{"id":10278,"date":"2019-02-23T15:30:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T23:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?p=10278"},"modified":"2021-02-25T18:38:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T02:38:23","slug":"u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fireworks explode across the night sky. City streets and brick houses appear below shooting sparks and colors. Not a soul sleeps. We watch in awe and excitement as the clock strikes midnight; it\u2019s Christmas morning.<\/p>\n

Upon realizing the fiesta<\/em> below won\u2019t be stopping anytime soon, we head inside and shoot off a confetti cannon, a jolting surprise for those who had fallen asleep on the couch. Hugs and well wishes are shared by everyone, followed by a traditional pork dinner and the seasonal sweets panet\u00f3n <\/em>and hot chocolate.<\/p>\n

Before long, silence fills the room and the food, our stomachs.<\/p>\n

\"kids
A Christmas party at a local church for all the kids, including this little pageant.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Christmas
Our little Christmas tree.<\/span><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being away from family and friends, comfortable traditions, and favorite foods is always difficult, especially during the holiday season. Despite these challenges, I decided to spend Christmas with my host family again this year, waiting to leave for vacation with some fellow volunteers.<\/p>\n

This year I hoped to share a few more of my family\u2019s traditions. We began by setting up our arbolito de navidad <\/em>and decorating it with a few ornaments. Yet something was lacking, so I began scheming to fill the empty floor below its branches.<\/p>\n

From the year prior<\/a>, I knew that gifts are given primarily to children and rarely among adults. For me, gift giving has always been an important part of Christmas, and I couldn\u2019t resist. Soon, the ground around our little tree was full of boxed surprises for my host family. Not surprisingly, my host siblings were not overjoyed by the tradition of waiting until Christmas to open them!<\/p>\n

\"writer's
My host brother loved the hot wheels my parents left for me to give him when they visited.<\/span><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Christmas Eve, we were invited by family members to spend the evening with them in Tarma, a larger town 20 minutes from our community. We dozed off watching telenovelas<\/em>, built a small campfire, and shot off fireworks while waiting for midnight, the arrival of Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

As we waited, I thought often of my family and friends back in the U.S. and missed them dearly. I found my mind wandering to my family\u2019s faces, a baked salmon dinner, the recliner next to the fireplace, and gifts being exchanged.<\/p>\n

This time around I had lowered my expectations, having recognized that many of my favorite traditions and memories cannot be recreated here, especially without my family. But this fact, like many other aspects of service, I have begun to accept and mentally frame in more positive ways.<\/p>\n

\"wildflowers
The rainy season is back and with it the wildflowers and green hills.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peace Corps requires serious mental flexibility. A constant flow of new experiences awaits our interpretation. I\u2019ve learned that when situations are unchangeable, changing my attitude or perspective is the most powerful tool not only for survival but also to experience joy where it may not have been found.<\/p>\n

So I leaned back against the dusty brick wall and decided to be present, allowing myself to be captivated by the colorful explosions which illuminated the dark, sloping hills of a town I have come to love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

****Disclaimer: \u201cThe content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Peruvian Government.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fireworks explode across the night sky. City streets and brick houses appear below shooting sparks and colors. Not a soul sleeps. We watch in awe and excitement as the clock strikes midnight; it\u2019s Christmas morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":10281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[556,1921,89,720,1072],"class_list":["post-10278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-travel","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-traditions","tag-family","tag-peru","tag-u-s-peace-corps"],"yoast_head":"\nA U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Traveling Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex Brouwer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex Brouwer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alex Brouwer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6\"},\"headline\":\"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christmas\",\"Christmas traditions\",\"family\",\"Peru\",\"U.S. Peace Corps\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World Travel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\",\"name\":\"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6\"},\"description\":\"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg\",\"width\":850,\"height\":638,\"caption\":\"A Christmas party at a local church for all the kids, including this little pageant.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/\",\"name\":\"Traveling Archive\",\"description\":\"Traveling Adventures\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6\",\"name\":\"Alex Brouwer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6018afc5956f8fbbd4706b7a44c8803fbd566542cd38e504d96640676769cfa0?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6018afc5956f8fbbd4706b7a44c8803fbd566542cd38e504d96640676769cfa0?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex Brouwer\"},\"description\":\"As a youth development Peace Corps Volunteer, Alex lives in a small community at over 12,500 feet above sea level in La Sierra mountainous region of Peru. Although born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, he spent the last four years studying youth ministry at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles county, including semesters in Oxford, England and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa which sparked his love for travel, culture, and service. Alex currently supports and coordinates with the local school, health post, and municipality in the community to improve employability and life skills, community participation, and leadership among youth. Eating guinea pig, learning to knit, speaking only Spanish, shepherding cows, and sharing life with his host family, Alex feels honored to experience the beauty of humanity and the world from a fresh perspective. In his free time, he reads anything from theology to fiction, pretends to be a poet and photographer, or finds a game a basketball or soccer to join.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/alextbrouwer.wordpress.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/author\/alex\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive","description":"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive","og_description":"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.","og_url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/","og_site_name":"Traveling Archive","article_published_time":"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":850,"height":638,"url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alex Brouwer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex Brouwer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Alex Brouwer","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6"},"headline":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2","datePublished":"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/"},"wordCount":604,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg","keywords":["Christmas","Christmas traditions","family","Peru","U.S. Peace Corps"],"articleSection":["World Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/","name":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 - Traveling Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-23T23:30:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-26T02:38:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6"},"description":"Alex Brouwer experiences a Peru Christmas away from family for the second time as part of his volunteer work with the U.S. Peace Corps.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Christmas-Party.jpg","width":850,"height":638,"caption":"A Christmas party at a local church for all the kids, including this little pageant."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/u-s-peace-corp-volunteer-in-peru-christmas-round-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/","name":"Traveling Archive","description":"Traveling Adventures","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/71d877c7bb8809df3c55d8c2c9251aa6","name":"Alex Brouwer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6018afc5956f8fbbd4706b7a44c8803fbd566542cd38e504d96640676769cfa0?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6018afc5956f8fbbd4706b7a44c8803fbd566542cd38e504d96640676769cfa0?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Alex Brouwer"},"description":"As a youth development Peace Corps Volunteer, Alex lives in a small community at over 12,500 feet above sea level in La Sierra mountainous region of Peru. Although born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, he spent the last four years studying youth ministry at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles county, including semesters in Oxford, England and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa which sparked his love for travel, culture, and service. Alex currently supports and coordinates with the local school, health post, and municipality in the community to improve employability and life skills, community participation, and leadership among youth. Eating guinea pig, learning to knit, speaking only Spanish, shepherding cows, and sharing life with his host family, Alex feels honored to experience the beauty of humanity and the world from a fresh perspective. In his free time, he reads anything from theology to fiction, pretends to be a poet and photographer, or finds a game a basketball or soccer to join.","sameAs":["https:\/\/alextbrouwer.wordpress.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/author\/alex\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10278"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22334,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278\/revisions\/22334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}