Thanksgiving in Lima!

I'm still trying to get caught up on the blog and I owe you some posts. I couldn't skip over Thanksgiving, though, so until I have time to sit down and write some updates I wanted to share some holiday cheer.

By a stroke of enormous luck, I was in Lima this past week for a project. This meant that I ended up getting invited to an awesome dinner hosted by one of the wonderful staff members in the Peace Corps office AND I was in Lima while Lady Gaga paid Peru a visit.

So while I was missing all of you, I was still able to enjoy the holiday and make the most of a great week in Lima. Back to work tomorrow, but while I still have fast internet, I thought I'd share some photos of the weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm thankful for all of you! Hope your holiday was great!

Thanks for the turkey hat Mom! 

Oh, and I made Bridget's classic strawberry cream cracker pie... 

but we didn't have a big enough pie pan. Pie in a frying pan. So Peace Corps. 

With Katy at an excellent dinner hosted by a Peace Corps staff member. 

Our lovely host. 

Lady Gaga concert in Lima on Black Friday. 

Nice monster paws, Matt. 

After the show. Such a good time. 

Who would have thought I'd see Gaga while in the Peace Corps? 

SO thankful :) 

Back to Peru, Back to work

Remember that "post-vacation blues" I was whining about earlier? Here's how it went away.

My vacation to Wisconsin was better than I could have imagined. But all vacations must come to an end, and as much fun as Peru provides, I am here to work. So the morning after my midnight arrival in Lima, I was staring at a full agenda and an obnoxiously long list of emails to respond to wondering when I would have time to nap off all of that travel and unpack the suitcase full of treats that I hauled back. Silly me, that's what weekends and extraneous holidays are for. Damn I love you, Peru. 

How happy was my heart when I went to the school district office on the Friday morning I arrived in Ascope, about 30 minutes after getting off my bus, to check in and get back to work- only to find it locked up with everyone out of the office on a long weekend. All Saints Day had landed on a Thursday this year, which means that Friday becomes a free day too! Thanks for the 4 day weekend, 2012 calendar :) How did I not anticipate that? 

Having the weekend to recover, mope around, and binge on Halloween candy was a blessing. It prepared me for my first week back, which left no time for resting. Also a blessing. I needed to be slapped out of my post- awesome trip pity party, and the best way for that to happen was to be thrown into all of the work that was waiting for me back in the beautiful Chicama Valley.  

Since I've been back in Ascope, I finished up my year-long English course with the English teachers of my province, taught some kids about the ozone layer, held an evaluation/ feedback meeting with the coordinators of our health/ environment education group, gave a presentation to local authorities on what I've done in my first year here, and started plans for World AIDS Day activities. Worry not, I also had time to share my America treats (two words: cheddar cheese) (two more words: thanks mom!), help  one of the outgoing volunteers move out, and find some beach time in between. My life is pretty sweet. 

Another thing worth mentioning here is that there were 2 events that happened while I was gone that changed the course of my work, at least in the short term-

A- The school year got crazy busy as teachers and students struggled to catch up on the class material and extra-curriculars that were stalled by September's national teacher strike. 

and 

B- There was an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in a neighboring town about 20 minutes from Ascope. 

So with the combination of the education folks buzzing about at full speed trying to stay afloat and the fine people in the health field scrambling to get ahead of a growing problem, I find myself amid a group of very motivated people working together with more priority and urgency than was present when I left. 

I'm not saying that month-long education strikes or cases of the plague are a good thing. But I am saying that I am happy to be a part of the teams working on these challenges. After a year of working with these people, I am proud of the relationships I have with them and am looking forward to our shared work in the coming months. I can genuinely say that I am happy and motivated for the coming year and all it has to offer. 

Take that, post-vacay pity party. I'm back. And this time I have Peanut Butter M&Ms. Unstoppable. 

Airport.

WARNING- This one is pretty emo. I wrote half of it while sobbing my face off at the airport after having said goodbye to my family after an epic visit home. This piece is so emo, I didn't want to post it at first. But I left home about 2 weeks ago and haven't posted anything here in about a month, so it was time to share. Sorry for the lapse in updates. I will be writing about the trip home in a happier tone soon. So much to say about it, I might as well start with the sad one. Only room for improvement :) Without further ado, here you are- 

10:45am on Tuesday morning, October 30th 2012, at Chicago O'Hare

Anyone who has seen the movie, "Love Actually" knows that airport scene. The one that makes airports look like the Magic Kingdom for adults, where people jump at each other in love and happiness and seem to just be waiting around the baggage carousels for special moments to happen. It seems to me, that this interpretation of airports couldn't be further from the truth. 

When I was younger, I believed in that stupid scene. I used to love airports. For my 17 through 21 year old self, the only thing my airport visits were missing from that "Love Actually" situation were the charming British actors in ugly sweaters. Until recent years, every time I was in an airport I was going on some exciting trip or I was returning home from some little adventure happy to see my family awaiting my return. I could not understand how some people I encountered in airports could be so quiet, grumpy, and aloof with all of the happiness that their surroundings bring. Oh, the ignorance of my youth. 

Alas, I am older and things are harder. This is what I am learning. Things just get tougher as you get older. While I'm cool with that and expect that to happen in life, lately it seems like this rule applies to everything. Even taking a comfortable flight to a beautiful place like Peru where I have a life that I quite enjoy is painfully difficult this morning. So be it. I can handle it. But I must say, there are no swirling love shots in the airport scene that I am a part of today. I am just another disgruntled adult hurrying up to wait. Sitting in cautious boredom hoping my flight is not affected by the massive storm that is affecting much more than a few thousand flights this week. It is petty and selfish to worry about a travel delay when so many peoples' homes and lives are at risk. And so I sit here counting my blessings and hoping the best for the people affected by Hurricane Sandy while sipping one last precious Starbucks treat and trying my best not to fall asleep or burst into tears. 

As I wait for my flight towards the Southern hemisphere and away from my awesome family, I have pulled out the Mac to distract myself and channel my grumpiness. When I turn into a crabby patty I need to either run or write to work that whole grumpy bitch situation into something that is manageable. Since dashing around gate K15 in my new running shoes at Chicago O'Hare is likely to attract attention, I have come here to clack out my sadness on the laptop. Lucky you, reader, you get to join me. 

I realize how silly this might sound to you while reading all of this. I have the world in front of me with a wonderful opportunity like the Peace Corps that has turned out very well for me. I am coming off of an incredible week in which I was spoiled with every material or edible thing I could have asked for in the company of my favorite people in all of life. I am returning to the hopeful springtime and delicious mango season of a gorgeous country I have fallen in love with. I am more fortunate in life than I can explain and I realize that more and more everyday. So why am I sitting in an airport gate squinching up my face like it will hide the tears rolling across my recently cheese-fattened cheeks? The answer is my family. I could not have asked for a better one and it is so hard to leave them. They mean the world to me, so to leave them and know that I won't see them again for nearly another year makes me fail my mission of trying not to cry. 

And so I sit here bawling with puffy eyes and that dumb cry face I always make in attempts of hiding the obvious act of crying. This sucks and there is no way to sugar coat that or pretend that there is not a really shitty downside of Peace Corps. There is and it's that being away from family is the hardest of the hard things for me. GUH. Now the lady sitting next to me with the great boots and the bratty kid is giving me that sympathetic, "I wonder why you're crying so hard" look and the middle aged ladies with their noses in books across from me are trying to pretend that my cry-sniffling is not driving them crazy. Must pull this together and get ready to board. Then leave the Midwest. Again. 

-Travel Pause-

I am back in Peru and revisiting this little piece of whiny self indulgent writing. After I closed the Mac and slipped it back into my backpack following those last sentences and got on the plane, things got better. It wasn't long after I boarded in Chicago that I woke up over Miami, staring at the beautiful ocean below and "preparing to land." Those obnoxious tears turned out to be a blessing as they induced some long overdue sleep, something that I needed very much. 

Once in Miami, I found my gate and splurged on one last meal in the States. I paid over $6 for a Corona Light. Damn airport. I called home one last time and nommed on a giant salad, then got one more Starbucks treat, with coffee cake. Told you I splurged. When in Rome. 

I arrived in Lima with the nice surprise of a friend waiting to retrieve me at the airport with Dunkin Donuts in hand. Either the "Get It While You Can" splurge continued there or the "Post-Vacation Sadness Binge" began in that moment, you decide. It's like "Goosebumps," you choose your fate!  

At good ol' Jorge Chavez airport in Lima, I got to gawk at a bunch of random Olympians arriving for some event in Lima while waiting in the customs line and speculate as to which Korean pop star was apparently arriving that night. Seeing as how I know of 0 Korean pop-stars, I got lost admiring the outfits of said performer's devoted fans crowding the airport with banners I could not read. But like always, the old people steal the show. Of all the strange happenings going on around me, I got most involved in boxing out a little old lady trying to beat me through the customs line. Her biggest challenge was not leaving her husband behind who was gaping around (wide-mouth style) worse than I was. In the end, she won. They always do. It worked out ok though, because my customs lady was nice and [BONUS!] my bag didn't get checked. When it was all over and I was walking away I even found a stowaway in my passport- a little red maple leaf. A tiny piece of home that I accidentally smuggled in. Perfect :)

So it was a nice arrival and a great way to end a very sad and long travel day. Unfortunately it took me about a week or so to shake off the post-vacation blues. It was to be expected and totally normal from what I hear from other volunteers. As one friend put it, "As much as you think it will, it never gets easier to leave." So this is just how it is and it simply means that I had a wonderful trip which I am sad is over. Plus that I have a great thing I left behind and miss very much. Nothing to be upset about, and not really the airport's fault, I suppose. 

And I guess one thing I can take comfort in is that I did have my "Love Actually" moment when my family picked me up as I arrived in the States, and I will have another one of those the next time I see them. They will be there because they are great and even though it's about 9 months away, I look forward to that moment so much. Plus, having a friend around with doughnuts as a surprise isn't half-bad as far as airport moments go. I am very fortunate in life. And while there are sad moments, there are always snacks. And where there are snacks, there is love. Which is to say there is always love. That was the message of that "Love Actually" scene anyway. So there you go.

Sappy Rom-Com: 1

Whiny Self-Indulgent Self: 1.5 (for free doughnuts and a maple leaf ) 

Dental Health Day



Last Wednesday, Oct. 3rd, with the help of some great people in Ascope and a volunteer group from Tujillo, a dental heath campaign took place in Ascope. I'm super proud of this one becuase it is one of the first things that I was totally in charge of. I did all of the things that other people usually help me with, like document writing, chasing down the mayor for money (which we never actually got), and overall organization. I'm also really happy with this because it was a great group effort with collaborations from the preschool principal, the school district, the health post, and the volunteer group that came from Trujillo.

 

We had over 100 kids there, ages 3 to 5 and 94 of them received dental evaluations... the rest freaked out and cried or hid from the dentists. The volunteer group put on a puppet show and gave all the kids free toothbrushes, while the local dentists demonstrated healthy tooth care and did the individual evaluations.

 

And it wouldn't be an event without a parade. So of course, we had awesome participation from the mothers and a super sweet parade.

 

As with most things, I think the pictures will give you a better idea of what happened than a babbly blog post. Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridget, that floss he's using is the stuff you sent me ;)

 

Musical Chairs

 

Three Little Pigs Puppet Show

 

 

 

Say "AAHH!"

 

 

 

 

Piere's Birthday: A Timeline

Piere turned 7 on October 2nd. The celebration lasted a week. Allow me to walk you through this step by step.

Monday, October 1st, 8:00pm: Little Man and I have a dance-off in excitement of the birthdays coming up. "Breet, only 16 more hours until it's my birthday!" The math was off, but I couldn't keep up with him. It was a different number all day, with no logic or reason at all.

Tuesday October 2nd, 7:06am: I wake up to give Little Man his gift before he goes to school, as promised. A bowling set. We had been playing with (disgusting) plastic bottles that got dirt and residual soda/ water/ bottle contents all over my room, so I thought he might like a nice set all to himself. Cleaner, cuter, quieter, and overall just more fun. He loved it and has been playing with it ever since. They pins are small enough he has been juggling with them too. Bonus!

 

 

Grandma Betty's 3D Dinosaur Video and Book gift :)

 

October 2nd, Noon: I come home for lunch to find Piere waiting for me to try out the new bowling set with him. He won.

October 2nd, 6:30pm: I make Piere a "Happy Birthday" poster for the party the following day. I lie and tell him it's for someone else until he sees the 'P' and gets so excited he's skipping. Ah, I love birthdays so much.

October 2nd, 9:30pm: Birthday dinner with the fam. Toasts were given, silly ties/ crowns were worn, pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) was purchased for take out, and cake was had. The photos explain it all...

 

 

Wednesday October 3rd, 2:00pm: Party prep! About a dozen of the first graders from Piere's class were invited to celebrate that afternoon. Little Man and I decorated, cleaned, and got excited for a party :)

 

 

October 3rd, 2:30pm: After the decorations are up, Piere comes to my room and says, "Breet, did you really not prepare any games for my party?" Taken aback and kind of offended, I was like, "Was I supposed to?" And he says, "Breet, you are always making games for other kids in your classes, and I thought you'd do that for me for my party." Heart= melted. I asked what games he was thinking of and he said he wanted the donkey game he had seen on TV. About 30 minutes later and the donkey was on the wall. He made the tail. We didn't end up playing it at his party that day, but the donkey got it's moment at my party a week later ;)

October 3rd, 4:30pm: Party is in full swing. I, being 'tall,' am asked to hold the piñata while standing on a chair as the kids take turns beating at it. TERRIFYING.

October 3rd, 7:00pm: Party concludes and the kids return home exhausted. Dinner, snacks, drinks, and candy have been served. Games were played, the piñata destroyed, gifts given... party= success.

October 3rd, 8:00pm: Piere shows me all of the awesome gifts he received. I get jealous. He agrees to let me play with the laser gun and Ben 10 disc-shooting car... tomorrow. I'll take it :p

Thursday, October 4th: We clean the house and eat left over cake. I run 3 miles only to return home to a giant piece of cake on my nightstand waiting to be eaten. Birthday week was getting the best of me at that point.

Friday, October 5th: We have family discussions as to whether or not we should go to the arcade... this was Piere's initial birthday request, but then he ended up getting a party. Somehow Little Man worked his magic again and we ended up doing both the arcade and the party. Don't know how he does it.

Saturday, October 6th: Family day in Trujillo. Mall time, lunch at a restaurant, and finally, Coney Park, the largest and newest arcade in town. He. went. crazy. Please see photos...
 

So there you have it. Little Man is seven and the rest of the family is exhausted. But not so much that we couldn't celebrate my birthday too! More to come :)

September Recap

I'll be honest, September kind of sucked. It wasn't totally awful, just not my favorite month so far this year. This was largely because of the teacher strike and how everything I had planned to do got postponed, but I suppose it worked out in the end. Here's what I have for your September summary...  

-The teacher strike started on September 5th and lasted until October 9th. Some kids have had classes because some teachers are still going to work. The contracted teachers are still working. The ones who are striking are like the equivalent of teachers with tenure (from what I understand of all of this). In a nutshell, this caused most of what I had planned for the month of September to be bumped to October... and I'll be home in the States for a visit for pretty much half of October. Stress. Lots of stress. And disappointment. And worry. That too. Stupid strike. A few nice things came out of it though...

-So as I said, the strike sucked and I was worried a lot about projects and stuff. But after about a week or so, I just stopped worrying and decided to embrace the extra free time I had to prepare for the things that had been postponed on me. This meant a lot of time spent at the UGEL (school district office). Since I couldn't spend my time in the schools, I went there and got to work on things for the future. It's like I have a pretend job there, and I love it. I have my own desk area. I have friends, free internet, a guy who passes through to sell chocolates and comes to find me everyday. It's like a real job, only I don't get paid and I can take as many snack breaks as I want :) Excellent. 

-I kept teaching the English teachers, even though there was a teacher strike. And to my surprise, half of them still showed up every week in spite of the strike. They are great people and dedicated teachers. I love that they trust me with this project and come to class with the open minds and work ethic they do. Working with them has helped me to not generalize, and to not be angry with the teachers for this strike. As with all things, some of them work hard and some of them don't. It's a pleasure to work with some of the good ones and to see their efforts, successes, and curiosity to learn. Inspiring. 

-I planned a dental health day with 3 of the 4 preschools in Ascope. We had local dentists and a volunteer group from Trujillo there with a parade (of course). It happened on October 3rd, so a lot of September was spent getting everything together for it. I'll write a full post on this later, but it took up a lot of my September time and is something I'm really proud of. Definitely one of my favorite things of the stuff I've done so far in Peru. 

-I got my donation from the Sugar Company! Again, I'll give you a full post on this one later but I had to share. Biggest success of September :) 

-Biggest failure of September? Getting the worst sunburn of my life. I was physically ill on account of my own carelessness. Dehydration and heat rashes for a week and a half. Itchy peeling for like 3 weeks. Plus the pain and general discomfort of a sunburn. Stupid move on my part. No bueno. But there is a silver lining- I wore my new jungle hat to the beach that day, so my face was left unscathed. Great investment of 15 soles. 

-It's springtime now! So... winter lasted like 3 months? So strange. I love the spring weather though! Beautiful days and more to come :)

-On account of the epic sunburn and it turning my body into one big prickly itchy heat rash every time I sweat, I couldn't run for awhile. I mean, I did anyway, but not until it calmed down enough so that the rash was only like 25% of my body and not leaving obnoxious red patches that I was afraid might make scars. But I digress. Anyway, one morning around that time, I ran into one of my adorable little old lady neighbors. That morning she was carrying a full load of firewood on her back and looked like she had come from the field. When I said "good morning" to her, she stopped to peer out from her giant straw hat and said, "Amiga, I haven't seen you run in over a week. You have to do your exercises and take care of that body!" Can't really argue with that. Especially from someone carrying half her weight on her back in worn leather sandals and a sweater under the sweltering sun. I have no excuses. 

-My internet remains spotty. Sorry for the sporadic lack of updates and corresponding update purges. Oh, and when I do have internet, it can't really handle photo uploads. Apologies in advance. 

-My recent accumulation of lactose intolerance is getting worse. Attempts to thwart it with yogurt and pizza have been futile. Boo. 

-I'm going home next month!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

That's all I've got for you for September. See a lot of you (assuming that only Mom and maybe Bridget are reading this, perhaps all of you ;) very very soon! 

THANK YOU!

I want to take a moment to thank everyone for everything they have sent to me. Your support and kindness means so much to me, but it's also adding something special to my time here and benefitting other people and I wanted to share this with you. 

-The markers you have sent have made birthday posters, have brought more fun to classes, and have amazed kids of all ages. They have also save me money and make me look cool in front of little kids and teenagers. 

-Your Starbucks Via pouches make me human when I would otherwise be a monster. Good coffee does not exist here. 

-The stickers you've sent me are invaluable. I have more leverage with kids and something to motivate them with because of this. And they are fun and adorable. 

-The candy you send is how my host family knows how cool all of you are... that is if the candy makes it to them before I eat it ;) 

-All of the socks have replaced the other socks that I have scrubbed holes through while hand washing them. The dusty desert saturates my socks and turns them brown. Every. Day. 

-Hot chocolate, koolaid, coffee, Crystal Light, and other stuff is easy to share with the host fam and always well received. Piere says thanks for the hot chocolate with colored marshmallows, Rachel ;)

-The pictures and cards cover my wall and are the first thing I show off to anyone who visits me. I have adorable nieces and nephews :) 

-The Hello Kitty coloring books have been shared, played with, reused, and envied. The coloring books for Piere were finished in a matter of days. 

-The Uno set I received hasn't gotten a break since it arrived in Ascope. Every night at least once Piere and I face off :p 

-The Hello Kitty pencils were sought after BINGO prizes while they lasted. Little girls go crazy for stuff like that. 

-Lisa, the wallet you sent for my birthday last years gets complimented like every day. And the bear mittens surprisingly came in handy this month ;) 

I can't remember the other stuff right now, but there is a pile of it and it is all appreciated. Just wanted to say thank you and let you know how much it means to me. I am spoiled with some wonderful people in my life. Thanks for being awesome.