I love giving presents

josie gettin at the sidewalk outside of the fair in Piura

Sandro practicing his name (forgot the R)

Here they are together w their gifts

sandro getting his gifts... then 2 sec later changing into his new Phils gear

Josie and Sandro with thier gifts.. she also put on her dress in .2 sec flat

loviiing her gifts

Phils!!

my little sandrito cheering for our phils!

back from my stateside vaca and back to the grind

July 20, 2009
I have been back in country since Tuesday and it has been busy as ever. I arrived in Lima thinking I would be there for a fair with my artisans only to get a call on Wed that my artisans decided to do a more local fair instead of traveling to Lima. So at 4:30 I grabbed a bus and headed up to Piura arriving about 8 the next morning. During the day I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with Karrie and spent some of the day with my artisans at the fair and decided to stay the night with a few other volunteers. We went out that night (so much for my 13 mo detox) to a local club and danced the night away. The next morning I headed back to site surprising my family since they thought I wouldn’t be home till after the Lima fair on Sat. I got to give them their gifts which they loved and also put the flea collars on my cats and dogs, which means I can pet them again. Lol. I passed out at about 4:30 in the afternoon and slept straight thru till 8:30 the next morning. From there I headed to the fair in Piura with my artisans. I got to give my artisans their presents and their kids, Sandro and Josie their cute outfits. I grabbed a video of Sandro cheering “Go Phillies!” with his new shirt on (Howard 6). I was at the fair till about 10 that night. But I did get away from the stand for a bit to dine with my good friend Marian who was down from her mountain site in upper Piura, Frias. Heading back to the fair, I hung out with my artisans and we talked about how my trip was. I got home at 10:30 pm and I thought my sister and mom were going to have a heart attack because it was “so” late. But I was safe because my artisan’s husband owns a car so I wasn’t using public transportation. Then went to bed waking up at 8:30 on Sunday and headed back to the fair this time with a notebook and cards to occupy my time. I also was able to go watch a movie and lunch with a few other volunteers who were in the capital that day. I headed back to the fair and we again were out till 10:30 but this time my family was okay with it. My brother Cesar was waiting at the house to say hello to me with his wife Meche and their kids CJ and Socorro. I gave the kids their gifts, sidewalk chalk, which they then preceded to use on all the walls and floors in my house. Believe it or not they do not have sidewalk chalk here.
I headed to bed about 11 and woke up this morning at 10, ate breakfast, and finally began to tackle my room which embarrassingly looks like a tornado hit it. Then I began to catalog my photos from my vaca home and here I am now writing this blog entry, since I got enough shit while I was home to start it again.
This week I will be working on writing a briefing of my artisan group for the Leeds School of Bus (Univ of Col, Boulder) I applied and was chosen to work with a MBA class this coming fall semester. They will be doing a case study on my artisans. I am extremely excited about this opportunity and want to do everything possible for my artisans to get the most out of this experience.
Also, I have a lot to do as far as working on my resume and emailing a few leads I have looked into for a job next year. Though some of you may think it’s too early to put focus on this area of my life, trust me its not. And even if it is, the number one difficulty in being a volunteer (as polled by RPCVs) is the reentry into the American Culture. There is a reverse culture shock that some volunteers can’t deal with, so I figure my best bet to avoid this situation is to have a job waiting for me when I get back, if not, at least a list of interviews… Okay I have to go eat lunch with my family because I have dared not to for the past 4 days and they are about to beat me. Then heading to my artisans, then Catacaos, which is where I will post this blog!
Love you all- ekh

The Hike.. duh duh duh

ohhh hellllooo it was freeeezing

cool tree

the donkey carrying our things

the eight of us on a bridge

our guide, I dont remember his name

group of us at base camp

group shot on the enterance to the park

YEH!! SNOW!! besides that reaction, I had the "oh shit-we are as high as snow"

Ancash trip and more Fair Fotos

5in the morning boarding the bus to the base of the mountian

I found lemons!

Just arriving in Ancash after a 30 sole bus for 10 hours, that means i spent 10 dollars for a 10 hour bus ride, imagine how shitty the bus was...

very delicious bagel and french pressed coffee, found only in cafe in Ancash called California Cafe (1 block from the plaza de armas) now i understand why ancash is better :)

more fotos to shiwyou a 360 view of where our stand was

April went by so fast

Some photos

A mom weaving in her house

me and esther taking a photo after we completed the Pepfar workshop

Me, Naqui, and Mari at my brothers house for some food after we went to the mass for my dad at the cathedral

Me and Iris

Iris with a client at the fair

This is the enterance to fair.. pretty cool right

Well it has been awhile sorry about that. My mom yelled at me so I guess I should write some things to apease her. April was really busy for me. The first week was getting into the swing of things after my vacation and trying to set up dates for the new session of computer course with the artisans as well as preparing for the Peru Gift Show fair 22-24 of April.

Semana Santa was a blast, I went up to Ancash and climbed a 15,000 ft mountain with 4 other volunteers! That was insane and prob not the best idea for a first time hiker to attempt. We did 60 km, in 3 days of hiking and my feet can prove it. I{m officially minus 2 toenails with 2 more on their last leg. My feet look like dunkin donuts glazed munchins...its really ugly and i have to wear gauze around my toes and use socks and sneakers... that part sucks bc its so hot and sneakers are the last thing i would like to put on my feet. Plus my sneakers dont match any of my outfits so ive been wearing my yoga pants everyday or shorts. I know, who cares what i put on my feet, but i ask you people to allow me that vanity when i have so little in this line of work! So when i got back from Ancash, I had the Pepfar workshop, which was a weeklong conference on Aids in Peru. I went to this with 2 people from my town. It was really informative and I actually start work with these people tomorrow to do workshops for my town and in Narihaula (which is the town over). The Pepfar workshop lasted till SAturday adn then Monday I was on the bus again, but this time heading toward Lima, for the fair. Tuesday, we spent all day setting up the stand for the fair. Wed, Thurs, and Fri from 8 am till 7 we were at the fair selling. I had a great time because I stayed at an embassay house that was 1 block from where the fair was being held. I got to walk to work everyday and make dinner with a real stove, pack a lunch and eat cereal!! It was a perfect minivaca! Right now im sitting in the cabina as she writing back to clients from the fair itself. Okay thats the update for now, ill write more another time!!

31 de Marzo

Helloooooo... sorry it has been so long since i have written... ive been travelling around Peru with the family and then busy with getting my life and work back on schedule! My trip was absolutely amazing and i took over 500 photos alogn with the 500 that my mom took and 400 that Grant took!! I really have to upload them and I promise I will when I put them on my USB but for those of you that have facebook, I did put up 3 albums (which includes all the photos i look good in!!) The sad part is that was a serious comment! lol ... anyway lately Ive been getting my group ready for the fair in April in Lima called THe Peruvian Gift Show-Peru MOda... this year they are combining the two fairs (because of the economy) ...which I mean can be for the good or worse.. we´ll see how our sales go.
Yesterday I did a inventory check for the molds that we have for the products can you believe the figures totalled to 6,000 soles thats 2,000 dollars of wooden figures... it really adds up and most of it is bought by the artisans and not the assoc. In the afternoon I did a Color Charla. Which is basically a presentation of the colors, what the mean, what they indicate and also what kind of combinations you can do inside the color reel (monocromatic, analogo...etc) This to help with the product collections we are bringing to the fair. THis year instead of doign a bunch of products from the house, we are going to plan what we want to bring and actually do those designs, well at least that is the plan... as far as the realization of this plan, ill let you know in a few weeks.
Okay well I have to get home for lunch, miss you all!!! Sorry about the delayed post!
Love,
Elizabeth