Woah There Sparky

I have officially been bitten by my first dog, it was named Gringo. Go figure a dog named white boy biting a white girl. Don’t worry no skin was punctured. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. Dr. Jorge- the Peru Peace Corps doctor- told us all that we would all be bitten and should bring rocks when we go running. I have to admit I was still residing in the “yeah I’ll get bitten but way later camp.” Not the I’ll go next door and be bitten by the dog who poops inside camp.

The dogs in Peru are quite a mystery to me. for starters the majority of them either live in a posy on the street or on the roof. Now I understand the street posies but the roof gets me nearly every time. I recently found out that I actually have a dog in my house not just a cat. One day I was walking home from school and there was just a dog on my roof. Clearly. Her name is Presciosa, and all I really know about her is that she is blonde and lives upstairs or on the roof. Anyhoo when I was hanging my laundry Presciosa seemed less than pleased with my presence and was attempting to bark at me. I say attempting because she was standing near the ledge and doing a sort of scared snarl thing. I’m pretty sure she was scared if she actually barked she would fall off the ledge. I respect that decision- because what would I have done, leap over a water cooler and catch a dog? I wish I had that skill. Since I don’t I would inevitably have to tell My Little Man, by the way while you were in the Sierras you dog fell off the roof in front of me. (On a fun note My Little Man has officially gone to the Sierras, hypothetically he will be back tomorrow, no word on my mysterious mother.)

Last week was filled with a lot of strange moments. Like finally looking at the decorations in my house. The photos of the roosters are actually next to Jesus. I reckon roosters are next to godliness in Peru. Also there are some random billboards upstairs. Probably for the next time we have a makeup sale at our house. Gotta have the promotion material.

I’ll admit it: I have begun to realize that I am going to be in Peru for the next two years. Took a while to hit but it actually did. And sadly the thing that did it was Grey’s Anatomy. In my head the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy was September 28^th. Upon looking at a calendar I realized that September 28^th was a Wednesday so I can’t really justify my sorrow. But anyways on September 28^th I was quite distraught that I was not going to be able to see the Grey’s Anatomy season premiere. No judgment but a tear was shed. In reality I am much sadder about missing The Daily Show or Bones or not having the 1^st season of Grey’s with me, but it was Grey’s Anatomy 2011 is what got me. Then I thought it would be a super logical idea to listen to Adele. Nope. Do not follow this plan. If you are ever in Peru and sad about not being able to see Grey’s Anatomy do not listen to Adele, it will be counter productive. Try The Office or Transformers or Tangled. I know I’m really selling my movie and TV taste right now. But anyways the point of this whole melodramatic paragraph about Grey’s and Adele was to tell you that this was the first time that I have come to terms with the fact that I will actually be in Peru for 2 years. As in 2 years. Grey’s Anatomy will go on without me.

And then there is the general communication quandary. My comprehension and grammar is getting better. I am actually trying a new thing called grammatical correctness in speech. I know I have just blown your mind. KCM speaking grammatically correct. I can barely do it in English how the hell am I supposed to do it in Spanish. So I’m trying to do this whole conjugation thing and integrate all my fancy new vocabulary like hombre is shoulder into phrases but I am now struggling for a new problem I will dub “blankness.” It is a point in conversation where I think I am going along well. I have actually formed roughly 6 sentences and then I come upon a word I don’t know like “handle” and I get so befuddled that I cant find the word I try to go about saying it in another way but its all just blank. I don’t know the word in Spanish and I completely lose track of what I am trying to say in English or in Spanish. It is just blank. No words, no concepts, just a void where language used to be. It’s a struggle that inevitably dissolves into me saying “what the fuck am I trying to say?” After My host family laughs at my inability to speak and I either pointing at the object, coming up with a logical explanation or simply just switching to a different topic of conversation. It would probably be easier to whip out my dictionary but why make it that easy for myself.

Luckily training has turned into more technical things recently. The first few days of last week it was totally theoretical. I began to feel like I had entered 3^rd grade. Don’t get me wrong all the information was quite useful, but when one of my friends got asked to move to the other side of the room because she was giggling too much I literally had no other reaction but to burst out laughing. She had to bring her chair. In front of the whole class. It was enjoyable. At some points it felt as if there was all the great idea of things. The great idea of speaking Spanish; the great idea of what it meant to be a Peace Corps Volunteer but nothing tangible. Luckily I think that is beginning to change and we are coming to the actual functional points in how to do things like do early childhood stimulation. Because lets get real my understanding of early childhood stimulation goes about as far as put in the Baby Einstein DVD and prevent the child from falling down the stairs. I know I’m supes qualified. You now all want me to train all your babys how to be upstanding citizens.

In general week 2 has proven to be a balancing act between being a person, a student, a host daughter and a language learner. High school in a different country and legal beer. Sometimes you are presented with unexpected things like how to be someone’s daughter with no cell phone. It makes it very difficult to do things like change plans. I don’t know if any of you have met me but sticking to a plan for an evening is not exactly my strong suit. Occasionally I get distracted by shiny objects. I’m pretty sure my father would be roughly dead if I didn’t have a cell phone in high school. Don’t know how people before 1990 did it. I guess you just had to make a plan and stick to it but that seems like a lot of work. Or there are those outdated house phone things.

Well this was one long ass entry. I am impressed if you have made it this far. Championship status. So Boys and Girls love and kisses from Peru. You should probs DVR Grey’s over the next two years. And use all your storage space for me. A duh. Or you could send me something. I’ll allow it. Now I’m just getting greedy. Miss you all

Xoxo

KCM