Home Sweet Home

Hello from Minnesota! From Snelling Ave. in St. Paul to be exact. What a cold embrace I received yesterday leaving the plane with only two layers of clothes on - my light sweater didn't protect me from the Minnesota cold. It was a lovely and tasty reunion, as my parents cooked all my favorite requested dishes of enchiladas, sweet rolls, and porkolt. We ate and talked all afternoon. I am so happy to be in the presence of family again and many more reunions with family and friends to look forward to...

My last days in Huaraz with Jen and Meche were nice and relaxed. We explored the town, ate good food, recovered from our many stressful high altitude hikes, and simply took in the incredible sights all around us. While traveling to another corner of Peru I realized how lucky I am to have lived (and will continue to live) in an amazing country with so much to explore. Having Jen around reminded me of our Guatemalan days and I came home a little confused; was I returning home after Peace Corps in Peru? Well, after two consecutive nights traveling (on bus, then on the plane) I guess your mind can get a little out of whack.

So I am transitioning now from one snowy tundra to the other. I feel like a little kid, seeing the snow for the first time here and aweing it. I even asked my Dad to take a picture of me in the snow; I am a tourist in my own home town! Augh. Jen also helped me transition to MN life as the day before I left Peru I brushed up on my cribbage skills so that I wouldn't be so rusty. It was a close victory, so now I am ready for all the Bedard cribbage tournaments.


For those of you reading this in the U.S., I am at the same house and cell phone number as a year ago. Hope to be in touch this month. A big hug to all - it is so, so, so wonderful to be home!