Por Fin

So this is it. Today I´ll soak up what´s left of Lima, enjoy my last vistas on our neighbor continent, then bam, just like it started, it will end. I wish I could make it out to be some epic finale to this trip, but it´s just a flight. I´ll leave just like I came, just with less stuff and worlds of new knowledge and experience. I had so much fun the last few months I could throw up. From the center of the center of Mexico, to Rio´s carnaval, to my purgatory in Corrientes, my taxi in Buenos Aires and all the rich experiences that city imparted, to wine country, to Bolivia´s extraterrestrial landscapes, and Machu Picchu, and now, finally ending on the Pacific coast in this highrise suite. And like that, it´s over! I´ve seen so many unbelievable places and things, but the people I´ve met are the real story, and the inspiring affirmation that this was a worthy way to spend the past 4 months of my life. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn´t change a thing... well I would have brought more money, but other than that, nothing, haha. In fact, I want to do it all over again. I have a massive next-time list of things I didn´t have the time or money to see, and people I would love to see again. Can´t even begin to start digesting little life lessons I´ve learned along the way, but I think I definitely came out of this whole thing a hell of a lot more rounded and stable than I was when I left, with more of a thirst to just appreciate what is and not wish for what was or could be, and maybe with a lot more love in my heart for people in general. That last one´s a tough thing to say though, I´ll wait it out and see if the feeling lasts.

On Lima anyway, it´s really cool. We found us some trouble on Thursday night and consequentially spent most of Friday in bed, but it was a good time. I have to leave kinda early for my flight tomorrow, but it´s Saturday night and the diva inside of me can´t really be contained. That´s one thing that I still think is so cool about flying... tonight I party in Lima, tomorrow night I party in Atlanta, just like that. Continent-hopping. I´m really excited to get home and be with my family again, I missed them. I really miss New york too, and really can´t wait to get back into my life there, blazing some kind of trail leading to I don´t know where, but at least it´s my own. As soon as I get back... shit, already, I´m just thinking about how I´m getting to Brazil again. Too bad my entire family is gone right now, literally. I was hoping for some sort of red carpet to be rolled out, and going to a 20-person dinner at nani and papa´s but I guess no one really cares. Hahaha. Kidding kidding, they´ll be back but i´m still being a little biatch about it.

Alright, well that´s all, folks. Thank you South America, for showing me a great time and giving me some crazy shit I´ll never forget!

Pacification

So here we are, perched on a cliff hundreds of feet over the endless blue paradise brewing below us... we´re in Lima! Miraflores to be exact, the ritzy glamorous part of this massive metropolis, where bakeries and dog shit line every sidewalk. It´s gorgeous, actually, kind of reminiscent of a lot of places I´ve been this trip, so it´s a fitting spot to end it all. Like I said before, we´re staying in Kendra´s connection´s apartment, on the 14th floor. On the balcony side, you have a lighthouse a little ways to the left, then the cove wraps around, dotted with waterfront highrises, then ends at this massive rock covered with radio antennas. Straight ahead, the Pacific Ocean, in all its sea-foam-green glory. On the other side, the city´s skyscrapers extend seemingly as endlessly as the ocean, this place is huge! The coast line is all a big cliff, so you have to go down to get to the water, which is full of surfers and not much else, and the way the waves hit the rocky beach wants to put me to sleep... it´s really nice! I had heard a lot of nonsense about Lima before I came from other travelers, but its nice parts are no joke! It´s kind of expensive though.

Today I was walking around and ran into one of my college professors, how freaking random. I didn´t yell his name fast enough to actually get to talk to him, because it´s been a few years and wanted to make sure I wasn´t yelling at a stranger, but I realized it was definitely him. Small world, eh.

So it´s Wednesday, that´s a little ridiculous to think of, since I´m leaving Sunday. All of this is over! So we agreed that Thursday through Saturday night is strictly partying, no wimping out. I gotta make some Lima stories, and they have to count. I just talked to an old Atlanta friend who knows people who live here, so hopefully we can run with the locals again because that´s always how I seem to find the most trouble without actually getting into any trouble. Fingers crossed.

So I dunno what else, I´m going to try to snag some clothes here before I leave because I know it´s cheaper to rebuild a wardrobe here than it will be in Atlanta, then I´m going to dunk my head in the ocean the morning before i leave so I´ll smell like the beach when I get back...the water´s pretty cold though. And then, that´s about it! Living like a king and queen in this aparment man, it´s on the 14th floor, we have a doorman, it´s huge with a balcony, with bedrooms upstairs and cable, 2 bathrooms, laundry.... shiiiit. Makes me feel lik I´ve been living like a hog the past few months!