confusion begins.

june 12, 2010

when it all began...

after we got off of the plane - customs was more than a madhouse. we finally got to our baggage at around 2am. to describe the whole scene as chaotic would be an understatement. people running around all 54 of us gringos, shouting in spanish. it was a crazy whirlwind of who-knew-what. the peru peace corps staff was waiting for us - and they were taking pictures of our tired, sweaty, clueless faces as we approached the exit of the airport.

it was 3am when we got to our retreat. and driving through peru at 3am is not something i would recommend to anyone new to

the area. really not the best first impression. dead dogs on the road, seedy looking people all around.. it looked like a scary ghost town. our retreat was next to a popular square in a town outside of lima. we stumbled into our rooms and passed out.

we woke up this morning at 7:30am surrounded by huge, foggy, desolate mountains - basically tall, bare piles of dirt and rocks. we had breakfast and began our seminars. the whole retreat went by so fast.. we had language interviews - which i completely bombed. it kind of got me down about being here and (i hate to say it) i was questioning my decision. but soon afterwards, the director of our program gave us a moving speech about his experience with his own service with the peace corps and what we were about to embark on, so it got me all excited again. obviously this roller-coaster of feelings is common with every peace corps volunteer.