I MADE IT!

Hola Compadres! ESTOY EN PERU!!!!!!! Finally! It was a long time coming but all signs so far point to it definitely being worth the wait. My epic Peace Corps journey began almost 2 weeks ago in Georgetown for staging, after which I had my last American meal consisting of buffalo wings from Rhino Bar (obviously) with Danielle Zuralow and Brittany Ryan, two of my favorite people who I’m counting on to hold down the fort while I’m gone. Dominos isn’t going to order itself, Brittany.

So anyway, I’ve been in Peru for the last 11 days. The first two I spent at a “retreat” center with the rest of my fellow Voluntarios from Peru 19 (that’s the name of our “class” slash volunteer group because we are the 19^th group of volunteers to come into Peru since Peace Corps re-entered the country) but literally we were like enclosed in a compound of Americans and didn’t leave the whole weekend, so I didn’t actually enter what I consider to be real Peru until last Sunday, when I met my host family and found out where I’m going to live for the next 3 months for training in Lima – and by Lima I mean like an hour outside the main city. 

My host family is so nice! No little kids which I was kind of hoping for, but there are at least 10 people living in this house with me, including my host mama y papa, 6 host brothers and sisters ages 16 to 31, the oldest sister’s husband who lives upstairs with her, my host grandmother (mi abuelita), and also a few aunts who I’m not sure if actually live here or are just here a lot. Either way it’s a lot of people coming and going and I’m totally into it. There are also two dogs living in the house, as well as a rabbit and a giant cage full of guinea pigs on the roof, which unfortunately I think we eat. Yeah. 

Mi abuelita is the cutest little old lady I have ever seen in my life. She is exactly how I pictured a Peruvian grandmother to be – number one she looks to be about 150 years old, she’s way under 5 feet tall, has two long gray and black braids down her back, and wears full traditional skirts. I gotta get some pictures up because it’s just too good to be true. Every time she walks by me she rubs her hands down my hair and face because she has automatic love for me. 

I live in the neighborhood of Chacrasana which is nice because there are about 10 other volunteers living on the same street (Chacrasana is all one street). My first day with my host family consisted of a giant lunch of rice, potatoes, and spicy chicken (this has been most of my meals so far actually), watching the Peru vs. Uruguay soccer game with the fam, followed by a two hour nap, dinner (rice, potatoes, chicken), and a spectacular rendition of Brave Heart dubbed in Spanish. I have to say I’m really impressed with the dubbing of American films here, impeccable work. So all and all not too shabby of a Sunday, eh? Oh by the way, my house for these 3 months of training has electricity, running water, AND the internet. No hot water but I need to have something uncomfortable or I would feel like I was cheating.

I also received my first “nice insult” very early on, like day 2 – Peruvians are known for being extremely blunt and political correctness just isn’t really a thing here. So on the “Combi” (the bus/van they use for public transportation) a man moving by said “perdon, flaquita”, which means “excuse me, skinny girl”. So fingers crossed I keep getting that one and this steady diet of rice and potatoes doesn’t change that to “perdon, gordita”. Only time will tell. I do have to walk up a mile-long giant hill, which to me is more like a mini mountain, everyday to walk from the bus stop to my house so that should help. All of Chacrasana is on one giant hill street. It’s also surrounded by mountains on all sides, so kind of like a mini mountain valley surrounded by bigger mountains. Again, I need to get some pictures up so you can see what I’m talking about. ANYWAY so much more has happened since then but I want to start from the beginning, I’ll try to write regularly now that I’ve got this thing up and know where the best internet café in town is (I’m integrating). I miss and love you all back home and I will keep you posted! Write me in any form – email, comments here, or (gasp!) REAL mail! I can give you the address if you’re interested – so let’s keep in touch. I LOVE YOU!

Love, Kimberly