Yanacoto

I am here in my new home for what will be two and a half months of training. I am living with a very nice woman who is excited to cook all the favorites of Peru. My training group consists of 53 other volunteers of which 30 are ¨youth development volunteers¨ just like me. It is an interesting and dynamic group, people from all parts of the country coming here for an adventure, a work experience, and plenty of human connection. It´s quite something and so far, the Peace Corps has proven to be making many efforts for us all to have a meaningful and safe experience here in Peru. Tomorrow begins our first day of training, the facility is beatiful and located outside of Lima in Choclocayo, a small residential community. Bueno, I leave you all until next time, estoy cansada!

Bye bye:)

It's Official

Today I made my reservations to leave for Peru. First, my mom and I will go to Washington DC for a few days, we leave June 5th from Portland. On June 10th, I'll have a one day orientation in Arlington, Virginia, and on the 11th I will fly with my group to Lima for training. As a west coaster who always preferred leaving the country to seeing it, going to the nation's capital will be a first. My feelings are that it will be eye opening and bring awareness to what exactly I'm representing when I say "soy gringa."

In Preperation

From my vantage point here at my family home there is not much I can say about what may lie in Peru. I know that I will be a "Youth Development Facilitator" serving on a project somewhere in Peru, and working with young people. I am ready, well almost. This is, as a friend recently said, "what my whole life has been leading up to." Overall, I am excited and optimistic, yet I feel a sense of duty to cover all my bases before departure. I've been minimizing my expectations, being careful to weed through some lingering hesitations and doubts, and being present in my reality. I'm still here and this is a special time of repose when life has granted me time and the freedom to be. So thank you to that, and here goes.

Elke