Now and Then

As Peru 20 comes up on the second anniversary of our arrival to Peru, I catch myself reminiscing more and more about the amazing, sometimes frustrating and often ridiculous situations I've found myself in as a Peace Corps Volunteer, about the differences between now and then. Around mid-service I realized I had more questions about Peru, about why things are the way they are, than I had at the beginning of my service and even fewer answers. Where do the beliefs that drinking a cold beverage, drinking water while sweating or eating too much fruit will get you sick come from? Is there any sort of waiting-in-line etiquette here? Does the technical meaning of "de repente" ever actually come into play? Why are loud, explosion-filled and action-packed movies the go-to choices for 11pm night buses? Would I be able to answer any of these questions by the end of my service or would the list of unknowns continue to grow?

In my second year, I've somehow made the unconscious decision to accept the ridiculousness of it all and chalk it up to cultural differences that enhance the experiences of my 27-month adventure. This attitude change encountered as a PCV nears the end of their service is most noticeable in conversations between newer and older volunteers. I see my friends, volunteers who started their service 8 months to a year after me, hitting that one-year mark still trying to find their footing or finally seeing the beginnings of their first major projects coming together. I remember wanting to quit at any glimpse failure and being completely irritated an overwhelmed by the smallest invasion of privacy or schedule change.

Now I am able to rejoice in even the smallest of successes. Five out of twelve girls showed up to this leadership group I've been trying to put together for the past three months, WONDERFUL! Fernando, the smallest and most adorable student at the primary school where I teach English, doesn't remember a single word I've taught him but can greet me with a chipper "good morning" every time I come to teach, LOVE IT!

My leadership group, always enthusiastic.

English class with Volunteer Tim

And privacy? What is that anyway? I remember being so terrified someone was going to walk in on me in the bathroom we share between the six of us because, hey, there's no door just your basic shower curtain. I was on high alert every time I went to the bathroom or waited until nobody else was home but now, I don't even care, man. There was a week where we didn't even have the shower curtain up for some reason and I just took it in stride. One of my family members walking in on me in the bathroom is probably more embarrassing for them than me, so it's all good.

As far as schedule changes go, I often find myself embracing them. You want to postpone this meeting we've been planning for the past two weeks to next week? Sure, I wanted to go for a run instead today anyway. I gotta stand in line at the post office for 40 minutes just to mail a postcard because every single piece of mail needs to be put into the system and there's no such thing as a book of stamps? Good thing I brought a book!

Schedule changes often allow for some "much-needed" relaxation

This change of attitude was made most evident to me one day a few months ago. I was taking the bus to meet up with some friends in a nearby town about an hour or hour and a half away. Just about 15 minutes from my destination the bus was stopped by some transit officers. They checked out the baggage underneath the bus and then came aboard to ask some questions. I wasn't really paying attention at first but when I took out my headphones I heard the officers repeating the question, "Quién es el dueno de la ropa interior?" I thought, now that can't be right, because why are they so interested in who is the owner of the underwear? And even stranger, what underwear are they even talking about?

They continued asking the question and the rest of the passengers started looking around, complaining and even began questioning each other, "Who owns the underwear?? Who's the owner of the underwear?" Then, people were basically looking around the bus saying, "Underwear! Underwear!" The officers began collecting the ID cards of random male passengers, some people grabbed their things and rushed off the bus probably to find a new mode of transportation to get where they wanted to go and others started banging on the windows in hopes that the bus driver would drive us away. This went on for about 15 minutes.

In my first year, I would have sat anxiously counting the minutes of time spent with my friends I was losing or getting frustrated about why Peru is so different from the States and why oh why does this happen to me? But as I soaked in the hilarity of the situation, I couldn't keep myself from laughing out loud and enjoying the ridiculousness of it all, and, in a pure moment of cultural integration, I pulled out the plastic bag of boiled sweet potatoes my host mom had packed me for the road and began snacking. And all was well.

Leaving the countdowns behind and enjoying every moment left of my time in Peru