Piere Quote of the Year

I know it might be a little much to claim that this is his quote of the year. But so far this year, it is. This one tops them all. 

The word around Ascope last week was that there was a UFO visiting every night. In response to this, my host brothers had the following conversation-

Farid: Piere, the extraterrestrials are going to abduct you. 

Piere: No they won't, they'll abduct Britt. She's tall and easier to reach and her neck is really long and easy for them to grab. 

Smart kid. I love it. 

March Recap

March was easily my busiest month so far this year, which is good. I get busier all the time and I love it. It started out with a training in Huaraz, Ancash with some of my fellow Youth 17 volunteers and our community partners. Then the day after I returned from that event, I held a 2-day afternoon training workshop for the English teachers of my province. I had 26 of 29 schools represented and 11 fellow volunteers there to help me out. The one-on-one personal attention and opportunity for the teachers to practice with native speakers was very well received by the teachers and pretty fun for the volunteers. That event is far and away my favorite thing so far that I've done work-wise in Peru and I am looking forward to doing it again in May. Following that busy week, I went to the beach with my host family for a relaxing Sunday. And since I love the beach so much, I made 3 more beach visits last month: 2 in Magdalena de Cao for beach clean-ups with school district staff and students, and one to relax with volunteers during a really busy and slightly stressful month. I was also able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with my friends and World Water Day with probably close to 200 kids throughout the week. Overall, March was a busy, productive, and really fun month. Here are some random notes from the month. 

>March started in Ancash, which I love. I think it gets prettier every time I am there. You should put the Cordillera Blanca on your list of things to see if you're into mountains. 

>Seeing fellow volunteers is always a treat. Everyone is doing pretty well and I'm proud of their projects and successes so far. Peru 17, I love you. 

>I have fallen in love with choclo con queso. Corn on the cob served with fresh cheese. More common in the sierra, but delicious no matter where you are. 

>My running took a hit this month. The heat and my hectic schedule are combining forces to ruin my training progress. 

>March brought the most heat I have ever experienced. Which makes sense, because it was historically one of the hottest months ever, in terms of being over it's average temperature, or so NPR tells me. I survived, but between the sunburns and heat rashes, my skin is not happy with me. It was nice being in Ancash for a little break from the heat, but I thought it would be better when I came back, and it very much was not. Everyone here tells me this is the hottest it has ever been for March, so it wasn't just the Midwest, my friends. Strange weather patterns... the end of the world? Dun dun dun. 

>I found a Beatles crossword puzzle listening exercise online to use with my English teachers. I love the internet. The Beatles used more article phrases than I thought. Super fun for me, a nice listening challenge for the teachers. 

>During the middle of my English workshop, I found myself next to the two fellow Wisconsinites who live in my region. Naturally, we were asked to pronounce the word 'tag,' then publicly ridiculed for our 'accent.' Pssht. Accent. I don't see it. 

>When you ask native Spanish speakers to sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb," the line "whose fleece was white as snow" will sound a lot like "whose fleece was white ass now" and send a room of 30+ people into a fit of giggles. 

>Further to that, it seems as though the average male Peace Corps Volunteer doesn't know the lyrics to the song, "Rain, Rain Go Away," and will therefore teach a group of Peruvian adults, "Rain rain, go away. Come again another day. If you don't, I don't care. I'll pull down your underwear." And again, laughter will ensue, and some explaining will need to be done. Boys. 

>Piere didn't know how to make sand castles. I didn't know how to catch sand crabs. Our family beach day was a success. We each left Puerto with new skills. A good day. 

>Between my aunts Annah and Patti, plus my friends Eva and Sara, I continue to be spoiled with love through the mail. Thanks guys! Patti, your green beads were a big hit. And Sara thanks again for the Girl Scout Cookies! 

>Volunteers get crafty when it comes to celebrating here the way we do at home. I don't know where or how they found that food coloring, but I had green beer on the 17th :)

>There is an eighties cover band in Trujillo. They are good and seem even more impressive when you find out the lead singer doesn't speak a word of English outside of his songs. So bizarre, yet so wonderful. Dancing around to Queen, Journey, AC/DC covers, etc. on St. Patricks Day, I felt like I was in America. Awesome night with great friends. 

>School started on March 1st. Piere is in first grade now! Woohoo! 

>Speaking of Piere, he has evened the UNO gap and finally caught up to me. So he doesn't get bored, I am enforcing an English-only rule and he's kept to it better than anticipated. We're almost to the point where he doesn't need to use his fingers to count in English! 

>I have been really busy with the Red Ambiental and am making lots of teen friends in the process. It's fun hanging out with them and their teachers. And it's inspiring to see how much the teachers care and watch the amount of time and work that some of them put into it. 

>I love beach clean-ups. It means that I get to find beautiful hidden beaches all over the region, even if it also means I pick up dirty decomposing diapers without rubber gloves. You win some, you lose some. I do these things for mother earth. 

>There are dead baby jelly fish littered all over the beach in Puerto Malabrigo. Strangely pretty, but a running hazard. I slipped on at least 2 of them. 

>Running on the beach is one of my favorite things to do in Peru. An amazing feeling of tranquility and energy all at once. For me, it's one of those moments that the world gives you to make you feel so small in the best kind of way. 

>When you ask Ascope for a parade, damn do they deliver. The biggest parade I have ever seen happened on the 23rd for World Water Day and Tuberculosis Awareness Day. Huge success. Great morning. 

>The kids from my summer school classes and some of my neighbors are turning out to be huge assets to my successes within the schools. I mean, I was told that would happen. But it still makes me happy. 

That's enough about March. Onto April where it doesn't get any less hot or busy... stay tuned it's a good one :)

Our training group in Ancash with our community partners.

Choclo con queso. 

So good. It looks fancy here, but usually I buy it in the street and eat it from a plastic bag. 

English Workshop: Day 2

Host mom and Piere at the beach. 

Fun Facts: World Water Day. 

Ascope loves parades. That girl in green and the kid ahead of her are my neighbors, aka the gateways to the grade schools. lol. 

...and I just might be a real volunteer

This weekend I feel like I might actually be a real Peace Corps volunteer. 

Here is why- 

A. I am poor as hell. 

B. I killed a cockroach Saturday night.

C. I ran 8 miles without an iPod yesterday. 

I am the first to admit that I am a very spoiled volunteer. I think Peace Corps involves a lot of luck, and as far as I'm concerned I won the Peace Corps lottery. Awesome country, awesome site, awesome family. Boom. Doesn't get much better. I have a great host family and an excellent community to work with. I have internet, water, electricity, and a cell phone with service 100% of the time. I live in a big room with a full length mirror, a double bed, and a floor covered in tiles- not dirt or cement. I don't know any other volunteer who can say that, which is something that kicks my Catholic guilt up so high that I'm surprised I'm sharing that detail on the blog. Sorry guys, I just got lucky there. I have close friends in my immediate region and I receive more packages than any one person needs. I have NOTHING to complain about. And sure, for the most part, I have pretty much the same challenges, inconveniences, frustrations, and struggles that most of my fellow volunteers have--- the struggles we were all warned about. So it's not like I'm not the real deal, I feel like a volunteer and I know I experience the typical volunteer life in Peru. But at least from my point of view, when it comes to amenities and creature comforts, things are just a little cushier in my Peace Corps world. I am neither proud nor ashamed of that, just grateful. 

And my Posh Corps/ self-declared spoiled volunteer status is what gives me such a satisfying sense of fulfillment this weekend. As I said, I'm an insect killer void of technology and money. Everything a Peace Corps volunteer should be, right? 

The explanation- 

A. Pobre

I have been thrifty and just fiscally fine for the past 10 months. I budget, I borrow, I prioritize, I save, I spend, I sacrifice. Things have been going alright money wise. And then Holy Week happened and I went on vacation. Which means I went to Lima- the biggest money suck I have to deal with in Peru. It is no one's fault but my own that I'm poor. I need no sympathy. My decisions brought me here. And I'm not upset about that. The decisions I speak of involve registration for a half marathon and an all you can eat sushi splurge. Necessary costs, I must say. Come one. Would you be able to pass up all you can eat sushi in Lima for $13? Didn't think so. Anyway, I've made my bed. Until I get my next living allowance, I have 17 soles jangling around in my coin pig. And yeah, it's literally a pig purse. A gift from Piere, don't judge ;). To put that in perspective, with today's exchange rate, 17 soles is just shy of $6.50. Just enough and just the way it should be... but they can drop that living allowance deposit in my account whenever they want to :) 

B. La Cucaracha 

I stayed at a friend's house Saturday night and slept on a mattress on the floor, which gave the intruding cockroach easier access to my face. Not cool. I'd like to say I'm a badass and killed him like a seasoned volunteer without thinking twice about it, but you wouldn't believe that. I bounced around in a headlamp with shoes on my hands squealing and jumping until I achieved a classic Disney kill and woke up all the cats in the house with my antics (bug dance, anyone? lol). In case you weren't born or gave birth to a child in the eighties or nineties, a Disney kill is what I like to call death by 'accidental fall.' Simba didn't kill Scar, he fell. The Beast didn't throw Gaston off the roof of that castle, he slipped. Heroes aren't homicidal, they just facilitate accidents waiting to happen. Same with our friend the cockroach. He didn't want to be upstairs. I was just helping him down a little faster... then made sure he got there and didn't suffer from the long trip. This was my first cockroach kill, and yeah, I bragged about it when I got home. Piere was impressed. We won't give him the details.  

C. No Hay Tecnología

I have gadgets. More than I need and I know that. So I shouldn't whine about not having an iPod for a run. However, I'm not one of those impressive runners I know who can run without music. Running without music is tough for me and nothing I ever elect to do. But with my current financial situation and my recently broken headphones, I had no choice. Eight miles with nothing but the sound of my own motion. I survived. Sort of ironic, though, that they would break right now. Kind of like the fact that I'm out of body wash and mouth wash, aaannnd the 2 pairs of sandals I own have broken within the past month. Oh, timing. Bar soap works just as good, that prescription toothpaste is just going to have to work harder, and shower flip flops can be worn out of the house... desperate times, desperate measures, you know. 

We shall see what this week brings. But at least for now, I'm hardcore... and maybe, just maybe, a real volunteer. 

Ordinary Things 2: Jugo!

Jugo= Juice. And who doesn't love juice? 

Fresh juice tops my list of favorite street treats in Peru. Yes, I get fresh fruit juices from my host mom, in the market, at restaurants, and more, but it's best when procured on the street while struggling through one of those sweltering days in the North. In other words, I beat the heat with orange juice. 

Setting me back about a sol, I prefer orange juice over the other varieties (like pineapple or papaya, por ejemplo) for it's Vitamin C and tangy personality. Juice stands spring up all over throughout the mornings, and you can usually pick them out by the orange peelings that often hang from the side of the stand, or the glass box full of citrusy balls of joy that sit under the juicers.  

Not only is the product worth the purchase, but street juice usually comes with some friendly conversation... especially if it's the lady outside the post office in Trujillo. We're pals. Because it is served in a real glass and not a disposable waste of plastic, the juice connoisseur has the chance to chat with the juice vendor. Bonus! 

And yes, I snapped photos during a juice break. Call me a gringa, a tourist, even a nerd. You wouldn't be the first. No shame :) 

Classic juice stand in Trujillo. I think I do a little skip when I see these. 

Salud! 

Beautiful color. 

A Saturday morning treat. 

Ordinary Things 1: The Market

As mentioned in my last post, I got the idea to blog about the little things that are ordinary to me, but might not be normal for you guys, from a comment my mom made on a picture of the market. So it only seems appropriate to begin with the market in my first of many posts about regular stuff in my Peruvian life. 

The market. Sure, it might seem totally ordinary. I know you guys have them and it's not something crazy different, but being in a Peruvian market is a bit different than being in an American one. First of all, they are often outside and are covered in tarps that give Peruvians plenty of room to walk around. For me, however, and pretty much anyone else of average American height, walking through the market means ducking and squatting, or getting hit in the face with tarps and the ropes that hold them up. Not all of them are like that and many are indoors, but they are all set up pretty much the same with stands and tables strewn about in a maze-like fashion.

Another thing they all seem to have in common is a community. What I love about the market is that everyone seems to know everyone and when I go with my host family, they have specific vendors they go to every time and there is a sense of appreciation from both sides. That's something you can't usually find in US supermarkets. For example, I have a fruit guy, and a guy I buy water from, and a lady I buy flowers from... and then there's the chicken lady, but I don't go near her stand, I just know her from school. She's sweet as pie, but I hate the smell of dead chickens, so I usually just wave and saludar (greet) her from across the market. She understands. There's a fish guy too who likes to show me how crabs change color when you boil them. I'd like to tell him that I saw one too many crabs getting boiled when I saw "The Little Mermaid" about 20 years ago, but that would leave him thinking I'm crazier than he already thinks I am for not wanting to eat crab to begin with. 

These are all friends in the market in Ascope, which I frequently visit for no other reason than it's proximity to where I live. I like walking through the market on my way home from the high school or school district, just to see everyone and say hello. More often than not, I don't buy anything. But if I do, it's fruit. Ah, the fruit. Nom. 

The markets in our neighboring town of Casa Grande or the regional capital of Trujillo have much bigger markets with more choices and loads more people. I can only handle the big markets when I need something specific. They are too much for me otherwise. Sensory overload. Dead animals, raw meat, blood on the floor, flies, vendors yelling at me, pig feet, cow heads, small alleys, old ladies cutting in front of me, etc. I get a little bit of "market anxiety." Lame, I know, but I can't help it. It's something I'm working on. 

I do like eating lunch at the markets, though. In the midst of the produce and other products are market restaurants with cheap daily specials. Some of my favorite meals in the past 10 months have been eaten in the markets. Piles of delicious food for about $1.50 USD. 

Can't beat that. Fresh food. Camaraderie. Lunch. All in one place. 

Minus the meat stuffs, I'm a fan. But hey, it's not the market's fault I'm a wimp when it comes to animal parts. Overall, the market = a good thing. 

A few shots taken during some recent mercado visits-

Kerri checking out the fruta. 

Fresh cheese in Ayacucho :)

Slack attack! 

New To The Blog: Ordinary Things

Confession: I'm in a blog slump. Not a real-life Peace Corps slump (yeah- those happen), but a blog slump. Things aren't as new and fascinating to me anymore. Less frequently, I am inspired to babble on and on about things to you fine folks at home. This is a concept that I love. My life has settled into normal. Well, as normal as the Peace Corps lifestyle can be anyway, which is a whole different topic for a whole different post. But for all practical and contextual purposes, I live a pretty normal, chill, happy life. And that is awesome. It wasn't until recently when I realized that even though things feel normal to me, they are far from what my normal used to be and are probably still pretty new and maybe even fascinating to people at home. 

When my mom told me that a picture of me in a local market was amazing, it got me thinking about how things that are ordinary to me are unusual and potentially interesting to you guys who aren't surrounded by the things that I am. This inspired me to back up a bit and share the little things with you, instead of continuing with my blog the way I have been, by sharing events and getting lost in explaining little details that I have failed to tell you about to begin with. 

With the new volunteer groups, Peru 19 and 20, getting ready to leave for their service this summer, and presumably scanning the Peru volunteer blogs like I did last spring, I figured that now is the best time to start a series of blog posts about the little things in my every day life. Everyone wins, I have something to write about and hopefully you guys will have something worth reading. 

So here you have something new to the blog- a series on ordinary things in my Peruvian life. Hope you like it. 

Little Man Gets His Stripes

In Peruvian classrooms, the students who have the best grades and who show themselves to be leaders among their peers are selected to be the brigadeers for their classrooms, which are kind of like peer police- for lack of a better term. Being the brigadeer is an honor for students and they have a few different responsibilities, the most prominent one being the flag bearing/ marching they do during morning formation when the national anthem is sung. Each classroom usually has one or two brigadeer(s) for the school year, and because this school year just begun a month ago, this year's brigadeers have just been selected. Yesterday, Friday April 13th, was the swear-in ceremony for the brigadeers of Piere's school. When I came back from a week-long vacation this week, his first words were, "Breett! Good news! I got two perfect scores last week so they asked me to be the brigadeer! I get my chord on Friday!" So of course I went to watch him get outfitted. I was proud as a peach. Here you have my Friday morning fun :) 

Maggie pinning the chord on. 

Little man and me. Thanks, Annah, for my new shirt! :)

First grade brigadeer.