home again.

Well I flew into Chicago early Tuesday morning and since then it's all been a whirlwind. But let's back up. For one, leaving Lima was by far one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I'm pretty sure I cried for at least an hour in the taxi, boarding the plane and then during the flight. I felt a little ridiculous but I couldn't help it. The flight was alright and didn't seem too long. I didn't sleep at all (surprising, no?) mostly just watched the movies and tried to get my stuff together, and by stuff I mean emotions. I had been so ready to go home, but I definitely wasn't ready for the unknown.

I was welcomed home by my parents and my sister. It was wonderful to see them but I was not prepared for the winter. It was odd to see snow and to have gone from wearing summer clothes to winter clothes after one day of traveling. We stayed in Chicago for a bit and first things first, my mom and I made cinnamon rolls. I sure had missed her cooking/baking :) and then we headed for Iowa. Tiffany was driving through Chicago from Maryland, so she stopped by and picked me up and we drove to Iowa City. First stop was campus and lunch at the old capital mall. It was quite the adjustment not to speak in Spanish to everyone but it was good to be in a familiar place with friends that I hadn't seen for quite a while.

It should be an interesting semester. My last semester, I'm taking 18 semester hours and then off into the real world. Here goes nothing :)

lago titicaca.

The trip to Puno was very agriducle (bittersweet). It was wonderful to see the southern most part of Peru and yet I knew that I would be heading home very soon once the trip was over.

On our way to Puno, we stopped in Arequipa again. This time around we were able to see more of Arequipa and say goodbye to a couple of the girls from our program. We took a tour of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, and it is beautiful! I'm so glad we were able to fit that into our trip!

The weather was rainy and cold when we got to Puno. We took a tour out to the floating islands on the lake. Lake Titicaca is on the boarder between Peru and Bolivia. The tour guide shared with us that the titi (chest) is from Peru and the caca (poop) is from Bolivia. Everyone got quite a laugh from that. It was crazy to believe the Uros people lived on these islands made of reeds. They shared their homes, stories and songs with us. After visiting the Uros, we took reed boats to the island of Taquile. There we ate lunch and hiked around the island to see the lake from above, and also ran into a few other ladies from our program.

We stayed the night in Puno and then headed back to Arequipa to catch a flight back to Lima. Hard to believe that I fly home tomorrow. I'm excited to go home, but I'm also sad because I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to come back to this country that has shared so much with me over the last few months. I've grown quite a bit because of this trip and I am excited to see what it is store for my future.

see you soon los estados unidos,
aj

deporte y vida.

Well today I had to say goodbye to the kids and the 2 teachers that I volunteered with all semester at Deporte y Vida. It was definitely one of the hardest goodbyes I will make leaving Peru. I have learned so much from them, probably more than they learned from me, and it was really hard getting into the taxi knowing I may never see any of them ever again. Overall, I think that is going to be the hardest part about leaving Peru: not knowing when I will get to come back to the country that I have grown to love, and also not knowing when I will see all the friends I have made again.

They all are amazing people. The kids are so happy with life and what they have, which really isn't that much and it makes me think about how much I complain about the littlest things. Their part of Lima doesn't have running water and they have to go everyday to get their portion, and I complain when the water is too hot or too cold. Another thing I admire is how important their families are to them. Almost all of them start working pretty young and they do it because their families need them too and they don’t question it. I want to be more like them. I really want to spend more time with my family and try not to always be bothered by the stupid little things. And the teachers are the nicest women I have met in Peru. They barely knew me and yet they treated me like we had known each other for years. They thanked me for coming and spending my time there with them and, of course, I couldn’t stop crying long enough to thank them for being such wonderful people but I hope they know and that I wish them all the best.

We had a party today as a Christmas celebration and kind of as a farewell party for us volunteers. We got t-shirts made for the kids as their Christmas presents that say deporte y vida and then there is a sun. And there were extras so each of us girls got one too. I am really excited to have it to always remind me of what amazing kids they were. And Norma, one of the teachers, gave us a typical Peruvian keychain, super excited to put it on my keys when I get home, hopefully it will help to remind me to think of the kids every day.

A Peruvian friend told me last night “you will only be 3800 miles away, nothing more”, to which I replied 3800 millas es un montón, and he just laughed at me. Then he said, “no es un adios, es solo un hasta luego”, but that one is a little harder for me since I really don’t know when later will be, “pero así es la vida, no?”.

Gonna be a tough week of goodbyes and/or see you laters. I am really excited to come home, but also extremely sad to leave this place and its people. I am headed out of town on Tuesday to Arequipa/Puno/Lake Titicaca so I will blog when I get back.

hasta luego,
<3 aj

p.s. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a great birthday and one that I will never forget. I have the greatest friends and family a girl could ask for. I love you all very much!