It’s hard to believe that last week I was still preparing to teach my first graders and finish recording my edTPA lessons. Now, I am far away from home and have other things on my mind. I will start with the night before I left, where all the adventures began. I was doing some last minute packing and needed to print off the boarding passes for my flights, which I had checked into earlier that day. Once I printed them off, I looked over them and realized I had spelled my first name wrong when I bought the ticket. How? I have no idea. I missed the L in my first name. After a mild panic about my name not matching my ID and passport, I called the airline support number. I was on hold for over half an hour for them to tell me I had to fix it when I got to the airport tomorrow. So I accepted that it was out of my control for the moment and continued packing. Flash forward to around 2:30am on Friday. After a few hours of attempting to sleep, it was time to go. I got up, put on the clothes I had picked out, and said goodbye to Marcy, my cat, and Green Bay for 2 months. My parents helped me put all three of my bags into the car and off we went to Chicago.
Thankfully, I was able to sleep a little in the car. At the airport, I said goodbye to my dad at the door so we didn’t have to pay for parking or walk. My mom came in with me to make sure my boarding passes got fixed. We walked right up to the desk and a very nice older man was able to fix my boarding passes and reprint them with no problem. I put my bag up on the scale and it read 47 lbs, which is exactly what I had predicted using our scale at home. The max was 50, so I knew I was taking a little risk with what I had. We got in the LONG line to get through security and leaving really started to hit me. There were a few tears and lots of hugs before leaving everything and everyone I was familiar with. I ended up getting through security with no problem. Neither of my two remaining bags were taken (yet…keep reading) and I didn’t even have to take my shoes off. I made my way to my gate pretty early, but I am glad I didn’t have to rush. I found the bathroom and filled up my water. After a long wait, they started boarding. The problem was I was group 8 of 9 to board. And with the flight being full, they quickly ran out of overhead bin space. They forced the rest of us to check our second bags if we had one. Handing over my smaller suitcase made me a little nervous since I had not packed that bag to be checked. No lock, fragile items. But there was nothing I could do, so off to Lima it went. Looking back, it was nice not having that second bag to lug on and off the rest of my flights. The rest of the travel was fine. I don’t mind flying, but it’s not very comfortable. I had a long layover in Miami, where I ate a snack and started getting exposed to Spanish. I know Miami is still in the US, but it’s so close to other Spanish-speaking countries that I heard a lot of the language. Upon arrival at the Jorge Chávez International Airport, I kind of followed the crowd and found the immigration check point. I arrived pretty late, so the line was minimal. I had my passport ready and handed it to the man. He spoke English and asked how long I was staying. He was a little surprised when I said two months and honestly I still am too. After getting my passport stamped, I proceeded to look for my baggage claim and tried to connect to the internet to let my family know I had made it safely. I waited for my bags for what seemed like forever, but I think I was just anxious and exhausted. Thankfully, both of my purple suitcases arrived in one piece. Next, I again followed the crowd to a very busy pick up area (which surprised me for 10, almost 11 o’clock at night). I eventually found the person driving me to San Borja (the district of Lima where my host family lives). He was very welcoming and helped me with my bags. The drive to my house is kind of blur because I was so ready to get some sleep. My host family showed me to my room and welcomed me. After some polite conversation, I immediately drank some water and crashed into bed.
A few pictures of my house
The next morning, I got up and unpacked. There are lots of wonderful closets and drawers to store my things. It really makes the feel more like a home rather than living out of suitcases. I got dressed and went downstairs where I was met with a lovely breakfast of eggs, plantain, and a smoothie. I discovered that I actually really enjoy plantain (or plátano here). It has the texture and some flavor of a banana but is a little sweeter. I also met my very energetic 5-year-old host brother. My host family then took me to see the person in charge of my placements for school. She is actually also my host father’s daughter, so we are all spending a lot of time together. We talked about school and anything else I needed. Then, we met the rest of the family for lunch and went back to the house. I took a nap to catch up on some sleep and had dinner after that. I took a shower and prepared for the next day. Sunday was fun, but kind of overwhelming. There was a family birthday, so everyone (my host family and two other cars of extended family) packed up for the day. We drove through some mountains to a place called La Mesa de Piedra (or The Table of Rock), in which all of the tables are made of huge stones. It is a restaurant that also has a pool, horses, and other activities. The weather was beautiful for a day outside. I tried cuy for the first time, which is a very popular dish here in Peru. In English, it is guinea pig which sounds and looks hard to eat. I actually didn’t mind eating it, minus the head on the plate. It helped that I have never owned a guinea pig before (sorry Marcy). Anyway, I was a lovely afternoon before we went back to the house for torta (cake). I went to bed shortly after that to prepare for a very early morning the next day (which will come in the next post).
La Mesa de Piedra
Finally, I want to reflect on some of the aspects that stand out the most as different for me. The first thing I noticed was driving and traffic. Lima is a BIG city and there is no way I could drive here. Everything looks like it should be an accident to me including when pedestrians are crossing the street, yet I have not seen one. There are giant speed bumps to somewhat control traffic and car horns are used much more frequently. The most common greeting is a kiss on the cheek. It took some getting used to, but I think I have the hang of it now. Ciao is also used to say goodbye. I had heard of the phrase before, but I didn't realize how popular it was in Spanish. I think I am in some kind of temperature shock. Going from below zero temperature to 70s at night in the open-air house and 80s during the day was quite the change. I don’t know how everyone is drinking hot coffee and tea with meals. Obviously, I knew the language was going to be different going in. However, I am still getting used to the speed with which I have to process Spanish and find some way to respond. I realize I am using a lot of the same responses or asking people to repeat things. It is a challenge, but I am hoping it will help me develop a deeper understanding for students who are learning a new language while I am teaching back in the US.
Overall, pushing myself outside of the country in a new language and culture was honestly one of the hardest things I have ever done. It doesn’t help that I came alone and it’s only my second time out the country. The first few days were hard, but I am adjusting well. Stay tuned for more about my first week at school. ¡Gracias por leer y hasta luego!
I’m very excited for you and your adventures. So proud of all you have accomplished throughout your 4 years of college!!