Two Years

Today marks two years since my arrival in Peru. This milestone snuck up on me yesterday at church when the bulletin read "November 4, 2012," I realized how close I was to the two year mark.

When I celebrated my first year in Peru, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Mostly in shock that I had actually made it that long. Between the visa troubles, bad job, culture shock and language issues, that first year was rough. Most of the time I was waiting for someone to tell me, "Meghan, it's ok. You can go home." And I would have hopped on the first plane back to Nashville.

Two years is different. Two years feels like a long time. 24 months. 730 days. Two years is half of the time I spent in college. At just 24, two years is 8% of my life. Considering 75% of my life consisted of living under my parent's roof, I'd say that's pretty impressive.

This milestone is also bittersweet- I know that I won't be celebrating three years in Peru. In just about three and a half months, I will be making my way back to Nashville to start the next phase of my life. I'm leaving because I can not do what I want to do in Peru. If I could, I would stay.

That statement: If I could, I would stay, makes me proud. The fact that I have lived in Peru for two years now, is easily my greatest accomplishment. I am unabashedly proud that I stuck it out, that I adapted and most importantly- that I came to like it.

Peru has been my home for the past two years. When I stood in the Nashville airport two years ago, I could have never imagined what this move would be like. That day, I was embarking on this great adventure, without any real clue as to how hard it would be. That day, I was moving to Peru with an openended return date and instead I decided to stick around for a couple of years.

Thanks for having me, Lima. Salud!