Back to Reality

My bags are packed, I've sipped my last starbucks, nibbled my last pieces of glorious bacon, and said goodbye to my warm shower...Now, it's back to reality for me.

It's always hard to go back to site and having been gone for a fair amount of time, which included seeing all my friends again and my parents, it's going to be about a millon times worse!

My parent's visit was a wonderful way to end it though. I took them through the gamet of Peru starting first in big city Lima at Larcomar. As we overlooked the beautiful Pacific ocean and sipping on our second Starbucks, I had to remind them "This isn't Peru." Far from it, actually.

For their first trip to Peru, I really wanted them to see the Peru that I see, which is why we were making the long and trechorous journey up north to Cajamarca, where you get away from the tourists and into the heart of Peru. What I learned though is that Peruvian transportation, while not so bad, is definitely not made for my 6 foot 5 giant of a father. But he was a good sport, and went along with the ever-lacking leg room. All apart of the adventure right?

After a Peruvian version of "Planes, trains, and automobiles" (In this case, Planes, buses, and moto-taxis), we made it to my site and was welcomed with open arms from my family and my commmunity. My parents even had the suerte to witness a real peruvian party complete with cuy and papas, music so loud you can't talk, awkward dancing, and warm beer. It was one of my neighborhood girl's quincieneras (15th birthday), which is a really big deal in Peru. And by iniviting complete strangers in to their home and feeding them until they can't eat no more, my parents got to witness the warm genorosity of Peruvians, something that I am always grateful for, and also the challenge I have with portion sizes.  It was hard to leave my site, as Peruvians give my mom a good run for their money on "guilt tripping." Many people wanted us to stay for a month...but alas, the trip must continue. We didn't leave empty handed though. My host mom did happen to be sent us away with a few goodies, namely a fried cuy included. To kill a cuy is a pretty big deal, especially since we have so few, so I was really touched.

Next stop on our tour de Peru was Trujillo. We had the option of staying in a traveler's hostel or stay in a nice hotel. At first we were going to go for the hostel and save some centimos for other things, but after the long bus rides and lack of leg room, we opted to go for broke, and stay at the hotel. That was probably the smartest decision we ever made as the hotel was amazing. Carpet? check. Warm showers? check. Chocolates on your pillow?! check, check. It doesn't take much to amaze me these days, but even my parents were impressed. So to celebrate, we had a delicious dinner complemented by my first bottle of real good wine in Peru (Naturally, the wine was from Spain and not Peru.) We did some touristy things (Chan Chan, Caballos de Paso), but mostly just relaxed and got caught up.

Since I was the only one that spoke Spanish, I handled all the travel arrangements, ordering of food, and general know-how of everything...plus I had the added stress of just maneuvrering people who haven't been in Peru as long as I have and teaching them Peruvian customs along the way. So I was starting to think that I would need another vacation from my vacation, but luckily, I got that near the end. But I got good merits from my "travelers," so I suppose if my future grad plans don't pan out, I have the option to become a tour guide.

So like I said before, it's back to reality for me. I've had plenty of time to think about my next plans for my community and I'm ready to hit the ground running. I just hope they remember who I am...