Despididas. Saying Farewell.

Peruvians know how to do many things well, one of these is saying goodbye. Here they call it a despidida. So far I've had 2, and I have 4 more today (if you only count the 'official') ones! Tuesday night I despidida'd with the soccer players in Liberacion Social. We all stood around in the street chatting for a bit and drinking Coke. Last night I went out to Olviedo with Natali and Fiorella which was really nice. Excellent cappuccinos and excellent company. Today I'll eat lunch with Pastor Ricardo and Danni at the church and say goodbye to them. Then I'm having a little party with each of my night classes (and I'll probably swing by Natali's class to join Chase's despidida too) and then afterward we're going to Clara's for a despidida with all the interns. What this all means is that I will say goodbye about a million times, eat tons of cake/drink 4 glasses of Inka Kola, and tell people for the millionth time that I don't know when I'm coming back (or if, but they never like to hear that). Being a realist always makes goodbye more difficult!

Much has happened since I last wrote. I experienced my first earthquake, though here in Trujillo it wasn't serious. I was on the third floor of SALI watching Harry Potter 4 with my class (apparently they're big HP fans) when I felt the building moving. My students squealed a bit and laughed at me for looking so scared. They told me not to worry, that it was just a tremor and that they were pretty normal. Turns out it wasn't a normal tremor at all but a really serious earthquake down in Pisco and Ica, towns south of Lima. The death tole is upwards of 400 I think, and while there is aid pouring in, people are still without electricity and running water, living on the streets. Some people from our mission are going down with supplies today.

I'm really looking forward to setting foot on American soil in just a few short days. At the same time though, I'm starting to feel sad about leaving. I haven't really been that sad, since my "excited to get home, see friends and family, and start school" emotions have really had precedence. Now it's starting to hit me though. I almost cried saying goodbye to the Ferguson's yesterday.

Things I will miss most about Peru: the friends I've made here, the advantages of city life, the exchange rate making my money worth more, guaranteed sanctification (Heather and I were joking about making T-shirts that say "Come to Peru for Fast Track Sanctification." This is funnier because we have "fast track" English classes here for people who need to learn how to speak English in a hurry), getting lots of emails and letters, rice, freshly baked cakes every afternoon, delicious fresh bread for $.07 a piece, roller-coaster taxi rides (if I was a bad driver before, I'm going to be worse now. Cuidate.), and probably a lot of other things I'm just not thinking of right now. There are also things I will not miss, but I shan't get into that here because when I'm home that won't matter anymore. Let's just say I'm excited for the luxury of my dorm room and the American concept of cleanliness.

It's been a good summer; there's been a lot of maturing and growth I think. I've certainly learned a ton about myself and about living in a Christian community. I've also come to cherish being able to communicate! I look forward to speaking English in the street. People will probably ask me, "So are you fluent in Spanish now?" The answer is no. I have definitely improved, but I am a far cry from fluent. I can get around just fine but having a conversation about anything abstract is very difficult still, unless the person is used to speaking to Spanish-learners and talks very slowly. I decided not to take a Spanish class this fall so I haven't been very motivated to learn down here. I'm still looking to take some Swedish lessons this fall, so if you know anyone who speaks Swedish, let me know!

Now to say some more goodbyes...