Fortaleza, PDM and School finally starts…

So, lots has happened since my last post. First off, I hiked up to the Fortaleza in Madrigal again with Zach and his community. It was the anniversary of the Fortaleza. So, the community did some rituals and sacrifices to Pachamama up at the fort which we participated in. Of course all of the rituals include taking a shot of horrible liquor which is unwelcomed but a necessary evil. The view from the fort is amazing right now because the whole canyon is green. Also, the climb up to the fort was a lot less demanding than before. However, on the way down, Zach took a little spill (his nickname is Surgeon Spills, but for other reasons) and almost spilled off the side of the mountain haha.

Anyways, I also went up to Pacasmayo en La Libertad with my host dad to a Project Design and Management Workshop held by Peace Corps. The workshop was rather painful for the volunteers I thought. It was kind of like being in business administration class again. However, it was very helpful for our community partners. My host dad seemed to understand why it was important to have like a vision, goals, objectives, a plan, etc. So, hopefully we can transfer this knowledge into the tourism association. That would be ideal. However, we will see.

Furthermore, my boss came to visit my site yesterday which went rather well. We had a meeting with what people we could gather up from the tourism association at 3PM which is probably the worse time for meetings haha. However, we had about 13 people all of whom we’re curious and asked my boss lots of questions. It was actually nice to have him there to clear up doubts about my role in the community. I can say all I want about my role in the community and sometimes it just goes in one ear and out the other but I think and hope they were listening to him. One guy started going on a rant about how the US after World War II was stealing riches from Peru. I really don’t know what he was talking about but it was interesting to say the least.

Well, it seems like work is actually picking up again now that the rainy season is almost over. It’s really weird how Peace Corps works. During the rainy season there was really nothing to do and now it seems like there’s a lot more promising work out there. It’s definitely a series of ups and downs. Apart from the tourism association, I met with the director of the high school to speak about the new program I wanted to implement there. The program will consist of some vocational training, providing the students with information on how to apply to college, how to prepare for the entrance exams and we hope to bring professionals from a variety of professions into town to describe a day in the life so that the students have an idea of how the professions are. I really think apart from computer training or English this is the most beneficial thing for the students because as of now information on these topics in non-existent.

That’s all I’ve got…there are some photos of the fort and carnaval celebrations. Hope all is well.