Déjà vu

When I came back to site from Lima on Wednesday, I brought six new 21er volunteers with me: three youth development folks to visit Jessica, and three from economic development to visit me. These brand new additions to the PC Peru family only arrived in country three weeks ago, and this shadowing trip was their first adventure outside of Lima. Needless to say, we've been quite the spectacle parading around Cajabamba the past few days!

Lorena, Lenny, and Alyx with all the veggies one of my entrepreneurship students gave them when we visited her farm

Having the 21ers around has been a lot of fun. They are full of questions, and talking with them has felt like déjà vu. since their uncertainties are the same ones I was wondering about when I was in their shoes a year ago. Being so new to Peru, the 21ers are also still in awe of many of the cultural differences and curiosities that have come to seem normal to me, particularly those found only in the campo. They were snapping pictures of all the burros and sheep walking down the road, nervously tasting cuy for the first time, gaping at the fact that delicious breakfasts of fresh juice only cost a dollar, and puzzling over all the houses with their lead-to-nowhere doors on the second story.

Their wonder and amusement reminded me of how I felt when I first came to Cajabamba, and I enjoyed the throwback to those initial days before this quiet campo town started to feel like home.