Home Sweet Home...I think..

Ahh, home life! No more shower sandals, no more skimping on soap, shampoo and toothpaste to make it last, no more carrying around a heavy backpack, and no more packing and unpacking every two or three days! Oh yeah, now I get a big comfy bed, clean bathroom, and home-cooked meals three times a day.  It is not going to take long for me to gain back any weight I might have lost. haha.

I've been home now for about a month, and except for my first day back, not a day has gone by where I haven't wished I was still adventuring in South America. To have something new and exciting to do everyday, someone new to meet in every place, some spectacular bit of scenery to see, the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the crazy driving...I miss it all. I've come home to friends and family who are genuinely excited to have me back, but who also have lives--I'm back to that being-unemployed-while-all-my-friends-are-in-school-or-have-jobs thing. I'm bored out of my mind, and I can't understand how I ever thought shower sandals were something to complain about. haha.

I suppose after traipsing through half a continent, suburbian life in small town America could never be exciting, but I can't help but to wish it was. I spend my days daydreaming about Brazilian beaches, the Argentine nightlife, and the Andes mountains.  Another chapter in my life is about to begin with school, and I should be excited about that, which I guess I am in a small way, but it's hard to be after my three months abroad.  It was too short. I should have gone earlier or I should have stayed longer.  I feel like there is so much left to do and see in this world and spending five years of it dedicated to school seems like an utter waste of time. Ugh.  Perhaps this is just what happens to people when they return from a trip like this.  Perhaps this is mostly a product of my boredom at home, and if I had more to keep myself busy with than I wouldn't miss traveling so much.  

I think I've caught the travel bug anyway, and now it's just a matter of time until my next trip! Southeast Asia Summer of 2011 anyone? =)

A big thanks to everyone who kept in touch with me and kept up with my adventures through this blog! I'm not sure if I was entertaining enough, but I hope you found it fun to follow along as I traveled through the 5 countries in South America.  I'll most definitely be making a return journey!

Lima Bean.

Welcome to Lima--really dingy and stinky city! ew. Nina and I were greeted (more like assaulted) by the putrid air that explains the haze around the city. Not the most pleasant experience considering we just spent the last 5 days camping in the great outdoors where there is no human pollution. Ah well, only two days of this to deal with, and then homeeeee!

Our first day in Lima was a complete bust.  Since we got to our hostel too early to check in, we literally sat around for four hours just counting down until we had beds to pass out in.  Once we checked in, we basically slept the entire first day away, waking up around 6pm in the evening. After getting ready, we decided to take a stroll around the city.  We were staying in Miraflores, the safest neighborhood in Lima, which was proven to be true when we walked by all of the consulate buildings. We got lost a bit trying to find our way to the mall, but eventually found it and a movie theatre. Score! It was 8pm and Iron Man 2 happened to be showing at 8pm in English! I hadn't even seen the first one, but considering the fact that our hostel was socially disfunctional and we were wide awake, and both of our tickets was going to be less than $5USD, I was totally down! The movie was good and the night ended extremely well when we found an amazing grocery store full of lots of worldly products, and refridgerated yogurt--a luxury I had not had in a month! So we topped off our night with a tasty yogurt treat making our grand total in expenses for the day $7 for two people.  Lima was beginning to grow on me. :)

We were much more coherent our second day and we started the day with a cheap run to the grocery store followed by mani/pedis next door.  It wasn't quite the best job I'd ever seen--no one can beat Asians--but it was good for the value.  Plus, since I had basically destroyed my pretty little feet with all of the hiking, trekking, biking, walking, etc. it was semi-embarrassing to even let someone try to make my feet pretty. haha. I was happy to get out of there when we did. We spent our afternoon strolling through the parks in Lima, one of which was called the Lover's Park.  It had a massive statue of two people making out. Um..awkward.We watched surfers and hangliders and just walked along the cliff that overlooked the ocean.  Unfortunately for us, and for Lima, the weather is overcast there from April - December.  What? Gray nastiness for 9 months of the year!? No wonder everyone talks so much about Lima..or not...
We shopped around the rest of the afternoon, hit up our favorite grocery store three more times and headed in to the hostel to pack and get some sleep before leaving for our way too early flights the next day. I even ran into a few more travelers that I had seen, including my friend Chris.

Overall impressions of Lima: not the prettiest place, but it has potential.  Definitely not the most fun I've had, but it was nice to relax before heading back home.

Next stop: Home. Yeesh! Haven't been there in 3 months, and I'm finally going back! I'm excited about not wearing shower sandals, that's for sure, but I am really going to miss traveling.