All the Joy You'll Find

Think of all the joy you'll find, when you leave the world behind, and bid all your cares goodbye.

You can fly! You can fly! -- Peter Pan 

My last two weeks in Lima have flown by (pun intended) and they have been full of presentations, tests, papers, and, of course, some amazing experiences! And, although Lima, with its constant noise, its air pollution, its crime, its concrete, and its constant cloudiness, is not by any means my favorite place in this incredible country, these last two weeks have definitely helped me to find some joy here as well! 

 First, the one truly negative thing that has happened during my whole four months in Peru: I got robbed. I was in Villa El Salvador by myself walking to the bus stop and pulled my camera out of my backpack really quick to take a photo of a soccer game for my fútbol-obsessed friend Ava, when all of a sudden a guy ran up and snatched it out of my hand. I grabbed onto his shirt and held on for dear life-- yelling like a bilingual maniac, hitting him, and trying to get it back. He got loose and took off, with me in pursuit until a "get-away moto" came along yelling "Sube! Sube! Sube!" (Get on! Get on! Get on!) and they disappeared. Definitely unfortunate. Definitely could have been a lot worse. And, although there are uncool people like my thief in Villa, I also met a couple of really nice people that same day: Earlier in the day, a moto driver gave me an extra long and completely free ride when he found out I was a volunteer and, after being robbed and looking like a very sad gringa standing in the street, another driver gave me a free lift to the bus stop. Just a little more proof for my strong belief that there are good and bad people everywhere. 

Besides that one sad incident, the last two weeks have been pretty awesome! I love finals and term papers! Hahaha I kid, I kid. But, so far at least, I have survived them and had some very fun times in between. Last Friday evening we had a "despedida" or goodbye party in the IFSA office with all of our professors, host families, and patas. Then on Saturday night, our group headed to the Brisas del Titicaca restaurant for a delicious dinner and show. We got to watch lots of tradition Peruvian dances, listen to music, and even do a little dancing ourselves! Although it was a late night-- we left the restaurant sometime around 2 a.m.-- it was a great time with all the friends I've made this semester and a good chance to keep practicing that salsa dancing! 

Sunday, Kaylie and I headed back to Pachacamac, the ruins south of Lima, for the celebration of the summer solstice called Inti Raymi. The celebration was beautiful! Participants were dressed in elaborate and colorful costumes and performed acrobatic tricks, dances, and music. Meanwhile, offerings were being made to Pachamama, Mother Earth, and towards the end of the ceremony we all hugged and wished each other a happy new year-- there's nothing like being squeezed tight by a four foot something woman in a bowler hat and multicolored shawl to make you feel happy! 

The week consisted of a zillion presentations and tests as well as my last two trips to Villa El Salvador. On Wednesday evening I went out for my last visit to the Mujer Emprende program and public hours. I was able to become the first customer for the Mujer Emprende program when I bought one of the dolls they have been working to make for my doll-collecting grandmother! The goal of the program is to teach the women handicraft and business skills so that they can eventually raise enough money to start their own small business together. It's an amazing program and I was happy to help start it off! 

After two finals and a paper due Thursday, I came home and went to bed before 6 p.m. Yes, I am 97 years old. It was fantastic. 

On Friday morning, Martha and I taught our last computer class! We taught the kids internet research and note-taking skills this week and it was awesome to see how much some of them have learned. It was a holiday so we didn't get to teach English this week, but received some wonderful (and gigantic!) thank-you notes from the kids we have been working with at Buena Esperanza! I was sad to say goodbye to Villa El Salvador-- it's been such a good experience working with Building Dignity and learning about the people of this amazing sand dune city. 

Friday afternoon my host aunt decided to take me to La Punta-- a historic neighborhood in Callao that is basically the furthest tip of Lima into the ocean. My two aunts came with and we walked around the area, seeing the ocean from both sides! It was pretty and so nice to spend a little more time with the people who have become my second family. 

In the evening, Ava and her visiting Guatemalan boyfriend were kind enough to host a bbq at their hostel! I have not eaten a burger in ages, but it tasted strangely delicious last night! Sitting out on the rooftop laughing with friends and listening to a guitar-- this is what I'm going to miss. I have made some of the most amazing friends here and I can only hope our mutual wanderlust will help us cross paths in the near future! 

And today... today I jumped off a cliff and learned to fly. I had planned a studious day and was diligently working when Ava called to let me know that it was not entirely cloudy and that the paragliders were active! I had almost given up on this Peruvian goal thanks to uncooperative winds, but as soon as she called I hopped in a taxi and headed to the cliffs! I thought I would be at least a teensy bit scared as I jumped off 150 foot cliffs with only a parachute and an instructor to keep me from plummeting to the ground, but instead I felt weightless. Peaceful. Joyful. The view was to die for-- the city stretching out in one direction, the sea in another-- but what was most amazing about this experience was just the pure joy of it! It was a wonderful, wonderful way to say goodbye to my temporary home, to conquer a fear, and to fulfill a childhood dream. So yes, Peter Pan, I can fly :) 

How Lucky

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. -- Winne the Pooh 

Done with classes. Done with finals. Done with volunteering in Villa El Salvador. Done with group outings. Done with the lavanderia and the fotocopiadora (no tears there!) Done with Lima. 

Wow.

I am so sad to go, and so happy to return home. Such conflicting emotions, but overall I am just so GRATEFUL that I have had this wonderful, amazing, big, fat experience. So grateful that I've gotten to know some of the most amazing people ever and some of the most beautiful places in the world. So grateful to be reminded what adventuring feels like and why I'm here. So grateful that I have a loving family to return to and a loving family to leave behind. 

And, of course, so grateful I have a chance to see these wonderful girls before I go! 

Enjoying the Journey

It happens all the time.

Curiosities become obsessions.

Outings become overnighters.

Pastimes become passions.

This is how journeys begin. 

The last few weeks of my study abroad program are speeding by at lightening speed and it’s very bittersweet! I’m getting so excited to see my family, Andy, and my friends from home, to eat some good U.S. food, and to sleep in my own bed! However, I am going to miss Peru, all the adventures available here, and the amazing people I’ve gotten to know SO MUCH! While I’ve loved getting to know 14 other students from 14 different universities and from all over the U.S., it’s sad knowing we won’t all be in the same place anytime soon!

Besides preparing for the upcoming goodbyes, I’ve been busily exploring a bit more of Peru. A couple of weekends ago, I headed to Iquitos, a city located deep in the Amazon rainforest and completely unreachable by car! We arrived on a Friday morning after a very early flight, drove through the city and then took a boat out to reach our lodge! We got to see the point where the Amazon River meets up with the River Nane—you can actually see a dividing line between the black Nane and the muddy, brown Amazon. Our lodge was very far-removed from anything and we lucked out as the only guests for the weekend! Our tour guide and friends were really nice and helpful all weekend. We really couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

We did all kinds of different things over the course of the weekend. We hiked through the muddy jungle learning about different medicinal and edible plants, got to hold a sloth and wrap an anaconda around our necks, went fishing for piranhas, did a nightwalk through the jungle where we saw lots of spiders and the largest species of frog in the world, visited a few small river towns where we met local kids and went swimming in a backyard creek, saw both a gray and a pink river dolphin, went on several boat rides, saw an electric eel, went swimming in the Amazon, saw the largest lily pads in the world, and visited and danced with the nearby Bora tribe! It was that busy and that awesome!

After returning from that crazy weekend, I had a typical week of school and volunteering. I spent Wednesday night and all day Thursday doing interviews for my final projects and my honors thesis back home! It was really interesting to talk to the women of Villa El Salvador, learning more about their lives and the amazing things many of them have been able to do. Some of the women are single mothers working to support their children, many participate in local organizations, and several have served as leaders in their community helping to establish this city built through land invasions and pure determination.

On Friday, the whole IFSA-Butler group headed to El Carmen near Chincha in Ica. The weekend was really relaxing and it was great to spend some more time with the whole group. We ate some good food, went swimming in the pool, played with a couple of friendly dogs, learned to play the cajones (traditional afro-peruvian drums made out of wooden boxes), attemped to learn some afro-peruvian dances, and spent some time talking about our return to the U.S. and reminiscing on the amazing semester we have had. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was sitting in a circle sharing good memories and kind thoughts about each person. It was a nice opportunity to tell all of my group members how much they have meant to me and it was also nice to hear what others thought about me—some things that I have heard before and others that are ways in which I have changed over the course of the semester.

Now I’m back in Lima for my last week of classes! Starting to feel a little stressed because in the next eleven days I have to do: 3 final exams, 3 final papers, and a final presentation. Yikes! But there are also lots of fun things on the horizon: goodbye celebrations this weekend, the Inti Raymi festival, and heading back to Pampamarca, Cusco to visit my favorite little girls at the Casa Hogar María de Nazaret! Still so many amazing experiences to add to a very, very full semester! I can’t believe it’s almost over, but I also know it’s a semester I will never forget! 

Heartbreaking Happiness

"...broke his heart again and again with happiness..." -- the novel Divisiadero by Michael Ondaatje

I am obviously not much of a blogger-- it's been awhile! A lot has happened over the last few weeks! First, I spent a couple weeks and one weekend in Lima. It was a busy time with midterms, volunteering, a half-marathon, and a birthday party with my friends! The half-marathon was half-fun and half-pain as my right knee seemed to quit on me at about kilometer 13 of 21. Luckily, I still managed to finish in under 2 hours and James and Ava were waiting for me at the finish line! I recovered that evening by going out for an "early-birthday/post-half marathon/engagement celebration ice cream crawl" with most of the IFSA group! Ice cream seems to make everything better :) 

On Friday, May 25, Ava and I headed to the little town of Yantaló in the Peruvian Amazon. We spent 8 days in Yantaló doing volunteer work and getting to know the people who live there. I primarily helped with computer and English classes, spending a bit of time helping with the construction of a new clinic and organizing patient histories in the current clinic as well. 

Helping with a 3rd grade English class! 

The new clinic that's being built. 

On Saturday, we went to an orchid nursery, thermal baths, a karaoke bar, and a discoteca in Moyobamba to celebrate my birthday! It was a great time-- a good mix of Americanisms (singing "Party in the USA" at the karaoke bar was a highlight) and meeting new Peruvian friends and, attempting, to learn more salsa! The rest of the week we spent in the quiet little town of Yantaló-- volunteering, running on dirt roads, playing with the kids, reading, and journalling. I don't think I realized how much I needed the fresh air and quiet time to just think! 

Some of the things I thought about during our week in Yantaló were: 

• As we have talked about 8 zillion times in my international development classes, it's soooo important to actually ask the people living in a place what they need before trying to implement something! I don't think that idea hit home for me (it just seemed kind of common sense) until I saw some of what they were doing in Yantaló. None of what the foundation was doing was bad, but most of the people actually living in Yantaló would probably have chosen to have a well-stocked supply of medicine, a functional infant incubator, or new supplies at the school rather than a fancy new clinic specializing in neonatal medicine. With some carefully asked questions, the money and effort that the foundation has could maybe be used more effectively. 
• I would really like to learn some more practical skills that I can use to help in places like Yantaló. I enjoy teaching, but I would also love to learn some handyman skills or something else so that I could help out in other ways! 
• I am without any doubt a country girl!
• How little things or money count towards my happiness. I mean, sure they count a little, but being in a place with fresh air, sunshine, green fields, and smiling kids made me about as happy as I could possibly be. And the people in Yantaló (and countless other places the world over) manage to be so happy with so little. I think we sometimes assume that MORE will make us happier, but I don't think it usually works that way. 
• Observing and helping teach the English classes in Yantaló as compared to Villa El Salvador was really interesting! The teacher in Yantaló was much, much better and I learned a lot of great techniques from him! 
• Just thinking about the whole idea of privilege. I am so very privileged to be able to travel and take photos and skip classes for a week to volunteer. I need to always keep in mind how lucky I am! 
• It was a little strange to read through the volunteer journal in Yantaló and see how much people idealize and stereotype the people of Yantaló as well. Don't get me wrong, I met some amazing people and some wonderful kids on my trip! But many people used words like "innocent" and "pure" to describe people in Yantaló and, while it may be true of some of the people there, I think it's important to realize that there is good and bad and everything in between in just about every place on this planet. One of the biggest things I've realized in my traveling is how inherently similar people are despite our many differences. There are drunks, abusive parents, bad teachers, thieves, and liars in Yantaló just like there are in Lima and just like there are in the U.S. There are also happy kids, helpful strangers, and people with big hearts all over the world. I think stereotypes just lead us to ignore the problems that do exist, thereby ignoring potential solutions, and ignore all of our many commonalities-- all the things that make us wonderfully, imperfectly human! 

Yikes! Sorry for such a long one! Like I said, I had a lot of time to think! Since being back, I've had a wonderful birthday party with my host family (including the most delicious triple chocolate cheesecake in the world!), classes, and volunteering. I'm finally about to get into my independent research-- I have interviews set up for next week!-- and am headed to Iquitos in the wee hours of the morning Friday for some more rainforest adventures! It's crazy how fast the end of the semester is creeping up. I only have a few more weeks of classes and am trying to decided how to spend my last free week here in Peru-- deciding between a trek through the deepest canyon in the world or spending some time with those little girls I fell in love with in Pampamarca, Cusco! 

Missing & loving you all lots!