I finally found out where I will be living and working for the next two years. The name of my site is called Chongoyape and is in the department of Lambayeque in the Northern coast of Peru. My tiny site of 289 people (290 with me now) is an hour from the capital city, Chiclayo, and hour and a half from the beach. I was thrown off a little because I actually had stated a strong preference during my two interviews here to be put in the sierra with really cold weather and a large community. I’m also 45 minutes away from a national reserve called Chaparri. They have different types of endangered birds and spectacular bears living there.
My site visit was a rollercoaster of emotions. After getting dropped off on the side of the road, I had to walk into the tiny village, with my counterpart, for about 10 minutes to get to what would be my new home. I passed nothing but fields of corn, rice, tobacco, etc. Come to find out my family hast two: one of corn and the other of rice. As I walked up to the little adobe house, I saw my new mom and dad waiting outside. She’s about 4 feet tall and was super excited. Nancy, my mom, was telling me how excited they were about the new light bulb they had installed in my room so I could have better lighting. She walked me into their really really humble home and straight to my room to leave my bag; my jaw just about dropped. It was dirt floor, no door or closed windows, and a “paja” (hay) mattress that was as hard as rock. The bathroom was a latrine outside and the shower was, well let’s just say there was no shower. I did not want to offend her by any means so I stayed quiet. She looked worried and kept telling me in Spanish, “I really pray that you can get used to our poor lives and living situation because I have been waiting for you to come live with us for so long and we are so excited to have you…I want you to be happy here.” I had a knot in my throat. I was emotionally culture shocked. That evening we had lentils, rice and a fried banana. I was exhausted and decided to go to bed. I lifted the blanket that was on top of my pillow and it was covered with tiny ants! Yes, ants. I didn’t want to be dramatic so I just called my parents over and they just dusted the bed off saying they didn’t bite. They also put some type of powder to kill the ant hole that was coming from my dirt floor.
After the ants were gone, I put a tiny blanket and pillowcase I had brought with me over the bed, lied down and started to cry. I was emotionally drained and asked myself “Why am I doing this?” My dad called that second. He talked to me and was so supportive. Out of all the great advice he gave me there was one thing that will stick with me for the next two years. He reminded me that I was there for a purpose that will change my life in the two years, after that I would go back to the states. Those people will not…it is their life there. So my job now is to help improve their quality of life by being there. He also told me that the material things could also be improved and fixed. From that second on I knew things were going to be OK.
I found out the answer to my question as to why I was doing this the next day. I went around town with my site mate meeting the community. They are all so wonderful and amazing! Everyone is so friendly. The organization I will mainly be working with is called ACOTOURCH. It stands for: It has an awesome youth group, group of artisans, and is funded by NGO’s. There is an unbelievable potential in this town I cannot even explain. I have an amazing, caring family and community. That is rare to find and I don’t think I can give that up because of my living situation.
My room will be fixed (more like reconstructed) and I can help them build a bathroom. I will cover any holes or cracks in my room, put a cement floor, install a window, paint it purple, and make it cozy.
Reality finally kicked in. Luckily I have cell phone service and am an hour away from the capital city. There’s also another town about 15 minutes away that has a population of about 17,000 people. Oh, there is also an airport, Starbucks and Pizza Hut in Chiclayo! o-m-g…I know.
This is our last week of training. I have two presentations left to give, Thursday is our going away brunch with our host families and Friday we are swearing in at the U.S. Embassy. We spend the night in a hotel and everyone goes off to his or her sites Saturday afternoon. I’m excited, nervous and scared.
My real Peace Corps adventure is just beginning…
