August 14-17, 2006- My first site visit

Greetings from Cajamarca, a province in the Northern highlands that has stolen my heart. Fortunately for me, this is where I will live and volunteer for the next two years, and right now I am in the midst of a four day visit before I return to Lima for my final two weeks of training. My entire group just completed an eight day field based training, during which we traveled all around Peru visiting current volunteers at their sites. My small group went to the coast, where we stayed for a bit in Piura and Chiclayo, two towns by the beach. While I had a great time with some really good company, it became immediately clear to me that I could never live in either place because the heat was sticky and stifling (and it`s WINTER!). I´ll spare you all of the gross details, but let´s just say that the climate affected me so much one day that I ended up throwing up on myself in front of some Peruvian teens that I was about to lead a workshop with (maybe that wasn´t sparing the details, sorry) Aside from the heat and the brown desert-like surroundings, there was very little to complain about during our visit. The ceviche was out of this world, which is something I will surely miss in the mountains of Cajamarca.

So now, after visiting some volunteers, we are all at our individual sites spread out amidst the vast Peruvian landscape. I am spending some time with my new host family, and my counterpart, which is the Centro de Salud (health clinic, my town does not yet have a hospital). The town I live in is called Jesus, which is comedic considering my lack of religious affiliation. I have been here two days, and I have already been asked about my religion 16 times. I might need to start going to church on Sundays just to get them off of my back (Adriana, I am sure that the image of me in church is making you giggle like a schoolgirl. Thanks for your support). My host family is a lot less conservative than most people who live in the mountains, because they are originally from the beach. My family consists of a 50-something year old dad, a 28 year old mom, and two kids (a four and eight year old). At first I thought the age difference between the parents was a little scandalous, but now, after seeing how vivacious the dad is, it is not so strange to me. He is a popular guy in the town, and is actually running for mayor in November. I do not get to meet the kids this visit (which doesn´t bother me at all since I don´t really like many kids) because they go to school in a different town and stay there during the week. The parents have been super accomodating, and they are so excited to learn about my culture and share their ideas for the town with me. Since my hostdad is running for mayor, he has many visions for the town, and I believe he will serve as one of my best resources here. In terms of my living arrangements, my house is huge and nothing like I envisioned Peace Corps provisions being like. I have a large room with two beds and a balcony overlooking the main plaza gardens and the lush mountains. I also have hot water and a toilet seat, which are luxuries that I don´t think many of us will be able to boast about. I can´t imagine it getting much better than this. While I was sort of looking forward to roughing it, I don´t think I would have been able to do my best work under such conditions.

Yesterday, my host family took me to visit my grandparents down the road, who own the most beautiful farm estate with every animal and fruit tree imaginable, not to mention a hot springs pool right beneath the mountain range. Their land stretches out over five hills right under the mountains, and I can honestly say that it is the most gorgeous place I have been in my life. I imagine that this land will serve as my escape over the next two years if (or when) ever I get stressed out. I guess I should mention here that my grandparents raise guinea pigs to eat, which is the most common dish in this region (cuy frito- which is a still semi-hairy guinea pig fried and served spread eagle on a plate...YUM!). I have yet to try it (though I hear from everyone that it is bien rico) mostly because I promised my former boss that I would refrain since she has one as a pet, but I don´t know how much longer I will be able to decline (EEEKKKK, sorry Leslie and Apollo!), considering there is not much more to eat here. There are no grocery stores in my town, and my hostmom seems against cooking, so we have been visiting a neighbor´s house for all of our meals. Most people in my town do not have cars, so they use mules and horses to transport themselves and their belongings. The roads are all dirt, and the houses are simple block-like structures made out of cement. The townspeople wear mostly traditional garb, which consists of skirts or slacks, colorful sweaters, and tall white tightly-woven straw tophats, as the sun is incredibly potent here. They carry their children in colorful wool blankets wrapped around their shoulders, and boy oh boy are the babies cute! My town does not have phonelines or internet, so I will need to visit Cajamarca city probably twice a week for those amenities. I thought this was no big deal, since it is only a half hour away, but today, I was trapped in a bus with 30 other Peruvians when it was brought to our attention (when we nearly drove off a cliff) that our busdriver was incredibly drunk. When we yelled at him to let us out of the bus, he refused, and continued speeding towards the city. I kid you not that we made it there in 15 minutes, instead of the 30-45 it usually takes. It was a pretty harrowing experience, and apparently, one that I will come to know well.

The center of the city, which is 45 minutes away from us, has delicious dairy products, which I crave all of the time, but I guess they are too expensive for my family to purchase because all we have been eating is rice and chicken and potatoes, the typical Peruvian fare. I have spent some time in the Centro de Salud, my counterpart, and today I went to the town school to introduce myself to the adolescents I will be working with. The town doctor, who is intimidating in his handsomeness (more so than Dr. Baumgartner, this is AWFUL!), accompanied me to the school and assisted in my introduction. This is embarrassing to admit, but he made me so nervous that I forgot what the heck I was doing in Peru, as well as what the Peace Corps stands for, and those who know me know that I rarely get flustered. My first two introductions were rocky, until I convinced the Doctor that he could go attend to his patients, and that I could do this myself. Luckily, I had 11 other classrooms to visit, so I hope I was able to redeem myself. The one and only good thing about working closely with someone so handsome is that my immune system has probably been scared into never becoming ill, because if it does, it will be that doctor who will have to poke and prod at my body (since he is the only one who works in my town). Me and my immune system will have none of that! I plan on being the personification of health over the next two years for that reason alone.

Back to the adolescents I will be working with (see how distracted that doctor makes me?). The kids I met were incredibly welcoming and polite. They all stood up as I entered the classroom and in sync said ¨Buenos dias señorita.¨ They refused to sit down until I gave them permission to, and then they provided me with their undivided attention as I floundered in front of them speaking some kind of jibberish. There were just so many of them (approximately 300), that it is going to be difficult to establish an all-inclusive program. Some issues that were obvious during my first visit in the school and town were teen pregnancy, poor hygiene, and alcoholism, which are some fairly simple topics that I can tackle first. During my first three months of service here in Jesus, I am not supposed to start working, but instead, I am supposed to learn the town and establish confianza (trust) with the townspeople. My plan for doing this is to spend a day or two with people who have different positions within the town. So far, I have an interest in spending some time with the town judge/mediator, the garden keeper, the restaurant owner, and the seamstress. I will work with them and informally interview them to gain their perspective and see what they feel the true needs of Jesus are. It is an incredible and slightly scary feeling to have the freedom to do whatever I see fit in this town. The townspeople have never had a volunteer work or live here, so all seem incredibly eager to have me and put me to work. Hopefully my first three months with them will make it easier for me to prioritize my goals. I get to design my own schedule, which is nice, because I feel I will be able to accomplish more that way, provided that the hotsprings and dairy products do not tempt me away from my work too often. One funny aspect of my stay here is that the entire town is convinced that I am a doctor (a Dr. of psychology and sociology) and no matter what I say against that, they refuse to believe me. They think I am just being modest. So...if anyone is fearing getting their PhD, just come down to Peru. You certainly don't need one here. I feel guilty because it seems like I am living a lie, but at the same time, I was told that they will view me as more competent if they think I have an advanced degree in whatever I studied at my university. You can just call me Dr. Buck, it's no big deal.

Well, that's enough for now. Right now I am in the city waiting for my friends (some of whom, including one of my two closest friends here, were also placed close to Cajamarca city) so that we can take the 13 hour busride back to Lima. I will write more soon, because it just occurred to me that I forgot to write an entry about my best day yet in Peru.