Recently I had the honor of being invited to the US Ambassador’s residence in Lima for a reception for a visiting congressional delegation. The delegation was the House Democracy Committee which works with emerging democracies around the world towards stable parliaments. (I think. Google it.) The coolest thing about this committee is that it is bipartisan. In the current political climate it was nice to see people of different opinions getting along. I’m glad this committee is representing the US on international visits. It also reminded me that while I may strongly disagree with someone’s viewpoints they can still be a pleasant person. Sometimes our world becomes so polarizing and issues so personal and emotional, the “other” loses their human qualities. Peace Corps (PC) volunteers were invited to this event to highlight the program. I’m sure politicians who sit in boring meetings all day needed an uplifting way to end the day. The current ambassador has a good relationship with PC. Normally the official swearing in ceremony for volunteers is held at his residence, but for ours it was changed to the embassy due to a scheduling conflict of then President Obama visiting. Thanks, Obama! Because the ambassador cares so much the date as well as the location of our swearing in was changed so that he could attend. Shout out to Mr. Brian Nichols! I specifically was invited along with another volunteer from my region for our experience in Quechua, the native language. Only volunteers in the Ancash region are in sites with Quechua speakers because it is more prominent in the south of Peru and PC is not active there. The other volunteers were some third year volunteer leaders, current trainees and PC Response Volunteers.
Peruvian Congressmen and women were also invited. Before they arrived and the event started we had time with the US delegation to introduce ourselves and tell why we joined the PC. It was refreshing to hear other people’s reasons which varied from wanting to make a difference in the world, to respecting PC’s work model, to interest in Peruvian culture. I said that I had wanted work experience in the Public Health field before moving forward in that career or schooling, and that I liked the two year commitment of the PC for sustainability and cultural integration reasons.
Since I hadn’t visited the ambassador’s residence before I felt very lucky to go. It doesn’t have an exact address because it takes up a whole block so it was interesting finding a cab to take us there. But it is soooo nice. As something like that would be, I guess. There was even a buffet dinner! I was not expecting that and campo girl me was in luxurious, opulent heaven with that. I had salad! And mashed potatoes! And there were some classic Peruvian dishes like causa and ceviche. But I really only remember the salad and mashed potatoes. [Takes break from writing to go eat my dinner of watery potato soup] I think the most I used my Quechua that night was speaking with the man carving the meat, and he was from Cusco so the Quechua was different.
I also had the chance to speak with some embassy workers. A few of them had also been PC volunteers in different countries! I loved hearing their stories and learning about a new country. One woman had served in Ukraine and was explaining that although she might have physically looked like them, the expectation for women was to dress like Barbie and as a tomboy she didn’t fit in in that sense. I had never thought about what it would be like to serve in a place where you don’t obviously stick out so it was interesting to hear her story.
All in all, it was a fun chance to dress up and meet new people.
¡What's New in Perú! 