Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop. July 16, 2009

It’s been a really weird month. I left my site to go to my first regional meeting for the new region and was able to make it through less than a day before the pain in my ear got so severe that I had to go to Lima. A shot of morphine and a bunch of pills later and I was good to go to set up in a hostel until further notice. The ear infection turned into a blood infection, which caused reactive arthritis. How do you enjoy Lima on a volunteer’s salary and when it hurts to walk? Not easily, my friends. The pain is mostly gone these days except for the intense, persistent stabbing in my left knee, ankle, and foot.  13 blood tests and an ecocardiogram later and I know all of the things I don’t have. That’s what fancy doctors are for, though… and mine’s Dr. House without the bad attitude. There’s the chance I can go back to site this Saturday… we’ll see.
Lima is a fuzzy antibiotic-induced blur of creativity-sapping consumption. I’ve been useless. Completely incapable of productivity. This past week has been much better though. The painkillers still make me fuzzy, but I’m down to a few pills a day, so the fog is starting to clear.
I’ve learned that public transportation strikes lead to inflated cab prices. Annoying and unfair.
It’s also been interesting to be in Lima to see all the political tension lately. Not that it really affects my day to day, but if I were at site, there would be no access to the outside world and I would be missing out on news. I’m trying to find positives here.
And it’s hard to tell if it’s from being on all the meds or if I’ve fallen through the rabbit hole a few times since I’ve been here, but I have fuzzy memories of finding this unmarked bar, that’s really just a big house where what appear to be Peruvian hipsters go for fun. People draw on the walls and they play good music… it’s like I’m not in Peru anymore. And then there was meeting that weird British kid who got robbed as soon as he stepped out of the airport and was staying in the hostel with us. Soccer hooligan. It feels like it almost didn’t really happen.
On the upside, since I’ve been in Lima, I’ve gotten to see a lot of people I otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to see – like some of my favorite Peru 9ers for their COS med-checks, Geoff and Tyler before they quit and went back home, Carol, and PC volunteers I hadn’t previously known. Also, I got to see Harry Potter and I get to do very un-PC things like go to starbucks and watch the ocean.
Downside – I don’t really feel like a volunteer since I haven’t accomplished anything in the last month except for writing a few lesson plans. I’m bored and unfocused and restless. I want to go back to site!!!!! There are too many stimuli in Lima. I miss having nothing but my books and my music to pass the time. Too much internet access, too many cell phones, too much to spend money on, too much to choose from. I am not a city girl. Oh and also, I only packed for 3 days when I left site, and I’m getting kind of sick of wearing the same things over and over again.
But I’m adaptable. And so I will enjoy my remaining time in Lima to the max. And when I get back to site, I’m going to have somewhere to put my clothes (I bought a dresser), a bike to use, and lesson plans ready for me to go. This really gives me a chance to hit the ground running and that’s pretty exciting
So until I get back to site I probably won’t update again, because, well… living in a hostel just isn’t interesting enough to write about. Fun fact about my hostel: the lightswitch to my room is outside of the actual room, in the common area outside of the bathrooms… and it’s not well marked, so people turn it on and off accidentally at least 3 times a day. Fascinating, I know.
Case in point.
Also, you should all know that Lima makes me homesick and I miss all of you a billion times more than usual. Including you, America.
Love love love,
Alex/sasha