boots

i'm home.

i have mixed feelings about this. i just love traveling so much that i hate that it's over. and it's kind of sad because i don't suspect that i'll ever get to go back to peru. that's a pure shame because the thought of that country makes my heart swell in my chest.

jill and i had quite an
adventure yesterday that i'm looking forward to telling you about, but i think i'll leave it til tomorrow. instead, i want to talk a little about my new bff (backpacking friend forever). jill is super, and i would travel with her again in a second. i felt we were very compatible travel companions, very much on the same wavelength and we had a lot of fun together. i actually already really miss her a lot, i'm so used to her almost constant presence that it's weird and a little sad to be alone again.

jill is so weird and great. she's fantastic at remembering lyrics and sings freely. one of my favourite memories of her is when we walked to the grocery store up the street from our hostel to get some chocolate. she played "i'm too sexy" on her ipod and made me listen to it with her as she danced and sang up the street. it was very fun.

we'd tag-teamed doing hard things – mostly asking questions in spanish, giving directions in spanish, etc. that's partly why i think we travel well together, that and neither of us are crazy drinkers or like to go out partying. although, we did go out one night for a pisco sour (the trademark drink of lima) and jill got a little extra tipsy, but that was fun so no worries :)

it quickly became apparent to me that jill is a person of influence in my life. one of people who can get me to do pretty much anything. she was always like "les... do (such and such) and i'll take a picture". she just about always succeeded – the only times i didn't comply was when it involved me lying in a puddle or climbing a tree when i was sore and tired.

i think there's something to be said about traveling with or living with people you don't know super well beforehand. it's really neat to get to know someone on the fly. and i liked that within the first week we were so comfortable with each other that we'd freely tell each other to shut-up. that being said, it was always in good fun, and we never had a tense moment of friction.

one funny mishap was when we were on the trek, karen asked us how we "met". her choice of words struck me odd, and i'm pretty sure that for a small period of time she mistook jill and i as a couple. it was quite funny, and i think we got that cleared up pretty fast.

jill's name seemed to trip up the spanish speakers. jair called her "lillian" a few times. i can understand why it would've been tricky for them, seeing as J's are usually pronounced as H's, and double L's make a Y sound. so really, for a spanish speaker her name would've been pronounced as hiyan :S

i'm very grateful for her easy-going nature. she was much faster than me on the trail, but she was very patient and didn't walk too far ahead of me. always watching out for me, and i really appreciate that a lot.

so, all this to say, that a huge reason why this peru trip was a success was because of the lovely jillian lauren.

thanks jill!! you're really sure awesome. and i think you deserve an award :D

my eyelashes catch my sweat
yes, they do
they do, they do, they do.