FBT--Ancash

I spent this past week in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, traditional Quechua women in bright polleras, and frying cuay (guinea pig), but I was mostly pleased and astounded by the temperature of my showers! I was able to take six hot showers, and boy were they amazing.  I just took my first cold shower back in Yanacoto—I’ve been spoiled.

Field Based Training in Ancash was amazing on so many different levels. I could, and did, take a picture of the beautiful backdrop of the cordillera blanca and the picturesque plazas with every step I took.  I probably have 35 pictures of Huascarán (the highest Andean peak in Peru) with only a steps-worth shift in the angle to mark the differences between photos.

The classes that I facilitated both with other trainees and on my own went so well, and the students are why.  The kids in all the schools were so wonderful and really got me excited about having my own sight and a group of great sierra kids to call my own J.  While I loved the classes, my favorite moment was probably when I led a nice little game of Simon Dice (Simon Says) with about 40 mothers and daughters.  I was surrounded by 20 traditional, Peruvian women all decked out in their bright skits, with their mantas (bright blankets) tied around their backs, their tall hats, and their customary braids draped over their shoulders.  While I presume that many of the mothers only spoke Quechua and I doubt that my developing Spanish really got through to each one, the game was great!  Everyone was laughing and participating.  It was a shock to everyone; myself especially, as I typically cannot speak in front of more than three people!  Right in the center of 50 or more people like it wasn’t no thang!  So fun—we then continued this class for about an hour and a half, which consisted of exercise, healthy lifestyle charlas, and a rendition of the electric slide.  All of this took place perched high in the mountains, covered with chacras (farms), scattered with pigs, chickens and donkeys while overlooking our host-volunteer’s entire site.—I have so many other amazing FBT stories, but my pictures will have to suffice.   

Training is going by so quickly.  We only have a little more than three weeks now, and we will be gone for a week on site visits, which brings me to the next topic: where I will be living for the next two years…Chiquian, Ancash!  Google it.  It is beautiful! It is in the south Ancash, set within the Cordillera Huayaush at 3,400 meters.  It is green and beautiful.  The population is about 4000 people and serves as the beginning and end location to amazing treks, so the Chiquian economy is seemingly based on tourism and agriculture.  My host family: a carpenter and farmer dad, a mom who works at the health post, and two sisters--ages seven and three.  There are a lot of different work options, and I am excited to visit on August 7^th.