And I just got back from Lima

And I just got back from lima. I have a love hate relationship with lima. I hate it when I arrive and then after a few days I don’t want to leave. I guess it’s a little similar with site. After being here for a while. I don’t want to leave and then when I do leave for a few days, I am totally okay with not going back for a few more.

But I came back late last night after lots of long bus rides with some much better than others. I went with a fellow Peruvian that I hadn’t met until two days before our departure date but she ended up being great. We went for a project design and management workshop- basically learning how to make super projects that work and are sustainable. I definitely needed this because I felt like the last few weeks I had spent running around with my head cut off. So Jacky (my peruvian friend) and I designed a boiling water project- nothing too extreme, just well put-together. But that’s besides the point.

The interesting part of my trip to Lima was me going to visit my host family after six months and some of life without Pilli or Jeremy. The thing was, I lost my cell phone last week and therefore lost my host family’s phone number. So, I showed up randomly on Monday night- knocking on the door. Talk about a weird feeling… everything looked the same, everybody looked the same and the house still smelled the same. It was pretty cute to see my “grandparents” get really excited to see me and I felt loved. My little cousin Kayla came over and asked me where I had been the past six months and was still wearing the same sweater I left her in six months ago. Unfortunately, Jeremy was asleep in his own house down the street so I didn’t get to see the bugger but I did see Rebecca (host mom), my two host sisters, my host uncle, my host grandparents and Kayla. I ate some corn with queso fresco and explained my life living as a Tumbesino up north. The two hours I spent there passed like seconds.

The only piece of bad news I have is regarding Pilli. Of course, I grew to love that dog a lot, and so asked about her whenever anyone from Tres de Octubre called. But when I asked about her this time, she was nowhere to be found. Saturlina (my host grandmom/ Pilli’s mom) told me Pilli had gotten sick developed a lump or something on her neck and is now living with someone in another neighborhood. Kayla then added that Saturlina KICKED Pilli out. I don’t know what or who to believe, but I do know that Pilli while under the care of a stranger, is alive and I guess that’s all that matters. But I was sad nonetheless.

I would probably say the weirdest part of that whole trip was using the bathroom again. As I entered, de ja vú kicked in to like, the millionth degree and I remembered how many pain-full hours I spent in there. I’m telling you, if I had a few more episodes like the ones I had in that bathroom, I would not be in the Peru anymore.

So that basically concludes my trip to Tres de Octubre; it made me sad to walk out but I don’t know why- I saw a little old lady on my way out, who used to wash Abby’s clothes up the street and she remembered me even though I think I only said hello to her three times in total. She asked about me, about Abby and if we missed Tres. I don’t know if she knew that Abby left but I told her she was good nevertheless.

On Thursday afternoon while waiting for my bus back north, I went to visit the Catacombs at the Iglesia San Fransisco in downtown Lima. I highly recommend them. I think the tour was 45 minutes at max but walking underground to see open tombs full of skulls that are 40 feet deep is sooooooo creepy and the underground passageways themselves could have been the set for any horror movie. But the history behind them (which I don’t feel like going into) is pretty neat and twisted in a sort of cultish kind of way. Yeah.

So as I’m writing this blog, I am back in San Juan- the heat hit me like a ton of bricks when I walked of the bus, but I’m happy to be home. I’m going to visit the Mangroves on Tuesday, which is super exciting and I’m surprised I haven’t been there yet (they’re only a half hour away). But there known through all of Peru, so hopefully they won’t let me down. See you folks.

Day count: 249 days in Peru
Días hasta cuando regreso: 19