With my Ladies

not the sunglasses....

Susan and Feesh!!!

i feel home.

Homeward Bound

Wrote you this
I hope you got it safe
It's been so long
I don't know what to say
I've travelled 'round
Through deserts on my horse
But jokes aside
I wanna come back home
You know that night
I said I had to go
You said you'd meet me
On the sunny road
- Sunny Road, Emiliana Torrini

I´m in Arequipa right now... my bus for Lima leaves tonight. I can´t believe the time has finally come! I can´t stop smiling and I don´t think I´ve ever been this excited for Christmas before, which is saying a lot if you know me.

I´m off... into the great wide open.

Still Here

¨As long as we can love eachother, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on- in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.¨
- Tuesdays with Morrie

We will never forget you.

Things I´ve Learned Since Coming To Peru

- How to speak Spanish. I am definitely not fluent but I can speak it all day everyday.
- How to eat things I wouldn´t dare to touch in the states and pretend to like it.
- That you can rent really sweet costumes for the equivalent of $5 a night.
- That you apparently need to be a little bit crazy to join the Peace Corps... crazy in a good way, of course. The other volunteers here are a little bit of amazing.
- How to be alone... and not go completely insane.
- All about Catholicism... I´ve been to too many confirmation classes.
- How to drink beer... probably not the best thing to have learned but it is cheap and safe.
- That strangers don´t automatically high-five you, if you run towards them with your hand up. They just think you are insane.
- How to sit through a telenovela, which is even more painful than American soap operas.
- That care packages or letters can brighten the saddest of days.
- How to knit a scarf and make super awesome friendship bracelets.
- You can find peanut butter, oreos, pringles, and snickers in Peru... for a price.
- How to do my eye makeup... even though I still choose not to, usually.
- That recycling has been so strongly instilled in my character that I have about 50 giant plastic water bottles under my bed because I just can´t bring myself to throw them in the trash.
- How to put all of my faith in God.
- How to deal with piropos (guys that whistle, make kissing noises, or shout ¨Melody my love¨or ¨Hello you drive me crazy baby¨)
- How to take freezing cold showers. Although, I´m pretty sure I´ll never learn to enjoy them.
- How to bargain for everything... and in Spanish none the less. I get seriously upset if the taxi driver tries to cheat me out of 50 centimos.
- That it is culturally normal for everyone to tell you that you´ve gotten fatter and to smile in spite of it all.
- How to attract gym teachers from far and wide... Not that I try to.
- They don´t know how to make jeans in this country.
- How to dance to cumbia, huayno, salsa, and reggaeton. Peruvians love to dance... and they love to watch gringas dance even more.
- To never again take Mountain Dew or good pizza for granted.
- How to cry regularly. It just doen´t feel like a normal week if I don´t cry at least twice.
- That some people are willing to open their homes and lives up to a complete stranger.
- That I am truly blessed to have so many incredible supportive people back home. Thanks guys.

Everything happens for a reason

Awhile back, I programmed this into my Peruvian cell phone as a welcome message. I rarely turn my phone off but somewhere along the journey back to Arequipa it died. After an hour of charging yesterday afternoon, I turned it on to find ¨Everything happens for a reason¨ sprawled across the screen. Not more than a few hours later, I called home to tell my mom I´d made it back safely to the capital city. Instead of my mom´s voice on the other end of the line it was Tara and she was sobbing. Apparently, she was just told a friend of ours had been seriously injured and is in the intensive care unit right now. I don´t know anything more than that.

Sometimes awful things happen and it is very hard to make sense of why they do. Why right now? Why so young? Sometimes all we can do is pray. Even though most of the time we don´t even know what to pray for.

Please pray for Sean Weed, his family, and his friends.