My first days in Huánuco

So far life in Huánuco has been a success, I met my first friend Roxana at church, she is a volunteer also but she is from Huancayo, Peru, which is about a six-hour bus ride away. Roxana lives above my family in an apartment by herself. She went on a walk with Jonathan and I one day to see all that Huánuco has to offer. There are many plazas for people to sit and enjoy and there is also a really nice park that has a track, a playground, and courts for every sport. Roxana and I were talking about how we both like to run and it’s safer if you have someone to go with, so she said she would run with me in the mornings three times a week. We went on Monday at 6:00 am and only ran for about 20 minutes because Roxana has to catch a bus pretty early, but it felt great to get moving and have someone to talk to also.

                                    My family in Peru! Minus Luis the father and Dama the dog

                                                  Cathy, Jonathan, Ingrid, and Joanna

My first day of work was intense, not that I did a lot, but just meeting everyone in the office and learning about Paz y Esperanza took most of my energy. My host mom, Cathy, walked the six blocks or so with me to my office, which is super easy to get to, literally I take one left turn and I’m there. Debbie tells us to take different routes to work each day so that they don’t see the “gringa” walking the same way every time, but my host mom told me to stay on the main street because its safer, with people and light. I will have to switch up my route when Luis, my host father, is with me, but Luis is the driver at Paz y Esperanza and most days he is driving someone to a pueblito (small town) outside of Huánuco, sometimes as far as 4-5 hours.

                           This is my desk at work, doesn't look like much but is more than enough

So when I finally got to work, one of the girls I share and office with, Mirabel, took me around to meet everyone, and I mean everyone. This office may look small, but it houses a lot of people. Paz y Esperanza helps with legal help, pastoral care, psychological problems, and social problems so there are offices for all of those groups and then there are administrators, communication experts, and then other people who oversee everything. It’s quite an organization and they do wonderful things for the community and people in nearby towns. Peru has one of the worst statistics for violence against women and children including sexual abuse. So Paz y Esperanza is crucial for the people who suffer.

After meeting everyone I was given books to read about what Paz y Esperanza does, in Spanish of course. So there I am, reading this book with my Spanish/English dictionary sprawled in my lap. At 1:00 pm, everyone leaves for lunch and we return around 3:00. Perfect amount of time to eat and take a little catnap, I think I’m going to love the pace here J When I returned they gave me a couple projects to start thinking about, including creating an exercise plan for a girl in a wheelchair who lives in a small town about 3 hours away, and making a game for a festival in November to help inform people about sexual abuse and how to prevent it.

My house is still great. Jonathan, my brother is having a lot of fun giving me exams on Spanish words for things. So we go around the house, he points at things, and I have to tell him what it is or he teaches me. It’s fun for him and great practice for me. He and I have also been playing a lot of cards because he loves to play any type of game. My sisters are very nice also, still a little shy around me but I’m hoping I can win them over soon. My mother is still adorable, I’ve been having stomach troubles so she has been buying all sorts of good food for me, giving me advice, and even rubbing and praying of my stomach for me. Adorable.