After 3 months in site, all of the health volunteers were reunited once again. There are 40 volunteers in total (started at 44), though half of the crew are Youth Development volunteers, while the rest of us are focused on health. Since arriving Dec. 4, I have been able to see those within my region, though I got to reunite with everyone else over the past week in Lima for Early In-Service Training, or EIST. Unfortunately, it was a training only for health volunteers, so I’ll have to wait a whole year before seeing YD folks unless a meet-up trip is planned before then (which is likely).

Our training went Monday-Friday, and had one main focus: planning tutoría classes for the upcoming school year. What is tutoría, you ask? So, every student in Peru has tutoría once a week for about 1.5 hours – a bit like the US version of homeroom. Each tutoría class covers anything from anger management to building friendships to getting to know yourself to planning for the future. As a health volunteer, my niche will cover all things adolescent health. So, alongside the teacher, I will co-plan and co-facilitate sessions for 12-17 year olds in self-esteem, sexual and reproductive health, balanced nutrition, physical activity, and the list goes on. TBD if I will be in the classroom 2 days a week, all 5, or somewhere in between, but that is what the next week is for as today marks the first day of planning for the school year. Thankfully, the tutoría coordinator attended the first two days of my training in Lima – all expenses covered by Peace Corps, which was pretty sweet. That will give me a leg-up in terms of explaining my role and getting the tutoría professors on board with having me in their class.

As one might imagine, having a week in Lima with the other volunteers was much needed, and went by way too fast. We spent the Saturday before and after training on the beach, got our fill of dancing in the disco, and ate so many foods that we can’t find at site (McFlurrys, Indian, sushi, and my favorite, hummus). Our next training is in June, three months out, though we have a trip in the works late-April for which I’ll be counting down the days.

I will say, the week away is allowing me to come back to Pueblo Libre with a new mindset. While I have loved the past few months here, it’s time to see this life as my life. I’m not a tourist here anymore, and I don’t need to say yes to everything. It gets exhausting, saying yes to every event, every food, every outing, and it’s really not sustainable (or healthy) for two years. I’ve come back with a new outlook on my time which includes earlier mornings, more frequent work outs, and less potatoes, rice, and bread which are seemingly endless here. With school starting in just one week, my schedule will be much more established. More than anything, I’m excited to get a healthy routine back into my life.

Three months is a long time, but also no time at all. The fact that 3 months has already gone by is just foreshadowing how fast the two years will fly, and I want to leave here with all my cards on the table, knowing I put my heart and soul into the work I’m doing.