Nos vemos, Peru

Next week at this time I will have slept a night in my bed, discovered all my new stuff, and given huge bear hugs to my family and friends.

Even as I write that sentence, it still doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe that I have spent nearly a year in Lima and that soon my reality for the past year will have basically vanished. I mean, it's not like I can just come back to Lima for a quick weekend visit (although I will for sure visit in a couple years).

I know it's cliche, but going back is pretty much the definition of bitter sweet. I'm excited to go home and see my family and friends, eat Mexican food, and feel much safer than I do in Lima. But at the same time I'm going to miss my friends here, miss speaking Spanish and drinking Inca Kola.  I think I'm also going to miss being challenged. My life here really isn't that hard, but I do feel like I'm constantly learning, whether that be learning new Spanish vocab like the word tadpole (renacuajo) or practicing patience with the 'inefficiency' that I run into everywhere.  I mean, when I'm home, it's so comfortable because it's what I know. It's what I've grown up with and it's what I've always loved. I don't want to look for tough situations, but it is true that when you are outside your comfort zone and stretch yourself, you learn a lot more.

Now, I don't feel like I'm a completely different person, but I'm obviously different than I was last year at this time. Just living a year of life changes you, and I feel like living abroad just amplifies that. I wrote a blog a while ago on change and I discussed that I didn't feel like I had a support group here, but faithful as He is, God provided me many friends, Peruvian, American, Chilean and Colombian, and also an amazing prayer group that meets once a week.

All of this doesn't mean that I'm not excited to go home, because I am psyched to be back in the states. But as a study abroader once said... "There's nothing wrong with calling two places home."

Amor y Paz.