These past couple of weeks have been a little crazy with traveling. I was in Lima for a week then headed into the capital city of Piura for my regional meeting. I've been a little behind on blogging and I just wanted to say sorry to all my faithful readers (mom, dad and grandparents). 

First off- I want to post a video that I came across today. I'm truly sickened by the events that have happened at Penn State. I am still full of Penn State pride, but I can't say I'm not completely saddened by what has happened. My prayers and thoughts go out to the victims. I'm still a Nittany Lion and I still bleed blue and white. A few man do not make up Penn State- we are so much more than that. 

We are STILL Penn State. 

I have fallen in love with Lima. I wasn't a big fan of it during training because the city was always sunless and cold, but this week it was full of sun and I was able to experience different places in Lima. 

The coolest part of my trip to Lima was going back to visit my old host family! I went up to visit my old training center and got to be a part of site assignment day for the new group of Peace Corps volunteers, Peru 18. Most of the group already had an idea of where they were going so it was not as exciting as the day that Peru 17 got our site assignments. During lunch I walked down the street to see my old family.

Guess what? I have a namesake in Perú. My host mother has named her new beautiful baby girl Brielle Ann Azana Colonia (in Perú they have two last names, the mother and the fathers). She had a full head of black hair and is so very chubby(just like me when I was born). I thought she was kidding, but she told me they wouldn't put a name on the birth certificate until they knew how to spell my middle name. Bryanna has gotten so big since I've left. Instead of talking in just cut up phrases she is actually able to carry on a conversation now. I'm also convinced she is going to be fluent in English by the time she's 10. Carmen, my host mom, was so happy that I came back to visit. I don't think she believed me when I said I would come back. I will forever be grateful to the Colonia family for taking me in and treating me like a daughter. It helped make my transition into Perú that much easier. 

At the end of the week I was able to actually go into the United States Embassy in Lima for an artesan fair. The building really makes a statement in Perú. I'm super proud of the Small Business group of Peru 17- I know that pulling together artesans and everything else wasn't easy, but the fair really was awesome and I was really impressed by most of the artesan's work. 

The US Embassy in Lima, Peru

In about two weeks I have Early In Service Training. I will be reunited with my favorite group of Youth Volunteers in Lambayeque. This is where we will all present our community diagnostics and get a little bit more training in before we dive head first into our projects. I have an another night English class coming up this week. I've actually been getting a ton of phone calls asking when it is- so I'm assuming I'm going to have a full house which is pretty exciting. I've been busy doing surveys and interviews and attending tallers. I just recently helped Pierina give a bullying charla to the directors and some teachers in the schools. 

I have pictures I need to upload, but that will have its own post. :)


Also, THE NEW LOGO for THON was revealed today! THON is less than 100 days away! I'm 5 months in Perú already... TIME. IS. FLYING.

Brighten Every Journey, THON 2012


"Just know we’re not naive. We’re not immune. We hurt for the victims. We are angry at the those who have failed them and, by default, us. But we won’t let them dictate where we go from here. We Are…" - Penn State Alum


Until next time,
Brielle