Well.

Well, it seems I am in Perú.

The basic information:

I am in Santa Eulalia, 45 minutes northeast of Lima, during training. Training takes place at this crazy enclosed plaza 10 minutes from my house that used to be a rehab center for the Peruvian Army. We have classes in language and culture, technical learning (in either environment or health), medical information (you really haven't lived until you've had a 45-minute lecture entirely about diarrhea), and other miscellaneous topics (like Peruvian history and government). Training is pretty intense: 8 hours a day Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays we go to the National Agrarian Institute on the outskirts of Lima in the morning for vegetable gardening training.

A PSA:
Coincidentally, Santa Eulalia is currently in the national news for having a man die of bartonellosis, a mosquito-transferred disease. The Ministry of Health has responded with a huge campaign. The citizens are displeased with this negative portrayal in the news, and are going to Lima to protest tomorrow. It's generally the impression that this has gotten way too hyped up, bartonellosis has been around forever, and it's quite easy to diagnose and treat. So, for those of you who may worry: I do not plan on dropping dead from a mosquito bite tomorrow.

I live with an adorable family, and even after two weeks of living there, I'm not 100% clear on who lives there and who just passes through a lot. My host mom, Neyda, definitely lives there with her husband, Everd, and three of her four kids. Sigrid is 26-ish and has 2 kids who also live there: Amir is 4 and Alisa is 9 months. The first week was filled with much laughter at the idea of the Volunteer having the same name as the baby. One of the other daughters, Angela, who is in her 20s, has a 5-year-old girl, Kenya. The son, Gary, is 28 and intends to teach me to dance at the discoteca. I got really lucky, my family is so nice and supportive and always tries to make me understand what they're saying, even though my Spanish is...mediocre. I think the best moment I've had with them yet is when I came home and told them a story at dinner about another Trainee whose eyes are different colors, a fact he did not notice until he was 9 years old, and my host mom laughed and said, ''Oh, Alyssa. She always comes home with a joke.'' I took this to be a sign of success, because it really is hard to be funny, and thereby win people over, in another language.

My health may be kind of up and down (mostly up!), but one thing I am not suffering from is seasonal affective disorder. Santa Eulalia is where people come from Lima to get sun, because it is sunny literally every day and almost never rains. Another thing I am not suffering from in out-and-out culture shock, as living in the city during Training is a little cushier than working in the campo. We have running, albeit cold, water, and cable TV. The kids watch Powerpuff Girls dubbed in Spanish and we discuss the finer points of Ghostbusters over dinner. Ask me about the presence of American culture in 2 months, and I feel quite certain I'll have a different answer for you.

More later, now it is time to go home and eat (more) potatoes.