..have been a whirlwind! I trekked around LAX around 3:30 a.m. with the four pieces of luggage and my brother Jessie last Sunday. At this point, it still did not feel like I was leaving for Peru, I was too preoccupied with my luggage not exceeding the weight limit. I said goodbye to my brother, bought some dried peaches, and saw Pat Riley board my flight! Soon after departing the plane I popped some Benadryl and went right to sleep. Step one of leaving the country was successfully completed.
Miami was interesting. I walked through the entire terminal to kill my three hour layover. The boarding process here was crazy, everyone seems to want to board first when they are flying internationally. After everyone boarded, the pilot shares that there are maintenance issues and the flight will be slightly delayed and he would keep us updated. Turns out the weather radar is not working properly and we need to wait for the specialist to check it out. In the meantime, he suggests a plan B, leave our current aircraft and board an inbound flight from London in 40 minutes. Everyone was upset. But about 20 minutes later the pilot says the issue is 50% fixed and we would be flying to Lima shortly… I was nervous, airplane maintenance issues always worry me.
We finally arrived at 11:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. LA time) in Lima, an hour and a half late. I was so worried that the driver the hotel sent had left. Immigration took about an hour and getting my luggage about another 15 minutes. As I walked out, I saw TONS of pick-up signs for people, I was very overwhelmed. I glanced at all the signs, not one said my name. I did a second round of glancing, nada. I told myself: “Do not panic.” I was smart enough to get the hotel’s information from a friend (thank you, Fredo) when I realized we were going to arrive late. The hotel said I should get a cab at the airport, it would be more convenient for both parties. I told the guy I didn’t have soles (Peruvian currency) but I would exchange my bill. The exchange representative told me that she couldn’t take my bill because the serial number had been identified with corrupt bills. I tried so hard not to cry. I walked around the airport terrified. I was tired and clueless on how to get to the hotel. I finally decided to call the hotel back and politely demand I get picked up. A driver was sent for me. Though the hotel sent a reliable driver, I was very scared to hop into a cab with all of my stuff at 1:00 a.m. as a young woman traveling on her own. The cab driver came and directed me outside. I was shaking inside, but I decided to put on my “you aren’t messing with me” persona. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at Hotel Senorial. I was so relieved! My prayers had been heard.
Getting to Lima was no easy task, so I thought things could only get better. Wrong. I asked the hotel associate if any information had been left for me. He said no. On Monday, I received a call at 8:30 a.m. saying that a cab is waiting for us Fulbrighters, we had a meeting that was starting now. None of us knew about this meeting, so all of us had to get ready in 15 minutes and we arrived fashionably late at 9:30 a.m. to our orientation. We were greeted by the director, fellows, and president of the Fulbright program. We received lots of praise, some tips on how to go about teacher-student relationships, and opened a bank account. At the end, everyone said good luck and we’ll hopefully see you in May or June for an extensive training to help retool your teaching. I was very puzzled by the Commission’s approach, but I was happy to receive a crash course on how to teach English. The other ETAs are awesome. I was happy to have spent the entire day with them but we all wished we had more time together.
The big day finally came. It was Tuesday morning and I was leaving for Puno, my new home. As I sat on my seat staring out the window, it finally hit me that I was going to a completely new place. As the airplane started to move, so did my emotions. Tears began to fall down my cheeks. As crazy as it sounds, this was the moment where I actually committed myself to live, learn, and teach in Puno. I was scared and happy at the same time. I felt the love and learning experiences of the 22 years of my life flash by to remind me that I had the strength to take on this multi-facet challenge. The first challenge is to conquer the altitude (this is a work in progress).
My first two days in Puno have been lovely. The coordinator has been so welcoming and caring about my settling into the city. Yesterday, I was told that I would carry out various teaching projects at the public university, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, and the Centro de Idiomas (Center of Languages). I am expected to create curriculum for a TOEFL course, create an academic reading comprehension course, provide professional development for English teachers, and support a professor in a month long course in March. Though I do not have direct experience with creating such curricula, I am SO excited to learn and help the English education efforts. The push for students to improve their English comes from the hope of these same students applying for Fulbright and other exchange scholarships that will further their academic and professional careers. My coordinator tells me there are so many bright students who would benefit from working and studying abroad but many of them are hesitant to apply for such opportunities because they think they won’t be accepted. I can definitely relate to some of the fears the Puneños (people native to Puno) have, as I once had them with my academic goals. In just two days, I have felt an immediate connection with many people I have met.
Today has been an awesome day! I met the Vice President of Finances, professors, and other community members. Edmundo, the coordinator who is guiding me through my Fulbright, knows everyone in Puno and he is eager to introduce me to everyone we run into. Tomorrow I am set to meet with the President of the university, wish me luck. I also visited a friend I made yesterday, a woman who runs her own eatery and who helped me with my dizziness. She gave me cocoa tea and rue. You are suppose to smell the rue when you are having trouble breathing, it helps combat the wind that affects your shortness of breath (the rue definitely came in handy last night when I woke up not being able to breathe for a minute, it was a scary minute…). Today was a big stepping stone, I found a “mini-apartment” (as my new landlord called it), that is the whole 5th floor, not too far from downtown and bought a new cell phone! It amazes me how quickly I have been able to establish new roots here after leaving my former home just three days ago. Puno, the city and people, remind me a lot of Oaxacaand my family there, this unexpected bond is making me feel right at home.
View of Lake Titica from my future office!
Breathing New Air 