El Primer Año

June 23rd, 2007 La Encantada, Peru

One Year Anniversary

As of today, I have awakened every morning for exactly a whole year in this foreign country called Peru. Yet everyday it seems to grow less foreign. That is not to say that I do not have strange new encounters daily. They just have become such a familiar part of the weekly routine that their shock value has dwindled.

I´d say it is safe to say that I have learned more in the past year than any other year of my life. I have learned a tremendous amount about myself and life in general. Learning another language has taught me more about communication than any college communications course ever could. Immersing myself in a third world culture has taught me more about recognizing cultural differences than any high school sociology class ever did. Nothing will teach you that patience is a virtue better than struggling through a society that demonstrates its lack of organization and efficiency with practically every daily transaction.

I didn´t realize it was the one year anniversary until now, so I don´t really have anything prepared. I´ll try to write a "what I learned the first year in Peace Corps" article soon. Or at least something just as cheesy but insightful nevertheless.