The Deepest of Deep Ends

So the big day has finally arrived. The day I found out where I will be placed for the next two years. Walking into the training center on Tuesday you would think a hurricane was hitting and all the dogs were hiding under the bed. Somehow I managed to go out until 1:30 on Monday so I was too hung over to really be worried. Sorry mom and dad. Anyways we had a morning language class that went roughly nowhere. As much as my language facilitator Monica tried, my ADD was in overdrive. After that there was an hour break, where the staff was preparing for a show and the volunteers were staring off into space contemplating their future. Or if you are me, laying on the ground with my feet in the air contemplating ripping out my stomach. I’m classy, I know. And then the show arrived. It was actually super sweet. All the staffers and language trainers dressed up in traditional Peruvian costumes and did dances from the regions we are about to go to. I promise that there will be photos and videos on Facebook. I have the least clue how to put them here sorry about that buddy.

So as this dance went along all of a sudden they announced we were about to find out our placement. They announced this in Spanish. And I was dazed off into space so about 5 minutes after everyone else I realized what was going on and just stood there confused. Luckily they handed us balloons to distract us. And made us dance around. And then colored sashes were handed around. Painfully we had to dance for about 10 minutes after we had the sashes placed on us. I though I was going to kill a bitch. I was so nervous I wanted to throw up. I just sat there hugging my friend Ty who also had a pink sash holding on for dear life. Everyone was frantically counting how many people had pinks, greens, oranges, yellows, blues, reds and purples in a effort to fin out who was going where. And then my regional coordinator came up to me and Ty and announced where we were going. Huancavelica.

Now let me tell you a little story. You remember me telling you bout that three hour lecture with passing out at death- if you don’t you should probably read my last post. You know you want to. Anyways during this lecture My APCD (boss) Emilia presented all the departments, including one new departments. For all the departments she posted pretty green pictures, gave all the statistics and some examples of what previous volunteers have done…except the new one. The new departments picture was of a brown building on a mountain. Emilia discussed the extreme malnutrition and poverty. It was on top of a mountain and it would be hard. You wont be able to do anything for a year. I roughly translated this to Serbia. So in my head there was Hawaii and Serbia. And this new department of Serbian desert, hunger and struggle is none other than Huancavelica. You can imagine my reaction was holy fucking shit. All throughout FBT I kept feeling like I was going to Huancavelica. But when I actually got the pink ribbion, a handshake and a folder to define the next to years of my like I kinda felt blank. I think it was shell shock mixed with holy fucking shit. Keep in mind my picture of Huancevelica is the Serbian desert during the cold war. Not so hot. Also getting handed you life in a folder with a sash is traumatizing no matter what way you cut it. Even if you get your dreamland you still get told what your life to you. It takes a moment to process. Especially when you know everyone is just as clueless as you are. I asked my boss if Huancavelica spoke Quetcha. She said I’m pretty sure it won’t be an issue but if you think you need training in it ask after three months. I just jumped off Mt. Everest and into the middle of the Pacific.

When we found out our site assignments the Huancavelica table was silent. The 5 of us sat there staring at a folder with a Wikipedia print out of where we were going. The staff couldn’t figure out why we were so quiet. It was not that we are sad to go its just we got told all the bad we would experience and not the good till after. And their efforts to cheer us up as a group were not really going over so well. I will have no Internet in my site- it’s about an hour away. No cell service, unless I “walk up a mountain and stand on a rock.” And I’m pretty sure frits and vegetable are hours away. Who knows. I hope none of you were planning on talking to me for the next 2 years. Unless I find that rock. On that note I have a cell phone, you can call me especially from Skype. It might be handy if I told you that number but that’s neither here nor there. And you can text me. if I every buy credit I can text you back but considering I have had this cell phone for 2 weeks now and told no one I wouldn’t start banking on that one really fast. So anyways after we were sitting there will all of the staff giving us hugs and finding out our elevations everyone talked to us individually to see what was going on. They said you guys are the pioneers; we get a chance to do what ever we want, help the people in real need and be legendary. Which I will have you know is my forte. So I’m going to be freezing my ass off on the top of a mountain being legendary. Obviously.

Also fun fact I will be at 3259 meters above sea level. One of the highest Peace Corps volunteers in the world. Raquel, also a Huancevelica volunteer is the new highest at 4100 meters above sea level. Today I said I was going to be at 30,000 meters. A bit of an exaggeration. I will not be floating in orbit. Don’t let me lie to you.

There is one volunteer in Huancavelica right now doing youth development. He has been there for 3 moths and he is apparently known pretty widely already which bodes well. He is called Professor Adrian because he is youth. I have been warned I may be called doctor or nurse because I am health. Didn’t even have to go to med school and I may be getting to be called doctor. Good luck with those 7 years of med school Jessie. That is a preemptive gloat, who the fuck knows what is about to happen. You should all wish my sister Jessie good luck with her med school applications and interviews.

Sooooo yeahhhh I’m about to be breathing super thin air, with no safety net. And 5 other equally as clueless volunteers, forging a trail to a mystery land, should be interesting. I am about to go off to regional field based training. Unlike my compatriots going to already established regions I have field based training here in Lima because there is no region. But I do get to ride a horse up a hill with a helmet. Don’t worry there will be photos. And then I head off to Pisco, Ica- in the department that is next door and is considered our regional capital. After that I get to go to my village, hopefully with my community partner. My one community partner provided they show up. If not there is a plan B. What I don’t know. But some how I will make it to my village. And be the first Peace Corps Volunteer there. In the first class of Peace Corps Volunteers in the department ever. And then I make it back to Lima. From my village. Alone. Shit just got Real.