Deployed for Peace: Thanksgiving on the beach!

Since I am using an internet cafe, the post is going to have a bad format, since I can´t drag the photos how I would like them. I´m also using a Spanish keyboard...so please forgive any lapses in grammar.

This is me walking on the boardwalk, (or cement walk)...getting ready to head back to the mountains after a crazy week.

My Ancash brethren and I having our first good beer since being in the mountains. This town had a microbrewery...oh, how sweet that nectar was. Frank is in the middle...since I can´t use my laptop, these are all his pictures - many thanks.

The town is big on fishing and the fishermen use the traditional reed boats still. Beautiful pic, huh?

Some of the boys on the beach. The water off the coast of Peru comes from the South...Antartica, so it´s pretty cold. Luckily it was warm enough out to jump in for a bit...just a bit. But it provides for abundant sea life...oh wow is the seafood delicious. The main course is Ceviche, raw fish in Perú´s limon...a mix of a lime and a lemon, but more acidic. Then you put in hot peppers and a few other ingredients...it´s incredible.

Before heading out...the hat I have on is the traditional hat of Piura, a place in the north of Perú that is disgustingly hot.

Well, as the holiday season is getting in full swing, my guess is that life back home is exactly how I imagine it. When I lived in New Zealand, what I probably missed the most from home on the east coast is the autumn time of year...leaves changing colors, still warm enough to bbq, football, the first chilly night, big Thanksgiving, et cetera. Other than family and friends, that is still what I probably miss the most...that and Taco Bell (yes, it´s gross, but there is just something about it when you´re out of the country for a long time).

After 3 months, Peace Corps organizes a meeting for the group called, ¨reconnect¨, which enables us to share stories, get remotivated, and realize that even though there are times when you´re extremely lonely, your Peace Corps friends are also in their sites dealing with a lot of the same issues and just as lonely.

Our reconnect meeting settled right around Thanksgiving, so Peace Corps Perú organized our meeting to take place the three days before Thanksgiving...on the beach! The first 3 days (mon - wed) we did work during the day and then played at night...then after Wednesday, the rest of the week was similar to spring break. We found an American who owns a cafe and was willing to make a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone...scheduled for 3pm-ish...and then in true Peruvian style happened around 9pm-ish. But it was good food and great company. The pictures at the bottom of this post are from the week of reconnect.

This Saturday, I´ll be meeting up with the first friends to visit me in Perú (the first of hopefully many). We´ll be going to check out that really unpopular place that no one has heard of, called ¨Machu Picchu¨. Then we´ll probably head to Lake Titicaca...the highest navigable lake in the world. I´ll be getting back into my area for Christmas and will probably spend the day with friends around here. Afterwards, my Ancashian brethren and I will go for a 3 day hike through the mountains here in Huaraz, getting back just in time for New Year´s. The month of December will be anything but lonely.

Unfortunately, the AC adapter for my laptop has gone caphooey and stopped working and until I get that back, I don´t have the patience to put a lot of pictures up on here. You wouldn´t believe how difficult it has been to try and find an AC adapter...a very standard and necessary part of any laptop. A piece of advice...don´t buy an HP laptop. Luckily, my father was able to haggle with the people on the phone and find one for me.

Okay, enough writing...just know things are going great. I wish everyone a great holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year´s. Miss you!
Love,
Jake

Here is a picture of the youth volunteers...along with their coach...or life mentor...Jake ¨Big Belly¨DeBerry. I snuck in the photo and most didn´t even know I was part of it...HA! You can´t really see it, but the guy next to me has one of the best ¨gross faces¨I´ve ever seen.