Hello Goodbye

It's hard to say what it was like setting my sights on Cusco and the Andes Mountains for the first time, I could say it was like the first time I heard the Beatles, or when I first took a bite of some baby-back ribs in a tiny restaurant in Mexico or when I finally set foot on the Wooster campus and realized I didn't want to go to any other school, but honestly none of those really do the trick, it was more like...."HOLY $#!T"!!! Now that I have moved away from Cusco it is a lot easier to look back on my 3.5 months in the city and realize how great my time there was. I did not end my semester any more tan than I was at the beginning but I did manage to improve my Spanish, expand my cultural appetite (which means I'll be eating even more times per week at the International Food station in Lowry), and accumulate a whole number of stories to share when I return. I really did love Cusco, my fellow students, my host family and all the various adventures that we went on over the course of the semester, good or bad. If I have done my blogging job correctly you all know about the majority of the trips, adventures and mistakes that have occurred over the last few months. There have been ups (playing on the beach, Cienciano games) and downs (JELLO, and sunburns) but all in all Cusco was amazing, the semester abroad was incredible and I have will return home with a greater appreciation of Peru and the United States...and all of you.
I have now officially made my way out of Cusco and have been moved into Miraflores, a neighborhood in Lima looking out over the ocean, for 2 weeks. I christened my move by taking a run on my first morning along the Pacific Ocean and on a bike path along the cliffs above the ocean. Lima is very different from Cusco but I love both cities in separate ways. Cusco was cultured and "old school" while Lima is much more modern and "shwanky". The running here in Miraflores is amazing and thus far I do not have a single complaint about how my next 4 weeks will more than likely pan out. I am living in a brand new, incredibaly lavish apartment with a view of the ocean from both my room and our roof-top balcony. My roommate is a 30something year old electrical engineer named Abel who spends most of his time traveling Latin America working for an international technical company, meanwhile I get to kick back and relax in his expensive apartment. I've started work as the "Peruvian Development Intern" for the non-profit World Computer Exchange and seem to be hacking right through all my duties in the first few days. Everyday I get to wake up, put on a nice shirt, a pair of slacks (yes "slacks"not just pants, I'm a big boy now) and occasionally a tie. I then march my way down a gorgeous Miraflores avenue to my office with a piece of bread in hand...I think I might add a cup of coffee from some yuppie cafe just to complete the business casual look. 7 to 8 hours later I wake my way back looking exhausted, bored and generally like any modern business man, never in my life has the movie "Office Space" resonated so powerfully with me. Not that my work isnt interesting, but for a guy who has thus far made his money during the summer by running around in swimsuits and playing games, this is a bit of a shock...plus a pidgeon decided to relieve himself on my head this morning about 15ft from the office front door, good impression.

I will deny that at times I would love to be back on Shore Rd. lounging in teh backyard, or floating in Lake Champlain or even back in Wooster running through campus with my team, but the more time I spend in Lima the more I will appreciate all of that when I return. I am slowly integrating myself back into popular culture and similar interests so that I will not seem like a complete outsider when I get back to the states. I have started going to movies, which were unavailable in Cusco and have even discovered a department store in my area where I can once again feel at home choked by immense amounts of perfume and body checked around aisles by middle aged women looking for the best deal on velvet gloves. It is stange moving from Cusco to Lima but although I love my area and I find it to be exciting and beautiful, I think its greatest gift is that it will transition me back to the U.S. with ease. I won't be immediately leaving an ancient city of culture and heritage with an amazing host family for the bustling America, but instead I will be leaving a metropolis of 8 million people for the quaint and calm 40,000 of Burlington. Lima and my new "life" here is making it easier to say "goodbye" to Peru, I'll enjoy the time that I have here but ultimately my experience in Cusco will never be topped by fancy apartments, ocean views and modern shopping malls. Watch out U.S. of A.!!!

alpaCasey