greetings from chile

It's been a long while since I last wrote. A lot has happened in the past month that I should have written about. I write this from a friend's laptop in Santiago, Chile. I arrived late last night and spent much of today on the metro and making my way to the Peruvian Embassy where I will return again tomorrow to hopefully finally get my resident visa. Before my arrival here in Santiago, I spent a wonderful week at the beach in Arequipa with the lovely Meghan Hurley, my roomie. It was our first real trip together. We spent some quality time soaking up some sun, staying up late talking on the balcony of our hotel, reflecting, relaxing, and recuperating from the Cusco flu...did I mention ceviche?!?! It was amazing to enjoy some fresh fish! Although it may have not been the best choice for my stomach, my taste buds were more than pleased. Meghan returned to Cusco and I continued my journey down south to Chile.

It was a good day. I was pretty proud of myself for not getting completely lost on the metro and for being able to find the Peruvian Embassy and whatnot. Afterwards I found myself passing a coffee shop that happened to be playing some Ella Fitzgerald..."First you say you do, and then you don't"...I don't know the name of the song but I hadn't heard it for a good while. It immediately sent me back to fourth grade. I remember gathering up enough courage to sing it when my dad had the karaoke machine in the class. It was right after Stephanie Saum sang "Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls" by TLC.

I landed me a spot in the corner on a comfy couch where I enjoyed a huge coffee, a little downtime of writing, and reading some of Paul Farmer's "Pathologies of Power." It's now going on 7:30pm. I'm staying with some friends who I met in New York during training to come to Peru. Their roommate, Michelle, has been here for over two years and will be catching a plane back to the states on Monday. So this weekend I am really looking forward to more downtime and enjoying the fellowship of friends and good company before hopping back on the long bus ride back to Cusco. Again, I apologize for not keeping this up to date. I will try to write more frequently. I hope this finds all of you well. You are missed and loved.