The Light Bulb Goes On
Electricity has finally arrived in Jocos! And people are definitely taking full advantage - light bulbs shine in the windows, TVs, DVDs, and stereos blare from doorways, neighbors stop by to see a new refrigerator. I have a light bulb in my room (though I try to use it as little as possible until I find out how much its going to cost) and am still toying with the idea of getting a blender. But more important than all that is the fact that the Health Post now has a heated showerhead! My showers are now much more frequent and much more convenient!
I´m excited to be in Jocos for this potentially life-changing event. It may not happen right away, but I think life will begin to change in an electrified Jocos. Its now possible to extend the day - to sit longer with family and friends, to complete homework and daily chores. I´m curious to see how different, if at all, Jocos is after a year of electricity.
Assuming we have it that long. It was decided that the bill would be paided bi-annually and that the total cost would be averaged among the neighborhoods. The averaging comes, in part, from people not wanting to buy the meters. The bi-annual payments, while convenient for the man collecting the money and taking it to the municipality in Cajabamba, I´m not sure are feasible for a community unaccustomed to paying bills. Monthly payments seem smaller and so easier to manage and are not as subject to "out of site out of mind". But as they say here, "vamos a ver".
I´ve been a Peace Corps Volunteer for over an year now (my one year anniversary was December 3, 2005) and as often happens with anniversaries, especially one year anniversaries, I find myself reflecting on the past year. How have things changed for me in Jocos? How have things changed for me as a Peace Corps Volunteer? How have I changed as a person?
The first two questions I can answer, at least in part, now, but the third I suspect will only be answered in the months following my service when I am once again surrounded by those people and places that know me best.
Life in Jocos has definitely gotten steadily easier over the past year. I have found a routine and that makes all the difference. I am also spending far less time in my room than I was at first. Not because I feel like I have to be out of my room, but because I want to be. I spend a lot of time hanging out with Miriam at the Health Post and, of course, with Doña Paulina and family. I find myself becoming less irritated with everyday things - kids asking me word translations (often these requests trail off behind me long after I have passed them on my daily walks), the inconveniences of living so far from modern luxuries, not being able to communicate with people when I want. In short, I´m much more comfortable in my Jocos skin.
And how have things changed for me as a volunteer? Again, I´m much more comfortable in that skin than I was. Things that were once big deals, no longer are. I struggle less with the frustrations of work and cultural differences (though that is not to say I don´t struggle at all). Often Peace Corps is about changing skins - you have an in-site skin, a Peace Corps volunteer skin, an American citizen skin and your personal image skin. Much of the past year has been about learning to live in those skins; learning to change them, to shed them and finding a balance between them.
With a year under my belt, I´m also looking forward to my return Home- what will I do when I get back? Where will I live? How will I earn a living? What do I want to do with the next few years of my life? I have answers to only a couple of these questions - the rest will answer themselves aling the way (or so I have to believe).
I recently got back to Peru from my first vacation out of its boarders. I spent about 3 weeks in Belize, visiting my mom who is a Peace Corps volunteer there. My dad and brother met me there and we all had a great time. Belize is an incredible place (as is Guatemala from what I could tell from Tikal), but the most incredible part was being with my family again - reassuring and grounding; a reminder from the people who know me better than anyone who I am, where I come from, where I can always go back to. I miss them terribly and would have loved to stay with them, even to go back with them, but they sent me off with the strength I need to finish my time here and to finish it well.
I´m excited to be in Jocos for this potentially life-changing event. It may not happen right away, but I think life will begin to change in an electrified Jocos. Its now possible to extend the day - to sit longer with family and friends, to complete homework and daily chores. I´m curious to see how different, if at all, Jocos is after a year of electricity.
Assuming we have it that long. It was decided that the bill would be paided bi-annually and that the total cost would be averaged among the neighborhoods. The averaging comes, in part, from people not wanting to buy the meters. The bi-annual payments, while convenient for the man collecting the money and taking it to the municipality in Cajabamba, I´m not sure are feasible for a community unaccustomed to paying bills. Monthly payments seem smaller and so easier to manage and are not as subject to "out of site out of mind". But as they say here, "vamos a ver".
I´ve been a Peace Corps Volunteer for over an year now (my one year anniversary was December 3, 2005) and as often happens with anniversaries, especially one year anniversaries, I find myself reflecting on the past year. How have things changed for me in Jocos? How have things changed for me as a Peace Corps Volunteer? How have I changed as a person?
The first two questions I can answer, at least in part, now, but the third I suspect will only be answered in the months following my service when I am once again surrounded by those people and places that know me best.
Life in Jocos has definitely gotten steadily easier over the past year. I have found a routine and that makes all the difference. I am also spending far less time in my room than I was at first. Not because I feel like I have to be out of my room, but because I want to be. I spend a lot of time hanging out with Miriam at the Health Post and, of course, with Doña Paulina and family. I find myself becoming less irritated with everyday things - kids asking me word translations (often these requests trail off behind me long after I have passed them on my daily walks), the inconveniences of living so far from modern luxuries, not being able to communicate with people when I want. In short, I´m much more comfortable in my Jocos skin.
And how have things changed for me as a volunteer? Again, I´m much more comfortable in that skin than I was. Things that were once big deals, no longer are. I struggle less with the frustrations of work and cultural differences (though that is not to say I don´t struggle at all). Often Peace Corps is about changing skins - you have an in-site skin, a Peace Corps volunteer skin, an American citizen skin and your personal image skin. Much of the past year has been about learning to live in those skins; learning to change them, to shed them and finding a balance between them.
With a year under my belt, I´m also looking forward to my return Home- what will I do when I get back? Where will I live? How will I earn a living? What do I want to do with the next few years of my life? I have answers to only a couple of these questions - the rest will answer themselves aling the way (or so I have to believe).
I recently got back to Peru from my first vacation out of its boarders. I spent about 3 weeks in Belize, visiting my mom who is a Peace Corps volunteer there. My dad and brother met me there and we all had a great time. Belize is an incredible place (as is Guatemala from what I could tell from Tikal), but the most incredible part was being with my family again - reassuring and grounding; a reminder from the people who know me better than anyone who I am, where I come from, where I can always go back to. I miss them terribly and would have loved to stay with them, even to go back with them, but they sent me off with the strength I need to finish my time here and to finish it well.
posted by Kellie | 7:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home