Christmas

To friends and family,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Wishing you the very best from Peru.

12/21/11

                Today I’m lying here in bed listening to the rain. It is such a lovely sound….but it is also my new competition. Why is it my competition? Because here it rains about everyday! We are beginning rainy season here in Túnel Conchano, Chota, Cajamarca, Peru.  I love the rain, but knowing that I have to begin house visits on Jan 2, 2012 is a bit disheartening. YET: never to despair I have my rain boats, rain proof jacket, and people suck in their homes so it will actually be helping me in the long run! But the biggest challenge is now drying my clothes. You know when you leave wet clothes in the washer overnight…the smell that they have. Well this is how all my clothes are starting to smell. Washed clothes on Monday when the sun was shining almost immediately after it was like God was laughing at me and it started to rain. And rain it did until this morning! So my clothes dried a little bit…but raining again so they are now strung up all over the house drying. Ha ha ha ha ha.

                Life here goes at a very different pace: a pace slow and relaxed which is the exact opposite of how my life works. The other day I was walking with me sister, Leni and momma Marta…we were walking so slow I could have been going backwards and here that is a normal pace. Emily Powell you would love it, just the right speed for you.  Not only in the physical sense is the pace slow but in terms of working. My community wants improved cooking stoves and latrine projects to start but I still don’t know where I am. When I say this they immediately understand and ask that I tell them when I do start.

INSERT TURTLE!

                Something that in the states we would be like okay figure it out soon, but tell me a projected start date haha. Also, my family thinks I work hard….because I go to the health post every day and work out in my room.   Which is so little in comparison to what I was doing before, cause now I am only actively working half the day or so in the community. The rest of the day in my room trying to write a survey in Spanish, get ready to teach English, Math, Art, and History/ World Geography. Aka what have I gotten myself into….a mess that is exactly it. Why? Because not the most patient person in the world. Don’t know anything about teaching and even less about Art! So needless to say terrified!

                This past weekend went to my regional capital, Cajamarca with Hayden and Kate (two volunteers from my training group). It was fun! So first you must understand that in Peru the majority of people are short…aka they don’t need leg room. Also, the safest/ fastest mode of transport are called combis, collective cars that are vans converted to seat at least 10 people! So very cramped and from Chota where Hayden and I are closest to is 2 combi rides and 4 hours! During the second ride…there was this dude in-between us. Which I don’t know if his muscles were just that big or he was being a jackass and making himself as big as possible! Also, sorry you chose to sit in-between us but no you may not have what little leg room I have! JERK!!!!!!!!!! But we got to Caja and we went to pick up our boxes that Peace Corps sent first and my glasses that had broken back in training.

                                                                                                                                                                WELL…that didn’t improve my day. My glasses lens that they fixed they didn’t put transition on the new lens. So how dumb do you think I look with one lens that stays perfectly clear and the other that turns to dark when in the sun. For me it is kinda funny because the lens that doesn’t turn I have no vision but on principal that I explained several times about the transition and they didn’t listen really pissed me off. Okay whatever…..BUT then opened the arms of the frame…….and low and behold glasses that are less than 6 months old one of the arms just up and pops off! Well I’ll be! ARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Good thing I like my extra pair and that I have an up to date back-up! Thanks mom for making me go get new ones! Haha. Which a question for anyone who wears glasses and lives in a rainy place…how do you do it? Please tell me some tricks! Cause it is hard to see where I’m going sometimes with all the drops collected on my lenses. Also, speaking of broken…waaaaaahhh dropped my Ipod the other night and now the screen has this huge black line going through it! Sad day.

Next, it is so weird to think that Christmas Day is approaching.  Here they celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is kinda like a normal day. I’m going to a baptism for 3 children on Christmas Day, my house mom to the market like every other Sunday to sell her animals.

                             MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!

                Cell phone service:

Okay: my phone will ring if it is in my room BUT! You must run outside to actually get to talk to the other person. Not only outside but to this huge rock that is next to the road….oh and if it is raining, tough luck! Or while walking there is this one curve in the road that gets great reception. I look ridiculous but sometimes stand there to call other volunteers! Haha. Or I go to my Health Post and out in front get pretty good service! So that is the fun I go through to make a call here!

                Wake Up service:

All you need is one rooster that sleeps outside your door in-between the two houses. It works like a charm if you want to get up at 5:30AM everyday….cause that is when your call comes in. Also, it is the best wake up service because you can’t snooze or answer the call and say okay yes thank you! Ha ha.

                ON a very good note! Finally starting to feel like I can do this. Two years here. Why? Because I am no longer living like a complete visitor, meaning not in a sleeping bag anymore. In Caja bought sheets and a down comforter (sometimes spending a little extra can really make you smile---like when I get into bed and it is awesome). My walls are not completely empty anymore:

I know 3 pillows: your saying she is living like a queen!

That is also the only furniture in my room so far...haha.
This is my before Peace Corps life...

This is Peace Corps life...but without the now added photos.

 Old man from KO, green ribbon=cajamarca grouping, map of caja and of Tunel with some other stuff mixed in.

Love Jennifer

PS. This is me with the US Ambassador, ME, and the PC Peru Director

Peace Corps Peru 18 Training: Word.mov

So I now realize why people in training didn’t keep their blogs active. It is rather hard! Feel like there is no time to do anything. This is our last week of training, so we want to spend as much time as possible together and get packed, go shopping for stuff that is only available in Lima, spend time with current host family, write/ do our mini community diagnostic, and sleep. Haha. So needless to say it is a lot to get done and when you don’t have internet in your house and have to plan when to get on it is just that one extra thing that gets shoved to the side (or at least for me it does). 

 PS made an apple pie

                So what has happened in the last few weeks…Starting with week 7: first and foremost we found out just where we would be living for the next two years! A time when emotions where running high and nobody could concentrate or at least I couldn’t….haha so impatient. How they did it. We were having a cultural day meaning traditional dances and dress by the office/ language/ training staff. My language teacher Monica did a beautiful dance and she is just as precious as can be. Side note really like her because she is just a little ray of sunshine always with a positive comment and a smile; makes language class easier to get through. Anyways, then our APCD and other Salud staff sang for us and started to dance and dance and come grab us. So a big dance party started and balloons where handed out, like any Peru party haha. So we are there dancing dancing then colored ribbons start getting put on us. The ribbons separated us into groups…………the groups that we will be living with for the NEXT TWO YEARS! AH!!!! Finally the revealing a card was flipped over in front of each group.

                You ask: well where am I going to be?

                CAJAMARCA!! Just where I wanted, someplace with lots of green and rain and is mountainy but not true up in the mountains cold. Aka perfect! Yeah yeah. I’m living there with 4 other girls: Diamond, Kate, Hayden, and Ellie! 

All people with great qualities and can’t wait to get close to them…which I will undoubtedly will because they are my new life lines to the English language haha, also emotional support. I will be living in a town called Tunel Conchano. It is about 30-40 min outside of the big city of Chota. To compare the cities is like to compare Ponca City or a place even smaller like Blackwell to Stillwater. Why Stillwater because Chota is the big city but it is not really that big…such as there is a market and a hospital and lots of small shops but there isn’t a Metro or Plaza Vea, the equivalents to say Wal-mart. My town doesn’t have a market so we go to Chota about once a week, Sunday market day. Also, to have internet access I have to go into the city.

                My new host family is quite young, the mom and dad and 4 kids: two girls and two boys between the ages of 16-11. Next door lives my dad’s niece; she is 21 and very nice. They are all really nice, taking pity on my awful Spanish. Which I feel like all the other volunteers have been improving their language skills during this 10 week training…..and then there is me, like frozen in time. Making the same mistakes that I made the first day I got here. Ah. Such a frustrating feeling to have. Although I’m going to stay positive and study my ass off when I’m alone in sight and have nothing else to do. So maybe the next time I talk about my skills they will be awing! Hahaha.

Bamamarca

My view

My new house mom

 My house

 My new sisters

                Anyways back to the real stuff haha, during week 8 we traveled to Cajamarca. It is a 16 hour bus ride to the city of Cajamarca then a 3 hour combi ride to Bambamarca then another hour combi ride to Chota and then that short little drive to my town. So needless to say it is a full day event. During our Field Based Training (FBT) we first stayed in Bambamarca for the first 3 nights of our trip. We meet with 3 or 4 other volunteers to do our first activity…working with Health Promoters in San Antonio a 30 min ride from Bamba. It was super awkward because we got there and then started right in on the work. The next day we went back to San Antonio but this time we actually cooked and then gave a charla (lecture thing ish) over healthy plates and how to get picky eaters, awful but we did only have one day to prepare.

                Next we went to Paccha, which was a ton of fun because we tromped around in the mud in the rain to do a house visit. Slipping and sliding around was the perfect tension breaker ha ha.  Also so fun to watch the others of the group almost fall…no butts touched the ground so no technical falls hahaha. Then we finally made it to Chota and the next day meet our Socios….which are the people who are suppose to be our support and helpers in the community. We each have 3….only one of mine came and she is actually not my listed socio but so okay because she was super duper nice and over the next 3 days helped me get to know some people in my community of Tunel. Her name is Clara and I definitely think she is AWESOME! But quiet, I’ll work on that hahaha.

                We came back and man oh man were the last few weeks of training hard to keep up with…everybody became super distracted! Why? Because some sessions we knew wouldn’t apply to us anymore and others yes. Also because we now know who we won’t see very often…which is super sad b/c you make good friends and then you are on opposite sides of the country!!! Ah. Haha

                Yesterday we had a celebration with the staff for Thanksgiving and then a party with the families! The Staff did this big wonderful gesture of cooking us a Thanksgiving dinner but!! I really don’t like to eat prepare plates…meaning the mash potatoes were all up in the sweet potatoes business and the turkey just plopped on top with some stuffing mixed in. Needless to say the picky eater in my came out full blast. Everything tasted really wonderful but! Couldn’t eat most of it because of the mixing situation and then the green bean casserole had huge mushrooms in it so that was hard to even look at on my plate…………………………………………..but there was hope first KCM and I (more her than me haha) made green bean casserole with cream of broccoli, which turned out to be super yummy! Then another volunteer John made candied yams and baked mac and cheese and for the people who didn’t want turkey they had oven roasted chicken. So I was able to make my own second plate and eat how I like to. Then to top it off Kate (one of the girls who is going to be living in Cajamarca) made enough apple pie to go around…and it was really good the only thing missing was the whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.

                TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m officially a volunteer of Peace Corps! Yeah hahahaha yeah! We spent the whole day at the other training center which is absolutely gorgeous! Green everywhere!  We spent the morning doing lovey dovey stuff….then the ceremony started. I now know the Ambassador for Peru. She let me take a picture with her…how cool. Feel like I’ve got some clout now haha suckers.  But needless to say it was a very special day. Took lots of photos with my host family and friends from training. All of which will probably make it to facebook eventually. …just like how these blogs eventually make it up.

                I’ve finished packing up my stuff. Tomorrow we go to Lima. Then on Sunday we are taking a bus to Chiclayo and from there we don’t know quite yet. Mmmrrree haha. Anyways tonight is the last night here in Yanacoto going to go out or spend time with the fam. \///

Love Jennifer

Half way through training

So I've come to the realization that the previous trainees weren't lazy in posting, but that there just isn't that much time to get on the internet. Or at least not for me. Why you ask? Because I don't have internet access in my home anymore and have to pack up all my stuff, walk a ways down the hill, pay, and walk back up the hill.

Which my hill is pretty incredible....incredibly HUGE!!!! Also, these images are from my roof-top! Fun...dirt everywhere!

This is a super fun video

The Ups and Downs of Leaving

So I'm officially in count down mode. Meaning I only have 3 full days left in Ponca City with family & friends and then the Peace Corps adventure will be underway. So what does leaving for 2 years entail......

Saying goodbye!! Which is super duper hard. On Sunday said goodbye to my sister, Chelsey. One of the hardest things to do because we are close. When I think about how I won't just be able to pick up the phone to tell her something (wonderful or vent or talk about the weather) is when I start to get all mopey, even though this is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the world THAT I AM EXCITED ABOUT> But can't seem to stop crying over....haha the irony. With every goodbye I have to remember and take the advice (which Miss Emily Hays reminded me of just today) of my recruiter, Shand: Remember the answers you've given in this interview for why you want to be apart of the Peace Corps. They will help you power through the times when you think why or is this a good idea.  Such good advice...but hard to follow in my current emotional state. Which is needless to say a train wreck.  For all family and friends that have been experiencing the wreckage, Please forgive me and forget anything I've done. Especially to my mom, who is being supportive and trying to help in every way possible....I'm so sorry for being short with you. I love you so much! And don't want you to question that in any way because I'm being rude and taking my stress out on you. Also to my dad sorry for making our last few days together tense...I promise I'm not trying to and will try my hardest to lighten the mood the next few days. Up until today or maybe yesterday I hadn't let my over active mind analysis everything that I will be missing. So obviously now I can't seem to stop. Which in turn leads to more crying. Yeah! hahaha
I would like to take this time to thank all current or return Volunteers for their blogs. It really helps to read that this is not just happening to me. And a big thanks to the people that I let me just sob and sob.
xoxo....lets all pray for the next blog to be an up beat one!

Kansas City

Since I am no longer working at the hospital I have free time. It feels amazing, but I have noticed a noticeable lack of productivity. Need to do so many things to get ready for the Peace Corps departure.
How does one pack their life into 80 lbs? That me a weakling can carry...ahh the woes of life. This past weekend went to see my Bestie, Jenna Enevoldsen in Kansas City...Kansas...nope Missouri ha ha. We did so much that now that I'm home, I'm pooped.
First, on Friday went to my first professional football game: The KC Chiefs vs St Louis Rams. I'm not a sooner fan but I have to admit Sam Bradford is quite cute! haha. The game wasn't so great but the company was. The next morning we went to a fresh, organic market. So many spices and teas and veggies! My nose was in heaven and my stomach wasn't because I wanted to buy so many things but they wouldn't keep so I was denied fresh okra and similar other treats. And lo and behold there was also a Chinatown across the street. So many foods I have never seen or heard of before. All this makes me think about my time in Peru before...even though I was in another country I had heard or ate the majority of the foods. On this go round I really really HOPE that I get to try Cui! Guinea Pig! Didn't get to last time. Also, went to this awesome pub. They had a live band playing Irish music. I thought I was in love!!! Jenna you know me so well.
And of course there was some shopping done. Although I must admit I really don't like shopping, because it brings down my self esteem when something doesn't fit or costs more than I can afford...not that I have lots of packing space anyways but I want .................................... Anyways it was a wonderful trip. A good leading off point for my free time before the Peace Corps. Now that I'm back in Ponca City I must crack down on reading all the materials I'm suppose to and making comprehensive packing lists. Until next time!
P.S, I miss my BFF Jen C from SMC....see told you I would give you a shout out...hahaha.

Staging

Yesterday was a big day...finally got the Staging email about making flight plans for DC then to Peru with Peru 18 group.  Needless to say it was an emotional day.
1) Because I'm so ecstatic that the day, time, and place are finally all known...so when someone asks me what are you doing since graduation? I can answer with an affirmative well I joined the Peace Corps and I leave for PERU on Sept 14. (I say the 14th because I just booked my flight and to be in DC in time for all staging sessions have to leave the day before.)
2) Before it felt like I was moving in molasses. I will never get there. Now I'm thinking do I have enough time to get everything done before I leave. AHHHH!!!
3)OH MY GOSH can I really be leaving for the next 2 years. Will people forget all about me??
Oh the useless questions and what-ifs that are streaming through my head.

Now to say that one person shouldn't be able to feel all that at once is the truth to say the least but somehow I have achieved that leave of CRAZY! haha.
The name of this blog is in thanks to Tracy, RN at Stillwater Medical Center who after hearing my loose description of my assignment came up with this witty title. So many thanks to you.
Well for a first time blogger this is all I have..........for now!