Bienvenidos a Peru
8.16.2015 Sunday
Well that was an emotional 36 hours.
Hey everybody! We made it to Peru! And cheese and crackers, did we have a major freak out last night.
But before we review yesterday, let's rewind a bit.
About 8 months ago, one of my best friends, Kelsey, and I were asked by our college Spanish professor if we wanted to take a year off of school to live in Lima, Peru for nine months. The adventure included the promise of free housing and food as well as the opportunity to teach English at a Lutheran school. Sounds like a great gig, right? Couldn't agree with you more.
Looking back, my decision to go live in Peru for the same length of time it takes to create a small human was not something I really thought about. It was one of those moments where I didn't really sort through the pros and cons and dwell on the what-ifs. Thinking back on it, it just kinda happened and next thing I knew I was filling out paperwork to temporarily withdraw from MLC.
Personally, I think that's how it feels when God's the one taking control. No doubts; just trust.
Anyway, fast forward through the end of the school year and a wickedly fun 5 weeks in Chile and I was back home in Colorado, U.S.A. At first, being home from Chile was hard. Everyday I missed little things about Chile that I had grown to love. But as days turned to weeks, I became so comfortable and blissfully happy being with my family and friends in my place that the idea of leaving a second time seemed scary and ridiculous - a feeling I didn't expect to resurface after I had survived and thrived in Santiago, Chile. Honestly, it was the best summer of my life. I had so many amazing experiences no matter what continent I was on. When I'm a little old lady sitting in a rocking chair someday, I know that some of my fondest memories to reminisce about will be from Summer '15.
So, yeah. It's hard to want to wake up from a really good dream. But whether you want to wake up or not, eventually you have to.
After saying goodbye to my family, Kelsey and I made it through our many flights (Denver to Austin, Austin to Houston, Houston to Lima) fairly smoothly. We did have about an hour and a half delay from Houston to Lima because someone had checked their bags onto the flight and then decided not to board for whatever reason.
I was certain I would have a break down during at least one of our flights, but it never came, probably because I refused to think about it and kept moving forward. We finally arrived to Lima shortly after midnight. By the time we made it through customs and picked up our luggage it was close to one in the morning. Exhausted, we met Daniel (our honorary big brother, director of the school, and host) and drove to our apartment, which was thankfully close to the airport. This later changed into an annoyance but I'll get to that in a minute.
As we drove through our neighborhood in Callao, that's when we had our breakdown. No tears were shed, but we definitely were shocked by what we saw. Our district is considered fairly nice and safe but the houses and buildings share a similar appearance to what you would see in the poorest parts of a big city in the United States. This is what we have to call home for the next nine months and it was completely different from what we expected and from what we had experienced in Chile.
Entering our apartment didn't help our emotional turmoil.
The apartment we had seen pictures of and were expecting to live in is no longer available for rent, so we've been put on the fourth floor of one of the buildings that the school uses for classes, including a swimming class.
Perk: we have a swimming pool in our basement.
When we first stepped into the apartment we were overwhelmed by the smell of fresh paint. There were no mirrors, no closets, and a concrete floor without any rugs. As the lights slowly flickered on in our bedroom we saw two bunk beds, each with a mattress and bedding only on the bottom bunk, a TV on a stand, and two dressers which appeared to be old bookshelves. The bedroom was large but felt so empty. We were shown a bathroom with a shower and a room with a sofa, small refrigerator, two desks, a couple of wooden chairs/benches, and shelving. As Daniel left us for the evening, we started to complain and decided it was best to just get some sleep. We could hear people shouting as they partied, car alarms, a rooster crowing in the morning, and many planes flying overhead (this would be the "being-annoyingly-close-to-the-airport" part). Yet, Kelsey and I both slept surprisingly well.
This morning we woke up and walked with Daniel to a bakery to eat a little something before church. Daniel, being the cool honorary big brother that he is, insisted that we eat cake. I mean, we didn't want to say no and seem rude...
Having a non-traditional breakfast with Daniel helped put us slightly at ease. It became clear that though the neighborhood appears poor in our privileged American eyes, people are happy here and living good lives. As the day went by and we walked the neighborhood, worshiped the Lord with fellow brothers and sisters, ate meals with Daniel's hilarious and loving family, shopped for snacks and any forgotten toiletries at the mall, met Daniel's adorable dog Oso, unpacked, cleaned, and rearranged our living space, I began to feel so much more comfortable. I realized my first perceptions had been judgmental, stuck up, and flat-out selfish and understood that I'm going to be just fine here.
God answered my prayers immediately; in less than 24 hours my attitude and impression has changed.
It may be a whole new world but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad one. I can adjust to a life here and, moreover, I can love every minute of it just like I loved every minute of this summer.
I've made it through day one. I'm so excited to see what the next 270+ are going to be like.
Ciao!
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
― Gustave Flaubert
Siempre abre sus ojos, sus orejas, su mente y su corazon al mundo, pero piensa antes de su abre su boca.
Well that was an emotional 36 hours.
Hey everybody! We made it to Peru! And cheese and crackers, did we have a major freak out last night.
But before we review yesterday, let's rewind a bit.
About 8 months ago, one of my best friends, Kelsey, and I were asked by our college Spanish professor if we wanted to take a year off of school to live in Lima, Peru for nine months. The adventure included the promise of free housing and food as well as the opportunity to teach English at a Lutheran school. Sounds like a great gig, right? Couldn't agree with you more.
Looking back, my decision to go live in Peru for the same length of time it takes to create a small human was not something I really thought about. It was one of those moments where I didn't really sort through the pros and cons and dwell on the what-ifs. Thinking back on it, it just kinda happened and next thing I knew I was filling out paperwork to temporarily withdraw from MLC.
Personally, I think that's how it feels when God's the one taking control. No doubts; just trust.
Anyway, fast forward through the end of the school year and a wickedly fun 5 weeks in Chile and I was back home in Colorado, U.S.A. At first, being home from Chile was hard. Everyday I missed little things about Chile that I had grown to love. But as days turned to weeks, I became so comfortable and blissfully happy being with my family and friends in my place that the idea of leaving a second time seemed scary and ridiculous - a feeling I didn't expect to resurface after I had survived and thrived in Santiago, Chile. Honestly, it was the best summer of my life. I had so many amazing experiences no matter what continent I was on. When I'm a little old lady sitting in a rocking chair someday, I know that some of my fondest memories to reminisce about will be from Summer '15.
So, yeah. It's hard to want to wake up from a really good dream. But whether you want to wake up or not, eventually you have to.
After saying goodbye to my family, Kelsey and I made it through our many flights (Denver to Austin, Austin to Houston, Houston to Lima) fairly smoothly. We did have about an hour and a half delay from Houston to Lima because someone had checked their bags onto the flight and then decided not to board for whatever reason.
I was certain I would have a break down during at least one of our flights, but it never came, probably because I refused to think about it and kept moving forward. We finally arrived to Lima shortly after midnight. By the time we made it through customs and picked up our luggage it was close to one in the morning. Exhausted, we met Daniel (our honorary big brother, director of the school, and host) and drove to our apartment, which was thankfully close to the airport. This later changed into an annoyance but I'll get to that in a minute.
As we drove through our neighborhood in Callao, that's when we had our breakdown. No tears were shed, but we definitely were shocked by what we saw. Our district is considered fairly nice and safe but the houses and buildings share a similar appearance to what you would see in the poorest parts of a big city in the United States. This is what we have to call home for the next nine months and it was completely different from what we expected and from what we had experienced in Chile.
Entering our apartment didn't help our emotional turmoil.
The apartment we had seen pictures of and were expecting to live in is no longer available for rent, so we've been put on the fourth floor of one of the buildings that the school uses for classes, including a swimming class.
Perk: we have a swimming pool in our basement.
When we first stepped into the apartment we were overwhelmed by the smell of fresh paint. There were no mirrors, no closets, and a concrete floor without any rugs. As the lights slowly flickered on in our bedroom we saw two bunk beds, each with a mattress and bedding only on the bottom bunk, a TV on a stand, and two dressers which appeared to be old bookshelves. The bedroom was large but felt so empty. We were shown a bathroom with a shower and a room with a sofa, small refrigerator, two desks, a couple of wooden chairs/benches, and shelving. As Daniel left us for the evening, we started to complain and decided it was best to just get some sleep. We could hear people shouting as they partied, car alarms, a rooster crowing in the morning, and many planes flying overhead (this would be the "being-annoyingly-close-to-the-airport" part). Yet, Kelsey and I both slept surprisingly well.
This morning we woke up and walked with Daniel to a bakery to eat a little something before church. Daniel, being the cool honorary big brother that he is, insisted that we eat cake. I mean, we didn't want to say no and seem rude...
Having a non-traditional breakfast with Daniel helped put us slightly at ease. It became clear that though the neighborhood appears poor in our privileged American eyes, people are happy here and living good lives. As the day went by and we walked the neighborhood, worshiped the Lord with fellow brothers and sisters, ate meals with Daniel's hilarious and loving family, shopped for snacks and any forgotten toiletries at the mall, met Daniel's adorable dog Oso, unpacked, cleaned, and rearranged our living space, I began to feel so much more comfortable. I realized my first perceptions had been judgmental, stuck up, and flat-out selfish and understood that I'm going to be just fine here.
It may be a whole new world but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad one. I can adjust to a life here and, moreover, I can love every minute of it just like I loved every minute of this summer.
I've made it through day one. I'm so excited to see what the next 270+ are going to be like.
Ciao!
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
― Gustave Flaubert
Siempre abre sus ojos, sus orejas, su mente y su corazon al mundo, pero piensa antes de su abre su boca.
You both are in Coach and my prayers! We are proud and inspired by the both of you. We wish you the best! We have no doubt the two of you will touch many lives during your stay. Hugs from America.
ReplyDeleteWhy is your blog so much better than mine?! haha
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