1 Month-Still 3 Llamas

I cant believe but yesterday marks 1 month in country. It definitely feels like so much longer. 1 month down 26 to go! Also, in one week we head to Field Based Training or FBT. For FBT we head, in small groups, to a department t observe current volunteers in their sites and also do some practical hands on training for 1 week. My group is going to Lambayeque which is the North. It will be awesome to see something outside of the Lima area plus it will be pretty warm there.  This kind of trip gets everyone thing about where they want their site. A lot of people have some sort of coast or sierra preference especially if they lived in one of those areas in the states but being from the Midwest it doesn’t matter which I go to because either way it wont be the oh so wonderful flat farmland or cities of Illinois.

Yesterday we had our mid training Spanish exam and after a group of us went to the Alianza-Universitario game. This is a HUGE rivalry in Lima so it was like one of the biggest games of the season. My host family is split between the 2. My dad and host brother are Alianza and my sister and host brother who’s in the Marines are La U. All of yesterday was pretty much good natured ribbing and my host mom, who doesn’t really care, just fueled the flames.  For those of you who aren’t aware South American futbol games are really crazy and people take their allegiances extremely seriously. Like, I had to wear a jacket over my U shirt to and from the game. The game itself was a lot of fun. At the beginning of the game the whole crowd holds up these huge banners and people hand out bags of newspaper clippings and streamers to throw when the team comes out. The goal sides are the real intense areas and the sing and chant the whole game. I’m pretty sure they hand a full band over there too. La U lost so I basically got shit for that alllll night. We peaced out early especially when it was apparent that the home team was going to loose because it can get kind of chaotic and dangerous after the game

Last week we also had an interesting discussion on alcohol and drinking here and how we should deal with it in site. In Peruvian culture in general there is a lot of importance attached to drinking and pretty much wherever you go you’ll find a drinking circle. That’s as true here as anywhere else in Peru but its more modern where we are so you have more freedom with your choices. There’s more flexibility to have fun and learn about the drinking customs . Things can get really hairy in site though. Well be in smaller more traditional communities doing our work so those drinking rituals carry more importance. It’s difficult though because those drinking circles don’t end so you could end up drinking for hourrrrs. They actually taught how to get out of them and what we can do as to not offend anyone. You can really offend people by not drinking with them and that can seriously affect your ability to do work in your community. At the same time, especially as youth development volunteers, your being seen as a kind of role model and you can loose the respect of your community by getting really drunk.  It’s a hard line to walk and it’s even harder for females because you need to follow gender lines as well. You also can’t really start by drinking and then stop because you can really hurt the trust you’ve built with your community members.  It really depends on your community as to what kind of drinking you will be able to or should do. Plus in addition to trying to integrate and follow cultural norms you have to be careful because PCVs are in high risk group for alcoholism. Were in such an odd position because its essential to integrate into the community if we want t be at all effective but at the same time you have to strike the right balance or you still won’t be able to get anything done.

That’s all for now im heading to another volunteers house to watch the World Cup Final! Also, if you don’t know the world cup songs, download them. You will not regret it. They’ve have become the Peru 15 (our PCV group) anthem.