Dear Peru 14,

Dear Peru 14,

It was just one year ago that I was reading blogs like these, filled with terror and excitement, wondering how to pack two years of my life into tiny little suitcases. I was listening to the Spanish radio station in my car, trying to read all of the public signs in Spanish before reading them in English, and faithfully memorizing my Spanish word of the day. Did any of it help? Not in the slightest, but please believe me when I say that in time you will “acostumbrar” to Peru, language and everything else included. If you don’t know what “acostumbrar” means, believe me, you will soon.

I thought I might write down a few of my thoughts for you, because reading some of the blogs before I came certainly helped me, though honestly there’s no way you can really fully wrap your mind around what it will be like until you’re here. But, here are a few things you can expect. Please don’t hesitate to send me an email if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help! (sjkerr08@gmail.com)

• You are about to meet some of the coolest people you will ever meet in your life. Every training group says their group is the best, and I’m sure you’ll think the same.
• Sometimes training can feel a little bit like high school, both in good and bad ways.
• The training center is GORGEOUS but you can’t go in the pool. The training center also has a beautiful garden which attracts millions of flies and mosquitoes that will leave your legs swollen to twice their normal size.
• During training, you’ll be divided up into four communities: Yanacoto, 3 de Octubre, Huascarán, and Chacrasana. From there you’ll go each morning to the training center from 8AM to 5PM. You’ll probably become very close with your host family there and it will be hard to leave them, but like any family, you’ll have to make changes and get used to having to tell people where you’re going and having them tell you what to do sometimes. Expect to have electricity, but most of you will have to get used to cold showers. Most of the houses are fairly nice. Get used to animal sounds and announcements over loudspeakers very early in the morning.
• Cell phones aren’t issued until the very end of training. I don’t recommend bringing your own, you can live without it. Sometimes it’s important to dedicate yourself to being in Peru, it’s tempting to be “mentally” in the U.S. There are a ton of locutorios where you can make calls back home using international calling cards that are widely sold here. Also, SKYPE!
• You probably aren’t going to get any tropical diseases like malaria or dengue, but you will be sick at some point and it won’t be fun. But, we have the absolute best doctors in the world here.
• In Peru, they use “soles” instead of dollars and “centimos” instead of cents. The coins come in increments of 10 centimos, 20 centimos, 50 centimos (also called a china), 1 sol (also called a luka), and 5 soles. The paper money comes in increments of 10, 20, 50, and 100. The exchange rate is about 3 soles to 1 US dollar. It’s easy to change dollars at any bank, but they generally don’t change anything less than $20 and only accept bills that are in good condition, not torn or folded. You will receive your stipend in soles and there is an ATM near the training center.

Suggested Packing List: Don’t worry about forgetting anything, because you can find almost everything you need in Peru. Packing is hard, because you won’t know until the end of training what kind of climate you’ll be living in. You’ll be arriving in Lima at the end of winter, meaning it will be about 50-60 degrees there most of the time with cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons. You’ll do a clothing exchange before you go to site with other volunteers. However, here are some of the things that are convenient to have or less expensive in the states.

• Sleeping bag (I know they take up a lot of space, but these are a little hard to come by in Peru and also relatively expensive on a Peace Corps budget. You’ll very likely use it.)
• Yoga mat (if you’re into yoga; also good for other types of exercise)
• Laptop (absolutely bring one if you have it, and if you don’t, try to get one)
• Camera and microphone for Skype (can also be found in Peru)
• Digital camera (waterproof is always good)
• MP3 player with as much music as you can put on it
• USB (a must, 2GB or more, 4-6 preferred. Maybe even bring two because a lot of people seem to lose theirs.)
• Quality rain jacket, waterproof (best thing I brought.)
• Nalgene water bottle (water provided at training center)
• Printed pictures (photo album) of friends and family (your Peruvian friends and family will want to see these and they love to see pics of the U.S!)
• Earplugs (must have for light sleepers)
• Quality tennis shoes or hiking shoes (whichever you prefer for walking/hiking)
• Chacos (50% discount for PC volunteers! For those of you who don’t know, they’re kinda like outdoor sandals.)
• Battery recharger (this can also be bought in Peru fairly cheaply)
• One or two of your favorite books (always good for book exchanges)
• A few of your favorite American candies
• A jar of peanut butter (another must have)
• Jeans and pants (sometimes it’s hard to find the right size here, especially for guys)
• Lots of dental floss
• Journal and pens (can be bought in Peru, sometimes a little pricey and of low quality)
• Year supply of contact lenses (if you wear them, Peace Corps doesn’t provide these. They do replace broken glasses up to 200 soles.)
• Small school backpack to carry things to and from the training center or on day trips
• Sense of adventure.

Things I don’t recommend bringing:
• Cell phone
• Lots of dress clothes (they say you have to dress professionally during training but this is a lie!)
• Lots of medicines (Peace Corps gives you a great little medical kit with everything you’ll need including bug spray and sunscreen. Refills are always available too.)
• Expensive jewelry
• Money belt
• Spanish/English dictionary (PC will give this to you along with other language resources)
• Movies (These can be bought just about anywhere in Peru for $1 a piece, sometimes before they come out in the U.S!)
• Water purifiers
• Traveler’s checks (hard to change sometimes. There are plenty of ATMS that you can use to access your American bank account and take out money in soles or dollars, so bring your debit and or credit cards.)