Trials of the Road

So, I have been here in Arequipa for 5 days. The weather has been awful, fog, rain, cold. Like Seattle winter (a bit comforting, but not enough). I´ve been wearing several layers to bed. It´s been entertaining. I stayed at 3 different hostels and now that that sun makes a showing after all this time, I am leaving today for Ilo, on the coast. The irony of life makes me laugh.

I did have a fun night a couple of days ago. I played international spanish pictionary. It was a challenge, but funny and entertaining. I went out to dinner with a nice girl from Chicago who will be here 8 months for an intership. I met a nice couple from Australia who have been traveling all over, and I mean all over the world, for the year. I spent hours upon hours at the LAN office trying to get my bag of clothes back, but it looks like ti will not happen. I will have to buy new socks, pants etc. I just got the ones I lost for Christmas, I´m still bummed about it. It is harder to be sad when you´re alone because it just makes you sadder. I just have to take it in stride and make a good recovery. The other tactic is to look for the good in the situation. It just takes extra resources to deal with everything alone. I´m at the mercy of strangers most of the time. Everyone is kind and cordial, but it gets weary on the tourism route. I really need to have something consitent. I am definitely not for superficial relationships. It does not meet my relational needs.

So, I will take a 4.5 hour bus to Ilo to see Gladys, who was a host mom of my friend Christy, when she was a Jesuit International Volunteer in Peru. I am looking forward to it for sure. Family, friends and familiarity are things I am missing right now. People to laugh with is not something to underestimate. So, I did not visist Colca Canyon, the big thing to do here. I did not see any condors, because I did not go to the Canyon, which is one of the deepest in the world. I´m okay with it. I did take about 5 hours of private spanish lessons and I learned a lot. I just have to work on practicing the new things I learned. So that was time well spent. It´s good to learn the finer nuances of a language and I think I am getting better bit by bit.

I continue to pray for direction, openness and clarity. Everything is still just ¨there¨. I have no answers or deep insights into life or myself. I know the time will come. I just ahve to be faithful to the unfolding process, as unconventional as it is.