jamesofperu

Bamba

2008-10-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to spend some time in the city of Cajabamba. I went with a few artisans to visit the town in the time of their "town fiesta". Our main purpose was to attend and participate in the ferria (artisan showcase)

The town and the experience was beautiful.
setting up for the ferria... one of their gigantic ollas won them 100 soles in a competition

at one point in the day I found myself helping a cumbia band set up an electric drumset, and help the bassist perfect a bass line (they were to play later at the ferria)

I posed for this picture with the plans of lying to my family.. telling them that I learned how to paint traditional Cajamarca(n) art...

The president of the association's son and I...
We spent some time going around from store to store acting like I couldn't speak a word of Spanish... Jose acted as if he understood my every wood in English... he translated, and we left each store craaaacking up. By far the most fun thing I've ever done with my Spanish skills

After a few weeks

2008-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...

I hope this entry finds you all well.

It's been nearly 5 weeks since I've arrived to my final site in Cajamarca, where I'll be the duration of the two years. The Peace Corps wasn't lying when they said the transition to our new sites isn't and easy one. I've definitely had my share of difficult days... days in which my mind has ceased to function in Spanish, and days where I've felt I can't express a word of my thoughts and feelings... I've also battled the common thoughts of feeling useless in site - not really sure of purpose/ability to be a successful volunteer...

...but the whole 5 weeks have not been a complete downer - I expected these difficulties, and saw them coming... I guess I just realized that theres really no way to prepare for them, all you can do is endure... so thats what I've been doing--- being patient... patient with myself, my spanish, my abilities, my site, my future projects.

I wish I could give a clear description of what a solid day is like in site - but at this point, that seems impossible... the only real constant is a my 4 year old brother knocking on my door at 7:45 every morning yelling "Jaymeez !!! A DESAYUNAR (james its time to eat some dang good breakfast)"

his names Frank, and his youthfull/joyfull voice is hilarious to wake up to every morning

I've been hangin out quite a bit with my ceramicists... I've found them to be most like my "family" in site. I've had quite a few opportunities to work side by side with the Pops, who's also the president of the association. Slowly, but surely, I'm learning more about the association and how it functions. The family is reeeediculously artistic. I'm amazed at the pictures/sculptures that the kids can produce. They're also amazing Spanish teachers for me... always correcting me when I make my many mistakes.

I've been eating like a king. No joke. I'm positive that I live with the best cook in my town.

Word quickly spread around my town of 1000 people that I play the guitar. I sat down and played for a group of teachers while they were "passing the vaso" and the next day - it seemed the whole town was either asking me to play for them, or looking at me-playing the air guitar-and shaking their head in a way that suggests they want me to play for them. haha, non the less, ive been playing quite a bit of guitar... and spending alot of time teaching some youth around my site. Its crazy, theirs a surplus of broke down/old/untuned/sometimes stringless guitars in my site, but no one that plays well. It looks like I'll be doing alot more teaching than I thought.

It's really cool to have two volunteers fairly nearby. Every once in a while, we get the chance to get together, relax, speak English, and share experiences. One of the first weeks in site we even got the chance to take a RUUUUGGED 7 hour hike to a gigantic rock called Piedra Caballera - we brought and ate lentil burgers under the massive piece of earth...I've got a balcony-look!

In wrap up --- I'm doing well. Patience is one of the most important things I've been learning thus far (as well as the use of the verb Haber) Day by day I'm learning more about how my community functions, and slowly but surely realizing that I can be a big help for my town. Relationships are building and friendships are surfacing. More hard days are sure to come, but with each day comes more experience that will build character and strength needed in the next two years. I am most definitely integrating into the community and culture.. the next two pictures prove it -

these are Yanks - farmers wear these to work in their chacras - each pair lasts nearly 87 years

these are what all the cool kids wear while playing soccer on the small concrete courts
shoes don't come much more stylish

Theres so much more I wish I could fill you all in about my site - what I can't describe perfectly in words, pictures will do. I'm posting a new album as we speak, check out that link on the left side of the page. I'll be better about blogging from now on. I miss you all and appreciate all the support and prayers. Email me and let me know whats goin on in your life! I'm interested!
Much love -
James

Ryan's Playground

2008-09-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Recently Nick Rendleman had the opportunity to travel to Africa and live out a bit of the dream that Ryan carried...

Here is the plaque that will rest alongside a playground that has been constructed of Ryan and his beautiful life and passion for Africa...

Ryan’s Playground

“Live for His Life”

What a wonderful seed planted in me
the twenty-ninth of April, one terrible Spring…

When my brother was taken in billows of smoke,
and his spirit ascended leaving me broken.

He was parked on the road, traffic at halt;
when a semi-truck hit him smashing his car.

The sound was deafening, like and earthquake occurred.
The sight was so haunting, and who could endure?

His homework was scattered all over the grass;
his camera was thrown under the dashboard.

His bookbag was ripped, torn and ruined;
his Bible was stained with the stench of car fluid.

Then the news came; it pierced like a knife,
and everything changed in a moment of time.

All of my heart and all of my mind,
could not seem to grasp the Lord’s reason why.

Could not God have stopped it? Could he not escape?
Did God really plan it— ordaining his days?

But then something happened which I did not expect.
His legacy was sown and grew rather quick!

For the love which he had and his beautiful heart,
behind the eye of his camera which captured such art

And his passion for people, to live overseas,
to go to Uganda, took root in me.

Although he’s in Heaven and his time here is finished,
if you follow Jesus, we can carry his vision.

So on this day of dedication as I stand here and cry,
remember my brother; live for his life.

Ryan M. Rendleman
August 8th, 1985 – April 29th, 2008

new address

2008-09-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

PCV James Ofczarzak
Cuerpo de Paz/Peru
Casilla Postal No. 100
SERPOST Cajamarca
Cajamarca, Peru
South America

first week down

2008-09-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

I just completed my first week in site... just wanted to stop in real quick and let you know that Im doin alright! Surviving! though i havnt yet found a permanent host family... im getting along fine, despite a few minor bumps in the road that were sure to come. Once I get more adjusted Ill gladly fill you all in on whats been going on in site...

and I´m off

2008-08-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

Today I am headed to my site 1.5 hours outside of beautiful Cajamarca City. I leave a mind full of worries and wonders, but a heart overflowing with faith and confidence...

the words from Deuteronomy ring crisp and clear...
"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." 31:6

Graduation!

2008-08-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the day that my official title evolves from a Aspirante... to a Volunteer!

This week has been pretty relaxed. We have just been wrapping up our medical, technical and language sessions and setting our eyes on the big move to our sites. In a few hours our host families will arrive at the training center for our Host Family Celebration... were going to have a bit of fun and eat some major cake...
Most volunteers plan on using the rest of the day to pack their things (which seems like a nearly impossible task) and we will head over to our buddy Ryans to have a little going away celebration.

Tomorrow, after graduation, we head to Lima where we will have one last night together as Peru 11 before we head to our cites for GOOD. Ill be traveling to Cajamarca on Sat. and will arrive at my final site on Sun. or Mon. We are finally getting equiped with our own cell phones tomorrow! Ill be sure to get it to those of you who want to give me a hollar! Also... I dont have my new mailing address just yet, but once I get a P.O. box settled, Ill send it your way!
Much love to you all! thanks for coming along on my trip! See you in Cajamarca
James

site vizit

2008-08-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

This week at the training center has been interesting. Upon returning from site visits many volunteers have shown extreme excitement about their future sites, while others are more apprehensive and not quite ready to leave the "comfortalbe" confines of Lima, Peru.
I find myself right in the middle, sometimes bursting with excitement to get out and see what Peace Corps is really all about, and fearing that I'm not quite ready for the sierra campo life. Honestly it has been a bit of an emotional rollorcoaster for alot of poeple, myslef included.
Our three months here in Lima have been planned and structured to the max... sometimes its been hard to even get a day to ourselves. It's been somewhat hard to keep up with all the info thats put forth in training, but the trainers and staff have been a great blessing. I'm very thankful for these 3 months of training, they have really helped us 'acostumbrar' to the living conditions and culture of Peru.
Whats going to be crazy is the rapid shift from a very structured schedule/life to an unstructured one at our sites. This shift is bound to be one of the most difficult challenges of this entire experiance. I pray we will all be well prepared for the change...

Site visit went very well. My town is tiny! 1,050 people! The schools were on vacation and it seemed like alot of people ditched the town for a vacation of some sort.
My experiance with my host family was a good one. They are extremely talented people, as well as deticated hard workers. It was really cool and interesting to watch them spin their ceramics wheels throughout the entire day.
Alot of my time in site was spent walking around and getting to know the community a bit... talking with the poeple in the street, meeting the guys from the cuy association, the municipality and the health post. I also spent alot of time playing the guitar with the family! One night I even played almost 4 hours of consecutive guitar with different family members. I was teaching them two of their very own cultural songs... 'condor pasa' and 'adios pueblo de ayacucho'
The scenery around my site is beautiful, I'm surrounded by green mountains (they call them hills). Many people in the community have their farms and lately deticate much of their days to reaping their harvests. Others in the community are deticated to artisian, and carpentry work...
I had the chance to walk down to another volunteers site, and found out it is only 20 minutes by foot... my site has neither internet nor direct cell phone service, so its nice to know that I can head down the street for those things.
I've got plenty of other things to say about the site, but I've got 2 years to do so!
I hope your all doing well! I really love hearing from some of you through e-mail or comments
We will all swear into official Peace Corps service next friday and head out to our permanent sites on the sunday following the ceremony.

Much love through Christ

James OOO

2 years in CAJAMARCA!

2008-08-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the biggest day of them all... we found out our location and assigments for the next two years of our lives. We had all been waiting for this moment since the day we got to Peru.

I have been assigned to a pueblo in Cajamarca

It is a small city located in the green green mountains of Cajamarca (very similar to the site I went to for FBT)

I will be working alongside two associations... 1. which works with the wholesale of live cuy (guinie pig) and 2. an association of ceramists!

I will be working closley with the head of the ceramics association who actually happens to be my host dad!

The house I will live in is the studio in which the ceramists do most of their work, Kiln and all!

some of the youth volunteers visited this very site for their FBT experiance. I am fortunate enough to have some picutres of my site handy! also some picutres of the house/studio in which I will live...

there is also a town about 30 minutes outside of Chacay where there is a guitar workshop in which I look forward to doing some work with as well!

all of this sounds too good to be true in all actuality, but its happening! I feel as if I could not have chosen a better site. I am rediculoulsy excited to search out the posibilities in the site...

I leave for a week long site visit this Sunday. I´ll return next Sunday and am excited to fill you all in on even more about the town! Thanks for your comments, thoughts, emails and prayers!

God is good,

James

Ceviche! and cooking!

2008-07-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

heres a quick post for all those busy readers...

Ever since I arrived here in Peru, the locals have been asking me left and right... ´has probado ceviche?´ (have you tried ceviche). For a while I was clueless as to what it was... I quickly found out that it´s a classic here in Peru. Ceviche is described as a citrus-marinated raw fish, always accompanied by sweet potatos, mote (gigantic corn) and a mountain of onions. When I say citrus marinated... I mean it... lemon-city.

I´ve never been a huge fan of fish, let alone raw fish. I got to try sushi for the first time a few months back with my good friends Liz, Tom and Ashley at Liz´s moms resturaunt... but I never thought I´d come to a point where I can say this with confidence... I Love raw fish, Ceviche is delicious.

My friend Jason and I had our first cooking experiance! we cooked Torilla de Quinua and chocolate cake... look...

friday is the big day... I´ll be finding out where the next two years of my life will be spent. I´ll be quick to spread the word...

Peace to you, James

Field Based Training

2008-07-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

San Miguel...in pictures

Trujillo

The week started off with a 17 hour bus ride north towards Cajamarca on an extra-luxurious bus. By far, the nicest bus I've ever seen... We arrived in Cajamarca city on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a quick lunch before catching a cab to San Miguel. The last leg of our travel was a two hour 'video-game-like' cab ride up the side of a gigantic mountain... we feared for our lives... but made it safely.

Classes
My group and I successfully conducted 3 full days of businesses courses! We were assigned a classroom of 20 students ranging in age from 18-22. We came as prepared as possible, but knew our plans were bound to change. It took the students about half a day to warm up to us and activley participate in class. We were told to emphasize classroom participation - in hopes to engage them in the learning process as much as possible. We found out quick that if you want participation and attention, you have to fight for it... we allowed them to make up their own rules for the class - (if anyone was late, they had to dance in front of the class)
Throughout the three days of classes, we taught our students everything they needed to know to begin their own small business - everything from the meaning of ENTREPREnuership to methods of marketing a product or service. They each applied for a loan from the 'Peace Corps' bank ranging from 20-100 soles to begin their business.
Thursday was the day our groups headed out into the San Miguel market to sell their product. Most every group decided to make food to sell, which I'm told happens every year.
We divided our group into 3 groups...

1 group made and sold "chupetes" or popcicles - lucuma flavor
1 group made and sold Chicharones con mote (google it)
1 group made cuy con papa (guinie pig and potatos... yes, guinie pig is a common meal)
1 group had a free showing of the movie Titanic, and sold popcorn and mazamorra (google)
---wed. night, Sal, Kelly and I went to help one of our groups make their popcicles. We spent some quality time with them, on an informal level, which made us all look forward to our Peruvian friendships we will make once at site.

Each of our groups had successful businesses and were able to pay back their loans with a 2% interest. The biggest success of the entire week was the showing of Titanic. Amazingly, a crowd of 300 people showed up at 8pm to watch the 3 hour movie (which didn't actually start till 9). The popcorn and mazamorra sold out! It was a big surprise to everyone.
The week seemed to go by pretty slowly, but Thursday afternoon we found ourselves in front of all 70 students, handing out certificates and saying our goodbyes...
it was at this last meeting the the highlight of the week took place...Sal and I wrote a song about the food sold durring the business simulation, its called 'Estamos llenos' (we are full)... I've got it on video, and will post it on my youtube account soon enough!

We got to hang out with the current volunteer living in San Miguel and got to check out of the work she does there. She introduced us to her artisan association that she works with, and invited some of us to join her running group that she does every morning.
Thursday after classes... some students invited us to a bonfire for a while - and the school threw a dance together for us later that night.It seems like some of our dance skills are finally improving.
At the end of the week, I think we all gained quite a bit of confidence. At first, the entire week seemed daunting, with many challenges and obstacles to work around. Now that it is over, I have full confidence in our ability as volunteers. The week was filled with creativity and persistence amongst all the volunteers.

Trujillo

Friday morning we took off to our vacation part of the weeklong trip. We headed to the coastal city of Trujillo. We spent one night in a very nice hostle, and one day at a nearby beach. I tried some local favorite dishes on the shore... played some beach soccer... and even took a shot at surfing (the hardest sport ever invented)
There was a nice mall in the middle of Trujillo where we ate our share of N. American fast food, relaxed and saw the new Batman movie.

The week ended with yet another busride... this time only 8 hours. We arrived back in the city of Lima around 7, and to Chacrasana at 8.

Whats next?
5 more weeks until we swear in as official Peace Corps volunteers... In two weeks we will find out our Site Assignments! everyone is waiting impatiently to find out where we will spend the next 2 years of our lives. Once we find out, we will go on a week long site visit to do a community analysis and get to know a bit about our future sites.

I hope your all doing well...
Love you all, James
ps... check the new pictures

Gone to San Miguel...

2008-07-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be out of contact for a while, you need me - you can find me here...San Miguel, Cajamarca

Tomorrow the small business development group will be 'Cajamarca-bound'...
the long awaited Field Based Training week will soon be upon us. We have been preparing for the last 2 weeks and we're hoping the week will be a complete success! I am working in a group of 3 with my friends Kelly and Sal...

As many of you know, I have ZERO experience in teaching. The only credentials I'm putting my weight on was the year I spent teaching guitar to my friend Cylas. It was such a rewarding experience... I've had many teachers in my life that have had a profound influence on who I am and what I've learned...

I reflect on this topic, because I am about to experience what it means to be a teacher
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week- my partners and I will be in front of a class of 30 Peruvian students for 6 hours each day.
We will be teaching many different topics
-entrepreneurship
-leadership
-finance
-accounting
-market analysis
-business plans

it has been our task to create lesson plans including charlas (educationals), activities, games, etc. in the most creative way possible. We have been advised to not teach like N. Americans. We have been working on understanding the ways in which Peruvians think in terms of business... this has greatly shaped our preparation for FBT. I am excited to teach in an informal way, while getting to know the students throughout the week...

get this --- at the end of the week, we will be breaking the students into small groups and handing out small loans (the equivalent of $40) to each group. From here, the students will be expected to take all the necessary steps needed in order to get their 'business for a day' up and running --- at the end of the day, the students will need to pay back their loan (with interest) and are able to keep the profit made. (supposedly, every group in the past has been able to pay back the loan with money to spare).

sounds like a tough assignment for us baby Peace Corps Volunteers, no?
One more thing to keep in mind... Its all in SPANISH!!!

I can't wait to fill you in on how the whole week goes! I hope your all doing well!
talk to you in a week or so....
-James

P.S. heres a fun photo to keep you occupied for a week

if you had the power to hover, like I can, where would you hover? who would you hover with? over what kind of surface would you hover? would you teach others to hover like US?

Just Like Home

2008-07-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

This past week acutally came without too much excitement, which is kind of a relief. I´m feeling a bit more settled in here in Peru, and getting accustomed to the new experiances, views and foods.

I thought I´d give you all a peek of what a Peruvian 4th of July celebration is like!

We had relay races, played soccer, ate tons of food, ICE CREAM, played music (thats our main trainer pluckin the strings)... and I fell in love with INCA COLA... (I´ll give a more detailed blog about this drink soon, it deserves it)

I felt right at home in the U.S... minus my parents backyard

4

2008-07-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July to you and yours!

The Fiesta Experiance

2008-06-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

I write this blog from my bed on Sunday morning at 3:07 am... why? You ask... there is a fiesta going on about 100 feet from my shack, and it wont be done till about 2 more hours. Today is the celbration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus here in Chacrasana... The fiesta began around 10 oclock after much of the town attended mass. There is a live band pumping out salsa and cumbia tunes while 150 from the community celebrate through dancing and slightly heavy drinking. Most of us volunteers hung around for a while, but most definitely could not make it past 2 oclock out there... we were there long enough to dance a bit and see this ---->

A gigantic tower of bamboo sticks loaded with different types of fireworks (beautifully timed)... there were three of these throughtout the duration of the night. While in the midst of the party, I realized how far away I still am from understanding this Peruvian culture. I feel I had a good grip on the culture I experianced in the US, and could communicate pretty wella number of different ways... learning this new culture is a very interesting process, definitley one of the most interesting endeavors Ive ever experianced. Here's one culture norm I've caught onto thus far... When offered something, a food, or a drink, it is common for the recipient to refuse at first, and to make the other person ask more than one time. When the person is forced to offer something more than once, it is a much more sincere interaction... this is a pretty cool custom to catch onto, and it can really help interactions here, but its HORRIBLE when you really dont want to accept something.

Training/home

Things have been going great. Im continually learning more and more about business and Spanish language. We will be reevaluating our Spanish skills at the end of this week and will be assigned new classes with new teachers (this makes me pretty sad, class has been amazing with my two buuuuds Mike and David and our wonderful teacher Sarah)

Sometimes I feel like my Spanish isnt improving at all!!! I will get pretty upset about it, and in the same day I will sit down with my family and communicate for 2 hours straight... it is after there 2 hours that I realize that my language is indeed improving... 2 hours is a long time to communicate clearly.... it feels good! My dad seems to be putting in some extra effort in helping me understand Spanish. The other night as I was sitting on the couch, he walked inand started pointing at things and made me repeat after him. It turned out to be a pretty usefull exercize, I learned alot of new living room vocab.

One day last week the Small Business Development crew took a trip to a technical institute for 17-25 year olds. Our only task for this trip was to sit in on a Charla (educational) given to a group of 30 Peruvian students. The Charla was a business simulatino that touched on small business promotion and marketing. It was given by our two small-business trainters Ivan and Dennis. The reason we did this was so that we would get a better idea of what our Field Based Training will look like in 2 weeks... The Charla went great, and so did the activities afterwards. We all worked in small groups with Peruvians and got a better understanding of what its like to work alongside them. It was encouraging. They were very sharpt and had many great ideas and thoughts throughout the simulation, it made our jobs easy. We were there simply as facilitators and to offer suggestions.

La Escuela Agrederia (this part of the blog is written at the much more reasonable time of 7pm on Sunday night)

This last saturday we took the first of 4 trips to a well known agricultural school in Lima. Here we broke up into groups and learned many basics about agriculture, since many of us will have the opportunity to work with farmers and even begin small gardens of our own. We walked around the schools property and learned about common planting techniques throughout Peru... we learned the early stages of making our biohuertos (small gardens with multiple crops). We even prepared a field and planted some seeds, which we will continue to reurn to throughout our next visits. We also got to try about 7 new fruits that were completely new to all of us N. Americans... they were all exotic and amazing--- we'll be making 3 more trips out there throughout the next 2 months --- afterwards, I went to central lima with 5 other volunteers. I put to use my semi-expertise in guitars and helped each of them buy guitars... about 1/3 of the volunteers have bought guitars, and I think only about 5 of them have past experiance. We hope to practice our skills individually for the next two years, then make a band of 15 peace corps guitar players and tour the world!

+other things

I spent the day with my family at a club for Marinas, which I think is equivalent to the US Navy. My brother has served as a marina for the past 15 years or so. We spent the day relaxing under the sun, surrounded by other peruvian families and cumbia music.

Grupo Cinco is a Peruvian boy band... and they are HUUGE in this country. It is impossible not to hear at least 5 songs by them daily, sometimes Ill get lucky and hear the exact same song 3 times in one day. Its kind of strange, but their music is growing on me, and I subconsciously get excited when I hear it come on the radio... Ive been learning about 3 of their songs on the guitar and playing them whenever I get the chance - its a sure-fire way to bring a smile to a peruvian's face...

Communicating with family and friends has been a challenge this past week. Its been hard for me to make it to the internet more than twice a week, which can be seen as a good thing as well... Ive been keeping busy around here. My telephone in my home hasnt been working for the past 3 days, so phone calls are very a rare. I hope to find a good balance of communcation with everyone somehow... this is easily one of the most frustrating parts of the PC experiance.
Us volunteers continue to pound down candy and ice-cream on a daily basis, I cant even begin to explain how wonderful this has been.

Some say my bearded friend Mike looks alot like Chuch Norris... though Im not completely convinced, the peruvians sure are! The other day, a whole slew of poeple stopped and started in awe as they thought the Texas Ranger himself were walking down their streets!

One day last week, the business group got to go to the mountains. It was niiiiice to see some mountains with green and heavy vegetation. We saw a trout farm and learned about its beginings and sustainability. We were also shown a few remains from the time of the Incas... Innnnnteresting...

I'm off into my 4th week here in Chacrasana! Not quite sure what we've got planned for the week, but Field Based Training is only 2 weeks away. Being away from the US for so long, Ive kinda forgotten what 4th of July even signifies... if someone could please fill me in, thatd be great. I hope you all enjoy your holliday!

Much LOVE and PEACE through Christ

James

GRRRR

2008-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

I´ve got a full blog with pictures and all... ready to post, I wrote it last night and this evening...

Unfortunatly, I´m having some trouble with my USB memory stick... hopefully i can post tomorrow... (im kinda frustrated with it and sorta want to rip my hair out)

I did successfully post a few new pictures in my album though!

I´ll post asap! take care!

Solid

2008-06-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

I’ve been here in Peru for, what seems to be months… 16 days and I’m feeling more and more accustomed to the culture almost daily. Day by day I’m feeling like more of an insider in these Peruvian communities. At training we have spent a few days out and about, getting to know a few communities close to where we are living. This has been an amazing booster for me and many other volunteers… Since the beginning of training we have heard over and over that we will spend many months getting to know our communities inside and out once we are at site. To my ears, this task has sounded daunting, especially since my Spanish skills remain at a mediocre level--- After the community activities, I was able to see the real possibility of getting familiar with a community and understanding the way things are run. We were all quickly able to recognize many strengths and weaknesses of the communities, which will be a huuuuge task once we get to site… I am also realizing that I will not be stranded out in a community for two years with no outside help, this brings me great comfort.
(I know many of you are still unsure as to what exactly I will be doing for my 2 years of service, I promise to write a more detailed description of what service will look like… I’m still trying to grasp it as well, but I will say that it is sounding beautiful yet challenging)

Today (6/21) we went to the city of Lima, which was a 1.5 hour ride in a combi (I will post a picture of one of these soon). We went with our language instructors to both practice Spanish and get more familiar with the city, since we will be taking many trips there during service (the PC center, and medical center is located here). It was a nice day… with a ridiculous amount of walking. Amazed at our first sight of American food such as McDonalds, BK, Starbucks, KFC, most volunteers rushed for their first taste of familiar food in weeks. I went with about 7 other volunteers for a gigantic personal pan pizza from PizzaHut! I was craving it all week. – here’s a quick funny story - We were given 5 soles (Peruvian currency) to figure out how to get home on our own (training purposes… I think). My friends Sal, Patty and I took a combi home… we stood crushed for the first 20 minutes of the ride, but thankfully, found a seat…we rested our legs and looked forward to riding home on our bums… about 15 minutes later, our combi cut someone off (which usually happens every 2 minutes or so) but this time, our driver was caught. His license was taken away from him, and we had to switch combis… We hopped on a different and had to ‘intimately stand’ for another 45 minutes till we arrived at home. It was hilarious, but be glad you weren’t there.

Guitar…

I know it would probably fit my character to spend a whole blog page about me buying a guitar, but I feel like keeping it simple. I bought a guitar about a week ago! It’s a nylon string classical guitar of pretty decent quality. Though I haven’t had the most time to pluck the ol’ strings, it has definitely helped me feel more at home.

Field Based Training…

In about 4 weeks, the Small Business Development group will be taking a weeklong trip to Cajamarca (16 hours north of Lima) to partake in Field Based Training, where we will be divided into groups and assigned to classes of business students. We will spend the week with them, teaching them different business and development related things… in strictly SPANISH! I heard that our bus is lux-u-rious, and we will be staying in a hotel with hot water!

Other things…

+I’ve experienced 2 minor earthquakes since I’ve been here. One was the first morning, during our retreat in Chaclacayo. The other was about 4 nights ago around 4 a.m. it woke me up, but I felt completely safe in my shack.

+It’s not uncommon for me to leave a bit of food on my plate at dinner, portions are pretty monstrous… the other night I was served crispy fried chicken on top of French fries and cut up hot dogs… with ketchup, mayonnaise and hot sauce sprinkled about… I slammed the meal in my stomach and smiled BIG at my family. They were surprised at my freshly polished plate, they knew I liked it, I am sure of this because I received the exact same thing the following night…haha. (this is a picture of a plate very similar to what theyve been serving me)

+ It seems many of the volunteers have rediscovered a deep, fiery passion for candy/ice cream/ sweets… it suddenly hit us all the same time a few days ago, all at once. We found ourselves rushing towards the shops on the way home. It’s been a real comfort, I mean it… I love candy.
+ I’ll end with some good news, which will better describe the title of this blog… my stomach is basically in tip-top shape! As some of you know, my sickness from last week went away with medicine, but quickly returned on Sunday morning. It was father’s day; I had a fever of 102 and no father… eeek. Since then my body has repaired itself without the help of medicine! I once again have confidence in my body’s abilities! We’ll see how long this lasts… but for now… solid

heres a picture of my sister Raquel, my mom and neice after a church service in Chaclacayo...

Much love to you all,
James

p.s. has anyone been to Peru before or South/Central America? if so, where? Any experiences you can relate to so far? I might need some people to sympathize with me some day…

Fathers Day

2008-06-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Father’s Day

My dad’s name is Randy, he was born in Texas… he grew up in Texas… he likes to visit Texas… he talks like a Texan. My dad is a man who takes an opportunity when he sees it, even if it means giving up something that means a lot to him… like Texas. My dad was been working for the same company for over 30 years (… I’m pretty sure) and has been transferred all throughout the Midwest. I believe he has done this because it’s what’s been best for our family. My dad is our provider, our safe haven, our strength. He is ambitious and determined, and at the same time loving and caring.

Sometimes I think back to the times when I saw my dad as the ultimate “Superman”… our family used to take 2 week long vacations in and out of the mountains of the west (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming). We would go the whole nine yards and camp the entire time! I still don’t know how we managed to do this and come out in one piece… for there was plenty of kicking and screaming amongst us pre-teen kids. My dad was for sure the glue that held us together through these vacations… It was through these vacations that our family endured many trials and tribulations (5+ van breakdowns/ sleeping in the same tent for two weeks/ the top of a 50 ft tree falling on the top of our car while we were still in it). Our family was tested and came out from these trips stronger than ever… I’m so thankful that he didn’t pamper us with a trip to Disneyworld, or the ocean… I think he knew what exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.
Thanks dad, for continuing to be the Superman that I look up to.

Happy Fathers day

Your son, James

...fathers day is huge here in Peru... family family family

I went to a school celebration with one of my sisters and her family. Watched some traditional dances/games and tried to play on a soccer team for a mini-tourney.. they wouldnt let me, becuase Im not a father... I guess that makes sense...

a working photo album

2008-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

I´ve finally figured out how to somewhat manage my photos... the link along the right side of the page should be up and running. There will be many many many more to come in the next months...

also... there is another blog below that I posted earlier today... written 2 nights ago... check it

Settling in

2008-06-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve temporarily settled in!

I now live in the pueblo of Chacrasana, in the middle of two large dusty mountains. It is one of many pueblos that extend up into the mountains by one single main street. The weather is usually foggy yet sunny and conditions around the pueblo are constantly dusty. I am still located in Lima, which I have learned, is a gigantic city. Chacrasana is located about 15 minutes by bus from the PC training station. Daily, the other 7 volunteers in my community and I plan to take the combi (bus) to site around 7am.

Mi familia…

I belong to a household of 8. I have a mama (Nilza), a papa (Mariano), two sisters in their early thirties (Raquel y Rosillo), they both have husbands (Rennger y ???), each couple has a little girl (Alexandra, 3 y Aracele, 4)… they are wonderful and welcoming! Already they have said “you must never forget us!”. The two children already enjoy my presence in the house and call me Tio! (uncle... that’s uncle jimmy to you, haha) When my mom first picked me up, she had Alexandra at her side who was intensely staring at me and my luggage… not a peep… we have progressed very much!

Mi casa…

When I say mi casa, I mean it… I’ve got a place all to myself, although, it’s not so much a casa as it is a shack. My 8-member- family all live under one room, seemingly comfortable. They set me up with my own side room, which I access by walking out the back door, through the concrete backyard, passed a cat and a talking parrot named Aurora, into a quaint living space I call my home… in the room I have a double-sized bed (hard as a rock), a table and chair which is now nicely decorated with my books and belongings, a few drawers and a small portable cabinet where I can store my clothes. The roof is made of tin or aluminum? And the walls are most definitely constructed with wood. Nice colors! My bed is warm, which is nice because nights can get as cold as 50 degrees F. So far it’s been a bit of a struggle to get a decent complete night of sleep. Outside of my door there is a staircase leading to the roof where over 15 chickens and a couple chickens reside…they can be o so loud… also, about 50% of the time there are some kind of wild dogs fighting over chew toys or something… they are vicious (if I get unwanted attention from a wild n crazy dog I’ve been instructed to bend down and grab a rock… the dog will immediately run away and whimper… in fear that I’m gonna peg him in his doggy mouth, I hope I never have to!) There is one more essential piece to the puzzle of my room… it’s a simple bucket. You know… incase I have to pee in the middle of the night and don’t want to walk in the house, which was actually quite handy last night!

Monday…

I could tell you about all the wonderful days and experiences that I’ve been having throughout my time here in Peru… but I feel like I need to vent. Today could easily be classified as ‘horrible’. I woke up and read a bit of 1 John and felt pretty good about my first day of training. Ate a small breakfast and headed to the bus station with a group of volunteers and our mamas. On the bus was when I felt the first wave of queasiness. I wasn’t quite sure what was wrong, but pushed on strong. At site, we stood up and shared some funny experiences of our first night with our host families… I stood up and quickly told the entire group that it pained me to see everyone in such a joyful mood… I was feeling upset/impatient/completely unpeppy and wanted to see if anyone else could relate, thankfully one volunteer raised his hand and put my heart at ease. We have all been warned again and again that we will have up and down days, I found that out quick. The rest of the day was filled with increasing stomach pain and urgency to run to the bathroom. Diarrhea had quickly struck, and I was its first victim. Both the staff and fellow volunteers were nothing but kind, polite and giving. My friend Tim even traded me his rehydrating Sportorade for my water… thanks Tim. All I could eat for lunch was crackers. At 3 o’clock there was a charla (presentation) on diarrhea, put on by one of our wonderful Doctors Jorge… how fitting!
I can now say, the day has wound up pretty nice. I was able to eat a bit of dinner (chicken noodle soup), visit the internet café, and attend a small party for some Canadian students stopping by the town. My stomach feels a ‘tad bit’ better too!
I’m currently writing from ‘mi casa’ and will later post this when I head to the internet café again. Thanks for reading! -blessings

Also… if you plan on sending anything, it is suggested to make it less than 1 kilo (2 lbs) and large envelopes work wonderfully! If a package is much bigger, I will have to pay taxes like WOAH on it.

chaclacayo

2008-06-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

this, by no means, will be the average blog post... Im sitting in an internet cafe in Chacalayo, Lima (staying at a retreat center with the other volunteers for 1 day and 2 nights) Its our after-orientation... orientation. We arrived here last night around 12 oclock. The flight was beautiful and surprisingly short. Already we have enjoyed two Peruvian meals (some eggs, chicken, potatoes, giant corn, and gigantic beans) We will soon eat dinner and then have a free night to scope out the retreat center village. Tomorrow we meet our host families that we will stay with for 3 months.

Word has been passed around that a fellow volunteer, Kelly, has been invited to a peruvian "folk dance" party, as well as the rest of the group! If this happens, be expecting a few hillarious photos...

some fun random happenings...
-last night I slept in the smallest room Ive ever been in - Ive been avoiding showers because of the lack of warm water- the airline unfortunatly lost a bag of a fellow volunteer- I stood next to a llama and got a picture with it - Glenn, a volunteer, was spit on by that very same lama - It was beautifully captured on video!!!- The trainers are amazing, personable, and hillarious! - Im exhaustd and I miss you all

I look forward to having more time to blog and get my photo book up and running...

a quick thanks

2008-06-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you all very much for coming over and hanging out last night... it was easily one of the best nights of my life...

... this will be a quick post (with more details and highlights from the party to come later)

one important thing--- I forgot to gather everyone's e-mails last night... so PLEASE!!! click on 'comment' at the bottem of this blog entry and leave me your e-mail address so I can start up a mailing list for 'members only' emails (I'm completely kidding about the members only thing, that would be recidulous, but please, leave your e-mail and name!)

Thanks again.

Teitur

2008-05-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I saw the best show I have ever seen in my entire life... Teitur was in America and played in Chicago

He played at a small and intimate venue known as 'Schubas' off N. Southport street downtown

It was a sing along

My friends and I finally figured out how to pronounce his name... tee-tur? tite-er? no, it's TIE-TOOR... all along, we were way off

(my sister loves his music... unfortunately, she didn't get to go... she is soooooo jealous)

check out myspace.com/teitur

13 days till Peru...

The passing of a brother

2008-05-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

.
As many of you have already heard, a best friend of mine, Ryan Rendleman, has passed away at the age of 22. He was on a photojournalist assignment for the SIU school newspaper when his car was struck from behind by a semi-truck on Illinois 127. He was to receive his degree in journalism on May 10, 2008, after which he planned to accept an internship opportunity posed by the Southern Illinoisan Newspaper.

Daily, it is a struggle to wrap my mind around this harsh reality. The entirety of both my heart and prayers are with his wonderful family, as well as our good friends. Although 22 years seems to be a relatively short time for anyone to dwell on this earth, I am constantly amazed at the life that Ryan was enabled to live in such a short time. Passions quickly developed and multiplied... beautiful masterpieces completed in merely years...

I had the privilege of spending the past 2 summers alongside Ryan as we worked as maintenance men/painters
(Ryan often referred to our position as 'paintnance') at The Holmstad Retirement Home in Batavia, IL. Each summer, we spent more time with one another than with our respective families; painting fences, cleaning clogged gutters, moving furniture, sweeping roofs?, cleaning dumpsters?, painting 400 door frames, driving golf carts and over-sized trucks and wasting time with our good friend Adam.

The summers led to a sincere and fulfilling friendship that seemed to be perfectly hand-crafted and wonderfully choreographed... Ryan has taught me so much about life, passion, faith... his example and legacy continues to encourage and challenge me to dig deeper into this short time we spend on this earth. I am absolutely amazed... amazed...

-it is very helpful for me to share these experiences with you all... I will continue to share thoughts and stories about Ryan as they come upon my heart... ( I'm going to guess it will be quite a few!)

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Ryan was a wonderful photojournalist and writer...
Below is Ryan's last photo story that he completed for the Daily Egyptian...
It was printed the day after the crash...
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Photo Column: Standing like Statues
Ryan Rendleman
4/23/08

The San Damiano Retreat Center is located on the Ohio River about nine miles east of Golconda.

I was there over the weekend with my church for a Christian retreat. The beautiful scenery and isolated location makes concentration on God easy.

The above image was taken in a light-hearted manner as friends played spoons. The center is chock-full of similar statues and paintings. Most of them represent Jesus as a blue-eyed, blonde haired Westerner.

Apparently, we've all forgotten that he was not a product of the 1960s Haight-Ashbury district, the old hippie-laden area of San Francisco.

The statues, however, are symbolic of an even larger problem for Western Christianity than the misrepresentation of Jesus Christ. Too often, Christians who face no persecution or trials such as those living in most democratic, Western nations remain as sterile and lifeless as these statues.

Their relationship with God is a matter of attending Sunday service and then living their own lives the rest of the week. Their hearts are far from God.

The Pharisees were similar in this regard, and Jesus called them hypocrites. He wants a lifetime of whole-hearted devotion to Himself.

The church grows through leaps and bounds when faced with hardship as a result of its faith. An early Christian, Justin Martyr, said, "Though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but, the more such things happen, the more do others in larger numbers become faithful."

This type of persecution exists in the world today. Christians face real persecution in such places as Egypt, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Western Christians, however, are shielded from this.

Would there be as many people in the West claiming Christ if they knew their lives were at stake? Would they stand?

I pray I would.

A fresh perspective on 'service'

2008-04-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

" Right here we must see the difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. When we choose to serve, we are still in charge. We decide whom we will serve and when we will serve. And if we are in charge, we will worry a great deal about anyone stepping on us, that is, taking charge over us.
But when we choose to be a servant, we will give up the right to be in charge. There is great freedom in this. If we voluntarily choose to be taken advantage of, then we cannot be manipulated. When we choose to be a servant, we surrender the right to decide who and when we will serve. We become available and vulnerable". - Richard Foster