30 Photos, 30 Peace Corps Moments

If you haven’t seen this on Facebook yet, I am putting up a photo each day until the end of the month that represent some aspect of my Peace Corps experience. This was an idea of a fellow volunteer Douglas McRae, who I work with in Lima, and is in honor of the fact that Peace Corps has very recently celebrated its 50th anniversary worldwide.

Here is the link, and below the list of photos that I will put up

Day 1-Training memory
Day 2-First impression of site
Day 3-Action photo: you at work/play.
Day 4-Favorite food eaten in Peru
Day 5-Best friend in site
Day 6-Favorite holiday in Peru
Day 7-MVP-Most Valued Community Partner
Day 8-Most “Peace Corps Moment”
Day 9- Obligatory picture of a small child
Day 10-Amusing cultural exchange moment
Day 11-A daily activity for you in your site
Day 12-Photo that will always make you laugh
Day 13-Most exotic critter encountered
Day 14-Greatest success
Day 15-Biggest failure
Day 16-Most fulfilling secondary project
Day 17-Vacation highlight
Day 18-Picture of your house or room
Day 19-Favorite day in site
Day 20-Something you never thought you’d do, ever
Day 21-Obligatory picture of Machu Picchu
Day 22- Music that will always remind you of Peru
Day 23-Photo that will always make you reflect
Day 24-Best moment with visitors
Day 25-Most un-“Peace Corps Moment”
Day 26-Your Peruvian pet(s)
Day 27-Regional capital shot
Day 28-Beautiful view or landscape in your site
Day 29-Nostalgic farewell picture
Day 30-One picture that sums up two years

Read Full Post »

Back to Ancash (Just to Visit)

This week I returned to Ancash for the first time since leaving my site in December. Compared to the chaotic scene I had left a few months before – a general strike against the mining company that shut down everything for close two weeks – the city seemed quiet, and without my friends from my group there anymore, it seemed a little empty as well. I arrived at night and the rain trickled down on me as I tried to wake up the owner of the hotel I always stay at so she would let me in.

The next day the city was brighter and I started to feel comfortable and at home again. I visited Café California where I ran into many old acquaintances, and I even got pulled into a pick-up game of Ultimate Frisbee which was just what I needed. I spent the rest of the day working on a presentation for Peru 16’s Early IST (Training Event) and had dinner with a close friend who I hadn’t seen since leaving.

The next day I visited my host-family in Collón. It was great to see them again, even though I had little time to speak with Ernesto and Fortunato who both had to work while I was there. I walked around with Lindsay and ran into Patrick, my replacement, and Dora from the health post. I also spoke with the mayor of the town who said that they were asking the district municipality to start a trash management system in the community. This on top of the news that thousands of native queñuales had been planted made me wonder if my presence had a positive impact I hadn’t foreseen. In the meantime it is also great to see that my replacement Patrick is integrating very well into the community and already has a lot on his hands. Sometimes I felt that a big chunk of my service was just getting things ready so that someone else could be successful there, and seeing him quickly settling into his life and work makes me think again that my service was more worthwhile than I sometimes give myself credit for.

Meanwhile, my life in Lima has been great so far. I feel much more comfortable living on the coast than I ever did in the mountains, and I continue loving my job and the work that I am doing. I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunities that I do in my life, and I hope that I don’t take them for granted, but that I take advantage of them to the best of my ability. This means to me, trying to be more observant and aware of the world around me, journaling to remember the stories I experience and hear, and doing a better job of sharing that experience with others. I really want to feel I deserve the blessings that I have come to have.

As always, thanks to the few of you who read this : )

Brian

Read Full Post »

Jungle Pictures!!!

Are almost here. But I’m so excited to finally have pictures up from my new camera that I don’t want to wait to tell the world. So, check out my multimedia link or… just click here. All the albums but one are already uploaded.

Chau!

Brian

Read Full Post »

Brief Update

Alright everyone,

So it has been way too long and I apologize. Time seems to just fly by here. Anyway, I just wanted to quickly post and say that I am still alive and doing well here. I haven’t been able to start many projects yet but I have been teaching computer classes and English classes and they have been going very well. I still feel rushed in and out of a site a lot but the rainy season has passed so that has changed my world. I’ve also been working on a survey with my health post that we will hopefully carry out next month. Anyway, a longer update will come soon but for now I miss you all and hope all is well. I bought a new camera too since my old one has been giving me many problems and so I’ll be able to return posting good pictures as well. Anyway sorry this isn’t longer. I’ve had a of issues with my computer (windows died and I had to switch to linux). My new wireless card comes in a couple weeks and then all should be well : ) ! So chau!

Love,

Best wishes,

Brian

Read Full Post »

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year everyone!

Just a quick update. We had our Christmas dinner on the 30th and it was great. We ate crepes and exchanged gifts and had a really nice time. My Secret Santa was Erica Wrona and she painstakingly made me an awesome home-made Christmas card to go with my gift which I will post a picture of as soon as my camera is working again (it is in the shop right now, it stopped turning on and so I am replacing the lens).

Also, last night we all went to 13 Bujos and had an awesome night. Lots of fun and it is always great to let go of all our stress by going out and dancing with everyone. I’m getting better and better at salsa!

This month should be interesting because we no longer have any decent excuses to avoid starting our diagnostic. This last month was really ‘tranquilo’ because we spent the first couple weeks moving in and then we had all the holidays and so not much was accomplished. This next month should involve a lot more real ‘work’ with our community diagnostic. Also, the rainy season is quickly approaching so pretty soon so It will be fun to see what that is like. It will rain pretty much every day and I here not much happens during these months, a lot of volunteers have a rough time with this time because it is difficult to do much work when it is always raining hard and people aren’t doing much. So we’ll see how it goes.

Much love! I edited my second Christmas post to add a link to our Mariah Carey music video so if you read the earlier version and haven’t watched that, enjoy! You’ll get to see the faces of everyone that I’ve been hanging out with.

Oh and finally I wanted to say that we’ve been able to spend more time with the volunteers that have already been in Ancash and they are an awesome group of people. Our Ancash ‘crew’ is incredible and I feel incredibly lucky to know everyone here.

Best!

Brian

Read Full Post »

Shameless Wish List

I’ve gotten a couple e-mails about what I would like in a care package so I decided to make a shameless wish list for all you generous people back home who love me. This isn’t too extensive and I’d really rather be surprised by what is sent but here are some things that are difficult to get here that might brighten my days.

– Candy: Snickers, Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut M&Ms, and York Peppermint Patties are some of my favorites.
– Beef Jerkey: I eat lots of potatoes and get very little protein, this could be helpful.
– Books: If you read a book and you loved it, send it to me, I might love it too. Inspiring stories about service, great novels, and anything classic I will probably enjoy.
– News Magazines: Newsweek, Time Magazine, you’ve read em’ and now I’m willing to get the news a month and a half late so send it my way.
– Music: Some of you know my music taste or at least have an idea. If there is a new artist or cd you think I would like, I’d love to hear it. Copied CDs are acceptable.
-Letters: Feel free to write letters to me and I will write back! I have tons of time.
– Love: If you see something that makes you think of me, or if you see something and think, ‘Brian could use that in Peru’, I probably could. And I’d really be happy just getting a package from you regardless of what was in it so fill it with love and I’ll love you in return.

And remember, declare everything less than $100 value and as a gift. Don’t send expensive stuff like electronics. It might not make it.

Love to all! (And Merry Christmas! since I may not blog before the holiday passes)

Brian

PCV Brian Phelps
Casilla Postal No. 277
Serpost Huaraz
Ancash, Peru
South America

Read Full Post »

Call Me

Here’s my cell phone #:

011-51-43-943-97-8059

Translation for those curious why there are so many numbers: Dial International Code – Peru Country Code – Ancash Region Code – Ancash Cell Phone Code – Cell Phone #

This costs you money but not me. You get paid I don’t : )

I have service at all times so call whenever, the time zone is basically the same except we don’t do daylight savings.

Also I hope to give an update on my first week sometime tonight or tomorrow. I am back in the capital to do more shopping right now so I’ll be on and off the internet.

Best,

Brian

Read Full Post »