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!

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.