Hey all, I hope things are going well in the states. In my remaining 2 months of Peace Corps, we volunteers are bombarded by the one thing government agencies are known for…..paper work. I have to fill out a DOS, VRF, IF, etc…all acronyms for the same thing, which is reporting the things I have done in my site, to show that peace corps is really worth investing in. I was filling out one of these reports, when it finally hit me. I will be leaving in two ...

Hey everyone! So, things that seemed weird when I first got to my humble site of La Venta no longer surprise me. For instance, finding a hair in every meal. Yesterday, while building a pour-flush bathroom for a family in my site, a 5 year old child, in first grade, came home from school and watched us build this bathroom. Which is what all kids do, but then he started critiquing our mortar and building techniques. He collected all of the fallen mortar and bu...

Let talk about bathing:to preface this topic, I would like to point out a fact that few people associate with the desert... It gets cold at night. Very cold. Which means that in the morning, I wear a jacket and long underwear, or sweatpants if they're clean. So being outside, naked, with a bucket of cold water is something I do NOT look forward to in the morning. Usually, I try and convice myself that its not so bad, and that shivering is the most efficient wa...

Hey everyone! Lets talk about water. Living in the desert, and being a PCV desert rat that I am, you'd be surprised at how well we can conserve water, but yet let it go to waste in this region. I can wash my hands in 100 mL efficiently using a tippy tap-peace corps invention. But, for some reason, peruvians feel the need to water the dirt infront of their house. Not with used water, but fresh, clean, groundwater. They wash their clothes in the river, the sam...

Hey all! Hope things are going well in the states. Now that I fully accept and understand the concept that I am leaving, basically, forever in less than 4 months, I have been trying to live up my peace corps experience to the fullest. Two weekends ago, I traveled to Ingenio in Nazca to play in the oasis(THE PICTURE POSTED) and climb some mountains, and this last weekend, I went camping in the mountains of Ica, 3 hours from Palpa. I have noticed some friends be...