Moving

Seth on our bike ride with Chorillos and Baranco in the background before his shoes were stolen at the beach while we were sitting right next to them and he had to bike home barefoot!!


I'm moving tomorrow. I'm not moving particularly far away - the next suburb over - and I'm still in a foreign country - Peru - and as anxious I am to get my own place and not have a Peruvian roommate anymore, there is something sad about leaving. Maybe it was that when I came here not knowing any Spanish I had my roommate and neighbors who I could talk to. Maybe it was that it was the first time in over four weeks I could unpack my suitcase and hang things in a closet. Maybe it was that I could cook meals and not go out to eat for every meal (even though we go out a lot still).
What makes a place home? Is it the bed? Is it the people you live with or your neighbors? Is it going to the coffee shop nearby and getting to know the baristas? Is it being able to pronounce your street properly so that the taxistas know where to take you at 3am? Is it the fact you have your own bathroom with TP? Is it a pet or a plant? What makes your home the place you call home?
I love traveling and moving is a natural part of that experience. I find that I always call Minnesota home and only after living somewhere for at least a month or more can I call my new temporary residency "home." Once you live somewhere long enough to call it your "home" leaving that place means leaving memories (good and bad) and can be a bit emotional.
In my short life I have had many many roommates: from week long roommates at soccer camp to Boston and Macalester College roommates. I have lived with over 20 different people since high school (Kelly, Lizz, Sarah, Emmy, Mel, Laura, Sara, Bret, Sophie, Sam, Rosa, Anna, Camilo, Joey, Shannon, Eric, Mom and Dad (and Wynston), Val, Cara, Jackie, Val, Miranda, and Johnny) and after living on a couch in London to having nice apartment in Miraflores, I have called many different places home.
I am excited to move to San Isidro with a panoramic ocean view with beautiful sunsets every night. It is next to a delicious rotisserie chicken restaurant and next to a park that is part of the Malecon (the parks on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean). It is a large three bedroom and I will be hosting a large Thanksgiving Day dinner for over 40 of our American and Peruvian friends (some who have never had a proper Thanksgiving Day feast). I am very excited to explore a new area that's quiet and more residential but also a little sad and anxious that I somehow acquired a ton more stuff in three months and am NOT going to be able to pack it in two suitcases.

My new apartment building is basically the first tall building (in the middle of the photo) - the first tall one after the group of buildings on the right.