June 22, 2006- Hold on a second, did you say we are leaving for Peru TOMORROW?

Today my paranoia about Peru decreased, and I owe this relief mostly to the volunteers I am training with. Today during training, safety and health issues were prominently discussed, and there were about 15 issues that I hadn’t even thought to consider, two major ones being malaria and dengue fever. While this downer of a discussion would typically have freaked all of us out, we somehow made light of it. In fact, we laughed the whole day away as we partook in many interactive exercises, such as skits, songs, and role-playing. It really wasn’t as campy as it sounds, I promise. I had this irrational notion during some of our activities that if we pretended to have malaria during our skits, none of us would actually contract it. This seems to be a notion that many people have about bad things happening in their lives, a sort of superstition I guess. If you talk about bad things happening to you, and even better, if you laugh about them, they will never occur. One of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, while we were discussing this idea, shared with me a quote from a book he is currently reading. It was this comical paragraph about how the Gods are too proud and innovative to let something happen to you that you already suspect might happen. I certainly hope this is the case.

I actually learned a great deal from each training activity today. Even more important than what was learned though was the respect that I began to build for the other volunteers today. While I continue to think that they are very different than me, I also am intrigued and amazed by each one of them. Introductions are still occurring, and as I talk to more people, my excitement grows. There are a few people in the group that have really gained my admiration, because they are leaving so much behind, and coming down with very limited language skills and travel experience. Their lightheartedness about the situation, but also their empathetic natures and honesty about their fears, have really helped to calm me down. In such an intense environment, friendships are fast-forming, but at the same time, they seem very real. I can’t say for sure, but I think that the majority of the volunteers here with me are in their mid- to late twenties, while two are older. One man is in his fifties, and is a father of three. As I interacted with him today, I couldn’t help thinking what a joy it would be to do a project like this with one of my parents. I wish that was an option in the Peace Corps.

Regardless, I think it is so neat that the Peace Corps accepts such a wide variety of people. I am excited to learn from the people in my training class, and I can’t even imagine what will become of all of us during the next three months of training while we are all still together near Lima. For the first time in my life, I actually have a genuine interest in interacting with and getting to know each person in a rather large group. I also have to mention that I am extremely impressed by the men in my group. I have not had many males in my life that have been into volunteerism, so it’s really nice to interact with these guys and learn what motivated them towards the Peace Corps. Alone, they are helping to change some gender stereotypes that I formed and subconsciously sought to reinforce over the years. Being around them is refreshing.

Training ended at around 5pm today, and we were given the rest of the evening to relax and do last minute shopping before flying to Lima tomorrow. Before training ended though, I, for some God forsaken reason, volunteered myself to be a group leader for our entire day of travel. This means that I am responsible for collecting large sums of money to tip people at our hotel, keeping track of everyone’s passports, visas, and plane tickets, and making sure no one misses either of our planes. I felt my arm floating up when the staff asked for volunteers, and my brain was fighting the idea, but it was too late to pull my arm down. I always think that opportunities like these will help to make me more organized, but they actually just aid in stressing everyone else out. I think I might spend the entire day tomorrow faking it to make it. Wait a minute….where is that manila envelope with our passports????

A few of us spent a surprisingly stress-free and casual evening together preparing for our departure and packing our suitcases that had all exploded in our hotel rooms. We had our last supper at a Lebanese restaurant in D.C., and then discovered this bar at the top of our hotel with a 360 degree view of the nation’s capitol (what better place to spend our final night in the states?). As the floor of the restaurant rotated, we enjoyed a breathtaking view, a few drinks, and a gorgeous summer lightening storm over the city. One by one, the realization of what we are getting ourselves into hit us as we sipped on our drinks. There’s no turning back now! The biggest concerns within the group right now seem to be getting ill from the water/ new foods (such as roasted guinea pig) just as we are meeting our host families, getting altitude sickness, and not knowing the language well enough. A few of us were previously concerned about theft, but I think this training has reinforced what we are actually in Peru for. While thefts are extremely common in Peru (even in churches!), we are not in Peru to take pictures with our fancy digital cameras or even to write blogs. Therefore, if our computers or cameras get stolen, our projects will not necessarily be affected. I guess I truly am my most precious resource in this case, which I don’t often consider true in the U.S. I feel as though there is an aspect of technology that has really taken away from the development of personal talent. Peru will give me a chance to get back to the basics.

On a lighter note, I consumed about 12,000 calories today trying to fit in all of my favorite foods before going abroad. Auntie Anne’s pretzels, milkshakes, baba ghanoush (sp?), kiwis, strawberries, just to name a few. What I couldn’t find, I just fantasized about. Imagine how colorful my food fantasies will be when I have been removed from my favorites for a year or so?