First field based training

So we did our first ¨Field Based Training,¨ in the region of Ancash. It was amazing to see the snow covered peaks, the glaciers, and the aqua-marine glacial lakes. Everyday we did a little ¨follow the leader¨ with park guards of the protected areas or the community leaders from the places we visited. My group presented some talks on trash management, learned some cultivation techniques and plant names from the farmers, and of course we had several amazing hikes. I think the best parts were finding a steal cup I could buy off one of the camposino women after one of my breakfasts, talking to motivated volunteers in thier sites and all of thier projects, and definitly sitting around an open fire kitchen and dirt floors, eating guinea pig (cuy), drinking tea, and having a truely Peace Corps experience talking to one of the volunteer´s host mom as she sat across from us in her traditional camposino clothing and smiling.

As for packing advice, several other folks had light weight sleeping bags that saved space on the plane to Peru but made thier montain nights pretty chilly. I reccomend a good low-degree sleeping bag and sleeping mat, especially as we do more site visists these coming days and weeks. Also the steal cup is amazing, since here in Peru you find yourself needing a cup for random reasons and really wishing you had your own that you know where its been!

As for training, only a few more weeks left and I couldn´t be more ready. Standing out in the night air, on top of a mountain, over 11,000 ft. high, a full moon and nothing but the sound of a river behind me definitly put me in the right mood to head to my site after my offical swearing in mid-november.