dropping

Two days ago I looked at my watch and it happened to be 4:20 and I had a revelation. It was, that I had gone through the hottest part of the day without feeling a drop of sweat drip down my back or chest. Oooooh man! It`s becoming `winter´ which means it is gunna get like 10 degrees cooler! How faaabulous! There is now water in the two rivers, the fields are turning green because finally have water and people can grow stuff. Life is thriving here in Palpa. Thriving.

I feel like I am thriving as well. I switched houses a little more than 2 months ago now and have grown used to my new family quite easily. There is more space than any one person needs, I play games with my little brothers, joke with my older brother and get help with anything from my mother. Also, another PCV, Kate, lent me her guitar for the next few weeks and I have started playing that which is just fabulous for my soul. Another fabulous thing is that I have had the chance to start painting after buying water paints and paper. Also cleaned out one of the many rooms I have and made it my `yoga room´. And, with the fabulous view from my roof I have enjoyed many nights stargazing and looking for the shooting stars (estrellas fugas).

A week ago was the Semana Santa here, which is the week leading up to Easter. All of Latin America makes a big deal about celebrating this holiday and the volunteers were given timeoff to take vacations is desired. With a group of 14 of us, we went to the selva in Oxapampa and Pozuzo to check out the green lusheshness of the forest. It was just gorgeous (though I literally thought I was going to die on the drive there and back. Because of the rain they have a lot of earthslides and it wipes out the road...and makes them very dangerous to drive on)! I felt like I was in the Appalachia Mountains of the US and felt like I was filling up with the joys of living where everything thrives with life all the time. We visited several waterfalls and went bathing, went on several hikes, checked out a bat cave at night which was quite interesting...a little scary, but no one got bit! In the route back we stopped by some volunteer`s sites in Junin and I became immediately jealous about their setup. They live in the mountains where there is greenery, even though it is too high up for trees to grow more than 3 feet tall. The people are very culturally traditional of Peru, and it felt like a very simple and tranquil life. Interesting to experience how the cultures of Peru change depending on where you are at. Definitely a difference between coastal, cierra and selva life. But, by the time we left at 11 at night I was freeeeezing and glad to be returning to the coast where I don`t really ever need a long sleeve shirt. I guess I have `acostumbrar´ed as Peruvians would say.

Now I am working on writing up my Community Diagnostic. Pretty much a report on all the findings I have made in my community so far. It`s currently 40 pages and I have about half left to write about. Jeez how I hate writing reports, let alone in Spanish!

Hope everyone`s Easter was fun and you are enjoying life and the weather wherever you are at! You are in my thoughts!

Paz y amor!