Happy Anniversary!

Ayillanchu.



Happy anniversary! I have officially spent one entire amazing year living in this beautiful land we call Peru. I can hardly believe it.

It has flown. Perhaps the quickest year of my life so far. Perhaps the slowest, but honestly I think maybe the fastest. 

Time is so odd. You change and grow and learn and become someone new everyday. 

I have less than 400 days left living in this beautiful country. I’m beginning to think- do I really have to go? The answer is likely no, I don’t have to, which I already know is going to make leaving that much harder. 757 days total, and 366 days have just disappeared. 

Couldn’t life just hold off one year more? Oh how I wish. Maybe it can. I guess I don’t know for sure just yet. 

I went home in May for the first time in over 11 months. Nothing had changed and everything was magnificently lovely. From the friends I got to see and catch up with to the time spent with my family and pups. 

I blubbered like an absolute baby when I first saw my dogs. 

I went shopping and paddle boarding and kayaking and I ate absolutely everything I could possibly fit into my stomach. I watched tv and snuggled my pups and ate some more. And I got to just talk and hang out with my favorite people on planet earth. How lucky. 

Perhaps the best part was that leaving didn’t feel so bad at all. 

Sad of course as always, but also, nothing at all like the trauma of last summer. No plans in sight of when I’d see them next, no clue of what lay ahead of me. This time was much different. I had a home and a job and a community waiting for my return. People I love and places I love and things I love to do. I had adventures and plans awaiting me, and I was happy that this part of my life wasn’t yet over. I was excited to smell the nightshades as I passed through the garden on my way home from work, and to see the stars as I’ve never seen them before, bright as ever thanks to the clear mountain air. I was excited to come back and speak Quechua and Spanish and shop for potatoes and mangoes at the market. I love my home. 

You know those moments in life when everything is so insanely good that it makes you want to well up full of overwhelming joy? I’ve been having a lot of those. I cried my entire way leaving Peru, excited to go home to the states but so incredibly happy to have this to come back to. Sad even to leave Peru even just for a week. I cried while I was home in moments of overwhelming joy like when my big sister surprised me by taking the day off and being at the airport with my parents to pick me up. I’m not sure I’ll ever stop crying remembering that moment. An extra day with her means so much. I’ve cried full of gratitude returning to Peru. Getting to explain to the immigration officer I’d soon be starting my application for residency. Knowing my way around and getting to come “home” and unpack all my goodies and snacks. I just am the luckiest person alive. The luckiest. The absolute luckiest. 

There’s so much going on I wish I could give all the updates. To start: I’ve been part time “employed” again by the same company I worked for last year back in the states to help manage a university group of student studying in Iquitos, Peru. I will be heading to Iquitos the first week of July to oversee their trip, and I’m actually surprisingly excited to be using my vacation days to go work some more. But as I’m always saving up for my next adventure, can’t help but side hustle anyway I can! 

Fingers crossed my sister and her best friend will be able to come visit this summer and we’ll be able to have adventures of our own together! Updates surely to come! 

I ran into my host sister Janis for the third time in less than a week yesterday, after going several without seeing her at all. She gasped the sweetest eight-year-old gasp and said "Brianna!" with such glee I could've cried. Things like that remind me that I belong here, I have made the most magical home here. After asking her what flavor popsicle she had (strawberry), and if she was going home to study (of course!), we headed our separate ways, hearts full with the little hugs and kisses of sisterhood we could provide each other. (My other host sister Alexandra moved to Cusco a couple months ago for school, and my sister lives in the US, so I like to think Janis and I value seeing and having each other, even just for a quick 'hello', even more for that reason). 

For now I’m trudging through tons of work, reading, cooking the best meals I can, and getting to know the people around me. Mango smoothies everyday, and dirt on every square inch of my clothing. 

Cusco adventures, Urubamba shopping, and Ollantaytambo as my home, Huilloc, Patacancha, Kelkanka as my grounding force, I know why I’m here. 

Sweet, sweet, Peru, I love you. Thank you for one of the most challenging and definitely one of the most rewarding years of my entire life. I’m a different, stronger, and I like to think better person now. I’m so happy we have one more to spend together. 

AƱay. (Thank you). Por todo. (For everything). I love you.


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