Week 1: Exploration Peru

So, a few things have happened in the last week.

Since honesty is a good place to start, I'll just come right out and tell you that I had Roberto pull over on the way to the airport in Malibu for fresh air to avoid crying, throwing up, or both. But before I knew it, goodbyes were said, bags were checked, and the adventure had begun.

The trip itself was a streamlined blur. It was almost as if getting through security in LAX, changing flights in Panama, watching The Little Mermaid, reading enough of the The Book Thief to realize it required anti-depressants, and passing through customs in Lima was somehow packed into a span of four sleepy hours.

I arrived in Cuzco at dawn. The sun coming up over an aerial view of the snowy Andes mountains was unreal---an official sign I'd arrived to a place like nowhere I'd been before.

My host family consists of a woman and her three sons, all of who are wonderful. They speak almost no English, except for one of the older boys, who knows enough to help me when I'm stuck. So, in-depth conversations are off the table. But we still communicate enough to be acquainted with one another and make small talk at meal times. I will be with them for one month before I relocate to the student dorms.

 

So far I've spent my spare time exploring, horseback riding, making friends, and visiting the textile museum, all of which have been absolutely amazing. After a crazy busy year, though, what I'm currently enjoying the most is the time itself, and the beautiful ability to squander it by kicking it back with a neck pillow, blowing up Roberto's inbox with cat memes until he's wondering why I needed to go to Peru to blow up his inbox with cat memes, and falling asleep with Spotify and earbuds.

I'm loving my Spanish classes. I understand what's going on, and yet I'm challenged. More importantly, our classroom overlooks the city and keeps us supplied with hot tea. Between attending classes, getting around the city, and being with my host family, learning has proved inevitable; I'm already thinking in Spanish! I'm fairly proficient with speaking the present tense---or at least I put it out there like I am---but I look forward to tackle the other tenses soon. As someone who enjoys getting to know people, limited conversation can be frustrating; there's so much I want to ask and understand, I find myself searching for a "Press when you've had enough of the whole language barrier thing" button. But it's all a part of the experience! And an incredible experience it's been and is becoming.

¡Hasta la próxima semana!