Reflections – One Peace Corps Year Later

For those of you keeping track, I’ve been in Peru a little over a year now. And since anniversaries seem to bring about reflection, I think this is as good a time as any for my 8^th blog post ever (sorry I am the WORST at keeping this up).

I can say unequivocally that this has been the most challenging experience of my life. Sometimes I find myself wrapped up in day-to-day frustrations: Yes, I shower out of a giant red rubber trash bin that collects dirt, human hair and skin, and worse; yes, I recently discovered that I eat heart valves and intestines on a weekly basis (originally thought to be seafood); yes, the daily street harassment from men in this country makes me black out with rage from time to time; and yes, I currently have an infestation of tiny white sand bugs covering every surface of my bedroom that won’t die no matter what I spray at them. But whatever. Add these things up and they still don’t come close to the good.

Peace Corps and Peru have given me so much that I have trouble defining exactly what it is. Which may be why it’s easier to talk about the bad sometimes – they’re tangible things (and usually funny). But this experience has changed my mind and changed me, for better or for worse. I have learned so much in this year – about Peru, about the world, about what it means to be a human, but most surprisingly to me, about myself.

My heart has been opened in ways I never thought possible (can y’all imagine me speaking this way 12 months ago?? Uh, no.). I’ve made friends here that will be part of my heart and soul forever. My host mom and 3 and 6 year old host nieces have taught me so much about unconditional love that it makes my heart hurt. I’ve been amazed by the capacity for human generosity and the resilience of the human spirit. I’ve been moved by people’s faith, by their support and compassion for their neighbors in times of hardship. They are barely getting by, yet will give you anything they have to help you buy medicine for your kids. They have very little food, yet they are desperate to share their pack of soda crackers with you.

I’ve realized and changed my mind on many things, big and small, including love, time, things I’m good at, things in which I am desperately lacking, the kind of person I want to be, and what makes people happy, among others. In all honesty, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you needing love in your life in order to be happy was a sign of weakness. If you couldn’t go it alone, then you weren’t a strong person. But after just one year in this place, I see how ridiculous that notion is. Love is it. And I think it might literally be what makes the world go 'round.

Being here, completely stripped of everything familiar, of any comfort and all distractions, and doing this kind of work has forced me to be honest with myself. It’s exposed me to things I’m passionate about (women’s lib, amiright?!). And now, more than ever, I know how lucky I am just to have been born in America. I know how lucky I am to have a family who has supported me and made it possible to do literally anything, to have friends who believe in me and help me keep it real.

I recently went home to visit the states and that trip was up there with the most wonderful two and a half weeks of my life. I couldn’t have asked for better, and it made me see very clearly how important the people I love are in my life. I was worried that it would be really hard to come back to Peru after so much love, comfort, fun, DELICIOUS food, and luxuriousness (1500 thread count Egyptian cotton?? I mean, come on!) And surely the transition wasn’t entirely smooth. God knows I miss spicy buffalo wings already, I wish I could use my iPhone to call my friends whenever I want, and I was exhausted for 3 full days after arriving in Peru. But coming back...not as hard as I thought. As much as I love America, as much as I love the people who live there, and look forward to going back eventually; it is not the place I’m meant to be right now. I am where I’m supposed to be. Living with whatever hardships I am supposed to live with to learn whatever lessons I am supposed to learn. I am lucky to be here.

This is not to say it’s all rainbows and sunshine. As anyone who talks to me on a daily basis knows, there are many times throughout any given day when I think someone could use a good punch in the face or all I can think about is how nice it would be to take a real shower or be able to eat a vegetable without fear. But when I take a step back and think about where this journey has taken me, I know it’s been worth it. Perspective. Peace Corps and Peru helped me learn that too.

I miss you all and love you so much.

Love,

Kimberly

I Love Fan.

Well, we made it to summer. And as the days get hotter and I spend more and more time lying perfectly still on my tile floor to try and stop sweating, I finally gave in and purchased a fan. And what a glorious purchase it has been. The fan purchase is often bewildering to our Peruvian families, but so is most of what we do so since there’s no way around it I say let your freak flag fly. Cut to me doing P90X Kenpo Karate in my room while they stare at me through my window like a panda misplaced in the reptile exhibit at the zoo.

I was told summer would be slow work wise because the kids are out of school, it’s really hot, and a lot of people are on vacation, but thankfully I have found a lot to keep me busy. I realize looking at my past posts I’ve never really written about what it is that I do for work. Part of that’s because it is constantly changing and part of it’s because a big part of our work is somewhat hard to define and can’t be categorized into activities. Just being here and living and working and sharing our lives with our communities is a big part of our job. Probably the best and hardest part.

BUT let’s talk about categorical activities: right now we’re in the midst of “Vacciones Útiles”, literally useful vacations. Wednesdays I teach a geography/culture class to elementary and middle schools students. We’ve each made our own passports and every week we visit a new country and learn about their culture, history, and art, eat their food, and listen to their music. Super adorable! I also have a radio show with two other volunteers every Wednesday morning at 7:15 am (which you can listen to online here www.radiolanortena.com if you’re up that early and want to learn tips for a healthy, happy home in Spanish!).

I’m teaching an English class to high school students on Thursdays and starting next week I’ll be teaching an exercise class for women and mothers on Mondays and a dance class for  4 – 8 year olds on Tuesdays. I’m really excited for both, especially the exercise class because my hope is that it will offer these women something they can do just for themselves. They spend their whole lives taking care of other people and tend to neglect their own needs. Plus it’s healthy! Which is good because more than half the adult population in my town is overweight, I think mostly due to a diet heavy on carbs and sugar.

I’ll do all of this until March when school starts again, when I will hopefully begin what I plan to be my main project for the year: a sexual health program with my health post for the two big public schools in my town. The rate of teen pregnancy in Monsefú is super high and the information on sexual health that they have access to is horrifyingly scarce slash inaccurate. So I’m hoping this program will help to address some of these and other issues. I’m working on getting the project going now but everything in Peru is a very long, superfluously documented process. I also hope to continue with the exercise and dance classes throughout the year. But it’s all a big maybe, ya know? That’s Peru.

Anyway, this is more of a nuts and bolts type post but it seemed silly to have given you no information whatsoever about my tangible work, so here it is! I miss you and love you all so much. Thank you to all my family and friends who have been so wonderful and supportive of me. I feel like I can’t say that enough. Lastly, I AM SO FRAKIN EXCITED FOR THE ARRIVAL OF DANIELLE ZURALOW AND BRITTANY RYAN IN TWO WEEKS!!!! I JUST HOPE I DON’T STROKE OUT FROM THE ANTICIPATION BEFORE THEY GET HERE!

Peace, Love, and Ceviche,

Kimberly