Thanks to the hospitality of our host volunteer Morgan, her host family, and other volunteers placed in Ica, I had a wonderful experience during shadowing. I will try to share my trip and some of the highlights.
Miércoles, 26 de junio
Wednesday was a traveling day. We had a Cuerpo de Paz driver take us from the training center in Chaclacayo to the bus station in Lima. From Lima, 5 of traveled together on the Cruz del Sur bus line the 5 hours to Ica - the capital city of the department/province of Ica. There, 2 volunteers met us to escort us to their communities. So the 3 people in my group (Karl, Keiko, and me) then had another 2 hour bus ride to Morgan's site of Ingenio.
Ingenio is a small rural site that consists of roughly 300 people and really centers around one main road. Morgan's large host family lives right in the center of town on the Plaza de Armas. After arriving, we met Morgan's family and settled in.
jueves, 27 de junio
The majority of Peru were on feriado (holiday), so the municipality and schools were closed inhibiting us from seeing Morgan's typical work. However, Morgan had planned some great activities for us to still practice the work we will be doing in site.
First, Keiko, Karl, and I were on the local radio show with Morgan introducing ourselves to the town and explaining a little about Cuerpo de Paz and the youth development program. Apparently we were the talk of the town for days so that was pretty fun. Morgan typically has an afternoon slot on the radio every week to make announcements about her projects and give charlas sobre temas como nutrición.
Thursday evening we went to the neighboring area of San Jose to give charlas to a group of mothers a previous Water &Sanitation volunteer had worked with. Keiko prepared a short charla on nutrition and Karl and I prepared a short charla on communication. This group had participated in the previous volunteer's program to come to a serious of charlas and at the end received new bathrooms. This is especially important in San Jose were there are really no bathrooms as I understand it to be and so people use the bathroom in the streets making for a real sanitation and health problem.
The participants were really wonderful and were a great introduction to what we have to look forward to working with adults in site. They patiently suffered through my broken Spanish and eagerly participated in all the planned activities. One women even gave palabras at the end thanking us for coming and giving our time and stressed the importance of hearing this information.
On Thursday we were also able to walk up to Morgan's "quiet place" that was really beautiful and a neat view of the area.
viernes, 28 de junio
Morgan planned a more "play day" for Friday. Two of her closest volunteers in Ica came to Ingenio to join us Friday morning and help with a scavenger hunt Morgan had prepared. We had a few hours Friday morning to talk to community members on our own and learn about Ingenio - an activity that mimics how our first activities and responsibilities in site will go. This included policemen, youth, owner of the Internet cafe, shop owners, and others in the streets. Since it was feriado, we were not able to speak to people in the health post, school, or municipality.
After the scavenger hunt, we explored Ingenio, including the river, a cow farm, and an under construction hotel.
After exploring and having one of my new favorite Peruvian meals for lunch, escabeche, we went to the bus station to go to the mirador to see the Nasca lines. The Nasca lines are literally lines drawn in the sand in the desert in Ica that have been around since the Nasca people - before the Incans. They include geographic lines and then shapes. From the Mirador, we were able to see the hands and the tree design. In order to see the other lines, you have to go up in a plane. During my time here, I'd love to take the plane up to see the other lines.
We then took the bus the 2 hours back to Ica to go to the area of Huavachina - an oasis in the middle of Ica - to meet up with the other trainees on shadowing trip and their host volunteers for the night. We stayed in a hostel there so we were close to the bus station for our return trip to Lima the next day.
While in Huavachina, I tried the typical Peruvian drink of Pisco sour and the anticucho (cow's heart). After a few sips I gave away my Pisco sour - the comparison to margaritas did not hold true. I could not get past the foaming egg white on top...maybe during my time here I'll acclimate to it. As for the anticucho, I will happily try it again. It reminded me of beef tenderloin on a swish kabob. ¡Muy rico!
sábado, 30 de junio
We told our host volunteers thank you and good-bye and made the 5 hour trip back to Lima and then the additional 1 hour trip back to Chaclacayo and our host families. Exhausted and not feeling so hot, I fell into my bed.
Thanks for a wonderful experience with work and play, Morgan!
No comments:
Post a Comment