One month since swearing-in

Just a month ago, Peru training group 20 had our ceremony to swear in as Peace Corps volunteers. Our ceremony was at the home of the US ambassador to Peru, in Lima, the capital city. 57 of us took the oath.

I had the honor of giving the speech on behalf of our training class, in Spanish, of course. Here it is. A month later, I find it a useful reminder of why I'm here.

Día de Juramento, Perú 20

Discurso de los Voluntarios

Alane Brown

Noviembre 23, 2012

Buenas tardes Embajadora Rose Likins, Director de Cuerpo de Paz Perú Sanjay Mathur, Directora de Capacitación y programación Wendy Van Damme, distinguidos invitados del gobierno, Directora de Capacitación Kathleen Hickey, personal de capacitación y administración, queridas familias anfitrionas y su representante Viviana Cruz, e invitados todos, gracias por estar aquí con nosotros.

Este es un momento inolvidable.  Estamos muy emocionados de estar finalmente aquí y es difícil creer que este día ha llegado. En los Estados Unidos, la mayoría de nosotros ha pasado un año o más en superar un desafío tras otro para convertirnos en aspirantes de Cuerpo de Paz. Había solicitudes y entrevistas y formularios médicos y legales. Habían arreglos de viaje y arreglos financieros. Lo más difícil de todo fueran las despedidas. Nos despedimos de  los seres queridos. Algunos de ellos nos apoyaron en nuestra decisión de venir a servir en el Perú, y algunos no. Pero todos nosotros vinimos. Recuerdo la alegría que sentimos cuando nuestro avión descendió. Aplaudimos cuando aterrizamos en el Perú.

Nos encontramos con una nueva serie de desafíos cuando comenzamos la capacitación. Afortunadamente, tuvimos el apoyo que necesitábamos para tener éxito. Nuestras familias anfitrionas nos han dado una buena base. Es difícil expresar cuánto significa para mí cuando mi madre anfitriona me llama “hija”. Nuestras familias anfitrionas han tocado el corazón a cada uno de nosotros. El recuerdo más dulce de una de mis amigas, un aspirante de Perú veinte, fue el día cuando ella se sentía tan triste que entró a su habitación y empezó a llorar. ¿Quién le dio su apoyo cuando más lo necesitaba? Su hermanita anfitriona, de cuatro años. Ella llegó y la abrazó y le dio una estrella de su torta de cumpleaños para animarla. Nunca sabes dónde aparecerá el cariño. Pronto iremos a nuevas comunidades con nuevas familias anfitrionas. Estoy segura de que el corazón generoso y amoroso del pueblo peruano, nos demostrará su cariño y nos darán estrellas cuando lo necesitemos.

La administración de Cuerpo de Paz en el Perú y nuestros dedicados facilitadores de idioma y facilitadores técnicos han hecho posible que lleguemos a este momento y que estemos listos para comenzar nuestro servicio. Les agradecemos por todo lo que han hecho por nosotros. Ustedes nos han enseñado a mantenernos sanos y salvos. Nos han ayudado a adquirir las habilidades lingüísticas necesarias para comenzar a solicitar dinero de nuestros municipalidades para nos proyectos. Nos han demostrado cómo plantar árboles, convencer a los niños a lavarse las manos y como hablar con los adolescentes acerca del SIDA. En muchos aspectos ha sido para nosotros como ser un niño otra vez, aprender a hablar, aprender como portarse, aprender como cruzar la calle sin ser atropellado por una combi. Cada uno de nosotros ha encontrado un amigo en uno de los miembros del personal, alguien que era amable, que ofreció una estrella de ánimo cuando el estrés se hizo intenso.

Por supuesto, al hablar de nuestra gratitud a quienes nos han ayudado a prepararnos para los dos años de inmersión en la cultura peruana, la apoya más profunda es la que nos hemos dado el uno al otro. Recuerdo un día cuando yo estaba vencida por la nostalgia, y recibí muchos abrazos de mis compañeros. Hemos estado juntos en la capacitación durante diez intensas semanas. Conocemos las fortalezas y debilidades del otro. Los lazos entre nosotros seguirán siendo fuertes en los dos años que serviremos, en diferentes partes del Perú. Perú veinte es un grupo de personas maravillosa. Me siento orgullosa de estar aquí representándolos.

Sabemos que como voluntarios del Cuerpo de Paz, vamos a aprender más de lo que enseñaremos. Estamos ansiosos de conocer una nueva cultura, de ser fluidos en español, de explorar este hermoso país y de desarrollar habilidades que nos ayudarán en trabajos futuros. Todas estas cosas nos ayudarán a permanecer motivados durante nuestro servicio, a pesar de los inevitables problemas que experimentaremos. Pero, para quedarnos aquí los dos años completos, necesitaremos más. Las cosas que nos llevarán hacia adelante son nuestros generosos y amorosos corazones. Querido Perú, estamos aquí para ofrecerte dos años de nuestras vidas. Hoy juramos servirte. Representamos la generosidad del pueblo estadounidense, que brinda el apoyo necesario para traernos aquí. Te brindamos nuestro conocimiento, nuestras espaldas fuertes y nuestra persistencia. Dentro de nuestras nuevas comunidades, ayudaremos a lograr las metas establecidas por las mismas comunidades. Y les daremos estrellas cuando ellos los necesiten.

Perú veinte, nuestros sueños son ahora la realidad. Somos voluntarios de Cuerpo de Paz. ¡Adelante!

                                                                               

World-wise school post number 2: my site

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am corresponding with a 3rd-grade class in New Mexico. My first letter to them is posted on this blog, on September 23rd. The students in the class wrote letters to me. I meant to write back to each of the kids, but got stalled by the size of that task. Finally, their teacher told me to just write to the class as a whole. Here's the letter I wrote to them. It duplicates some of what I've already posted on my blog, but there is some new content. Also, it's interesting to see what third-graders want to know about Peace Corps service in Peru. Enjoy!

Dear class,

Thank you for your letters. I apologize for taking so long to reply. I am all done with Peace Corps training school and now I have moved to the place where I’ll live for the next 2 years, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. I will miss the family I lived with all fall, in Yanacoto. I said goodbye to my host mother and father, my sisters, brothers, nephews, and Benjy and Kaiser the dogs. Now I start a new phase of my time in Peru.

Now I live in the state of Junin. My village is called Marco and it’s close to the city of Jauja. The GPS coordinates are South: 11 degrees, 44.762 minutes, and West: 75 degrees, 33.506 minutes. I am east of you, in the same time zone as New York. I live high in the Andes mountain range now. The elevation of my house is 11,423 feet. 

My new family has fewer people but a lot more animals. My new host mother is Fabiana, and my father is Moises. I have one sister, Katia, who is married to Roberto. They live in Jauja. They have a son, Nicolas, who is 2 years old. He is at our house a lot. He and his grandparents have a very close relationship. Here in Peru, many children call both their mother and grandmother “mami” and both their father and grandfather “papi”.

There are so many animals at our house! We have 6 cattle, 5 sheep, 20 chickens, 2 turkeys, 30 guinea pigs, a beehive of bees, 2 dogs and a cat. All the farm animals live in our compound, in sheds attached to the house.

 

 Every morning, my family takes the cows and sheep to the pasture in the valley, and every night they bring them home before dark.

Now I’ll answer some of the questions you asked me. Several of you asked what I do in Peru. I help the people in my village to take care of their natural environment. We are growing trees to plant on the hillsides where people cut down all the trees long ago when Spain controlled Peru. I also will teach English and nature science to the children in the village schools. In the coming months, I will help improve trash management in our town. I hope to start an environment club and go hiking with the kids. I know you went hiking in the Sandia mountains. Was that fun? What did you learn? Maybe you can send me some pictures.

A few of you asked if I like sports. I like to ski. I also like to go hiking, like many of you. On Sunday I went hiking with some of my new friends here. We visited an archeological site on top of a mountain at 13,300 feet in altitude. It was an observatory in ancient times. The people who lived here before the time of the Inca Empire used it to keep track of the seasons.

I was glad to hear that several of you like to read. I like to read, too. Right now I’m reading “The Lord of the Rings”. We have a TV, and of course all the shows are in Spanish. I like reading better than TV. I like music. I play Native American flute. Last week I got to play a duet with a Peruvian man who played a Peruvian flute. Maybe Mister Klein can play you some Andean flute music so you can hear what it’s like. Try to imagine what we sounded like, blending the flute styles from two continents!

You wanted to know what we eat. Here in the Andes, they eat a lot of potatoes and beans because they grow well here and are easy to buy at the market. They also eat chicken, pork, beef and Guinea pig. My family has a big meal at lunch, and soup for dinner. However, my favorite food is pizza, which is hard to find here.

 

Several of you asked about my dogs, but I live with different dogs now. It sounds like many of you have pets; dogs, cats, fish and birds. Like in my old house, the dogs here are working dogs. They help herd the cows and sheep to and from the pasture and they guard the house at night. Even the cat works: she catches the mice in the attics. Sometimes at night I can hear her above my ceiling, chasing the mice.

Although it is summer here, it is rainy season, so it is often cool, between 45 and 65 degrees. And it is very muddy! This is what my street looks like after a rain.

You asked me about Halloween. Yes, they do celebrate it in Peru. In the cities, there is some trick-or-treating. Out here in the countryside, they don’t follow that custom as much. Instead, they visit the cemetery and have a party there to remember their departed relatives. Now it is almost Christmas. There is a nativity scene in the town square in Jauja, but a lot fewer decorations than in the USA. Also, not everyone gives presents. Instead, there is a family dinner at midnight on Christmas Eve.

In response to the questions about me, I am a grownup like Mister Klein. I have a daughter who is 19. She lives in Japan, where she is studying at a university in Tokyo. I am Anglo with a little Native ancestry but not enough to be an enrolled tribal member. I speak English like my parents. They live in Albuquerque. I knew some Spanish before I came to Peru. Now I speak Spanish every day and I’m getting more fluent quickly. My birthday is April 13. My favorite color is blue. I was a college teacher in Colorado, but now I am taking a few years to serve in the Peace Corps. It is hard work, but I like it. It is fun to get to know the people of Peru.

Well, I hope that gives you some idea of what my new home is like. I’m sorry I can’t answer each of you individually. I am very busy settling in and starting my new job. Next time, I’ll tell you some more about Peru and answer the questions you send me.

I hope you and your families have a happy holiday season.

Best wishes from Peru,

Alane

First week in my site

I’m now in my site, my new home where I’ll live for the 2 years of Peace Corps service.

Here’s the view  coming up my road.

This was taken on a dry day, but when it rains, like it’s doing right now, it’s Very Muddy. Here’s more of my street.

Here we are, inside our courtyard.

The cows come right through the courtyard to their barn beside the kitchen.

We have turkeys

And chickens

And a beehive.

and sheep.

 

Another Peace Corps volunteer, Kristi, lives on the other side of the valley. Yesterday, we went for a walk to the cemetery. The views were beautiful.

And the cemetery was—interesting. I think someone wanted to include this person in sending sacred smoke during a funeral.

We say ‘buenos dias’ to everyone we pass. These kids exchanged greetings with us from their window.

We also visited one of Kristi's schools to get to know the teachers better. It’s a very ecologically minded school, and each class has its own garden.

Later, I walked back across the valley to my own town. We have a lot of eucalyptus from the 1940s reforestation projects.

I went to the market, where my host mom sells grains. I took a few pictures while I watched her stall for a while for her when she went on an errand.

It’s been an interesting first week. Sometimes I feel like I’m falling in love with my site. Other times I feel terribly out of place and off-balance. I’ve been able to meet with my mayor and discovered several local projects I can hop right into. I’ve been to my first Peruvian funeral, which was a very intense experience. I’m getting to know my host family better. I like walking around my town, soaking up the atmosphere. Other times I just curl up in my sleeping bag and read or watch tv shows on my computer. I’ve made a lot of progress on a practical level, like buying bedding. I now have a yummy warm alpaca wool blanket, a fleece sheet-blanket and a mattress cover with lions and tigers on it. I found a tailor who sewed my Peace Corps patch on my cap and fixed the zipper on my backpack, all the while having a jolly conversation about relatives in America. I cooked my first dish in my host mom’s kitchen. I bought rubber boots to wear in the barnyard. I figured out my systems for personal hygiene (hint: chamber pot). I have mastered the public transportation from my town to the nearby city. I acquired internet service, which sometimes works.

I am beginning to shift my attitude. Things here happen organically. People may or may not do what they said they would do (that includes me!). So much depends on factors that are outside of our control. I think I know what’s happening, but then it turns out completely differently. All plans are subject to change, and I don’t understand the rules. I’m adjusting to this, testing out a relaxed response to this new reality. It’ll all work out.
p.s. Wrote this post a week ago, but just now got access to enough bandwidth to upload it. Week 2 was also packed with experiences. Will report when I get the time.