the last couple of weeks

5 August 2009
This week has been a tough one, though not for the amount of work, but rather from all the emotional weight it brought. This is my “site-mate” Karrie’s last week in site, she leaves on Saturday. I can not express to you in words all that she has done for me this past year. When I came home and said how lucky I was and am in site and how happy I truly am, she has 70% to do with that happiness. Every volunteer looks to something that can stabilize them and help them get back up after each fall, someone who will sit and listen to your deepest fears and superficial worries, Karrie was mine. I just don’t think its real that she is leaving and I can’t pick up the phone and call her at a moments notice or better yet walk 10 minutes down the road to her house. To be lucky enough to find a friend like her in the situation I’m in, is a once in a lifetime chance, I got that chance and I’m so blessed to have had her in my life and my first year of service. I believe that this is the reason I’m okay with her leaving, because her being here in the first place was almost unimaginable. So I will be running after the bus she boards heading to Lima on Saturday night trying to hold on to not only her but also my sanity.
Other than this depressing news, these past couple of weeks has been a real treat. I headed up to Ancash for fiestas patrias, which is Peru’s Independence Day or better yet independence week lol. I grabbed a lot of videos and will be posting them. All other fotos are on facebook. They included the going out at night fotos too, which when you get that many gringos together, it gets a bit wild. We took 2 big day hiking trips up to a glacier which I did eat a piece of (video) Pasteroti (I don’t know how to spell it, surprised? But I did film the sign so you can see how it is really spelled.) We hiked up higher than 15,000 ft. We also did a trip to the glacier lake at the base of Huascaran. I forget its name but I did film the group I went up to the lake with signing “row row row your boat”… so I make up for forgetting the name. I had a wonderful time on the trip and it was great to see all the girls from my group again, but with the group 9’s despedida following the end of the trip, I was excited to get back to Piura and hang out with the gang. We had a great time at Colan. We had shirts made that I designed, I sent my mom one home so you if you see her walking around in a shirt that says Piura Vida that is from yours truly. There we danced the night away then followed it up with a long night/morning on the beach with a big bonfire, telling ghost stories. It was a great time and we are all really sad to see group 9 heading out. Heading back to site proved even more difficult after being treated to night in our nicest hotel of Piura city, courtesy of my dear momma. Buuuuuut, I did make it back and heading right into another party, my host mom’s 78th birthday party. It was a something. We had a huge party with more than half of the family all at my house from 11 am till about 9 that night. We ate, we danced, we ate some more, we sang, we ate some more, we danced a bit more, than ate one last time for good health and then everything came to a close with the breaking of the Hanna Montana piñata. Yes, I did say that. It was a great time, and that night I slept like the dead. Monday morning I was up and headed to my artisans house to help out with even more inventory and workshop organization with the 5 S’s. This is just getting plain old boring at this point. Though it is extremely beneficial for them.
Ohhh, I did skip one part, Monday morning I headed into the city to mail some things annnnd to have lunch with the new volunteers of Peru 13! Piura got 6 girls, 3 business, 3 youth volunteers. Karrie’s site will have a replacement, Kerry. I got to speak with her briefly, she seems like a very nice girl, though very timid, I think we’ll be fast friends. Or at least this is what I am hoping for! I also ate the most amazing soup that I never knew about before, but so happy I finally encountered, Chupe de Langostinas. Its like clam chowder on crack, which is basically amazing.
Tuesday followed with more artisan things and in the afternoon I worked on some report while watching the Lord of the Rings the Return of the King with my host family. At night I finished working on my resume which is now being corrected by my amazing aunt, all so I don’t come home and die from readjustment shock. (Plse keep fingers crossed that a some great company or good school accepts me!!)
Wednesday I headed to the market to pick up a bunch of materials for this purse I designed that we got a bunch of orders on. (it was the purse I brought home with me). I also went into the city to take out more money to pay rent and mail some other things. Then in the afternoon Karrie came to my site and we had spaghetti chicken and rice. Yes and rice. Weird I know, I told them I will eat awful spaghetti sauce but I refuse to have my great Italian grandparents turn over in their grave by eat rice with my spaghetti. And no, I wasn’t that elegant when I said it. Jk… Karrie then whipped out her bottle of SoCo and we had a brindis to her with my artisans followed by the Michael Jackson dvd and a few beers. Now I am back at site doing some computer work, which has obviously included this, very horribly written, though written blog entry.
Tomorrow, I am headed to Karrie’s site to eat breakfast burritos and to finish cleaning her room, prob shed a few tears then prob stop by the new girls house to say hi and make sure she is still alive. Then Friday I’ll do a bit of work in the morning then around 4:30 head into the city because at 6 the American Ambassador is speaking at a local hotel and we were invited to go and do a meet and greet then listen to him speak on American trade with Peru.
…And then finally, one last hoorah with Karrie, before she heads out on Saturday night. Then on Saturday night I’ll be heading to my artisans house to stay w them bc at 3 am we are going to head to Chiclayo for the walk of 14 crosses. In which, you head up a mountain, where they said on top a miracle was performed. Yes sounds interesting and will find out more and take pictures to post when that day comes!
Love you all … sorry this was rushed, hope it gives you a nice, but brief, update.