Parents come to Huallanca

Over a month ago, my parents came to Peru and we had a fabulous time traveling to Cusco, Iquitos, and of course we spent some time in the area where I live; Huaraz and Huallanca.

Even though it was over a month ago, I want to share some photos because it's too precious not to share and I have had a hard time getting good enough internet to post. So here are some photos of when my parents came to my town and to Huaraz, the capital city of the state I live in.

We went to go look for my Peruvian mom and she was up on a hill gathering grass for the pig's bed so we had to climb a little mountain to get to them :) 

My wonderful Peruvian mom

We made pachamanca as a celebration of having my parents there. 

Cooking pachamanca

Hanging out and waiting for the pachamanca to cook

They loved their pachamanca!

Dancing Huayno

My dad entertaining some of the young boys with yoyo tricks.

It also happened to be my little sister's birthday so we celebrated that too :)

It was so beautiful having my US American and Peruvian families together! 

Great end to my parents visit in Huallanca :)

We also spent a few days in Huaraz and did some exploring there. We saw a beautiful glacier and my dad and I did a hike. My dad was feeling a bit nervous about the hike because of the altitude and feeling that he was out of shape. But he did a great job and made it to the top and I was so proud of him :-)

Glacier Pastoruri 

The beautiful lake at the top of the hike we did (lake 69). 

My best friend Ethan is currently visiting me so there will me more beautiful photos to come soon!

26 Miles

Since 2009, Lima has held a marathon race every May in which you can run a 10k, 21k (half marathon), or 42k (full marathon). Last year I ran the half marathon and at the end of the race I felt like I could have kept going so I knew that this year I wanted to go for the full marathon!! So I decided to run my first marathon this year and I started training in January. Training while being a Peace Corps Volunteer is difficult because we don`t always have set schedules and life can be a bit unstable. Also, I live in the mountains at a very high elevation where all the roads are very hilly and there are mean dogs who try to attack you. So training was a bit difficult at times but I survived and now its over!

Running a marathon was awesome, obviously very challenging but it feels great to have accomplished such a difficult experience. The last 6 miles were quite rough but it felt so good to cross that finish line with all of my Peace Corps friends cheering me on :-)

Today I can hardly walk due to sore knees, hips, feet, muscles, enormous blisters, and with my big toenail hanging by a thread. But it was all worth it and I am already looking into other marathons that I could run in the future in the US!

Picking up our shirts and kits the day before  the race

Arriving at the starting line ready to rock the race! 

A photo I got offline of the start of the race!

Me finishing up the last stretch

Finishing strong! I was totally in the zone. 

Just after the race.

Most of the Peace Corps Volunteers who ran the full marathon.

Some of the volunteers who ran the half and full marathon.

Celebrating with a delicious sushi dinner at the end of the day with my boyfriend Jerry and my best friend Ethan.

Peru 19 Closing of Service

Peace Corps Peru-Group 19. It seriously feels like just yesterday that we all met for the first time during Peace Corps staging in Washington DC and then flew out to Peru a day later to start this crazy journey together. We all went through training together during our first 10 weeks in Peru before separating to move to different parts of all over Peru to begin our two years of service. And now almost two years later, we are just about to finish up our service and we only have a few months left in Peru.

Every country in Peace Corps has a COS (Close of Service) conference for volunteers which generally takes place a few months before we leave country to get us mentally prepared to do so. Peru 19 had their COS conference about a week ago. They sent us all to Lima to have our final dental and medical appointments as well as a two day conference to reflect about our service and talk about the future. It was a real wake up call and a good start to the closure for our two years in Peru as we get ready to close our projects and leave our communities.

Peru 19: The most adventurous and inspirational group of people that I have had the opportunity to be a part of who have already made a difference in this world and will continue to do so throughout life!  

Youth Development volunteers know how to bring out our inner child :-)

Two years has flown by and we will soon part ways. But my fellow volunteers will be friends that I have for life!