Let's go camping!

About twice a year, each Peru region that has volunteers tries to have a camp for youth. Usually one for all boys and one for all girls. This past May, my region (La Libertad) held Camp V.A.L.O.R. (VALOR in English means "Values") for more than 70 youth from across the region, both coast and sierra. The youth learned about basic values that make up a true "Ironman" (yes like the movie): Respect, honor, maturity, etc. They also learned about leadership and Sexual Health.

 

 

The students visited a few technical schools to learn about future careers and also scholarships that can help them get there.

 

 

Here, the boys are learning about techniques of working out without the use of weights. They really enjoyed it. (Plus, we were able to see the "tough kids" sweat a little bit!) In the background are our red and blue tents we camped in.

 

We use a lot of non-formal education in Peace Corps. This is game we use to build teamwork and critical thinking skills. SO FUNNY to see some of the positions they had to come up with. You could see their competitive nature come out.

 

 

Here's me and my 3 kids from Huamachuco. (I was a team leader on the yellow team... and we won most spirited!) It's nice bringing youth outside of their normal learning environment and see them flourish/break their personal limitations.

 

For those of you who helped donate to our camp, THANK YOU! Because of you, we were able to reach a lot of youth in a unique, fun, and yet educational atmosphere. In October or November, we're looking to put on Camp ALMA (soul in English), which targets youth girls and teaches them how to be strong, independent women that value themselves.

 

It's gonna be MAY

 Trying to be more frequent with my updates. Here we go:

 

 

When you come up into the mountains from the coast, there's a distinct difference in the climate. Within 184 kilometers (112 miles or so) the terrain changes from sea level and dusty, humid, flat, and dry (never rains harder than a mist really), to more than 10,000ft above sea level, frequent torrential downpour, mountainous (switchbacks), and a sun so intense it can almost dry clothes faster than a dryer.

 

 

And so if you come up to the mountains during the day, you usually pass through a "cloud layer" is what I call it. And when you think you've seen it all, you keep going up and up and up. And then you can't breathe. And let me just mention that even though my site is only 112 miles from the coast (I'm thinking an hour and a half drive on I-10 at 75 miles an hour, right? Because of switchbacks, curves, round-a-bouts and the general amount of altitude you gain from the drive, it takes a little over 3 hours. When the road wasn't paved or only partly paved (as recent as last fall) it took about 5-6 hours. Years before, I've heard it would take over 8 hours at times... I think I would have requested a site change at that point.

 

 

I've got to throw in an Oscar update of course. I met his mom back in February and pretty soon she is leave to move back to Spain. I think she wants to move back, which would be great to get to know her more. From what Oscar has told me, and what I have seen, she is strong and admirable for her character. I'm really glad to have met her during her visit back to Peru. I hope to learn some recipies from her in the future :-)

 

 

For a weekend visit, I went to Cajabamba, which is in the region of Cajamarca. It's only about an hour and a half from where I live, and it's a nice weekend-get-a-way. Above is a picture of their cemetary. It reminded me of Louisiana where we bury many people above ground due to lack of space below. Believe me, at 10,000 feet, they're not lacking any space here but it's nice to see something familiar so far from home. I was looking for the oldest grave, but I only saw back to 1915... maybe there's an older part of the cemetary I didn't find.

 

 

Above is the central market in Cajabamba. It's organized and each vendor has their apropriate space. What I like is that each meat/fish/etc. stand is set up the same, and has its own sink and workspace. My site's market leaves a bit to be desired. It doesn't have a proper roof because it's a bunch of stands bunched together. It smells, vendors are all over the place, etc. I'm not saying it's not great, but compared to this one in Cajabamba, it's nice to know my mayor is planning on converting ours into something like this one. Yay for progress!

 

 

When you live in Peru, it is known to be true that you can learn to sleep anywhere. This man was fast asleep atop a motorcycle on May 1st, Peruvian's labor day. About 30 people were passing by him and he never woke up. I snapped a picture to share.

 

 

And finally, to leave you with this beautiful double rainbow I caught on camera earlier in May. Even when I'm freezing and damming the rain, it's nice to be reassured that beautiful things can still happen when you're negative on the world. It just kisses you right back.

 

Until the next time! Hasta la proxima!