It has been a little while since the last update! So first things first... I should announce officially (some already know) I am going to be living in Shilla, Ancash!!! Ancash is one of the 25 departments in Peru. I will be a replacement volunteer (meaning this volunteer named Vishal from Peru 9 has been living there for the last two years), Shilla has roughly 1,500 people, has 2 schools, is a Quechua speaking community (meaning... they all speak Quechua and SOME speak Spanish... hehe.. oh man) and is also really really extremely cerca to the biggest montana in Peru se llama Huascaran... which MEANS folks. Best hiking trails for miles are accessible from my site!! Yessssss. I'm pretty stoked and nervous and all that. I leave tomorrow for my site visit. Along with me, three other volunteers will also be living in Ancash pretty close to me. Colleen (from UP to Ancash!), Lisette (who was the first volunteer I met in the airport in LA on the way to Washington D.C.) and Christy (Christy Baja as we like to call her :). I will not have internet or cell phone service in my site.. so my posts will probably be less frequent but I look forward to where I will be. I'm a fan of the size and the place... and I get to learn a dying language! After this week I will make sure to let everyone know about how the site visit went and all that jazz. Here is a pic of us new Ancashians:
I celebrated the Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day of Peru) the 28th and 29th with my host familia... we went out to the nearby town of Chosica and it was pretty emocionante because my madre hadn't left the house since I got here. We ate good comida and it felt like I was at the Ventura Fair which was nice. It's been kind of chilly and foggy lately, so the sun during the afternoon felt good. This is me, the madre, the perro and my hermana at the fountain in Chosica:
Today, Colleen and I made no bake cookies for our new host familias for when we arrive on Tuesday... plus we also made homemade peanut butter which was DELICIOUS. :) We ate lunch at the casa (some cauliflower bathed in eggs... with arroz of course and peas and carrots). Colleen cut my host brother's hair with success I might add. I know he would never tell us if he hated it but I think he likes it.
I can't believe that I only have 3 weeks left of training!! The real thing is about to start. I hope I'm ready! Apparently my new host family has their own fields where they work all day and their own guinea pig farm! Which means I'll probably be eating lots of cuy! Wish me luck. I will update in a week!
Abrazos!!
Em
Em,
ReplyDeleteI cannot enlarge the photos. Did you post them differently this time? Keep sending pictures.
Padre