I´ve been in Peru for over a month

Life in Peru as a PCT (that’s Peace Corps lingo for Peace Corps Trainee) has had its charms. There is a redundancy and steadiness to my days; yet new twists are constantly being thrown into the mix. To explain, my schedule last week was pretty regular: wake up at 6:20, take a bucket bath (ever since I came down with a cold, my host mom has been heating water on the stove for me and has had it waiting for me when I get up), eat breakfast, take a crazy combi ride to the training center or another aspirante’s house for language class, end training around five, return home, have dinner/possibly use the internet, go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00. Somehow the regularity of it all still manages to yield to all kinds of adventures and life lessons.

Last Monday started off with a bang. The cobrador (the guy who collects the money on the combi) ripped me off. The trip from Yanacoto to the training center costs 50 cents. On this particular day, I only had 1 sol. These guys have tried to pull fast ones on me before so I asked 50 cents? He nodded, I handed over my money and then he said 70 cents and gave me 30 cents back. I politely said “Senor, I take the combi every day and I know it costs 50 cents.” He shook his head and moved on. So I mustered up some more courage and called after him “Senor, you owe me 20 more cents. I want my change back.” Still nothing. (For those of you who know me well, you probably realize how big a deal this is. I hate conflict, and I hate confronting people…but I especially hate being the victim of injustice) At this point, the woman sitting in front of me decided to get involved and shouted “Give the senorita back her money.” His wickedness ignored the woman. She lost it and went off on a rant about how he is bringing shame to Peru by ripping off the gringa, etc, etc. With my weak language skills, I tried to forcefully throw my two cents in every time the woman took a breath. All I could utter here and there was “thief,” “robber,” “I want my money back.” I didn’t get my money back, but I was proud of myself for putting up a good fight and standing up for myself…and you can bet that I have had exact change every time I’ve taken the combi since.

On Wednesday, I made my first trip to the mountains for a day trip. In true Peace Corps fashion, I wasn’t given any information about what I should do upon arrival. I think they like withholding stuff from us. 5 of us were driven to a quaint town called Callahuanca and left to our own devices for the day. We did some exploring and did a small community analysis, but to be quite frank, we really just enjoyed the warm sun and the beautiful view. This town is known for its trout farm, avocado, and chirimoya (a fruit that varies in size, is green on the outside, and white inside with large black seeds). You can bet I bought a kilo of chirimoyas and my share of avocados.

The following day I had my first youth group session with three other aspirantes. We are working at a retreat center for nuns where physically disabled children go to live while recuperating from corrective surgery. As with everything else I’ve done this far, things ran anything but smoothly or according to plan. It turns out that these kids have non-negotiable physical therapy every Thursday at the exact same time we are scheduled to have our sessions. Just as with all the other setbacks, our only option has been to roll with the punches, be accommodating and flexible. On this particular Thursday, the kids were able to participate for an hour. We decorated nametags together, had them interview each other, then present their friends to the rest of the group. Our main focus of the group is going to be self-esteem building/development of healthy lifestyles but the first day was meant mainly to start getting to know the kids while getting a feel for their abilities. I have never met a more outgoing and polite group. I am very excited to continue our sessions there.