Hitting my one year mark in Peru has caused me to do a lot of reflectin. It's hard to believe that one year ago I had just started Peace Corps training in Lima and I had no idea exactly where I would be or how I would be spending the next 2 years.
How does a person change when they move away from everything and everyone they know to a completely new country, culture, language, job, friends, etc? How does a person change when they are faced with daily challenges and wayyy more alone time them they are accostomed to? Ask any Peace Corps Volunteer and we can tell you how much these types of things will change you. I've been forced to grow and change in more ways than I ever thought possible. And I can also say that I've never been more proud to be an American and thankful that I am from such a wonderful and free country full of liberties.
I have met so many amazing people here in Peru and have formed endless beautiful relationships with some of my students and families in Huallanca. They have taught me countless things but what stands out most to me is that they've taught me how to live simply and slow down. Small town life in Peru is much slower than the fast-pace-always-being-productive-and-on-the-go pace of life in the US and at first it was a difficult transition for me. When I first got to Huallanca I felt useless, bored and a bit depressed that I wasn't busy every second of every day. But the people in Huallanca live slowly and live each moment to the fullest: The women sit in the street and knit for hours every day, the men slowly walk their flock of sheep accross town with no hurry, the kids and youth "pasear" (walk around) the streets with each other without any particular purpose or mission. Oh-and people are ALWAYS late for everything (and I mean like super late, like up to an hour late) which of course drove me crazy at first. But now I am used to this slow pace of life and I love it. I sit outside with my host family and do nothing but chat, laugh, and share stories. Sometimes we just site in the grass and admire the beauty of the mountains and nature in silence. And I love it. I feel like I've finally learned to be content just being.
Since I've been in Peru for a year now I want to reflect on a few aspects of my daily life here in my cute little town of Huallanca, Bolognesi, Ancash, Peru:
Who I work with:
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| Elementary aged kids |
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| Recently graduated teens and young moms |
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| Students at the local high school. |
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| Weekly sex ed groups with teens at the health center. |
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| My silly students :) |
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| Helping the little ones out with homework. |
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| With my awesome s at a sexual education training we went to. With out these guys I wouldn´t be able to work and do projects! I have awesome counterparts and I am very l ucky! |
What I eat:
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| POTATOES... |
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| MORE POTATOES... |
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| MORE WEIRD LOOKING POTATOES.... |
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| And last but not least...FERMENTED POTATOES. It´s called "tocosh" and it´s a very popular dish in the region where I live. To make it they basically bury potatoes in the earth and put water in the whole to make the potatoes ferment. And then they eat them. |
Ok so here in the Andes of Peru we mainly eat potatoes as you can see. But when we aren´t eating potatoes, this is what we eat:
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| Gineua pigs |
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| Cow stomach (don´t worry they cook it first). |
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| Sheep head (it´s almost always eaten in soup) |
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| Sheep blood (usually fried) |
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| Fish head soup. |
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| We eat normal-ish things sometimes too ;) |
Things that never fail to make my day:
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| Kids walking their animals |
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| Sheep |
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| Piggies |
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| Donkeys! |
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| Mamma and baby sheep |
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| Adorable children everywhere :) |
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| This beautiful smile :) |
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| Babies in ponchos |
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| Beautiful little faces |
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| My amazing host family! Spending time with them always makes my day better! |
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| My god daughter Beranis and her little brother Ronaldo |
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| My adorable little one Araceli |
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| I always visit these little girls and their family because they are so cute |
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| One of my favorite little girls that I always see in the street |
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| Moms washing clothes |
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| Family meals with my amazing host family |
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| My god daughter Beranis and her little brother Ronaldo |
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| Mommas caring for their babies-so sweet! |
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| Love this family! |
Thats all for today, thank you! I am currently in Lima anxiously awaiting the arrival of my mom and aunt!! They are coming to visit me here in Peru and I can't wait to share all of this beauty with them!
