I have had a good amount of time to reflect on our trip. It
seems so long ago now. Especially with starting this new adventure, it is
farfetched that just a week ago I was riding a rickety bus in the dirt roads of
Alto Trujillo, Peru.
I want to reflect on the last day of our trip. We had to be
packed and ready to go before our big presentations, our presentations that
held so much weight. Yes, they were a part of our grade, but that was trivial
compared to the lives we had in our care. We were working with real people
trying to take care of their families, trying to make a better life for
themselves and their children, trying to make a living. This presentation was
our recommendation to the board of loan approvers about their lives. It wasn’t
something that we stressed or worried about; we just took it seriously.
The presentations did well. They started running long, so we
made it a goal to make ours short. We were the shortest of the day, and we also
received complements from the judges (the three amigos, to make the connection)
when we sat down. I was quite pleased with our performance, proud of our
effort. We sadly did not recommend that Luis get his loan, but we believe that
he will have more opportunities to start his own business if he has the desire.
He has a solid character, but the market conditions were not in his favor. We
hope for great things out of Luis.
We changed out of our business clothes and into our
traveling clothes, aware that these would be our uniforms for the next several
days. We boarded the bus at about 3:00, not knowing it would be another 24
hours (for me at least) until we were home.
Who knows why, but we were at the Trujillo airport several
hours early. I guess we just wanted to be super sure, but it was good practice
for waiting in airports. When we landed in Lima, we found our flight was
delayed, which extended our layover to about 8 hours. We couldn’t even check
our bags that early, so we waited in the front of the airport for three of
those hours. Braulio met me at the door, and we talked. I really like Braulio
(remember he was the one who met us in Lima last time). He gave me some
packages to give to Rhett and another missionary; the packages were always
questioned because I guess its bad to take wrapped packages on a plane from a
stranger. I told them I trusted the packages, and of course, it turned out to
be chocolate, not a bomb (or snakes; apparently, the day before, a Peruvian
tried to bring snakes into the country).
When we were finally able to check in, I had the best cheese
bread sticks ever. Maybe it was the recipe; maybe it was the fact that I was
craving American food, but the Papa John’s in the airport was a god-sent. After
dinner, we parked our butts in the terminal and slept until three. It was quite
noisy when they decided to board because a line of workers ruffled through
everyone’s carry-on, throwing away water bottles and, presumably, checking for
snakes. Tyler purchased a Coke in the airport that they would not let on the
plane, so he chugged it, only to have his bag passively checked. It was funny,
even in my groggy state.
Plane rides have been stressful, yet fun. I hate the feeling
of leaving because I always feel like I have left something, even though I know
I packed it. I love flying though. That is half of the reason why I love to
travel. I also sit by very interesting people. On our flights in South America,
I always sat by Brennon and Luribel, and they were fun to talk to and to listen
to them chatter. On the flight from Lima to Dallas, I sat by an Aussie who was
a marketing guy who worked from wherever part of the world he wanted to work.
We didn’t talk much, but I would never think that a life like that could even
exist. On the flight from Dallas to Salt Lake, I sat by a lady who worked in
the healthcare system. She is currently a nurse, but has worked with the
Chinese Olympic Team and something else super cool that I can’t remember. She
admires the IHC healthcare system and wants to move to Utah because of the
outdoors and the hospitals. These experiences sandwiched the tightest layover I
have been through (which isn’t saying much unless Dave says the same thing,
which he did). We spent forever in the
immigration line (they only had 3 attendants that morning), when finally we
were given express passes to jump ahead of all the lines. We jumped on the
tram, dashed through customs, threw our luggage onto the loading belt,
scampered to our terminal, and were just in time for our boarding call. Hence, the stressful, yet fun.
The landing in Salt Lake was bitter sweet. We saw Nate,
Natalie, Aniko, Susana, and Luribel leave us in Lima (some stayed in South
America, some took a different flight home). In Salt Lake, Dave, Cliff, Erin,
Liza, Shannon, and Brennon all went their separate ways. Cooper, Alex, and I
rode to Logan with Tyler. We stopped for a Carl’s Jr. Burger, which was super weird
because it was in English, but super delicious because it was American.
They dropped me off at my doorstep. Then I wasn’t that sad;
I was super happy to be home, and it was just a good goodbye. But now, looking
back at all our memories, I miss them. I miss the culture we created within our
group. Maybe its because I have been quite stressed today from camp, but I
would love to relive those days.
Thanks for making it such a fun experience. Thanks to
everybody. I still want your pictures, and I will try and get mine up someday.
But Thanks.
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