Life in Vista Alegre, Peru
I’ve now been in Peru for over two weeks. Though it seems that time is passing quickly, there are times that it feels like I’ve been here for months. I’m going to try to briefly outline what my daily life is like here in Vista Alegre, Peru.
I am enjoying living with my host family. My host father, Jesús, owns a business that produces potting soil. My host mother, Domi works around the house but also keeps busy traveling to Lima to visit family and friends. I have a 21 yr old host brother as well as a 25 yr old host sister who is not exactly part of the family, but she’s here most of the day cooking and helping out my host mother. They are extremely kind and patient and take excellent care of me. Everyday I enjoy very starchy, yet fairly tasty diet of rice, potatoes and chicken. I’ve also had the opportunity to try cow heart and sheep head soup. It’s definitely a different style of living. The community is very close. It seems as though everyone is related. Each day I meet 3 or 4 new family members.
Our daily schedules are pretty packed with classes and activities. We have a lot to learn in only ten weeks. Of course, we’re expected to be fairly fluent by the time we depart for our sites, but we also have to be pretty well versed in our technical skills. I have anywhere from 4 to 7 hours of Spanish each day. There are three other trainees in my class who are of the same proficiency. I’ve got a long way to go before I’ll be ready to be out on my own. I am seeing progress, however, so that’s reassuring. I am finding it much easier to understand what I hear than to actually speak the language. I don’t think I’ve done some much studying in my entire college career!!
Our technical training is also very intense. I have three separate projects which I must complete in the next 7 weeks. Two involve working with local businesses and for the other I must create a garden in my back yard. I have already learned a lot about development strategies and well as ways to integrate into the community. I have had to interview various members of the community to not only practice Spanish, but also to learn more about the Peruvian culture and way of thinking. This past Saturday I spent the morning in Lima with the rest of the small business trainees. We visited a market and then went to an artisan fair. We also managed to fit in lunch at Pizza Hut. Though we’ve only been here a short while, it is nice to have a little taste of home (and a break from the rice and potatoes!!).
All of the current volunteers with whom I have talked have all said that life after training is much more relaxing. The rigidity can sometimes be a pain, but it’s necessary in order to prepare for the next two years. I’m going to try to keep this updated every week or so. At this the training I will also be receiving a cell phone which will be nice for communicating.
(also, i´m working on uploading pics... hopefully by the beginning of next week i'll have them up)
I am enjoying living with my host family. My host father, Jesús, owns a business that produces potting soil. My host mother, Domi works around the house but also keeps busy traveling to Lima to visit family and friends. I have a 21 yr old host brother as well as a 25 yr old host sister who is not exactly part of the family, but she’s here most of the day cooking and helping out my host mother. They are extremely kind and patient and take excellent care of me. Everyday I enjoy very starchy, yet fairly tasty diet of rice, potatoes and chicken. I’ve also had the opportunity to try cow heart and sheep head soup. It’s definitely a different style of living. The community is very close. It seems as though everyone is related. Each day I meet 3 or 4 new family members.
Our daily schedules are pretty packed with classes and activities. We have a lot to learn in only ten weeks. Of course, we’re expected to be fairly fluent by the time we depart for our sites, but we also have to be pretty well versed in our technical skills. I have anywhere from 4 to 7 hours of Spanish each day. There are three other trainees in my class who are of the same proficiency. I’ve got a long way to go before I’ll be ready to be out on my own. I am seeing progress, however, so that’s reassuring. I am finding it much easier to understand what I hear than to actually speak the language. I don’t think I’ve done some much studying in my entire college career!!
Our technical training is also very intense. I have three separate projects which I must complete in the next 7 weeks. Two involve working with local businesses and for the other I must create a garden in my back yard. I have already learned a lot about development strategies and well as ways to integrate into the community. I have had to interview various members of the community to not only practice Spanish, but also to learn more about the Peruvian culture and way of thinking. This past Saturday I spent the morning in Lima with the rest of the small business trainees. We visited a market and then went to an artisan fair. We also managed to fit in lunch at Pizza Hut. Though we’ve only been here a short while, it is nice to have a little taste of home (and a break from the rice and potatoes!!).
All of the current volunteers with whom I have talked have all said that life after training is much more relaxing. The rigidity can sometimes be a pain, but it’s necessary in order to prepare for the next two years. I’m going to try to keep this updated every week or so. At this the training I will also be receiving a cell phone which will be nice for communicating.
(also, i´m working on uploading pics... hopefully by the beginning of next week i'll have them up)
posted by Ryan Nelson | 9:33 PM
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