Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everyone at home! I hope you're all barbequing, drinking beer, out on a boat, etc. It is not Labor Day here - we celebrated that back in May. Still, the weather has been turning nice here so it sort of reminds me of September in MI.

Anyway...wow the past 2 months have been very busy and I feel like I'm starting a new chapter of my Peace Corps experience which is great (for the most part). I'm now involved in 2 major projects in my town and I could not be happier about it. The environment project I'm working on involves planting 100 trees, installing garbage cans around town and 100 families will receive seeds to plant a small home garden. This project was approved by the local government and the idea is to have everything ready for the town anniversary on November 28th.

The second project I'm even more excited about. I just found out yesterday that Builders Beyond Borders accepted my bathroom project proposal! 2 groups of 40 high school students each from the US will come in February and April to build approximately 40 bathrooms in my town. Lack of proper sanitation and higienic practices is the biggest threat facing the health of my community and this project will directly address that problem. We will be building 3 different types of bathrooms with my personal goal being that it generates interest in the rest of the community and others will be motivated to build their own bathroom.

Aside from work, I traveled to Huaraz in the department of Ancash in late July. The trip was amazing and so much fun. Huaraz is a city located in the gorgeous mountains of Peru. Wherever you look you see snow-capped mountains and greenery. The city itself is filled with trekkers/tourists which means there's good food everywhere! I spent the week going on day hikes, spending time with other volunteers that I rarely see and just hanging out.

On September 12th I (along with my training group) will celebrate 1 year in Peru. Then on December 1st we will celebrate 1 year at site. As I approach the end of my first year I, of course, find myself reflecting on the past year. There have been a lot of emotional ups and downs, but especially now that I have projects going and am keeping busy, I realize how fortunate I am to be having this experience. I am meeting a lot of truly amazing people and making friendships that I believe will last many years.

As always, I hope everyone is doing well at home. I hope to see many of you during Christmas. I don't know wxactly what dates I'll be home yet, but I should be in MI for about 10 days. Talk to you soon!