My home for two years

Today was the big one. We finally know where we will be living for the next two years. We had a ceremony this morning in which each trainee received a folder with his or her site details. I will be living in the far north of Peru in the department of Piura. Here is a quick profile of my community. All I can go on right now is the info in my packet. Next week I will be traveling to the site to visit and make housing arrangements. The details of the town and my job could very well be different.

Department: Piura
Providence Morropon
District: Laliquiz
Community: Tunal
Counterpart agency: Municipality of Tunal
Population: 6,112
Number of families: 1,523
Altitude: 3,189 feet
Ave temperature 23 degrees Celsius
Electricity: Most likely not in house
Internet: Closest is 2 hrs away by car
Telephone: 3 Public telephones
Cellular phone: no reception
Distance from Piura(closest major city): 6 hours by bus
Economic Activities: Coffee, Sugarcane, Maize, potatoes, oranges, limes livestock and more

My actual work will be determined in the first several months on site. There are many opportunities, and it looks as though I’ll be able to choose my endeavors. Some possibilities include: 1. Working with artisans-accounting practices, management, product design and marketing 2. Work to consolidate a group of artisan women into a small business 3. Promote ecotourism 4. Support the commercialization of products such as coffee, cocoa sugar etc 5. Support the quality control of a particular type of sugar produced in the area

I particularly requested an unstructured position so that I could have a bit more of a visionary role. From the way it looks, I got my wish. Apparently there was one other volunteer who spent a month there a couple years ago, but he left due to illness. So I’ll really be blazing my own trail. 60% of my class of business volunteers is replacing existing volunteers so I am fortunate to be the first one in my site.

To catch you up on a couple other activities:
On Friday I made my family chocolate chip cookies. I had a heck of a time trying to find the correct ingredients, but they turned out ok. My family loves them, despite the fact that neither brown sugar nor molasses can be found here.

On Sunday I went with a Peruvian friend of mine to a military “club” which is pretty much like a country club. Much of the military and their families go to the club each weekend. In the winter, which is right now, Lima is very cloudy and dreary so the people choose to come to Santa Eulalia where it is ALWAYS sunny!

Later that day I went to a horse race. It was nothing like those in the States. It took place in a very remote location on the side of a hill (which is really more like a mountain). The horses raced in groups of 3’s down the steep face of the hill. There were probably a couple thousand people who showed up for the event. It was pretty ridiculous. Surprisingly, only one person was thrown from his horse.

I’ve taken plenty of photos of my experiences so far, however I am still unable to load them onto this blog. I will continue to try…and of course I welcome any advice!!