Family & friends: Welcome back to my Peruvian journey! I've got a few highlights to share with you from the twelfth and thirteenth innings of my collegiate study abroad experience. ;) I apologize for the cheese, but my parents went to a baseball game recently (not jealous or anything...), and that's most definitely something that I have to do once I get back to Nebraska! I really do feel like I'm stealing second base, though... I have two & a half weeks left in my stay and I wish that I could steal my way around the bases, stomp on home plate, and hop on a plane - Northbound this time! I would be home in a heartbeat if I could, but I'm doing my very, very best to stay focused and present in the very little time that I have left to enjoy Peru. Also... how the heck could I miss out on seeing the Amazon?! Ok ok... I'll stay... but, only for 17 more days.
Let's start with the twelfth week (March 28-April 3)... On the 28th, I made my reservation for the Amazon (& I only screamed a couple of times) AND I finished my Neotropics book for my biology class back in the States that same day. My excitement has only grown more and more in every day that has followed. At first, I thought that I was going to be alone on this trip... I had a dream - to visit and see the rain forest from the perspective of the canopy - and I was going to do it regardless of whether anyone went with me or not! Much to my surprise, I will be sharing my Amazon experience with my lovely teacher duo, Stephen and Barbara, and a lady that I really like to be around, miss Gabi! I'M SO EXCITED. Really, really excited... I leave this Wednesday. :)
Throughout the week, I finished another book (yay!), was adventurous with the girls in Miraflores, failed to use the bus system (not once, but twice), and ate a hot plantain with my lunch... Yes, it was rather strange (ok, it was downright wrong), but I ate it. If you've never tried a plantain, cold plantains taste rather starchy, kind of like a potato. When they're hot, they transform into a mushy, sweet banana. I don't understand how that works, but it happened... more than twice that week, I might add. But, my host mom fed it to me and what the heck... another one of those "When in Peru" moments. Cuy is better. ;)
March came and went, Alex punked me on Friday, and on Saturday (the 2nd) I was back at Circuito Mágico del Agua del Parque de la Reserva (or Parque de Aguas!) for a night of blue lights for World Autism Awareness Day with two other lovely chicas! I enjoyed some gorgeous views, and my heart was very happy and full that night. There were so many people there, mostly children, and I think that's actually what made me smile the most. I consider myself lucky to have been exposed to people with various disorders and mental illnesses growing up, and because of that, I am tolerant/aware of/have love for those kinds of people. I think I like them better than "normal" people! :) Anyhow, I can't stress enough how incredibly important it is that we are honest and open with our world's children about being tolerant and accepting of folks that look at this world from all other perspectives and come from every piece of this spectrum of life, even if it's different from our own. We have the same human qualities, just at different levels! Be tolerant. Be nice to people. Love everyone. These are some of the things that my family taught me...
Fuente de Armonia
Fuente de Arco Iris
Fuente de Illusion
That night, I returned to share an evening full of laughs with my host family at the dinner table. So much so that my host mom actually started crying! Norma is pretty hilarious... My boyfriend gave me a tea infuser that looks like a manatee. Well, my host mom calls my manatee Alex. Whenever my manatee is "looking" at her, she gets a real kick out of it. (Don't worry, I've posted a picture of it below...) One of my host brothers and I had an awesome conversation that night, too, about literature. He passed along a book to me and recommended a short story for me to read that was similar to the author I was reading at the time. I loved it! I cherish the many moments that I've had with this family, whether they be happy or hilarious. I have had the opportunity to not only share, but feel these people, from one culture to another. I felt really special on Saturday.
Chicken noodle soup & my mana(tea) ;)
Early on Sunday morning, I went on a walk with my host mom and one of my host brothers to San Borja, a large and gorgeous park nearby our apartment. Norma and I walked for 4 km, and she was done after that. I could have kept going, but I walked her to the car. You have to keep in mind that she is 70, but she surely does NOT act like it at all. I like that about her.
Now, for the (ironically) unlucky week... the thirteenth week (April 4-10). Monday was actually a Monday that didn't suck. I was very happy; I tried dragon fruit and had juice from granadilla (also a fruit)- what Alex calls "booger fruit" - but, it's actually a kind of passion fruit. For lunch, I had one of my favorites, ají de gallina, AND I know how to make crema de ají (cream of ají) now! Not sure that it will taste anything like Norma's, but I'm surely going to try.
On the afternoon on the fifth, I was brought to my knees with heavy, tragic news. I could have never been prepared to lose my best girlfriend and be thousands of miles away from my friends and family at the same time. More than anything, I just want to go home to be with them. At this time, my host family doesn't cut it and they don't understand what I'm going through. And to think that I had such a happy Monday, not knowing that my best friend was gone? Nobody knew... and it would have broke my heart no matter where I was on this planet.
Regardless of what has happened, I am doing my best to keep adventuring for Peyton. She read my blogs every week; she told me that she would read them three times because she loved them so much. Well, I'm still writing for you babe.
I arrived to class on the sixth with a giant hug from Stephen and a desk full of goodies from the girls: snacks, earrings, juice, a page out of a coloring book, a pretty flower arrangement that came with a live, green catepillar, and personal notes (my favorites). They were all sweet, thoughtful gestures... I felt comforted by their thoughts and in knowing that I am loved. I'm trying my hardest to stay positive and loving in honor of Peyton. I can't lie, though, it's not easy. I'm pretty sad, a little bit angry, too... I almost feel cheated. I can't even count the number of times that I've picked up my phone wanting to share something with her, and then it hits me all over again. On Saturday I talked to her dad and that helped me to see this situation from another perspective. Just as she would have done if she was here to help me... Wow- it's like one big nightmare, this thirteenth week.
As of yesterday I have been doing better. Sunday was the first day that I hadn't cried and I'd found more reasons to smile about the situation. Instead of feeling sad and empty, I've found true comfort in the notes that Peyton left me and how oddly useful they are at this time. I've found a few reasons to laugh in remembering some of her quirks, like how she never liked to drink plain water because "it tastes like rocks." Ha! I will never forget that cackling laugh of hers, either. Peyton is always in my heart; I am taking her everywhere I go. Especially to the freaking Amazon! There is nobody on this earth that would have loved to see my pictures of the jungle more than that girl!
To stay strong, I have been keeping myself as busy as I can. Writing has been an amazing outlet for me. I have been writing for hours upon hours this last weekend... Mostly, I am trying to stay ahead of the game on my schoolwork, so that I may not be stressed out by anything that I can actually control. For all that I have accomplished this weekend to keep my head above water, I am really proud of myself. I still have a lot on my plate, but I can finally relax a little and... pack for the Amazon! This is one of my big dreams becoming a reality! Here I go... feeling lucky again. Lucky 13. For one, I was so lucky to have been loved by Pey! For two, you already know... THE AMAZON!
Looking forward to my fourteenth week, seeing the Amazon, and sharing it all in my next blog with you! For now, I must say Chow! - A
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