poco a poco.

yesterday was awful. i was feeling very down. no means of communicating in espanol with my peruvian family. no time to type.. just to study spanish. once again questioning my purpose in peru.

but, today was much better!

since weve started classes in the training center, weve received 4 shots (4 shots in 2 days). we are getting a total of over 10 shots within the next few weeks, so we are slowly getting used to it.

in the midst of our spanish class, today, we heard a band playing from behind the peace corps ground gates. sara, our spanish teacher, said, “come on, lets see what it is” (in spanish, of course). it was the community’s “procesion” of the heart of jesus. this is something that apparently each community does at different times of the year. there was a marching band and a shrine for jesus that some men were carrying on their shoulders. this was all lead by a woman periodically lighting fireworks from a coke bottle with her cigarette. quite the scene.

 some of the men took a few of the guys to carry the shrine for a few blocks - (they stood out like gringos!)

after class, a few of us volunteers in my town met up at the local store for a beer and some sweet potato chips. i got home and was surprised at the amount of spanish i was able to say to mi mama at dinner. i felt a bit more comfortable with mi espanol. “poco a poco” as they say here in the peace corps... “little by little.”