A Day At The Office

The AASD office building is not only the organization’s workspace but also home to me and two other kick ass ladies. Lucky for me, both Jenna and Gaelen are easy-going, amazing chefs in the kitchen, and love watching The Mindy Project (and Broad City now that I’ve introduced them to it!) to the same, borderline obsessive, extent that I do. Even though the rest of my co-workers don’t live with us, most meals are family style around the office’s small kitchen table or out together at a nearby restaurant and if we’re not too sick of each other by the end of the work week our hangouts continue throughout the weekend.

Home // Office

Roomies!

Eggs benny over latkes

Quinoa and bean burgers with a side of slaw

My room at the office is cozy and perfect. It’s located in a smaller building in the backyard in between two other rooms. The room on the right is the office of our Lead Ag Technician, Julio, and on the left is the soon-to-be bedroom of Andrew, one of my favorite MIIS friends, who will be heading out here to join us in May for a few months after completing his current internship in Lima. Andrew was a part of Team Peru last January and we’ve had almost every class and group project together ever since.

As I first discovered during my time in Peace Corps, I am reminded again of how few things you really need to feel comfortable and at home. My walls are yellow (my favorite color), my bed is topped with a fluffy down comforter, I have a cute bedside lamp for nighttime reading (an essential for any bedroom in my opinion), and I put up photos from home that I threw in my suitcase on a whim in a rush to finish packing as I was sifting through the boxes of items my parents have kindly allowed me to (perpetually) store in their garage. I like that my room is tucked away outside behind the main office. Each morning when I step outside my room, I am greeted by tall, green mountains surrounding the valley and blue skies patched with clouds. It’s a beautiful way to start the day.

Home Sweet Home

A typical day at the office begins at 9 AM but people trickle in and out of the house throughout the morning before then. Sometimes I’ll go for an early run with my co-worker, Chris, and the office pup, Leroy, and, more often than not, Gaelen and Jenna will whip up an amazing breakfast for everyone to share. When breakfast is over and the dishes are clean, I shuffle into the office I share with Chris, Gaelen, and Jenna. And then I shuffle over to the desk I share with Jenna, which is really just a small square table we pushed up right next to her slightly larger desk basically forming a long table that we’ve chosen to dub MEGAdesk.

Running Buddies

Welcome to MEGAdesk!
Population: 3

Working in an office with three other people can, at times, be difficult, mostly because I can be extremely chatty and it takes a lot of restraint to keep myself from being a distraction to the rest of my office-mates. Thankfully, they put up with my chatter and even let me take on the responsibility of decorating everyone’s pencil jars for their desks. The workday is broken up by meetings or check-ins, trips to the market to pick up supplies for dinner, and a quick stop at the soft serve lady for an afternoon ice cream treat and usually ends at 5 PM. Evenings are filled with dinner prep, a family style meal, chats and wine, movie watching, or game nights. Some days we’ll go to watch the guys play ultimate frisbee and some days we’ll meet our friend Marina, a member of the first Team Peru who is now a teacher in a nearby town, for dinner and chats.

BBQ extravaganza at Aaron and Chris's house

Watching The Bachelor with Aaron's mom, Genie, and Jenna while the boys play frisbee

Gals on the town

Hitting up the local brewery for some chelas and a round of the game Sapo with Gaelen

Weekend Vibes

For me, my work has consisted of research, interviewing my co-workers about AASD’s programs and projects, and meetings surrounding grants and fundraising strategy. My first couple weeks were filled with familiarizing myself with the organization and a ton of research to help define a direction and develop a plan for the remaining months of my internship. Since then, things have picked up and I’ve moved on to more exciting things. I was able to put my MIIS skills to good use and facilitated an activity to develop AASD’s organizational chart defining each staff members’ role and responsibilities. We also visited Julio’s family’s organic farm where he and his sisters lead trainings for people from all over Peru on ecological agriculture techniques and which provides produce for several restaurants in Cusco. I’ll be working with him to develop an agricultural education and exchange program based at the family farm and looking for potential funding sources.

All snuggled up and ready to learn about organizational charts

Chris acting as interpreter for Jenna on our tour of Julio's farm

One of AASD’s major programs since it’s foundation includes constructing school greenhouses in Andean communities. These greenhouses make it possible to grow certain vegetables and herbs that don’t typically thrive at the altitudes these communities are located in, providing students with more variety and nutrients in their daily diets. As the Peruvian school year started at the beginning of March, site visits to participating schools in the greenhouse program began to pick up again. Last week, we all drove out to a community called Ccachín to help prep their school’s two greenhouses for planting. We worked alongside parents from the school’s APAFA organization, which is similar to a Parent-Teacher Organization or PTO, distributing soil between the two greenhouses, making beds, and planting veggies. It was a long but rewarding day of manual labor and community engagement. By the end of the day we were covered in dirt from head to toe and sleepily piled back into Julio’s truck for the long, windy drive home.

Piled into Julio's truck loaded up with coffee and a giant pup

Greenhouse #1

Greenhouse #2

Men at work

Ester was the most adorable helper of the day

If you’re up on international news, you might have heard that intense rains and extreme flooding due to El Niño have severely affected Peru, particularly in the coastal areas. Many houses in these areas have collapsed, rivers have overflown, the sewer and water systems have mixed forcing system shut-offs, and roads have turned to mud. Luckily, we haven’t been affected by the flooding in Calca and the Sacred Valley area but having lived on the coast for two years, much of my Peruvian family and friends are still there. Now that we’re in the same country, I’m thankful that I can easily call my host family to check in. Aside from a portion of a wall in the backyard separating their house from the neighbors’, my family is safe and healthy. My host brother, who had been spending some of his summer vacation with his grandma in Lima, was forced to postpone his return to Guadalupe for a little bit due the collapse of a bridge connecting Trujillo to the Pan American highway but was able to fly home this past week. As I was writing this post, my host mom called to say hello and passed the phone to each of my siblings for a quick chat. It was a beautiful start to my morning. The dates aren’t set yet but I plan on visiting them during my time here and can’t wait to see them again!

Mi Familia Peruana