First Month in Peru

I know everyone has been curios as to what I have been doing for the past four weeks. First of all I apologize for those whom I haven’t been able to respond promptly. Truth is, internet access isn’t easily accessible as it is in the states. Also, I’ve been super busy with training. Through out this blog, you will be able to read about my status as far as what I am currently doing and what kind of project I will be working on.
As several of you know by now, I am currently going though what is called Pre-Service Training before we head out to our individual sites and begin our Peace Corps volunteer service. Our training schedule is quite extensive. For now, a typical day consist of waking up at 6:45, taking a freezing cold shower, then heading out to our training site. Through out the week we have several lectures on health, cultural differences and how to adapt to the culture shock we are going though or will go through. But mainly, training consists of business training. We discuss several topics consisting of Small business development, how to promote a business within the community, and how the business can be maintained for it to be self sustainable in the long run. We have also worked on small projects through out the community and have gone on a few trips to an institute, an agricultural university, and an association of a small business district. Several ex-volunteers have work on projects dealing with agriculture, fish farming, bee keeping, artisans and many more. We still don’t know where, or with what we will be working on, until our 9th week in training. I’m hoping to be some place near the coast, and as far as with what, I would like to work with animals….. but I’ll have to wait and see.
Ok, so enough with the technical stuff, I’m sure you want to hear about my living situation and about all the other volunteers. I’m living in a house with great host parents; my host mother cooks great food which is packed daily for my lunch. I have 3 brothers, all which make me feel super welcome in their household and are very accommodating. In my neighborhood I have 13 other volunteers that live here. We live about 10 minutes away from our training site. We typically all take the bus there and back, unless we stay to have a beer or two. A few nights a week we gather a team of us ‘Gringos” and play a soccer match against the Peruvians. As of yet, we have not lost. I guess it b/c we are playing against the 14 y/o’s. J/K, all ages are welcome. Other than playing soccer, on Monday nights, we started a group of about 15 of us who purchased guitars to learn how to play. We figured, we will be here for 27 months, which gives us ample time to learn. It’s my second time attempting this, so I better learn it this time. Life in the states can get so hectic and busy, I never had an opportunity to master the guitar. . I’ll be updating you on how these lessons are going……..