- quit my job
- stupidly purchased fantastic new shoes
- gotten lost on the New Jersey Turnpike - 3 times
- seen some long-lost Jumbos
- attended a wedding
- shoved items for Peru into a huge ass, brand-spanking-new backpack
- packed the rest of my earthly possessions
- rented a van, for the first time at a highly-reasonable "over-25" fee
- drove my crap to Austin to move in with my boyfriend
- drove the van 3 hours back to DFW
- drove back to Austin
- unpacked
- gotten my student ID
- cancelled my Blockbuster Online account :(
- refilled a prescription under short term medical insurance (how a paper insurance card can be considered legit is beyond me)
- discovered an Austin radio station that plays nothing but early 90's (can you say Rhythm is a Dancer?)
- met 13 of my new best friends, all of whom will be hiking to Machu Picchu with me at some point during the next 10 days
Leading up to this huge adventure, I have gotten vaccinations for tetanus, yellow fever, typoid fever and hepatitis A. I am bringing medicine for altitude sickness, diarrhea and malaria. I have special "international insurance" in the event that I need bones to be reset or, in the worst case, repatriated. I have been so unusually methodical about the entire procedure that it is virtually guaranteed that I am forgetting something monumentally important. Passport, breathable pants, raincoat? Check, check, check. I will undoubtedly have that "oh, shit" moment on the plane.
At the moment, I sit alone in a coffeeshop, waiting for a friend and contemplating settling into the life of a diligent grad student - a prospect both exhilarating and terrifying. For the moment, though, Peru will serve as an adequate distraction from "real life."
Be back in 10 days, hopefully with 1500 more pictures to sort through!
