On our way

Emily, Keith, Manny, Dan, and me

On Monday, September 10th, I stood in the kitchen at 5am with Dan, Manny, my family, and our friends, Mike and Meg, eating Mom's homemade muffins and choking down my first dose of Dukoral as I prepared to leave for Pearson International Airport.  After a night of packing and no sleep at all, my body was running completely on adrenaline, and I could only hope that I had packed everything I would need for the next 8 months in my suitcase, which was miraculously 1.5 lbs under the weight limit (whew). My suitcase and my mind were full, although there was a lot that I was leaving behind, and the future, to me, was as foggy as the Lima sky.  I thought of something I had once read: You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.  I hoped that my limited Spanish, my plane ticket and passport, and the name of our taxi driver would be enough to get me where I needed to go.  After a rushed goodbye on our dark driveway and a short drive to the airport in Toronto, I was off on my biggest adventure yet.

Toronto --> Houston --> Lima

By the time we were on the plane, I had been able to let go of most of my anxiety and just enjoy the flight.  But one worry still occupied my mind--Spanish.  My Spanish was so rusty. Who was I kidding?  How was I possibly going to get by?  But before I had much time to worry, I ended up sitting next to a friendly young Peruvian woman.  A native of Ayacucho, she had been living in Whistler, BC for the last 10 years, and was very sympathetic of my language woes.  For the first couple of hours, we enjoyed conversation about Peruvian culture in English. And then, almost seamlessly, we just switched into Spanish.  I could do it! I was going to be fine.  It was exactly the warm-up that I needed to ease my transition from Canada to Peru, and I'm so thankful for her insight and encouragement. 

Despite some delays, we arrived in Lima on time and were met with warm hugs and kisses from the SUM Canada (WUSC Peru) team.  Julio helped us pile our luggage into the  trunk of his taxi van, and we climbed in, eager to see the city of Lima for the first time.  If I was a bit disappointed by the city, whch at first glance seemed austere and a bit gloomy, my disappointment was overshadowed by my happiness at actually having arrived, and the friendliness of Isabel and Julio.  I had made it. I could do this.  

After almost an hour, we finally arrived at our destination: la casa de Margarita, the guest house where I would be living and where Manny, Emily, and Dan would be staying during orientation.  Keith had gone straight to the guest house where he would be living in Miraflores.  We were greeted at the door by Irma, who showed us to our rooms.  I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.