The #1 Threat to Chota's Youth...

Our demolished Plaza
Our friend Sal's birthday party
Host dad César hard at work
Members of our host family at the birthday party for our host dad and grandmother


by Alisha & Micah

It's been one month in site. Slowly but surely we are finding our niche. We have had a lot of meetings, done some serious Arrested Development viewing, read 15 books between the two of us and Alisha made a trip back to Lima. Sometimes we feel like we are busy and other times it seems like we are doing next to nothing. Overall, we are very content. Here are some highlights from the first month.

• Visiting some rural areas surronding Chota. A few weeks ago we (along with our host family) visited our friend Sal's site for his birthday, which coincided with his town's patron saint festival. With kids in tow, thing were pretty tame, and we really enjoyed the expansive beauty of Sal's community. We also had the opportunity to travel to another nearby town with one of our community partners to visit families of child laborers with whom he works. Being able to see this whole valley dotted with dozens of rural communities from an elevated perspective was amazing. (Thanks to Micah for not bringing the camera.)
• While Alisha was wining and dining in the upper clase suburbs of Lima, Micah was in Chota participating in the festivities of the "Semana de la Juventud" (youth week). One day there was a workshop with fun activities and informational sessions for local high school kids. However, to begin the event, as is customary with any sort of workshop or training event here in Peru, a figurehead not involved in the actual event gave a speech to inaugurate said event. He started off talking about how important youth are to the future, you know, the usual stuff. Then he he went off on a tangent about hippies and existentialism, the latter of which he identified as the one of the main threats to the moral well-being of all of the youth in our community. We had no idea that Peruvian high-schoolers could be so philosophically savvy.
• During a meeting with the director of a local school we spotted a crate of empty beer bottles in his office. This was not at all schocking to us.
• When we arrived in Chota, we were impressed by the beautiful plaza in the center of town (see picture from previous post). A couple of weeks after we arrived, the plaza started to be demolished (see above picture). This demolition included the cutting down of enormous trees and a debate as to whether the four palm trees should also be cut down. The verdict is still out on this...we will let you know.

That's all for now, but we will try to update more regularly.

2 Weeks, 2 Days

Micah speaking at our swearing in ceremony
The Peru 11 Group
Our Chuck Norris look-a-like signing autographs for our host dad
Now in Chota, a picture of our English class
by Alisha

I wanted to update everyone with a few pictures. I realized that we hadn't put any pictures up from our swearing in ceremony, so the anticipated wait is over!

We have now been in site for just over two weeks. We have been meeting with community members and organizations that work with youth here in Chota. The first three months in site will be spent getting to know the community better and working on a community diagnostic that will help us formulate our future projects. We have been having a very warm reception from the community members and have been keeping busy. There are also 6 other volunteers in the general area of Chota who we are looking forward to coordinating projects with in the future. We also will be trying to get our World Map project started with a group of youth in the near future, so we will keep you updated on that!

Finally Peace Corps Volunteers!

It's Alisha's Birthday!
Our host family put together a really nice party for Alisha.
Our family's home in Chota, Cajamarca.
Micah starts his matador classes soon.

The Plaza de Armas in Chota. Complete with swans, frogs, and a mosaic fountain. What more do you need?

Well, it's been quite some time since our last post, and for that we apologize. Our site visit and the last few weeks of training were full of a lot of activity, but now that we're at site and have more time on our hands, we should be able to post more frequently.

Since our last post, quite a few important events have taken place, so here are the highlights:

• Alisha and I have successfully completed 3 years of marriage.
• Alisha turned 25, and our training host family threw her a wonderful birthday party.
• We recieved our first packages in the mail since we came to Peru (thanks to Kay, Alisha's mom). By far the best item was the Chuck Norris t-shirt (see previous entry about Mike, the guy from our training group who bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Norris).
• We, along with 35 other people, swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers!

Training was a great experience for both of us. The curious thing is that before coming to Peru, I thought a lot more about the two years of service than the three months of training, so much so that, coming into the whole thing, training seemed like and afterthought. However, that afterthought became our lives for the last three months, and while we're very excited to finally be in Chota serving as Peace Corps Volunteers, the end of training also brought sadness because we've become such good friends with people from our training class, the training staff, and our host family.

But now we're in Chota, and we've begun our community diagnostic process, which will help us figure out what exactly we'll be doing here for the next two years. When we arrived at site, we had a meeting with a committee of people from different agencies that work with youth on some level. It was great to see how happy they were to have us in their community. We'll spend the next few weeks having more meetings, exploring Chota, and getting settled in. If you'd like our new address, feel free to e-mail one of us.

Site placement!

by Micah

Dust off your world atlases because Alisha and I found out last Friday where we'll be living for the next two years! (Sorry we didn't update the blog sooner; we haven't had much opportunity). We'll be Youth Development Volunteer in the beautiful city of Chota in the department (Peru's version of a state or province) of Cajamarca. Cajamarca is a mountainous department in nothern Peru (it borders Ecuador on the north), and Chota is a rural city with a population of about 30,000 located 160 km (read: 7-hr. bus ride!) from the departmental capital of Cajamarca (where Pizarro first encountered the Incas in the 16th Century). Chota is at an elevation of about 2,200 meters, and we're told that the climate is pretty temperate all year long with heavier rains from January to March.

This week we are actually visiting Chota for a few days to get some first impressions. We we in Cajamarca City earlier in the week to meet our community partner (the person who will help us get connected with entities that work with youth in Chota), and last night (Wednesday), we arrived and met our new host family. We'll spend the next few days exploring and hopefully meeting some people with whom we might be able to develop projects over the next two years. Stay tuned for pictures...

Cajamarca - Field-Based Training

Steps leading up to a shrine in Cajamarca City
View of Cajamarca City
Group picture after our countryside picnic
A little gossip never hurt anyone!
Our group in San Marcos

Micah and I are back from our week of field-based training that took place over the last week in the department of Cajamarca. We had an amazing time meeting current volunteers and visiting their homes in and around Cajamarca City. First we traveled about an hour and a half to a community of about 7000 people where a current volunteer lives and works. We observed her working with students in the elementary school and then where set on our own to give a charla (a talk) to students about values and self esteem. It was an interesting experience primarily because students in the rural mountain areas of Peru tend to be very shy. This was very true in our class especially with the girls. It is also difficult to get students to be creative in many cases due to the current system of education in Peru. For the most part students are asked to memorize and then repeat information verbatim or it is considered incorrect. We are starting to find out that this method causes students to be very reluctant to put anything on their own words for fear that they will be wrong. We traveled to a smaller neighboring community and met with an established youth group of youth leaders. We also learned about a radio program that a volunteer did with the help of youth and a doctor from the local health post about important health related topics. In the following days we also taught English, participated in a class on employment readiness for students, and learned about the work of a volunteer in Cajamarca City who is working to eradicate child labor in the streets.

The assignment to teach English brought a lot of debate amongst the people in our group. I do not plan on teaching English in my community because I feel that it is not what youth in the community will need to be successful. In addition, it is virtually impossible to actually accomplish much retention of the language even over the course of two years. That being said, many volunteers teach English because first and foremost that is what the community often wants. It can also be a good way to draw participants in and to build relationships. I guess I will what to see what my community wants from me, but I’m hoping it isn’t to learn English!

We where are able to spend quite a bit of time in Cajamarca City. The city has a beautiful view of the mountains and a lot of cultural significance. Along with historic churches, there is El Cuarto del Rescate where Atahualpa (Head of the Incan Empire) was held by Pizarro before his death in 1533. There where also great restaurants and the excellent cheese and ice cream that Cajamarca is know for. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit the thermal springs at Baños del Inca. I guess we have a good reason to return if we are not placed in Cajamarca!

Quick trip back to the U.S.

by Micah

So, I'm back in Missouri for just a couple of days under unfortunate circumstances. My grandmother (paternal) passed away Sunday night, and I came back home for the funeral, which was this morning. She and I were quite close, and I'm very sad that she's gone, so this is a tough trip for me and one I certainly didn't expect to be making so soon. Peace Corps/Peru was kind enough to let me miss a few days of training to attend the memorial service and be with my family, for which I am very grateful.

Grandma (on the left in the photo) was wonderful. She had a vibrant personality and was an adept storyteller. In many ways, she was our family's collective memory, so it's sad to see all of that history pass on. She was a very strong woman with a joie de vivre unmatched by most. Some of the things I'll miss about her will be going out to lunch with her, getting her cards in the mail, and hearing her tell the same stories multiple times. I know she was proud to have me as a grandson (and Alisha as a granddaughter-in-law!), and I am also very proud to have her as a grandma. I love her very much and will miss her dearly.

A Day Off...

by Alisha

Due to a national strike in Peru today to protest the rising cost of living, I'm enjoying the morning off today. As far as I know the combi's (bus transportation) are not running and all of the trainees are taking it easy in our host communities until we hear if it is safe or possible for us to come in for classes this afternoon. 

We are now in week 5 of training! Next week we leave for our field based training. Micah and I will be going with the group headed to Cajamarca in the northern highlands for the week. There we will shadow current volunteers and do some projects with youth in their communities. I'm looking forward to seeing what the living situation of current volunteers looks like and to finding our what they do on a daily basis. There is also a natural hot spring nearby called Baños de Incas which I'm planning to check out.

I have also moved up in my language level. I stated our at novice-mid level and last week found our that I'm not at the intermediate-mid level. The Peace Corps requires all volunteers to be at the intermediate-mid level in order to complete training. I'm excited that I am making improvements and still have a lot more time with my language instructor before leaving for our site.