Britney Spears

I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. Yesterday we had 64 new trainees swear-in…including me!  The past couple of days have been nice. Thanksgiving was great with way too much food, but I really miss my mom’s turkey and broccoli casserole so al in all it was a good Peruvian Thanksgiving. Later that day we had a party for our host families. I learned a Peruvian dance from each of the regions of Peru: selva (jungle), sierra (mountains), and the coast. I had a lot of turkey along with everyone else we were way too full to dance but we tried anyway with our thanksgiving bellies. Haha.  Swearing-in was a good day. Lots of guest and the Ambassador spoke at our ceremony.

  

Britney Spears

Well as everyone knows I’ve always got a good story going on…Friday night after swearing in, a group of us went to Lima to dance, eat, and celebrate the past ten weeks of training before we all parted ways. We went dancing and I got tired and went outside for some fresh air. I was just casually talking to my friends, when a random Peruvian girl came up and kept saying repeatedly, “Hey you! Go inside.” I told her now and then happened probably about 15 more times in 30 minutes. That’s when I got fed up and told her to go away. She kept insisting and a couple of my friends decided to step in. We ended up just walking away but the girl followed. They started yelling, “Bro” and “Britney Spears” So I guess she thought I was Britney Spears (Disclaimer: Thanksgiving night there was a Britney Spears concert in Lima) and started following me with her camera yelling, “Britney Spears, Britney Spears” I finally started running and my friends block her. We even told some security guards she wouldn’t stop following me…they just laughed. They even thought is was one of my friend but we had to keep telling them it was the obviously high out of her mind girl with the pink pants. I got away but she continued to follow my friends all the way to McDonalds 8 blocks away. So I guess here in Peru I look like Britney Spears. Haha…great.

So tonight I head to Huaraz and then off to my site. Don’t know when I’ll be back on here after Monday. But like I’ve said in all my blogs before…feel free to call and I’ll try not to miss my calls!

I found this quote and I have a feeling it’s going to be very helpful while I’m here especially in these next few months as I got through yet again…more culture shock and integration into a new community. “Develop a flexible attitude, a joyful willingness to do whatever it takes. Without flexibility you could end up returning home disappointed and unfulfilled. Recognize that things won’t always go your way.  Flexibility is simply saying, “Your will be done, Lord, not mine.””

Love and miss you ALL!

Miss giving thanks...or just the food?

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: To the best mom in the world, Sarah Grisham! Happy Birthday! Wish I could be there to spend the whole day with you! Love you more than words could ever say! A picture is worth a thousand words…so here’s a pic of my mom and I! J

Best mom in the world! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Well I have a week left of training.  This is exciting and scary all at the same time. I’ll be living on my own with my host family in the middle of nowhere. I am anxious to see what will come of all of this but at the same time wondering how the unknown will turn out.

This week will fly by quickly just a reminder…after this week…I will be isolated and only be able to get on the internet about once a month. I’ll post my new address ASAP but I would love a phone call here and there. I remember when I first moved to England. I found out who my real friends were when I moved thousands of miles away…I guess this will even be more of a real test?

***A good book to read more about Peru history and Andean literature is The Andes: A Cultural History by Jason Wilson. *** Just finished it and I learned so much about Peruvian Cultural History…if you’re that type…read it. The guy’s British so it has those obnoxious “-our” instead of “or”

So Thursday is Thanksgiving….I’ll miss my family and the American food especially the turkey leg and overindulging myself with casseroles but I can still give thanks to God for all the blessings He has given me. I don’t deserve anything but He gave it all. Especially after being here for over 2 months I see how blessed our country truly is. We have more than we will ever, ever need so I am glad I can be here to share our abundance.

I won’t miss “Black Friday”…this may come as a surprise but I’m not a big shopper! Ha. Friday I will officially be a Peace Corps Volunteer…up until then I’m just a trainee…so far I think that is the only similarity I have found to the military. Its so different…yes it’s a gov’t position but different in so many ways.

Miss you boogers!

  

While I’m here I’ll be rocking out Thanksgiving Peruvian style! Everyone have a wonderful holiday and don’t ever forget why we should be THANKFUL! Happy Thanksgiving! Do it up for me American style…Football, Fall, Food and ALL! J

  

Top 10 THINGS I’m THANKFUL for this Year:

1.     Salvation-Grace through Faith!

2.     Infinite blessings

3.     Family (I love you all more than words!)

4.     Friends (Ditto!)

5.     Freedom (Ameri-cuh!)

6.     Books (help me to not feel so dumb even my writing is worse!)

7.     IPods/External Hard-drives (Make time fly on the long bus rides)

8.     Q-tips (This will be on the list every year)

9.     Baby wipes (My new shower)

10. Casino cookies (they’ve gotten me through training.  They come in every flavor you could think of…almost…no wasabi cookies…yet)

Socosbamba

Ancash Crew

So I have a lot of catching up to do on this thing. I have had an amazing couple of weeks of training and visiting my new site. I am going to be spending the next two years in the department of Ancash. I will be living in the clouds in the Andes!

A Little Irony

So around the second week I found out my name is a color here in Peru. Celeste emphasis on the last E means sky blue in Spanish…and guess what? Ancash means in Quechua?…Sky! J

Campo training

Campo in Spanish means country or the boonies however you want to put it. On Nov. 1^st I found out I was going to be living in Ancash for the next two years. I could not have been happier. I really wanted to live in the mountains and I got it. There are 4 from my training group going. We all seemed pretty pumped. Hence the super happy expression on my face in this picture.

The next day we headed back to Ancash for a few more days of training. We got to stop by Incan ruins and even more exciting I got to see a bunch of llamas. I don’t know why but I have this weird obsession with llamas. Everytime I see one here I get super excited…yelling, “Oh my gosh! A LLAMA!” Whose got the llama? I’ve got the llama!  I also got to meet most of the volunteers already placed in Ancash. They are crazy, fun, and laid back.  After training I headed to my new site for a short visit to meet my new host family and the community I will be working in the next couple of years.

View from the top!

Region

I still can’t believe it. I’m super pumped I got the mountains! I am also with some pretty cool people. I have about 7 hours away from the regional capital and more or less 17 from Lima, which is kind of far but nothing compared to what people in Northern Peru have. I will be speaking both Quechua and Spanish. So I may be semi-trilingual when I leave here. Ok not really Quechua is kind of hard.  My community has about 1000 people.  I’m going to be living the boonies…here the volunteers call it the “dark side of the mountain” because it is so far. From Lima I have to take an 8 hour bus to Huaraz the department capital. Then from Huaraz I have to take another not so comfortable bus over the Cordilleras Blanc on a road that had more switchbacks than I could count.  The trip does have an amazing view….probably the most beautiful drive I’ve ever taken.  The road to Pomabamba is also one of the most dangerous roads in the world.

One of the most dangerous roads in the world!

It is pretty though!

Socosbamba

7 and a half hours later I arrive at my new home for the next two years: Socosbamba. In the town there is a elementary, a high school, and a health post….that’s pretty much it. It’s really rural, spread out, and hilly. The town is about an hour walk from Piscobamba where there is a market and internet. So if you guys really love me you will have to call me because I will probably only get to the internet once a month.  My town has a few tiendas, which are like convenient stores but they usually aren’t open because the families are out working in the fields.

Where I'll be living:    http://maps.google.com.pe/maps?hl=es&tab=wl

I really like my new host family. I have 2 sisters, a brother, 2 cousins and my host parents. So there are 8 of us living in the house. It doesn’t get boring. My little host sister, Lizeth is 11 and so sweet. She loves to play volleyball so I’m excited that they love that sport here. My family has a lot of cuyes…guinea pigs. I actually go to eat one. I thought it was pretty good…not a whole lot of meat there but quite savory.  My host mom talks a lot, which will help me with my Spanish. She even said she would translate for me when I work with people who speak Quechua! Good I’m going to need all the help I can get. We have fruits tree in my backyard. Lime, lemon, orange, apple, avocado…and blackberry bushes.  I also don’t have a shower and we have a latrine for the bathroom. There will definitely be a lot of things to get used to but I am ready for the challenge and excited!

My new host sister and cousin

My new host mom cooking

I don’t want to make this too long and I have 2 years to continue to tell you guys more about Peru and my life here.

The view from my backyard

Sunset from my backyard

Today I read some encouragement fro the Message: Work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a  smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving you orders, you’re really serving God. Ephesians 6:7