A Day in My life as a PC Volunteer

I realize few people understand what it is like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) living in my town. It is very difficult to explain in a simple email or even over the phone. Every PCV’s experience is different, and mine I’m sure is not the norm. Days in my site “Huantar” pass very quickly. Most of the time I am very happy about that. I usually wake up early and go to bed early. Here I will write what yesterday was like for me.

I got awoken by a ruckus upstairs in my house around 6:30am. My host mom wakes up early to start preparing breakfast for the family. At the same time my host dad wakes up, eats and goes to work. For the past year or so my district (my town is the ‘capital’ of a larger area of other small villages) has enjoyed relative prosperity. The mines nearby donate a lot of money to the districts nearby to supposedly develop the area. Many jobs have been created, and people are earning good money. My host dad works building the primary school. I usually stay in bed until 7:30am or so. I could potentially wake up at whatever time I want because I don’t have a time when I start working. I usually wake up early though because I feel a little guilty that everyone is up and about since dawn. After getting out of bed I prepared myself breakfast which usually consists of milk with a little oatmeal, a piece of bread, and some fruit.

Around 8:15am I got a call from my health post. My community partner needed help with some reports he had to take down to the health clinic in the nearby city of San Marcos. So, I helped him doing some very repetitive work until 11:00am. I then ran home to get the supplies I needed to give two educational sessions I had yesterday at the school. I got to the school just in time to start. The sessions were on self-esteem and we did a really cool reinforcement activity where everyone had to write positive qualities you have on a piece of paper with your name on it. In between the sessions I had 45min to eat, so I ran to a family restaurant where I met my friend. I ate super quickly and went back to the school.

I went home around 2:00pm to hand wash some clothes. Most of my PCV friends hate washing their own clothes and take them all to the capital to wash when they come in every two weeks. I don’t mind washing my clothes at all. First, it gives me something to do in my otherwise fairly free schedule. Second, I save a lot of money. To wash two weeks worth of clothes by hand costs me about s/.2 (.66 American cents), and to take them to the capital 6 hours away to wash costs me about s/20 ($7). I would rather hand wash, and not have to worry about taking my clothes all the way to the capital.

I finished washing my clothes around 3:00pm and had nothing else to do. I grabbed a book, a notebook and went up a little hill by the cell phone antennas and read and wrote for about two hours. Made a couple phone calls from up there, and I then went to my plaza and talked to some of my high school friends. A little after 5:30pm I went to see my friend John who I spend a lot of time with after he is done with work. I went to a store where I bought bread and milk, and had coffee with John. We talked for a while, I accompanied him to dinner. Around 7:30pm I returned home. Had some tea, washed my face, brushed and flossed my teeth, listened to some music and went to bed.

I already have my basic routine. It’s pretty simple, and I’m finally getting used to it. It is not that I am not enjoying my experience but I must recognize this is the most challenging and difficult test I have had to face in my life. I usually feel lonely, many times bored, missing my family, wanting to shower, questioning what I’m doing here, wanting to be somewhere else, or simply wondering why the hell I’m crying. I always have an event, or a meeting with my friends programmed every two weeks so I have something to look forward to. I like being in my town, yet sometimes I like leaving it for a day or two. I don’t think that makes me any less of a PCV. I am entitled to feel normal, to be happy, to have fun, to dance, to shower, to eat meat, etc.

I am happy I really am. Nobody said this was going to be easy. I am learning by the minute; not only Quechua, the indigenous language but also about myself, my likes, my dislikes, and the actual essence that makes me human. I’m proud of myself although sometimes I wonder if what I do here actually helps anyone. I’m staying strong, trying to be positive and recognizing life’s little wonders that make everything worth it.