Today was a good day.
Four months of waiting has finally
paid off- Today I moved into a new house with a new host family. The house is located behind and up from my
cement slab, so I HAVE CELL SERVICE IN MY HOUSE. I no longer have to sit on my cement slab
just to talk on my phone- I can lay in bed and talk, I can get ready and talk,
and I can talk any time I want. I don’t
have to make phone dates because I will have service ALL of the time! No more late night walks in the dark to sit
on my cement slab and get attacked by mosquitoes! Hallelujah!
I have my own room and my own
bathroom! I have never had my own
bathroom before, so this is a real treat!
I went from a bathroom outside in a shed to a bathroom connected to my
room! No more combating mosquitoes and
bugs while I’m showering! This new room
is almost twice the size of my old one, and the walls are cement as opposed to
brick. I have a closet area where I can
hang all of my clothes. Side note: I
think this may be the first closet I’ve seen in Peru- ever! I have an outlet in my room, which is a huge
plus! Actually, I have three! No more draping a cord over the half wall to
get electricity! I’m still using my same
uncomfortably hard mattress, but I can deal with that. The kicker- I have my own television with
CABLE! What?! My own tv?? That’s right, the family put a tv in here and
hooked up the cable in anticipation of me moving in. Law and Order: SVU marathons on Tuesday, here
I come!
That's my own bathroom, right there!
Another view of the bathroom. Also, there is a mirror, which is unheard of in Peru.
Oh hey, what up TV!
My bed and closet area on the side.
PJ keeping things in line. Did I mention that my walls are Pepto-Bismol pink?
I have a CLOSET. Still not fully unpacked- need to buy more hangers. I obviously have more clothes than that! When I'm finished I'll be hiding those suitcases from view.
Now, let’s move on to the family! I have an 11-year-old host sister, whom I
adore. She was in my English classes and
has been hanging out with me on my cement slab almost every afternoon, so I
already know her fairly well. Her name
is Sabrina and she is so sweet. I was here
for about an hour today and she had already written me a note telling me how
much she loves me! I can already tell
that she’s going to be like a real sister- sometimes I’m going to love hanging
out with her, and other times she’s going to get on my nerves, haha! Sabrina is in 6th grade of
elementary school and will head to “high school” next school year. My host mom, Elva, is great. I can tell that she’s worried that I won’t
like things here, as she’s constantly asking me if I have everything I
need. She is really sweet. This afternoon as I was making guacamole for
my lunch (I’ve decided to cook for myself), she watched in awe as I threw the
ingredients together. She had never
before seen guacamole and was loving watching me. I can’t wait to teach her about different
foods from the USA. She works in the
house all day, so I think we’ll have plenty of time to share recipes and
stories. My host dad, Miguel, is an old
soul. He’s fairly quiet, but I can
already tell that he’s very loving and caring.
The water isn’t working in all of El Arenal, and he was very preoccupied
with making sure I had enough of their saved water to shower and brush my teeth
until the water is working again. He
carried bucket after bucket into my bathroom until he was satisfied with the
amount. To put it into perspective, I
used less than half a bucket to take a great shower and brush my teeth. I think I’ll be set on water for awhile! Miguel works as an electrician in the rural
regions of Piura two days and two nights a week.
All in all, I am beyond satisfied with
this family. I know it’s only been one
day, but I already feel more comfortable here than I did in my old house. I can’t wait to actually be a part of a
family in Peru!
Moving in to a new house is just one
of the reasons why today was a good day.
As I was preparing my lunch, a psychologist that just started working in
El Arenal showed up at my door to talk to me.
We just briefly met for the first time on Friday and we both mentioned
different projects we wanted to do. This
afternoon she invited me to help her with an Escuela de Padres (essentially a meeting for parents of high school
students) this week. We are going to be discussing
drug and alcohol abuse and she asked me to talk about different concepts from
the United States. I mentioned to her
that I want to try and start a theatre group and she just so happens to have a
good friend who is the head of a theatre group in Piura! She is going to talk to him about maybe
coming to El Arenal once a week to help out!
She also wants to work together on another project for teens about
planning their future. With her
expertise and my access to Peace Corps resources, I think we’re going to make a
great team!
My dear friend Richard said it best, “Isn’t
it crazy how, when you change up one thing, everything else starts to fall into
place?” I think this host family switch
has sparked a great change in my life here in Peru. I’m starting to actually feel like a real Volunteer. ‘Bout time.
Today was a good day.
“It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in
love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's
like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's
nothing to hold on to.”
-- Marilyn Ferguson
-- Marilyn Ferguson
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