3 years...

I can't believe it has been 3 years. 3 years since the hardest, yet best 6 months of my life (so far) started. 3 years since my Peru adventure started.

At 6:30am on June 24, 2011, I found myself waiting outside of a small airport in Trujillo, Peru. I was waiting for Dani, the missionary I would be working with for the next 6 months. I hadn't slept a wink since I left Louisville the day before. I had spent the night curled up in a corner of the airport at Lima scared to death that something would happen to me since I was traveling alone. But I had made it. I was standing in the city of Trujillo.

Dani picked me up and whisked me through the city to my new house at 366 San Andres. I met my new family... Rosi, Mily and Valeria. And then I crashed. They were nice enough to let me settle into my room and sleep the day away before waking up enough to clean up and meet the team of gringos who had arrived the night before and had spent the day in one of the barrios. I slept off and on that day. I still remembering hearing the gringos come in for breakfast (Rosi cooks for all of the visiting teams). I remember hearing them laugh and talk away as they ate their first Peruvian breakfast. I can also remember waking up and listening to all of the customers who came for lunch that day to Rosi's cafe (also known as the menú). I remember hearing Valeria cry when Rosi or Mily left the room. I remember hearing the non-stop chatter of Spanish spoken so fast I had no idea what was being said.

And then I woke up and Mily showed me how to use the shower. Oh that shower. In order to get warm water (I didn't have a hot shower until we vacationed in Cajamarca in November), I had to turn the water on, wrap my hand in a towel, flip the electrical breaker on and then take my shower without touching any of the metal pieces in the shower. Then I wrap my hand in the towel again, turn off the breaker and then the water. And that was my shower routine every day for 6 months. I remember the first time I forgot to stay away from the metal handles and the strong shock that I got.

Then after my first shower I was picked up by the team leader and walked with the group to dinner. I was still tired, incredibly overwhelmed and retreating into my shyness as fast as I could. But I had made it through my first day in Peru. I was able to call home and let everyone know I had made it. That I was safe. And then I went back to my new house and prepared for the next day which would be spent in the barrio Los Laureles.

I never knew her name. But I met her my first day in Los Laureles. Her face shows how I felt inside. 

It's been 3 years since that day. And I really can't believe it. I know that I was so incredibly homesick that I wished away my time in Trujillo. And now I regret that. I miss it every day. I miss my house with Rosi, Mily and Valeria. I missing welcoming the gringos to the city and helping with their outreach events. I miss walking to the University with Dani to pick up Skylar and Coley from Italian class. I miss joking with Mike about our different tastes in sports. I miss walking to Wong (the grocery store) to get my favorite Peruvian cookies. I just miss the life that I lived there.

I will never, ever forget my time in Peru. It was/is an adventure that will always be an important piece of my life. And I look forward to the day that I get to go back and visit my dear friends and family.

Here's to 3 years.

I love this family. So very much!