Chapter 1: Stutter

Once upon a time in a faraway land...

Myself and my friend Hayley disembarked from a plane in Lima, Peru, a country neither of us would have imagined were included in our futures. After near-perfect travels of a near-24 hour duration, Hayley and I had finally arrived to the country who, at 4:15am, was still awake from the night's revelry. Our very jovial and smiley driver, Fernando Garcia Lorneo, carried us safely to our homestay families. Hayley’s nearly slept through her arrival. My "padre," on the other hand, welcomed me to his family’s very nice house and showed me to my own little room on the top floor. Despite its diminutive size (6 by 8 ft approximately) and the slightly dingy smell that appears in the mornings, it is cozy and it is mine. I was comforted even in my overwhelmed and disoriented state by the sight of a glowstick bracelet hanging from the headboard of my bed: a token left by the previous student occupant, and to me, an omen of fun times ahead.

Highlights of the first 48 busy hours include: first taste of ceviche, Peru's best kept secret; the first afternoon's jaunt to the seaside and our first Peruvian dinner at sunset; first day of language classes today; the two male Scandinavian students also living with my host family (one a fellow Dane!); the ugliest dog I have EVER seen, named Ringo, owned and loved to death by my host family (picture to come); an afternoon spent among alpaca sweaters, silver earrings, and thousands of pastries in El Centro of Lima, both historic government center and city market.

Despite these many diversions, my time here must be characterized not by what was done, but what has been said...badly...by me...in Spanish. After eight plus years of education in Spanish, one would think that I could put together a four-word sentence without falling apart, but I defy the odds. Each sentence is fraught with stutters, stops, and errors in form and pronunciation. Whether these are symptoms of nervousness and exhaustion, or a more deep-seated lack of knowledge of the Spanish language, only time will tell. I sincerely hope it is the former.