Real World: Nazca

After three weeks of being at site, the real world has begun to hit. Keep in mind that each Peace Corps representative has a completely different site with a completely different story. A good majority of my fellow volunteer companions are living in conditions very different from mine: very small communities (sometimes 300 people), pooping in cockroach-ridden latrines, bathing with 1L of water per day (just think: one nalgene full per day. Thats IT.) because their town only gets water every 2 weeks, hours away from urban life, or even without cell-phone service (*gasp* How can they ever survive?!). I, on the other hand, have somehow wound up in a tourist-ridden city (of a zone of over 50,000 people), in a house with running water, sewage system, and access to internet and phone service. But each has their ups and downs- we all carry burdens of the job, but in different ways.
For these first three months, we as PCVs spend our time gathering information in order to prepare our Community Diagnostic. Essentially, a Community Diagnostic is a really long compiled report about our specific community- the culture, the people, the problems, the instituations, the workings of it... everything! In order for us to do beneficial, sustainable projects we need to first make sure we understand what the community needs. This includes doing interviews, surveys (with over 100 people), meetings, collaborations-- anything we can think of in order to learn about the people's needs here. At the end of the 3 months we have to present our Diagnostic to our entire community and to the PC staff. Quite a load! Yes, it is a lot of work, but at the same time I really appreciate that they make us do these because it allows us to understand our community more before we begin working with them, which is essential. Since I am the first PCV to ever step her little foot into Nazca, I am the first to find out all of this information for the volunteers to follow after I leave. It sure is never boring!
These last three weeks have been intense, exciting, scary, fun, frustrating, challenging, and overall a good start to the rest of my life here in Nazca for the next few years. The thing about working in a big city here in Peru is that in order to make progress I have to make myself known by all the bigwigs. I need the town's recognition, respect, and support in order for me to move forward with projects. SO basically I have spent my first three weeks meeting as many higher-ups as I can to let them in on what I am doing. Also, speaking with these different people allows me to learn a lot more about the runnings of the city- how things function, who does what, what problems are there. There are a lot of things for a person to learn about a new city. My goal is to try to understand as much as I possibly can so that I can best approach the projects I have in mind. So far I have been in working with: the mayor of the province of Nazca, the Nazca water-systems company (se llama EMAPAVIGSSA), the Office of Environmental Health in the Hospital, the Red Cross, the Office of Environmental Health in the Municipality, the Ministry of Women and Social Development, several local reach-out groups (Vaso de Leche y Comedor Popular), the director of the school-systems of Nazca, Rotary Club International, the Madre of the Catholic Church (who does a lot of outreach), and several directors of various schools and pueblos outside of the city. As much information I begin to learn, I feel like there is so much more to know. This is the beginning base of my Diagnostic. A little over two-months more and hopefully I will have a better grasp on things... but between you and me- I think I'm going to need a lot more than 3 months to understand this community. It's a whole new world here. A whole new world.
Por eso, every day is a new surprise of things to come.
It's kind of funny: since I am still learning Spanish, I sometimes don't understand what is going on... so when I trust the person I am working with I kind of just go along with it... and honestly, those are the times where the coolest stuff happens! It usually happens when I'm working with some business man and he mumbles something to me in Spanish really fast (that I don't understand) and then makes a phone call and then something happens-- whether it be jumping into the seat of a garbage truck to see how the garbage system works, being taken in a Municipality vehicle to the middle of nowhere to witness where they burn all their trash, being herded into the middle of a huge crowd to watch a Peruvian dance competition for 2 hours, taxi ride to a nearby town on the beach for an event on wind energy in Peru, climbing to the top of a really high hill so we can inspect a certain well-water system, or even one time I wound up at a Nazquenian hand-crafted pottery event. The opportunities are limitless for random lost-in-translation moments... I wonder what is to come!
As for now, I hear some Peruvian music blaring through the window from the main plaza so I am going to see what all the noise is about. *10 Soles says there's a school-wide dance going on!

*side note: Nuevo Sol is their currency here! 3 soles=1 dollar. (a.k.a. I bet you'll owe me $3)