Es mi cumpleano!

Best Peruvian birthday ever! Ok, it's my first Peruvian birthday, but regardless. My host mother made me my favorite...liver with onions, beet salad, mango mousse, popcorn, and vegetable soup! To top it all off, birthday cake! (It was no Coldstone, but it's the thought that counts. Now thinking about it, I miss cookie dough ice cream, but anyways...) And I got calls, messages, texts from Peru and the US. I'm even more popular here than I am in the states. :)

The best moment was probably when midnight last night, while my host sister and host mother were still up from Christmas decorating and I was still up from making rice krispy treats (wrapped them up with aluminum foil and a bow and gave them as X-Mas treats), they began to sing to me in Spanish and English three different versions of the birthday song. One had a lot of high notes, but they braved it anyways.

So funny, I thought today would just pass by as another day, but truly, I had a great day.

Mi viaje a Lima

I just got back from my trip from Lima…Amazing! Well worth the 20 hour bus ride down there. I ate like there was no tomorrow….gyros (twice), chocolate dipped soft serve ice cream, Burger King, latte, Spinach stuffed ravioli, garlic bread, Thai food, sandwich with actual white, sliced bread…Like I said, Amazing!

The first thing I did when I got to Lima was visit host family #1 in Lima. I was only able to stay for a couple of hours, but they had planned on me spending the night and had fresh sheets and my favorite breakfast (freshly ground soy milk) all ready for me. Aww… But at least I got to eat dinner with them and they made my favorites again…steamed broccoli and this Peruvian stir fry dish. When I was leaving, things got a little scary. While I was visiting with my family, a little boy actually got hit by the car on the road right outside of the community. The community was really angry, because they had been advocating for a walkway bridge for a long time, and so while I was leaving, they were just beginning to form a strike and the police had their shields and armors all ready. Fortunately, some cars at the end of the line were still able to turn around even though traffic had been stopped. Note to self: Should you ever get in the middle of a Peruvian strike, run! Things will get out of hand very quickly (see strikes in Peruvian jungles)!

The next days went by more smoothly. I had a free day to bum around, so I had dim sum at Chinatown and practiced my Chinese. (It made me so homesick to speak Chinese again!) I also went to the beach (pretty, but hot), did some shopping (Yay! I finally spent some of my saved up Peace Corps money!), and generally just bummed around the city. For the next few days, we were stuck at a retreat center for Peace Corps training, but overall, I had a great trip! It scared me to realize how much of a country bumpkin I had become only after 3 months. Traffic scares the bejeezy out of me and I’ve picked up some really bad hygiene habits. But for once, I was stomachache free during the whole week (until I got back and had my first meal here), no one stared at me while I walked down the street as if I grew an extra eye, I didn’t see anyone peeing on the streets, and I was able to speak English freely.

Sigh…I can’t wait to go back. Fortunately, I found out over training that I was selected as the Peace Corps editor of a publication, so that means that I will have to travel to Lima again soon to take the publication to press. :) :) :) And for New Years, I’ll be taking another long bus ride to a place called Ancash to celebrate with my Peace Corps friends.

Please take care of yourselves, everyone, and just know that I am safe and sound back in my site.

Me voy a Lima!

Back to the big city I go! My 20 hour bus ride starts tomorrow so I should get to Lima on Sunday. We're going to Lima for more Peace Corps training (Grr...), but I should be back next weekend so if there are no messages from me before then, everything should be a-okay. On the flipside, I can't wait to hang out with fellow volunteers again and order a soy latte...hit up Burger King...McDonald's...Um....

Extrano Navidad...Mucho

I miss Christmas. It hit me yesterday as I was looking around my town...No Christmas lights, no snow, no red, white, and green. If you guys have any fabulous Christmas-y photos in your computer, just of some lights or trees or Santas or something, could you send it to me? I even miss the Wal-Mart commercialized Christmas gimmicks where you walk into the store and see all the stuff they sell for Christmas. I didn't think I would miss the commercialism that Hallmark tries to throw at us each year, but I really do! Any festivities that you can share would be great!

El Mercado en el Domingo

Just wanted to show you guys what I look forward to most on the weekends...the market! Every Sunday, I haggle with the little Peruvian ladies and bargain over my fruits and vegetables. Our market here is pretty big and goes up and down about two streets. Farmers from all over bring all sorts of produce, chicken, guinea pigs, foods to sell. The selection of fruits is amazing here and I've gotten to try a lot of stuff that I have never seen before. I've also become really good at saying "Mi yappa, por favor" in a really whiny voice so that they'll give me 11 mini avocados for 1 sole (.33 cents) instead of the usual 10. :)

They bring bulls up here to sell also. I always forget that when walking in the opposite direction and a bull is approaching, you should stop and avoid it at all cost or else risk certain death. My host mother has had to flatten me against walls over countless times just so that I won't have a bull horn stuck up in certain parts of my body.

La comida

So a friend and I went out to lunch today at a pretty nice restaurant in my site. This is rare since I usually save my money and eat with my host family.

This is what a typical "menu" looks like in Peru. Usually, the "menus" are the special of the day and comes with an appetizer, a beverage, your main entree, and sometimes even a dessert. They tend to be cheaper than ordering a la carte.
Today, we started out with chicken soup, fresh apple juice, and a main course consisting of rice, white beans, and a Peruvian beef stir-fry. The best part is that even though we only spent 4 soles ($1.33) for our menu, there are always cheaper places and you can even get your menu for 2 soles.

P.S. The green sauce that you see in the first photo is "aji," a condiment made from chili peppers that comes in all sorts of colors, textures, and spices. We have some type of aji and/or lime pretty much with every meal.

Accion de Gracias 2009 en Cajamarca

My first Thanksgiving away from home! It was bittersweet. But, overall, I had a great Peruvian Thanksgiving. Some of the volunteers and I met up in the city to have our Thanksgiving feast. We chose a restaurant that was situated over a piece of farmland surrounded by fresh turkeys and ducks that they ultimately slaughtered for us. We ate roast duck, roast turkey, sweet mashed potato, honey glazed carrots, beet salad, gravy, and for dessert, apple crisp and pumpkin pie...Aw, so delicious! Y'all would be pleased to know that the restaurant was going to charge us s./50 just for the pie itself. (That is a $17 pie!!) So the night before, I made that lovely pie displayed in this first photo...without an oven, without canned pumpkins, without pre-made pie dough! Top that, Martha!! (I even made an extra one to share with my family and, by morning, when I was about to get a slice for myself before my travels, it was all gone. I think they enjoyed their first pumpkin pie!)

After our feast, some of us went out to see the new "Twilight" movie. It hadn't been dubbed to Spanish, yet, so I got to understand everything they were saying. Overall, it was a great day. While I missed being with my family this year, I am truly grateful for being able to say that I am finally a Peace Corps volunteer.

Anyways, this is plate #1. Eventually, I gorged myself with seconds and third helpings of turkey and duck. (I don't think I've ever eaten so much meat since being in Peru...It was heavenly!) The next day, I came home after practically overeating myself into a coma, ran into a lady whom I had met a few months earlier and the first thing that she said to me was that I had gained weight ("Que linda!") and then she pinched my fat little cheeks to prove her point. :(

This is also what I discovered the day after I got back. Something bit me during the night while we stayed in our super cheap hostal. It's rainy season, so the bugs are back in full force.

I didn't want to pop the sucker, because, well, quite frankly, we had just watched the Twilight movie and I thought that it was like a love bite from Team Edward. (No, I'm not swooning over a teenage boy...He's of age, you guys!) Anyways, but then the bite just got bigger and bigger until one day, I tripped coming into my room, scraped the poor little sucker, and the whole thing just popped and the pus just went all over the floor.

Now, did you guys really think that I was just going to end a post with warm fuzzies and rainbows just because it's the holidays?!

La propina

I would just like to share something with you all that may come as a surprise to you. In this culture, I'm generous. Today, I went to eat at a restaurant in my town with some of my local volunteers. (I know, I forgot my camera again to take a picture of the food.) It's really cheap to eat here. For a big bowl of soup (as an appetizer), your "segunda" (main course...today it was a type of Peruvian sauteed chicken with salad, potato, and rice), and your "refresco" (today it was a juice made from purple corn), you pay only 4 soles...ie $1.33. (For some places, it's even cheaper but I splurged today.)

Normally I eat with my host family so to be going out in my site is a rare treat in itself. And then the service was so good at the restaurant. Usually restaurant people don't like to explain things or they walk away if you start asking questions. But, today, they explained everything and was so patient with our broken Spanish. So I gave them a 3 soles tip ($1) to which my friends all ridiculed me to say it was too much and blah blah blah as people don't tip here. But you should have seen the waitress' face when I told her that the rest was for her to keep. She was so happy and asked me over and over again if I was sure. Could you imagine someone in the states being that happy if you only tipped them a buck?!

Un actualizacion y no mas

Just wanted to update everyone that I'm still alive and kicking. I don't have too much to report except to say that life has been pretty good here in Peru lately. I picked up some new work with kids out in the "campo" (children farmers who give new meaning to the word "underprivileged"). So now I'm working at six schools, continuing the radio show, aerobics class, and Spanish class. Peace Corps also has us do a Community Diagnostic report which is due next month. Writing in Spanish definitely presents a new challenge! But in 5 months, I dare say that I'm proud of myself. My Spanish has come a long way.

So, overall, I'm doing okay. Last month was horrible. I was homesick, foodsick, and just sick in general. But, now, most days I wake up with a feeling of optimism and just ready to start the day. This weekend I'm traveling to the city again to assist in a Peace Corps project. After that I look forward to spending Thanksgiving with some other local volunteers. I've picked us out a restaurant that should be all right for our 1st Thanksgiving here...out in the Peruvian farmland, fresh turkeys and duck that they'll slaughter for us, fruits and vegetables grown on the land itself.

Soon I'll take some pictures of the foods I eat here. Not to sound like a hippie, but the selection of fruits is amazing...fresh figs and other things that I've never seen before. Last week, I also learned how to make yogurt from scratch. (It was a lot harder and more complext than I thought.) Later, I hope to also learn how to make cheese and wine. Yep, I'm turning into a regular Peruvian Asian farm girl! :)

I hope this e-mail finds you guys doing okay as well. I do try to keep up on the news in the states, but you know me, it's hard for me to tear away from the gossip pages. :( (What is this about Josh Duhamel!?!)

Un Camino de Fe

So each year people from around this area take their "Walk of Faith." It happens one day only at a certain church located in a small community called Marcabati. For my family, this four hour walk begins every year at 3 a.m. and lasts until 7 a.m. It includes walking over valleys and streams just so you can make your religious offering. So, this year, I decided to join in on the fun and made my first Walk of Faith!!! I woke up at 2:30 a.m., dressed warmly, and grabbed my "Jesus stick" to start my flashlight lid hike. (I'm not sure what the Jesus stick was for except that I saw my host siblings and host dad whacking each other a lot with it.)

I was so proud of myself, firstly, for waking up that early and, second, I made it without falling or a complaint (even though it was really long and my calves are now killing me, but anyways...) I'm not sure if I felt more "faithful" afterwards though. Mostly, I just focused on not falling over a cliff in the dark so that I didn't have time to think about anything else.

But regardless, for the large part, I've avoided participating in any type of Catholic activities with my family within the church so I thought this would be a good way for us to spend some time together. Or at least I tried anyways.... We got to the church a little after 7 a.m. and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right on the church bench. And it isn't a good sleep unless you drool a little of course...he he. I woke up to my host brother jabbing at me and two of my students looking and laughing at me. I swear! Is it just me or has Peru made me less refined?

Gusanos

It's official: I can't get rid of my stomach problems. Speaking of the little devils last week, it's happened...I have worms! I know I shouldn't be excited about not being able to get rid of my constant stomach problems and the symptoms weren't all that comfortable (in fact, although I have a tendency to overshare at times, this is one of those times where I will keep to myself on how I found out), but back when I was a young lad in the US with dreams of being a Peace Corps volunteer running through my head, I just thought that that was what a PC volunteer was: Saving the world and getting worms. So...I'm halfway there to really being a PC volunteer! One down and one more to go. The PC doctor (whom I'm sure is sick of hearing from me by now) has already called in a prescription for me that I can go and pick up whenever I go into the city next.

The worms unfortunately weren't "big" enough of a problem to make me lose weight or win the 50 soles bet (Hmph!)--ie biggest worm out of your body gets 50 soles. However, it did cause me to eat like a Hellion and, in Peru, this is bad because my host family can't afford to feed two Katies. So I'm going to get the problem fixed ASAP. Oh! I don't have a picture of my wormies, but I did find something on the internet for y'all's enjoyment while you're eating lunch. This is an idea of what my gusano looks like. Bon appetit!

Huy...Una cosa mas

Oye. One more thing. My sister sent me this picture that was taken before I left. Aw...I miss home. Even in Peru, I've been hearing a lot about this swine flu. Please take care of yourselves, everyone.

La catarata en Cajabamba

Some pictures from my hike yesterday. Cajabamba has seven waterfalls...so one down and six more to go. This is only a 15 minute bus ride from my town and another hour or so walk. Everything was as green and pretty as it looked. (Another nerd reference: While hiking, I pretended that I was in "Jurassic Park." He he. The music just kept rolling in my head... But minus the dinosaurs and other scary spitting demon looking animals, of course.)

The only bad part about yesterday: Aerobics has done away with all the traction on my shoes. While crossing the river yesterday, I slipped on a rock and fell into the water! :(

La epoca de lluvia

It's rainy season here...and it's horrible! Everyday there is rain for an hour or two at anytime during the day or night. It reminds me of the rain on "Lost" (sorry, nerd reference). All of a sudden the sky just opens up and all hell breaks loose. When it isn't raining, then the weather is downright dreary and cold here--40's and 50's and damp. The picture here is of laundry day. Literally I just finished my wash when the rain just doused on everything I had just wrung out by hand.

Unfortunately, window panes are expensive so the wind just blows in all the time. (The worst is when you're showering.) We've talked about getting plastic for the windows, but I think my family is used to it so I'm doing my best to adjust, too. (And to not think of heaters or fireplaces or hot apple cider...Um...)

The good news is that I'm healthy again! Thank you for all the good wishes. Whatever it was, it was horrible and had me double over in pain for two days. Finally, the Peace Corps doctor prescribed some meds to me and everything ended well. I was kind of disappointed that nothing interesting came out though. We actually have a bet in the Peace Corps. Whoever poops out and sends in the biggest worm gets 50 soles! (And that money does come in handy here!) I know it's kind of gross and you're probably doing your best to keep your breakfast down, but the reality is that most of us will get worms during our service. And, if so, why not make a little money out of it? Well, I still have two more months until the year's up, but so far, nothing interesting yet. :(

More pleasant news is that listenership on the radio show has been picking up and I was offered more on-air time. (I declined, because this isn't my goal here in the Peace Corps. Yes, I still have dreams of making a difference blah blah blah.) But it's exciting nevertheless and it's helped me in my Spanish, too. My host family listens to it together and one of the other volunteers actually heard it while he was on a bus! Yay for Ka-tee on Radio Jhasiel noventa cuatro punto nueve....

La fiesta en San Marcos

In keeping up with the tradition of fiestas around here (and, boy, are there lots!), I went to the fiesta of a nearby town yesterday. Every town pretty much have their own fiestas that typically last a week or longer. Again, everything's shut down and you get to drink, eat, dance...and see lamas.

Estoy enferma... :(

Aw...I'm sick. I think I have a parasite in my tummy. (I say this because almost every volunteer has gotten sick with stomach problems and we've become pretty good at discussing our bodily functions and diagnosing it with the help of our Peace Corps physician.)

For the last day, I have not been able to keep anything down (I'll spare you the details, although we did have some pretty close calls running to the bathroom), ran a fever, got the chills, and haven't felt like eating. Being a Hui, this is rare for us. While other people "lose their appetite" from stress or whatever, I am quite the opposite and tend to eat more in times of stress, etc. As such, this is just a rare treat for me!

The funny thing is that Peruvians have heard about our cases of swine flu in the US. So whenever you show a cough or two, people tend to back away from you and then start lecturing you about "la gripe," ie, swine flu. When I told my host mom that I was going to miss dinner and go to bed last night, she asked me if I had "la gripe." To add insult to injury, since I haven't done laundy in a while, the bed bugs are back and I am once again covered in bites. :( This is definitely the part that I enjoy least as a volunteer in a developing country.

P.S. Sidenote: My host sister just brought back the game, Twister, from the city and asked if I wanted to play. Anyone else think that: Twister + deadly Peruvian stomach problems = BAD IDEA!!?

Los castillos no son mis amigos

Last night was a night of fireworks, more beer, and more dancing on the streets. Let me just take a moment to emphasize that fireworks are not my friends here! They could not be more dangerous! After everytime, I'm always relieved that my eyeballs are still intact.

The fireworks here are strapped onto a wooden pole and after they're lit with someone's cigarette butt, they go twirling around at full speed while people stand right below it.

Now I'm smart, I close my eyes and try to have a human shield in front of me at all times. But last night was not a success, the darn thing landed on my bare foot and then I had a heck of a time trying to douse it out.

Meanwhile, my host mother, sweet little lady that she is, always try to push me forward to see them so that I don't miss the action. Well, after almost coming home with only one foot, she became my personal Operation Human Shield. Luckily for her though, both her feet are still intact.

La corrida

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but this week was our town's fiesta. Fiestas are a BIG thing here. The whole town gets shut down--really, no one works, except for the restaurants and store owners--just so people can drink, dance on the street, and then pass out until the morning after.

We started the festivities last Friday with fireworks, dancing on the streets, etc. but really, people actually started celebrating way before that. It was the festivities before the festivities. Anyways, I still have two more days of fiesta left and I'll be glad when it's over. I can't keep up with all the drinking and dancing that lasts until dawn. However, I have been taking advantage of the amazing activities, such as the food competition, the bull fight (seen here), watching traditional Peruvian dances, the cuy competitions, Peruvian concerts, etc.

Here was my first bull fight. Did you know that bull fights are really violent? They actually stab the bull early on to weaken it so that the matador doesn't get hurt (picture 2). And then eventually they kill it (picture 1) and drag it off. All this while people are cheering and yelling. PETA would never allow this in the states!

Platos tipicos

So this is the eating portion of our fiesta. It's actually a competition to see who can make the best dish. So the Peruvians come out just to show off their finest. I don't know if you can tell by the first photo, but there is actually a line of food, about 30 plates in total.

And let see if you can guess who was one of the judges of this fine event...ME!!!! (He he. See previous blogs about my bad ass celebrity status. Um hmm...) Yep, that's right, little ol' me who knows nothing about traditional Peruvian food but I've watched enough Food Network to make my way down the line and grill the Peruvian women about their dishes. Despite almost busting a seam in my pants afterwards, you'll be happy to know that I tried out every single dish.

Unfortunately, typical dishes in Peru usually consists of cuy...like a mountain of it. I must have tried out almost 15 different types of cuy dishes. This was bad for the girl who had so far refrained from eating cuy because she just couldn't stand the thought of eating their cute little furry selves. But yet here I was. Photo 4 is an example of the type of cuy that I ate. (Ugh...shudder) and, then afterwards in Peruvian custom, you're supposed to wash your cuy down with this homemade liquor of chicha (picture 3) made of fermented spit. (Yep, I did that, too, for quite a few cups...an afternoon of guinea pig eating and getting drunk off homemade liquor.) There actually was a group of audience on the stands who were watching us throughout this whole thing so I didn't want to offend by refusing Peruvian formalities.

Anyways, picture 2 was eventually the winner. She made this fried cuy dish that was seasoned just perfectly and, see, I'm actually eating it! But after this, I think no more cuy for quite a while. Afterwards, I walked by the cuy cages and, with my full belly, just couldn't look those little guys in the eyes.

Rey Cuy!

This is the cuy (guinea pig) contest. The man shown in the photo is the judge and a cuy doctor so he went down the line in order to inspect the cuyes. Ultimately, a King Cuy is crowned with a robe and everything. I, unfortunately, had to leave and wasn't able to stay for that part. But some of these cuyes were huge and weighed more than 7 pounds each!

Feliz Cumpleano, Senor Alcalde!

Let me start or end your day with a laugh (or a cry still from me). So the other night, I was invited to this grand party thrown in celebration of the mayor's birthday. Now let me assure you that not any riff-raffs were allowed in; only leaders and government mover and shakers. (People with whom I want to rub elbows with should I want to make things happen later on.)

Everything was going swimmingly until someone had the brilliant idea that I should help out with the cake serving. No big deal, right? That is until you take in the following factors: (1) It was dark and (2) there was a big ol' ditch in between the tables that I failed to see. So what happened next? Of course, I just happened to be holding a tray full of cake slices when I tripped over the damn ditch, yelled out a really ungraceful "WOOAAHH!!" which caught everyone's attention, then fell sprawed out onto the ground, with cakes landing all on one side of my face.

To add insult to injury, this spectacular fall was made right in front of the Mayor (yeah, Feliz Cumpleano a ti) and, as it was, there already wasn't enough cake for everyone.

No, I didn't cry...but instead hid in the next room. :( And even if I wanted to forget about the incident, I wasn't able to. As the people got drunker, they thought it would be a good idea to re-cap my fall for me right down to the "WOOAAHH!!" (Someone even told me that it was too bad they didn't have their video camera for You Tube!!!) So for the rest of the night, I relived it visually and verbally for gaw knows how many times.

That was my first--and, no doubt, last--invite to a government party.

Exito! Encontre un Chino!

Once upon a time, I heard of a magical place called "Huamachuco" that was filled with Chinese people with whom I could practice my Chinese with. On this particular day, I made the 2 1/2 hour journey to find out if that was true...

"Bastante Chinos," my arse! There was a grand total of 1 Chino, who was also the owner of the only Chinese restaurant in Huamachuco. This lone Chino didn't speak Spanish and was so happy to finally see another fellow Chino that he made me some Chinese pastry with ingredients that was imported from China (pictured below) and talked to me for two hours. (Him: "I can't believe there's another Chinese person here!") He was just so happy that he offered to cook me traditional Chinese dishes whenever I was in town.

Being the only Chinese in my town, I think I caught a glimpse into my own future. Or as my friend said, maybe I'm there already. "You traveled 2 1/2 hours just to see if there were Chinese people!" Hmph! I'd like to think that I was there for other reasons as well, like check out all the potatoes I found in the market. (Peru supposedly boasts over 1000 type of potatoes, but really, they all taste the same to me.) And look at puny little me standing underneath the church arch. (I'm even flashing a peace sign...How very Asian!) And anyways, I'd like to think that I was just trying to find a piece of home. Now with my Chinese friend, Cajamarca's Chinese population is up to 2!

Un regalo temprano para Navidad para ti

My first radio show on Monday was abysmal, a complete and total bomb. I thought they might fire me; I completely froze up. While I wrote for my school newspaper all throughout junior high and high school, I definitely do not think I have a future in radio. As such, today's show went a little better. I even got my first caller! If I don't get fired, I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to use the show as a vehicle to whatever projects I'm working on...and it may be of use to other volunteers as well.

But here's an early Christmas present for y'all. I think you might be able to listen to it in live feed by going to the station's website: http://radiojasiel.com/ and then clicking under "audio en vivo." I'm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 3:00 to 3:30 so I think that's 2:00 to 2:30 Colorado time. I must warn you that right now it's a little ugly and I'm so far using it as a mean to teach a little bit of English through music. Listen at your own riesgo!

Dos cosas...

So two things about this week:

1. I experienced the homesickness that everyone had warn you about. It was like I was happy to be in Peru, but something just always felt missing. So I tried to be hardcore and get over it. But in the end I had over an hour long conversation with my father and felt better. Still miss a lot of things, but that´s to be expected, especially since this is now the longest that I´ve been away from home.

2. One of the local radio stations interviewed me this week and my interview made it on air! There´s a videoclip somewhere, too. But anyways...After my 15 minutes claim to fame, I was offered my own radio show. Yep, you heard right. I do a little bit of this, little of that, throw in some English words here and there, and the youth of Cajabamba is also able to call in and ask for advice (think Delilah on KOSI 101!). Ok, stop laughing, you guys. (The advice thing actually wasn´t my idea.) Anyways, you can hear me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school and if I´m popular enough, maybe all five days of the week. The owner of the radio station thought I would be a good personality on air and that I had a beautiful voice. Hee hee hee.

This reminds me of a story. When I was in China, there was this Canadian dork who lived in China and who fashioned himself as ¨The Dragon.¨ Not that he was anything special, because he wasn´t--tall and lanky with glasses--but his claim to fame was that he was able to speak Mandarin perfectly. Thus, there came movie roles, interviews, CDs, etc. Eventually, he accrued so much wealth that he is now like the pimp of China with a wealth of women and everyone knows him by name.

So I´m thinking that maybe I´ll fashion myself as the ¨Burro¨and life will all be good for me here, too. Hope you guys are doing well in the states.

P.S. Since our father is leaving soon, please make sure to pack him a ¨snack pack¨before he gets on the plane. Otherwise, he might get hungry. :( Nothing too sugary nor salty.

Necesito bolfo

Most days I don't think I have the Peace Corps experience (except when I'm riding in a dump truck). My life now is far cushier than I ever imagined--ie I have a toilet and running water for 1/2 the day. But as a mean to be reminded that I am indeed a Peace Corps volunteer, right now my room smells strongly like cat pee and I think I have bed bugs/fleas. So it's Saturday night...I'm alone in my room...covered in itchy little bumps...scratching away until my skin bleeds...like some animal. :( This is not attractive. I am missing life in the states right about now.

Yo dormi en la camion de basura...Soy Oscar the Grouch de Peru

I spent the day riding in a Peruvian dump truck today...and it was great! Peru has a social assistance program called Vaso de Leche which supplies families of women and children with food/milk. All the food gets piled onto a dump truck and then distributed to families. I spent the day doing just that, handing out food in nearby towns. I felt like a celebrity. All the women waited for us to arrive. (Ok, maybe they were waiting for the food, but it was a really good experience nevertheless.)

At one point I got so tired that I took a nap in the dump truck. I felt like Oscar the Grouch! :)

Festividades en Cajabamba

So this past Sunday I went to my first festival in Cajabamba. I had a great time! First, I got to see La Danza del Diablo (The Dance of the Devil) which were put on by teenage boys wearing silky looking garments (while carrying flowers) and with a plastic mask propped over their heads. (In the picture below, I am modeling such a mask in the black shirt to the left.)

But the best part was when the Cajamarcans started the tradition of stabbing a really, really looong wood pole into a cement hole in the plaza. (Why not, right?) This thing stretched for a block 1/2. And someone even had the idea to attach a huge flag and neon electric-lit cross on top of it. To make matters worst, the men in charge of planting this thing into the ground were all getting drunk while figuring out how to do this. The concoction of choice--a homeade liquor called "Chicha" that is famous in the sierra. (I think it's made with fermented spit--yum--and can actually be dangerous if you make it too strong.) The only tools they had for planting were rope, wood, and manpower. (Yes, the word "shitshow" was not lost on me.) So while the drunk men were heaving away, I was standing in front of the church trying to figure out how this thing wouldn't come tumbling down on us all.

Fortunately for me, I didn't need much time to wonder. A minute later, the men had gotten it almost to an upright position when the pole started to sway and began to fall towards the church...ie where I was standing. I can't remember another time when I almost poop-in-your-pants panicked. The next moment, I was pushing, running, and screaming with the rest of the masses to try to get away. There were so many people that had the men not used all their drunken energy to save us all and upright the thing, I don't know if I'd be posting this blog now...alive and well. Whew! Only in Peru, right?

Well, the next hours afterwards passed by pretty uneventfully. The men somehow secured the pole into the cement though a technology of ropes and then they danced around it while pouring Chicha into the hole. Aw...my first festival in Cajabamba! And I must admit, if the Peruvians were able to do this just with a few pieces of wood and rope, then anything is possible in Peru!

Tengo suerte!

So I feel incredibly spoiled today when I opened up my second package that I received from home. Originally I had asked for a pair of jeans and a box of the Hostess 100 calorie packs, but imagine my surprise to see all this! I actually spent a good 5 minutes of straight pigging out before I realized that I had to make all this last. I was really touched that my sisters, Wendy and Amy, made such an effort to get all the things that I enjoy and even included a picture that was taken of us in March when Wendy got married. (This, of course, was when the waterworks started...)

I feel incredibly bad (not to mention spoiled) that my sisters spent all this money on me (+$60 in postage) but amazingly lucky at the same time that they made such an effort to help alleviate my food struggles (had you noticed?) and to bring me comfort from home.

Thank you so much, Amy and Wendy!

Cosas que me averguenza

So here's how much I like tea: My new host family used to just keep several teabags around the house, but ever since I moved in and drank every one of their packets, they mounted a 100 teabag contraption on the wall "so that I can have tea whenever I want." Sadly, I've only seen these things at the stores; people buy tea here just by the individual packets.

Yesterday I also handwashed all my own clothes. Quite an accomplishment considering I spent the whole day on it! :( (How do these Peruvian women do it in a mere hour??!) When it was all done, I counted that I had a whopping 17 pairs of undies all lined up in a roll. (I was going to take a picture of the line of undies, but I thought it might be a little gross.) Well, at least my host family knows that I change my undies daily, but we could really do with a good dryer around here. (Good fundraising project for any of you.) I'm going to start investigating into the flip-inside-out method. (I can hear you all judging me already, but hey, this is the Peace Corps!)

Last update is that I took on another project...I'll also be teaching at the local institute here on youth development. This is a good project, because finally, some people close to my age! Maybe I'll make friends!

P.S. Yesterday I went on a hike, got lost in the Peruvian sierra for an hour, and the only thought that comforted me was an advertisement for Mini Drumsticks (the ice cream cone, not chicken) that I saw in "People" magazine. (Another volunteer had the magazine sent to her from the states.) All that crunchy chocolatey goodness with sweet creamy vanilla ice cream...Thank you, Nestle, for keeping me alive in my hour of need.

Esta es Cajabamba...

My gym is just two blocks from me. It's weird to have this in the Peruvian sierra...

Y esta es Cajambamba tambien!

...And this is Cajabamba, too!

Fue un buen dia...

I had a good day. First, I created a 3 page "Plan de trabajo" this morning and then met with my soon-to-be-boss. (It was my first plan in Spanish.) The professor actually told me that it was good! (What she doesn't know was that I spent hours working on this puppy and used the dictionary until my fingers went numb, but anyways...) As such, we also agreed that I would start teaching classes Sept. 29. Teaching will be one of the projects that I take on here, because it gives me the opportunity to practice my Spanish and, eventually, it'll also accelerate me to other projects.

Then I went to my step aerobics class. While I was sweating to the oldies, I looked out the window and saw a donkey just moseying on by with a National Geographic looking Peruvian lady by its side. Only in Peru, right?

Then after dinner, my host mother treated me to pineapple pie. We talked and ate.

It was a good day.

Estoy bien...No se preocupe

Sorry, I'm fine now. Just had a minor culture shock episode for a minute there, but I've decided the best thing to do is just to integrate myself more into the community. Luckily for me, while I was on a walk yesterday, I just happened to walk by a facility that looked interesting. In the middle of the Peruvian sierra where women are still in traditional dresses, with pigs and other animals in the backyards, it turned out that the facility was a gym...which offered yoga/step aerobic/muai thay/boxing classes...with legit Richards Simmons music...run by a dude who speaks English. Where am I? Here's a recount of that conversation:

• Katie: [in typical broken Spanish] Hola. Uh...Como estas? Este clase...uh...cuanto cuesta?
• Peruvian: Can you speak English?
• Katie: Oh my gaw, yeah, can you?
• Peruvian: Yeah, it's so weird to find someone who speaks English here.
• Katie: I KNOW!!!

Anyways, it turns out that he was born in Lima, but lived in Miami for two years. He has now moved to Cajabamba because sierra life is just much more peaceful. I went to his class today and it felt just like home (minus the Latin dance moves that he threw in). Yep, I failed miserably when it comes to moving my hips. I'm Asian...I don't play like that. Anyways, I plan on going back to the class everyday since it costs 1.5 soles for each class (ie $.50). :)

Also, I found a Spanish tutor today who will take me on for three days a week. Hopefully, I'll finally be able to communicate. I also start work pretty soon. I met with the director of a program today and she wants to see a work plan by tomorrow. So I better get working on that. Hope you all are doing well and sorry for the minor breakdown the other day. :)

Estoy escondiendo

It feels like it was forever ago that I was with my first temporary host family in Yanacoto. I no longer recall how I felt that first day. So, as a mean to comemorate my first day at my new permanent Peace Corps site--the place that I'll be staying in for the next two years--let me just say this: I'm currently hiding in my bedroom from my new world, my new host family, etc.

That's bad...I know! Hopefully, one day I'll look back at this and laugh. We are now without friends and the other volunteers, my host family and I don't have much to say to each other (I can't understand them and they can't understand me...It's like a whole new dialect here and I'm so frustrated with the Spanish all over again), people in this small town all know one another so they are staring at me like I'm weird, and I feel like I constantly have to make a good first impression since I'll be here for, like, ever.

On top of that, my new host mother, a woman who is so unbelievably good to me and who has hugged me 15 times today (probably more to compensate for my lack of Spanish skills) asked me to talk to this high school drop-out (graduate? See above for blurb being Spanish skill-less) to give her advice about staying (advancing?) in school. Ugh...I have no idea what to say right now that would even translate well. And who am I to be like, "School is cool?"

And then my host dad (who is a really kind feller and tells me all the time that the house is now my home, too) wants me to start working right away. This is probably because I told him (when I first visited two weeks ago) about how I wanted to work and learn right away blah blah blah. Quite frankly, don't we all just say stuff like that sometimes because you thought that day would never come? But, holy crap, that day is here and people actually expect me to do something in this town. So now I start teaching on Thursday with my crap Spanish and I'm teaching because the community has identified that as a need from the Peace Corps volunteer. And then they somehow found out about the dual degree thing and some people has started calling me "Profesora." WTH. It is my first official day here!!

So for these reasons, I'm hiding in my bedroom and I have no intention of coming out until I absolutely 100% need to go pee tomorrow. Yes, yes, I'm lucky to be in the Peace Corps blah blah blah and I truly couldn't stop smiling on the bus ride up, but it's a lot to take in, ok? I'm just a little bit (a lot bit) overwhelmed right now and could use a little bit of everyone's good juju.

P.S. Oh yeah, hope you guys are doing well in the states. Please be sure to update!

Mas fotografias...

So here are a few more pics from our graduation (see blog below). The first one is while a few of us are on the bus getting ready to leave for the night to Lima.

The final two is with my "old" host family that I am leaving behind-- my parents and my sister. It has been an incredible host family experience. I can't say enough good things about them. My family made me their United States daughter and told me that I should never hesitate to come "home" whenever I'm in Lima. They even invited me back for my birthday and Christmas. (I have yet to figure out how to break the news to my new host family that I will be spending Christmas with my old family instead.)

My host mom came to my graduation even though she wasn't feeling well and just went to the emergency room two days ago and my host dad even shed a few tears when I left. (This is big news because Peruvian men aren't supposed to cry.) It's amazing how much we bonded in such a short amount of time. I will definitely miss my Peruvian Yanacoto family!

Habia una graduacion...y horita, somos verdaderos voluntarios!

We graduated from our Peace Corps training on Friday, and now, we are true Peace Corps volunteers! The pictures you are seeing are from the graduation ceremony. A represenetative from the American Embassy was there (along with his secret service men...Very cool!)

We then all stayed the night in Lima on Friday to celebrate. Currently, I'm in capital city Cajamarca again and will leave for my actual site probably tomorrow. It's weird to be apart from the other volunteers. We have been together everyday for the last 2 1/2 months. In that time, I have made some amazing friendships. We experienced a lot together...learning to speak Spanish together, adjusts to Peru together, and they were definitely my comfort whenever I felt homesick or sad.

I'm sad that my friends will not be there anymore, but I'm excited to embark on my Peace Corps journey by myself. I'll be curious to see how I change in these next two years. Even only after 2 months, I can't imagine not being a better person after this. Thank you so much for all your support and encouraging messages. It means the world, er I mean, Peru.