Arriving in Peru and Touring the Neighborhood

November 13, 2014

I mentioned in my last post that I was a little concerned about the Peruvian authorities letting me into the country. It was a legit concern that I wasn't aware should have been a concern until I was about 2 hours from departing Miami. The agent at the check-in desk was very adament about me having proof of my return to the United States. I told her I didn't have proof but that I planned to leave Peru in 90 days (that's how long I thought was legal to stay on a passport visa). She gave me my boarding pass but I then spent the next 2 hours googling all the info I could on customs and entering Peru without a visa. I sent Sr. Connie (who was to pick me up from airport) an email telling her if I didn't exit, I was probably stuck in customs. She put together a sponsorship letter and had all sisters praying for my smooth entry to the country. To the point: It was not even worth the worry. The border control agent asked me how long I planned to stay in Peru. I asked him how long I could stay. He asked me again how long I wanted to stay. I said 90 days again. THEN he told me I could stay up to 183 days. He again asked if I wanted to stay 90 days and I said if I could, I'd prefer to stay the entire 183 days. He wrote 183 days on a tiny slip of paper and told me not to lose it. And that's all on that note!

Today was such a nice day. The sisters are reallly allowing me to just soak in life as a tourist right now and I can't complain. I slept in this morning and had a nice breakfast and tea on the patio. 

After breakfast, Sr. Rosie (she has to be at least 75 years old) took me on a couple hour walk around the neighborhood. She is born and raised in Lima and had so much to share. We walked all the way to the ocean and back through the slightly dangerous neighborhood. It's not a neighborhood I'll go through again solo but I was safe with Sr. Rosie :) 

We came home and Sr. Helen prepared us a nice lunch of beef shepherds' pie. After lunch, we had some exciting visitors disguised as city water line workers. Good story that added a bit of drama to our day. Add to my list of stories to tell you someday, but I'm not gonna type that one up ;)

Let's see....after lunch, Sr. Rosie took me on a bus trip to La Punta. It's a tiny little peninsula completely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. It is a neighborhood significantly better off than where I'm living now. Just a 20 minute bus ride away. While our house is protected with an electric fence, there they are iron gates and beautiful historic homes. The bus ride was quite a trip. Some of the buses/large vans look like they're straight out of the 70's while others could probably pass for the 90's. On the trip to La Punta and back home, loud techno or mariachi type music blared from the bus speakers. Each bus had a driver and a money collector who seemed to be half hanging out the door most the time and as we'd approach our stop he'd yell really loud for everyone to hear where we were headed. Sooo different than my Spanish bus experience with the built in wifi on the bus! 

Sister and I walked quite a while (let me say again, Sr. Rosie is pretty amazing!) and near the end of our tour stopped at a little cafe/restaurante. Thanks to my good friend Katie, I was prepared for what came next. There was a huge bowl of skewered cow hearts covered in some red sauce that were beckoning to Sister. I'd heard of these "anticuchos" but was pretty decided not to try one. Sister said, "You don't have to try them, but I'll order 2 just in case you change your mind." Well, I've never really been one to be a picky eater. After Sister took the first bite and assured me they were good, I ate grilled cow heart for the very first time. I honestly have to say, it was really good! I ignored the massive amounts of bacteria that were likely growing on the meat since it'd probably been sitting out for a while, and 4 hours later, no symptoms of food poisoning. And, I'd definitely try it again. Just in case I didn't like the heart, Sister also ordered a side of picarones. Fried sweet doughy things smothered in a honey sauce. So much for losing weight in Peru! Oh and the crazy part? All this food for just 12 soles ($4.09)!

Off in the distance you can see the mountains. It's a little island (i think de Lorenzo) and apparently there used to be a prison on one of them. kinda like alcatraz, right? ;) 

The bucket of raw, unrefrigerated, skewered cow heart:

Sr. Rosie inspecting the anticucho before taking the first bite:

Picarones....with plenty of extra honey to dip them in:

Finished off our walk by the sea to these birds. Thousands of them sitting on the bank and something scared them. They filled the sky and it was just beautiful...picture doesn't do it justice. Just a memory for me...

If you read this whole thing, I'm impressed. It's more of a journal for me but I want it to be available for family and friends to follow my journey too. I don't expect most of my posts to be this long either. There is just so much to see this week! 

A short glimpse of my thoughts

Nov. 12, 2014

Window seat. 38, 000 feet. Beautiful ocean below. Headed south. How did I get here? Trying to remember all the details of what brought me to this very moment. It's been a desire of my heart since nursing school, and I knew that going to Spain 2 years ago was just the start. Yet, now that the time for me to go abroad is here once again, I have so many mixed emotions.

The past few days have been so much more emotional than I had imagined them to be. I kept myself busy over the last month between moving, studying (spanish) and travelling, so that when anyone asked me how I felt about the move, I really didn't know what to say. It seemed so far away. Well it's here now. Scared that maybe I should have gotten a Visa....Will the Peruvian authorities let me in? The check in lady questioned me and said I needed a return ticket (which I don't have yet) and said it was very necessary. Yet, she gave me the boarding pass anyway. Hoping the folks in Peru won't mind too much! I fear that something may happen to me or my family and I won't be close to them. I'm excited to have the opportunity to help others in a capacity I never have before, to live amongst some very joyful religious sisters, and selfishly, to speak Spanish on a daily basis. But, the nerves come and go. When I think about all I'm leaving (even though it's only temporary) it makes me sad. I suppose I would be more worried if I wasn't sad. I'm not running from anything. I'm running towards something I've always wanted and it just so happens it's in the opposite direction of everything good I have in my life now. I don't think that's a bad thing though. Despite all the emotions I'm feeling, I know this is what I should be doing right now. I feel at peace with this decision. I'm excited about the possibilities this one little choice in my life may bring to me. 

Each time over the last few days that I felt a little overwhelmed with everything, I remembered cousin Heather's story about walking down the aisle on her wedding day. It's easy to get wrapped up in everything we have to do to prepare for something big in our lives and when the big event finally arrives, it's hard to breathe. As Uncle Frank told Heather right before she walked down the aisle and I've told myself a hundred times these last few days..."Can you still wiggle your toes? Then it's going to be ok." 

Wiggle my toes, wiggling my toes, make those toes make me wiggle my way a delante. Here's to not knowing what my future holds!

Hiking in Estes Park

Found some wildlife around the house this morning: 

Group shot at Bear Lake with Mt. Hallet in the background. We finished hiking about 3 hours after this shot. 

View from the top of Alberta Falls. 

Sun setting way too early (darn day light savings!) 

Finished the night off with a long game of Heads-Up and pizza. I'm exhausted. 

Oh how i love the mountains.....

Friend trip 2014. I hope to not forget how much I love the mountains. Such peace and beauty here. So happy here. 

The view out my window this morning:

Anxiously awaiting breakfast, prepared by the Leshs. 

Movin' on...

On September 30th, 2013, I worked my very first shift at Wesley Medical Center. Offered a position in labor and delivery (somewhere I'd always wanted to work), I was very excited about all the women I would get to help and all the births I would get to witness. It took me at least a good six months to get to the point that I felt like I knew what I was doing. I remember saying to friends how much I was looking forward to when I felt comfortable with what I was doing and could actually enjoy that special miracle moment of birth that I was allowed to be a part of so often. 1 year later, I can honestly say that most of the time I feel comfortable with what I'm doing and thank God every time I get to witness another miracle. 

On May 8th, just 7 months later, I received a message from Sr. Claire asking me if I would be interested in joining the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary (or Marists) as a volunteer in 

Peru. I talked with Sister over skype and prayed about it a lot. To anyone who has known me over the years, it's no secret that mission work has always been a dream of mine. I got the idea long before nursing school. Going to Spain in September of 2012 was always (in my mind) a first step so that I could later serve others in a Spanish speaking country. No matter how much I tried to convince myself I shouldn't go, I continued to feel a peace that this was what I had been waiting for and it was God's will.  

My mind tells me this is an irresponsible thing to do. I've only been at Wesley for a year. I still have so much to learn. I could save up money so I don't ever have to be a beggar. We are super short staffed and there seems to be an all time high amount of women pregnant in Wichita. I have so many friends and family here that I will miss so much. And when I come back, things will be different. But, then I pray about it and remember why I started looking into this in the beginning. My heart wants to make a difference for others...for those most in need. I often feel like I'm just spinning my wheels and I wonder if I could better serve others and find my purpose in life elsewhere. 

I wish I could say that I hate what I'm doing and that this was an easy decision for me. But, it's not so. I worked my last night at Wesley LDR. I am so glad I've had this experience. There were a few shifts that I was running and so stressed all night, that I wondered why the heck I was doing it. But, overall, it has been the most rewarding job I've had yet. I work with some of the best nurses I know and they are so good at what they do. They have taught me so much. They have all been so supportive in my decision to leave, even though I feel terrible about abandoning them now. Leaving early this a.m. was weird. It seems like I'll be back, but I honestly have no idea what the future has in store for me. (except for a bunch of empty boxes that need to be packed for the movers in the next 80 hours!) 

I sometimes wish I could just get a quick glance at my life and what is going to happen! 

"Now I'm old and feeling grey. I don't know what's left to say about this life I'm willing to leave. I lived it full and I lived it well, there's many tales I've lived to tell. I'm ready now to fly from the highest wing." ~Priscilla Ahn

Full days in London:

Around 10am this morning (Saturday), Ana and I started our tour of London. Plan being to see as much or little as we wanted before we got too tired.

First stop, we took the tube from Leicester station to Camden Market. I'd heard of Camden market and was told it was pretty impressive, but I had no idea what to expect. Wow.

Overlooking Camden Market:

Random guy that walked by and has made a classic photo bomb:

Walking through Camden Market:

 

We started out with an overpriced latte from Starbucks. But that's a moot point, everything is so expensive in London. Luckily, I can't convert pounds to dollars too quickly, so I didn't have to constantly think about how much I was spending. Camden Market is huge. I felt like it was a maze of shops. Everything from handmade jewelry, soaps, candles, clothes, cards, and international food courts. I mean, we had so many options for lunch...gyros, Spanish tapas, Vietnamese, Indian curry dishes..everything! I wanted to buy so much, but ended up just buying a leather coin purse and a couple hippie looking headbands. It was a rainy day, but just kinda off and on, we never really got poured on and I never even caved and bought an umbrella. 

We had lunch at Camden and hopped on the metro for London bridge. Pretty impressive too! We walked along the pier and got some neat pics with the bridge in the background.

So many selfies....

London Bridge: did it fall down or something? Where's the song come from? hmmm....

Well this pic seemed like a good idea at the time....

 We crossed the bridge and went to a little dock called St. Katherine (I think)...."little" I say. But this dock had some expensive boats and you could tell it was a place for the rich folk. Next stop was London tower.

We thought these flowers were pretty:

The cute little book bench by London Tower:

I'm sure we were looking at something really cool....or this might be completely posed:

And with evening approaching, we took the metro to our last stop: Notting Hill. Seriously an adorable little neighborhood. We went to mass at a little church and just enjoyed looking at all the quaint little houses. We found the famous bookstore from the movie "notting hill" and searched for a good hour or two for the famous blue door house. Apparently we found it, but I didn't even bother to take a pic as it was NOT what I remembered from the movie! I also wanted to visit the park from the movie. But by the time we found the door it was getting dark and the locals told us the park was in the part of town "with black people and not nice black people"...idk. I don't think they were racist but I also got the impression it wasn't a good neighborhood for two girls to wander into alone. Especially at night. So we found a nice fish and chips restaurant. Had ourselves some nice typical English fish and chips and headed back for London.

St. Francis church in notting hill:

A random door on the streets of Notting Hill. These homes were ridiculously priced!

 My hair kinda looks long here...surprised me..

 Again...so. many. selfies:

There you have it...the whole reason for the trip to Notting Hill: the famous bookshop from the movie!

 Ana was up for seeing more, but I was honestly exhausted and our only option seemed to be overpriced clubs and overpriced drinks. I compare London to New York except shops stay open longer in NYC. Everything minus the bars seemed to be closed after 10. We went back to Ana's apartment and stayed up talking till the sun started to brighten the sky. Seriously, weird, but the sun sets super late (like 10p) in London and rises super early (like 4-5am)! We slept till 10 the next morning, had ourselves a nice breakfast at cafe Nero, bought some typical British snacks at Tesco's, and I was back on the tube by 1:00, en route hasta la Coruña! 

 

 

I had so much fun in London with Ana! She was a great guide and a great friend and I can't wait to visit her again...although next time she'll be back in Murcia. (We think!)

Last day in La Coruña:

Exhausted. Seems that has been a reoccurring feeling on this trip, but I promise it's a good exhaustion. 

Up and showered by 10am today. Cafe and a piece of toast. To Gadis supermarket with the girls to buy fajita stuff for lunch. Then shopping with Jose padre and Mimi for wine to bring back home. We bought 5 bottles of wine typical from Galicia and Rioja. I'd tried a few of them and trust Jose's opinion on the others. I came home and helped Chantell finish up with lunch and had a beer or two ;) We had a great chicken fajita lunch and then headed out again to buy cafeteras. The typical Spanish (actually Italian I think) stove top coffee makers. Jose bought me 2 cafeteras, one for me and ind for my mom and Chantell got me a bag of haribo candies. She was shocked that I wasn't familiar with this brand of German candy! They are all too good to me. Jose insisted that I didn't pay and gifted me all this wine and coffee makers and gosh, they're just too good to me. 

Chantell and Loreto cooking lunch: 

Blue skies..finally! 

A few hours before I had to leave, the sun decided to come out. I had my bag all packed. FULL with wine and such (as I've told you!) so I rolled up my jeans and went for a walk on the beach. (Rather than unpacking to find my swim suits) I stayed on the beach for a little less than an hour and took in as much of the sun and waves as I could. Oh how I love the beach! It was so nice. I hate that I didn't have better weather while I was there the last few days, but just that hour of time on the beach today was ahhhhh. So nice. I returned home, had some tarta de mocha, relaxed for a few minutes with the kiddos on the couch, said my hasta luegos and went to meet my Blablacar driver. 6 hours, 4 guys and me, Spanish only, Volvo all-terrain, and exhaustion. Flight leaves Madrid at 11:50 tomorrow and I plan to sleep all day Friday (I'll return late Thursday night)  madre Mia! What a trip!! 

Could have stood here for hours....