Can I get some antibiotics????

So I have been sick twice this week. Both times from extreme cases of the belly aches. This could be from my over indulgence of sweets from two different parties, but I will maintain that it MUST be bacteria in the water, air pollutants, or a beaten down immune system from the excess of work that has been thrust upon me. Regardless of the reasoning, I am coping well and have had many things to keep my mind off of the physical symptoms.


aforementioned jumping pictures...could we have timed that better?


Yesterday was site placement day!!! That means I was suppose to find out my site for my two year service....So….I will be living in the department of Cajamarca, Peru. I will be about 4 hours north of my department in a town of about 10,000. The treck will take 20 hours from Lima, but I believe I have stated before that the bus trips are actually quite enjoyable. I will say that I am quite excited and cannot wait to get started. Tomorrow I am leaving for my site visit where I will be back to Cajamarca for a week (this is same department where I did field based training). I will get to meet my community partners I will be working with. Who is nervous for first impressions…In broken Spanish?!?!?!? That would be me, believe it or not.


view from the top of a ridge overlooking cajamarca city.


The only down side of the site placement is that I have yet to have a host family! Apparently my site was switched at the last minute. My site was designed for two female volunteers, but I was placed there instead. So, the original host family will only accept a female volunteer stating that they have a young teenage girl in the house. Understandable. But, that leaves me with the task of finding a new family in the next week, so wish me luck!


tree and church in cajamarca city central plaza


Other adventures of the last week were learning how to make homemade peanut butter, cooking brownies from scratch, improvised presentations and talent shows, learning about bee keeping, and making a soufflé.


homemaid peanut butter. i over roasted the peanuts, which then made me over compensate with more sugar to cover the burned taste. all in all it was tastey. i will do better next time.


I hope all is well and I will check back in a week or so. Keep on praying…

Peace and blessings,

Tim.