Due to popular demand and public curiosity, I thought I would describe in greater detail the daily activities of my life as a Peace Corps volunteer. Of course, it is important to remember that each day can bring new, unexpected challenges, and that no two volunteers will have the same experience, but here is a brief representation of my present reality.
5:30 a.m. | Awakened by the damn chickens! Seriously?!? Arrrgghh….. |
5:50 a.m. | Because I’m already awake I might as well run 4-5 miles, heading to the beach and back. |
7:30 a.m. | Leave for school. |
8:00 a.m. | Teach English to 100 middle school girls. Everyone participates, we have fun, and I think the kids even learned something. No major behavior problems. J |
11:00 a.m. | Visit the Municipality. Attempt to schedule a meeting with the mayor, but get sucked into “girl talk” at the Social Service office instead (they offered me Inka Cola and I can never refuse that stuff). Because the mayor is away this month, I decide to try for a meeting with the General Manager instead, but there are already 3 people waiting to talk to him. I decide to try back next Monday. |
12:00 p.m. | Return downtown. Check email. Discover that someone will be sending me M & M’s in the mail. YESSS!! |
1:00 p.m. | Meet up with my sitemate, Richard, for lunch. OMG, today’s menu choice has GREEN vegetables. Woot! |
2:00 p.m. | Work on the quarterly Volunteer Report File, which we have to submit every 3 months to our Program Director, detailing our accomplishments and challenges, objectives met, future projects planned, etc. |
3:30 p.m. | Nap time. (not a daily occurrence) |
5:00 p.m. | Develop lesson plans for next week’s English classes. |
6:00 p.m. | Annual Work Plan for 2012. Begin to map out the steps necessary to create a youth health promoters group, a wellness/ running program for adolescent girls, and some community service projects. |
7:30 p.m. | Dinner at Govinda, a vegetarian restaurant, with Richard and friends. While walking to the town plaza, a group of male neighbors “invite” me (OK, more like they yell my name in a rowdy, incessant manner) to participate in their drinking circle. I wave, smile, and keep on walking. BTW, this is a near daily occurrence. |
9:30 p.m. | Return home. Waste time on Facebook. |
10:00 p.m. | Skype date with a friend from the U.S. |
11:00 p.m. | Waste some more time on Facebook. Justin H Brierley is online!?! Nice. IM for 15-20 minutes. |
11:30 p.m. | Bed time. |
Another factor to consider when reading this “schedule” is that right now it’s summer here and I have only been in my community for 4.5 months. After March, when the school year resumes, I expect to be a lot busier.
Also, teaching English is usually a secondary, not a primary activity, for Youth Development volunteers, a way to build relationships with kids and our community during our initial months at site. A majority of our time is spent on health and wellness programming, career education, leadership training, etc.
The lifestyle that I enjoy is somewhat atypical for a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru. I have daily internet access, both at home and in my community, and I live four houses apart from another PCV. Sure, I wash all my clothing by hand and take cold showers, but considering that there are some volunteers who travel 2-3 hours to arrive at the nearest ATM, eat a steady diet of rice and potatoes, and lack cell phone service, I feel quite fortunate and blessed!
But when serving in the Peace Corps, regardless of your site specifics, it is the minor miracles that sustain us, like consuming fruits AND vegetables in a single day, sucking on some Starbursts, and enjoying a nice, solid shit. Simple pleasures, indeed!
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