La Gran Adventura de Elizabeth

So this will be a pretty lengthy blog if not, followed by even a longer one! So, I hope you all enjoy a bit of it! Again, apologies in advance for grammar, spelling, and abv! Saturday the 2nd of Agosto was our 3rd and last visit to the Agraria. It was a lot of fun because we got to see their cuy breading farm and learn about the process. For all of you who do not know which will be all but 1, cuyes are guinea pigs. Yes, my second grade pet in Mrs. Whitte’s class is what’s for dinner! Haha! Know but seriously it is a plato tipico del Perú. I have not tried it yet and I really haven’t planned too. Not because I refuse to, but I’ve heard stories about their texture and that they are really hairy when you eat it… por eso, I think I’m going to pass. But hey, I do have 2 years here, aun que vamos a ver no? After some great times with the soon to be on the kitchen table cuyes we headed to the bee boxes. This was actually really interesting, because we got to see and to learn about my tech trainer’s, Dennis, primary project while he was a volunteer. After tasting the honey we headed over to the ceremony they prepared for us. We all received certificates for participating and completing the course at the Agraria as well as a book about what times of AG can grow, when to plant, how to plant… tons of info… (FYI Though, I don’t feel I did or learned enough to receive a certificate, it is very important in Peruvian Society that after taking a course receiving a certificate. This is because when you go to apply for a job, employers like to see your resume as well as all the certificates you have accumulated throughout your education. Basically any course that you may have completed outside your college or during that you didn’t receive credit for you are given a certificate, even if it was a one day 4 hour seminar, here you would receive a certificate… this is very important in Peruvian society to show how educated you are. Therefore, many times people go into interviews with a whole stack of certificates.) Also, they prepared an amazing lunch for us, all the things there were grown in the University. And as an American who is used to seeing salads very often and eating them almost daily… they had prepared 2 massive salads for us to dig into as well as chips and guacamole!!! Despues, I decided to forego the whole heading to the mall scene even though I wanted to see Batman and headed home to nap a bit. After my nap, a couple volunteers from my neighborhood came over to make some mac and cheese… blue box kraft!! (Yes they have it here) and watch Good Will Hunting!! Which was a great time… movie finished at about 10:30ish which they I prepared the famous breakfast casserole for my family to eat on Sunday morning before I left. It was def weird bc this is a dish that needs to be prepared the night before and although it was before 12 when I was preparing it, because it was night it made me feel like it was the night before Easter or Christmas where mommy usually stays up till 4ish preparing everything for the next day! It was really special too because I got to spend this night preparing it with my mom here. It was a bit funny too because when I was making it my mom was like oh are you sure this is enough, mind you I was making a 9 x13 pan for 4 people and I told her yes. She didn’t believe me till the next day that it is a very rich and heavy breakfast… we didn’t even finish half of it!!

After breakfast I began packing for my site visit!! Packing consisted of ironing all my clothes and then folding them just right to make sure there weren’t any creases and then taking the clothes out and repacking, as to remove all the unnecessary things I packed originally, while sticking to my list I made of things to bring. (People here do make fun of me for being too organized…I just can’t help that… I say its just good upbringing J) Speaking of which, I was supposed to take a cab with the other people in my town heading to Piura at about 3:30ish, as I told the kid to call and ask for the cab at that time. He told the cab 4:30 which inevitably means the cab didn’t arrive till 5. 5 is fine if we didn’t have to get to Lima by 5 for security check in and it takes an hour to get there and our bus was at 6. Yeh… I was having a heart attack and being a nervous wreck… thank you bozzarello genes. Though we made it, I’m making sure next time I am in charge of our transportation plans… or group plans in general! The bus ride up to Piura was 14 hours (during the night)... arriving Monday morning at 8:50 in Piura. (We played guess the time we will arrive… price is right rules…I won... of course!...winning 6 candy bars…which I divided up with the other 5 who played and paid for them)

Monday when we arrived we met our regional coordinator, who gave us a quick run-down about our sites and the prices we will being paying for food/lodging according to Bajo or Alto Piura (FYI I’m in bajo)… After Erin, Marian and I took a much needed shower then went with the group for some Ceviche and site seeing/ getting to know the best spots for the volunteers to go! Piura city is so beautiful it really is very tranquilo because there aren’t many tourists and people, so it was definitely a more welcomed pace than Lima or like I previously saw in Cajamarca. When we got back to the hostel in the early afternoon we met some other volunteers who were stopping through due to various reasons… I met the volunteers who are the closest in proximity to me, they are really nice and seem like they will be a lot of fun to hang out with. At night we heading to this amazing restaurant that all the volunteers talk about, which had actual salads like massive salads you can get in the states, only 2 blocks from where we stay also they had amazing apps and desserts… After which we headed back to the room to get some rest after catching up with more volunteers who live in Piura that were passing through the hostel. PS, I should mention that the hostel has free internet and great prices to stay at. As well as an extensive PCV library they keep for us!! We are one of the only departments that have this and ours is the best!

Tuesday we woke up at about 6:30ish and headed out to meet our socio communitarios at about 9ish… mine were late arriving at a crisp 11o’clock… I felt a little like an orphan or like when mom forgot me at the soccer fields in Crow’s Woods after practice… We spent the day getting to know each other and about our sites. We headed back at about 5ish becuase I had a fully packed schedule and an event that night in town. They were a bit nervous during the day about this because they thought the PC event ended at 3 and my ceremony started at 4, so they had to push everything back!! When we pulled up in a taxi to the main street (1 of the 3 that are in my site) there were chairs outside in front of the municipality to have a welcoming party. They had some serious music blasting from 5 ft.speakers…pretty sure the whole town, of 3 streets, heard every lyric… After we began, all my socio communitarios gave a speech about who they were and how excited they were to have me then I gave my dreaded speech… and surprisingly enough I did well, I guess all those years of lecturing at Christmas mass paid off J …I got about 500 pictures taken of me, which made me feel self-conscious at first but after a little bit of time, really good lol. (go figure) Then after pics with all the socio communitarios all the people/ the majority of the town walked me to my house. My house is only 6 houses down from the municipality, so that was interesting lol. Some people only walked 4 feet! Haha! I met my family and then put my things in my room and went back downstairs to talk and answer questions. I got asked about 100 questions which were totally fine, they were really interested in my life, my job there, and my family/customs in the states. It was also a little easier talking to them because in Piura they talk slower then people in Lima and they tend to drag out the end of their sentences. By about 8ish I was fully exhausted from the whole day so I headed up to bed. My bed is ruff but def nothing I can complain about… but my pillow that was another story… thank God I brought my sleeping bag (FYI, interesting fact here they call a sleeping bag: sleeping)
okay I think this and the pics I´ll put up will be enough to hold you till tomorrow!

this is my socio communitario ... they work with straw weaving ... im sooo excited to learn!! they said since i can knit it wont be that hard since this is easier.. but you should of seen the way their hands were moving it looks impossible!!

this is the plaza de armas in my town its really small but pretty with these amazing flowers all around

this is my mom ... chillin like she usually does in front of the house.. thats one fo my little rat dogs.. ive grown to love though... no really i have