la lluvia.

la lluvia.
31 Enero 2011

last night, i received the worst bug bit thus far. it’s on my arm, and it’s as if i have another elbow protruding from 4 inches above where my real elbow is. oh, the life in the campo is that of none other!

on the upside, it looks like the rain is coming this way from the mountain tops that embrace my town. i miss my crazy florida thunderstorms. coming from the (second) lightening capital of the world, rain is a lot different over here. it’s usually light rain accompanied by dark clouds, with the occasional strong bursts of drops falling out of the sky. nothing more.

i’ve started to eat with my family again - which is something i am very excited about. she went down in price (cutting it almost in half) from what she was initially going to charge me for food. don’t get me wrong, i LOVE cooking for myself and having total control of what i am eating - but, eating with them will help me be more of apart of the family. now, i just have to figure out how i’m going to get rid of my stove and my huge gas tank.

no hay nada.

no hay nada.
30 Enero 2011

ahorita, no hay internet en Catache - no hay cell phone service en Catache - and guess what??? - no hay luz en Catache. this is how i pictured life in the peace corps… minus a bedroom with tile floors and an inside bathroom. so, i really can’t complain.

after the electricity went out this sunday morning, i went for a run to Piccuy - a nearby caserío. running in the mountains always gets me in a great mood. i ran into an artisan from El Monte on the way back to town. El Monte Alto used to be my routine morning hiking destination, but i haven’t been up that way in a while - so i promised her i’d visit sometime this week.

it seems that lately ive got nothing but time.

estar flexible.

estar flexible.
27 Enero 2011

so, ive been all gung-ho about getting back into work after early IST - and i seemed to have forgotten how hard it is to get things going in my site. normally things are tough, but they are even tougher now that it’s rainy season - my lovely, little, sleepy town has gotten even sleepier.

my socia previously forewarned me that she was going to be pretty busy until next week, so we planned on meeting when she comes back from Chiclayo, to discuss our game plan for recruiting people in the community for our banco comunitario project. i spent most of the day before yesterday preparing for this meeting, so ill be ready with my concrete ideas when she comes back to Catache. check - done!

my emprendimiento juvenil class (entrepreneurship class) for the kids of Catache was supposed to start at 3pm today. i had a meeting with the director of the colegio yesterday morning, and i spent the rest of the day preparing for the first day of class. well, that fell through. the director came by my house this afternoon (2 hours before my class was to start) to tell me that im going to have to wait until next thursday to start my class, because of a teacher workshop. ugh! so, i spent the rest of today reformatting my class schedule.

im finding that my job requires a lot of doing - redoing - and more redoing of things. “be flexible!” - one of the things peace corps tells you from the beginning… they aren’t kidding.

on a brighter note, i was selected to bring a professor from my site to attend an english teaching seminar in Lima mid-february. it is going to be held at the embassy, and im super excited! ive previously worked with the english professor of the colegio in his classes to provide a cultural exchange for the students and to help strengthen the english program that the colegio currently has in place. i think he will benefit greatly from a program that concentrates on teaching methods instead of simply english instruction.

his role at the colegio puts him in a prime position to affect a large number of students. el colegio de san agustín is the only secondary school in my community, making it the only place to receive advanced education. because of this, a large number of rural students from surrounding caseríos walk for miles to attend classes there. the entire community will benefit greatly from a new strategy for effectively teaching english, and im super excited for the opportunity!

so that is where i am in my projects and endeavors. i have some exciting things coming up - but in the meantime, im planning, waiting, and being “flexible!”

Early IST.

IST.
23 Enero 2011

wow. early IST. a whirlwind of information, catching up, presenting, and bonfires which resulted in many new stories to add to my peruvian adventure…

we arrived with our socios on sunday and checked in to our beautiful hotel in Huanchaco.

chuck and mark - in front of their room:

kaysi:

tim:

after a late ceviche lunch, a few of us went down to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. we are all so close, and we truly missed each other.

sunset - time on the beach:

our days were filled with learning about community banks - a new concept that, im sure, is going to excel in catache. my socia was one of the more actively participating ones, and we came up with a plan to execute the bank in our community.

charlas:

Ryan:

and our nights were filled with catch-up time for all of us volunteers.

the socios left after the 3rd day, and despite the fact that we were all exhausted from the charlas lasting from sun up to sun down, we got a chance to openly discuss our communities. the last night, we had a recap on the beach with alfredo, luis, dr. jorge, and enrique. it was nice to finally connect with them on a more personal level. later, we all had a bonfire on the beach with s’mores and hot dogs.

on the last day our country director, sanjay, came and spoke with us about the difficult week we had in the peace corps… between the 20/20 episode and loosing Sargent Shriver (the first peace corps director), it was a tough week for all of us. but, sanjay was optimistic and hopeful - as we all were. and listening to him speak was such a treat - as always.

that night, most of us went in to Trujillo and we got a chance to see the city. the next day, a few of us went sand boarding for the first time. super cool - and definitely not as hard as i thought it would be.

before showering the sand off, omar, andrew, and i got dropped off and took a combi to see some ruins from the moche period - huacas del sol y de la luna (temples of the sun and the moon). im so glad that we dragged our tired, sand-filled bodies to see this. the ruins were much bigger and grander than i anticipated, and so rich in history! the huaca del sol is the largest single pre-columbian structure in peru, and was built with an estimated 140 million adobe bricks.

all in all - such a great time! i really got a lot out of every aspect - the classes, the meetings, the time with our bosses, and the time with each other. and im leaving with so many great new ideas for programs that i know will work in my community. im excited to put things into motion when i get back to site!

first 5, abrazos, y un cuarto limpio.

10 Enero 2011

today was a great day!  much better than the day before.  yesterday, i spent the day the day in and out of the bathroom - once again with a stomach ache.

but, this morning, i woke up early and felt 100% better!  so good, in fact, that i decided to go for a run, after my “first 5 minutes” ( --- see, speare??? im keeping up with it!).  the roads were wet from all of the rain the day before, but not so wet that i had to worry about falling.  the normally dry mountains surrounding my town are getting greener - and the beauty set the pace for the rest of my day.

after my run, it was time to say goodbye to my host niece, sandra.  her and my host nephew, anderson, were headed to Lima for vacation during the rainy season.  almost everyone leaves town during this time.  its going to be very quiet here in Catache for the next couple of months.

then, i made my usual breakfast - oatmeal.  this time i had honey to add - thanks to my christmas gift from mark :)

over breakfast, i mentally planned out my day: go to the municipalidad, meet the new mayor, discuss why im here and the upcoming community bank training in Trujillo.

the meeting went soooooo well!  i walked into the municipalidad and introduced myself to the new secretary.  she hung on every word i had to say - and asked me to wait so that she could make copies of my community bank information.  while i was waiting, a back door opened - and out walked the new mayor!  “come into my office - sit down - how good to meet you!”  he was all smiles!  in his office, i went through my routine introduction - “im ashley sansotta, from the US, working with cuerpo de paz in the small business development program, living here in Catache for the next 2 years, yada yada yada…”  i think that he was more excited than i was when i found out i was excepted into the peace corps!  i went into explaining the upcoming training in Trujillo for community banks, and that i needed to find someone come with me to the event.  he assured me that he would find someone from the municipality - he had 2 people in mind that would be perfect - and he would narrow in down to one person by tomorrow morning.

success!

before i left, he gave me a big hug and told me that i had a new friend here in Catache - him!  im meeting with him again tomorrow to discuss more details with him and the person im going to be bringing.

THEN - i stopped by my internet place to print out some more forms, and - guess what?!?!?  we have internet!!!!!!!!!  the internet has been down in my town for over 2 months now - but now its back on!!!  yay!

after my lunch of egg salad and crackers, the rain started back up.  my host mom called me downstairs, and she gave me a new dresser!  i switched out my old one for this wonderful, new, much larger dresser - tons of room for all of my books, clothes, and nick-nacks!  and i spend about an hour cleaning and reorganizing my room.

later this afternoon im going to check my email - here in Catache - for the first time in a LONG time.

yeah, today has been a great day.