Catching up...

The last few months have been a whirlwind here in Peru. Since November I’ve been traveling a lot and had a the chance to visit the cordillera blanca in Ancash for thanksgiving, then our health group had medical checks so I had a fun week seeing other PCVs and also Peruvian friends in Lima, then I went to the US for Christmas and had such a great,refreshing two weeks with mom, dad, and Jenn along with friends in Utah. All in all, my time at site has been in smaller bits, but I’m a bit relieved to be looking into the month of February and knowing I’ll be keeping it low key between Chota and my site pretty much. I’m craving a bit of routine and a tiny bit of normality after so much traveling. I’ve started to like my days of early morning walks and my Spanish music playlist, visiting the health post, making lunch with friends at site, afternoons watching the rain, playing with my little host bros and writing and then playing volleyball until it gets dark. I guess I’m also hitting that point every PCV does eventually hit sooner or later where you really start to see that there is an end to this 27 month commitment, and my end is 9 months away. I know that’s still a long time, but in comparison to the 16 or so months I’ve been here, not so much.

Coming back to my site this time was a mix of thoughts, mostly about how weird it is that I can live and function decently in two places that are so completely different and even though I had huge tears as we took off from Atlanta, they weren't really sad tears as much as just feeling a mix of being sad I wasn't in Ireland for my grandads funeral and also wondering what I was going to make of these next 9 months because next time I'm back in the US my Peace Corps time will be over. Going back to the states is one big reminder of all the things I've adjusted to here in Peru from being ok with absolutely zero space on sweaty busrides that last an eternity to feeling like every single good cup of coffee is truly a blessing directly from god. Making a decision about where and what to eat was overwhelming, I'd be fine with like 3 simple variations once rice isn't involved..lol.

I didn't feel like I was coming back to a strange or new place anymore at all, Peru even for all of its eccentricities has definitely become a place where I've learned how to function, and don't mind living. In comparison to my site, arriving in central Lima I might as well still be in the states, so its not too big of a shock that way and in the line for customs I ran into 3 other volunteers from my group and we hopped a taxi to the hostal together. I eased into Peru seeing several Peruvian friends for coffee in Miraflores and then headed on up to Cajamarca.