Santo Domingo, parte dos

I have returned from my second visit to Santo Domingo, this time lasting three days. It was successful, as far as site visits go. I think I will be happy there.

Perceptions:

1. Peace Corps does a really good job preparing you to be a big deal in the community. They gave us hundreds of hypothetical site visit scenarios in which our community throws a parade for us, we have to sing the American national anthem and make speeches, they maybe slaughter some animal, everyone invites us over for dinner, and everyone wants to talk to us and know our business. They didn’t, however, prepare us for the opposite. I got to my community and caused no stir whatsoever. The people were polite and seemingly interested in working with me, but the world did not explode because (another) gringo came to town. I also have the unique situation of being both a replacement Volunteer and one of two Volunteers in the site. Everyone who knows what’s going on seems to have mixed feelings, because they love Ryan terribly and don’t want him to leave, but are trying to be welcoming. The common way of expressing this was “¡Qué pena que Ryan se vaya!.....y bienvenidos, Alyssa.” I met some great people, though, and I’m sure I’ll be able to carve out my own niche.

2. My living situation is pretty ideal. I live with a couple, Flor and Humberto. Flor’s 22, and I think Humberto is 30-ish. They’re both from nearby caseríos, but live in the city, where Flor teaches preschool and Humberto works for the municipality. I have my own big adobe room with a private door out to the street. I have electricity, and a bathroom that is a short walk down a very steep hill away. There’s a common room of the house where they hang out, but I decidedly have my own space, and I’m pretty sure we don’t all eat meals together. There’s a TV, but the only channel it seems to get is the National Geographic Channel, which is pretty cool, given what I have experienced regarding Peruvian television. I will probably buy a gas stove for my room to boil my water, and cook breakfast/dinner for myself.
I spent a lot of time with Flor during the trip. She’s incredibly patient with my Spanish and general non-understanding. For example, when I went out to the bathroom my first night, heard pig noises chasing me, ran back to the house, and asked her if the pig would hurt me, she only laughed at me a little bit. I realized when I went back in the morning that the pig of doom in question was in fact a 10-pound piglet. Oops. She took me to her parent’s house in the campo, where I attended a pig slaughter. I could go awhile without eating obscure pig organs again, that is for certain.

3. My counterpart, Juan, is pretty ideal as well. He’s in his early 30s-ish and is from Sto. Domingo, but studied in Lima. He and Ryan started the solid waste management project together, so he’s not being forced into any role he doesn’t really want (unlike many other counterparts, it seems). He also grows and makes fantastic coffee, and is trying to learn English. Probably one of the funniest moments of the entire site visit was on the bus, when I had taken Dramamine (the bus ride from Piura city to Sto. Domingo is healthily terrifying), and woke up to Juan asking me, “E-sleeping?” I completely forgot who I was talking to, and answered, “Yeah, man, I took this pill, it kind of knocked me out...(long pause, confused look)...I’m speaking English, aren’t I.” He also offered me sugar for my coffee (I could probably write an entire other blog post on the overuse of sugar in this country and the deleterious effects it has on their coffee, but that is another day), and I taught him that the word “sugar,” which he already knew, was a cariño (term of affection) or a piropo (pick-up line). He then practiced saying, “Hey, sugar,” throughout the day, which cracked me up. I fear what would happen in elementary school English classes taught by profesora Alyssa.

Site visit was emotionally up and down for me, like everyone, it seems. In reality, the biggest down was the itchy realization that I slept on a bedbug-infested mattress for three nights. I felt great when I was busy and meeting people and having good Spanish days, but when there was lag time and no one to talk to, I would get nervous about certain things. Namely, I cannot figure out for the life of me what PCVs do with their time. I suppose I will figure it out eventually (and be less high-strung about my daily schedule). I am told there is in fact a lot of down time, but that having a project to come into slowly will help me have some structure. My activities for this period before swearing-in include bonding with my fellow Peru 8s whom I have come to know and love, being sick of training, taking Benadryl, spending time with my adorable host family, and finishing A Farewell to Arms before I get to my site and have to deal with machismo all the time and don’t feel like reading it, too.