Older

Well reflections on being older, I am not sure I really have any. I think that the less we worry about time the faster it goes. Things are going well I got busy again I have been teaching sex education in the high school. I organized a recycling competition and taught about how to separate trash. Presented my community diagnostic in a meeting where the authorities of my town were present. It appeared to be a very successful presentation because now people are realizing the importance to health promotion. The schools are implementing more plans and activities for the year. The municipality I believe will be funding my healthy households project though I may need assistance in the future for funding from you lovely people at home and all your wealthy connections. I will let you know. But pretty much $50 could make the difference to the healthy of a family, especially the children who are at the most risk of damage from smoke. Anyways, the parent school should be up and going this month where we are teaching about communication between parents and children. Trying to get more books for the library. My dance group absorbed most of my time recently as we had a dance competition in the capital city. Followed by another performance during a ceremony on Saturday which meant we were training every night of the week. There will be at least two more performances this week. Went to a psychic she told me some interesting things but I can only hope she is mistaken on the majority or else my stories will be getting much more interesting. The night before my birthday there was a dance in my town so went to shake it and brought in my birthday at midnight with a group of friends showering me in beer. The next day was mellow ceviche with some other friends and then dinner with some other friends. Pretty much food and drinking equals love and celebration here. It was all around nice but then reality returns and having to work my butt of again. Love yall thanks to those of you who remembered me.

Dang

So once again computers and time have escaped me. So the update. After that last post I fell really ill. My head hurt so bad for like a week so after 3 days of not functioning I ended up in the doctors office. He wanted to admit me but my bosses were coming to visit the next day so I had to get back to my site. They met with the mayor and with my health post we ate lunch with my host mom and then they told me to pack my bags so that I could get checked out by a different doctor in Lima. So hurriedly I packed up and got on a bus to Lima. In lima I got a cat scan and then headed to a neurologist. Turns out everything appears to be fine. He told me it was a migrane but I doubt it. Anyways now it is all gravy I got to see a picture of my brain and the pain went away. So strange. I felt so overwhelmed though in lima so much traffic and technology and options. I got starbucks for the first time in 5 months. It was great so I did it for all the days I was in lima. I went exploring and ran into some old friends. Took second place in a dance contest in a night club but only won condoms. Then I had to go to the most northern department of Peru for a week worth of training. Got to see all the other volunteers play on the beach, tan my stomach, give presentations listen to power points and power points and power points. I learned a bunch got some new ideas remembered about old ideas. Played like a mermaid in the ocean. Learned about aids education and that I would like to have youth health promoters. Afterwards we returned to piura to see another volunteers site. Learned about improved cooking stove repairs, latrines, funding, and early childhood stimulation. It was super refreshing talking with the other volunteers and realizing that I am doing well. I saw a lunar eclipse. It was great. Ate vegetarian for the two weeks lost some more weight. Returned to my site definately missed it and the people. but had a crazy week of work organizing a trash event, starting a recycling program, teaching sex ed, presenting my community diagnostic, etc. I have more to say but not more time. Loves I will try to be better about this but busy...

VACATION

So I thought I was going on a vacation with my gynocologist but she blew me off at the last minute. That of course did not stop me. I took my travel book of peru plotted out a plan and got to Trujillo by myself. I thought I would be vacationing alone but randomly I ran into a group of other volunteers and got to live it up on the beach with them. The hostel I stayed at was amazing filled with hippie goodness, hammocks, and my room was beautiful with green towels, green curtains, and hardword floors. I spent the first day on the beach, and partied with the other gringos. The next day I woke up early and went to explore the beach town. I visited a church, hung out in a cemetary, checked out the market. Then headed for a day at the beach played in the sand got some ceviche went back to the beach. Ironically the only time I have ever traveled with only one pair of shoes is the time that my 5 year old sandals, worn down, and actually repaired twice with super glue got stolen. I would not have been so bothered if I thought is was worthwhile for someone to steal them. Oh well they got screwed and I got a sweet new pair of sandals.I spent the whole time grubbing at this fantastic vegetarian restaurant. That night played some pool and connect four at a bar. The next day chilled in a hammock did some journaling, checked out some chimu ruins made some friends from lima headed to a museum and some other ruins. Went back to the beach played in some killer waves and watched the best sunset of the trip went to bed early so I could rise early the next day and catch up on some rest. Left for the city, went to morning mass in the cathedral, followed by lunch in a local neighborhood restaurant. Went to some moche ruins by far the best nothing of restoration only preservation. Ran into some guy I met the day before and decided that I would check out another Grupo 5 concert with him and his friends before leaving on a night bus. It has been a great trip full of by chance experiences and encounters. I really think that being spontaneous and traveling alone has its benefits. You get to meet so many more people, take more local advice, and get more stuff at discount or for free in the hospatality department. Thanks mom for my eyes they truely work magic for me. I definately needed a vacation and loved seeing more of peru. It is really an incredible life I lead. Tonight I head back to my reality and start right back into all my work tomorrow at 8 a.m.

No news is good News

Well the bike rides continue and they are beautiful and I take fotos and it is like my foto diary of me and zeek. By and large things are the same here. Still fighting to get my projects in place. Trying to lay down the law and start new ones. Somedays I want to just shake someone but then I just breathe do some yoga or ride my bike and come back to positivity. And dancing has come back as well as the rainy season ends the parties start again and my dance group is back in action. So I work all day and dance all night. Lots of meetings lots of official stuff lately. Plus giving kids prizes in the library for the reading competition. It is incredible how hard they worked for a backpack. I am not completely in agreement that people should constantly provide incentives for behavior change. But 20 bucks says I will fall into the same trap when I want to get projects moving. This week I am getting the paperwork and coordinations ready for a improved cooking stoves-healthy households project. I began the monthly health promotion program in the high school. I will be starting with sex education in April. Started the healthy mouth promotion program with the intern dentist. Then there is organizing the parent school where we educate the parents of the students in four schools here about life themes such as domestic violence, alcoholism, communication,etc. Planning to do three vegetable gardens in three schools here hopefully getting the seeds and organic fertilizers donated from a NGO. My community garden is mostly my garden because I have been abandoned by my helpers. Cant blame them they have to work and so I keep it up. What can I say seeing things grow gives me hope. And well if I can make it work I have big plans for it in the future. If you build it they will come? Oh but I am starting a recycling project with my youth group. Tomorrow we are going to do a clean up day of the town and then take pictures. I am going to educate in the community and in the schools. Then all the stuff we collect we are going to sell to the recycling plant (which looks more like a junk yard and is super informal but at least I know that this stuff is out of the dumps or the streets). Then the idea is slowly but surely we will gain enough money to buy sacks for the houses in the community and by the end of the year recycling bins for the major streets of the community. And perhaps I will get the municipality to buy trash bins for the community as well because we lack that. The infrastructure here is much better than in other communities but I think it gives the false illusion of progress. If the people never change, the things they build will eventually deteriorate and then everyone will be back at square one. So sustainability man that word drives me bonkers. I will admit that lately I have been feeling discouraged because well I do not know that we can make projects that are sustainable. It insinuates that we have to make the people care about certain themes. And well if it does not fit into the cultural belief system or their everyday life I think it is just about impossible no matter where you are in the world. Behavior change is a pain in the ass. I get advice from people they tell me I need to be patient, and that is true. But everyone wants things for free and without work and well that I think is the difference between the developed and developing countries. If a country is constantly depending on handouts from other sources it will never be able to manage itself. So I stay, I work, I dance, I write, I ride my bike when I am frustrated, and I keep trying. I admit that I miss you all terribly and I am incredibly bothered when I cannot be there for your successes and your sorrows. In these moments I wonder whether it is better to be of in a distant land making a difference in the lives of strangers or to be home and making a difference in the lives of your loved ones.

So besides being Alive

Sorry for the abruptness of the previous post but I was running and also I have a really hard time remembering exactly what has happened without my handy dandy planner. It basically runs my future and remembers my past for me. That way I can save those brain cells for something more productive. Held another training for 30 mothers in another sector of my site. It was a great little educational talk about diarrea and then I weighed and checked the height of 30 kids. If they were not scared of me before the little ones sure are now. It was hectic with little kids crying and screaming. It does not help that parents say I am going to vaccinize their kids if they don´t behave. I know when parents have done this because they start crying the second I show up. I also held a educative sesson with about nutrition for a group of 20 women. I am definately getting the work experience necessary for international nutrition. I know that I am more exciting then the majority of meetings held here. Had one of my friends leave unfortunately, she is a teacher and got transferred to a site up in the mountains far away. We went dancing one last time to say goodbye and celebrate the friendship. That is what is sad about my site that people are constantly leaving. I make a friend and then find out for work, education, or family reasons they are moving away for anywhere between 6 months and indefinately. Success and failure run very closely here. I pretty much succeed and fail in something everyday. Which I think has been a great lesson for me and for the people of my community. I think we are all surprised at my resilence and relentlessness. I am surprised because my fear of failure in the past left me paralyzed and now I just brush it off or work at it until it resolves itself. For example, I had a girl ask to use a shovel and she went to town in the community garden. This was a success not only because she is a girly girl that I would have never expected to do this but also because culturally women don´t do that kind of labor. The failure would be that the group of youth working with me are not really keeping up with the project so I am probably going to completely change the project to involve more of the community and instead of making a business make a share crop. In the sense of sustainability it is a failure because if I did not keep working hard to maintain the project everything would die. I´ll let you know what happens. Schools back in session which keeps everyone busy. I am designing a monthly health promotion program in the high school. I have been assisting the dentist in getting a mouth health promotion program started in all the schools here. I started this past week training on my bike. I got this idea that I wanted to travel to a nearby town to buy bananas. So I hopped on and took pictures along the way in total the trip was 17 miles and I did it in an hour and a half. The second trip I headed in the opposite direction for a 22 mile roundtrip in two hours. I am going to keep aumenting the distance in the hopes that someday I can take a trip to a far away place on my bike. Plus this is a great way to exercise, sight see, and take photos. The surprising part is that I did not get tired and the next day my legs did not even hurt. I think that with a road bike I could totally win races when I get back to the states because my current bike is a mountain bike so with a lighter bike made for road travel who knows what I could do or where I could go. I went to a birthday party and danced for four hours followed by a cake fight. Keep in mind that tommorrow is International Women´s Day so celebrate, burn your bras ladies, men put one on, and everyone hug your mom. I liked this quote I recently saw by emerson
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Keep in mind it is better to screw up trying than to be frozen in fear of failure. Also look for new nonesense because expired nonesense just stinks.

Safe and Sound

I would like to communicate that I am totally safe. I have not felt any sort of after effects from the earthquake in Chile. I will write more soon when I have my schedule book to remind me of the stories I want to tell you guys. I have sort of lost track of time and past that is why I write everything down. With lovve and pleasantries

Apologies

Sorry ya´ll that I sort of fell off the face of the world. I am fine and well just busy busy. Also I thought that I posted this last week but it didn´t show up. Once again sorry Clumsy is my new nickname these days. Let´s see... I did have a dance performance I dressed up like I was jane from tarzan and performed a dance from the jungle and also a very pretty cumbia in the white and black outfit located at the right of the screen. I was not even nervous and everyone wonders where I got the skills since I am a white girl. I took the meds they made my legs better and then now they are back to ugly since I finished the meds. I am ok with it since it is not something more serious. Finally finished teaching English today super excited that I will have my mornings free to do other health related work. It was worth it because now all the kids know me and everyone thinks I am a professor too. I was visited by another volunteer that was having trouble in her site. We went to the river, practiced stilts, and she got a taste of my life here. Her opinion very hot, very busy, and extremely unique. So I am still trying to figure out if it is my fault or my site that my life is so strange. Went to a superbowl party with some other volunteers it was funny because I had no idea who was even in the superbowl. Finished with my interviews in the community and am now evaluating the results. I have also held two sessions on the prevention of diarrea and weighed young children to see if they are malnourished. Those that are suffering from malnutrition enter into this nutrition program so that they can recuperate. Last friday was my uncle´s birthday party where we danced a ton and then everyone ate a dish of my guinea pigs. I am working on getting that project rolling. The garden is officially in my name and I have reliable team working now small but effective. I think we are going to start over now that we know what works and what doesn´t. I have been enjoying my own radishes and cucumbers. Still waiting on the carrots, cabbage, beets, squash and tomatoes. Someday I will have sweet vegetarian plates of my own organic vegetables. Also we began selling the products which is super exciting. I will start a business here at least one before I leave. On valentine´s day I went for ceviche followed by dancing in my block party and later another birthday party. I felt anything but lonely on this day. Because here they celebrate it as the love day and the day of friendship. Though I did have a freak accident with balloons when I was trying to help decorate. I blew one up too much and it popped hard into my left eye. It started swelling and thought it might turn black I was covering it with a popsicle and trying to blow up another when it also popped into my other eye and hit my neck. By the end of it I looked like I got beat up by my husband. It was hilarious luckily the swelling went down before any terrible rumors could start. I have been world´s of clumsy lately. Also I experienced my second tremor. The first one woke me up at 3 am and it was small but I though maybe I was dreaming because my bed was shaking. But really the earth was quaking ha. The second one happened this past week and was stronger the whole house shook. I don´t expect there will actually be a earthquake where I live so no worries. It is officially rainy season which I throughly enjoy and had a lovely shower yesterday in the pouring down rain. The people here think I am very strange because I like to play in the rain. I got to travel a bit to another department and visit 2 museums about incas and then head to the beach for a few hours with 40 students from summer school. It made the pains of teaching totally worthwhile to share that experience with my kids. They are really quite pleasant when you are not having to try to keep them under control. It was really sweet to because all the moms were terrified to watch their kids leave to travel alone and I was entrusted with about 20 personally. I took it as a huge compliment. The sun and the sand really got me alive and kicking again. That was a mouthful of a story. I will try to do better next time so it is not so long.