Peru: In Retrospect

With the exception of 2.5 days spent in Bolivia in May, I´ve spent the last 6+ months in Peru. Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, I will cross the border into Chile. (I say according to plan, because the last time I left, I needed to sign a paper stating that I was not leaving Peru in order to escape any major debts. No matter how hard I´ve tried, and how many times I´ve googled it, I cannot find this bit of paperwork anywhere, although my former boss at Maximo swears it´s online. E-mails to said former boss were unanswered. However, last time I crossed at a dead-end border crossing. This time, I´ll be getting on a train in an actual town. Therefore, if I do need this bit of paperwork, they can just tell me where to find it, and I will hopefully be able to run to an internet cafe and do just that. Or, if worst comes to worst, these guys can usually be bought off.)

I think my posting the last few weeks has been about down on Peru. I don´t think this accurately reflects my feelings about this country. Yes, it was frustrating at times, and even more so as I approached the end of my six months, as sheer exhaustion set in. However, I wouldn´t trade my time here for anything. I often asked myself why I didn´t choose somewhere warmer, like Venezuala, or somewhere a bit more modern, like Buenos Aires. Living in the tropics would have been a bit too luxurious, and Buenos Aires a bit too much like home. I wanted a truly South American experience, and boy did I get it.

Whenever somebody got sick, or we were involved in something that never would have passed safety regulations at home (like being crammed into a combi- basically a van- with 35 other people), we just pulled out the phrase, "Ah, Peru." Like our version of "Manny being Manny," that´s how we made excuses for Peru. Ashley, Maribeth, and I have decided when we have our little reunion on the Great Wall of China, we will laugh so hard at what we did or witnessed in Peru that was considered normal. Like all the random livestock being led on a leash around a major city. Or the fact that I lived with a rat for 2 months. Or the fact that Maribeth showered in freezing cold water for 2 months, or that Ashley and I kept electrocuting ourselves when we would use our respective showers. That I was written an absolutely ridiculous love letter from a student who never spoke to me, but instead used Ashley as the monkey-in-the-middle. (He recently wrote me to thank me for the "inspiration." I don´t think I want to know. His best friend, in the meantime, is infatuated with Ashley.) Or the time Maribeth and I were walking down Gringo Alley to meet Ashley for dinner, and a guy trying to get us to eat at his restaurant, while telling us all our dinner choices, whispered conspiratorially "with a free massage" to go along with those dinner specials. It´s all so charming.

When I got here, six months sounded like forever. I didn´t realize six months could go by so quickly. You know what they say, time flies when you´re having so much fun. And so Peru, I bid you adios. Hasta luego.