After an overnight, 12-hour-bus-ride, where I sat in front of a 5-year-old who shared a seat with his dad and thought my seat was a punching bag, and kicking bag, I took my first steps in the department of Lambayeque. As we walked into the bus terminal, we were greeted by current Peace Corps Volunteers who had signs with our names on them. As we waited for our luggage, more volunteers trickled in to meet us and say hello.
We walked to the hostal, luggage in tow, and met our Regional Coordinator for our first meeting of “Site Visit.” Week 9 of training was completely dedicated to getting to know our regional capital, meeting potential socios, and spending time with our families in our communities. It’s a taste of what life will be like for the following two years.
I can summarize the week in 3 words: Awkward. Spanish. Overwhelming.
Awkward. I met one of my potential socios during Socio Day on Monday and wasn’t sure what was appropriate to talk about on our first encounter. I wasn’t feeling well after a day of unpleasant stomach problems, so it didn’t help that I just wanted to curl into a ball. She is a teacher at one of the high schools, is the director of tutoria there, worked with the previous two volunteers and is very sharp. Part of me wanted to talk about what she had worked with the others on, but I didn’t think that would be so appropriate right off the bat. So we sat in silence a few times, as I had no idea what to talk to her about with my limited vocabulary.
Spanish. All day, every day is making my brain literally explode. No amount of ibuprofen or acetaminophen will cure this soon to be permanent headache. I wish I was more confident, and actually practiced my vocabulary more. Poco a poco it’s getting to be easier. I definitely can understand more than I can speak. If only I wasn’t quite the perfectionist about my pronunciation, I probably wouldn’t be as frustrated.
Overwhelming. It’s actually more all of the little details that made this week overwhelming as opposed to rigorous scheduling. I had a lot of down time (at least once I was in Olmos). It was more the small details; my family built me a room so that I could live with them, my host sister made fruit salad for the first time in her life because she thought that I’d like it and my 5-year-old niece constantly wants my attention (she even walked in on me while I was using the toilet, and would not leave).
It’s clear I have a lot of adjusting to do, as many things are still new to me (living with little ones, Spanish/local slang, people), but I will give credit to the training staff for giving us a heads up on life outside of Lima.
More to come,
B
Brittany McGee 