Thank you all so much for caring enough to read this and keep updated on my life! Where do I start to explain the last week…
I was just in Mexico for a week spending quality time with my family and celebrating my 22nd birthday. I laid by the pool and talked to Sarah about how weird it was that my mind was on Mexico and had not yet set into “getting ready for Peru” stage. I am here now and it still has not completely hit me yet that I am in Peru for the next 4 months. We returned from Mexico just in time to have my going away party/danny’s graduation party that really was amazing. I know I felt so loved and so supported by everyone there. I was out to dinner with the family the night after and all we could say was how great it went and how everything just flowed so perfectly. People came that I was so excited to get one more goodbye with! My family, family friends, friends, and best friends seriously made me feel so loved. Hanna my best friend from school surprised me with the best gift ever! Herself She flew in from Minnesota to say good bye for reals. It’s amazing how much one more hug really means. Sarah came early to dye my hair for the party, buy last minute things for my trip, and listen to me cry on the phone when I kept breaking down about leaving. Jyll and Pam my second family set up all the tables with perfectly matching table clothes, flowers, and cupcakes! My mom and dad ordered a bomb taco guy and hosted the best going away ever. The moment everyone sang a song to send me on my way then prayed over me was the moment it finally hit me. I was leaving. I started to cry as I looked around the room knowing I was not going alone on this trip. I had 40 people standing there, praying for me, encouraging me, and giving me confidence in myself to take the final step (last minute packing of my suitcase).
After my going away dinner at BLUE AGAVE for the last time (sorry wheel and jonny I had to go once more) with the family, Ayumi, Hanna, Sarah, and Jyll I finished packing my backpack but with the help of Jyllian, the one going over the lists, Sarah the one doing all the things none of us could figure out, and Hanna the one telling me what I actually needed and packing things into little organized bags. Somehow with everything I fit it all in a backpack, roller duffel and 2 carryons.. I managed to only weigh in my back pack at 44 pounds which is a miracle because I have 5 months of stuff in there! Saying good bye at the airport was brutal and I cant wrote much about it because I do not want to get sad.. just know that good byes are so hard for me. I was able to get right on our plane and make a friend within seconds His name was marco and he was from Puerto Rico! We had a blast swapping stories about the island and the places that I was able to visit. We ended up talking 2 hours and watched the movie which allowed me to sleep for 1 hour. I felt like I had only been on the plane 20 minutes when I got off because of the great conversation. The movie was weird and I am usually obsessed with the free movie choice but it was just weird. Marco had an interesting connection to my trip because his girlfriends great great grandfather was the explorer that discovered Machu Picchu! What!! Crazy right.. Ayumi and I arrive in Miami and rush to gate D40 trying to catch Rebecca our friend doing her GLT in Ecuador but our flight had landed to late.. so we ate dinner and tried to get free internet across the airport. We didn’t get internet for long but we made another friend! Diego is from Lima and comes back and forth for work supplies. He ended up hanging out with us for 5 hours while waiting for the plane.. I learned a lot of Peruvian Spanish slang verse Mexican Spanish slang differences while he told us everything to look forward too! I love meeting new people that are just interested in getting to know someone with no time limits. He pointed out a famous Peruvian stage actor and comedian sitting near us who then had to be included in our little group of friends. Picture to come as proof that we met Luis C. Finally after hours we got onto the plane and I got my third good friend of the day! His name was John and he was an art teacher from England living in Philly. We got to swap travel advice and the list of shots we had gotten. He was going to travel in Iquitos (shout out to colin) and I was able to tell him about my awesome friend who somehow got malaria and a broken arm there. He decided to get vitamin B1 pills after that and a yellow fever shot in the airport. It was fun to get some of his excitement about climbing Machu Pichu as well! Well what comes next is arriving in LIMA, PERU!
We made it here! Got to SAM house, a home for Missionaries and short termers to stay. Ayumi and I took a long nap and then headed to the city! We took the long way to the Metro (market/mall), got some pretty good food in a little Peruvian street vender center. It was called Lomo, a steak with rice meal with onions and tomatoes. I ate it! Also drank some bomb tea! It was the only meal we had today because of our awkward sleep schedule but it filled us up for 5 soles, which is 1.80$ so I got a full steak dinner and drink for less than 2 dollars! We realized how bad our Spanish really is and came home to practice. It has been nice to spend the rest of the day relaxing. We were able to skype with Liz our LA Term buddy and Rebs and Ali in Ecuador! It really set in how far we are away from everyone when rebs and ali are the closest to us. Now were waiting on the arrival of my host family here at the house hoping the will take us around Lima tomorrow! I think these next 3 days before we fly to Pucallpa, I will have internet and would love to skype or email! My email is molivier09@apu.edu and my skype is themichellerenee so please talk to me! Send me your address in an email if you want to be pen pals as well! I love you all and I cant wait to give you my next adventure updates! Thanks for caring enough to read this really long update!
