PERÚ it may concern

For the first time in twenty-three years I spent Christmas without my family. Come to think of it, I think this was the first year I've ever even spent it outside of Pacifica. The holidays snuck up on me and I began thinking maybe it wouldn't even feel like I was missing Christmas; maybe it would would feel like I was taking part in a different Peruvian festivity and Christmas was just extra far away this year, like two years far away. It may have been easier on my emotional state if that were the case but in the end, I'm glad it wasn't. I was able to check my casilla postal [PO box] just in time for the holidays and was elated to find not just one but FOUR packages from home! The first was a KICK ASS Festivus package from my friend, Anamarie. For those of you confused about what Festivus is maybe you need some more Seinfeld in your life. It was filled with Seinfeld treats and my own travel-size Festivus pole. Another was from my Auntie Sharon with a lovely charm br...

My dad LOVES ice cream. If it were possible to eat ice cream every night, guilt-free, he'd have a huge bowl of equal parts ice cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup just like my grandpa did when my dad was a kid. But anyone can go to the store and grab a pint of ice cream for the night, so for my pops, soft serve is like a delicacy. Our fam's been on a few cruises and each one includes several soft serve machines throughout the ship that run all day long and are absolutely free. My dad with a free soft serve machine is like a child at Disneyland (he actually really loves Disneyland so I guess he's the child in this case). It's hard to resist that vanilla/chocolate combo, a perfect sweet treat to finish each meal. Guadalupe has some exciting things to offer and living here is an experience in itself but it's true gem is the soft serve. It's not even an ice cream shop. It's a teeny business in the doorway of a building consisting of a soft serve machine ...

It’s hard to believe that I am only now entering the fourth week of my two years of service. On top of our ten weeks of training, Perú 20 has really only been in country for a little over three months. Yes, that can sound like a lot but in the grand scheme of a 27-month adventure it’s just the beginning. The first couple weeks at site were pretty difficult, which had absolutely nothing to do with my new host family, the people I work with or the community. My biggest struggles came from the transition itself. I went from the being surrounded by English-speaking friends from training and a training staff cheering us on every baby step of the way to a new home, new routine and a slightly scary sense of freedom. Training was super structured and demanding, but here I’m my own jefa and I set up my own schedule. For some people that can be very exciting but for me, major transitions freak me out. Thankfully, poco a poco , a true Peruvian phrase, is becoming more of a way of ...