A day in the life

6:30 - Wake up, put on my flip-flops (going barefoot in the house is weird here), brush my teeth and get ready for the day.
6:50 - Eat breakfast and chat with my host mom. Breakfast is probably my favorite meal here so far, because it tends to involve fresh fruit juice, bread and cheese/jam/palta (avocado), and some variety of milk or oatmeal - all things that I love.
7:20 - Meet my neighbor volunteers, Nydelis and Jesse, to walk down the hill to the carretera.
7:28 - Start attempting to catch a combi, the mini-buses that we take to get around here. Catching a combi at this hour is a serious challenge, and not for the faint of heart, as all the city's schoolchildren are heading to school, making every combi stuffed to the gills. Few even bother to stop for us, and those that do usually result in a conversation along these lines:
Cobrador: Sube sube sube sube!
Me: (skeptical) But there are three of us... there is no space.
Him: Sí sí hay espacio (shouts at people to move towards the back; no-one moves because they are already packed like sardines) - you are all skinny, it's fine.
Me: Ok...(starting to push my way into the wall of people at the door)
At least two out of the three of us gringos end up half outside of the combi, until a couple of stops pass and some of the kids pile out.
7:45ish - Arrive at training center, stash our lunch-boxes (lovingly packed by all the host moms) in the kitchen, share funny host fam moments from the night before.
8:00 - Clase de español
12:00 - Eat lunch, then play some soccer/frisbee in the yard or go for a walk.
1:00 - An afternoon of training sessions around one or more of the following themes: Peace Corps policies, Medical/Health, Safety, or technical training in community economic development.
5:00 - Finish training for the day. Go for a run, go for some café or drinks, or just head home. Usually spend some time chatting/watching bad Peruvian television with the host fam or doing some homework before dinner.
8:00ish - Dinner with the host fam.
9:30ish - Feel ridiculously tired and head toward bed.

It's a busy life for sure, but the other volunteers and my host family make for lots of fun moments too. And we're already done with week 1 of training - crazy!