72%

December 8th, 2018

I’m writing this from the top of the Pinkylluna ruins in Ollantaytambo, Peru. I live here. I left my house around 9:15 am, arrived to the entrance of the ruins at 9:20 am and by 9:30 am I had escalated and found a seat with a view. This is my favorite place in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The fresh air, the challenge, the point of view, it makes everything that happens down below feel so small. Trickles on raindrops are falling from the clouds overhead and I couldn’t be more happy to be here. 

From Lima to Ayacucho to Hualla and Sacsamarca, Cusco, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Aguas Calientes, Puno, Arequipa, Iquitos, Marcapata and so many other places in Peru along the way, I’ve found a home here in this beautiful country. 

Back in April of 2017 a friend from Lima suggested I look at a job application for a non-profit organization based in Peru. Unemployed, and seeking adventure and some stability, I applied.

By early June I had interviewed twice, amidst a pool of other ongoing applications to various global organizations, been offered the position, accepted the position and packed up my entire life to move to a country, hell a continent I had never set foot on. While I can’t actually credit it for being the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, it might have been the craziest. 

A year and a half later and I’m the happiest I’ve been in my adult life. 

Living in Peru has given me so much. Freedom, adventure, challenges, sickness, strength, bravery, courage, joy, laughter, loneliness, friendship, frustration, inspiration, but my favorite thing it has given me is a home. I doubt many people climb Pinkylluna and shed tears at the top recounting their Peruvian experiences and yet I find myself always in a hyper aware sense of appreciation every time. 

How did I get so lucky for this life to be mine? 

It has been one year and a half, since that first 2 am arrival in Lima. One year and a half since I set foot in Peru for the very first time and called it an adventure, an adventure that turned into a way of life, an identity, a home. While I will likely never have the honor of being a citizen of this country I have been blessed with the extreme privilege to call this land my home, to explore, and learn, and grow here. I will forever be indebted to this sacred land for all I have learned here. As cliche as it is to say it, a year and a half later, and I’m not the same person I was before Peru. And I never will be. And I’m grateful for that. I’m stronger now, braver now, happier now, healthier now. 

While my original plan was to only stay in Peru until January 5th, 2019, I will officially be (planning on) staying in Ollantaytambo until July 5th, 2019. For now my hopes and dreams include traveling around South America a bit in July and possibly August, before heading back to the United States. I’m dreaming up some dreams for September but unsure where they will take me so far. 

Below was the day I finally made the decision for myself about leaving Peru, while I wasn’t quite ready to share it then, here it is now. 

— October 21st, 2018:

“I haven’t blogged in so long and for that I am sorry.

I’ve been so busy figuring it all life, tasting it, exploring it, truly feeling what this all is about. I have so many topics I’ve neglected and meant to reflect on. I hope one day I will. My experiences as an immigrant, and what applying for legal residency and a work visa looked like. Side-hussling in the jungle. Lima and more lima. Work. Life in Ollanta. New friends. Work achievements. Learning to knit. Bolivian salt flats and small towns. Visits with family. Adventures. 

The real reason I haven’t been able to stomach writing for a while now, is that I have been facing a gut wrenching decision of whether or not I will be staying in Peru for a third year or moving on to my next big adventure. Few things in my life have ever caused me such distress. My heart is breaking. I’ve lost sleep, and shed many tears as I do not even know how to begin making this decision. I’m terrified still to this very moment that I am making this decision based off of how I know others feel about it. Horrified is perhaps more like it. 

Im writing this with sweaty palms and a nauseous stomach. 

I will be leaving Peru in July of 2019 in search of my next step. 

It makes me so sad just to admit that to myself. But it is time. I have learned so much from Peru I will forever love this land as a home.”

I love you Perú so much. Thank you for everything. I’m so glad I have seven more glorious months to call you home and cherish everything about you. I can’t believe I have 18 months behind me and only 7 to go... time is moving too quickly. 72% done, 28% ahead of me, adventures awaiting. 

(More blogs to come of past South American adventures, sorry for the lack of posts the last six months... been too busy living my Peruvian life... oh and more photos!)

Fie, Melissa, me, and Mollie at one of the artisans we work with, Virginia's wedding, a few months ago, enjoying the confetti everywhere.