WINS

I'm back on my horse, and have been feeling great for two days now.  Reasons I'm in a great mood today:

• Peru is playing Chile in a World Cup qualifier, coming off a huge win in their first qualifying game against Paraguay.  If Peru qualifies this year (by being one of the top 5 teams in South America, excluding Brazil) it will be Peru's first time in the World Cup in THIRTY years, and they have a real chance at it!

My brother and I using Mac Photobooth to pretend that we're in Santiago at the game

• I retrieved TWO care packages from the post office today!  Thank you Mom and Becca!!
• My Dad and I made an awesome lunch together today.  He loved my pesto, so he had bought more basil and we decided to "experiment" with combining my pesto recipe with his spinach sauce recipe.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.  Basil, spinach, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, shallot-type things, aji (spicy pepper), water, and salt.  Cross-cultural WIN.
• Things with my family are back to normal, which means they are constantly cracking jokes at my expense... for example, yesterday I was washing my clothes with the washing machine (Yes, I have a washing machine in the Peace Corps, go figure).  The water has to be added bucket-by-bucket to the machine at the beginning and mid-cycle, so my dad yells to my room "Kim, quiere agua"... to which I responded "No, gracias" thinking that he asked if I wanted water... so he diessssss laughing and then repeats the joke at least 20 times yesterday and today.  Jokes never get old here in Perú.
• I'm making simultaneous progress on my surveys and a small project- all this week I am visiting the English classes of one high school to introduce the email exchange we are going to do with my high school Spanish teacher's classes in the US.  I'm also taking this time to give them a little talking to about the "HELLO HELLO" shouts I have gotten sick of hearing across town.  I told them that since they all know my name now (they actually knew it before I came today, which made me happy) I expect to be greeted with my name, and not by shouts across the park. I said I would love to talk to you too but I will only respond when I am greeted in a respectful way.
• SPRING is coming.  I love me some Vitamin D.
• Other projects are still stumbling along slowly (essentially not moving), but I am less upset about it when my home life is good.  Also, I'm starting to develop good relationships with some previous contacts, so hopefully those translate into actual helpful counterparts at some point.  
• A group of volunteers bought access to watch NFL Sunday games, so I am joining them this Sunday at a great beach, to watch the Redskins v. Eagles game!

Update: the party has been dampered slightly by the fact that 18 minutes into the game, Chile is now winning 2-0... at least I have American candy to help our pain...  

In honor of the Peru v. Chile game, here's a little South American fun fact for you:

• I learned recently that Ecuadorians hate Peruvians.  This goes back to various wars and territorial disputes, which left Ecuadorians feeling pretty bitter.  It also seems that they don't like that the Amazon, Incas, Andes, etc. are all associated with Peru when they are part of Ecuador too.  
• Peruvians don't particularly care about Ecuador because...
• Peruvians hate Chileans.  Haaaaaaate.  Probably comes up on a weekly basis here, about some coastal plate, drink, dance, or other Peruvian tradition that the Chileans are trying to pass off as theirs (popular examples include chicha and ceviche).  "The war" is often brought up as if it was yesterday, even though it was 130 years ago- I thought this was a little ridiculous until a historian in Lima told us "it's just like the Civil War in the United States... feels like yesterday to the losing side."  It is exactly like the Civil War! (At least to my Southern friends)
• From what I have gathered, Chileans don't particularly care about Peru, in fact it's well acknowledged that Peruvian food is better than Chilean food.  Chile doesn't care about Peru because...
• ....I don't know.  Who does Chile hate?  Argentina?

Even in the bad times, I can't imagine ever quitting the Peace Corps.  I came into this experience knowing (vaguely) what I was getting myself into, and I consider the experience, with all of its frustrations, a very important part of my career training.  If I gave up on Peace Corps, I would be giving up on the whole idea of global development...then what would I do?  

A friend from college wrote to me recently asking some questions about my Peace Corps experience, since she is in the application process but having second thoughts about if the experience is worth it.  Here's what I said:

it is definitely extremely frustrating some days, but at least right now i find it more rewarding than frustrating. if you had asked me two days ago i might have said differently!  but even though on-the-ground experience can feel more frustrating than rewarding, i'm telling myself that that's a really important to experience. PC is really unique in the way that we work, supporting projects until they are completed, vs. other NGOs that do great work in trainings, grants, etc but don't provide the support to make really sustainable change (forgive the cliche). the hardest, most frustrating part is working with people who have never finished a long-term project unless it was something un-complicated like cementing a road. PC volunteers push them and support them step by step until an artisan association is organized and formalized, or a grant is written to get funds for a water well. in a lots of towns, i feel like what the developing world lacks is project management experience, and that's what causes the dependence on outside assistance.

So, I will try to keep fighting through the frustrations with the following mantra:

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find I have lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." -Diane Ackerman

Sorry this post was kind of disjointed, but that's where my highly-caffeinated thoughts are today.  By the way, I think instant coffee is more addictive than regular coffee.

1/5 Done with Training

Tomorrow we leave for the mountains of Marcahuasi, after taking a bus ride to San Pedro de Castas from where we ride 2 hours on horseback.  I’m told it is 14,000 ft there, which I am also told (by my friends from Utah and Colorado) will definitely be the highest altitude I’ve ever experienced.  There are no skiing resorts in the US at that altitude, from what I'm told.  Our medical officers have given us altitude pills to take just in case we react badly to it.  At Marcahuasi we will do some sessions in the evening and relax with a bonfire, then do some consulting practice on Saturday with the eco-tourism company there. 

Today I bought one of the classic Peruvian hats called a chullo (choo-yoh) that looks like this:

The cost of living here is absurdly low- my hat was 7 soles (a little more than $2 I think) and to get to the bigger town, I pay between 50 centimos to 1 sol depending on the time of day, approximately 15-30 US cents.

Talking about my “chullo,” you have to be really careful about pronunciation here, because there are so many slang words that are muy parecidos (sound very similar), at least to an American ear:

Choro (chore-roh): pick-pocket

Cholo (choh-loh): Indian, mestizo (can be either affectionate or insulting depending on context)

Cojo (koh-hoe): a person missing one leg

Chullo (choo-yoh): the Peruvian style hat I bought


Churro (choor-roh): good-looking, guapo

Culo (koo-low): ass (I assume this slang is used in Peru too)

Cuyo (koo-yoh): whose

Choclo (choh-cloh)- maize

Choco (choh-koh): I hit (like a car accident)

Chacra: field (agriculture)

Chamba: job

Chompa: pullover jacket

By the way friends, please send me your Skype name if I don’t have it! (Fran, Haley, Jessie, Katie Neal…)

PC-Peru FAQ's for Family and Friends

idea for this post shamelessly stolen from my PC-blog friend Sherlie.

I have NO idea how June 9th is only 10 days way. WHAT.  So, for those of you that I haven't talked to in person recently, here's what I've got ahead of me.  Thank you to my wonderful friends that I don't deserve, that are somehow still interested enough in my life to ask me these questions.

Are you excited?
Yes, definitely.  Since I applied October 2009 and was pretty sure from that point onward that this is what I wanted to do, I'd say I'm pretty well mentally prepared.

Are you nervous?
Less so that I thought I might be.  I definitely have jitters but I think most of them are like starting any new job... will I make good friends? Will I like my work?  The biggest thing I'm 'nervous' about is what I will miss at home.  It's scary thinking that many of my good friends may be settled into totally different lives by the time I get back, and I might come back a somewhat different person too. Basically, I'm most nervous for what I don't see coming.  I see the bugs, bucket showers, food illnesses, and language frustrations coming so I feel pretty settled with that.

Where exactly are you going to be in Peru?
I don't know yet.  I'll be in training about 1 1/2 hrs outside of the city of Lima (still in the 'department' of Lima) for the first 10 weeks, and I'll find out my 2-year site placement towards the end of training.  This allows time for the staff to scope out specific host families and work sites, and supposedly I get some level of participation in the placement, but no promises.  I'll be somewhere in the western half of Peru, either on the coast on in the mountainous areas (the Andes).  No Amazon or George of the Jungle for me.

So you know Spanish already?
I've studied it since 8th grade and have spent some helpful times abroad so when I'm in 'Spanish mode' I am maybe almost fluent, but definitely have LOTS of room for improvement.  If anything, my times abroad (Argentina, Spain, and Nicaragua) have taught me that there are always plenty of more accents and topics I can't understand or express well.  My level of comprehension can range from 100% to 30% depending on the source, accent, topic, my level of fatigue, etc. so I am bound for lots of trying times in Peru.  However, thinking back on how much my comprehension improved during my 5-week homestay in Spain, I am confident that I will have enough skills to do my job after 10 weeks of training (which includes language training and a homestay).  My speaking ability is definitely rusty and in need of some practice.

Do you get to come home at all?
Yes, after getting on site (mid-August) I start accruing 2 days of vacation a month.  I can't leave or have visitors during training or the first 3 months on site, so I will probably do a week-long trip home around Christmas (when I think I'll have 8 days accrued, maybe 6).  I have to pay for all that travel though, so it will probably be 2 trips home total, maybe 3 if something big like a wedding or funeral comes up.

Do you get paid at all?
My travel to and from Peru at the beginning and end of service is covered, I get full health insurance coverage including any prescriptions and procedures, living situation is arranged for me, and I get a stipend of about $300 a month, which will be enough for meals and incidentals.  I also get other small amounts for "resettling" at site and about $6000 when I get back to the States.  Basically, I'll be breaking about even, which is what I think I'd be doing living in DC or NYC, if you think about it!

What kind of living situation are you going to be in? Are you going to be near a city? You'll have other Peace Corps Volunteers close by, right?
All of Peace Corps Peru involves living with a family.  During my 10 weeks of training I will be with a host family that has probably hosted other Trainees before.  There are something like 53 people in my training group (Peru 17), and total Volunteers in country are around 270.  But no, I won't be living with other Volunteers after training.  I will live at my 2-year site with a host family, which will be very helpful in terms of community integration and safety.

In terms of rural vs. city expectations, supposedly they are moving Small Business Development Volunteers (me) into more populated areas this time than they did last time (a year ago).  From what I hear, they thought SBD Volunteers could make a big impact in rural assignments, but in reality they haven't had enough to do, so they are moving us the other direction (more populated) now.  However, I've been warned that my idea of what constitutes a "town" or "small city" is going to vastly change in Peru.  So I might not be in a rural assignment, but I definitely won't be in Lima.  Peru has a ton of smaller cities located in all regions of the country though, so I won't be out of touch with the 'outside world' for more than 2-3 weeks at a time.  I hear that Volunteers & staff meet in our regional capital every 2-3 weeks and I will frequently (maybe every 2 weeks or so) travel to see other Volunteers on weekends.

Do you know what exactly you are going to be doing?
I have a vague idea, yes.  You can check out My Assignment description for details.  The specifics will of course depend on my site placement.  I'm really pumped about the Small Business program, especially in an emerging market as interesting as Peru.

Will you have internet? A cell phone? Electricity? Running water?
According to my Volunteer Assignment Description, it is "very likely" that my site with have electricity and "at least one source of running water."  All PC-Peru Volunteers can buy into a cheap cell phone plan that allows us to call each other for free and call internationally or text cheaply.  I may or may not have cell service at my site, although it sounds like many Volunteers do.  If I do, I will be able to use a cheaply-provided wireless card to get internet. At a minimum, I will be checking into my regional capital every 2-3 weeks where I will have all the amenities my heart desires.

So what made you want to do this?
For a number of years I've been interested in a career in global development work (more specifically, social enterprise work).  I would only feel comfortable speaking on behalf of the developing world's people and their needs if I had lived and worked along side them for a significant amount of time.  So while I am giving up some creature comforts of living in the States, I definitely do not feel like I am "sacrificing" two years of my life- this experience is very much a mandatory (and exciting) stepping stone to my life/career goals.

What do you plan on doing after Peace Corps?
My plan for now is an MBA, at a school that has a strong social enterprise program.  I've taken the GMAT so that if I'm still wanting this route after Peru, I might be able to go straight into school upon my return (my service is schedule to end mid-August 2013).  At the same time, social enterprise is a field that definitely encourages innovation and 'out the box' approaches, so I'm not tied to the idea of business school if it doesn't seem necessary for my next steps into the field.  It's also very possibly that my point of view will change radically enough over the next two years that I completely change career/life goals, so only time will tell!

It's finally real.

I, .............  , am accepting my invitation to serve as a Small Business Promoter Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru, departing June 9, 2011.

I hereby certify that I have read the Volunteer Assignment Description, Online Welcome Book, and Core Expectations and agree to abide by the policies therein.

Thank you so much for this opportunity.  I could not be happier with my job assignment and location.  I would like to thank everyone at the CYD Placement Office for working so hard on behalf of future volunteers.  I know CYD is a department swamped with applications and highly qualified nominees, and it is clear that you all are dedicated to placing volunteers in the best assignments for both the individual and the country.  As a beneficiary of that dedication, thank you for your hard work on behalf of Peace Corps Volunteers.  I am honored to join the ranks of such an inspiring group of people!