i remember...

(quick confession, i stole this idea from my good friend amelia's blog. hope she doesn't mind)

i remember when the taxi picked me up from the airport back in february and i just stared out the window trying to convince myself that i was going to live there for the next ten months.

i remember when we had orientation and melvin told us all the "important" street names and then went in one ear and out the other.

i remember when i found out that i'd be sharing a bathroom with my two brothers, and that the bathroom was off of their room meaning that i would have to go through their room to get there.

i remember when we spent long days of intensivo with julio.

i remember when i figured out how to buy the básico at la cato.

i remember when i discovered all sorts of new slang: jato, calato, pucha, miércoles, chévere, asu, yuca, piña, pata, etc.

i remember feeling like i didn't even speak spanish.

i remember when amelia thought it would be a good idea to feed deer #14 her orange peel, leading to us being attacked and me getting deer-nipped in the butt.

i remember how amelia loved telling that story to all our peruvian friends.

i remember getting sucked into the peruvian time warp.

i remember the time someone on a micro asked me directions and i was able to understand the question, i knew the answer and was able to respond.

i remember when we stayed at a hostel in ica in the middle of the desert and there was a lack of water in the bathroom.

i remember when we were sitting in the bus station in lima wondering if chris was going to meet up with us in ica and then he walked right in.

i remember when we were chilling in the hostel in ica wondering when chris was gonna get there and then he knocked on the door.

i remember the first time i tried anticucho, without knowing that it was actually grilled cow's heart.

i remember the way alfredo would always call me gabby.

i remember when we saw the most beautiful stars in huacachina.

i remember when amelia and i found the best pizza place in all of buenos aires.

i remember when amelia and i ate so much parrilla that we never wanted to see meat ever again.

i remember when i said something in linguistics class the professor said "excelente!"

i remember when i skipped spanish class and got my nose pierced.

i remember when i was woken up by amelia at 1 am saying "abigail", and then how i had to remove the blankets from the bed because they caused a blister on her eye.

i remember when the nice storekeeper came out and told me that he had overcharged me and gave me my money back.

i remember when sam and i saw flamingos in the andes mountains.

i remember when there was a man who brought his rooster on the bus from arequipa to puno.

i remember going out for pollo a la brasa.

i remember when i tried sushi for the first time.

i remember when we tried (unsuccessfully) to have melvin take jumping pics of amelia and i.

i remember when i spent all day in gamarra getting t-shirts and toys to give to the kids at deporte y vida for christmas.

i remember when we painted the murals and don victor was quite particular about what he wanted: baby chickens, friends for the fish, a bird to go with the nest, eyes on the fish, fruit on the trees.

i remember when aprill informed us that we needed to have "a lizard on a rock in the foreground" because she likes lizards.

i remember when i saw a woman get dragged off the micro and robbed.

i remember when sam and i made a friend named david at la lucha and he dedicated poetry to us.

i remember when we saw david again on our last night out in lima and avoided him.

i remember the first day of cbu when amelia and i ended up in the picture and we decided that we had to come back because we were in the picture.

i remember when they wanted sam and i to do something funny.

i remember when we found out that miki and jonatan are good dancers.

i remember when amelia and i hiked into colca canyon and rode back up on mules.

i remember when i tried kraps and crack for the first time.

i remember when i went to polvos azules for the first time.

i remember when i would make pancakes for my family.

i remember when everyone thought it was the coolest thing that i could make balloon animals.

i remember when we would play bananagrams with cbu after lunch.

i remember when i would sit in my room and eat peanutbutter straight out of the jar.

i remember all the long, good talks with sam and amelia about faith and god and life and peru and boys.

i remember all this, and so much more.