Life in the Mountains

I have dreamed of living in the mountains, and when I woke up my first morning on Peru I realized I was living my dream. The first day the group of 57 of us went through orientation. This group of PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) happens to be the largest one yet accepted in Peru, because the program has expanded to include Water and Sanitation Volunteers, the group I am part of. We met the PCP (Peace Corps Peru) staff - all whom are incredibly nice - met the APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director), the head of each respective project, and the crew of spanish teachers that will be teaching us. The day continued with a spanish quiz which caught me off guard! Everyone had a 20 minute interview in spanish to assess what level of spanish we are at. I went in and with confidence in being able to hold a conversation and during the interview I found that I need to work on expanding my 'muy piquenito' vocabulary! But all in all, I still have confidence that I can survive. :)

As part of surviving I had to go to the store to buy banana chips and snacks, because Peruvianos eat lots, and lots of bread. Bread, pasta, more bread, crackers, noodles, more bread, all things I can not eat. As of this afternoon I thought I would only be surviving on on the meat inside the sandwiches, rice, snacks and peanut butter. But now, I have my Peruviano family and my mother is soooo accommodating!

About my family - they are amazingly nice. The way it was set up, we were having lunch with our language teacher and families came into the PC compound to meet the person that was going to live with them during the next 10 weeks. It was quite interesting, actually. I felt like I was in an orphanage waiting to see what parents had I had been assigned to! When they walked in, they were smiling from ear to ear - my mother and two sisters (15 and 5). We exchanged kisses and greetings, then got the new family photo right from the beginning. :) It was sooo welcoming! I also found out that the neighborhood I am living in is host to a total of 15 volunteers, so I am probably going to get to know a lot of the other families here.

This day has now been so jamb packed with interpreting spanish, being one space shy of winning 200 soles in a game of Bingo, going to a carnival, meeting the extended family, and having two very filling meals. I have almost moved into my room, but am going to leave the rest of the moving for tomorrow.

My training starts for real tomorrow with language, water and sanitation information (we are going to be building a latrine and learn about water purificaiton this week). I think I am going to start up a yoga class for the other volunteers as well, since there are about 10 of us who do, or are interested in doing, yoga.

So much to do, so much to soak up, and so much to share. Time to close my eyes and wait to wake up to the mountain view tomorrow. Tengo excito!