Katie's Vida Peruana: An Ode To The End

This time two years ago I was in Incarnate Word Missionaries orientation in San Antonio, preparing myself to embark on a 2 year journey to an unknown part of the world (at least to me). We went through hours of discussion sessions, workshops, and question&answer sessions with the Sisters and their associates. We were taught everything from living in intentional community, to the social justice struggle in Latin America, to staying healthy in mission, to spiritual companionship, to meditation and prayer, to personality types and interactions. It was a short 3 weeks, and before we knew it we were off to Chimbote, Peru to meet our new home for the first time.

Once we arrived in Chimbote it was like a whirlwind. Getting to know so many new foods, new people, new streets, new rules, new cultural norms, a new language, new clothing, new music, new new new new new. One thing I remember very distinctly from the second that I arrived to San Antonio is that everyone kept saying, “Two years…. It will go by so fast.” And guess what?? They were right.

Now two years later and back in my comfortable home in the USA I am having a hard time processing and reflecting on what just happened in my life. It’s so much more than “an experience in mission”. It seems like a whole other life that I lived in Chimbote. When people today ask me “So, how was Peru??” I just have to smile and say “It was good, thanks”, because how can I describe the beauty, the heartache, the love, the joys, the challenges, the obstacles, the relationships, the fights, the stress, the frustrations, the hilarity, the life-giving memories that made up the past 2 years in a one sentence response to that question??

I am still struggling to find a connection to it all. Trying to figure out who the Katie was before I went to Peru, and where the new me fits in to this familiar but strange world back in the United States. I am slowly getting used to the comforts of home again, but grasping desperately to the lessons of simplicity and intentionality that I learned in Peru…. Though, side note, I have to say that getting used to air conditioning, debit card machines, putting toilet paper in the toilet, driving my car, huge grocery stores, drinking water out of the tap, walking barefoot around the house, carpet, laundry machines, utilizing the refrigerator, TV, hot showers whenever I want them, seeing clean domesticated dogs with owners on leashes, clothes that are actually clean and smell like laundry, the freedom of driving my own car, the almost sterile cleanliness of the streets and buildings, the politeness and good-manners of even strangers, and the fast-paced speed of the culture here.... is taking some getting used to.

I learned so much while I was there.... and more than just how to cure and dress a wound when I only have q-tips, menstrual pads, and a bottle of iodine to work with. I became such a more patient and understanding person. I learned the value of gentleness, listening, and genuine kindness to my nursing and to my personal life. I handled the most frustrating and challenging situations of my life and taught myself to take a deep breath and be the most objective that I can. I took on so many unexpected responsibilities and got through it with a smile on my face. I felt some of the saddest that I've ever felt, the most scared that I've ever been, the most defeated, disheartened, and discouraged.... but I can honestly and confidently say that it was two years that I would NEVER trade for anything. I know that I am a new, more mature, more experienced, more understanding, more whole, more patient, more reliable, braver, and harder working version of myself. I am proud of my time in Peru and I'm so honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to live in Chimbote, serve the people that I served, live in solidarity, and learn from every person that I met every day. Each individual truly changed me and changed my life.

That being said, I am very happy to be home. I was ready to be back and feel that I left with a good amount of closure. Kyle and I had a pretty stressful last couple of weeks in Chimbote. A trillion goodbye parties and lunches…. I don’t think we slept for 4 hours in a row in the entire last 8 days that we were there. But it was worth it to be able to say goodbye to so many wonderful, amazing people who became such an important part of our Chimbotano lives. Friends who became family away from family in our home away from home.

I would be lying if I said that I never missed Peru, but I also think I am still in that shocking “honey-moon” phase of getting home and the reality of it all hasn’t really hit me yet. I am more than grateful for the past 2 years. I am so thankful to the Incarnate Word Sisters, to my parents, to my friends who supported me, to God, to all of you who always read my blog, emailed me to check in, and sent me your thoughts and prayers, and to everyone who made it possible for this inner vocation of mission to be fulfilled. I can say that my life has forever been changed. My soul and my spirit will never be the same as they were two years ago. My eyes have been opened to so many new realities, perspectives, and ideas. I gained new hope and vision for what I want my future to look like and how I can manifest this dedication to the poor and marginalized in a tangible way in my work and personal life. I feel so blessed to have had this more than incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity. Now it is up to me, along with lots of prayer and reflection, to figure out what comes next and how to give myself a new life that always deeply incorporates my vida Peruana.

Below are some pictures of my "Despedidas" or "Goodbyes", with everyone from my sweet little Hospice patients and their families to Parish friends to the Sisters. Enjoy!!

Goodbye lunch at our friends Patty and Claudia's house

My last day at Hospice!!! Our community team for June

With my patient Felicita, wearing the scarf that she knit for me as a goodbye gift

Me and Sister Juanita at Hospice

Me and Maria, one of my patients

My goodbye party at Hospice

Fidea's passport!! Yes, we brought her back to the USA with us... we couldn't leave our baby!!

My love Julia and her daughter Maraju

Our last picture ever in our house!!!! All of these friends came to see us off before we got in our car and left for Lima to come back to the USA!!!!

Goodbye party with the Incarnate Word Chimbote Associates

Lunch with our neighbor and Peruvian grandma, Lucha

Goodbye party and cheers with friends.. Kyle, Elmer, Oscar, Felipe, Irwin, John, me, and Richard

Saying goodbye to my patient Francisca

After our lass mass in our parish San Francisco with Padre Lucciani and our new Padre

With our vegetable lady and our fruit couples in the market

Me, Pepe, and Richard at our English goodbye party, they gifted Kyle and I teaching certificates from Peru

Saying goodbye with our neighbors.... Uder, me, Luz, Sergio, Abuelita, Axel, y Yuri

After our goodbye party with our English students

With my patient Maria and her family

With my patient Jose's wife

Kyle with little fruit lady when we said our goodbyes in the market

After my goodbye party at Hospice

Goodbye dinner Chifa with Amparo, Clorinda, me, Nidia, and Sonia

Our last night out dancing in Chimbote with our good friends.... Laura, Nataly, me, Fiorella, Mayumi, Alejandro, and Kyle

With my patient Donatila and her daughter

Me with my patient Lucas and his family (and dog Doki)

Kyle, Sister Francine, Sister Favi, Sister Carmelita, Sister Rosaleen, Sister Mirella, Sister Ivonne, Sister Melanie, and I at our goodbye lunch in Lima