Gato Limeño

I have been in Lima for the past few days working on the newsletter that Peace Corps sends to all health volunteers in Peru. I also got to go and help with a workshop for the newbies at the new training center! We did skits about relationships with community partners and professionalism. Now that I have been here for a while training seems like a very long time ago. It was great to be around all the aspirantes (in Spanish you trainees are called aspire-ers). They're all so excited to be here and begin this new phase of their lives. It was really refreshing and inspiring to be around.

In other news, I have been looking to get a cat and the lady across the street from me in Rinconada gave me a kitten last week! After about 4 hours of non stop crying at my house and a flea bath that it really hated I named it Perico, a nickname for someone who talks too much. Then, I went out and when I came back the kitten was gone! While I was looking for it in the middle of the night there was a pretty strong earthquake and I decided that maybe fate was sending me a no cat message. The next day I went to see if that kitten had gone back to mom and it sure had. I asked if I could leave it there until I come back from Lima. We shall see if it actually ends up coming to my house. I'm thinking it has sent a clear message, no. Please note Perico's very angry facial expression.

Oddly, when I got to Lima a friend of some fellow volunteers who lives here had just picked up a stray that looks exactly like Perico. She wants to take care of it but can't have a cat where she lives. So, she is going to send it Piura with me! And when I say send it to Piura I mean that she is going to put it on an airplane to fly to Piura on Monday. She's worried about traumatizing it on the bus... where I'll be on my way back to Piura.