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So much to say: (SEPT –OCT 2011)
As my time here rolls to a close, 4 weeks left in fact, I obviously want to close out this blog that I started at the beginning of my journey. When I first started it I was fresh out of the military and couldn’t think of anything else to blog about except my packing list. Even the name “Peru, Practically Speaking,” has feeling of an Army officer’s official report. I wanted to start a blog that gave cut and dry, realistic advice to future volunteers; I wanted to essentially write a good ole’ Army AAR (after action review) that others could learn from. I can remember many of my fellow volunteers telling me that they thought I was going to be ubber-intense simply by reading my all-encompassing gear blogs before I even got into country. But then, little by little, as the blog continues on, you can sort of feel the way the Army in me slowly started to percolate out of my blogs, and drip by drip the Peace Corps filled them back up. I started talking more about the experiences I was having and my thoughts in regards to them; in the simplest of terms, I was writing about my feelings. I wrote about parties and traveling, other volunteers, and my host family. I wrote about work days and down days, happy days and rainy days. Pretty much a pretty typical Peru Peace Corps blog.
All told, I feel that this blog has captured (albeit with large gaps in the narrative) a sort-of transformation within me, which I feel any good travel blog should do. I know that I am leaving this country a different person, and I hope I’ve captured enough of my experiences and thoughts within this blog to allow for the reader to see it as well.
With that said I sort of want to close this blog in a similar fashion in which it was formed; writing about packing lists. Though this time I feel you’ll note a significant difference in my tone. I honestly can’t remember what exactly I put down as my “essential items” on the first few blogs ( I won’t be around internet for another week and a half so I can’t pull it up at the moment,) but I’ll try my hardest to remember. I can recall writing about boots and clothing for sure, the benefits of Gore-Tex and Vibram soled foot wear; both of which wore out in two years. I can also recall mentioning aid kits, personal hygiene stuff, and possibly even underwear and long-john pro’s and con’s; all of which will be used up and replaced by the Peruvian equivalent. I vaguely remember sleeping bags and camping gear, and possibly even duffle bag choices for packing for the campo; which, of course, is entirely up to the personal interest of the individual.
Now, when I consider all of these options I have to honestly say that you could arrive to Peru with a day pack full of clothes and bathroom supplies and do just fine. Every volunteer will have a capital city to buy missing toiletry items and every volunteer will come to know Topi-Top at some point or another to fulfill their clothing needs. So as much as I hate to admit it, and as frustratingly vague as the packing list is that the Peace Corps sends weeks before departure, it’s actually pretty accurate. Within two years any adaptable volunteer will find solutions to their logistical needs, I guarantee it...As I write this I’ve already been critiqued for not at least adding SOMETHING of use, so here it is, you’re words of advice; 1. If you have big feet buy sturdy shoes that will last because you can’t find anything bigger than EUR 46 in Peru, 2. If you have wool allergies bring your own long-johns, 3. Chaco’s may be the brand name of Peace Corps footwear, but better left at home since the mountains are too cold and the coast is too dirty, and 4. if you are athletically inclined and just can’t wait to do some pull-ups, definitely buy the Rouge Fitness pull-up rings. They can be looped over any soccer goal in Peru and were key to maintaining my fitness for two years (and I didn’t get paid to say that). So there you have it, a little bit of Army and a lot a bit of Peace Corps, Peru Practically Speaking- over and out, 2009-2011.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Continuing to catch up on blogs
One of the last few blogs: (SEP 2011)
Well, I’m not sure I can say this in complete seriousness, but I’ve maintained my blog for my two years in the Peace Corps! It wasn’t a flawless narrative and there were some substantial gaps, but now its official, this week is the Two Year Anniversary for me arriving in Peru. It’s quite impressive to think that not only have I spent the last two years in a foreign country serving in the Peace Corps, but that I spent almost 15 months before I even came here just trying to apply to the program! With the 27 months in Peace Corps and the 15 for me to apply that’s about 6 months short of 4 years of either thinking about, or directly serving the Peace Corps; and to think its about to finish up for me in 4 short weeks. Of course they do say your service never really “ends” once you return to the states because you’re expected to continue with the Third Goal of Peace Corps; sharing and volunteering in communities in the states.
I guess I can see how your service never truly “ends” because, honestly I’m not really feeling the type of closure that I thought I would. Considering that this was such an important and even one of the longest continual chapters in my life, you’d think that the end would feel as satisfying as a marathon finish line. But as I tick one more day off the 30 day countdown, it’s hard not to imagine that the difference between my being here and not will only be accentuated by a plane flight. It’s hard to explain but I look at “ending” as so final and absolute that I don’t think it can apply to my situation. I know that if I ever want to come back to my town to dance the palla or baile de los negritos or a sweet dish of guinea pig, It’s a simple hop, skip, and a hell-bus away. I know the doors to my host community will always be open to me, and I think that is more than many NGO’s and missionaries can say...On that note, before I get to ahead of myself, check out my Peru, Year Two video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOvcqmq7Hko
I can see how stepping off the flight in the states will only mark the sequel to all of this; the part where I’ve finally returned to share with friends and family all that I’ve experienced. I don’t predict any tears will be shed for me in my town, and I’m pretty sure I’ll simply be remembered as the hairy gringo that bothered everyone about their trash. But I don’t think it should be any other way. I wasn’t an NGO that came galloping into town to whip up some short sighted projects and galloped away weeks later. And I wasn’t a group of missionaries purely focused on their own personal religious agenda either. I was simply a traveler looking to experience a new culture and hopefully make some positive differences along the way; The Spirit of The Peace Corps wrapped in a nut shell. For me it happened exactly how I wanted it too, no fan-fare, no parades, just the simple click and smile of a well taken photo. Since I lived in my town day in and day out the novelty and romance faded away early in my service, and I was left with pure reality. I guess that is sort of why blogging went by the wayside for me, because every hiccup and giggle just became the daily routine... Now, don’t take this the wrong way, its not meant to be negative or even disparaging (for the few potential PC volunteers that might read this,) but simply a statement of the natural flow of a two year assignment.
I’m so satisfied with the projects I’ve been able to mastermind with the few people that actually took advantage of my presence. And I’m incredibly grateful that this small mountain town eventually opened its culture up to me to share. I’m happy for the classes I’ve taught and the conversations I’ve had, but I also think it is a good time for me to be headin’ on outta’ here. One of the truths that I’ve garnered while living here is that my biggest accomplishment here was to watch and learn a different way of life; and now its time for me to start my own life and stop being the observer. So as I look back on these two years passed and especially as I read blogs from the first few months, I see the “practically speaking”, ex-Army, borderline anti-social guy transforming into an accomplished world traveler, dual language speaker, easy-breezy spirited dude....
...And as you may have guessed this will probably be the last chronicle of Peru Practically Speaking. I can pretty much tell you that I’ll finish up my last remaining days writing final diagnostics and finishing the books I’ve sworn to read. If anything of note does happen to fall into my lap I’ll be sure to tell you face to face in a few short weeks.
Well, I’m not sure I can say this in complete seriousness, but I’ve maintained my blog for my two years in the Peace Corps! It wasn’t a flawless narrative and there were some substantial gaps, but now its official, this week is the Two Year Anniversary for me arriving in Peru. It’s quite impressive to think that not only have I spent the last two years in a foreign country serving in the Peace Corps, but that I spent almost 15 months before I even came here just trying to apply to the program! With the 27 months in Peace Corps and the 15 for me to apply that’s about 6 months short of 4 years of either thinking about, or directly serving the Peace Corps; and to think its about to finish up for me in 4 short weeks. Of course they do say your service never really “ends” once you return to the states because you’re expected to continue with the Third Goal of Peace Corps; sharing and volunteering in communities in the states.
I guess I can see how your service never truly “ends” because, honestly I’m not really feeling the type of closure that I thought I would. Considering that this was such an important and even one of the longest continual chapters in my life, you’d think that the end would feel as satisfying as a marathon finish line. But as I tick one more day off the 30 day countdown, it’s hard not to imagine that the difference between my being here and not will only be accentuated by a plane flight. It’s hard to explain but I look at “ending” as so final and absolute that I don’t think it can apply to my situation. I know that if I ever want to come back to my town to dance the palla or baile de los negritos or a sweet dish of guinea pig, It’s a simple hop, skip, and a hell-bus away. I know the doors to my host community will always be open to me, and I think that is more than many NGO’s and missionaries can say...On that note, before I get to ahead of myself, check out my Peru, Year Two video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOvcqmq7Hko
I can see how stepping off the flight in the states will only mark the sequel to all of this; the part where I’ve finally returned to share with friends and family all that I’ve experienced. I don’t predict any tears will be shed for me in my town, and I’m pretty sure I’ll simply be remembered as the hairy gringo that bothered everyone about their trash. But I don’t think it should be any other way. I wasn’t an NGO that came galloping into town to whip up some short sighted projects and galloped away weeks later. And I wasn’t a group of missionaries purely focused on their own personal religious agenda either. I was simply a traveler looking to experience a new culture and hopefully make some positive differences along the way; The Spirit of The Peace Corps wrapped in a nut shell. For me it happened exactly how I wanted it too, no fan-fare, no parades, just the simple click and smile of a well taken photo. Since I lived in my town day in and day out the novelty and romance faded away early in my service, and I was left with pure reality. I guess that is sort of why blogging went by the wayside for me, because every hiccup and giggle just became the daily routine... Now, don’t take this the wrong way, its not meant to be negative or even disparaging (for the few potential PC volunteers that might read this,) but simply a statement of the natural flow of a two year assignment.
I’m so satisfied with the projects I’ve been able to mastermind with the few people that actually took advantage of my presence. And I’m incredibly grateful that this small mountain town eventually opened its culture up to me to share. I’m happy for the classes I’ve taught and the conversations I’ve had, but I also think it is a good time for me to be headin’ on outta’ here. One of the truths that I’ve garnered while living here is that my biggest accomplishment here was to watch and learn a different way of life; and now its time for me to start my own life and stop being the observer. So as I look back on these two years passed and especially as I read blogs from the first few months, I see the “practically speaking”, ex-Army, borderline anti-social guy transforming into an accomplished world traveler, dual language speaker, easy-breezy spirited dude....
...And as you may have guessed this will probably be the last chronicle of Peru Practically Speaking. I can pretty much tell you that I’ll finish up my last remaining days writing final diagnostics and finishing the books I’ve sworn to read. If anything of note does happen to fall into my lap I’ll be sure to tell you face to face in a few short weeks.
3 month countdown
3 month countdown: (JULY 2011)
Its not like I’m counting every minute...just every day that passes is all...
I’ve officially started my 3 month countdown. Well, it isn’t officially three months yet because my request to have an early COS by 30 days has yet to be officially approved and confirmed, but I see know reason why it wouldn’t be. Its odd how the Peace Corps has transformed my sense of time into thinking that 3 months is but a drop in the bucket, but I had this same sensation as I was finishing my military obligation as well. My feelings are being pulled in several directions as I wish time would move faster so I could move on with my life plans, hoping time doesn’t move to fast so that I remember to truly soak up my last few weeks in site, and not being able to believe where almost two years have gone...I arrived here in Obama’s first year of service; Avatar was still in theaters for crying out loud! I continually tell myself to keep my head in the game since there is still time to work and help out (seeing as my time left is still longer than many other NGO’s or foreign volunteers spend in foreign countries doing projects), but I won’t cover up the fact that I’m definitely catching up on my book backlog and movie supply; if anything to finally get rid of them as I start to think about packing.
The hard part about coming to the end of a long term commitment is being split in two parts, the present and the future. Its hard to stay focused on helping my host site when the prospect of finding a new apartment, applying to colleges, thinking about how best to spend the re-adjustment allowance, and all the other, “other” things that have nothing to do with my life here in Peru slowly start to creep over the horizon like the coming rays of morning, (the “light at the end of the tunnel” analogy seems apt as well.) I’ve never been one to have my entire being in the moment. I seem to always have at least one foot, a cocked eye, and an alert ear to the coming possibilities what my future can hold, and now is no exception. Try as I might to remain present minded it usually ends in vain considering that every conversation I have with people in my town has now become a handy reminder that, “tres meces, (three months)” *subtle whistle of astonishment* in fact “no es mucho tiempo, (isn’t much time)” or that I “no falta nada, (don’t have much more)” and indeed those last few months will “pasar rapido, (you guessed it, pass quickly).” So my best coping mechanism will be to just fall into the gentle reverie of waiting which Peru has taught me so well, and try to seek comfort in the idea that what could have been has been and what I could have done I did.
Now, another thing I also want to talk about is something that seems to be all-a-buzz with the Peru 14 volunteer group; who is staying for a third year. After getting through with the recent Limpi Sequia, which many of you blog followers may remember from last years posts and even my first year video that I made, I had a flash of what it might feel like to stay a third year. As the community members finished up the festivities and started naming the people that will be responsible for certain activities for next year ensuring the tradition gets carried on, they came upon my name since I was in charge of bringing coke for this year. They all looked at me with pleading eyes, asking me if I would be able to bring coke next year; such a heartbreakingly simple request which I had no power to say “yes” to since I wouldn’t be here. At that moment it flashed through my mind, “what if I was here next year?” And I found myself toying with the idea of how much more ingrained and heartfelt my relations would be with my host community if I could pass one more round of annual festivities. How much more enlightened they could become with all the extra environmental presentations I could give in an extra year. And even how much more productive I could be with technical projects with a whole new year to apply for grants. But like I said, the moment was a flash, and passed without anyone else but me realizing what had happened. I came back to reality, finalized my inability to pledge another round of coke for the next year, and felt satisfied that I had made the right decision of leaving when my two years are up. To be honest I want to leave on a high note. I want to leave just when my town doesn’t want me to go. I want to have a positive, nostalgic sigh pinned to every thought of me when the town members of Miraflores think of the awkward, bearded gringo that had the audacity to leave his parents for a foreign land...
...so once again, sorry Diego, I just don’t think the third year position is for me.
Its not like I’m counting every minute...just every day that passes is all...
I’ve officially started my 3 month countdown. Well, it isn’t officially three months yet because my request to have an early COS by 30 days has yet to be officially approved and confirmed, but I see know reason why it wouldn’t be. Its odd how the Peace Corps has transformed my sense of time into thinking that 3 months is but a drop in the bucket, but I had this same sensation as I was finishing my military obligation as well. My feelings are being pulled in several directions as I wish time would move faster so I could move on with my life plans, hoping time doesn’t move to fast so that I remember to truly soak up my last few weeks in site, and not being able to believe where almost two years have gone...I arrived here in Obama’s first year of service; Avatar was still in theaters for crying out loud! I continually tell myself to keep my head in the game since there is still time to work and help out (seeing as my time left is still longer than many other NGO’s or foreign volunteers spend in foreign countries doing projects), but I won’t cover up the fact that I’m definitely catching up on my book backlog and movie supply; if anything to finally get rid of them as I start to think about packing.
The hard part about coming to the end of a long term commitment is being split in two parts, the present and the future. Its hard to stay focused on helping my host site when the prospect of finding a new apartment, applying to colleges, thinking about how best to spend the re-adjustment allowance, and all the other, “other” things that have nothing to do with my life here in Peru slowly start to creep over the horizon like the coming rays of morning, (the “light at the end of the tunnel” analogy seems apt as well.) I’ve never been one to have my entire being in the moment. I seem to always have at least one foot, a cocked eye, and an alert ear to the coming possibilities what my future can hold, and now is no exception. Try as I might to remain present minded it usually ends in vain considering that every conversation I have with people in my town has now become a handy reminder that, “tres meces, (three months)” *subtle whistle of astonishment* in fact “no es mucho tiempo, (isn’t much time)” or that I “no falta nada, (don’t have much more)” and indeed those last few months will “pasar rapido, (you guessed it, pass quickly).” So my best coping mechanism will be to just fall into the gentle reverie of waiting which Peru has taught me so well, and try to seek comfort in the idea that what could have been has been and what I could have done I did.
Now, another thing I also want to talk about is something that seems to be all-a-buzz with the Peru 14 volunteer group; who is staying for a third year. After getting through with the recent Limpi Sequia, which many of you blog followers may remember from last years posts and even my first year video that I made, I had a flash of what it might feel like to stay a third year. As the community members finished up the festivities and started naming the people that will be responsible for certain activities for next year ensuring the tradition gets carried on, they came upon my name since I was in charge of bringing coke for this year. They all looked at me with pleading eyes, asking me if I would be able to bring coke next year; such a heartbreakingly simple request which I had no power to say “yes” to since I wouldn’t be here. At that moment it flashed through my mind, “what if I was here next year?” And I found myself toying with the idea of how much more ingrained and heartfelt my relations would be with my host community if I could pass one more round of annual festivities. How much more enlightened they could become with all the extra environmental presentations I could give in an extra year. And even how much more productive I could be with technical projects with a whole new year to apply for grants. But like I said, the moment was a flash, and passed without anyone else but me realizing what had happened. I came back to reality, finalized my inability to pledge another round of coke for the next year, and felt satisfied that I had made the right decision of leaving when my two years are up. To be honest I want to leave on a high note. I want to leave just when my town doesn’t want me to go. I want to have a positive, nostalgic sigh pinned to every thought of me when the town members of Miraflores think of the awkward, bearded gringo that had the audacity to leave his parents for a foreign land...
...so once again, sorry Diego, I just don’t think the third year position is for me.
Its been much too long
So I'm catching up on blogs, and I'm going to post 4 in rapid succession. Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy the reading...
Its been awhile and for that I apologize. (JUNE-JULY 2011)
I was struggling to write something for my blog recently because I wasn’t sure how I could accurately portray my recent life without falling back into some saddening anecdote of how I had to go back home on emergency leave to be at my older sister’s funeral. So now that it’s out there, that’s about all I want to say about it...
...I was home for about 20 days then I came back not really sure how to proceed with my Peace Corps service. So I did what most confused volunteers do, travel. I was back in time for Semana Santa in the end April and went up north to Huanchaco and Chiclayo. I was met up with Krista Latta and we had a wonderful time exploring ruins and eating way to much pollo a la brasa. I then returned to my town and my time there was mostly filled with me explaining why I had to leave in such a whirlwind and where I had been for over a month. I didn’t really plan any upcoming events because I knew that in a week and half I had another trip planned; to the wild and steamy jungles of Manu.
Once again I rendezvoused with my travel buddy Krista, but this time we were also joined by her Aunt Jill and Uncle David from the states. All in all we made a pretty lively team, and with our binoculars ready and hiking boots tied, we set out to with Manu Expeditions once we arrived in Cuzco to go as far as tourists can go into the Manu reserve. Once we crested the mountains outside of Cuzco the scenery immediately changed from dry shrub to lush cloud forest, and the vegetation and humidity only got thicker as we went further down towards the Madre de Dios River. We spent 9 days between river and jungle travel, staying in various bungalows along the way and spotting as many animals as possible. Our guide, named David as well, was incredibly knowledgeable and patient as we were continually awed at various common jungle animals and plants that he’s surely seen millions of times during his 20 years of guiding awe-struck gringos. We made it through the trip with high-spirits, low rates of malaria, and with a huge list of animal sightings especially numerous tropical birds and cool monkeys. And just to put this in there, we saw a jaguar! Ha!
I parted ways with David, Jill, and Krista in Lima and I went back to my site with mixed emotions. Mixed mostly because I couldn’t really see where my service was going to take me next. I kind of had a pre-mature sense of achievement when I went home for the emergency leave, and now it felt as if my motivation was pretty low. It felt like I was running a marathon and at mile 20 they stopped the race then told me that I had succeeded anyway, and then 2 weeks later they called me up and told me to run the last 6 miles for good measure. The sense of accomplishment and purpose just really isn’t there. Either way, I returned, re-scheduled my classes and got caught up on current local events.
Not to my surprise my sleepy mountain town hadn’t changed a bit and getting back in tune with my classes was easy. I’ll be honest in saying that I’m just now, almost two months since going home, feeling okay with being back in Peru again. Though its an understatement to say my service has a different taste to it. I think I’m now racing to the finish simply to have a successful and complete two years, and I’m trying to find some sort of “cruise control” for the rest of my time. So with three months left of travel and 16 days of vacation I think I can make a good run at it, and then after August September won’t look so long since I’ll be planning on leaving in October. Sorry Diego, the third year position just isn’t for me.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to enjoy my time as much as possible, and I’ll fight off the “senior-idis” that is slowly encroaching on all of us Peru 14ers. I’m going to continue with my environment classes and maybe even work a bit more with the health post since the staff nurses are changing which could bring new ideas. I never thought that the my service would provide me with this variety, these two years may be the longest of my life simply because they’ve been so full of activity its hard to believe they aren’t over yet.
Its been awhile and for that I apologize. (JUNE-JULY 2011)
I was struggling to write something for my blog recently because I wasn’t sure how I could accurately portray my recent life without falling back into some saddening anecdote of how I had to go back home on emergency leave to be at my older sister’s funeral. So now that it’s out there, that’s about all I want to say about it...
...I was home for about 20 days then I came back not really sure how to proceed with my Peace Corps service. So I did what most confused volunteers do, travel. I was back in time for Semana Santa in the end April and went up north to Huanchaco and Chiclayo. I was met up with Krista Latta and we had a wonderful time exploring ruins and eating way to much pollo a la brasa. I then returned to my town and my time there was mostly filled with me explaining why I had to leave in such a whirlwind and where I had been for over a month. I didn’t really plan any upcoming events because I knew that in a week and half I had another trip planned; to the wild and steamy jungles of Manu.
Once again I rendezvoused with my travel buddy Krista, but this time we were also joined by her Aunt Jill and Uncle David from the states. All in all we made a pretty lively team, and with our binoculars ready and hiking boots tied, we set out to with Manu Expeditions once we arrived in Cuzco to go as far as tourists can go into the Manu reserve. Once we crested the mountains outside of Cuzco the scenery immediately changed from dry shrub to lush cloud forest, and the vegetation and humidity only got thicker as we went further down towards the Madre de Dios River. We spent 9 days between river and jungle travel, staying in various bungalows along the way and spotting as many animals as possible. Our guide, named David as well, was incredibly knowledgeable and patient as we were continually awed at various common jungle animals and plants that he’s surely seen millions of times during his 20 years of guiding awe-struck gringos. We made it through the trip with high-spirits, low rates of malaria, and with a huge list of animal sightings especially numerous tropical birds and cool monkeys. And just to put this in there, we saw a jaguar! Ha!
I parted ways with David, Jill, and Krista in Lima and I went back to my site with mixed emotions. Mixed mostly because I couldn’t really see where my service was going to take me next. I kind of had a pre-mature sense of achievement when I went home for the emergency leave, and now it felt as if my motivation was pretty low. It felt like I was running a marathon and at mile 20 they stopped the race then told me that I had succeeded anyway, and then 2 weeks later they called me up and told me to run the last 6 miles for good measure. The sense of accomplishment and purpose just really isn’t there. Either way, I returned, re-scheduled my classes and got caught up on current local events.
Not to my surprise my sleepy mountain town hadn’t changed a bit and getting back in tune with my classes was easy. I’ll be honest in saying that I’m just now, almost two months since going home, feeling okay with being back in Peru again. Though its an understatement to say my service has a different taste to it. I think I’m now racing to the finish simply to have a successful and complete two years, and I’m trying to find some sort of “cruise control” for the rest of my time. So with three months left of travel and 16 days of vacation I think I can make a good run at it, and then after August September won’t look so long since I’ll be planning on leaving in October. Sorry Diego, the third year position just isn’t for me.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to enjoy my time as much as possible, and I’ll fight off the “senior-idis” that is slowly encroaching on all of us Peru 14ers. I’m going to continue with my environment classes and maybe even work a bit more with the health post since the staff nurses are changing which could bring new ideas. I never thought that the my service would provide me with this variety, these two years may be the longest of my life simply because they’ve been so full of activity its hard to believe they aren’t over yet.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Its been awhile and for that I apologize.
Its been awhile and for that I apologize.
I was struggling to write something for my blog recently because I wasn’t sure how I could accurately portray my recent life without falling back into some saddening anecdote of how I had to go back home on emergency leave to be at my older sister’s funeral. So now that it’s out there, that’s about all I want to say about it...
...I was home for about 20 days then I came back not really sure how to proceed with my Peace Corps service. So I did what most confused volunteers do, travel. I was back in time for Semana Santa in the end April and went up north to Huanchaco and Chiclayo. I was met up with Krista Latta and we had a wonderful time exploring ruins and eating way to much pollo a la brasa. I then returned to my town and my time there was mostly filled with me explaining why I had to leave in such a whirlwind and where I had been for over a month. I didn’t really plan any upcoming events because I knew that in a week and half I had another trip planned; to the wild and steamy jungles of Manu.
Once again I rendezvoused with my travel buddy Krista, but this time we were also joined by her Aunt Jill and Uncle David from the states. All in all we made a pretty lively team, and with our binoculars ready and hiking boots tied, we set out to with Manu Expeditions once we arrived in Cuzco to go as far as tourists can go into the Manu reserve. Once we crested the mountains outside of Cuzco the scenery immediately changed from dry shrub to lush cloud forest, and the vegetation and humidity only got thicker as we went further down towards the Madre de Dios River. We spent 9 days between river and jungle travel, staying in various bungalows along the way and spotting as many animals as possible. Our guide, named David as well, was incredibly knowledgeable and patient as we were continually awed at various common jungle animals and plants that he’s surely seen millions of times during his 20 years of guiding awe-struck gringos. We made it through the trip with high-spirits, low rates of malaria, and with a huge list of animal sightings especially numerous tropical birds and cool monkeys. And just to put this in there, we saw a jaguar! Ha!
I parted ways with David, Jill, and Krista in Lima and I went back to my site with mixed emotions. Mixed mostly because I couldn’t really see where my service was going to take me next. I kind of had a pre-mature sense of achievement when I went home for the emergency leave, and now it felt as if my motivation was pretty low. It felt like I was running a marathon and at mile 20 they stopped the race then told me that I had succeeded anyway, and then 2 weeks later they called me up and told me to run the last 6 miles for good measure. The sense of accomplishment and purpose just really isn’t there. Either way, I returned, re-scheduled my classes and got caught up on current local events.
Not to my surprise my sleepy mountain town hadn’t changed a bit and getting back in tune with my classes was easy. I’ll be honest in saying that I’m just now, almost two months since going home, feeling okay with being back in Peru again. Though its an understatement to say my service has a different taste to it. I think I’m now racing to the finish simply to have a successful and complete two years, and I’m trying to find some sort of “cruise control” for the rest of my time. So with three months left of travel and 16 days of vacation I think I can make a good run at it, and then after August September won’t look so long since I’ll be planning on leaving in October. Sorry Diego, the third year position just isn’t for me.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to enjoy my time as much as possible, and I’ll fight off the “senior-idis” that is slowly encroaching on all of us Peru 14ers. I’m going to continue with my environment classes and maybe even work a bit more with the health post since the staff nurses are changing which could bring new ideas. I never thought that the my service would provide me with this variety, these two years may be the longest of my life simply because they’ve been so full of activity its hard to believe they aren’t over yet.
I was struggling to write something for my blog recently because I wasn’t sure how I could accurately portray my recent life without falling back into some saddening anecdote of how I had to go back home on emergency leave to be at my older sister’s funeral. So now that it’s out there, that’s about all I want to say about it...
...I was home for about 20 days then I came back not really sure how to proceed with my Peace Corps service. So I did what most confused volunteers do, travel. I was back in time for Semana Santa in the end April and went up north to Huanchaco and Chiclayo. I was met up with Krista Latta and we had a wonderful time exploring ruins and eating way to much pollo a la brasa. I then returned to my town and my time there was mostly filled with me explaining why I had to leave in such a whirlwind and where I had been for over a month. I didn’t really plan any upcoming events because I knew that in a week and half I had another trip planned; to the wild and steamy jungles of Manu.
Once again I rendezvoused with my travel buddy Krista, but this time we were also joined by her Aunt Jill and Uncle David from the states. All in all we made a pretty lively team, and with our binoculars ready and hiking boots tied, we set out to with Manu Expeditions once we arrived in Cuzco to go as far as tourists can go into the Manu reserve. Once we crested the mountains outside of Cuzco the scenery immediately changed from dry shrub to lush cloud forest, and the vegetation and humidity only got thicker as we went further down towards the Madre de Dios River. We spent 9 days between river and jungle travel, staying in various bungalows along the way and spotting as many animals as possible. Our guide, named David as well, was incredibly knowledgeable and patient as we were continually awed at various common jungle animals and plants that he’s surely seen millions of times during his 20 years of guiding awe-struck gringos. We made it through the trip with high-spirits, low rates of malaria, and with a huge list of animal sightings especially numerous tropical birds and cool monkeys. And just to put this in there, we saw a jaguar! Ha!
I parted ways with David, Jill, and Krista in Lima and I went back to my site with mixed emotions. Mixed mostly because I couldn’t really see where my service was going to take me next. I kind of had a pre-mature sense of achievement when I went home for the emergency leave, and now it felt as if my motivation was pretty low. It felt like I was running a marathon and at mile 20 they stopped the race then told me that I had succeeded anyway, and then 2 weeks later they called me up and told me to run the last 6 miles for good measure. The sense of accomplishment and purpose just really isn’t there. Either way, I returned, re-scheduled my classes and got caught up on current local events.
Not to my surprise my sleepy mountain town hadn’t changed a bit and getting back in tune with my classes was easy. I’ll be honest in saying that I’m just now, almost two months since going home, feeling okay with being back in Peru again. Though its an understatement to say my service has a different taste to it. I think I’m now racing to the finish simply to have a successful and complete two years, and I’m trying to find some sort of “cruise control” for the rest of my time. So with three months left of travel and 16 days of vacation I think I can make a good run at it, and then after August September won’t look so long since I’ll be planning on leaving in October. Sorry Diego, the third year position just isn’t for me.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to enjoy my time as much as possible, and I’ll fight off the “senior-idis” that is slowly encroaching on all of us Peru 14ers. I’m going to continue with my environment classes and maybe even work a bit more with the health post since the staff nurses are changing which could bring new ideas. I never thought that the my service would provide me with this variety, these two years may be the longest of my life simply because they’ve been so full of activity its hard to believe they aren’t over yet.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Rainy Season Update
So since its pouring rain once again, (a little unseasonably actually and my town is worried this year’s potato harvest might be negatively affected), and since most of my movies have been watched twice by now, and the book by Norm Chomsky I’m attempting is proving to be a bit heavy for night time reading, I’ve decided to update my blog! School is back in session and so are my classes with the elementary school. I’ve tried to see if the Jr. High and High School are more interested this year than they were last year for my services and all I’ve been able to get out of them is a “possible” English class which they have yet to follow up on. So I’m content with the little kids for now, they have way more energy and interest in environment stuff anyway...they haven’t quite discovered the opposite sex yet, so there is still some hope. I’ve also been doing various movie nights with environmentally themed movies like Planet Earth and Blue Planet which I happily bought the bootleg copy of in Spanish. I’ve even found some Spanish versions of some of my favorite environmentally themed animes like Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, both great movies if you have a free night and looking for some entertainment. Of course I usually supply some sort of popcorn or candy snack, which usually brings in a few more viewers. The crowd usually consists of kids and I asked Plinio, my project buddy, what movies would bring in more adults and he mentioned movies themed on family issues and money issues. BORED! I think I’ll stick to entertaining kids with jumping sharks and stampeding buffalos! We also recently had our town’s anniversary party in the beginning of March, which made me consider two very interesting topics; 1. Its amazing to believe how fast the time has gone by, and 2. I realized that if I played soccer and drank beer my whole service I’d probably be just as successful in my town with or without actual life changing projects! So more on the second topic firstly. One of my volunteer buddies from Yauyos came to my town to play in the soccer championship since he loves soccer and played in college and is know playing for his town’s team. He is also known to partake in many drinking circles in his town, owning to the fact (from the Peace Corps perspective) that his Spanish isn’t very good and needs a more “obvious” technique of integration, and leading to the idea ( the Peruvian perspective) that HE’s COME TO PARTY! Which Peruvians love, of course. I’ve often mentioned several times to many other agreeing volunteers that sometimes it feels that our towns want us to be more like dancing circus monkeys, than good willed humanitarians; but who can say for sure. So much to my chagrin, and being heavily weighted for the fact that I’m horrible at playing soccer and avoid it all costs, my town has been raving about how great my volunteer buddy is, and I’m assuming hinting at how much more like him I should be! So, yeah, that’s a good feeling; a year and a half in a town and my soccer playing, beer drinking buddy (God bless him) shows up with 3 months under his belt FROM ANOTHER TOWN, and he’s already more popular than me! HA! As for the first topic, secondly. Realizing how fast time is passing even though the days are crawling is such a shock. I remember being at last years anniversary, I remember how I thought and how poorly I spoke Spanish and how many ideas I had then, and how many of those ideas have changed since then. I’ve done numerous workshops, traveled hundreds of miles in Peru, seen and met various Peruvians, and have had equally as many random conversations. Even the projects in my town have evolved, and the one word salutation relationships I had with folks in my town my first year have turned into us knowing a multi-generational history of each other. And out of it all I think the greatest measure of the time and trust that I’ve gained here was the nickname one of the oldest members of my town, Sr. Pedro, used to call me; “Yankee Huaqisino” alluding to the combination of “Yankee” which stands for how many of the older Peruvians derogatorily view the United States, and “Huaqisino” standing for ancestors of my host town. Of course he was saying this in complete jest (and with a toothless chuckle to boot) but I realized how far my integration had come when he stopped me one day and we had the following conversation, (in Spanish); I said, “Hello there, sir, its your favorite Yankee Huaqisino,” and he pulled my hand in close looked at me smilingly in the eyes and replied, “You’re not a Yankee anymore, your pure Huaqisino.” Though time has passed and maybe opportunities to do such and such project and improve such and such activity has passed, overall, when I look back over a year of experiences I will always know my town has thought it pretty neat that I was willing to take the time to get to know them. I hope this blog finds you all well, and you’ll be happy to know that in the time its taken me to write the rain has come and gone. I’m still working out on the soccer field so I hope tomorrow morning won’t be too soggy, my exercises are already entertaining enough for those up early enough to watch me, I can only imagine me slipping on my ass could only add to the flavor. Take care, and we’ll talk soon. Much love, Mark.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
SERNANP stepping it up
So the park protection agency called SERNANP which I work with frequently has just stepped up the game; but in a very motivating way. I was worried that as I came back to site after the winter concert tour back homemy second year would mostly be filled with just environmental education in the schools and possibly an occasional meeting with the adults. As important as evironmental ed is to my site, I was really worried that it wouldn't be enough to keep me very busy. Well once again I was proven that Peru will take care of you if you're patient enough to let it when the SERNANP director in our area, Carlos Sanchez, held a very motivating meeting with all of us from Yauyos. We pretty much outlined three major goals that SERNANP would like to see come from a Peace Corps/SERNANP work agreement. We outlined forming small groups, giving workshops, doing technical projects, and basic overall support coming from each organization. It was very exciting to see our Peruvian counterpart organization realizing our potential and ability to help and has taken the ball and ran with it. By the end of this year I'll surely have several, very measurable, successes in my site, mostly dealing with trash managment and technical support, which is what any volunteer could hope for! Whoot!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Back in the saddle
Its weird to think that I was preparing and looking forward to Christmas for so long during my first year but now its behind me. I feel like I’m missing something, like the feeling you get when you had something in your hand when you walked into a room and now you don’t. It was a great Christmas though, worth the wait! I was able to spend time with Frieda’s family in Iowa and with my family in Wyoming and Florida. I thought it would be a lot more of a system shock than it really was, and honestly the only real difficulty upon getting back to the states was getting past the habit to speak in Spanish. Since I had only been speaking English to fellow volunteers in Peru it was always assumed anyone else outside our group spoke Spanish. It was pretty funny to hear me ordering food for the first time in the states since my first reaction was to speak in Spanish. But I got over it, and other than that minor glitch, the re-adjustment period was really short for me and I hopped head first into enjoying my vacation.
It started in Chicago with a deep dish pizza and a beer and then went to Frieda’s parent’s house where we celebrated three different Christmases with all of her relatives. We had a beautiful white Christmas and I had a great time getting to know her family, and hopefully they can say the same of me ; ) I even shaved off my beard and held off on the obnoxious Christmas sweater I was planning on wearing to make a good impression. But the stop in Iowa also started the common trend that lasted all throughout the vacation; good food, family time, comfy couches, and great movies.
We then went to my house in Cheyenne and were surprised to see how much the house had changed and how big my sisters had gotten! Frieda loved playing with my sisters and I don’t think they lacked a bit of energy for our entire trip there! We did ice-skating and played in the snow, survived blizzards, celebrated New Year’s by playing Rock Band with my buddy Josh, and had plenty of relaxing time.
After Cheyenne was Florida to see my Dad and take in some sun. Frieda and I had a blast at Disney World and we loved the warm climate after the snow in Iowa and Wyoming. We also spent some time at the pier overlooking the gulf, and definitely got our fill of good restaurants.
Its sad to think that my trip is over, and its overwhelming to think that I still have another 10 months left, but my vacation was definitely an opportunity for me to hit “reset” and my mind is reeling with ideas for my second year. So my New Year’s resolution is mostly dealing with my service here in Peru; I want to give more workshops, more classes in Environmental Education, and hopefully develop a place for my town to through its trash! I think those are some very achievable goals.
It started in Chicago with a deep dish pizza and a beer and then went to Frieda’s parent’s house where we celebrated three different Christmases with all of her relatives. We had a beautiful white Christmas and I had a great time getting to know her family, and hopefully they can say the same of me ; ) I even shaved off my beard and held off on the obnoxious Christmas sweater I was planning on wearing to make a good impression. But the stop in Iowa also started the common trend that lasted all throughout the vacation; good food, family time, comfy couches, and great movies.
We then went to my house in Cheyenne and were surprised to see how much the house had changed and how big my sisters had gotten! Frieda loved playing with my sisters and I don’t think they lacked a bit of energy for our entire trip there! We did ice-skating and played in the snow, survived blizzards, celebrated New Year’s by playing Rock Band with my buddy Josh, and had plenty of relaxing time.
After Cheyenne was Florida to see my Dad and take in some sun. Frieda and I had a blast at Disney World and we loved the warm climate after the snow in Iowa and Wyoming. We also spent some time at the pier overlooking the gulf, and definitely got our fill of good restaurants.
Its sad to think that my trip is over, and its overwhelming to think that I still have another 10 months left, but my vacation was definitely an opportunity for me to hit “reset” and my mind is reeling with ideas for my second year. So my New Year’s resolution is mostly dealing with my service here in Peru; I want to give more workshops, more classes in Environmental Education, and hopefully develop a place for my town to through its trash! I think those are some very achievable goals.
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