Reminder

By now I've just started to assume that this is true when I'm standing in front of a sink in Peru.

But I guess I can't complain about the warning. If there was one of these signs above every sink that it was true about I'd go into the sign-making business.

Daniela

My host sister, Daniela (2 years old).

Me: Cual es mi nombre? (What is my name?)
Daniela: Dallas
Wait! I think that's what she said. Try listening to it again and tell me. She actually always calls me something that sounds a lot more like "Dallas" than "Tyler." I think she's geographically closer to my name than she is phonetically.

Peruvian food

Lot's of people have asked me what the food is like in Peru. Well, frankly...krap. Or Kraps to be more accurate.

They're basically Peruvian Ritz crackers. And they're much tastier than the name would suggest.

I'M A VOLUNTEER!!!!!

I'm officially a volunteer. Swore in on Friday :-)

Here we are celebrating the end of training.

Preparing for Peruvian life

Since I'm not around for you guys to make fun of me to my face I thought I'd post this picture so you all can laugh at me :-)
Me learning to wash my clothes by hand.

Not looking forward to that aspect of the next 2 years.

Site Visit

I visited my site, Huallanca, for the first time, but I'm back in Lima now for my last week of training. After that I'll move to Huallanca for good. I had already visited Ancash (the department, or state as we'd say in the US, where my site is located) a couple weeks ago for Field-Based Training (see last blog post for more on that). So for my site visit we started by returning to Huaraz, the capital of Ancash. I'll probably be visiting Huaraz a couple times a month over the next couple years because the bank the Peace Corps uses doesn't have a branch in Huallanca.

We climbed a hill outside of Huaraz to get a look at the city...

After making sure I was thoroughly sun burned I walked back down to Huaraz.

Once we'd spent a couple days in Huaraz, Kendra (another Peace Corps volunteer who will be my site mate for the next two years) and I headed down to visit our site in Huallanca. It's a 3 ½ hour bus ride from Huaraz.

After we got to Huallanca I was being lazy and didn't take very many pictures, but I'll have a couple years to post some good ones so ya'll will just have to be patient ;-)

Here's Kendra. Not sure what she was doing...probably looking for ice cream. We found some eventually and it was awesome.

As you can see in the background of that picture there are a few mountains around Huallanca. If you noticed, though, it looks quite different from Huaraz. There are two halves to the Andes in Peru. The Cordillera Blanca (“The White Mountain Range” or snow capped mountains) and the Cordillera Negra (“The Black Mountain Range” or non-snow capped mountains). The two Cordilleras run parallel to each other north to south through Peru. The Cordillera Blanca is very visible from Huaraz (if you check out the background in that first picture or the pictures from my previous blog post), but Huallanca is located in the Cordillera Negra, so its a little less scenic. Huallanca does have a higher elevation, though, about 3,500 meters (translates roughly to 11,500 feet). Because of the elevation its pretty cold in the shade, but the sun is scalding hot. That means wearing clothes that can be layered and changed depending on if you're in the sun or not, haha.

The economy of Huallanca is based mainly on a nearby mine and additionally on agriculture. The altitude is too high to grow much more than potatoes, but pastoralism is pretty common...cows, goats, sheep, pigs. In fact, Kendra lives across the street from the slaughter house. It gives her a nice view from her bedroom window. Her host sister mentioned that there are always lots of flies around her house because of the slaughter house. Good luck, Kendra! ;-)

This farmer was transporting his livestock by hand when Kendra and I met him in the street.

Well, before I wrap up this blog post, one last note. To all of you who had been hoping to get a postcard or guinea pig in the mail, I haven't forgotten you. Unfortunately Serpost, the Peruvian postal service, has not been cooperating...

Props to them on knowing enough English to make their sign understandable. I'm not going to hate on their English grammar because I butcher the grammar in their language on a daily basis. Chau!

Recap of the last few weeks

I'm still trying to figure out if it was three weeks that just flew past or one realllllly long day. I really intended to post on my blog more often, but the last three weeks have been crazy hectic. So, since my last blog post....

I spent a week in Ancash (a department in the sierra) for Field-Based Training; so I got my first look at what my actual site might be like. Almost every minute of the trip had some specific activity assigned to it. I actually think I held it for seven days straight because there wasn't time to stop and use a bathroom. But I got to see some amazing scenery....

And I do have some proof that I was actually there...

And I got to eat my favorite Peruvian dish, Pachamanca, again (please see previous blog post for more on that)...

And I made friends with a llama...

All in all, it was a great trip. But then I spent the entire next week sick (don't worry, I'm not posting any pictures). I'm just glad that week is over. The following weekend I visited Chimbote (a coastal town) with my host family. We staid with my host mom's sister and brother-in-law. It was my first taste of the Peruvian coast and fortunately it was a little more laid back trip.

Me and my host dad standing in front of a ship we sunk...

This picture was too cute not to post. A couple of my host-cousins taking pictures of the dog.

This burro asked me to take his picture in front of the hills. We both thought it turned out pretty nice....

And I made it to the ocean...

Some of the pelicans in Peru are successful enough fisherman that they can afford their own boats....

This week I've been crazy busy with my Quechua classes (an indigenous language from the Andes spoken where I'll be living for the next couple years). Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I'll be living in Huallanca, Bolognesi, Ancash, Peru for the next two years. If you actually have time to google it (which I haven't) and you find something interesting, let me know. But if not, no worries...I'm headed there for a site visit next week, so hopefully I'll have some interesting things to share.