I’ve talked to more than a few people interested in the Peace Corps, and I’m always asked “What’s a normal day like?” As one may expect, my answer is the classic “There’s no ‘normal day’, every day is different”. In honor of this response, I dedicate this post to today. A day that is the textbook definition of “every day is different”.

6am: Wake up

6:10am: Go to the bathroom and realize the recent rains have turned our water brown. My thoughts were as follows: 1) Thank goodness I boiled water yesterday to drink, and 2) There goes my plans to wash my hair … which was much needed.

6:15-7am: Yoga in my room

7-7:40am: Get ready for the day. Did so quicker than anticipated, given the whole “no washing my hair” situation.

7:40-8am: Breakfast. Usually, my host mother prepares a quick breakfast, though today she didn’t wake up until I was walking out the door due to being up most of the night making sure water didn’t enter the cuy pen, not to mention the two cats that sounded like they were fighting to the death. So, I made myself coffee (instant mixed with sweetened condensed milk), a fried egg, bread and avocado.

8-10am: Chat in the health post with the nutritionist while stalking people on LinkedIn and messaging others about post-PC work. After hitting the half-way point, I’m realizing I may need to get the ball rolling on my future career … it’s also exciting to think about what may come next.

11am-12:30pm: As the dog rests out front, I start working alongside Yanina, the local OBGYN and my main counterpart for my Peace Corps grant … of which has been approved! (check out my last blog for a gist of said grant). For an hour, we talk about the budget, timeline, realistic expectations, and most importantly, I got even more data from her that backs up the grant’s goal. I sat next to her as she worked her way through a massive Excel spreadsheet from 2024. Here’s what we found: In 2024, 63 children (under 1 year old) should have attended a nutrition demonstration session in the health post. Of those 63, only 40 did so. That’s to say that 36.5% of children under 1 year did not receive a nutrition session. We looked further to identify the neighborhoods where those missing kids live. Next, we found that only 16 pregnant women attended a session last year, when there are likely 50+ pregnant women that should be accounted for. All to say, there’s a need to expand the reach of said sessions. More to come later about the grant, but like I said, this blog is about being an expectedly unexpected day.

12:30pm: Check on dog.

2:30pm: Check on dog.

2:30-3:15pm: I head to my house for lunch alongside Yanina, who is on the 7am-7pm shift today, otherwise known as guardia. My host mom is the closest thing to a restaurant in town, and always feeds the health post workers doing the 7A-7P. We eat rice and lomo saltado (a mix of beef, sautéed tomatoes and onions), followed by a bit of chocho (local white bean salad) and potatoes. And more Coca-Cola. As lunch winds down, I start getting nervous that the doggo is going to escape the health post before the vet got there, so I headed back and waited patiently.

4-5pm: Doggie operation time. At this point, the pup is most comfortable with me, so I hold its head while the vet shoots it with an anesthetic. After about 10 minutes, its head starts to bob, and he’s out. After a good look at the wound, we find worms, which means it can’t be stitched up today. Instead, all we can do is shoot it with an antibiotic and spray the wound with a worm-killer. And with that, the vet said he’ll be back tomorrow to stitch it up.

5-7pm: I sit at the health post next to the pup, who is out cold. A couple of my favorite local kids show up to play, to which I tell them I’m busy, to which they came back 10 minutes later with UNO cards. So, that went on until 6:30pm, when they headed out and I spent the last 30 minutes of guardia chatting with the few health personnel still there.

7pm: Head home, and head right back to the health post with a bowl of warm soup for the pup. I watch him lick it up, give him another doctor’s gown to sleep on, and lock up. I plan on getting to the health post early morn to make sure he’s all right. Now, I know you’re probably thinking “a dog in the HEALTH POST??” And the answer is, I got the go-ahead from the OBGYN. But also hence why I’m getting there early morning to make sure all is well and clean … also keep in mind that there are dogs in and out of the health post literally all day.

7:30-9pm: Dinner with the host fam while watching the news. No matter how unexpected my days, this dinnertime is always a staple. We talk about the day, the recent Dina Boluarte scandal, or some wacky American custom. All while the house cat, Chaqwas (meaning “old woman” in Quechua) sits on my lap.

In my last hour of the day, I take a bucket shower to wash my hair. I was quite desperate to clean it at this point, and the color of our water has (pretty much) gone back to clear. Given the cold rain outside, I heated a kettle thrice over to get the job done. Now, I lay here in bed, writing this, and readying my mind for a good night’s sleep. Chao family and friends.