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My last week was full of mixed emotions. My heart knew how close I was to coming home but my head and body just didn’t understand. Wasn’t I going to stay there forever? We were coming full circle with our stay in Urubamba, linking the first experiences with the last. I was sure that it would be the slowest, most boring week of the program but as it turned out, it went too fast. Listening to everyone’s project presentations was really interesting and it was great to see how far we had all come from that first week of “what the heck did she just say?” looks.
Like I mentioned, my presentation went surprisingly well. I was last so my nerves had really built up and it didn’t help that my advisor was coming all the way from Lima just to hear me talk. As soon as I started, however, it just flowed. People were really listening too, asking questions and nodding in agreement with my statements. I stumbled to find words on occasion but who doesn’t with a half hour presentation in any language. My academic director and my advisor are both very proud of my work and expect
Horse Bag Riding
A sign I found in Urubumba, got to love those translations me to continue studying the topic, maybe even become an activist….we’ll see.
Our last lunch in Urubamba was a Pachamanca, the same traditional meal we had the first week. Potatoes, beans, and other veggies are buried under hot rocks then lamb and chicken are placed on top of the hot rocks, covered with corn stalks and buried under dirt. It cooks for most of the day and finally uncovered as deliciousness. We also did our last toast to Pachamama (Mother Earth) thanking her for taking care of us and giving us such a wonderful experience.
Our last afternoon in Urubamba was spent taking a last tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. I ended up going back to Moray, the agricultural wonder, but it was different this time. We scaled down into the center of the circle and lay in the grass looking up at the blue sky. I could almost sense their presence from long ago on the wind and the smell of the grass. Invigorating. Hiking out of the center reminded me that we were hiking at 14,000 ft of elevation and that I had been living next to ocean for a little too long.
Feeling the Spirit
Laying in the center of Moray Next we went to the salt mines near Maras. Very cool and very salty (yes, I stuck my finger in and tasted it). It reminded me a lot of Yellowstone but luckily the water won’t burn your finger off if you touch it. We didn’t stay too long because it was raining and cold but it was worth the stop for two other reasons. One of those was that I was able to buy one of my favorite things to come out of Peru, fried habas. These translate closely to lima beans that have been deep fat fried and coated in salt, in this case fresh salt from the mines themselves. I ate more of them than is good for me. The other reason this was a good stop was a chance encounter with a crew from National Geographic. They were photographers that had come to Peru to shoot some footage for a piece on….get this….the 100 yr anniversary of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu. I was pretty excited; it wasn’t like I had just spent a month and half studying that or anything.
I went right up to them and started talking. The leader was Robert Clark,
a well know photographer at Geographic and who also did the photos for the book Friday Night Lights. We were discussing my project and my plans for next year and a career. The long and short of it is that I have a contact at National Geographic now, at least semi. Maybe someday he’ll do a piece on me and one of my sites. Take about fate.
We traveled back to Cusco on Thursday and had one last group dinner. It was nice to be all together one last time. Naturally, we celebrated afterwards and danced the night away, literally it was sunup when we went home. I spent a lot of time before the dinner walking around the city center one more time, taking a few last pictures with my friends Leigh and Jen. I also went and said a final goodbye to my host family which was rather emotional for me. They are wonderful people and they took wonderful care of me. I had a lot of things I knew I would miss like Cusquena Negra (my fav beer), Inca Cola (a pop that tastes like bubble gum), and of course habas. It was bittersweet but I
knew it had to end sometime.
We left our hostel the next day at 1:30, saying goodbye to half of the group who decided to stay longer. I never imagined it would be so hard. I was so exhausted both that day and everyday until yesterday that time in the airports just seemed to fly by. After saying goodbye to everyone else in the Miami airport, I broke down and got a hotel room since I couldn’t check my bags until the next morning around 3. It was the best thing I could have asked for at that moment, a comfy bed and a bath tub. Besides it was my graduation day, I deserved it. However, I wasn’t able to sleep much because I was so excited and terrified I would miss my 6 am flight. I might have got 6 hrs of sleep that whole time making a total of about 10 hrs of sleep in a 72 hr period.
I stumbled off the plane, dazed and exhausted into the arms of my dad who was waiting for me just outside the security check-point. It felt so good. Soon we were joined by Scott and another big
hug. I was so happy I could have burst. I loved Peru, but I love home more. I’ve been seeing friends and family since then and trying to catch up on my sleep. There will be one more blog post to follow this one talking about my impressions of American life but I’m taking my time with it since it is pretty important. So stay tuned for one more and now that I’m home I hope to see all of you soon!!!!
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