Year-End Reflections...

Reflections of 2013…

This year, I’ve lived in a foreign country. The entire year. I’ve never done that before. This year I really started to feel comfortable with my Spanish. My personality was finally able to come out and I could pick up on and laugh at everyday jokes/idiosyncrasies. I got used to being called “gringita.” I lived through my first rainy season, phew! I taught vacation school and made some great little buddies. This year I helped our artisan group become a formal association. I taught business classes to many groups, and was even able to bring two young girls to Lima to compete with their business idea. I celebrated one year as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was able to develop and deepen many relationships here and have people care for me immensely. I got to bring many cultural insights/traditions to the people here.  This year I had the blessing of going home twice to be with my beloved family and friends and watch my brother get married. This year I memorized almost the entire book of James (need a major refresher). This year, I traveled to Machu Picchu (with my parents), two different parts of the jungle, the beach, the highest elevation lake in the world, and the 2^nd biggest (and probably most beautiful) city in Peru.

This year I had lots of challenges. I’ve been sick, well, more than a few times. I’ve been misunderstood, and I’ve wracked my brain trying to understand why certain things are the way they are in my daily reality. I’ve felt convicted of judging those things and people instead of having compassion on them. I’ve doubted my work and my worth. Many times. I’ve felt left out and like I didn’t belong. I often craved, needed to hear positive feedback and didn’t hear it here (thank you to family and friends who filled that gap so well).

But I’ve also been held closer by God than ever before, because He put me in situations where I had to rely on Him. I’ve worshipped Him in another language and found myself in a church community who is truly like family. I have learned how to open up, share what I’m feeling and let others listen. I’ve learned from the wisdom and generosity of the people here. A ton. I’ve learned that you don’t have to pretend everything is ok. You can live in the ups and downs, but live it full out. I naturally am a person that holds back and “plays it safe,” but oh how God is dragging me out of that comfort zone, little by little.

I am so thankful for this beautiful, frustrating, growth-stimulating, adventurous year. Can’t wait to see what He brings in 2014.

Girls Camp and Jungle Trip #2

Hey friends and fam,
A few updates for ya...

Our girls camp went great! For the first time we did it with other partners- the regional health post and government, an NGO, etc. Of course some bumps in the road, but 39 girls got the chance to laugh, play and learn interactivelly about self-esteem, leadership, sexual education and rights, among other things. Here I am teaching morning aerobics:

 And the whole gang...

Aaaand the jungle...wow. We went to Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios. We stepped off the plane and started laughing because it didn't seem real. Felt like we were in a sauna! We (11 gals!) went to a jungle lodge for 2 days and got to see all kinds of insects and creatures...tons of species of birds, an alligator,

 The whole group on our pirannah fishing adventure. I surprisingly caught the first one!

 Jungle lodge...

 At the bridge to Brazil!

My monkey friend!! They climbed all over us and let us pet them!

So that's what I got for now. Keep it real and I'll be back soon!
J

Bro's Boda and Birthday Bliss...

Buenas Noches con Todos (Good Evening Everyone),
Lot's to catch up on...mainly about my brother's wedding (boda = wedding) and my birthday...

The wedding/trip home:
The whole thing was a highlight. Seriously such a blessing. I forgot how long/hard the trip home was, so it took a toll on me, but I was too excited to really care. Wednesday night I got to see friends and try on rehearsal dinner dresses while Kristen, Katie and mom got the Ravens Wagon ready for the flower girl and ring bearer. Thursday I got to give a presentation in spanish for a class at my high school then family started to arrive. Later on we got to just hang out and have a nice yummyyy pizza and salad dinner (if you can't tell, the food was a highlight as well lol) :) Friday it was craziness trying to get ready to leave for the wedding. Mom and I both forgot things and weren't super prepared, but you can't sweat the small stuff diga (right)?

The rehearsal went smoothly (funny to see Kristen driving all us girls in an 18-passenger van and her nice dress ha) and the dinner was awesome. SO fun to be there with family and family friends and I got to say a few words as well to congratulate my brother and new sister :) The wedding day was chilly but beautiful, and although we suffered a bit I can't WAIT to see the pictures. A couple funny anecdotes: I was to do a scripture reading and there was some miscommunication on getting the paper with the passage on it, so I got up front and when it came to be my turn realized I didn't have the reading with me...uhoh. I had a mili-second of shock and immediately started thinking of how I would improvise and kept moving forward. I told the pastor as I was casually walking by that I didn't have my reading and he cordially gave me his entire black wedding book and said "Don't forget to bring it back." Haha. So all went well after that slight hickup. Party was amazing and afterparty was fun, too. The other anecdote is that all the girls were a little uncomfortable with their fake eyelashes and when one of my mom's came off at the reception, she decided not to let it get her down and went to the afterparty with one fake eyelash. Ha! Love it.

Sunday was wonderful in Annapolis with family walking around and shopping and we had a great day. The rest of the time was running around getting errands done and time with my parents mostly.

Leaving was harder this time...I think because I just had SUCH an amazing time and got to see the whole family. Also being so close to finishing in the spectrum of 27 months, but at 8+ months still far away is tough. Mom and I, after sharing one last coffee together in the airport, said a tearful goodbye and off I went.

My Birthday:
Although it was hard readjusting and I'm still sick, I had one of the best birthday's I've ever had.
I woke up to a cake that my host mom had made (Cake #1. breakfast). Then I went to church and got one of the best suprises I've ever had. They ended church early and shoo'ed me out for a bit (they are terrible at suprises but I love it lol) then I came in and they had moved the chairs along all the sides of the room and had a cake in the middle (Cake #2). The pastor and another guy from church started to sing happy birthday- a really neat Christian version- and had me stand in the middle to honor me. The sang worship songs, and what the people said was just seriously so amazing. I couldn't stop crying I was so moved. They were so grateful that I was there with them and encouraged me in my faith journey, it was amazing.

Then I went to eat lunch with my host family, visit the artisan president who wanted to give me my birthday hug (tradition here), then my friend Heidi (a PC volunteer who thankfully live close :) came over and we went to Miriam's house (my sitemate's host family when he was here) where I was met with 2 more cakes- 1 from Miriam and 1 from my french friend and japanese friend (Cakes #3 & 4). Then the next day my artisan ladies threw a party for me and that was really nice. They were hiding in a back room and when I came out they each gave me my birthday hug and a little flower or present...so sweet (Cake #5). Then just yesterday the professor at the community college had me over for cake, jello and tea (Cake #6). Funny combination I know. Anyway I felt super special and loved...last birthday was hard, but I appreciated this one even more for it!

Write back soon :)
Me

The girl cousins, Kristin, and Cam!

 Love this one!

 Me and my cousin Kasey :)

 Bridal party, wohoo!!!

 The Kahler girls!!

 At church for my bday!

Of course they shoved cake in my face, ha...its tradition here!

 The whole church crew!

 At Miriam's...

With my artisans :)

Reflections rolling in...

Its been a while so I'm just gonna dive right in...

Been reflecting a lot lately on my first year of service now that the second year is already flying by. It is amazing the power time has. Things are finally happening and coming together and my perspective toward my service has been changing for the better. There are still tons of frustrations and sometimes I feel I just want to be done with this place and these people. But then I remember how much has changed in the last year-ish.

As many of you know, "my first year" and "easy" or "piece of cake" will never be found in the same sentence. Much of what I felt was confusion, lack of purpose and loneliness. There were some amazing, memorable times as well, but those aren't what stand out. It is not a bad thing, though. I fought and fought from my American mindset accepting that things weren't as productive as I'd like them. But if I had to define the year in a phrase, it would be "character-building." I think I've grown more in the past year than many earlier years combined. As the only solid, stable, familiar thing I had, I clung to the Lord like I've never had to before. He held my hand/carried me as I navigated life and work. I also reached out to people in a new way. I learned its okay to be vulnerable. Its acutally correct...we are vulnerable. Maybe I just needed to be in a situation where I could see that for myself.

The rocky path of my first year also makes me appreciate the recent months more. If my whole service was smooth sailing, I wouldn't appreciate the small successes and blessings God has provided me.

Ok I also want to give some work updates:

1. Artisans- We brought a teacher in to help us learn to dye wool/fabric and use the big wooden weaving machines that we have in town (see below). Its going well and the ladies who are really interested are picking up on a lot. We have participated in another regional fair and our clothes will be featured in a fashion show in the capital city. The consortium of NGOs that works in town wants to train the ladies on computer literacy/internet skills, create a website and blog for us, and give us a computer and printer to use! What a praise! Last night we celebrated our 1 year anniversary as a group and it went so great...we played volleyball, soccer, games, ate a great meal and danced the night away :) Sometimes it is still super hard to work with a large group like this (25ish) and we face issues with irresponsability and poor attitudes, but we have great leadership so I believe we can keep moving forward.

2. My farmers- I've been working with an associasion of rural farmers- first with the business plan/entrepreneurship class I teach, and now with a government-run program that offers to fund businesses in their endeavors to improve the implementation of techonology. The guys want to start a cuy (guinea pig) farm since they are a delicassy here. Last week my bosses came from Lima and Cajamarca and were able to give the certificates to the guys for completing the business plan class. The guys were so grateful and motivated by the visit and they all gave little speeches. Later my Lima boss Alfredo told me he had was super inspired by what he saw and it made him remember why he does Peace Corps. What an honor!

3. Chamber of Commerce- This project had been started years ago by a former business volunteer but unfortunately never held the momentum strong. Recently, we changed presidents and the new one is doing great. We are going to put an office right in the main square so we can have a presence and hopefully motivate the local merchants to work together and come to use the resources. We are doing a raffle of a baby bull...yes I did say bull...to raise money for the office. I am excited to see what will happen. We've even talked about startuing an annual business plan competition with a cash prize. We'll see.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about my life here...my next post will be about my time home and brother's wedding!
Love and Peace,
Me

Our jungle experience...
Last week, one of my best friends Jen came in for an adventure we'd never forget. I picked her up in Lima and after an almost sleepless night, we got up super early and made it to Iquitos (the capital city of Loreto). We were met in the airport by our guide Rodrigo, who took us around the local marketplace until the boat arrived to take us on our adventure.

Three hours later, we arrived at the Tahuayo Lodge. Built right into the jungle, it is beautiful but basic. No AC or amenities, solar paneled electricity, etc. We definitely signed up for an adventure :) The first day we had a great lunch, relaxed in hammocks, then went exploring a bit and did the zipline. I decided to hoist myself up instead of let them do it cuz I wanted the challenge. I got about 10-15ft up and changed my mind, but what they neglected to tell me was that I couldn't turn back. So onward and upward I went, and I did it! Still have the healing blisters to show for it.

Day 2: The next day we went hiking again and saw the smallest monkey in South America- and it really is tiny. We also saw a family of spider monkeys but they moved so quickly we couldn't get pictures. Our guides, who have all had survival training, did a demonstration of a trap you would set to catch animals. Super neat. Also they showed us how to make rubber from the rubber tree by scraping away the bark and putting flame to the white sap. At lunch we got to try fresh juice made from Camu Camu- the fruit with the highest concentration of vitamin C in the world... soo yummy. In the afternoon we went looking for pink dolhpins and found them! They were beautiful but seldom showed themselves and when they did it was only to grab some air for an instant. They like to play hide and seek. I also saw a hawk come down, scoop up its prey from the water and disappear into the sky-all in about 3 seconds. Craziness. At night we went exploring by boat, "looking for frogs." Til the moment the guide grabbed the caiman (aligator) from the water with his bare hands we still thought it was a big frog...man were we fooled!

Day 3: We went fishing, caught piranas, catfish and other kinds and then headed two hours further into the amazon to the research lodge. There we got to see a sloth!! We named him "Sid" (Ice Age). We also saw a beautiful woodpecker and I got to go swimming in the Amazon :) That night we went hiking and saw a jungle chicken and the most beautiful night sky I've ever seen. They said they cloudy-looking part was the milky way!

Day 4: our boat driver catching an anaconda with his bare hands! Playing soccer with the employees at the lodge (all guys lol), and going for a night canoe ride with our guide and talking to him about God and Jesus :)

Day 5: long boat ride followed by loooong hike looking for poison dart frogs, and finally we found them (when I say "we" I mean our guides lol). They are small but might creatures. Then on the way back we lost our propeller cuz the water level is so low and we crashed with tree branches. As soon as it happened our boat driver Freddy, a local, goes "Now this is an adventure!" haha. Jen and I just look at each other and laugh. They paddled for a while with tree branches and canoe paddles, then Freddy got off at a village and appeared downriver with a new propeller in hand. Impressive. On the way back, we had the biggest highlight of the trip...monkeys that came into the boat!! They are so adorable. The company rescued them from locals who kept them as pets and didn't know how to care for them. Now they know the sound of the motors of the company's boats and come running. We got to pet and interact with them, and feed them. The one monkey name Chela cried when we left...my heart broke. Such a beautiful experience. Jen and I decided to pass the time back to the lodge by making up raps for our guide and boat driver...lol. Back at the lodge they made us a delicious goodbye cake and thanked us for coming... so nice!

Day 6: Went on a cultural visit to a local village, El Chino (named because apparently the people look a little asian...not sure if I saw it). It was very interesting to see the slow pace of life and how things work. Most people have farms where they grow corn, rice, watermelon, yuca, etc. The kids were goregous and we got to buy some artisan stuff. They make beautiful woven baskets and hand crafts that they dye with natural colors. The women we bought from would always give us a little gift to show their appreciation. I was able to give the necklace I was wearing, that was made from an artisan woman in Morocco, to one of the ladies. It was a very special moment.

Then we had to leave and I was so sad. I absolutely loved it there and sharing it with Jen made the experience. We flew back to Lima, had a quick dinner at one of my favorite spots- the burger restaurant of the most famous chef in Peru (Gaston) and parted ways. I am so blessed to have had such a wonderful experience and I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

Til Next Time,
Jackie

Hey All!
Well, we're at the end of August...how the last few months went by so quickly I'm not quite sure. But I wanted to write to give some updates, so here goes:

• June: Had a wonderful trip home. Was able to be a part of 2 weddings, celebrate my mom's birthday, and see the wedding venue where my brother will be getting married (in 2 months!!) It was surreal and often strange to be back after a year, but totally worth it and I am so blessed to have had that experience.

• July: July was filled with preparing my girls for their business competition, going to Lima to be a part of the Youth Initiatives Committee (and getting to see my lovely host family there), and going on vacation with 2 awesome ladies to Puno and Arequipa. Puno is where Lake Titicaca is- the highest elevation lake in the world. People live on man-made floating islands so we got to observe their way of life...soo different. Its SO cold there but so beautiful. Strangely the city of Puno has a ton of pizza shops...they know what the tourists like ha! Then we went to Arequipa, the 2nd biggest city in Peru. Its gorgeous, with european-style arquitecture and a beautiful central plaza. Such a lovely trip!

• August: More preparing with my girls then headed to Lima for the national business competition "Somos Emprendedores, Somos Peru." My girls didn't win, but what an experience to be able to compete in the US Embassy with peers from around the country. My group wants to put a coffee shop in the central plaza in town, so now I am trying to find other funding sources to help make that happen. We also had med-checks, and though I had 2 more cavities, no worms/more serious stuff. Great to see my friends and explore Lima more- there are some wonderful coffee shops and restaurants there.

• "Welcome to the Jungle"
• My next post will be after I get back from Iquitos- the selva (jungle)!! One of my dear friends Jen is coming on Wednesday and we are flying to Iquitos from Lima, then taking a 5 hour speedboat ridge to our eco-lodge where we'll be staying 5 days!!! I cannot wait! I will post pictures.

Ok, that's about all I have time for now...I will write back sooner than 3 months this time!

Be Blessed,

Jackie

Mother's Day Thoughts...

Hiiii!!

First of all...Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there (especially my mom of course). You have the hardest but most amazing job ever and I hope I can have that job myself someday :)

This past week, with both my artisan group and the community bank in the campo (rural countryside) I decided (with the president of the artisan group- it was her idea) to have all the ladies share a little bit about their experience being a mom. Wow, was I humbled. Most of them became moms at 16/17 years old, and had to  figure out (painfully and often alone) how to be a mother and what that looked like. It was a really good thing for both groups- it brought the women together around that shared experience and also allowed them to share something they may have never talked much about before. One of the moms in the campo who is my same age (25), has a 6 year old daughter. 5 months ago, her husband took her daughter and she hasn't seen her since. It was so tender to hear her story and afterward as we were walking back, she held my hand and was leaning against me, and I felt so good that she was comfortable in my presence. Though we don't have a lot in common, my continuous presence there is sometimes enough, and this day it was.

Mother's Day here involved church per usual, but they brought the moms up front and prayed for them, which was great. Then I headed home, where my host mom had killed 2 hens and we ate them with some family visiting from out of town...soo yummy. Then when I could sneak away I headed over to Nick's host family where they also had a ton of family visiting and his mom had bought a good portion of a pig that weighed over 100 kilos (220 pounds!) and had prepared a typical dish called "chicarron." SOO good! One of my favorites. And they had prepared trigo as well, which is a wheat grain, so healthy and tasty! I ate a ton lol. I was able to talk to my host mom in Lima as well (who is expecting a 4th child) and my real mom in the states, so it was a wonderful day.

Getting excited about our boys camp, which is coming up this week. It looks like we have all the money from the grant and we may even be able to bring more boys! I will blog afterward with pictures!

Also excited for home. I've been feeling like I really need this break to spend time with friends and family and regroup a bit, change up the perspective. Five weeks from Wednesday I will be back!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that little update. I have so much more I could say, but before I sign off I do want to thank God because He is teaching me soo much through this crazy experience.

Ok, gonna run, start my day. Til the next time!

J

P.S. A fun pic of me and my host sister, Greysi! I just adore this girl.

The Best Visit I Could Ask For :)

Hey Everyone!
I have so much to tell you...let's start with my parents' visit. One word...AMAZING! I met them in Lima and, after 10 months apart, the reunion was overwhelming. Tears and hugs and kisses all around (ok, only me and my mom cried, but you get the point ;). We met my host family where I lived in the 2.5 months of training and again, it was so wonderful. I adore them, and they were so good to me last summer, so it was really special for the families to be able to meet. My mom brought this awesome light-up squishy ball and the kids went crazy. Even though they couldn't communicate directly with each other. a lot of love and joy was shared between the two families. That night we ate our first of many amazing meals at Astrid & Gaston in Mira Flores. Here are my parents with their backpacks (so proud!) at the Lima hotel.

The next day we flew to Cuzco, headed to the main plaza and plopped down in the Starbucks for some nice coffee and a gorgeous view. We spent the next two days seeing nearby towns and ruins, kind of building up to Machu Picchu. We got to see an Easter procession in the plaza and go to church right there in the beautiful Cathedral. It was standing room only and the priest encouraged us to have a sincere, steadfast faith and pursue Christ. I loved it! Since I live here, I was blown away by how expensive everything was, but its a once in a lifetime thing so what can you do. Then we headed to Aguas Calientes, the closest city to Machu Picchu to spend the night. We got up super early and were among the first visitors to MP the next day...so gorgeous! We decided to climb up Huayna Picchu, a HUGE mountain that took us about 2 hours to climb. Its super steep and I'm glad we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but when we got up to the top it was so worth it...

After taking a time-out to rest and eat, we hired a guide to take us around the ruins for an hour and it was totally worth it. Learned so much...the Incans were absolutely brilliant with their architecture.

That night we started making our way back to Cuzco and stayed in a WONDERFUL hotel about an hour out of the city. It was like a hidden resort. Used to be a monastery, and just had beautiful grounds, a huge stone-floored lobby , amazing restaurant with free buffet breakfast (the best I've seen in Peru). I wish we could have stayed there longer but its not super close to the city or Machu Picchu, so we had to settle for one night :) I don't have any pics of it, but just imagine!

Then we headed back to Lima and took the bus overnight 15.5 hrs to my capital city, Cajamarca. We spent two days in my site where my parents felt like celebrities (people are still asking about them) and they got to see my life here. They came to our youth group meeting and the kids loved it. We visited my family. Nick's family, and I introduced them to everyone I could. Then we spent a day in the capital city with my best friend Heidi where my parents got to experience the hot baths (mmm...so relaxing), buy artisan stuff and just walk around. We had a great lunch...burgers and fries to prepare them to go back to the states (ha!) and accompanied them to the airport where (after quite a struggle, I won't go into detail) they got on the first of three flights to make it back home.

It was seriously such a gift from God to have them here. They mean so much to me and even writing this I'm tearing up cuz I miss them so much. BUTTT I will be coming home exaclty two months from tomorrow, so its all good!!!

**One important thing I want to mention before I sign off..we do 2 youth camps a year here, one for girls and one for boys. We have the boys youth camp (Valor) next month and could use some financial support. Here is the link if you want to donate: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-527-017  (If it doesn't work at first, keep trying!)

Thanks y'all for reading, and much love!
Jackie

Some thoughts from today...

• Went to the 2nd of 2 computer trainings with some ladies from my artisan group. It was amazing (and a little painful lol) to watch as they learned to manage Microsoft Word for the first time. I was there for solidarity and to help them also with their questions. It was quite the scene as I sat there trying to perfect the knitting stitch I learned while they were trying to learn computer skills. It was as if I entered their world and them mine. 
• Then I went to the only Community Bank I hadn't visited yet. The ladies branched off of the other group that was started by the volunteer before me. It was so great to see the ladies so content- telling me about how they never were able to save money before but now they were committed and having to be responsible and accountable to one another. It was cool too to see the friendship and trust within the group- especially because trust is a huge challenge I see here. There are countless stories of groups falling apart or people leaving because something happened that offended them and they couldn't work through it. I hope they continue strong :)
• 9 days til my parents come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trying to be patient and embrace the days ahead with full force. Also three months from today I'll be homeeeee! It will be so sweet to visit :)
• For those who weren't aware, I changed rooms and now I am in the house with the family, more secure. Here is a pic of my new room. 

Thanks for reading. Hasta la proxima! (til next time)

A [Rainy Season] Update

They warn us about rainy season. They say to get your books out and prepare to be bored, and maybe even depressed. I've seen a lot of rain in the past few months. Today it has rained almost all day. Last week there was a thunderstorm that took the power out and some people here had never seen anything like it (they're still talking about it). But I'm not depressed, not at all. In fact, this has been a refreshing, cleansing time for my soul. I've been working out (hard), teaching little kids- and learning from them of course, and just enjoying this slow time to pray, focus on my bible study, get lots of rest, visit people, and take a step back to analyze my projects and what I want to see this year. My whole perspective on time has changed since joining Peace Corps, and now  a few months seems like a super short amount of time. I'm not in such a rush to start projects, since I now understand that things take time here. At first I didn't understand why this program was two years, and wasn't even sure if I'd stay the whole time. But after 6 months in my site and almost 9 in the country, I get it now and I'm at peace with staying (praise God).

I'm learning to enjoy the little things like the few old ladies in town who just light up when they see me- one who always tells me how pretty I am (confidence booster for sure!), another wants me to take her to the states with me...mind you she must be in her late 80's at least :) I went to visit this one the other day and she introduced me to literally everyone that walked by, telling them in Spanish  "Come and greet this gringa...she's from the US!" and just wanted to know about the states and all sorts of things. These kind of experiences I like to define as authentically  "peace corps."

Along the same line, another really cool thing is that here in this small town most everyone knows me, and many by name (esp the kids). I think everyone deep down wants to be known, and its awesome to have that and to know that I'm having an impact here at least by being a bright spirit to the kids in town. Yesterday some little girls I know stopped me on the street and just wanted to play with my hair and ask me questions and take pictures with me (on their brother's cell phone, ha). They held my hands and just wanted me to pick them up and love on them- it brought such joy to my day. I love that kids don't hold back and just love without fear.

Now the school year is about to start and I will be in a new season of life. I'm excited to see what that brings and thankful for this beautiful (rainy) season experience. Enjoy the pics!

1. Me and my girl Meg at Carnaval!

 2. Peace Corps friends who came in town for Carnaval...(we live sometimes overnight bus rides apart)

3. Us and the kids at the closing ceremony for Vacation School :)

January Joy

Hey All!
So its harder maintaining a blog than I thought, but I'm not giving up! Here are some highlights and pics to keep y'all in the loop.

• Started Vacaciones Utiles (like summer school) two weeks ago with my sitemate Nick. I LOVE it! We have 80-90 kids in one classroom, but we get to teach them whatever we want. Last week we focused on environment. The little girls are SO cute and they love to hold my hand and be by me. Its a nice change of pace to have a different schedule as well
• Me and Nick started cooking lunch, which has been really nice- more freedom in the schedule to eat when we want and eat really healthy
• Had training in Chiclayo/Lima for community banks/microcredit. Really excited to go back and help improve the banks we have/start new ones in the rural areas. I think they are a great project because they encourage saving, and help people improve their lives by taking out loans to invest in something like a small business or selling fruit in the market. And we brought community partners so they can help promote/facilitate the banks with us and it will be way more sustainable that way
• Looking forward to Carnaval in February- one of the biggest fiestas in Cajamarca!
• Coming home from training with a new perspective and rejuvenated to push forward!
• Loving my church in site, such a blessing. Hoping to get closer with some of the women there.

Our kiddies!

Me and my gfs enjoying milkshakes during training!

Alison's visit!!

My host siblings at Christmas!