Okay so I probably should have written down the things that I did my last week in Peru. Now that I have been home for a week and a half, I will attempt to remember them for the sake of remembering.
Tuesday I went with Amber to El Museo de la Nacion. The first floor was all pre-Incan artifacts, Incan artifacts, and colonial art. Also a little modern art. We had kind of seen most of these things before so we went through quickly since we had gotten pretty lost on the way there and had much less time than we had hoped. The sixth floor of this museum is the most talked about. It is dedicated to the years of terrorism experienced in Peru from the 60s to the early 2000s. It was really interesting and very powerful. There are bare concrete floors and white walls. Most of the pictures are in black and white. Thankfully, the captions on the pictures were in Spanish and English, or else we would have been there all day. When you get off the elevator, you are greeted by a guard who asks you to sign in. They want to keep track of who has seen this exhibit. Then you see a timeline of the terrorism that takes up two walls. There are so many events, that it is hard to take them all in. Then you proceed through room after room, detailing each major terrorist event. There are pictures, video, and voice recordings. It was striking to learn so much about events that had barely been mentioned to us before this. My host family spoke a lot about insecurity in Venezuela, but never about the terrorism in Peru. Later, they asked me what I thought was most interesting about the museum and I told them this exhibit. My host dad basically was like, "Oh, terrorism and it's effects?" and I said, "Si." and that's it. No one wants to talk about it. I don't think we even talked about it in my socioeconomic realities of Peru class. It's still very real to them. And kind of taboo. So it's cool that there is this museum. Parents and grandparents were there with their kids, whispering their own experiences into their ears. I tried to eavesdrop a few times, but my spanish isn't good enough for that yet.
Thursday was our last day at the biblioteca. We had to leave early for an elap meeting, but the promotoras didn't want us to go. When they realized it was our last day, they said we couldn't leave. Then they sent all the kids home and closed the door and brought out a cake, mini empanadas, and coffee. We put a candle in the cake and sang Happy Birthday to no one in particular in French, English, Bulgarian (I think), Finnish, and finally, Spanish. Talk about a cultural experience. I miss those girls already. They were so sweet.
Friday Amber and I visited la Iglesia Santo Domingo downtown. They have the skulls of two saints on display there and the bones of another. I found it strange. I don't really understand the veneration of saints, but it's probably because I'm not Catholic. The church was beyond beautiful, though. Then we went to Saint Rose's house. We saw the well that she made and the prayers that people throw in there. That was cool. Then we got ice cream at 4D for the 4th and last time. Sad face. We were supposed to meet Andrew there, but he caught up to us while we were walking. He came up behind Amber and I and put his arms around us, like a surprise hello, and I was 100% sure I was being robbed again. Later, Maria tried to grab my arm and I freaked again. I was a little more startled by my run-in with crime than I had thought. I'm better now that I'm back in the states.
My host mom was really sad to see me go. She cried. Apparently I was just what she needed. The girl before me had been a little high-maintenance and then I showed up and didn't ask for anything. It was nice to be appreciated for that weird quality. I guess I don't like to be a bother. I'll just blend in to this wall over here. Don't mind me.
The flight home wasn't bad. I hardly slept, but my bags weren't searched, so that's great. My suitcase was 88 lbs which is way over the limit, but the guy let it go this time. I don't know what he will do next time I see him. I had to lug this and two other bags around the Newark airport after doing something to my back while getting off the plane. Don't worry, I'm tough, and I heal.
Basically, I didn't sleep again until 4 in the afternoon when I took a 20 minute nap. My first meal back was an oriental chicken salad and turkey avocado sandwich from Applebee's. Nothing glamorous, but that's fine. I guess I eat at Applebee's a lot. I think it's been 3 times since I got home.
Since I have been home I have been on a boat once, I have been in Ft. Wayne, I have been in Columbus, I have been in charge, and for the last 3ish days I have been quietly at home. Also I went to a vineyard. And watched all of season 7 of The Office. I'm processing. I can tell you about it later.
