50th Anniversary Celebration in Lima

A few weeks ago Peace Corps had its` 50th anniversary celebration (started in 1961 by John F. Kennedy), and to celebrate we had a gathering in the capital, Lima. In addition each department had its own celebration in the each capital city, mine being Trujillo. However for Lima, there wasn’t funding for all 230 some volunteers so we had lotteries in our prospective departments to decide who would go, and I was part of the lucky crew who got to take the trip. About a third of the volunteers were selected more or less and it was nice to reunite with some of the people I hadn’t seen in a while in the spirit of this celebration. To commemorate the event we first went to the embassy to hear the 3rd in charge of Peace Corps, Stacy Rhodes speak as well as the coordinator for all of Latin America, Carlos Torres. It was great to hear them speak and I must say they were really a quite personable and likeable tandem. From the embassy we then took busses to the U.S. Ambassador to Peru’s house. The house was pretty incredible, immaculately decorated and maintained, with ample room for guests (and even a pool). Needless to say I was pretty impressed. We arrived to find the space full of delicious appetizers, not to mention free drinks waiting. From there we had time to socialize with the guests that included embassy employees, Peruvian leaders from various social and political institutions, former president Toledo, and the current first lady. All the volunteers showed up nicely groomed and well dressed, something only rarely seen during our service here. During the event the ambassador spoke, thanking the volunteers for their work and our Peruvian guests for their attendance and support in what we do. After that Stacy Rhodes then had his own speech as well. From there more socializing, and even a ‘flashmob’ dance broke out in the middle of the back patio (also on youtube). The event came to a close after about 2 and half hours and after bidding our guests farewell, we volunteers kept the party going enjoying the Lima nightlife, while doing it responsibly of course.