I just ate my first passion fruit--it looks like a brain and the crunchy seeds are strange, but it tastes pretty good. Not as good as a pepino, though, which is tannish colored with purple stripes (yes, I am pretty sure they grow them in outer space) and tastes like a cross between a pear and a tomato. The fruit here is really good, as is some of the chicken and rice or potato dishes I've had, which sort of makes up for the fact that the rest of my diet seems to be made up mostly of crackers and white bread.
I'm living with a wonderful host family in a pueblo outside the town of Chosica, a few hours from Lima. The view from my bedroom is fantastic, as you can see from the photo. I live on the 3rd floor with my host mother, and my host brother, his sister, and his sister's 2 kids live downstairs. There isn't a lot of green and the air and streets (and me, and all of my stuff) are very dusty. But the temperature so far has been great, and it's sunny all day long. I'm still getting used to the noise (in Peruvian slang, noise is "bulla," which is pronounced "booya." Awesome). Dogs barking, mostly, and sometimes cars. There was a small earthquake (tremor?) the night before last that woke me up as well, which was kind of exciting :)
The training center is about a 30 minute walk from my house--a little garden oasis with a few buildings where we have training sessions, and of course Panchito, our pet alpaca. He's pretty awesome. My Spanish classes are usually the most fun--we mostly play games, or act out scenarios, or find staff people to interview in Spanish. My Spanish is already a lot better, mostly because I'm remembering what I've already learned--I tend to forget new words as soon as I learn them, though, if I don't write them down. But I think my fluency is probably better than it's every been.
So far the health and water/sanitation sessions have mostly been sitting and listening, but we did get to compost yesterday, and this afternoon we had to complete a "Mission: Impossible" with a group--my group had to find a panaderia (bakery) and ask questions about costs, etc, and also examine a river and get information about where it starts/ends/etc. Basically they wanted us to talk to random people to practice Spanish (which is difficult when people have different accents or don't slow down for the gringos!), while sort of incorporating the water and sanitation aspect with the river. We're a bit confused, because the Santa Eulalia river, and the Rimac River that goes through Chosico, both looked pretty clean to us, especially when I compare it to the Chicago River. But other people said it was dirty, and I'm pretty sure that was the point of the assignment. We shall see.
I should go soon because we're going to watch Glee (!!), but just so you know, I don't have internet in my house, so I'm sporadically using the wireless at another volunteer's house. At some point I'd like to figure out a Skype schedule, but at this point, it's kind of hit or miss.
Chaufa! (in Peruvian slang, that means both fried rice, and goodbye. Excellent :)
