Week 6: I Saw Dolphins and Felt Emotions

Emotions are a strange concept, and I think I felt just about all of them over the past week. If you've ever listened to an entire Taylor Swift album in one sitting, you have an idea of what I'm talking about. My life has been such a whirlwind the past two months that I haven't had time to do much more than just try to live in the moment and experience everything possible. I'm not sure if things have slowed down any or I'm just getting used to the fast-paced life I'm living, but everything hit me at once this week. I actually felt like I was in the movie "Inside Out" with all of my emotions going haywire. So without further ado, here's a sampling of what I've felt this week.

Festive

Tuesday was my host mom's birthday, so I got to experience my first Peruvian birthday party. We had a movie at school that day, so I was not able to attend the luncheon, but I made it for the evening festivities and brought Abby along. When I got home from campus, we found the celebration had already started. We drank homemade sangria (heaven), ate the best cake I've had in a while, and talked/listened to a lot of Spanish. The whole dining room was full of my host mom's friends and family and everyone was interacting with each other and genuinely interested in learning about Abby and I and our Peruvian experience so far. It was so nice being surrounded by such wonderful people whose faces weren't buried in their phones and feeling like part of the family. My heart is smiling so hard just thinking about it. By the time I went to my room for the night, my brain had been in Spanish mode for almost 12 straight hours and I think I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow. Then Thursday was Shelby's birthday, so I got to celebrate two birthdays in one week! We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Peru, The Burrito Bar, and had tacos and margaritas. Then we went to "our" bar in Barranco for birthday drinks and more celebrating (but not too much, because we had to be on a bus to Paracas at 7 AM). Birthdays are great, I'm a huge fan.

My host mom's birthday cake and flowers she received. The ones in
the middle are from me and I totally got shown up by the dog bouquet on the right.

Homesickness

For the first time in my life, I understand what the term "homesick" really means. There's been times I've missed my family, of course, but never to the extent that I felt this week. I got the chance to FaceTime my Dad, Mom, Grandma, and my main girl (dog) Keleigh for the first time since being here, and it was such a bittersweet feeling. I don't think I even realized how much I missed them until I saw their faces. The next day I FaceTimed my best friends back home, so there was another wave of homesickness and by the end of the day, I wasn't sure if I trusted myself enough to watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy without completely losing it. As with most sickness, though, it passed and now I'm in the mode where I'm panicking because I'm already almost halfway through my study abroad experience and I don't ever want to leave. I know; I don't get it, either.

Disappointment

I consider myself so lucky because since I've been here, I've had nothing but amazing experiences. It was only a matter of time, though, before I had a negative experience, and apparently this was the week for it. First, we had a tour of the United States Embassy on Thursday which I was super excited for because I've always been curious what went on in that building. Well unfortunately, Abby and I went through the wrong entrance and got ourselves completely lost and stressed out and almost missed the entire tour. I'm sorry, United States Embassy. I'll do better next time. Which brings me to my next topic.

I Can't Decide If I Should Laugh or Cry

Even as I write this, I still can't decide how to feel about the next two situations. I was walking back to campus Thursday evening to go out and celebrate Shelby's birthday when something hit the back of my leg and almost knocked me to the ground. My first thought was that I had gotten shot, which probably would've inspired me to write an entire book and done wonders for my street cred, but then I realized my skirt was soaking wet. Um. Turns out a car of boys that drove by threw a water balloon at me and hit me. Like....what? As a former shortstop, I can respect the accuracy of the throw but seriously? I WAS DRESSED UP. I thought this might be the end of those type of situations for the week but nope, sure wasn't. The first night at our resort we were hot tubbing when me and my fellow blonde friend Danielle realized the water was turning our blonde hair green. Now, I have no one to blame but myself because sadly this has happened to me before. The first time, it ended with me getting my entire head coated in ketchup and pert near ruining it as a condiment for me forever, so I really did know better. Anyway, we didn't have any ketchup on hand at our resort this weekend and quite honestly I'd rather have green hair than do that again, so it remains a tinted shade until I buy some clarifying shampoo. What a mess.

Excitement

I kept this part until last because it's my favorite and I'm all for ending things on a positive note. As far as field trips go, I didn't think I'd ever be able to top the sixth grade field trip around Nebraska (I mean come on, we got to sleep in the aquarium at the Henry Doorly Zoo) but this takes the cake. Going into this trip, none of us really knew what to expect other than we were staying at a resort and it was paid for. Sounds promising, right? Right. When we arrived at our resort in Paracas, I was completely blown away. Turns out UPC doesn't mess around and booked us a five-star resort with a huge pool, ocean views, private beach, and AIR CONDITIONING (can't stress the air conditioning enough). I was in heaven. It also had a volleyball court, ping-pong table, and trampoline (I can still do a backflip) that I took advantage of, along with tons of other amenities. On top of that, I got to paddle board for the first time, which was amazing. But that's not even the best part!

Another thing I get to check off the bucket list.

Wonderment

Saturday we had a boat tour of the Islas Ballestas, which turned out to be one of the coolest experiences I've had. It started with us getting on a boat and traveling out into the Pacific Ocean to the island. I didn't do any prior research, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, but even if I had it wouldn't have done it justice. On the way out, we passed a pod of dolphins and I could cry just thinking about it. I was that weird girl who did an entire presentation in fourth grade about dolphins for literally no reason, but Mrs. Brown let me present it to the class anyway. They're my favorite animal so to see them in their natural habitat for the first time in my life was just incredible. I pulled myself together for the rest of the tour where we saw hundreds of sea lions, a few penguins (!!!!), crabs, a starfish, and probably other things that I'm forgetting right now because I'm still thinking about dolphins. Anyways, it was unbelievably fascinating and I wish I could've done it five more times. I've never once claimed to be a photographer, but I'm pretty proud of some of the photos I took during this escapade. You can find a few of them at the end.

THESE ARE DOLPHINS. FOUR OF THEM. THERE WERE MORE.

Thankfulness

Above all the emotions I felt this week, I think thankfulness is the one that was the most prominent. Even during my most difficult week since being in Peru, I still felt so blessed. Not only am I having once in a lifetime opportunities every single week, I have family and friends back home who I don't even come close to deserving, and a God who never fails me. Life is amazing and I'm so dang thankful I don't even know where to begin. Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and for reading all the posts I throw at you. Your support is overwhelming and very much appreciated. Sending all my love!

"When my faith is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2