Field Based Training

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