Amy in Peru: An Odyssey

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to one and all, and apologies to those who have been following my blog--- I have been quite AWOL this month. December turned into a mini fiasco basically. The beginning was taken up with the inauguration of the EDUCENTRO in Huancavelica on December 1st, followed by some intense translation work, travelling from Huancavelica to Lima to Huancavelica to Lima--- and all within the span of a week. I was helping EDUCA with a visiting funding agency representative from the UK, showing her around to projects and translating for her/them. Great time and got to see a lot of stuff around Huancavelica that I hadn't got a chance to visit (including the mirador, where you get AMAZING views of the area---- gorgeous!!) However, while it was good to be busy for a while, between the stress of the past mind-numbing and deeply frustrating month and the crazy changes in altitude with all the travelling, I kind of got chewed up and spit out by the 8th or so of december.

After the translation trip, I ended up in Lima at the end of it wth larangitis and generally feeling pooky, and then, that same day, we found out that my dad had to go in for emergency colon cancer surgery. (And yes, for those keeping count and generally informed about my life, it is the exact same cancer as mom had 2 years ago, at almost the exact same time of year--- sheesh!) So I frantically tried to get my ticket changed (without a voice--- perhaps one of the most frustrating things i have tried to do) to come home early to be with my family (I was already planning to come home for the holidays--- got a free ticket with aeropoints---- sweet!). I didn't get to be there before he went in for surgery, but was there when he woke up, so that was pretty lucky and very good to see him on the other end of that tunnel. He is still recovering and not doing much of anything but sleeping, but we got him home for christmas which was great, and he is doing stunningly better than mom did with this same surgery (which dad likes to point out ad nauseum) :) I didn't get to visit him much in the hospital unfortunately as my pookiness in Lima turned into pneumonia when I got home, and they wouldn't let me go see him while he was in post-op. VERY frustrating after making the trip to come home to be there and visit and support, etc..., but obviously understandable.

So that is the update for now. Christmas has been great---- very low key of course with dad, but lots of family visited and lots of card-playing and music and sitting in front of the fire and movies and things like that. This is a bit of a strange post on my Peru-odyssey blog, I guess---- not a lot of Peru stuff--- but this has been what has been going on for the past month, and really I can't imagine being somewhere else with these things going on here at home--- ultimately, people matter more.

I hope everyone has a relaxing break, and has the opportunity to appreciate and enjoy some good quality time with family and friends over the vacation. Happy new year and keep in touch!

2 Comments:

  • hey you! i'm sorry you didn't have quite fantastic holidays. Hope you're dad is doing better now, are you still there with him or back here already?

    I must say this is a nice blog you got here =)

    Take care and hope to see you soon

    JanetCarolina

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:02 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by the author.

    By Blogger raniah, at 4:21 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home