things are heating up-

So it finally seems like leaving Chaclcayo and going out into the wild (on my own) is becoming a reality. I have about four and a half weeks left of training which includes spending an entire week visiting my province and site (known here as regional and site based training): I have absolutely no idea where I am going to go but I told my program director that I am more productive in warmer climates. Still, I could end up on the top of Mount Everest and I wouldn´t be surprised.

With the end of training coming up on the horizon, myhealth program has kicked it into fifth gear and we are busy every day. I would probably feel pretty behind if I was sick and skipped one because we´re getting much more technical training than we did before. For instance, Thursday and Friday were spent at both a ¨posta de salud¨and ¨centro de salud.¨ Since the majority of Peru is living where it could take an hour or a day to get to a hospital, MINSA ( or the ministerio de salud) has created satellite health posts for the public. Thgese include centros de salud (bigger and usually including a doctor= and postas de salud (smaller and usually include a nurse or health technician of some sort).

On Friday I visited the centro de salud for a few hours. We were able to talk with both an obstetric technician )I could be wrong on her title, don´t wuote me on that) and a pediatrician. Let me just get this out here first, I LOVE PERUVIAN BABIES. I mean I love babies in general but these guys are so fricking cute I want to seal them and take them home (yes, I realize that is a tad creepy). We watched a bunch of baby checkups which included checking for malnutrition (which is a really big problem here and cognitive development, along with watching the babies get these necessary vaccines!

Next week we are going back to the posta de salud to give mini ¨charlas¨or informative talks, about different topics. I have been assigned to exclusive breastfeeding. Whoop whoop! I hardly knew anything about breastfeeding before I got here ( which is normal because I have never given birth) and now I feel like an expert. Seriously, it´s so cool. For all of my female followers, did you know that you can actually breastfeed, without EVER giving birth?!?! Yes, it´s true and it´s just a matter of getting some hormones to activate and poof! You are a natural baby-food maker.

Yesterday (Saturday) was our friend alex´s birthday. All the girls in Tres decided that cooking was the theme for the celebration. We all went to the agraria for our routine saturday morning lecture and afterwards, Krista, Abby and I took a combi a combi over to a ¨Plaza Vea¨(Peruvian grocery store) down in Lima. We stocked up on supplies to make pizza and bought some Argentinian wine. Afterwards, we picked up a delicious apple pie from our favorite bakery and got to work. We made a fruit salad consisting of the most delicious fruit ever. There were papayas, avocados, star fruits, granadillas, strawberries, mandarins, tuna (the fruit not the fish) and mangos. Talk about a Vitamin C intake.

the best part however was making the pizza. The sauce was dripping with garlic, black pepper and oregano that Krista decided was needed and we cut up onions, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, red peppers and layered mozarella on top. Take that Papa John. However, we realized afterwards that most people in our neighborhood do not have ovens or choose not to use them because they use too much energy. This posed a problem. But have no fear! Krista´s mom went ot Lima and bought a portable plug-in oven! It looked like a little mini Weber grill. The pizza dough was a little too big so we had to cut it down so the pizza could fir and we were able to cook one ata time. Krita´s family was fascinated by all of this. Pizza really doesn´t exist here and most people have never tried it. I have some pictures that I took of the process so I will try to figure out how to get them up on this blog ( if anyone knows how, please enlighten me).

Afterwards, we set up all of our creations at Alex´s house with the help of his mom and we were able to completely surprise him!!!! It was SOOOOO fun (and funny). We all sat down and gorged to the point where my pant buttons were working hard to stay shut. Later, more Peace Corps volunteers came in and we had a party for Alex up on his roof. Like I said, pictures are hopefully to follow.

Today is my day of rest and I love these days. I have a ton of Spanish homework that I have successfully put off for a few days and laundry because I am absolutely, postively 100% without clean underwear. I´m not joking. I´ve worn every pair inside out, outside in and now I am partying in my baithing suit. I might also indulge myself and watch The Sound of Music or a Lord of the Rings movie (oh yes, I found them last week at a market and bought them for cheaaaaap). You have to be careful and try to figure out the languages the movie is in though, because a lot of the time, it´s in Russian. I have been lucky thus far and have avoided the movies that are only in Russian (why Russian is so popular in Peru, I don´t know- Billy you would have a heyda). However, I still encourage non-bootleg movies from anyone that´s willing to send them!!!!

Okay that´s all I have from down here, I hear the weather is getting pretty gross (rainy and cold) up in the States, so good luck everyone with the onset of fall/winter! Love you.