A Return to the Land of Eternal Sunshine

After spending the most time that I have spent in a large urban area after leaving New York I'm finally back in the campo. I was in Lima for almost 2 weeks for Mid-service Meetings and Medical Checks! Now I'm in Rinconada Llícuar for just a few days before I head off to Austin for Christmas. In Lima I became a frenetic ditz and frequent Starbucks consumer. I couldn't think straight with all that big city commotion. I was pretty quick back in the Big Apple but, I think that I have been campo-afied over the last year. I can only hope that I will eventually bounce back enought to at least be able to make it in the suburbs. Highlights include a PowerPoint presentation of my work this year, no cavities, and no word on my parasite count yet. I'm deciding to assume that no news is good news. I also spent many an evening catching up until the wee hours of the morning with folks from my training class, listening to live jazz, and learning Lima's public transportation system which is quite the adventure.

I'm not gonna lie. I feel like a slacker heading off to the US in the middle of Peace Corps. I did not plan to return to the States until the end of Peace Corps. It is definitely not hardcore and I sometimes enjoy a fantasy that I am quite hardcore. After all, I do own fleece, Chacos, and a pocket knife now. But, good things happen and so it goes in the USA I'm spending quality time with my grandfather, attending goddaughter's baptism, hanging out with my brothers, spending New Year's with my girls from graduate school aka Las Ladies, stocking up on essentials like cotton undies, and doing some preparation for hiking the Inca Trail with Pragati in May. Wahoo!

In the interim I'm hoping to get my Christmas gifts all sorted out and figure out how to transport an impressive quantity of ceramics from Rinconada to Piura to Guayaquil to Miami to Dallas to Austin. Did I mention it's going to take me 3 days to get there?

Also, my cat is limping all over the place for an unknown reason and my host family has taken to calling him cojido which basically means the gimp... I’m hoping to get a different kitty-sitter for this trip.