Post Peru: Back home but my heart is somewhere else!

Hi all,

This is Cheyenne and Pat. We want to share with you some reflections from Peru.

Cheyenne:
Traveling internationally was an incredible experience.  I will admit that the final day with all the chaotic travel issues pushed me close to the edge of saying I will never travel internationally again. But once I was on my flight home I was able to appreciate how full and amazing the trip was and I realized that the delay was insignificant. I appreciated the baffling flight delays more because it added to the overall experience. Yes, it was a low point, but it made the high points that much higher. It made me appreciate even more the trip to Machu Picchu, the ceviche I had on three different occasions, seeing the Inca ruins, and sleeping in a strange place surrounded by people I now consider family. This trip was a stepping stone for me because now I want to see it all. I will be that annoying Instagram girl that will post Peru pictures with the caption “Take me back” every Throwback Thursday. But I want to see more, I want to see it all. I’m okay with living a modest life if it means I can travel the globe and gain experience. I’m okay with not eating out as much in the states if it means I can try different food internationally. I'm so fine with sleeping in a studio the rest of my life if that means I can wake up somedays surrounded by unfamiliar deserts, rainforests, and mountains. And I am more than okay with making these “sacrifices” because what I gain is exponentially more valuable than all those things combined. So yeah, my first international trip was incredible and I can’t wait for the next one.

Patterson:
When you leave your heart on the plane, you will always travel to find it. Peru was nothing short of amazing. The food, the people, also the new family I acquired during the trip. I love and appreciate every single one of them. When a trip like this ends you miss both the country and the people you traveled with, you honor all the memories that you won't forget. In some way, part of me had to let go in order to embrace the new possibilities that I would experience while being out of the states. Some folks cried, all of us laugh, many hugs and a lot of us were surprised in many different ways. Even though we all went on the same trip, we all left with something different. I couldn't begin to tell you what I left with. I can only encourage that you travel and find a souvenir that stays in your heart forever. Seeing the Incan Ruins was mind blowing and revealed to me that I haven't even scratched my hidden potential as a human being. Traveling is the best education you can get when you will friends it's like a pop education experience. Can't help but show up as your full self. If I were you, I'd buy a ticket, like right now.

Postcards

It's wasn't until I sent postcards to my friends from Peru that I truly understood the value of our relationships and how they helped propelled me throughout my young adulthood. 

Relationships are imperative for development. Relationship, with their unique ability to transcend time and space, and are the basis of this experience we call LIFE. It is the medium in which all of our experiences take place, and is has the potential to either enrich or harm our lives.
I remember a time in my life where relationships were not something that I cherished or paid as much attention to. Because of the instability I experienced throughout my life (pre and post foster care), I never had anyone in my life long enough to really cherish them.
But as I address each new postcard, I can't help but feel grateful for my new outlook on relationships. I'm here in Peru because people really believed in Foster Youth Cultural Exchange and wanted to support me in this life changing adventure.

Cheers to good relationships with those who matter most!

  

Traveling, Time Zones and Memories of Plenty from Peru by Jamie Lee Evans

It's day two after my trip and I've got jet drag or travel whiplash, or something like that.  I spent over 30 hours in transit back from Peru.  I practiced a lot of mind over matter about the tiny ass seats and unchosen closeness with strangers.  As I age, I become more and more sound sensitive and so enduring lots of unsettling noise and too little quiet was tough.  Also, what's up with the fact that I have perfected the art of sleeping on a one hour flight but can barely get an hour in when I have a 13 hour flight?  Traveling long distances is not an easy thing for me to do, despite the fact that I keep doing it.

It actually seems a bit morally corrupt to complain about the challenges of travel when I have, well, the privilege, to travel.  So perhaps I can just report a bit and stop whining about it.  I sat next to some Aussies on my 13 hour flight and they shared with me that they had gone on a 9 hour hike in Peru that was amazing. I asked them if they had yet come to their neighboring country New Zealand (because the beautiful nature and hiking options in New Zealand are unprecedented in my mind)...they said they hadn't.  They were both in the range of 60 and said that they had decided that for as long as they were able to tolerate traveling long flights they would continue to do that and when they could no longer do that, they would take the five hour flight to NZ.  I observed them while they slept and I watched countless movies and tv programs trying to manage the torturous feelings of being constricted in a tiny seat for so many hours - and I knew they had something I needed... the ability to chill out my mind and body and accept the close quarter circumstances and relax and sleep. Yeah, I will need to keep working on that or decide to stop these long distance trips...

I sang a song last night when my very even keeled and travel savvy partner let me know it was an acceptable time to go to bed.  I sang really loud, danced my way to the bed and felt euphoric as I put my head down and was out before he reached the bed.  I was energized in a different way when I woke up at 5:30 am, my body screaming at me, hey hey hey - wake up, it's time to be awake, get up get up get up!  My partner has suggested I stop saying things like, "In my time zone it is 2 pm and not 7 am."  He reasonably suggests that I should indeed accept the time zone I am currently living in, as my time zone.  He is so rational.  Me?  Not so much.  It may be that I can't believe that I get to travel and still want to think of myself over there to feel like I was really over there!

I only started traveling in my mid 40's.  And though I feel very privileged to have traveled so many places, many with FYCE, I still can't believe it entirely.

Here are some of my top memorable moments from the trip...

1. The many delicious meals of Peruvian quinoa, ceviche, lomo saltado, etc.
2. Seeing the Inca laboratories, which were gigantic, multi-layered steps where they experimented with what climate in which to grow potatoes, kale, etc.
3. Drinking fresh squeezed orange juice made before my eyes by a senior vendor, with my other ailing (with a cold) co-travelers, on the side of an ancient ruin
4. Hiking down five miles from MachuPicchu with Patterson and Miguel - who were hella supportive.
5. Touring multiple museums w Kate and being in awe at how she read every single card and considered every single installment...for hours.
6. Finding Paddington Bear!
7. Stumbling upon a community photo exhibit by kids with Down's Syndrome and beholding their perspectives, and catching the uniqueness of how each of them had their own eye.
8. Drinking pisco sours all over the country, and especially enjoying maracuya piscos whenever I could (maracuya is Peruvian Passion Fruit!)
9. Seeing a for real sand dune AND an oasis.  Whoa.  That was cool.
10. Being part of a dream come true when Kate got to fly over the Nazca Lines.
11. Feeling cool breezes on me while walking alone through Ollantaytamba.
12. Happening upon amazing restaurants when in Urabamba.
13. Knowing that we were all safe and making it place to place, because we were together and fierce as a group.  Also knowing the profundity of what it means to travel in a group and be safe when so many of us in this group have endured an overwhelmingly intense amount of unsafety in our lives.
14. Feeling the joy of a hot shower when we could get it.
15. Seeing the stars and the snow topped Andes on an unexpected shuttle drive over night to a town we were not scheduled to be in...feeling the cold of the air like I have never known - when peeing outdoors on same trip in the darkness of night.
16. Feeling proud with our organizers and youth travelers as we experienced new things, met new people, saw ancient structures together.  What a miracle.
17. Overcoming challenges together at airports.  That wasn't fun but it was powerful.
18. Laughing.  So many smiles and so much laughter and joy together.  
19. Accepting support with my backpack straps, my need for a shoulder down some stairs, help with my suitcase.
20. The moments alone with individual travelers, grabbing a conversation on the way to a salt mine, eating choclos for the first time, haggling for a deal from a street vendor.

Teamwork Abroad by Marisa Rodriguez

When the FYCE team got stranded in a small airport in Peru because our flight was cancelled --see previous post on this-- everyone put their thinking caps and sprung into action.


Half the team waited for our luggage, while others ran to get in line to speak to a representative. Our Spanish and negotiating skills were put to the test. They gave us the option of flying out of another nearby airport in the morning which involved taking an 8hr drive at night, or waiting two days to get another flight to the international airport in Lima.


While a few of us stayed at the desk speaking to the rep, others went to get transportation details. Also, others stayed behind looking out for our luggage and went back and forth with our passports.


We went with the option of going to the other small airport. We spent the entire night traveling in a mini van and arrived to the airport at 5am (15 hrs later). After all this work we found our 6:30 am flight to be cancelled. Again our team sprang into action to figure things out. Some went in line at check in, others went to the ticket station, others looked out after our laggage and we went back and forth sharing information as it was provided to us.


After being persistent and speaking to four representatives we were able to get on a flight to Lima at 9am. Our flight was delayed an hour after we boarded but in the end, together, we were able to figure out a way to make it to Lima. Although many of us were nervous and wanted to cry at the thought of being away from our loved ones longer and being late to our responsibilities back home, we put our best foot forward and were again resilient in this situation.

Protest in a Foreign Country by Marisa Rodriguez

Protest in a Foreign Country


We arrived at the Cusco airport 2 hrs before our domestic flight to return back to Lima to catch our return flight to the U.S. only to learn that our flight was canceled. Initially the airline said it was due to weather conditions. They scheduled us on another flight and this one was also cancelled this time they said because of operational issues. After 3 hrs of waiting in line to figure out our next steps and speaking to a representative we rescheduled our flight from another airport 8 hrs away to hopefully make our connection back home. During this exchange we learned that the reason our flight was delayed was because of a protest. Throughout our time in Cusco we learned about a protest that the local people were holding because of transportation issues in that area. When we heard about this we were happy about the community organizing but never imagined we would be affected by it. This is definitely an experience to remember.

Hell Yes You Can! Foster Youth Healing Trauma Through Travel by organizer, Jamie Lee Evans

Each year that FYCE travels we purposefully recruit for youth who have never traveled internationally before.  And we bring youth who have ongoing and current challenges related to their trauma from before, during and after foster care.  I mean, really, I would argue that nearly all former foster youth are dealing with trauma issues from being fosters.

FYCE doesn't advertise as a treatment for trauma, but I feel comfortable saying that teaching youth to travel is a method of combatting the symptoms of trauma.  In order to successfully travel, you have to build resilience.  And building resiliency helps not only manage post trauma symptoms but also builds strengths to handle future challenges.  Where a foster youth may have been told literally or figuratively that they would never amount to anything-- so they shouldn't event try-- FYCE says ah hell naw, TRY and try and try and wow, look at all the beautiful things in the world, and the ways your community of travelers master a challenge together, and how you can taste and view and smell and feel gorgeous things that you never knew existed.

We are a community of foster youth and allies, age/race/sexual orientation/gender diverse, that say, hell yes you can do this!

Yes you can walk through Soweto and make community with students in Africa.  Hell yes you can learn from feminist organizers in the Philippines who are saying no to domestic slavery.  Hell yes yu can be amazed by mothers in Guatemala supporting their families and claiming more education! Hell yes you can watch how men are teaching men to change nappies (diapers) as a way to reduce domestic violence in South Africa, and how indigenous farmers are teaching the world how to farm with little external resources and use natural practices to produce the most delicious coffee ever.  And by the way, you can taste that coffee each morning when you wake up to learn from these beautiful farmers who have welcomed you to their land.

We are saying, hell yes you can learn a new language and focus long enough to understand ancient Inca agricultural experimentation and resistance to colonization.  We are saying, yes you can make friends with people internationally.  You can talk to someone from another part of the world with a story totally unlike yours, or surprise, maybe a lot like yours.

We are saying, you can ask your community for money to support a project that you will benefit from and they will be happy to do it.  Be happy you asked. Give again and again.  We say, asking is not begging, you are not a poor foster with a hand out, you are a community organizer giving opportunities for others to participate. You are giving an invitation to join.

And fosters need joining.  We need safe joining.  We need endless examples of yes, I can count on you.  And through travel you do.  You count on tickets being purchased on time.  You count on research happening.  You count on weather and seasons and wellness and travel safety being examined.  And you may need a hand to get up a hill, or someone to hold your shoulder while you walk atop a stone fence, or someone knowing you are allergic and to keep the hostel cat away from you.

You need an experienced traveler to ask a question you might be too uncertain to ask.  You need that role modeling of how to do it.  You need to watch it be done.  You might do it the next time.  You need to witness a fellow traveler moving through emotions and handling themselves.

Last night and this morning a few of us witnessed a couple having a meltdown and going bonkers at the staff of the hostel.  We involved ourselves as much as could be helpful and we backed away when we realized our sense of outrage at the angry/rude couple made us want to punch something (or someone).  Look at that... affect regulation in practice.  What d'ya know?

Before, during and after our travels, we learn mastery through sharing responsibilities, sharing appreciations, taking turns as leaders, speaking transparently about travel struggles (occasional snaffoos about transportation, hostel bookings, events, etc.)  We face discomforts together and wonder aloud how we got to be in such a cool and powerful project.

Six of our group wanted to wander through Ollantaytamba today.  We had lunch together and then decided that one person should be the leader and that we would follow them!  We ended up walking on a beautiful  hillside, on cobblestone fences, above modern farms, amidst Eucalyptus, in glorious cool wind and peacefulness.  I am not sure that any of us would have taken that adventure alone, but as a group, we did.  We took a random walk in Peru and laughed and talked and clapped and danced and smiled and took pictures and one of us even saved a wild cow from starvation by removing a cactus that had become lodged in its mouth!  The cow was so grateful, that before diving in to eat grass that it previously could not do because of the cactus, it licked her affectionately in some form of thank you.

Let that sink in for a minute.  An urban youth who had never traveled outside of the U.S. before, took a random walk in Ollantaytambo, came upon an injured cow, built trust with that cow and saved it from future injury and received gratitude through affection.  Now let it also sink in that four other youth watched this happen with wonder.

After that adventure we met up at a chocolate museum and learned how to make chocolate like the Mayans.  No shit.  That all just happened in a few hours of one day of our travel.  Later at dinner we heard stories of the three travelers who challenged themselves to walk up an ancient Incan ruins and forts and how they marveled at profound engineering and architecture.

Through adventure, we are healing together.  We show up for each other's weak moments, we talk about our amazement, we mirror and honor and appreciate each other for strengths and empowered moments.  We try new things, we walk a little farther, we learn that we can overcome fears.  We trust.  We build our social bonds.  We believe more deeply in ourselves and others.

If you are reading this blog and have never traveled far, we hope you will follow our stories and see in each one, that hell yes you can!

Lima

Big cities around the world share a lot of similarities; easy to get around, people from all over the globe, and lots of lights and TRAFFIC. To me and Patterson's surprise, one of our taxi drivers spoke of his delivery job in Monterey, California years ago. Instant connection! 

One of my favorite parts of our short time in Lima was checking out the Afro Peruvian Museum. Though it was a bit dry in terms of current information about the Afro Peruvian population, it provided good background information about the story of the slaves in Peru.  

Although the north atlantic slave trade was the greatest crime to ever be committed to a population of people, the flip side is that it spread black beauty all around the world. Black can be found everywhere on the globe, and the fact that I can go to whatever country on this side of the globe and find people with melatonin makes me proud of the great leaps and progression Africans have made throughout the history of the world.

Another interesting chapter of our Lima story was walking through one of the public libraries in the heart of downtown. I read a few passages of a book about communism and capitalism and wish I could have brought it home with me. People hear the word "communism" and are instantly turned off by the idea because of the examples that Russia and other countries have provided for us. These were not instances of actual communism, but rather of authoritarian governments that oppressed and tortured people. I'm not advocating for communism, but I think there is a lot to learn from that system of government. What's wrong with everyone getting what they need to survive?