March?

I find myself on the third to last day of March asking myself, “March? What happened to that month?” Time is soaring by. It seems as though the month of March just began, but yet it is the 29th day of the month. March has been filled with all sorts of events—both in and out of site. Over the past month I have spent a total of nine “typical” days in site.

The month started out with meeting with the principal at the elementary school to talk about starting an environmental and English club. I have not gotten too far with that idea because I have not been in site. Nonetheless, classes are back in session.

The following week I found myself in Lima to discuss starting the Youth Initiative Committee. We talked about how we as a committee can serve as a resource to help staff and volunteers incorporate and work with youth to accomplish each volunteer’s respective program goals. We spent long days cranking out a mission statement and objectives, but step by step, we are making progress.

I returned to site for a day before heading off to Pacasmayo for reconnect. Reconnect is when all the volunteers in our training group “re-connect” after spending three months in the field. We discuss things that are going well, that are difficult and learn about upcoming events. I had so much fun being with the group again. It was such an odd mix of emotions for me because it felt so natural to be with this large group of people again, but then I would realize that this is really the last time we will all be together before we meet up for close of service. That was a strange and saddening thought. Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun on the beach, having rock, paper, scissors tournaments and basically just talking and hanging out. We received several compliments from people outside of the Perú 12 group that our training group is the most cohesive and non-cliquey group they have seen. I have to agree—we have a pretty incredible training group! What a blessing.

I came back to site for a day, and the next day Jared and Heather (friend from camp) were in Ica. We went and visited a winery and learned about how pisco (the hard liquor of choice in Ica) and wine are made. We had a camp-song-sing-along later. This reminded me what a blessing FLBC has been in my life both through the faith-building community and getting to know amazing people.

The next day I went back to Lima for a conference to learn about how understanding the key determinants of behavior can greatly implement more effective behavior change. The days were long but very interesting. There were only ten volunteers there to learn about the process (we were chosen by proximity and project). We are the pilot group for this type of study and survey method; soon other Peace Corps countries may be checking this process out as well.

I came back to site for a few hours and packed my bags for Ayacucho. I went to Ayacucho (a beautiful city in the mountains directly east of Pisco, Ica) with a couple other volunteers. The trip was so peaceful. Ayacucho is a beautiful city with a lot of history and over 33 beautifully ornate churches. The views were incredible. I even went hiking one day and realized that that was the farthest away from people I had been for almost seven months. I am always surrounded by people at site, which is wonderful but it was so peaceful to gaze across green mountains and hear no voices—just the occasional bird singing. Peace. Beauty. Awe of creation. Rejuvenation.

I have returned to site only to head back to Lima with my socio to learn about how we can most effectively set up and carry out projects in our community. With this conference the month of March draws to a close. I am in disbelief that this is possible but eager to see what will happen in April.



One of the breath-taking views near Ayacucho: Peace. Beauty. Awe of creation. Rejuvenation.