Hey all!
Hope the new year is bringing lots of fun and good times! I spent New years with my family, even though all of the other volunteers got together in Asia, Lima to celebrate on the beach and sleep in tents on the beach. That sounded like lots of fun. But I couldnt refuse my family when they said they were going to burn a doll of me, in my honor. Weird. Its actually a scare crow, filled with hay. We made it the day of new years eve, hung out and ate lots of food, and waited for new years. When it turned 12 midnight, we burned my scare crow doll, with and old matress and lots of paneton boxes. We set off so many firework, which were really dangerous because they shoot off in any direction and sometimes shot close to us or right over our head. I guess the peruvians werent scared, so I should be as well, right? We were going to eat 12 grapes, which is a tradition of latin america, representing the 12 months of the year. But we didnt cut any grapes, so we just drank alot of beer and pisco instead. Everyone was drunk and speaking really bad spanish, so I couldnt really understand them after a certain point. There were about 20 family members at my grandma's house, most of which I already knew. It was a good time, and quality family bonding, which is kind of funny because all of the family bonding we have seem to involve drinking some how.
I brought in the american tradition of a new year's resolution. My mom says she is going to learn how to ride a bike, my dad says he is going to work harder in the chacra, my brother said he is going to drink more, another brother said he is going to work out more. So I dont think they really get the entire idea, but we'll stick with the general idea for now. I am going to start running three times a week. Its my personal goal this year to run a half marathon. in La Libertad, a few years back, a peace corps volunteer in small business started a marathon in his town to bring in outsiders and get money flowing. Well, it worked, he succeeded, and now people from all over the country come to run in this marathon. Its kind of a peace corps tradition to participate in the event, whether its volunteering to run the booths, running in the competition, and supporting other volunteers. This year is the half marathon, and hopefully, the next year with be a full marathon! So I better get my running shoes on!
Happy new year! And keep up with those resolutions!
Teigan