November 27, 2006- Back to reality

After a (never long enough) five day vacation, I am back at my site. This is the first time in my Peace Corps experience that I haven´t had a P.C. event/gathering/vacation planned to look forward to and motivate myself with. Over Thanksgiving, my group seemed to be on the same page with this notion of what the heck do we do next? We are all settled in our respective towns (with me as an exception), and no longer have the language barrier excuse, so it seems like the time to buckle down and start some serious projects. Our observation and integration phase has almost come to its end, and while we all have what I consider very good ideas for our towns, it´s overwhelming to think about putting them into motion, especially in areas that seem comfortable with their disadvantages and reluctant to trust change. Above all, it was nice to reunite as a group to discuss possible strategies for overcoming our frustrations.

It was also nice to prepare and feast on food that is not readily available to us here in Peru. Each of us contributed a staple dish to the Thanksgiving table, and some even went as far as having their parents mail them fixings that can´t be found here, such as cranberry sauce and green bean casserole ingredients. Those crispy (and completely necessary) onions to top off that aforementioned delicacy are not in existence here, and clearly, the Peruvians don´t know what they are missing out on. Despite the paranoia that people in our group might get lazy from lounging on the beach, we ended up having an impressive homemade spread including one of the moistest turkeys I have ever tasted. It was an utter success, to be honest, and I demonstrated my thanks by downing about 5 plates chock full of food in a span of about 20 minutes. Now, the countdown begins until our next Acción de Gracias supper. Or maybe I should start planning Christmas, the very best holiday of the entire year!

The name of the beach we stayed at is Huanchaco. It is located in La Libertad, a department that is south of mine. The beach is a mere 15 minutes outside of Trujillo, Peru´s third largest city and one of its driest desert towns. In just a six hour busride from Cajamarca, it was amazing to watch the topography change from rugged vegetation-filled mountains to a dry, flat, brown and cracking desert. We stayed in a really cozy hostel right across from the water that was equipped with hammocks to lounge in, nice airy rooms, a firepit, two kitchens, and an overly accommodating staff. I guess in North American standards, the beach was not that extraordinary nor did Huanchaco offer many entertainment options, but the lack of activity outside our hostel made pure relaxation a distinct possibility. Outside of our big feast and our Turkey Bowl football game the day after Thanksgiving, we had a very unstructured schedule. I am not sure how everyone else in my group spent their time, but my activities included eating most of the leftover food from our feast (by myself), getting a second degree sunburn on my legs and lower back (probably karma from not sharing the leftovers), watching Elf for the fiftieth time, choreographing sophisticated dances to Britney Spears songs, learning how to throw a football and dominate on the field (just TRY me!), and thoroughly enjoying the company of my closest friends here. I´d say it was an extremely successful trip overall.

Now, back to work. The aspect of my town that is the most difficult is its layout. There is no plaza that the townspeople live around and travel through daily, which means that it is a lot harder to introduce myself to people. I am thinking about printing up a little introduction letter about me, the Peace Corps, and my goals here. I really want to include little sketches, like of me with a Te Amo Peru t-shirt on, but Peruvians are fairly formal people, so I am not sure how accepting they are of juvenile doodles a la Buck. If I were still at my other site, I´d be jumping into my project right about now, but being a newbie here, I have to observe for an additional two months (ARGH!!!). I have been filling my mornings with observations at the lower and upper schools, and spending time with my counterpart down the road at the Centro de Salud. My afternoons are spent cooking or going to the market with my host family. Life is pretty slow here in the campo, but I am enjoying the change in pace.