Mom meets Peru

So Ms. Awannah Buelterman came to el Peru! I honestly never thought that would happen. Mom has never even been outside of the US! (If you don't consider going literally "across the border" to Canada when she was younger). It was so weird (yet satisfying) to be able to show her my reality; what I live every day. We started out by meeting Oscar in Trujillo and doing some city tours. I myself enjoyed learning some new things about my regional capital.

 

Oscar helping mom across a glass-top walkway.

 We went to the famous "Huanchaco" and Mom tried CEVICHE, a traditional Peruvian dish with raw fish ("cooked" in lime juice) paired with white rice and a salad of purple onions and tomatoes. Mom was trying all sorts of new foods in her two-week stay (including cow heart, guinea pig, and sheep's intestines).

Oscar, mom and I in Huanchaco
 

After about 4 days in Trujillo we went to my site, Huamachuco, which is about 4.5 hours into the mountains from Trujillo. We visited where Oscar works (an ancient archelogical site called "Wiracochapampa") and got an unofficial tour from an archeologist. Mom just kept saying "Wow, bonita bonita."

The weekend that we were there, Huamachuco was celebrating their patron saint, Saint Francis de Asis. Thousands of St. Francis patrons line the streets barefoot, carrying a red carnation in their mouths, honoring their Saint. They also color sawdust and make intricate "paintings" depicting their Saint in different stages of his life. You can see the deeply-rooted tradition of the Huamachuco people and the high-importance of their religion in holidays like this.

Patrons of St. Francis walking through the paintings made by sawdust.

We spent a relaxing day in thermal baths about an hour and a half from Huamachuco. After opening our pores in our private baths, we messed around on the jungle gym and took a short hike to explore.

 



My mom also got to meet my Peruvian mom and dad. I had to translate everything, but it was nice seeing my two "families" mesh together. Mom's invited back to their house even if I don't live there.



Julio, me, mom, and Margarita

 My mom left mid-October and says she can't wait to come back. She says she'll be back to Peru within two years. I finish my contract with the Peace Corps this upcomming August (yes, two years has FLOWN BY!) and I'll be able to visit her and the rest of my family for a little bit.

 

Mom's three words to summarize her trip to Peru: LAND OF CONTRAST

 

And let this be an official invitation to ANYONE who wants to come to Peru to visit me. You will not have to pay to stay at my house and you will eat so much food! (Don't worry, I have PeptoBismol).

Bringing "Sexy" Back

Well, it's not sexy I'm bringing back, that's for sure, but it's a blog update with pictures. *Cue the "YAYYYY" It's been too long. Let's just call it one of those fancy TV "hiatus" where it breaks off mid-season and the plot is too good to wait till fall and you look for any clues in online gossip blogs and stalk the celebrities Instagram acounts hoping for a sneak peak. Just like that, right? I have to say I had a sliver of hope you'd stalk me for Peace Corps life updates.

 

I'm doing a brief overview of the 'haps in August, September and October. Day-to-day life isn't that exciting so it's best to review the highlights and update on the generals.

 

In August, I helped the Municipality with their first annual Job Fair. To be honest, a job fair was one of my main project ideas coming to Huamachuco. A lot of youth get stuck in the mentality that anything beyond highschool is unreachable (due to lack of money, lack of motivation, lack of experience/skill, etc.) Peace Corps set up a booth amidst the other colleges and universities (representing Huamachuco and Trujillo, our region's capital). We had over 250 juniors and seniors stop by our booths to listen to our mind-blowing information on about how to set and achieve goals, things to keep in mind when picking a career, and where to find scholarships. Some of them came to stare more than listen (and to steal our candies), but at least they came.

 



Our little Peace Corps booth!



 



Alejandra and I



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alejandra is my new site mate. She's a Business volunteer and she came to Huamachuco mid August, 2014 and will be here working until August 2016.

 

September rolled around and Youth Day did too. Peace Corps participated by helping out in the day of competitive games. Different high schools participated in these games in order to win points and ultimately computer tablets they could raffle off for their end-of-the-year celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Games included sack racing, carrying eggs on spoons, popping balloons, etc. It was all to celebrate the day of the "joven" or "youth." Peace Corps led the "Marshmallow Challenge" game (check out the challenge here: MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE) Groups had to build the tallest free-standing structure with ONLY 20 spaghetti sticks, 3 feet of masking tape, 3 feet of yarn and 1 marshmallow that goes on top. Whichever team measures the highest (from the base of the structure to the marshmallow) wins. The students were frustrated because we didn't give them instructions on how to build their structure, and that was the point. They had to use critical thinking and team work to come up with a base that would not only hold the weight of the marshmallow but be high enough to outwin other schools. First go-round was a little rough and only 2 of the 8 schools' structures withstood the final measurement so we did it again and we had 6 structures standing at the end.

 

 

 

 

Mid October we had CAMP ALMA which is a camp for youth girl where we focus on strengthening their leadership skills while developing skills in topics such as self esteem, sex ed, and career building. I brought three of my youth leaders from my youth group. They did extreemly well and I'm proud to be their Peace Corps volunteer! It was an exhaustive 4 day camp (I felt like a zombie by day 3) but I always personal get a lot out of camps. I feel like I can be my crazy wacky self but all with purpose of motivating and energizing others so they can get more out of their experience. Call me crazy (you probably already have) but it's what I enjoy the most of being a Peace Corps volunteer.