I is for I....am back!

After two days of traveling, three airplanes, 6 hours of layover in Miami, 15 hours of layover in Lima, and 96 pounds worth of luggage for the missionary families (and some for me) which included but was not limited to: Chocolate Chips, Books, Two Stuffed animal turkeys, Velour Lounge Suits, Candles, Coffee Filters, Dance Leotards, a macbook pro, Saffron Rice, Peanut Butter M&Ms, and Batman Costume complete with mask (no...unfortunately not for me) I have returned to my Peruvian home of Trujillo. Phew!

Today is my first day back of teaching, and so far I'm 0 for 2 when it comes to actually teaching. My first class had no students, my second class had 1 student. Third class hopefully will be a charm. Actually I know for a fact that my third class will be a charm because it is one of my all-time favorite classes at SALI. I spent 3 cycles with this class, and then last month could not teach them because of my U.S. travels, and now am going to be "Reunited and it feeeeels so goood!"

My trip to the US was great. I looooooved seeing all my friends again and getting to catch up with so many people! It was nice to also have a "test run" for when I actually go back to the United States for real next July. WHICH, I figured out is why I was so very nervous about traveling to the US in the first place, because I was trying to see what it would be like to leave for good. The second I stepped on the plane I opened my sketchbook to write down my thoughts about leaving. Here's a little peek:

I don't even know where to begin...I don't know how to describe what I'm feeling. I was super nervous about the possibility of there being a problem in Lima with me trying to leave the country for some ridiculous random reason...How strange it is to me that I have been planning this trip so long and expecting and anticipating it and suddenly it has arrived and my anticipation now seems so foreign to me. Even stranger, the thought has crossed my mind many times that this trip is like a "prueba" (trial run) of what it will be like when I leave Peru for good. I've tried to be in tune with my emotions as I leave, like I'm trying to become familiar with a Jackson Pollock painting. I try my best to study it, but in the end I won't be sure what the best method is for remembering it. Do I look at only the general picture and try to remember only the overall image without trying to know the specifics? Or do I intensely study individual lines or splatters of paint, hoping that by getting the fundamentals, I will be able to build something vaguely similar? Of course now what really scares me is that as of about 10 minutes ago, my life in Peru somehow seems like a memory. Only a memory. I am no longer experiencing it daily, but rather remembering people and places and sights and smells and textures and sounds. And perhaps these thoughts are too dramatic. After all, I'm not going to the US forever. I will be there for 9 days and then I will return to the normalcy of my Peruvian life. I know that at least I have 8 more months of my time in Peru, but down in my heart I know what's really scaring me is that one day, this flight will be the end and that my Peruvian life will truly be nothing more than a memory that I will desperately try to recall. And it will make me sad that I can only recall it, and not experience it. I'm so emotionally invested. I can't leave so easily.

Sooooo...looking back, I was pretty freaked out on that plane. Hehe I'm a lot less freaked out now. This US trip was good for me to at least get a glimpse of the future, I feel a lot more prepared now, and I know that yes. It will be incredibly difficult to leave, but not impossible.
So there you have it. That's what was going on emotionally. Take it or leave it.

E is for Exhuastion in Miami

I'm so tired, and I'm only 1/4 of the way done with my travels.
I was so exhuasted when I stepped onto the plane in Atlanta that I fell dead asleep before takeoff, did not even wake up or stir during takeoff, and only woke up (barely) 2 minutes before we landed.
Not even joking.
There may or may not have been some snoring or drooling involved...you'd have to ask the people around me. But either way, I need more sleep.

The trip overall was good...no not good, Great!. Right now, the past 9 days are a wonderful whirlwind rotating in my brain so I'm looking forward to coming to a point where I can process everything and appreciate it more, and from there, give you a clearer update. But for now, please read my plagiarized blog post straight from Allen Bradford's blog about the new Peru Mission logo, and then enjoy the new video.


We are so excited to unveil our new logo! This is the culmination of many months of thinking through and praying about what would represent who we are and what we are seeking to do in Peru. The logo’s geometrical shapes and colors reflect consistent patterns in Peruvian art, thus capturing our desire to present an authentic witness within Peruvian culture. The cross, set off by white and occupying center-stage within the other shapes, expresses our commitment to the centrality of the Gospel in all our interconnected ministries and our conviction that only the Gospel can truly transform culture.


And now for the piece de resistance. This is a video my amazing friend Bailey showed me.
In case you are feeling overwhelmed in life, like things just aren't going your way and you're finding it hard to be yourself,
Watch this video, let this young dancer be your inspiration to break out....be free...and just....DANCE!
Watch it all the way through, and maybe you, yes even you could pick up some sweet new moves.

The Dance of The Century

**Side Note: Had youtube been around when I was a kid, I could definitely see myself doing something along these same lines...Seriously**

Un choque cultural

Sooo....

Here I am in the United States. More specifically in the city where I went to college, sitting at the Bagel Shop, one of my usual haunts when I was here. It's good...it smells like bagels. I missed bagels when I was in Peru. But now I'm at the bagel shop and I miss Peru.

I am re-entry shocked as all get out. I truly am happy to be here and it's been fantastic seeing old friends and being encouraged by so many different people though. It 's been a...weird experience coming back to the States, seeing what exactly is shocking to me, as well as how I behave differently amongst "mi gente" now.

Just in case you are wondering what's going up here in this cabeza of mine, here are the ways I have been re-entry shocked. Some of these were like a little wool sweater on a winter day electrical shock. Some were like a cardio defribillator.

Top Ten Things that re-entry shocked me when I got back:

• I flushed toilet paper in the actual toilet (oh by the way, you can't flush the toilet paper in Peru. I did it in the States, but it took me a while to think about it and not fear a massive clogging)
  
• I drank from a public water fountain (I was still suspicious)
  
• I got a free refill on a 16 ounce drink (In Peru, they don't drink many liquids with meals like we do. Oftentimes, you'll have about 12 ounces of something to last you the whole meal and there are no refills. You really learn how to ration something out)
  
• I ate a bagel sandwich (We don't have bagels in Peru. it was good, but the shock came later to my stomach...US food chemicals are rough on the barriga)
  
• The vegetables here taste like nothing, and everything has a slight hint of plastic (Basically everything is organic in Peru. If I eat chicken for lunch, there's a 90% chance it was killed that day)
  
• People keep asking me questions in English, and I respond in Spanish
• I watched TV....and the majority of the channels are in English
• I felt like the water pressure of the shower was going to peel my face off
• Water gets reeeeeaally hot here, reeeaaaally fast
  
• Cars are gigantic...as are most other things in the United States.

That's it for now. I am currently still adjusting to life in the United States, and doing it with the blessing of seeing my friends again!

It's 2:00a.m.

Do you know where your Gillian is? Because it's definitely at the Lima Airport.

What do you think?

I took this picture about an hour ago in the Lima airport, impatiently awaiting 3:00am to come so I can check in my suitcase, so that I can impatiently await 6:00am to come so I can board a plane that's going to the United States.

What I can't figure out is if I look Super Peruana....or if I look Super Touristy.

A is for Antsy...

In exactly 5 days, I will be in a country that is severely english speaking.
That has not happened in almost a year. I'm traveling to the United States, leaving on Monday and on U.S. Soil on Tuesday.

To tell you the truth, I'm nervous about traveling. I haven't been nervous about traveling since....well I can't even remember the last time I was nervous about traveling. When I travelled to Peru in order to live here, I was just excited, not even nervous. But I am legitimately nervous. This doesn't happen often.

I keep having visions of something going horribly wrong and me spending my 10 days in the states locked in an airport customs jail in Miami. Why? I don't know, but I'm preparing for the worst....you know, just in case.

I'm very excited though about going on this trip. Seeing people I haven't seen in almost two years is going to be incredible, especially since I wasn't planning on seeing anybody in Anderson until maybe next year when I move back to the States for good. Soo....special thanks to Nicole Tyson who made this trip possible by getting engaged. I rejoice in your marriage, as well as how it benefits me. Just kidding...but not really at all. Thanks!

I'm sure that I'll be scribbling tons of thoughts on returning to the "motherland" in my sketchbook, and probably a good chunk of that will make it to this blog as well. But until then, I leave you in eager anticipation of the experiences to come.

Rare Treasured Moments

me + 1 kitty + a laptop - 5 other girls=my apartment right now.

Glorious.