Gah!! So much stuff to talk about!! I've been a horrible blogger, and neglected posting anything on here since I've started my placement. Or even since I've settled into BaseCamp in Lima. Blog fail. I will and fit massive amounts of information into this post, without making it so long that you need to take a nap halfway through.
First off, BaseCamp. For the duration of my placement, I am staying at a house in the Miraflores district of Lima which is run by a Canadian organization called BaseCamp for volunteers abroad. It has been amazing to find somewhere to settle in and call my home for three months. Despite the cold showers and occasional cockroach, I really am liking it here. Right now it's a very full house. There are 18 people here from U of T doing a placement in a local school for 3ish weeks before traveling to Cusco, as well as two other volunteers, Jen the live-in placement coordinator, and me!
Lima is an incredible city. I still don't feel like I've really had the chance to appreciate it fully, because I've been limited to where I live (Miraflores), work (Jesus Maria) and have visited (Barranco) thus far, but what I have seen has been really interesting. Its most defining characteristic thus far is the traffic. Traffic laws which I thought were essential to survival have proven to be optional. A two lane road is surprisingly wide enough for four cars across. So far I've taken two cab rides where the taxi has stalled in the middle of the road due to lack of gas. It has been an interesting and somewhat frightening experience at times, but earlier this week I found myself actually wishing my cab would drive more aggressively, which scares me. No one let me anywhere near a car when I get home, not that I drive anyways.
Work has been incredibly interesting thus far. Speaking only Spanish with everyone at the office has proven to be a challenge at times, but everyone has been incredibly understanding and has helped me work through it when my vocabulary comes up short. My first week was a lot of reading through documents about EDAPROSPO as a basis for me to work from, and then I started working on developing questionnaires for surveying various employees of the PROSPERIDAD program for their input in the strategic plan. Tomorrow I'm actually taking a break from strategic planning, and the president of EDAPROSPO, Marcial, is going to take me to see CREDIVAC - a work cooperative. It should be amazing. Next week I think I may start interviewing people for strategic planning, so things are starting to pick up and get busy. I've already learned a lot about microfinance, and can't imagine what 9 more weeks will do.
Ok, that is a really broad summary of what I've been up to. I'll try to post some more specific fun stories in the next few days, and avoid neglecting the blog again in the future!
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