Broken Record

I have been having the same conversations with Peruvians for a year and a half now. It goes something like this

Peruvian: Where are you from?
me: the US
Peruvian: Wow, your Spanish is great. How long have you been here?
me: a year and a half
Peruvian: Wow, that's a long time. What are you doing here?
me: I'm a volunteer. I work in a home for sexually abused girls and home for small abandoned boys.
Peruvian: Are you a teacher?
me: No
Peruvian: Do you like our food?
me: yes
Peruvian: Have you been to Machu Picchu?
me: yes
Peruvian: Do you have a peruvian boyfriend?
me: no
Peruvian: Why not? we're so fabulous. Do you want one?
me: no thank you


I have really been flexing my social networking muscle. Which means, I have been meeting a ton of new people lately and having this conversation more than ever. This past weekend I was at a party and probably had that conversation 20 times in one day. After a very long and fun weekend with a bunch of new people, I headed into Lima on sunday night for dinner with some old friends. It was refreshing to be around people who already know my bio and can have a conversation that is somewhat stimulating.

I was so tired on sunday and when I got in a cab to head back home, the taxi driver started the
"where are you from? You speak good spanish. What do you do? how long are you staying here?" He was a very sweet man who actually seemed interested. It was late, the streets were empty, he probably had been working a very long shift and enjoying having some one in his car to chat with. But I hated him at that moment. The last thing I wanted to do was have that conversation again. I wanted to zone out and be left alone.

This is why they say a Peace Corps volunteers job is 24/7. It can seem like there is never a break for us. We are always on. Sometimes I feel guilty that I made ex-pat friends in Lima and feel the need to escape to the sanctity of their company so often. But in the back seat of that taxi I realized how important my friends are to my sanity. I'm sure the moment I finish writing this blog entry, I will step outside and have to have this conversation again.

deep breath.

ready, set, go.....