Today is Sunday July 28th, and I leave for Lima early Tuesday morning, July 30th. The last two weeks of packing and moving went by very fast, it seems I had all this time to get things done before I left and now the time is here and I still have SO much to do. Friday the 26th I packed my entire 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath town house into a 5 foot by 10 foot storage unit, everything fit except one chair and my dinner table. I was amazed! On that same Friday I sat at Yeasty Beasty on Main street with my mom and brother, a few family friends, and my best friend. Watching people outside walking from the pub to the market, riding their bikes, or just enjoying others’ company made me realize how much I truly am going to miss Monmouth. I know I am going to have the time of my life while I am gone, but I can’t help to think of the fun I will be missing.

I am pretty unsure of how it will be in Peru. I have heard mixed things: “don’t talk to strangers; you can’t trust anyone” or things such as “every person you meet in Peru will greet you with a smile and treat you with respect”…..I’m hoping that is how it really will be. I hope to improve my Spanish, well…..I BETTER improve my Spanish since that is the whole purpose of this study abroad. I’m not worried though, I know I’ll be using it everyday, all day.

I can’t even describe my emotions right now because I don’t exactly know what I am feeling; excited? scared? nervous? All of the above….. I am excited to go, but sad to go. Happy to be fortunate enough to experience something this incredible but worried about potential situations, but one thing I am certain of is that I will have the most amazing experience of my life.

-Hannah