To the US and back again...

I had a to-do list of several things I wanted to accomplish before I left for my visit to the US two weeks ago, one of which was updating the blog with a message that I'd be leaving, but sadly very few of those items were checked off before we flew out the door to the Arequipa airport to catch my flight out. I'm now back in the Lima airport on an overnight layover, awaiting my flight to Arequipa tomorrow morning at 4:50am. Four hours to go until boarding begins!

I had a wonderful visit and feel refreshed and ready to come back. At the time of booking my flight, two weeks didn't seem like a really long time but it was felt like an eternity of time to be separated from Tony! Poor Tony suffered a soccer injury, taxi accident and car breakdown while I was gone and had no one to look after him, aside from our sweet puppy Davy who was more smothering than helpful it seems. : )

Here are a few photos of general highlights of the trip:

That's snow you see there - yep, snow on May 1 in Denver! I was one of few happy people to see the snow - I have missed it this year and was glad to see a few flakes fall!

This is 10-month old Nora Elizabeth, my sweet niece, sporting pig-tails (or antenna according to some!) for the first time. I absolutely loved seeing how much she's grown up and has learned in recent months. It's so fun to see my sister and brother-in-law as parents.

This is my dear friend Krista on her wedding day. This is a classic Krista shot - can you tell we had too much fun together?? It was good for my soul just to be with her for 5 days.

Some realizations I had during the trip:

- I really miss the ability to casually joke around and laugh with friends on a regular basis. My language abilities have come a long way, but I can't laugh and joke in Spanish the way I do in English. It was so refreshing to just laugh over small things with friends and family while I was home.

- I have developed a strong tolerance for things not going as planned in Peru, but have apparently developed high expectations for things to go smoothly in the US. I was reminded that things aren't as flawless in the US as they are in my memory!

- One of the biggest differences between life in Peru and life in the US can be summed up in one word: convenience. Most things in Peru take a lot of time - cooking, preparing produce, going to the bank...even placing a to-go order in a restaurant! I was strolling through Costco and the grocery store just amazed by the level of customer-convenience that has overtaken the marketing world. Did you know they make Jif Peanut Butter in individual on-the-go containers? Bagged salad, peeled carrots, Rice-a-Roni - all familiar products that struck me this time around with their convenient appeal!

- Speaking of Costco, my mom and I had a good laugh together when we went to Costco the afternoon that I got home. We were strolling around the bread department when I commented on how relaxing it was to be in such a calm and orderly environment. My mom laughed that I considered Costco on a Saturday afternoon to be a peaceful environment and I realized that I had never before equated Costco with anything near to calm or peaceful! But after living in a culture where traffic on the streets and shoppers in the markets weave back and forth between the masses, just trying to get ahead, Costco suddenly seemed like a calm and orderly haven to me!

Lastly, I am realizing that the term "home" is a very fluid concept at this stage of life. I feel so at home in Peru and can't wait to get back, but when I slipped into bed at my parent's house and enjoyed the safe, comforting feeling of being tucked in for a good night's sleep I realized that I still consider that my home in many ways. I suppose being "home" is much more about the people and circumstances than any physical location, so it makes sense that two so totally different places can both feel like home at the same time. So off I go to finish my journey from one home to the other...