Yeah, so that goal of mine....

...to write every three days. That obviously did not happen. Sorry about that, guys! Life seems to be getting in the way of me blogging about it these days! I will try to be better, as I always say.

Right now, I´m in Lima, the huge, freezing, overpriced though impoverished capital of Peru for Peru 14's Close of Service Conference and medchecks! Conference finished yesterday and medchecks start on Monday. Just another step to finishing up service and coming home!

The first day of the conference was a bit bittersweet. As soon as Kathy, our Training Director, started off by saying, "Well, it was almost exactly two years ago that we first met here, and you all had just walked off an excruciatingly long day of traveling," I got a little nostalgic! Two years, while to me it has felt like nothing and a whole lot of time, is really quite a significant amount of time! Since I´ve been gone, friends have gotten married, a few have passed away, some have started universities, babies have been born, careers have been started, ended or changed, friends have skipped the country, other people were inspired to apply for the Peace Corps (yay!). It´s quite overwhelming, but a good growing experience.

It's interesting to look back over two years (any set of two years, really) and see how experiences change people. I now have more direction in life, a whole lot more patience, a whole lot more impatience, another language to speak, creative problem solving skills, a high level of comfort in highly awkward situations, and the ability to eat anything with just a spoon.

When people ask me about living abroad, they ask things like "What are the people like? What do you do? What is it like?" and Peruvians ask me the same about the States. To be honest, it's not really all that different. Everyone has to eat, everyone has to sleep, everyone needs a job (even if they don't want one) and everyone fights with their parents (don't deny it). Climates vary with altitude and latitude, as much in the States as here. There's a coastline, forests, and beautiful high sierra, deserts, though admittedly the States lacks a rainforest. Sure there may be a higher incidence of houses made of mud and adobe and/or cemente, but housewives take care of them just as well or better than USA housewives (no offense intended).

As for food, well....It's great. I can see a lamb in the morning and know that I am eating that exact lamb (or chicken, goat, sheep, pig, turkey....) for dinner. I know what it eats and how it was treated during it's life. That's a great feeling, even if they don't cut the pieces very well or trim the fat as much. My dad once told me of an old roommate of his who had no idea how to cut a chicken, and would seemingly j ust take the whole chicken and make two chops in it-one longwise, and one lengthwise. That's about what Peruvians do to chop their food-portions include meat, bones, tendons some organs and whatever else is in there. The main organs are separated out and given to esteemed guests. In my first house, when I had first gotten there, I was always served a heart or lung or kidney or liver in my soup at lunch. Never was I able to accustom myself enough to bring myself to eat it. But, that didn't matter because all leftovers were always fed to the dogs or pigs, nothing was left to waste, which is a great lifestyle. Well, it would be if all the dogs were able to get enough protein to fatten up enough, but that's a different story.

I still have about 2 more months in this crazy country, and i'm going to do the best i can to see as much as possible before it's time to go. Starting the next phase of my life sounds very daunting, but mostly just really exciting.