Nearly One Month In...

I’ve returned to Piura for a quick break from the world of Tunal, Lalaquiz, Piura. I’ll be coming to the city just about ever two weeks for a change of pace and a hot shower. It’s pretty essential in maintaining my sanity…at least for the first few months! I can’t say that the past couple weeks went by extremely fast, but they were successful in the fact that I made a number of really good contacts in the community and was able to meet a lot of the children. I’m beginning to feel at home…as much as possible considering that I’m still very far from fluency.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the health center with some of the interns from Lima and Nasca. They’re around my age, which is quite nice. I’ve been teaching them a bit of English and they’ve helped me a lot with Spanish. We eat every meal together and spend many evenings playing cards. They primarily play a game they call “Casino” which I had not heard of until coming here. It’s not quite as fun as Spades, but it’ll have to do!! I taught them Black Jack one night, so they’re excited to give that a go.

This past Wednesday I accompanied them on a vaccination campaign in the schools. It is a country wide attempt to eliminate measles. Next week they will go from house to house to vaccinate the over 6,000 citizens. My job was to take photos as well as convince the kids that the vaccination was important. Surprisingly it went fairly smooth.

I’ve spent a significant amount of time in the schools getting to know the kids. This past week I began giving basketball lessons to first year high school students. There are about 300 students in the town of Tunal half in the primary school and half in the secondary school. They are all excited about learning about the US and hearing me speak English. This coming week I will be teaching two English classes to primary school students. I am really enjoying my time with the kids.

In the afternoons I have been playing soccer with the older guys. I’ve got a lot of improving to do… my idea of football is a bit different than theirs! They’ve all been playing since they could walk, so they have a bit more practice than I. I did, however, score my first goal on Wednesday!

I am already beginning to appreciate the tranquil life of rural Peru. Despite my struggle with Spanish, I think I’ve never been so stress free in my life!! The evenings and nights are especially favorable. The people are used to going to bed early since up until two or three months ago they had no electricity so by 8-9pm the town is extremely quiet. There is very little ‘light pollution’, so the stars are incredible radiant. It’s definitely a different way of living, but I’m slowly adapting to it one day at a time.

Reality Sets In

I’ve made it through possibly the most difficult period of Peace Corps service… the first 10 days on site. It seemed like a month, but all in all was a good experience. The first couple days were pretty depressing, as they would be in any new place with no familiar faces, but I was able to make a lot of good connections and meet a variety of people. I visited all of the classes in the local schools on the first day with a doctor from Lima. She was screening the students for Epilepsy. Apparently it is fairly common and is caused by eating undercooked pork. There are worms that spread throughout the body and actually in to the brain, eating holes in the tissue… good thing I’ve had pork for just about every breakfast to date!

It just so happens that I arrived at a very busy time of the year (mostly because elections are coming up in November, and the mayor is trying to realize as many projects as possible!). I attended a soccer tournament a few days back which symbolized Lalaquiz’s first ever participation in Peru’s version of the world cup. Each town has its own team which plays teams in other districts all throughout the country until there is one final champion. Interestingly enough, there was a ceremony before the start of the first game. Each team was presented with a certificate by a representative from various organizations. It just so happens that out of the blue they elected me to present the certificate to my town here and give some words. This would be startling enough if it had been in English, let along in a language that I have far from mastered!!! I stumbled through a few sentences in front of the 200-300 onlookers and took my seat.

I have already been asked to be the Padrino for a group of children. This means that I am in charge of organizing a big fiesta in December for students graduating from primary school. There are sixteen in total. I also must buy a small gift for each one. I figure it’s just another way I can get to know some of the kids… just with a little higher price tag!

This week is also the big festival week for my town, Tunal. Thursday and Friday are the big days with dances and festivities. Today (Thursday) I participated in the ‘running of the bull’ which is a custom where the people walk a bull though every street in the town along with a small marching band. They dance an drink throughout the precession and when the final destination is reached they slaughter the bull. I was sure to take plenty of photos. It’s times like this that it really hits me that I’m in Peru!!

Over all I’m extremely satisfied with where I’ll be for the next couple years. I have yet to move in with my host family, which is kind of a pain, but I’m beginning to feel at home. The whole Spanish speaking thing is coming along. Even in one week I’ve learned a lot. I am definitely becoming more confident in that respect. It has definitely been interesting being completely detached from the rest of the world. I believe I will definitely enjoy my visits to the big city, to catch up on the rest of life!!!

Here I Go

I have finally earned the title Peace Corps VOLUNTEER. My days of training in Vista Alegre have come to an end, and I just arrived in the city of Piura, the regional capital. The past couple weeks have been a blur, with the majority of the time spent making final preparations for our official Peace Corp Service. This past Friday was the induction ceremony which was held at a local high school. All of the host families came as well as representatives from the embassy. We spent that night in Lima enjoying our last night together as a group. It was a bittersweet departure, as I really enjoyed the first 10 weeks. I had really grown close to my host family, so it was sad to leave them.
We are now in a pretty brutal transition. Up to this point we haven’t had to think a whole lot. The training staff has walked us through every step of ever procedure. As of today, however we are completely on our own. Each volunteer will be entering his or her community within the next couple days and will begin the process of integration.
This evening I will be departing for my site with the mayor of the district. The next two weeks will be spent moving in, getting to know my neighbors and learning Spanish. I will not have access to mail, internet or phones for the next bit, so keep that in mind if you are awaiting a reply. When I return I’ll be able to provide a better picture of my site and, I’m sure, some fun stories.


Also, my address has changed. So from now on please use the following:
Ryan Nelson
Casilla postal #131
Serpost Piura
Piura Piura, PERU