Ahh the joys of the holidays. Family, friends, a break from school or work, they truly are a wonderful time. But I’m getting restless. I have another 5 days before I start teaching again and I’m working diligently to keep my sanity. I need to be busy, and after rearranging my room 4 times in the last 3 days and crocheting 4 spools of yarn into scarves, this whole ‘vacation’ thing isn’t cutting it for me. I need some social interaction, and shamelessly flirting with the checkout lady at the supermarket isn’t what I had in mind. “Well why don’t you watch movies?” suggested the trainer at my gym, to which I replied, “Have you seen Netflix lately?" 

It’s a fantasy for some people: to spend the holidays in a foreign, exotic country. Trying new things, hearing strange languages, blah blah blah. It’s a nice thought, similar to the way girls fantasize that situations in rom-coms would really happen. Sadly, on the off chance that they do occur, they’re never the same as they had imagined when they were chowing down on that pint of haagen daz. 

It’s been 11 months to the day that I arrived here in Peru, the longest I’ve been out of the States. I’m also currently the most veteran teacher at my English institute. However, I’m ready to go back, mostly because I don’t feel challenged anymore. I’ve got my routine and I’m just going through the motions. Plus, I’m tired of waiting in lines for everything. (That’s my American entitlement talking) Arequipa is a great city, but at the same time, I’m not surprised that my school has had 40+ teachers come and go within the time I’ve been here. Here’s to new changes in 2013.