again because she is not such a strong swimmer. with more coxing we got he across. I think at that point she hated me a little bit. crossing slippery rocks we finally got to a intensely falling waterfall. it was gorgeous. i only almost got sucked down the river once and only fell on the rocks once both i consider impressive for my clumsy nature. We hiked back another two hours and the guide was surprisingly more tired than us, I think it is because we walked at a faster rate and did not rest. We went to lunch and a downpour like the ocean falling out of the skies came down. the houses there are made out of palm trees and while it seems like water would get in they are perfectly tied together in a way that makes them resistant. Then another sketchy truck ride back to the city and we got into a taxi to head to the next and last town. This was like the capital of orchids so we first went to some sulfur baths, followed by hot springs, then to an orchid garden where i got to see 20 varieties of orchids naturally blossoming. The girl explained that in the garden they had over 200 varieties and in the department of Tarapoto there are 1500 varieties, she also explained that some only blossom once a year for about 2 weeks but others bloom more frequently but only for one day and at the end of the day the flower falls. This explains so much about my orchid fern that never blossomed again mom. Up the hill, followed the hummingbird garden which had like 20 different types of hummingbirds and we climbed into this three story natural tree house to observe. I wanted to live there favorite flower, favorite bird, sweet house in a garden looking over a city and mountains. At lunch I got to try fried ants, suckerfish soup, peanut soup, and fresh grape juice. Never drink concentrate again. the ants were neither good nor bad I think I did not like that they were fried because they had a sort of burnt thing about them. We headed to an orchid nursery and saw about 30 more varieties, parrots, bright toads, turtles, pythons, and crocs. Then to the botanical garden. As the night came we hung in hammocks conversing until the bats scared off Emma. Then onto the 12 hour bus ride that turned into the 24 hour bus ride because of a land slide that blocked off the highway in like 6 places. We had to wait so that the heavy machinery could basically push all the debris to form a new road. We would roll a few feet and then stop for an hour and a half and repeat. We got the idea would could walk to the closest town 2 hours away to get mobility. but then the bus started moving. then it stopped for another long time, so we got serious again and got our luggage out of storage and then ironically the bus started moving a kept moving. I think maybe the people on the bus thought that God loved the crazy gringas enough not to let them hike two hours on a questionable and filthy highway for two or three hours getting cat called by truck drivers. Gratefully my friend does carry pictures of Jesus in her bag and the virgin under her hat and incessantly prays. So we made it grabbed cow hearts grilled on a stick and got on the next and last bus for 3 more hours getting home at 10 pm. fell into bed and are now back to life again. safe, and sound as we could wish to be a little tired, brused, bitten, and sore, but that is what a great trip should be like.

events

excellent news i did in fact receive my once promised funding so the improved cookstoves will be built. thank goodness. did some trainings for the professors of the schools about nutrition. man there is a serious deficit of knowledge. i am glad i could help out and now they are going to start teaching nutrition and they have started recycling in the primary schools. saving trees. been nice dancing with my crew again we had our first presentation and it went ok. the first dance we did i totally got stage fright and forgot the moves. muh. the second we all kicked butt. and went super well. though getting back into a miniskirt still is not very comfortable for me. working with the moms about diarrea and the cold/flu. speaking of i am rocking a bad cold right now but it has to happen at least once a year right. then we had a girls leadership camp that i think went incredibly well. I taught about health relationships dont laugh yall. A friend told me those who cant do teach. So that should help girls pick better boyfriends or stay single. I also taught about how to go to the university. we had teams and competitions and my yellow team of super stars one it was exciting. they got medals. we acted out a soap opera at night for the girls which i co wrote and produced. hilarious. I also was the host of a dating show. i am thinking perhaps my calling was in television. busy trying to start teaching sex ed again with the help of girls in the school. and still fighting to recover at risk kids from malnourishment. I sent in my third year application so i should know by the end of may whether or not i got the position. on sunday it is the presidential elections here i know little about the canditates but am extremely excited that i will no longer have to see anymore propoganda or hear debates or their terrible promotional songs. i think i have forgotten what life was like here before politics got so big. the new president will be entering office in july. the economy here is getting bad partly because of droughts and partly because of strikes. at least in my site people are struggling, robberies are up out of necessity i assume, and prices are rising. hopefully things get under control some time sooner than later. I am shocked and poorly informed about what is happening in japan though i am rather curious what the domino effects should be in the rest of the world. here people think there should be an earthquake. in other places i have no idea but radioactive ocean sounds like a better name for a band than a reality no? anyways these are the things on my mind. hopefully you all are safe and well and prepared for a potential disaster always better to be prepared than screwed. k loves.

stuff

so got back to site to find out that there may be problems with the funding for my improved cook stoves but i still have no solid word on the project. So i keep doing the trainings with the mothers and they are changing their houses and behaviors and showing up to the meetings so i could not be happier. Then i headed to the mountains of piura to give a training about malnutrition, how to form health promoters, how to run educative sessions, and how to do house visits. It was really great getting to meet the next round of volunteers and to also get the experience of training volunteers. it is so strange to feel like not that long ago we were in their shoes except that a year and a half has already passed by and we have learned so much and changed. it was also entertaining to hang out with one of my best girl friends here because the training was in her site. lets just say that after spending three days with her that we have in general definately lost our minds and will likely be very socially awkward when we get back to the states. Then got back to site and am working on improving people´s bathrooms by building cement platforms still have not decided as to whether I want to do a full latrine project or these platforms are good enough in my opinion. If i do decided to do the latrines I am going to need your guys help with donations totaling in $500 total which is really not all that much and could probably make 30 latrines. Anyways i will let u know if i do or not soon. I joined my dance group last week and will start dancing and performing with them again. I realized after dancing in the 50th anniversary how much i missed and loved dancing. So it is helping my physical health, as for mental health i have been finger painting super relaxing and started doing yoga again. Getting stuff prepared for a girls leadership camp that will be happening next week. all around evrything is pretty calm right now hope all is well with yall.

travels

So i know I said I would be headed to the beach but for budget reasons I was unable to go, which seemed very unlucky. But that same night at 8 pm i got an invite to go with a group of dancers from my site to Ecuador to perform in the Anniversary celebrations of Yantaza. So we got into a car at 11 pm and went driving all night to the border only getting mildly lost once. At the border we had to wait like 6 hours until our transportation arrived so taking advantage of the time we went to a playground to learn the dance we would be performing that same night. We had to borrow electricity from a house in order to have the music play and within an hour we were completely exhausted sweaty smelly and sunburned because the sun is so overwhelmingly strong. Then after lunch and a little loss of hope this sweet mini bus came to our rescue and we were told that there would be 7 more hours to go in order to arrive. So in between consciousness we tried to get the dance organized and memorized and catch up on sleep. However, the windy roads in high altitude got to the majority of us and consequently, there was nausea vomiting headaches dehydration and paleness. We arrived at a gas station and in the bathroom one of the girls told me that she did not feel good and then proceeded to pass out luckily my friend caught her before she hit her head on the corner of the wall. After what seemed like forever and lots of coaxing she sat up like a possessed person confused and scared. I was also scared because I had never seen anyone wake up like that after being passed out, with some pills everyone got into better conditions. At 830 we got to the town and then were told we had to go straight to the local to perform because the event was almost up. Entering we found ourselves surrounded by beautifully dressed groups and a sold out event. Talk about nervous because we were not an actual dance group just members of various groups molded together and barely practiced the dance. The organizer shows up and says you have two songs to get changed and then you are up. Dang we stripped off our clothes and throwing of bobby pins, hats, belts, safety pins, lipstick and earrings. Boom. Listo. So we hear our name and out we go nerves but excited none the less. It went well all things considered. After the relief of completing what we came to do I enjoyed watching the other groups and getting to know the traditional dances of Ecuador which are distinct from the dances I have learned, followed by a musical performance of a 10 man group, amazing. At midnight we finally got to the hotel only to find that there was one shower with one tank of water for the 15 of us. So form the line turn on and off the faucet and limits to two minute showers. None of us could have afforded to go without a shower. 130 sleep finally. Wake up and then a little sight seeing on the way back of Loja which is apparently one of the cleanest towns in the world. The air in the city was cleaner than the air in the country where I live. Nothing of trash in the streets no visible pollution. It also has the largest clock in the world. We saw a river that was so clear you could see to the bottom of it in which ever point of the river. Pristine. Then 6 hours back to the border. Slight problems with border patrol but they did luckily let me back into Peru. Then 6 more hours upon arriving to the entrance of my town the truck got a flat tire so we had to walk the 15 minutes to get home. Exhaustion next day back to work as though nothing happened. Then there was the 50th celebration in Piura where coworkers, socios and volunteers met to present the work we realize. It was refreshing to remember what the organization is about and then hear stories of experiences and successes of all the programs. It truly is an incredible thing what we are doing here. Then pack the bags off again to Lima for the central 50th anniversary event. I met the ambassador and the first lady. Then we did a flash mob dance which was a hit. Afterwards it was nice to go out and dance some more with friends at the clubs. The next day I was off to Cajamarca for Carnival. Did some sight seeing of archeological sites and hiking to waterfalls, bathing in the hot springs, eating delicious food mostly cheese and yogurt. The central day is hours of paint fights running all through the city dancing, singing, and throwing paint and water balloons at one another. Got cleaned up and then headed out to a dance club to check out an electronic dj that was in town. Rare experience here because techno music is not popular so taking advantage stayed out dancing until 5 am. lovely and super fun. Then there was more sight seeing and the big parade which lasted over 3 hours with elaborate costumes more songs and dance. My first carnival of many. And thank goodness for vacations much needed relax and release. Then tuesday its back to the chaos of my life. I am so grateful for the every moment i get to live. hope you all feel the same about your lives if not do something to get where you want to go. Seriously considering staying a third year in a leadership position. will know more in may. loves.

my bad

Ok well I apologize for not writing sooner things have been getting very interesting here. On the note of my site there is still not a lot of rain and consequently no confirmed cases of dengue and thus no worries. I am definately staying in my site thank goodness. March 1st is the actual 50th Anniversary of my organization, I was granted the compliment of being specially invited to attend the event in Lima. My regional director told me that based on my character and in recognition of the work I do I should be the one to represent Piura. Later that same week I received an invite to go to train the new group of volunteers on my style of work because it is considered highly effective. Then, I know can you stand it, I got another phone call saying that a reporter from what would be considered a state wide newspaper would be covering a story on my work along with two other volunteers in Piura. It was a day full of interviews with health promoters, mothers, visiting cook stoves, with a professor, and with my mayor. I was shocked when I received a page and a half of coverage talking mostly about my opinions on why adolescent pregnancy exists and about how I teach sex ed. Which is basically an eigth of my work. I was concerned but my boss says that it was a good representation of the organization even if it is an exaggeration of how much I actually work on the theme and luckily nothing could be considered offensive. My improved cook stoves project is confirmed. A girl from another small town of my site came and presented the idea of doing another cook stoves project. I told her if she got the funding I would support her. It looks like there is a really good chance she will get the funding. That would mean 21 cook stoves for sure and perhaps another 21 if she gets funded (42). crap. That would be wonderful and stressful. We have had a bunch of meetings lately about the Parent School so that the planning and budget and roles and responsibilities are accurate and the project can happen without collapsing or being placed on my shoulders. It is promising, we finished the document today. I have been teaching a college prep course during the summer session which concluded this week with a visit to the Private University of Piura. It was an incredible experience I seriously felt like I was back in the states while I was on campus the quality of their materials, labs, professors, infraestructure, marketing material, and students was mind blowing. It made me want to go back and study. Except for then I thought about how I could not pass the GRE and thus no grad school still in the plans. Though I was looking at Cornell and Tufts just in case because they have a contract with the UN. I have been training more health promoters and counselling non functioning committees of Vaso de Leche. Two friends and I have started a nursery project with the goal that before I leave we will have planted at least 200 trees. So far 21 trees planted. I have been contributing with compost, bags, and had an engineer come to check the quality of our work. I sold all my guinea pigs because I really do not have time for them and the plan all along was to get them into the houses of families. Successful integration of breeding in 4 families. I have been emailing with a college professor from the CSU Nutrition program who says that I may be featured in the Department Newsletter. Talk about freaking publicity. BUT... No fear I am not over working myself I swear. I spend the weekends dancing and hanging out with friends. I am teaching one of my health promoters how to ride a bike and go to the river to swim at least once a week. And on tuesday I should be headed to a beach with the kids from my site to celebrate the end of summer school. That should explain why I have not gotten the chance to write though it is hardly excusable. I am more likely dying from the heat here than anything else. Everything is going I will be going to celebrate Carnival and taking a much needed vacation the first week of March. So if not sooner I will let you know more fun stories. K loves.

crap

So last week i received an email saying that I had two weeks to get out of my site because it is one of the few places in Peru that had hemorrhagic dengue in the past and has a strong history of lots of dengue plus the fact that I already had it once. So I then freaked out, cried, had a small life crisis, sent an angry email, and waited. During the day I received several phone calls all very blurry about where I was going, when, for how long, if I would come back or not to my site. Nerve racking. Then at five oclock I received another phone call saying I could stay. So I am living on the edge so to speak because I do not know whether it is 100% or not that I can stay especially because so many people in other parts of peru are dying of a new form of dengue. dont you love how viruses can mutate to be killers. I do not feel very threatened at the moment because there have been no cases yet of dengue in my site and it is not raining. Should it be a dry season I should be in the clear. If many cases of dengue show up in my site and the rains come I will probably have to evacuate my site at least for some months. It is distracting to try to work knowing that it could all be for nothing and at any moment I could be leaving. I have also decided that I am going to try to be more supportve of my organization and get more involved in the monthly meetings and in feb there is a celebration of the 50th aniversary of Peace corps. As I realized that I could perhaps better and change the service of other volunteers. I am doing a sweet job of recovering malnourished kids and this week have been working to try to better the abliities of professionals here. I am giving a bunch of resources and trainings so that the teachers, municipality, and health professionals can do a better job and produce more prepared mothers, students, and new professionals. I think the fact that I might be leaving is getting me thinking more about how to be sustainable how to get changes to last once I am gone. And really trying to get more professionals to do more work outside of what they are required. I am helping on improving the trash service here so that there is not such a problem with trash in my site. Decreasing the amount of complaints, people throwing trash in inappropriate locations, throwing out dead animals whereever, and burning trash. So far I have formed two committees that will be responsible for the upkeep getting people to pay fines for not doing what they should be. I have my hands dirty everyday. ill keep you updated i might end up in the mountains.

m & E

New years was fun i made a doll representing things that i hate like domestic violence, alcoholism, and male superiority. and we burned it at midnight. if only i was so easy to burn social problems. i hosted a dinner party for my friends and then we went out to a party at my friends house dancing in the street until 4 am. The next day i painted our bathroom bright blue. nice spruce up.So my entirety for the moment is monitoring and evaluation. holding meetings with comittees planning for the year. writing and rewriting projects. visiting families and doing interviews to see what they know now so i can better develop teaching materials and then see in the end whether or not they learned. it is not glamorous or fun but arguably necessary. the recycling project i started in the high school is going to be accepted into the entire community and the municipality is going to use it as a small business. i am still waiting to hear whether or not they are approving the cook stove project but i am 80% sure that they will. the parent school is not going to be my problem this year i am only working as an outside consultant to develop the training for trash management and nutrition if those are themes they elect. I believe that it is a great project but i think that if i get stuck in charge again that it will fail when i leave. i want to get youth health promoters to teach sex ed but i do not know if that is going to happen. i am also trying to work with two of my friends to get a nursery going or growing ha. which would also be a small business for them. i just want there to be more trees in my site. i have two families that accepted guinea pigs into their homes witht he hopes that it will become trendy and more families will want to do it. I trained a guy how to build cement platforms for latrines and am working with getting families to buy their own. another small business for that guy. still working at the health post. I think that my municipality has a lot of hope with this new team they have. there are two younger girls on it and they are really moving and shaking. i started doing yoga and running with a friend. workout buddies are such useful things in a weight loss program. running was not nearly as hard as i had thought it would be and now that i use the breathing techniques i learned in yoga i can run farther without getting tired or feeling like i am going to die from lack of oxygen. i am planting right now because the rain still has not come but maybe soon, cucumber, radishes, and soy. I learned how to make soy milk way better than buying it. my host mom seems to be really supportive of the fact that i do not like meat and has been giving me practically none. so back to organics and veggies yes. oh though i am fearful because the dengue situation here is apparently serious this year and if i get bit i could bleed out. i am covered regularly with repellent. but nerve racking thinking that on little bugger could get the best of me. working out a plan with the doctors so that i can get to a hospital asap before i bleed out. just in case. i think i will be teaching a college prep course in summer school. which has me thinking about next year in my own life and where am i headed or staying or going. time flies and i hope it does not get ahead of me. i keep waiting for the universe to give me a sign. i am reading this book about how to end poverty. it is making me feel like if i really want to change the world i have to work on policy but i do not really have interest in that. hoping my friends do and then i can just influence.