Finally...some perspective on things...

So, I know that it has been nearly a year since I wrote anything in this blog. Sure things have been happening that are perhaps noteworthy; visiting different places in Peru, my awesome girlfriend, beards come and gone. Honestly, I am not one for maintaining a blog. Rico is too busy being suave to even attempt such an accolade. But finally an event occured in my life so prfound, that it finally made me appreciate being in Peru.

It goes down like this. Yesterday, while cutting some rebar needed for a project, I cut my hand. It was a pretty deep cut and required that I come down to the hospital to get it stitched. Now, I was worried that this would be a long and difficult process, much like what is experienced in the States (a veces). But what I found was a pretty simple process. Did it help that I was a gringo volunteering in Peru? Maybe. At this point in my time as a volunteer, I will take what I can get. To get a couple of stitched put in my hand, which would have cost hundreds of dollars in the states, cost me less than a dollar. The experience made me really appreciate my experience.

But just how easy would that process be for a local Peruvian?

So any way, got cut, but learned something in the process.

Sorry about any errors Dad.

Town Water System.

My town´s water source is taken from a river, and then stored in a canal right near town. When it is full, there is water, and vice versa. These aren´t in order.

The Situation Thus Far

So I am volunteer in the Peace Corps Peru. Over the next two years, I will be working in a district of Pisco in the Water and Sanitation Program in my district and surrounding annexes. Ica has seen its fair share of trouble, given the earthquake that happened over a year ago. People are still in the process of rebuilding there homes, and the local government is working to reconstruct the infrastructure. All around town are piles of bricks, cements, and sand. It is interesting, amongst the backdrop of all this construction are these beautiful mountains and fields of grapes for Pisco. Everyone here is doing all that they can.

I have been busy simply getting settled in, buying furniture in Pisco, and observing people. You´d be surprised what fits on top of a combi, an d who can fit in one!

Today I went outside of time with the ¨aguatero¨to check out the water source, 7 kilometers away.

Oh yeah, I am also on a mission to find a hat that actually fits me here in Peru. I´ve heard cancer is bad, although my insurance is pretty good...

One Word. Sunny. Huancano Site Visit.

Huancano from the highway.

Visit the folks in Huancano, a local anex.

Plaza de Armas in Huancano.

View from Huancano.

Municipality sign.

There is a lot to do. A mix of fear and excitement.

Training continues...

Over the past few weeks, training has continued. We have continued to study spanish, water systems, and solid waste. Going to the city is always fun, a nice break from the normal schedule. Lima is busy though. This week WATSAN heads to ICA from FBT. It is a nice area. Should be a good week.

But I Still Love Technology

My pictures somehow got erased from the memory I found out today. Lame I know. I had two weeks worth of really cool pictres. Oh well. I have over two years to take more.

So whats been going on you ask? Been staying pretty busy. We have spanish class, which can be boring, yet necessary if I am going to get anything done here. We went to a market in Chosica to buy products to make Roto, a local dish, and arroz con lech, a dessert. It´s pretty good. My WATSAN group visited the town of Nieveria, where we did a pretty basic diagnostic of the water system. The town also uses eco-toilets, which helps take care of waste problems. I think one of the best things about WATSAN is that so much of what we do is hands on. We had a class yesterday on maintanence. We learned how to bend and connect PVC pipes using very simple heat sources. This saturday we get to head back to La Agraria to continue more of the organic gardening.

I have no idea where I am going to be placed. My APCD is busy looking at sites for us to be placed in. Guess I will just keep playing the waiting game.

Thats all for now. Maybe I will eventually get some pics somewhere on the web. Love to the fam.

First week...

Rich is alive and well in Peru. Things don´t seem real yet. Luckily there are whole bunch of other people who are in the exact same boat. We are slowly getting into the more technical aspects of training. The classes deal in culture, language, and technical work (in my case water sanitation). No real idea what I am doing yet. Matt and I got to travel to a town outside of Choclacayo (our training center) and talk with someone in a government office about waste management, on our own. It was pretty cool to work on our own. Much of the training keeps of pretty contained at the centro.

My host familia is cool. They have had other volunteers, so they know what to expect. They help with the spanish. Saturday we get to go into Lima to get a feel of the city.

One blog down, many more to come. Love to my people out there.