Learning 'The Way'...

Taking another trip

2009-09-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here in a quaint hostel in Lima writing this. I arrived in Lima a couple of days ago and will be here for the rest of the week. Purpose? Medical checks. This basically means an hour or two of meetings then free time in Lima. While it is fun to be in the city it is very easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of eleven million people and everything is VERY expensive. My wallet more than my anything else will be happen when I head back to Cajamarca.

So far I have been medically checked and am waiting for dental checks tomorrow. I am a bit nervous as I have had several cavities in the past and after living for over a year in a country where there is no fluoride in the water there is a much higher chance for problems. many people who have never had problems are coming back from their appointments with cavities. I am praying for better luck.

In a couple of days I will be at a couple day training (still in Lima) and will wait in Lima through early next week for some more meetings. All in all it is a good trip and change of pace. But as always, I imagine I will be quite ready to be back to Cajamarca and continue will all of the work I have been doing. I just hope nothing drastic has changed (as it frequently does) while I am gone.

Tim.

Pressing on

2009-08-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

As was mentioned before, I was traveling for Peruvian Independence Day. I went to the coast to a VERY touristy town. While there are much more interesting places to visit in Peru, it was a fun week. Also, I probably had the best meal that I have had in Peru there. Something to the tune of a 20 ounce steak. It was amazing.

Several of my friends here in Peru are volunteers from Germany. They are very interesting as I get to learn about Germany and still speak Spanish (it is also fun to listen to Spanish with a German accent). Not to mention that they are just cool people. As they only serve for one year, they were getting ready to head back to German, but not before on last vacation to the jungle. As I will not be visiting Germany in the near future to visit, I decided to go along.

We went to Iquitos then took a three day tour through the rainforest. We saw a lot of wildlife, caught piranhas, ate the piranhas, swam in the Amazon River, and a lot of other interesting jungle activities. In the end it was a trip to remember. Here are some photos:

Learning how to get water from natural plant life if we ever get lost in the jungle :-o

Paddling our canoe down the river

Learning how to prepare the piranhas

Heading back to Iquitos after a fun three days

Again I am excited to be back in my site and get back to my projects. We have worked very hard to get things going and I am glad to be back and see our projects implemented.

One other point to note: as of the 22nd of August, I will have been a sworn-in volunteer for one full year (this does not count the 11 weeks of training at the beginning). Quite a milestone.

I hope you are all well. I think about you often.

until next time,

tim.

A Long Time Past

2009-07-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

So, I have had several people comment that I should write something new on this blog. After much procrastination, here it goes.

As general as I can be (I can get more specific later...) things have been going really well. Work has been coming along but is also frustrating at times. We have been trying to start up our healthy living school program the last 4 weeks, but coincidently the last 4 Mondays have been holidays.

On a similar note, it really feels like I have not been in my site for the past month and a half. We had a girls camp where volunteers all brought girls from their sites into the city for a weekend. Later I was on the coast to run a half marathon. Next I was traveling for a week to train a new group of volunteers on "what it is like to be a volunteer". Then, to finish out a crazy month, I will be on vacation to celebrate Peruvian Independence Day later this week. While I have been in site more that not, there has been little consistency to get projects off the ground.

Anyway, here are some very random pictures and hopefully my next post will come within the next three months :-)

Until next time,

-tim-

February posting...

2009-02-19T19:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long absence. I can thing of many excuses, but I will spare you all of the waste of time it would take to read my rediculous rationalizations.

To summarize, I really have not done much exciting. I have been working and not much else. I have three groups I currently lead: an english group, and self esteem group, and a cooking/vocational group. I am also making plans with my community partner to start a school based program that we may or may not be able to distribute to other heath staff in the region if successful. But truly, that is a step by step process.

Anyway, as I was so kindly told by my friend meg, apparently pictures are WAY more interesting that anything I actually have to say. so here are some pics. (I will say that i have been culprit of not carrying my camera much, so here is what i have...)

My family and I playing some UNO (they love this game) and trying to look pensive.

Taking a trip outside the city only to be foiled by rain! Luckily I had my trusty UNO game.

My nephew being thrilled by this Thomas the Train card game my former work set me for Christmas. He is obsessed with Thomas and there are no Thomas products here in Peru. Way to go CAC!

I think this is the only time He has ever been excited about a book; major accomplishment!

Some of the girls from my cooking group taste testing some of brownies we made (to tell the truth, they were nothing like brownies. they were simply chocolate disasters!!!)

Anyway, that is the majority of the excitement that has been going on. I will be doing a fair amount of traveling through trainings and vacations in the coming months which will be really nice. I have been really antsy here in my site and it will be nice to "get some fresh air" with some trips.

As I think I have mentioned, my site is the center of Carnival for all of Peru, which is essentially mardi gras. For those not keeping track, this weekend is when the majority of festivities are. Needless to say, I am quite excited. I have never experienced a mardi gras before, so it should be quite interesting. Plus, I am really excited to see some friends from other departments that are coming in who I have not seen in quite sometime.

Also, thank you to everyone who facebooked, called, and/or sent me things for my birthday!!! Everything was really good and it was nice to wake up to all of that love in message/email/or package form! Thanks!!!

that is all for now,

tim.

beginning the new year

2009-01-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

So things have picked up but are going well. Unfortunately, it seems that blogging motivation has dwindled to a slow trickle in the past weeks. I think I will blame a packed schedule and the general dreary-ness that has descended upon the mountains of Cajamarca. It is a rare day that we do not receive at least a couple hours of rain. The saving grace is that almost every morning there are clear-ish skies to then be followed in the afternoon by rain. Precious moments of sun in the morning make for a great walk to work knowing that I will not be wearing wet shoes and clothes for the rest of the day.

I left off on Christmas...so here are the events of new years. Sorry that it is a little late and a bit pass the general thoughts of all that is encompassed by new years celebrations and though processes.

Tradition here is to make a doll of your favorite political figure to criticize...and then burn it. Almost always the dolls are of the current president of Peru. This is done at midnight, followed by a dinner, followed by dancing until early hours of the morning. My host family finally let me escape to my room at about 4 in the morning.

Anyway...here is some photo documentation of the aforementioned events.

My host brother (Raul) and I enjoying the firery festivities

Perceived chaos in the streets as we all celebrate the burnings

My host siblings and I having fun after our midnight dinner

And yes...the air guitar is just as cool in Peru as it is in the States

Raul and I waiting for the night to end

So...I want to say a BIG thank you to all of the people that have been staying in contact and most importantly, sending me things!!!! It is amazing to be reminded of home and people that care. So thanks!

I hope you are well and that this new year brings many blessings and happiness.

tim.

Christmas time

2008-12-26T13:53:00.000-08:00

The traditional Christmas celebration for Peru is to celebrate on the 24th at midnight. There is a large dinner and a lot of Christmas music. In a discussion about Christmas and traditions my family asked me what my family normally does. One of the things we always have done since I was young (and being I grew up in the north) was to have a Christmas morning fire. Upon hearing this, my family decided that we MUST have a fire. They then asked me what we needed. I told them we normally just burn wood. Anyway...we ended up having a fire for the 2 hours leading up to our Christmas eve midnight dinner.

So for the fire I decided it was essential to have smores. Being there are no graham crackers or Hershey’s chocolate bars I have to improvise. Fortunately there are these wonderful peruvian snacks that are basically chocolate covered soda crackers. These, combined with marshmallows, made some great smores. The entire family was completely thrilled with the new discovery of cooking over a fire and making smores. I was even informed that it is a new family tradition.

As is customary even in the states, it seemed that the men seemed much more interested in fire that the women, and consequently stayed for much longer than the women.

It seems like Christmas day is celebrated in the same fashion as the 4th of July in America. We had a trip to the country where we looked at some old Incan tombs that were carved into the side of a mountain, then proceeded to have a picnic, play volleyball, soccer, and Frisbee.

Afterwards we then decided to wade into the river, jumping rock from rock. I was even able to rescue a stray soccer ball that was about to wash down river.

Also, my host brother was a little more cautious than the rest of us.

All in all it was a very different, interesting, yet very wonderful Peruvian Christmas. I hope it was the same for all of my fellow volunteers and friends and family in the states!

feliz navidad y feliz ano nuevo!

tim.

Getting to Work.

2008-12-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

So the month of December has been VERY busy. Looking back, I am so thankful for thanksgiving out of my site to recharge and prepare myself for this past month. The main project that I started was the world map project. We are by no means done, but we have started and are now just waiting for the Christmas holiday to be over to restart the project.

The first step was drawing a "perfect" rectangle on the wall. I say in shame that it took about an hour for us to figure out exactly how to do it! In the end it got done and is pretty "perfect"-ish. The following photo is of us finishing up for the day which took much longer than any of us thought. This was also the day when everyone decided to come which was very exciting.

After making the rectangle, the next step is to paint the ocean. Again...this took longer than expected. We ended up not having enough paint to do a thick coat, so we did what we could. I also was a bit stingy and bought two brushes instead of a roller...effectively saving about 12 soles...or 4 dollars. But in the end the job got done (we reconvened and finished the second coat on another day).

As time when on numbers started to dwindle. The last two sessions I had two youth show up. A least I was not working by myself! And, to be fair, most of the kids had finished exams for the year (the school year ends in December) and had left for vacations and other things. So after painting we located a projector (yes we had a projector!) and traced every border of every country.

We finished up all of the tracing and are now just waiting for the kids to come back after the Christmas holiday to start painting in every country. So I am confident I will have some renewed enthusiasm for the project when they all come back.

The goal of the world map is to teach kids about world geography (which they do not have in their school curriculum) and to instill the sense of accomplishment of starting and finishing a project that will remain for many others to see.

Besides the world map, I have been doing a lot of interviews of people in the community, learning what resources there are for youth in the city and to find potential work projects other than at the regional hospital.

Movin' ahead.

2008-12-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

I have been busy every morning working with the youth adolescent center at the regional hospital. Four days a week we have a group in the morning. Currently we have someone coming in to teach music, theater, and soon will teach dance as well. We usually have a good group of about 15-25 youths that come regularly. My role every group is to lead some form of activity or game at the beginning, end, and/or when the group is rowdy and needs a change of focus for a couple of minutes. Needless to say, doing 2-3 games a group diminishes me reservoir of new ideas quickly. At least I can say I have not run out yet...

Here are some pictures of some of the things that have been going on:

Kids trying to cross the "water", carrying friends because they do not have on the "magic floating shoes".

More of the same...

Kids practicing a drama sketch.

Christmas decorations? Could it be so???

My nephew Arturito and I.

So all in all things have been going much smoother. I plan on meeting as many people as I can from other service organization to network for possible work opportunities. As I find out more I also hope that my life can find a little more routine that it has now, but I admit I am blessed to be where I am and have the new opportunities that have presented themselves.

In recent conversations with some good friends we discussed how funny it is when God leads you through hard times that seem to have little purpose only to realize on the other side that those experiences are pivotal to a greater purpose or learning. Reflecting on my circumstances, I have not figured out reasons, but I have learned that it is all out of my hands anyway so trusting God seems like the best alternative and that the lessons will come. Even if they don't, I suppose that creating a higher level of trust in God is reason enough...

Until next time...

peace and blessings,

tim.

Praying for Peace

2008-12-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites, so I thought I would share.

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen." A Franciscan Prayer

sounds pretty peace corps, no? Or, maybe just a Jesus kinda life...

peace and blessings,

tim.

Back to Work

2008-12-02T15:46:00.000-08:00

I am back in site trying to get going. It is just funny how sometimes work piles up and other times you can't find it even when you are looking. I have been experiencing the latter. Despite this I took the initiative to color half of the world (preparing to start my world map project). Hopefully I will finish up and be ready to get started on that project soon. Some good news from my counterpart is that we have groups four mornings a week and numerous classroom visits in the afternoons. So, whenever I can track her down we should have a lot to do.

Here are just some random photos that might be interesting:

The most common type of transportation in Peru: the combi. Normally there are about 20 people inside

Very popular in more rural areas is the classic Volkswagen Beetle

And, an American car is a rare siting

But by far the most popular is the Mototaxi

Random photo from the ruins of Chan Chan. I believe this was part of a palace, but I really do not remember which people group inhabited the area.

peace and blessings. more to come later...

tim.

Making up for lost time...by taking a break...

2008-11-30T20:47:00.001-08:00

hey all,

I just got back from our three month reconnect and thanksgiving vacation. To be honest it was very odd not being in the states, but was very comforting having a beach side thanksgiving dinner. And yes, we did have turkey, pumpkin pie, and sweet potato casserole. it was quite delicious.

(Beach at training)

To summarize, we had three days of presentation and training then two days of vacations. It was so good to see many volunteers that I am close to, but have not seen in three months. I do not think that I had been as relaxed as I was this past week in over a year. So it was a much needed R&R.

(friends enjoying the pier and summer air)

some of the highlights were two campfires, walking on dangerous piers, over twenty hours on a bus, multiple visits to vegetarian restaurants, american style pancakes, VERY intense ping pong, pizza, seeing long lost friends, shopping (yes, shopping. two sweaters and a backpack), wearing shorts, rooming in a hostel with people from iceland and sweden, and visiting incan ruins.

(very important people...)

It was a great time but, as many of you know, every vacation has a natural end, and by the end of the week, I was very ready to get back to site and start work again. I think that is the sign of a good vacation, sufficient to relax and recharge for what you really want to get done. I just hope that this refreshed feeling will last for a while, or a least until my next vacation (i am now eligible to take personal vacation!!).

(on the bus to some ruins) (some youth dev. workers)

I am doing well and hope for many successes in the coming weeks. As I have mentioned before, it does not matter how "nice" things are but how effective I feel. That is what keeps me here.

(getting ready for the road)

Be well,

Tim.

Working as I go…

2008-11-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am now comfortable in my new site. I am still learning and meeting a lot of people, but I am very excited about what is in store for me. I have been cooking my own breakfast and dinner which has been very comforting. First to eat things I am used to, and second to gain some control after some chaotic weeks. My family continues to be very sweet and help as much as they can to make me feel comfortable.

(Me, work counterparts, and a youth participant)

I have been following around my work counterparts trying to understand what it is they do. It is very interesting because the program is just laying down a baseline study to assess the youth community. It does not seem like it is really clear what the program will be like as it is still in a formation phase. It really seems like there could not be a better time to enter a program than at its formation. We often go into high school and do small talks. My counters parts seem to have no problem putting me on the spot to come up with quick activities to entertain youth when they run out of things to say. I must say I am actually quite pleased they are so willing to push me into the spotlight. I think this is an indication I will be able to get approval to start up almost any type of program I want, which is very encouraging.

(Girl/Boy trying to guess who is leading the actions the entire circle is doing)

It is always interesting when we go into all girls schools. They have a tendency to ask me to sing English song for them. I politely ask them to sing first which has prevented me from having to break out Backstreet Boys or n’sync (I know I am WAY behind the times).

UPDATE...Kids are now letting me play soccer with them...

Upon moving to the city, I have drastically increased my amount of walking. This is accounted for things being far apart and my innate ability to get lost at least once a day. One of the hardest things to get used to is the lack time and ability to exercise. For this, I am not too anxious to know exactly how to get to every place I am trying to go.

After being in site for about a week, I will be heading to a 3 month reconnect. Three months in site…hardly feels possible. Reconnect consists of a couple of days of training/sharing about site experience, then followed by 2 days of vacation for thanksgiving, all taking place on the coast. I admit I am really hoping for some Frisbee and bonfires on the beach. It will also be nice to wear some of the shorts I packed 6 months ago. I think it will be much needed R&R.

I hope you are all well, and I am very thankful for all of the emails, support, and prayers that have come my way.

Peace and blessings,

Tim.

When things are moving...

2008-11-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

I feel as if so many things have been going on that I should be able to write pages without coming to an end. Strangely though, I am at a complete loss of words.

A brief summary is that after a conversation with my director, it was decided that I would be moving sites. My new location is in the capital city of Cajamarca. This means that I moved from a 10,000 person community to a 100,000 person community. It sounds as if I will be working with the regional hospital, helping to set up an adolescent health program the hospital is trying to set up. To be honest, I have no idea what that will look like or how involved I will be. I have yet to meet any work associates.

(a view of my new city)

The emotional and physical strain of leaving a site where I had friends and many work connections to a new site where I am starting over from scratch can be described as overwhelming at best. I am tired from a hectic few weeks but feel rejuvenated at the prospects of what this site and work could be. Living in a larger city means more problems to work with and more resources (sometimes) to address those problems. I feel as if this move provides many more opportunities to learn and grown as a professional and as a person. I pray this is true.

My housing situation is very nice. I have some space to myself, but also have a very loving family who are super concerned that I feel comfortable. They always feel that I am not comfortable or sick and constantly ask if I am feeling okay and if I am happy and content. I always affirm the worries and say that I am happy, healthy and excited to be here. The new family has to sons in their twenties, which works out perfectly for me. They both seem interested in getting to know me and spending time with me. I also have a 31 year old brother who has an almost three year old son.

He is off the wall. If he is not running circles around the house, he is breaking records for being the loudest 3 year old in existence. I love him. Upon arrival to my new home, furniture had to be moved. He made it a point to walk right in from of the piece that was being moved, and then to reach the destination of the furniture and stand right where we wanted to put it. The family was freaking out and I just laughed. I also have a window in my room that leads to the family room that has bars across it. He often climbs the bars and stares in at me. It is precious.

(my nephew arturito)

So all in all things are quite hectic but I am feeling more and more content with my living and work situations. I still cannot wait till I am able to start doing my own programming. It will come shortly.

Be well,

Tim.

A Long Time Passsed

2008-11-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

So I realize that it has been almost a month since the last time I updated everyone about what I have been up do and how I am doing. In an effort to justify my long spell of silence I will say that I have been out of town, sorting out living arrangements, generically busy, washing my hair…etc, etc.

Anyway, my biggest project this past month has been getting as much information as possible for my community diagnostic, which I should have mostly finished up in the next couple of weeks. The largest component of this has been handing out about 150 surveys to children in schools. This has been a blessing being that I actually got to interact with kids! One of the toughest things about being here so far has been my lack of activities with Peruvian youth. To summarize, I had almost 3 months of training with little youth interaction, and upon arrive to site we are expected to do a three month diagnostic and generally adjust to living in a rural town before starting programming. So after 6 months upon arrival is when we are really expected to start the youth programming component of our service. Needless to say I have become anxious to get started with direct contact with kids instead of generalized community information gathering (although I do see value in learning community resources BEFORE trying to start youth service).

To be inside the classrooms is quite interesting. As children finish the surveys I field any questions they would like to ask me, usually involving questions about the US and what I think of Peru. Something interesting is the repeated question of racism in the United States, specifically phrased “there are a lot of racists in the United States, right?” I was generally taken aback by these perceptions of my home country, but then realized why would they think any different? As is the case with most things, opinions are simply based on the information at hand, which in this case is limited (I mean, to be fair, how much do you know about Peruvians???). As I reflect on American culture, there is a lot of media and entertainment based on the theme of racism. For example, my favorite sick movie (as in the movie that is a must see when ever I feel under the weather) is Remember the Titans, which paints a portrait of an extremely racist society. So I guess this is just another reason why I am here, to hopefully modify the portrait of America that is heavily based on (rightfully) skewed perceptions rather than reality.

A struggle that I hoped I had passed is sorting out living arrangements. It seems as if my host family will be traveling for a couple months, and recently lost the person that cooks for the family (as both of my host parents work all day), so considering these, among other things, I think I will have to move families yet again. For any of you reading that have lived or traveled abroad for more than just vacation, you know that host families can make for a very rewarding experience, or be a large source of frustration. So the process of sorting out host families is a definite priority and takes precedent over any other type of work. Despite this new struggle/challenge, I think that it will be worked out as I have made many community connections since the last time I was searching for families.

I have been in my site for a little over two months. It is customary to visit the capital city once or twice every month. Up to this point, I have yet to make it to my capital city. Considering there is an election coming up, I think it will be good to finally make the 4-5 hour trek and stay a couple nights, as I know other volunteers will be in to watch the presidential elections. I think this will be a much needed break and time to refresh with other Americans. As I have mentioned in the past, it is easy to lose track of time and connection with American customs being isolated in a small Peruvian community. Small breaks are recommended and I feel necessary in the slow adjustment and adaptation to another culture.

So, in summary, I still face many challenges everyday, but I feel as if the slow process of adjustment is happening, and hopefully I will truly feel at home here as more time passes.
It has not happened yet, but “poco a poco” (little by little) as is customary to say…

Peace and blessings, and if you all would, keep me in your prayers,

Tim.

TIME

2008-10-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

It is a funny thing how time passes. Sometimes is rushes by and you don’t know what just happened, and all you can do is reflect on the things that have passed. Other times you wonder if the seconds could tick slower, and if things you are waiting for will ever come. I am slowly find that time is solely something that measures others things that are a lot more important. I have experienced both feelings of time but I have found that what is important is I focusing on the things to be doing rather than focusing on how much or how long I will be doing during that time.

(picture of my city nestled in a vally)

The adjustment process, as apposed to having fun on a couple month adventure, has progressed. I have heard culture shock happens after a couple of months, not upon arrival to a country. As I meet more people and plan out my work the more I feel at home here, having the new host family helps (as well as the newly installed electricity!).

I am currently stuck in a rut for work. I have met most of the people I will be working with, but am still intentionally waiting a little on the diagnostic that I am doing. This leaves so long afternoon without a lot to do. So sometimes it is hard to fill my schedule, which can then just make time move very slowly. A new plan is to try and fill my schedule as full as possible, because things inevitably fall through leaving large windows of time with not a lot to do. I am confident these are natural growing pains, and will be less frequent and significant as time continues to pass.

(working hard in my front yard)

Some highlights from the past week have been finishing tilling the soil for my garden project, getting electricity (as mentioned), a friend seeing me on the street and insisting that I need to share some chicharones rather than go to work (of which I felt obligated), starting to run again, and coming home to my family making real, legit pancakes for dinner, and beating my family at monopoly by only building on Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues (while hesitant to make any generalizations about Peruvians, especially negative ones, I will say that are just not very good at monopoly J, or maybe it was just years of being beat by older siblings that has created a finely tuned monopoly playing machine), and convincing my family to start playing chess which has become an almost daily activity.

(out on a hike)

So things are progressing with negatives and positives, but I have still been able to have an appreciation for both.

Peace and blessings,

Tim.

Looking for the other side

2008-09-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a brief summary of what I have done over the past months for those who have not had the time to stay updated, or are simply interested in a summary of what I have been doing.

Arriving.

I started and completed training. Training consisted of 11 weeks of cultural, technical, and language training. I lived with a host family that was very nice and was generally a positive experience. My general sentiment was excitement to finish training and begin actual work in my new site. Along the way I met some very awesome people and began the process of adjustment to a new culture that is not my own.

Site.

Upon arriving to site I was commissioned to work in rural schools and find a host family. After three weeks I was still without a host family and few work leads. This understandably created a sense of frustration and helplessness…in a foreign country where nobody really speaks my language.
Family.
After some perseverance, things have started to fall into place. As of a couple days ago, I have a host family that seems very nice. We are starting to get to know each other, but this is generally a lengthy process to become truly integrated into a new family with different customs than my own. It seems as if the greatest challenge will be with the family pet, princesa. Every time we are in the same room together, she roles on her side and marks her territory…which she clearly feels is not mine. She has hit the sofa, living room floor, and my bedroom floor.
I am not unpacked yet; I am waiting for electricity to my room. For the last couple of days I have been told I will get electricity either “later today” or “tomorrow”. We will see. But, to tell the truth reading at night by candle light seems sort of romantic, no?

Work.
I visited a site yesterday (my site mate’s site, which is an hour hike up the side of a mountain) where I think I will be able to do some work. I also talked with a school in the city that is excited for me and my site mate to start a garden project as soon as we are able. On top of that, the same school asked if I would be able to do my world map project (consists of painting a large map of the world on a wall) at their school. While I am not integrated into any one project, and I still have my community diagnostic to complete before really getting started on work, it still feels great to have people that want me to work with them.
Attitude.
While not perfect I am doing better. I am starting to fall into a rhythm in site, and every now and then I run into people around town that call out my name because they know who I am!!! This truly is a victory! The most difficult thing is defiantly not the living conditions. What is most trying is lack of people who know and understand me. The novelty of being in another country has worn off (I am approaching 4 months in country…wow!), and the real purpose of my mission here has been greatly tested, and so far won out.
While there are obvious struggles, it seems like I am finding a niche and am getting more and more excited for the things I will be doing. I am loving my house (a little house outside of the city where there are grass, goats, and a family pet), the scenery, and all of the learning I am doing.

Mail
While I have yet to receive anything at this address, I think it will work (another volunteer a couple of hours away receives mail here frequently, so we will see). It took about 10 days to receive mail in Lima, I think it will be 2 or 2 ½ weeks here at my site in the mountains.

Timothy Voigt
Correo Central de Bambamarca
Bambamarca, Hualgayoc, Cajamarca
Peru

Thank you all for taking the time to be interested and reading some of the things I am doing. While exciting, it is strange to be away from family and friends. Know that you are missed and I think of you all more often than you know.

I will post more pictures as I unpack and get settled into my new house.

Be well,

Tim.

Comings and goings…

2008-09-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I do not have much new and exciting to share with anyone. Just an update to let you all know that I am still alive and functioning.

The last week consisted of about 4 meetings total. This means that I did a lot of walking around, trying to become acquainted with my new city. I have met many people whose names I am pretty sure I do not remember. I found the best local cookies shop, and found a lady who I will never by cake from again (can we say sand in the batter?!?).

I have finished Les Miserables (abridged version…that was the only copy at the book exchange…I swear!). Great book. I would recommend it to anyone. I am currently reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I am less than impressed. I am half way done and it seems that it has just been a stream of consciousness of a transient during the 40’s and 50’s. Maybe I miss the point, or the life lessons are yet to come. We will see.

I have had few successes since moving to site. Objectives for the next week are: figure out how I can work with the health post in rural zones, where they don’t actually go; convince my other partner agency that my Spanish will improve, and that the kids will not be worse off after interacting with me; and to figure out my housing situation once and for all. I think it is doable…

I am thinking of all of you, and hope that life is as full as possible…prayin’ for ya’ll!

-Tim-

Taking the long road…

2008-08-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

hello all, sorry for the long wait. so here it goes...

I have traversed from the sea town of Lima to the department of Cajamarca. I am nestled in a town in the middle of the Andes. The views are gorgeous from this remarkable place.

view from the road to site...

I have been in my site for about 3 days. Needless to say my housing situation is STILL not worked out, but I feel that it will be soon enough. Things ALWAYS work themselves out.

being excited about finishing training...

Things I have done since getting to town:

I have talked with the health network in town, and they are excited to have me. I have had a few conversations with nurses and what I might be able to do in some of the rural schools.

I have talked with another school in the city about possible work which sounds very interesting. They bring kids from the country into the city for 4 days, and focus on vocational education. Some areas that I remember are agriculture, electricity, baking, and carpentry. I am excited to learn just as much as I am to help!!! It should be good.

I met my site mate the other day. I am excited to have another gringo within an 1 ½ hour walk from my site.

I have played in competitive volleyball match…which my team lost...on my serve (however that works…)

Been rejected by a group of kids playing soccer…who had uneven teams…but still did not want the gringo to play…

Washed my clothes by hand

Been led by a counter part an hour into the country side, by foot, to see a special fruit in someone’s house. Unfortunately they were not there. (Another unfortunate thing was they did not tell me where we were going, so I did not have a chance to drop off my bag full of papers, or change out of my dress clothes/shoes…)

last day with my family...

I am meeting a lot of people and generally enjoying myself. My stress levels will drop when I get a permanent housing situation, and I am able to create and start my work plan for the next couple of months.

peace?!?

Prayers are appreciated,

Hope everyone is well,

Tim.

Reflecting over time

2008-08-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

One of the main tasks during training is language training. We have language class for 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. This has been happening since the beginning of training. Also, we were given official language competencies at the beginning and midpoint of service. We were just given a final assessment of language proficiency. Upon entering I was a middle intermediate speaker; the same for my middle assessment. So, after 2 ½ months of speaking Spanish in a foreign language, I am proud to say I advanced to an intermediate high speaker. That is right, after 2 ½ months I can now officially say that I have in fact learned something about Spanish.

Through the past months I say that I have become much closer to the people here than I thought I would. I say this because now is a time of reflection about the next two years. On Friday we swear in to service, and then leave for sites on Saturday. This means that I will be 2 hours by bus to the nearest people from my training group. It is an odd feeling to be leaving this experience that I have become so accustomed. I was expecting many challenges and assimilation difficulties, but leaving people met in Peru was unexpected.

Despite the emotional struggles, I am very excited to get to my new site, and figure out what it is all about, and what I will be doing. The point that can make or break a trip is the ability to feel at home in the new site. I pray it will come rapidly. I also know that I will feel much better when I am able to find out more details. The two big ones are figuring out my host family situation and meeting my community partners that I will be working with in my new site.

I truly feel blessed to be here. I am having experiences that are unlike anywhere else in the world, learning language, learning how to work and be effective in under resourced communities that are resistant to change (especially from the outside), and truly learning how to relate and adapt to people in a cross cultural environment.

i am well and thank you all for the emails, and ground mails. they are very much appriciated.

peace,

tim

Making it happen

2008-08-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

Coming and going

I successfully managed my trek to Cajamarca a second time, and returned happy, healthy, and in moderately good spirits (in reality I was quite exhausted upon arrived, being I was on a bus for 21 of the 30 hours prior to arrival). Some highlights of my trip were seeing my site for the first time, meeting some community partners, wandering the streets talking to strangers, watching people playing soccer at the community fields, and sweet talking my way into getting free fruit from ladies in the market (can you really turn down and dashingly good looking young man, with the vocabulary of a 4 year old, with “pale” white skin, who won’t leave you alone for the better part of 20 minutes?? I don’t think so).

me on my roof in cajamarca view from above my town (that is my town on the right)

Talking about the family

So my new family has yet to be determined. I stayed with a family who live in a quaint two bedroom apartment 2 ½ blocks from the city square. They were very accommodating but will probably not be my family for the duration of my stay in Peru because of lack of space. Rumor has it that my directors are working hard to find me a new family, but I may or may not have one by the time I return to site (two weeks and counting…). So I may stay with this family for a temporary amount of time.

Despite the uncertainty of my family, it was an enjoyable week. My host father left after the first day, my sister was scared of me, and my mother is pregnant and was having morning sickness for the entire time I was there. Therefore, I walked, and walked, and walked all around the city, and in the evening watched a variety of movies that were dubbed in Spanish (the highlight was ocean’s 11, what a great flick!). This was a Great change of pace from the incredibly hectic schedule of training in Lima.

Mild adventures

On one of my walks I wandered upon a beautiful plot of land with a little lagoon and palm leaf covered pavilion. I proceeded to enter saw many farm animals roaming free including a bunch of large dogs. I proceeded closer only to see a man (Walter) leaving the land on a road behind me. I back tracked and began to talk to him about his home. Turns out he runs a restaurant but has a lack of business. He then toured me around and came upon 5 Rottweiler’s which began circling me. Walter said not to worry because they are only mean when his is not around…which quickly answered the reason of his lack of business, and made me thank God that I saw him leaving on the road behind me…

0

success with peanut butter Fresh made lemon bars (from scratch)

Back in Lima

Realizing that I will be returning to a small kitchen with no oven (I think) I decided to take advantage of the stove that has never been used at my house in Lima. So, after class I ran past the small market in town and picked up some supplies with the objectives of peanut butter (another time), buckeyes, and lemon bars. Fast forward 3 ½ hours and I had a bowl of peanut butter, 25 buckeyes, and an entire 9x13 pan of lemon bars for less than 7 dollars. Not bad. Although I had final products, they were not quite what I expected. The peanut butter was slightly runny because I didn’t want to kill the blender. Therefore I had to add extra powdered sugar to absorb the liquid for the buckeyes, and the chocolate was not inclined to melt as I wished. And the lemons for the lemon bars were not very strong so I doubled the lemon count with a final product of less than lemony lemon bars. While I was moderately pessimistic about the kitchen full of sweets, those who did not know what they were suppose to taste like said it was all a success.

some iffy looking buckeyes - peruvian style...

Persevering to the end to a new beginning

Time is flying by, but I have so many mixed feelings about the rapidly approaching transition to my new role in the peace corps, as a Volunteer (currently I am just a “trainee”). I have been soo busy with training I have had little time for anything else, which will be starkly contrasted with my initial time as a volunteer which will be walking around meeting people for the better part of two months. Also, I have more direct supervisors in training than I can count which will be replace by only two, where the closest one lives 4.5 hours away from my site. Change is coming, but that is what I signed up for. Site visits gave me a taste of my site, and I am ready (and have been) to take a lot bigger bite and see what happens…

as always, more will coming coming later.

blessings to all,

tim.

Can I get some antibiotics????

2008-08-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

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.

making it count...

2008-07-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the my Peruvian experience, I will give you the roses and thorns of the week (this is dedicated to Shannon, who forced us to play roses and thorns incessantly over FBT. But I will say most of time it was quite enjoyable when the girls were not excluding all males from joining in.)

kat and I hanging out

So, some of the thorns of the last week have been losing my wallet, trying to get fingerprinted for my msw certification (a process which took an entire morning in lima, and another afternoon running around chosica and chaclacayo), completely losing the ability to speak Spanish for large sections of time, and clogging the sink while shaving off my beard. Needless to say it has been an interesting and trying week.

Some of the roses that have still made this week enjoyable and exciting were being able to have someone to pray with in the mornings, a bible study of volunteers, chocosoda (a delicious chocolate covered cracker), jumping pictures (where you jump and look like you are suspended in air. I will post some pics later), long weekends (three days thanks to Peruvian Independence Day!!!!), banana pancakes, mail, and good emails from friends and family.

practicing a dance for a presentation-me and james paying attention during another presentation.

Another exciting event of the past week was my niece’s birthday party! Her birthday was last week, but all the gringos were off doing field based training so they thought we were important enough to suspend all celebration activities until we arrived back home for the fiesta. I will say I am quite happy they did. The party started off slow, after the first hour and a half of taking pictures of the birthday girl with all of the other children they decided to let us eat. By eat, I mean attack the three table spread of chocolate candy bars, gummy bears, rice pudding, jello, and ice cream. Yum!! My total was 5 candy bars, 3 ice cream sandwiches, 1 small bowl of ice cream, and many gummy bears, candies, and gum drops. This was then followed by a 3 hour show by “hi-5” a children’s pop rock entertainment group that lip-sink all kinds of songs. When the kids did not want to pay attention to the show, they were able to climb and slide down the 40 ft. inflatable slide or jump on the trampoline that were set up for the party. Not shabby for a 6 year old’s birthday party. For the record, I think the first party I had was my 16th. It was in someone’s basement.

yes, those are monster bananas in my right hand and normal sized bananas for a contrast. whoazzaa!

hope all is well,
peace,
tim.

Summarizing a week.

2008-07-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

I am alive and well for all those worrying about my whereabouts. I arrived back to lima on Sunday after a 16 hour bus trip from the mountains of Peru. While this sounds like a tough trip, I will say I was riding on one of the nicest buses I have ever seen. I can only imagine it was similar to flying first class in a plane, but the backs of the chairs reclined almost all the way. We were even entertained to 27 dresses (for the 2 second time on this trip) and the award winning movie “phat girls”. Could you ask for better entertainment?? Yeah, I did not think so.

So, for those of you not up to date on Peruvian cities, I will tell you Cajamarca is known for great cheese and meat. Needless to say I did have the need to test these rumors. I will assure you that they are in fact true. They also have quite tasty coffee and coconut ice cream.

Activities of the week included visiting several sites of current volunteers, interviewing many community members, and working in the school systems. In groups, taught classes on self esteem and English. It was very interesting to stand in front of a class, and attempt to explain English phrases, in Spanish. Definitely a new experience.

This week I am looking forward to Spanish training, because it is obvious I am not fluent yet. But, my family did tell me yesterday after an hour of conversation, that they were not struggling to understand what I am saying!! Poco a poco (baby steps). So that was a bit of a pick me up.

I completed the second interview for my volunteer placement. I am completely clueless where I will be place in Peru, but I do know that I will find out at the end of next week. After the interview I officially had a bit of a freak-out, but now I am just stoked to find out and go. I really want to get started learning about my new community.

As might be inferred, life is VERY busy. So I will try and post more soon. I will also scrounge for some more pictures at some point. I keep praying for ya’ll of you keep praying for me.

Peace and Blessings,

Tim.

On the go.

2008-07-13T09:44:00.001-07:00

I am headed to the department of Cajamarca, which nestled in the andes mountians, for the next week.
the schedule coming up,

one week in cajamarca

two weeks back at training

one week in at my future service site

two weeks at training

sworning in, and leave for my two year service.

It is all going quickly, i will update more at a later date. i appriciate prayers.

peace and blessings,

tim.

Toca la guitara

2008-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

So, as I have mentioned before, many volunteers have bought guitars while in Peru. Unfortunately, few of us know how to actually play a guitar. While guitars do make excellent decorations for bedrooms, we decided we should probably pick them up once in a while. So, put together two volunteers with incredible skill on the guitar, and 15 other volunteers that could not tell the difference between a guitar and a banjo, and you have yourself a weekly guitar night. We are truly blessed to have one person volunteer the roof of there house for the weekly event, which over looks the entire town. So, we learned how to hold the guitar, some cords, and a song entitled “happy, happy, sad, sad” which is quite fun because you simply yell “happy” or sad with a corresponding major or minor cord. I will confess, this is a great way to wind down after a busy day of classes.

pics from the roof top:

peace,

tim.

Day on the farm:

2008-07-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday was another day and the agriculture university. I am excited to say it was a very interesting process. The topic of the day was compost and humus. We learned the proper way to construct a compost pile (green things on the bottom, then manure, then dry things. Repeat 3 to 5 times until you have a very big pile of organic materials). Apparently the process will complete itself in about 5 months. Then, for those still reading, you simply spread the waste in a protected area, add worms, and in a matter of months you have humus, or fresh top soil. Anyway, in writing this actually does not sound that exciting, BUT, it will be quite invaluable when we leave for sites, and have the task to make personal or community gardens. Personally, having gardening experience, I found it interesting. And, it is always fun watching city girls (and guys I suppose) using pitch forks and moving manure !

picture of us plant carrots from the week before.

peace,
tim.

In the Classroom

2008-07-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

Thursdays are days for youth programming. To summarize, last Thursday my group completed the first installment of our children’s group focused on healthy living. Last week we had a good turnout because all of the kids live in the complex where we do group. This twist in group planning ensured that we had a “captive” audience. At the end of group we realized we had planned WAY too many activities and would have to cut it back, but all in all it was a good program.

Picture of some of the kids I am working with.

The second week the children had physical therapy at the same time we were doing our group. So, we did not know exactly what to expect. The turnout was good, about 12 kids. Our topic was healthy living and the food pyramid. Unfortunately, the children knew more about the healthy eating that we did. So apart from coloring food and them searching for drawings of food we had hidden, they did not do much learning. So, the logical alternative was for them to teach the food pyramid to us, which they did, in great detail. Unfortunately we did not plan enough activities, but this gave the kids a good opportunity to sing us some songs that they knew which were totally adorable.

Peace,

Tim.

When the days get long:

2008-06-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of the best things of the last week has been my return to health. I have to say that makes a huge difference on my outlook of life. My classes have been more interesting, and my attitude through struggles has been much more positive.

On Wednesday a group of volunteers traveled to a mountain community to do a mini community analyst. This was to practice entering a new community and being able to local and gather information about main aspects of the community. We were fortunate enough to go to a small mountain community which was absolutely gorgeous. I envy the people for their simplicity beautiful community. We were able to walk around the town for about 5 hours; enjoying the views and random people that were on the street. This made me long for a small mountain community for my two year service, which is what I requested.

A view from one of the streets of the town.

A view from my reading spot along a wall in the main plaza, with the book i was reading.

This past Saturday the entire group of volunteers traveled into Lima to go the University of Agriculture. To be honest I was quite excited to go, but was a little disappointed at the end of it. We saw some plants native to Peru which was exciting, but we did not cover much ground. I was hoping to learn absolutely everything about agriculture in Peru. Unfortunately that did not happen, but it was a good start. Thankfully, we are going a couple more times so I will have the opportunity to learn a lot more about the farming in Peru. I cannot wait to get to my community and start community and/or person garden of plants. How exciting.

After leaving the school of agriculture, we went into Lima on our own to explore a little and to make some very necessary and much needed purchases. In the end everyone in our group of 6 had a guitar (actually there were seven, but the seventh bought a guitar the week before, so he doesn’t count. Sorry James!!) So, I am the proud new owner of a classical guitar. I got home and played for about two hours. What is best is that because I am ridiculously frugal I did not spend any of my own money, just extra money from my living stipend. Thank you United States government.

Me playing my brand new guitar. special thanks to my 8 year old niece for taking the picture!

Also, on the ride home in the very small bus that runs from Lima to our town, we were stopped the gay parade that happened to be going by. So that was an interesting 20 minute delay. I guess you never know what will happen when you are away from home. To make the ride more interesting, one of the people in the group had bought a lung powered portable piano, so we were entertained the entire ride home to oh when the saints, some work from the beetles, Simon and Garfunkel, and the star spangle banner. Needless to say, it was a quite entertaining hour and a half ride home cramped with all of our backpacks, 6 guitars, and a piano.

The weeks take all of my energy because of all of the things I am doing, but I am doing so much it is hard to remember anything from the last week. So, they are working us hard but time is flying by. In two weeks I will be in field based training, which means I will be spending a week out in some town in Peru. I am working hard to get my Spanish as high as I can before that time. And, this next week I have another interview to assess my Spanish proficiency. Honestly, I feel as if it has not improved much at all, but I bet I have learned at least a little bit.

That is what is happening for now. Some struggles for the next week will be: staying motivated and keeping energy through training, understanding and learning Spanish, reaching out to as many Peruvians as possible, and taking care of myself. Prayers are always appreciated.
Also, thanks again for emails and contacts. It is good to know that I am still remembered. I am also trying harder now to respond when I can.

Blessings and peace,

Tim.

Continuous recovery:

2008-06-22T19:12:00.001-07:00

The aforementioned illnesses have mostly receded, save for a persistent sore throat and cough. I am eating cough drops like candy, but I have a feeling it will also pass with a little more time.

The youth development volunteers have been split into groups to plan and complete 6 week programs for different schools in the community. My group has 4 members and we were selected to do a group at a catholic mission that houses disabled children that are recovering from surgeries. We arrived and were commissioned to ensure that we were allowed to perform the group and that we would actually have children to participate. This proved difficult in Spanish. I was chosen to be the main speaker, of which I was less than thrilled. As we met the nuns and toured the facility we were quite excited. After discussing logistics about the group it seemed everything was set until the end of the tour when the nun mentioned that only one of the dates worked because the children have physical therapy at the exact same time we wanted to the do group. Wonderful. So, for now, we will try to work out schedules on different times each week to do the group, but it is yet to be determined what will happen. I remember reading in an orientation manual that volunteers need to be extremely flexible, it seems I am being tested early. Hopefully it will all work out.

The weekend is coming to a close with, yep, another fiesta. Apparently a cousin or niece that I have never met was turning 5. This of course meant a massive family gathering was in order. To be truthful, it was quite fun and relaxing. They even rented a trampoline (of which I showed my mad flipping skills) and a very, very, large inflatable slide called “wave of fire”. It was quite intense. All I know is that my 5th birthday was not nearly as exciting.

While here I am continually awed by the hospitality and genuineness of the people of Peru. There have been several fiestas for volunteer’s birthday where all of the united statesmen were invited to a house, served dinner, and encouraged to speak in English because it was more comfortable for us. Amazing. Few people I know are willing to invite an entire group of people they know nothing about to their house for a party. My host family is also an example of extreme hospitality. There is nothing that I they wouldn’t give me it they thought it would make my stay easier. My host mom even boils hot water in the morning so I do not have to take a cold shower (I try not to accept but sometimes I give in for a warm shower).
hope all is well,

peace.

Challenges

2008-06-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

weekend feast with my family

using the oven for the first time on the 13 year old oven/stove top

cousins enjoying the cookies make in the oven.

I have slept for a considerable amount of time in the last few days but still feel exhausted. I have been struck with head cold, fever, and diarrhea all at the same time! This is an accomplishment that few can boast. This, coupled with the very strenuous pace of training, has left me drained. I am on the road to recovery and now I seem to be fairly functional, as long as I know there is a toilet nearby.
The past weekend was very interesting with no free time and lots of family socializing. I think I had an hour to myself for the entire weekend (stated without any sarcasm). Despite the full schedule it was a good weekend.

That is all for now,

Peace,

Tim.

Week One...

2008-06-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Me and my family

a view of my house

and two views from my house looking at my comunity

Week one.

I have successfully lived in Peru for 1 week! I am quite excited. I am becoming accustomed to the routine of life here, and what is and what will be expected of me. Many of the classes I have taken have been “overview of peace corps” type classes which can be less than exciting to sit through. But, towards the end of the week, they have been much more informative and gave many more reasons to be excited with the work I will be doing.
The last session was given by the director of the youth development project. She is at least in her 50’s and has had a career in youth development and human services. She laid out what youth development will look like, and briefly laid out the system for outcomes measures and some of the assessment tools we will be using. Any of my fellow social workers will know that this probably made me quite excited. She went on to say that by the end of service, we will all be prepared to set in and design any type of youth development program. So I am excited that we will be using a planned system of youth development assessment while still being allowed as much creativity as we want in the programming we design.

Lifestyle.
I do not think that I have ever lived a healthier lifestyle. There is no candy to be seen in my community. I don’t think it exists. I seem to be force fed fruit by the kilo and eat a healthy amount of potatoes. Apparently there are thousands of types of potatoes in Peru, I think I have tried three of them.
I have been running stairs most mornings, which starts around 5:30 AM. I live on the side of a large mountain so I am not able to find any flat areas to run. So instead of climbing the side of the hill I run stairs, which total probably a hundred or two ( I have not exactly counted.)
The day starts at 5:30 because my host dad leaves at 4:00 AM and my host mom leaves at 7AM. In the process of leaving, there is much clunking around in the house. I do not know what happens every morning but I do know it wakes me up. Anyway, it is not so bad except for when I am up late at a fiesta, of which there were two this past week for fellow volunteers’ birthdays in my community.
All in all I am staying busy and wish I had more time to study Spanish and spend time with my family. I think as I adjust more I will feel more comfortable fitting in everything I want to do in the day. Time is flying by and I am having a lot of fun in between the large amount of work.

Lunch is starting soon with my family, and my sister’s family.
If any of you all want to know anything specific, just let me know.

Until later,

Peace,

Tim.

settling in...

2008-06-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

It is the second day living with my host family and I believe I have already experienced the entire spectrum of emotions. Moving in was very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Initial conversations were difficult and frustrating. While going to bed I was completely drained. Waking up was a test of perseverance but was eased with fresh optimism. Progressing through today was accepting that the next couple of months will be a huge challenge, and refreshing the commitment to complete the challenge laid before me.

My Spanish is far from sufficient to function in a Hispanic country, but it is coming along. Each day is easier than the next. I just finished having a nice conversation with my mamita about the day, what we both did, futbol, a former peace corps volunteer, and some pertinent vocabulary. From this it is apparent that each day is presented with huge challenges and small victories. So far I have been successful enough to focus and indentify enough victories to far out way any looming difficulties. Hopefully it will continue.

I am very optimistic about my time here in Peru. With most new experiences, there are plusses and minuses. While this holds true for my time here, I will say that there is nothing about this experience that I am not looking forward to. As I learn about the rest of orientation, Spanish and job training, I continue to be excited and thrilled to begin each new stage of training. This helps me to press through any emotional or cultural obstacle I have faced and will hopefully continue to help with what is yet to come.

My family is very nice. My house consists of a mother, father, aunt, and niece. The niece is the cute age of 18 months. I also have a sister who has a house in view of my home. She is married and also has a peace corps volunteer. So, as host relations go, I am the uncle of the other volunteer, which is pretty entertaining.

My house is set in a quaint neighborhood immediately surrounded by dusty mountains. In the morning the air is clear, but by noon there is so much dust in the air to give the impression of a settled in fog. All in all I can not complain about the location.

I do not know what people may want to know, but this is a tid-bit of some of the things that have stood out to me. I hope all are doing well.

Blessings and peace,
Tim.

exploring the newness

2008-06-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

again this will be short.

I have arrived safely in peru. I am at a training center and will then be with my new host family tomorrow afternoon. I am quite excited and ready for the adventure. I have been speaking spanish today and had several conversations in only spanish. i have lots of work to do but I was able to get by.
as of monday I will be starting a new routine. I desperately need it. As a routine sets in I will have time to find an internet cafe and actual write something with a little more meaning, as of now, i am time limited.
But, I am well, excited, and ready for this adventure. i appriciate the emails i have already recieved although i have not relpied, know they have helped in the transition.
as always, i am jealous for prayers, so keep them coming.

until next week, peace,

tim.

arrival

2008-06-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

It is late and an early morning awaits. but here is quick snip it:

I arrived in Miami save, sound, and with all of my luggage. I have yet to meet an actual peace corps worker, but there are a lot of other volunteers here, and we have hotel rooms reserved, which is a good sign.

now off to bed...

Preparation.

2008-05-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

Priority One: people.

over the past two months I have tried to see as many people as possible, here is a brief synopsis

First, my wonderful sister Liz came to visit:
She was grumpy some ;-)

But we had fun and went camping...

Then my brother nate came to see me graduate...

Then off to a beach in south carolina

then to Nashville to see my sister and 'trendy' nephew

then to DC to see the sites with my folks.

With all things considered, I did not do a poor job of getting around, but I regret to say that there were many more people I would have liked to see before leaving. Among them are, anyone who knows me from michigan (I almost made it up!), extended family, and all of my MSW co-patriots one last time.

Priority two: stuff.

I have an internal need to spend as little money as possible. this is what lead me to wear the same pair of dress pants, four days a week, for the last year. Needless to say, that was not going to cut it for the next two years. Therefore my arm was twisted and I have been forced to enter the arena of "shopping". I feel like I am being required to go on a week long shopping spree. While some people may view this as a dream of a lifetime, it ranks just above flossing and cleaning up my dog's pee puddle in the middle of my kitchen floor. Thankfully, this inevitable duty is close to completion. I have a few more "necessities" and then I will be done!

Priority three: mental preparation

While this should probably be higher on my to-do-list, it is not. I have spent some time reflecting on where I am, and where I am going, but it is fair to say that i have had a fair amount of denial about my imminent departure. The more I talk and think about the next stage of my life, the more nervous I am. therefore, waiting till the last minute to cognitively accept what I signed up for months ago seems like a decent alternative.

Summary:

Thus far, I have taken time to see family and do what needs to be done to get myself from here to there. But truly, I will be fine. I know I am following the path God has called me, so that seems like something that is hard to mess up :-) I will be provided for, but I am certainly jealous for prayers, emotional support, and mail!!! (I will find my new address and post it here at a later date.) Blessings to all.

peace,

tim.

Learning the Way

2008-05-29T21:28:00.001-07:00

Coming soon...