There is no word in Spanish for Awkward.

When I first arrived at my host family's house, I was so awkward.

I mean, I'm usually somewhat awkward, but compound that times 5 when I am in a foreign country and foreign language trying to make this new place my home.

I unpacked my stuff in my room and sat, awkwardly, on my bed. Alone. My host dad popped his head in and said (and I'm translating here) "You don't have to sit in there! Come! You can be out here too!" And he lead me into the breakfast room and showed me all the magazines and sat with me, for an hour, reading Peruvian celebrity gossip magazines.

It was one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me.

He didn't want to read those magazines and had no interest in who was dating who. But he so badly wanted me to be comfortable, my kind, quiet Peruvian Dad, that he sat with me and read about how Jorge was caught with Jessica in the bar the other night.

I hope I will be that welcoming for anyone I run into who is alone and awkward and confused.

In other news, I just returned from Trujillo, which I adored! It looked like this and it was beautiful:

Fiestas Patrias are coming soon (the big holidays of Peru)!

{I leave in 13 days}

Mixed Feelings.

Right now, fear of stopping, of not getting back on a bus, of not traveling.

In two seconds, it will likely change.

Gloomin' it Up on a Gloomy Day

I'm sitting at the dining room table, supposed to be working on my Peruvian History research paper. My Peruvian family is away, so I'm just hanging,

listening to my new Jack Johnson cd I bought from Polvos Azules.

(Click here and then here and listen while you read to get the full effect)

It's chilly and wet and Father's Day and I wish I could be with my US family

My little sister's representation of our family.

I am holding a sign that says Save the Kittens and a suitcase with different country names.

Activist and traveler I suppose?

I especially wish I could be with my super cool Dad! Shout out to you Daddy!

My dad is a handy man and good with animals.

Our dog is obsessed with him and follows him everywhere.

I just skyped with my other US family, my best friend and her folks, who were all gathered together to celebrate the day, wearing sundresses and peeling potatoes and speaking English.

I'm feeling a little gloomy.

I shouldn't.

I have three awesome families that love me.

I have recently been on some amazing trips.

Last week I spent time in the Amazon and in the Andes, in Iquitos and Cuzco and Machu Picchu. They were mind blowing and I wish to return - especially to the jungle.

And there are so many little every day things I love here:

My cluttered, tiny room

Wednesday lunches with Rose

Getting Pinkberry with my host sister

(this has also lead to me sharing my obsession with kiwis with my Peru family,

a fruit they had never tried. Now we are pretty much a kiwi fan club)

Aji "poderoso" in a jar that once held peach preserves from a small town Musella, Georgia.

Leaving my Peruvian family will be very hard.

Why must I keep finding people and places I love?