You might have been to Peru if…

you get off the airplane and it looks like you stepped on to the set of an Indiana Jones movie.

your legs and feet are playing host to a Chigger Family Reunion.

you hear Tranquilla said three times before breakfast. (in stereo)

your favorite scent on yourself is Eau de Deet and your favorite scent on the staff is Eau to Peruvian Hunk.

a cold shower is appealing.

you find that by 9AM your pits smell like yesterday’s socks.

you shower before every meal.

you have ever taken a nap with a capybara.

the screaming outside your window is a troop of passing monkeys and not the neighborhood kids.

you have ever seen three adults and a child on a motorcycle…and a chicken.

you are on a first name basis with the street vendors and have added them to your Facebook friends.

the local politician will try to buy your vote with a chicken.

the locals break out in a wild cheer and you just assume it’s over a soccer game.

bats in your room are a good thing. (They eat the mosquitos.)

you have rice and beans one night and beans and rice the next… and like it!

But, you also might have been to Peru if…

you have received a lifetime’s worth of hugs and kisses in 13 days (or 13 minutes)

you realize when you leave you are just changing one family for another.

you come home without your shoes. (on purpose)

you realize how fortunate you truly are.

you come with the misconception that you will change someone else’s  life, but find yours changed instead.

you are making plans to return before you get out of Iquitos.

* Providing school school supplies to children in remote vilages along the Amazon River is both a daunting task as well as one of the most rewarding experiences of life. It requires passion, strength, perserverance and a willingness to get a little dirty. But the reward of seeing the joy and hope in the faces of not only the children, but the familes, outwieghs any amount of discomfort. I will forever be grateful for the experience and FOREVER trying to plan return trips!