One week before classes started, I finally hear from my director. I am getting my certification through Vía Lingua and there is a house reserved for TEFL students close to the school.
Four days later, I arrive in Lima, Peru with two new comrades I met in the airport. One, a surfer from California, the other a backpacker and army veteran from Israel. I was lucky to meet them. That night we went salsa dancing in Miraflores, Lima and the next day visited the South American Explorers' clubhouse and hung out in the local climbing gym.
I then proceeded to miss my bus to Arequipa. My taxi driver, however, turned out to be my guardian angel. He waited with me 20 minutes in the bus station to help me change my ticket, took me back to my hostel, then woke up at 5AM the next morning to take me back to the bus station. He didn't leave me until I was handing my ticket over to board the bus.
My first night in Arequipa I spent alone and downed an entire box of Kraft mac n' cheese by myself. The bus ride from Lima was 17 hours and they only fed us 2 meals.
Three weeks, 90 hours of grammar & pedagogy, 15 hours of observations and 8 hours of student teaching later, things are wrapping up and I'm preparing for my next adventure. My head is spinning with grammar terms, I've formed relationships I will never forget, eaten amazing food, walked endless hours on the hilly cobblestone rodes of Peru's white city, and drunk countless pisco sours (a drink made from a grape liquor, egg whites, and lime).
