In Peru : )

Wow…sorry it has taken me so long to post but I am FINALLY IN PERU!!! I arrived at my destination around 11:30 Tuesday night. It took 62 hours of traveling in all, but I made it safe and sound. 

When I first arrived I wasn’t able to really look because it was so dark but when I woke up the next morning and stepped outside of my bedroom I was met with one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. The mountains and landscape are amazing here and the sky just highlights their beauty.

I was surprised by how nice the Sachamama Center is. We have real beds, showers (cold water only though), and even a massage therapist that gives hour long massages for just 5 dollars. The food is equally amazing, all made from fresh, organic ingredients and everyone here is friendly and interested in learning about one another.

My first full day here consisted of getting acclimated and catching up on work I had missed.After morning classes and lunch the afternoon was spent exploring the town of Lamas. The town is really beautiful, but obviously impoverished compared to the US. There are no cars, just moped-carts and most of the roads are dirt, filled with ditches and rocks. Nonetheless, there is a general feeling of friendliness among the locals. Everyone we spoke with was happy and interested in speaking with us.

Yesterday we spent the day at Takiwasi, a treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction. At the center they use an innovative therapeutic model to cure their patients, combining psychological therapy and conventional medicine with traditional medicine of the Amazon. The use of plants from the Amazonian environment is a main point of their treatment, as they claimed they help patients to cleanse their bodies and make life realizations. We spent the day getting a tour of the grounds and the gardens and listening to a presentation by a man who has researched and wrote a book about these alternative medicines. It was all very interesting but we were all exhausted by the time is was time to go.

When I got back to the Sachamama Center we had a small break before dinner and then broke into language classes. I wish I could say the language class was good, but my stomach started to hurt and I could tell something wasn’t settling right. To make a long story short, I got food poisoning and spent all last night and today going back and forth from the bathroom. Feeling better now but my body still feels very weak. The next couple of days aren’t too intense so I am just hoping that I am back to strength for the upcoming immersion where we will be leaving the Sachamama Center to work and live in an indigenous community.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!