PERÚ it may concern

It’s still hard to believe that only one week has passed since I was nervously waiting with 57 other volunteers for our host families to arrive at the Peace Corps training center in Chaclacayo. I was so nervous that every Spanish word I knew seemed to leave my brain and when my host mom introduced herself I didn’t even remember to tell her my name! I don’t think my nerves will ever quit as most things seem to give me a certain level of anxiety but I can definitely feel myself getting more and more comfortable in the language, customs and happenings of Perú. Poco a poco as they say! I live with mi familia anfitriona (host family) in their small community named after the day it was founded, Tres de Octubre (luuuckily, we’ll get to help them celebrate the anniversary this year!). There are six volunteers total who live in Tres and one of them, a health volunteer named Nathan, actually lives in the same house as me.   Our household is made up of Nathan’s host mom, her three son...

As I'm gearing up to pack up for the next two years of my life, I've continually checked out blogs of current PCVs in Peru to get a sense of what I should bring. The ones I found the most helpful were super detailed down to the number of bars of soap, pairs of underwear, etc. I wanted to do the same and help out whoever comes next but, being a last minute packer and prone to freak outs in stressful situations, I have very little time left where my brain can attempt to think clearly; however, I'll attempt some organization. So, in the words of Coolio, "Ahhh, here it goes..." Luggage 1 rolling suitcase with a backpack that can zip on and off the front 1 medium-sized duffel (probs carry-on appropriate) 1 North Face backpack (in YELLOW, yayyy!) Clothes 3 jeans 3 khakis 2 shorts 3 running shorts 2 leggings 1 PJ pants (49ers of course) 3 tanks 10-12 tops 7-8 t-shirts/long sleeves 2 dresses 3 cardigans 1 crew neck sweatshirt 1 zip-up hoodie 2 windb...

As I am now one short week away from the beginning of my twenty-seven month adventure with the Peace Corps, I've decided it's about time I got this blog up and running. Mostly I was waiting to come up with a name good enough for this blog baby and partially because I have a perpetual fear of plans falling apart. Thanks to my old roommate, Bobby, and his clever wordplays this blog's got a kick ass name but as for my fears, I'll just have to suck it up and trust. Así comenzamos! Though this feels like the beginning, my journey with the Peace Corps actually began last June. I watched a large chunk of my friends graduate and move on to new jobs/apartments/travels (and, to keep things realistic, back home with their parents in some cases) while I had one last quarter to finish up. It was time to make a plan. Volunteering with the Peace Corps was something I had considered after choosing to major in civil engineering so I decided to revisit the idea. After a complicated app...