Mid Service Fun

On August 19th, we officially hit our one year service mark. And when I say we, I mean the group of volunteers that I arrived to Peru with, trained with for ten weeks, and swore in with.  Since it was our year mark, what better to do than go to Lima for some more training as well as medical and dental appointments. Oh and we had to poop in a cup to get tested for parasites but I won´t go into detail about that since any normal person would be very grossed out. (I use to be normal and then I joined the Peace Corps!)   ;)

So yes, for our year mark we had to go to Lima for a bunch of appointment but we really didn´t mind because it meant that we all got to be together for a whole week. We don´t get to see each other very often since we all live in different parts of Peru. So when we do see each other, it´s always a fun time.

While spending the week in Lima, I not only got to spend a lot of time with my Peace Corps friends but I also got to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend who lives in Lima. I was one happy girl!

Reunited with friends!

On a sushi double date with my boyfriend and some Peruvian friends from Lima.

During one of our days of training in Lima, they had us reflect on our year of service. They also highly congratulated us for making it this far. We basically all agreed that we know this year is going to fly by and that it won´t be nearly as difficult as our first year was. Our first year of service was full of adjusting to a whole new country, language, culture, food, family, job and way of life…all while being away from everything familiar to us and being very homesick and literally sick to our stomachs with parasites. Needless to say, it was a year full of every kind of emotion. Don´t get me wrong, my first year of service was amazing but it was also very challenging. After getting through that first year of service, I now know that I can get through anything! Which may sound dramatic, but   it´s seriously how I feel.

I am now back in good ol´ Huallanca and am working hard to start up my latest project.   It´s an after school program at the more impoverished elementary school where I work. I am in the process of applying for a grant for it but I am also trying to get more community support for it to make it more sustainable. And speaking of grants, I found out today that the grant I applied for a few weeks back for my sexual health project was approved! Such great news!

This is what I got to come home to, I am so lucky!!:

My adorable Peruvian siblings and cousins who I love with all my heart! They never fail to make my day!

My loving Peruvian family :)

I am really looking forward to my second year of Peace Corps service and I truly plan to live it to the fullest and take advantage of every day. I love Huallanca and the relationships that I have created here and I want to make the most of my last year here!