Two Posts In One!

I don’t really have much to blog about these days. I’m kind of in-between jobs right now since we finished the trash diagnostic and now we are waiting for the Campena de Limpieza (Cleaning Campaign.)

I’m growing accustomed to waiting, and I think that’s a big part of learning to be a volunteer. What I mean is waiting allows you to face the times Americans fear most; the time when you have nothing to do! Sure it’s incredibly cliché of me to start comparing the fast paced lives of Americans to the slower pace of my Peruvian country living, but it really is teaching me something. Its teaching me to enjoy walking to no where in particular, staring at nothing in particular, and not doing anything in particular. Its helping me appreciate simple conversations and knowing how to just BE. For example, today I went and picked mushrooms with my host brother and sister and its probably the most activity I’ll do all day (besides typing this blog.) But if I didn’t do this simple activity I wouldn’t have been able to participate in my little sister (3 year old, Pati) pretending to herd Chucho and I up a hill like cows. She had the “Vaca! Vaca! Arriba!” going and everything! It was hilarious, and totally made my day. Now I’m not saying I won’t get back to America and crave the fast paced life, because ultimately no matter how much a person travels they will never be able to escape the person they were raised to be. But I do know that this experience has helped me remember what its like to laugh and to know that life will give us the happiness we need to carry on as long as we have the patience to embrace the times when we have nothing to do.