The Pursuit of Happiness

Tomorrow I’ll be leaving La Libertad and heading back down to Lima for the first time in 98 days. I know this because I’ve had a countdown going since I arrived in site on November 26^th. Those first few weeks in site were super rough! It had been hard enough saying goodbye to my family in September but the homesickness was eased by being surrounded by 56 other people along for the same wild and crazy ride. Saying goodbye to those 56 volunteers just 10 weeks later brought and getting shipped off to a new town 9 hours north brought on a whole new type of homesickness that took a little longer to cure.

In the beginning, the countdown was what I needed to help me start the day. Each day I’d write out my to do’s and how many days were left until I would be reunited with the rest of WASH 20 for EIST, our first in-service training session. EIST was the reward for these first three months of integration, research and diagnostic writing and I needed to have something to look forward to. Crossing off each day on my calendar and watching the countdown get smaller, slowly but surely, got me through those to do’s and keep positive in a time when emotions are a confused and tangled mess.

However, once those first few weeks were over, about mid-December, the initial shock wore off and I began to acostumbrar, to settle in to this Guadalupe life. I found other things to look forward to throughout the day and, some days, I even lost track of that countdown I loved so much! Now that EIST is right around the corner, I’ve found myself with an abundance of happiness and motivation propelling me through this week and, surprisingly, providing me with the clarity to recognize all the other brilliant things from my first three months in Guadalupe that have helped me get this far. Here a few of my favorites…

1. My kick ass site mate, Amanda. She has helped me make connections in the municipality, shown me where the best treat spots in Guadalupe, partnered with me in teaching Vacaciones Útiles classes [summer school], has become my work out buddy and made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. We see each other basically everyday for morning coffee before class, chats in the plaza to escape our houses, which become saunas during the summer days, pick up fruits and veggies at the market or stop by the municipality to get work done. But, more often than not, we find ourselves in laughable situations that are bound to happen when you're one in a pair of the only two gringas in town. I really can’t imagine what it would be like without her here and, luckily, I’ve got about five more months before I have to find out.

On more than one occasion we've shown up to class wearing the same fit

The day they gave out free beer samples at the grocery store

Kickin it poolside for an end-of-summer field trip

2. TREATS. Little treats and snacks throughout the day are one of my favorite things. There are tiendas full of snacks on every corner and dessert tables piled with cakes, cookies and empanadas that come out around 5pm each night. Guadalupe definitely has some well-hidden gems but little by little we're digging them up. So far I can tell you where to find the best ice cream, cremoladas (a refreshing icy beverage that tastes just like a slush puppy from the Quikstop on Crespi), ensalada de fruta, yucca frita, which pollo a la brasa has the best papas fritas and, just recently, we discovered a pretty good, and PCV affordable, pizza place; however, the best kept secret in Guadalupe is Amanda's Coffee Shop (aka her bedroom). She has a sweet water heater and her family is constantly sending packets of instant coffee. Before I bought a travel mug in Trujillo, we were sharing her mug between the two of us which meant she'd have to drink her coffee before I came over and then I'd have mine. 

Ensalda de fruta makes an excellent post-work out treat

Maybe not the best pizza I've ever had but definitely the best pizza I'll have for the next two years!

Iced chai prep in Amanda's Coffee Shop, where the customers help make the drinks

Best coffee shop in town

3. Being a market place regular also has it's perks. The fruits and veggies are so fresh and you can find a lot of other random items (sticky plates for catching flies, brooms, hair clips, ill-fitted clothing, bags of peanuts/cereal/raisins, plastic chairs, the list goes on...) for sale between the stalls of produce. The best part about the market is having your "guys" that you can count on. For example, there's about ten different stalls selling bananas but I've got my banana man that I can always count on. He's always there with his banana cart, he's not creepy (like the man across from his stall who says, "Amanda. Amandita," when he sees us even though she doesn't know him) and he sells them for the best price (1 sol for 10 bananas!). He greets us every time we walk by and always gives us extra bananas. In addition to the banana man I have my plum guy (who's always friendly even though I chewed him out about raising plum prices last week), my palta (avocado) lady and my apple lady. They all remember me and are always down for a chat. It's always comforting to feel like a regular.

4. Vacaciones Útiles classes are summer school classes led by the municipality during January and February. This summer, Amanda and I taught an art class using recycled materials and English classes for two different age groups. Some days were super slow and it was hard to muster up enough energy to teach in the heat of the library but other days were extremely rewarding. In art class we really pushed the kids to use their own imaginations and not to worry about being perfect. In the final week of class we set up a display in the library for parents to check out and it was awesome to see how proud the kids were of their crafts. English class was an interesting time. The kids spoke so quietly because they were nervous about their pronunciation but we assured them that in the States, accents are super cool. Walking through town we constantly running into kids calling after us, "Profe! Hola!!" Yesterday was the last day of classes but I'm already missing some of those wild and crazy kids.

La Clase de Manualidades de Arte

The Exposición

Crafts made from toilet paper rolls and disposable plates

Reviewing body parts vocabulary in English class

5. Working out. I NEVER thought I'd enjoy running or any kind of work out for that matter but in those first few weeks at site sometimes the only thing that would get me out of bed was a run. I'd tell myself that if I ran, just 20 or 30 minutes, I could spend the rest of the morning relaxing or I could get an ice cream but I just needed to get out of the house and do something productive first. Since New Year's, I've kept my resolution to run at least 3 times per week and I join Amanda at the gym (yes, we have a gym and it's actually pretty nice aside from the pesky mosquitos and the smell from the hard-boiled eggs that the body builders are constantly eating) every now and then. It's always good to get those endorphins flowing.

The freaky machine we've dubbed "The Jiggler" that supposedly shakes your bod to get the fat cells moving or something like that...

These first 5 months have flown by and I'm not even in the thick of my projects yet. I can't wait to be reunited with my fellow wild WASH 20 volunteers and to catch up on the crazy, in-site adventures they've had since November; however, I'm thankful for all of these things making me happy now that I've settled into the Guadalupe life. Though this next week of training will be an adventure in itself, I know it won't be as hard to say good-bye to everyone once it's over because I'll have the comforts of home to get back to.