Peace Corps stats

This month a significant chunk of my time is being dedicated to writing my Community Diagnostic, a lengthy document that summarizes the information I've gathered about Cajabamba's economic development situation in the last three months. Eventually I will present the report to both Peace Corps staff and important members of my community, while also using my findings to help formulate a work plan for the coming year - it's kind of a big deal.

Anyway, writing the introduction this afternoon had me surfing the web in search of info about Peace Corps as a whole, and I thought I'd share some fun facts.

• Current number of volunteers worldwide: 8,073. About 230 of us are here in Peru.
• Current number of countries served: 76.
• 21% of volunteers are serving in Latin American countries.
• Only 12% of us work in the community economic development program.
• 62% of us are female, and 93% of us are single (i.e. not married).
• The average age of volunteers is 28 - guess I joined a little early.

Do-overs

I've come to realize that scarf-making is an excellent metaphor for work as a Peace Corps volunteer.

When you are new to the art of scarf crocheting, as I am, you are liable to make a few rookie mistakes. For example, you might buy only one skein of yarn, thinking that will be plenty for a scarf. Then, when your yarn is about to run out and your "scarf" is about as long as a nice quilt square, you'll be left to progressively work yourself into a mild panic as your search through every yarn store in town yields no matching wool. Finally the Sunday market yarn lady will miraculously produce the last two remaining skeins of deep purple yarn, saving you from having to totally scrap your scarf project - things in Peru have a way of working themselves out somehow. As a newbie crocheter, and as a new-to-site volunteer, you spend a while stumbling around, giving things your best guess, and hoping for the best. Even though odds are that you don't really get how things work on the first try, the Peruvians put up with you, and try to help you out. And you make it through.

Then you go about your business, crocheting along row by row on this awesome purple scarf project that you're super enthused about, and life is good. Peace Corps projects tend to start out this way, too: so full of potential that you can't help but be excited about all the good you can do. But then, midway through the first skein of yarn, you hold up the scarf-in-progress to admire your handiwork, and you notice that the scarf has somehow been progressively growing in width. A quick stitch count confirms: you've been adding an extra loop to each row. Since triangle-shaped neckwarmer was not the look you were going for, you proceed to un-do all but the first four rows. This is one of those mistakes you can laugh about; just brush it off and move on. Re-doing ten rows won't kill you. Like realizing post-facto that the handout you gave all your students today has half-a-dozen Spanish typos, or watching helplessly as your socio gives everyone at the meeting a highly inaccurate description of Peace Corps' economic development program - you've just got to appreciate the humor of things, and roll with what you've got.

Eventually, one of the tougher problems catches up with you. That nagging feeling you've had since row five that your scarf is just a little bit too wide to be normal? Thirty rows deep, you can now decidedly state that no, a scarf this wide just isn't going to work. This is a bummer, as you've invested a solid number of hours and now have to face the reality of a complete do-over. But, since you know in your heart there's no other option, you sigh, take a deep breath, and proceed to pull apart the entire scarf. Back to square one, you re-roll the messy pile of yarn into a neat ball, and start again. Projects in Peace Corps often don't go as planned. Whether the municipality backs out on funding, or participants say they don't have time to come to your meeting, or a teacher strike shuts down classes for a month, things happen. And even though it sucks the wind right out of your sails, you pick up the pieces, ask yourself what you can learn from this small fiasco, and start again.

But you're wiser now. You make the scarf ten stitches less wide, and you know from experience that this will be the perfect width. You've already stockpiled your yarn, and to boot you now personally know all the nice ladies in town who sell wool. You know where you went wrong, and you won't be making that mistake twice. And most importantly, you aren't going to quit. That scarf is going to get made, no matter how many times you have to start over.

You know you're in Peace Corps when...

... you get invited to watch a cow give birth. Last week, my veterinarian friend Edwin called with a very special invitation: "Meghan, there is a cow that is going to give birth soon, and you are invited to come watch. Charge your camera and keep your phone on, because I'm going to call you when it's happening." Watching a cow be born wasn't exactly on my bucket list, but I figured, when else in my life am I going to have a chance to see this? It could be a little gory, but would definitely be pretty cool. So I told Edwin I'd be ready.

Thus, on Wednesday night when I got word that the vaca was going to give birth in the next half-hour, sitemate Jessica and I hustled out to the campo to witness the big event. Unfortunately the half-hour estimate turned into two hours, then eight hours. That's when Jess and I called it a night, figuring we'd wait for another cow birthing that wasn't at 4:00 in the morning. But, fate intervened, and when I headed back out to CEFOP the next morning for my usual Thursday class, it turned out the vaca still hadn't given birth. To boot, veterinarians Edwin and Elí had decided that the time had come to perform a c-section on the mama cow. Thus not only did I get to watch a cow be born, but I had a front-row seat to an open-air medical operation - only in Peru :) It turned out to be a fascinating morning, ending with the triumphant entrance into the world of a new calf. Here's some photos from throughout the event:

Shaving the incision area

IV fluids - Martha the cow is not quite pleased

Anesthesia shots

Some intrigued local spectators

The two amigos, ready in their scrubs

First incision

Pulling the uterus out

The calf is born!

An adorable baby boy

The upside of rainy season

Sometimes rainy season has its perks, like when perfect double rainbows appear over Cajabamba:

Chan Chan

On our way back from the beach, we decided to make a pit-stop to see the pre-Columbian ruins of Chan Chan, which are located right along the highway between regional capital Trujillo and the beach at Huanchaco. We weren't really sure what we'd find, and when the bus dropped us off on the side of the highway in the middle of the desert we knew we were in for an adventure. Luckily the access road was clearly marked, so we set off on a 20ish minute trek beneath the blazing sun.

Arriving at the main ruins site, we were impressed to find a very extensive and well-preserved city of clay, including plazas, buildings, fortifying walls, carvings, tombs, maze-like walkways, and even a central oasis. Chan Chan used to be the capital of the Chimu people, who were later conquered by the Incas, and it seemed like this society had spared no expense on the city's construction (cerca 1300AD).

From snooping on a passing tour group, we later learned that Chan Chan was once the largest adobe city in the world - quite an accomplishment for a city built on sand!

A Thanksgiving miracle

Thanksgiving at the beach was awesome: good friends, delicious food, nonstop sunshine, and relaxing vacation time. Our turkey day feast was nothing short of a miracle. Steve, Chris, Jackie and I prepared the following scrumptious dishes: turkey, sautéed veggies, gravy, macaroni and cheese, mashed garlic/cheese potatoes, sweet potatoes with brown sugar, green beans, salad, bread rolls with butter, no-bake cookies, and of course some vino.

And we did all this with NO oven, only TWO working gas burners (see photo below), and for the cost of less than $14 per person. Like I said: a Thanksgiving miracle.

Friday morning we made sure to take advantage of an often under-appreciated Thanksgiving tradition: the morning-after leftovers brunch. Fellow 19er Tyler arrived in Huanchaco in time to help us cook up all the remainders, and we had scrambled eggs, mashed potato pancakes, and sweet potato hashbrowns - yum!

When we weren't busy consuming our copious amounts of Thanksgiving food, we relaxed on Huanchaco's sunny beach, made friends with the hostel's two oversize pet tortoises, who we named Crush and Louisa, and watched the sunset from the hammocks on the deck.

Once the turkey leftovers ran out, it was time to venture out for the Peruvian coastal staple: fresh-as-can-be ceviche on the beach-e.

At night we amused ourselves with music, cards, catch phrase, and Huanchaco's nightlife. We were a bit of a spectacle the night we brought catch phrase out to a bar with us, but everyone stares at the Americans whether or not we're shouting over a competitive beeping hot-potato-esque game, so we figured why not? :)

Giving thanks

Even when you live in a country that doesn't celebrate the holiday, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and take a moment to appreciate the things you're thankful for in life. I am lucky enough to have many such things, so I wanted to share some of what I'll be giving thanks for this year:

• The chance to live a dream I've had since middle school: Peace Corps. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and remember to appreciate every moment of this amazing adventure.
• My fellow 19er and Cajamarca volunteers. I couldn't ask for a better group to laugh and commiserate with as we make our way through the Peace Corps roller coaster. 
• The support and love of friends and family at home. Staying connected with everyone helps me feel less far away and keeps me going.
• That miracle of modern technology: the internet. Peace Corps in 1961 would have been a different ballgame.
• Two years to explore the beautiful cultural and environmental diversity of Peru... for free. Machu Picchu is just the tip of the iceberg; I will not be running out of vacation destinations anytime soon.
• A soon-to-be reunion with my best friend after 10 months apart, for New Years in Buenos Aires no less.
• The warm welcome I've received from my host family and the people in Cajabamba, and the opportunity to work directly with the community to try and make a difference while I'm here.
• How incredibly cheap fruit and fruit juice is in Peru - the U.S. can't even come close.

I'm not saying that spending Thanksgiving in Peru is totally ideal. There are things I'm really missing right now, like pumpkin muffins, ski season, keeping the crisp fall air at bay in my purple pea coat, and turkey dinner with family and friends at home. But skipping out on all this for one year won't kill me, and when I look at the big picture, I'm thankful to be right where I am.