¡Estoy en Lima!

WELL! Sorry for the delay, it has been a crazy few days. We are sitting in the airport, waiting to head to Cusco and Machu Picchu. It's so strange to think that somewhere around 38 hours ago I stepped off my plane here for the first time. (Which was a Continental flight from Newark, making this story all the more weird.)

There have definitely been some bumps along the way for our group - most importantly, one of the students is a Mexican citizen, and she spent the last month trying to determine whether or not she needed a visa to enter Peru. Finally, her grandfather in Mexico went to the Peruvian consulate there (who is only open 3 days a week for 3 hours a day), who told her she did not need one. So she landed in Peru, tried to pass through immigration with the rest of the group, and was told she couldn't enter, and she had to return to the US. So we think she's back in Oklahoma now, but no one really knows if she'll be able to join us... What a mess. But apparently Mexican citizens get turned back all the time? Peru is not known for institutional efficiency or clarity, we are learning.

Ach, and now we're boarding! More to come.

Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Yes, I will admit that I love Pocahontas. And this popped into my head flying over the beautiful lakes and rivers, and in between the big fluffy clouds.

I love flying.

Despite my tray table being lopsided at about a 30 degree angle for the last flight. Despite all the little things that have gone somewhat imperfectly along the way. PS. Chicago-O'Hare, not the most organized. Although it would have helped if I had read my ticket...

To recap - I stumbled into Will Rogers World Airport at some ungodly hour this morning (oddly enough, around the same time my roomie landed in Lima). After discovering I did not have my confirmation number for my tickets (d'oh), I eventually got to my first flight. Two hours later, I landed in Chicago, wandered around for a half hour or so until I found my gate. And, oh my, the flight from Chicago to Newark is lovely. Lots of water. Reminding me I want to live by water. And mountains. And snow. Oh, and I've decided where I want to get married - inside a cloud. It's fun. Our pilot spent what seemed like quite a while playing in the clouds. I enjoyed it. I was tempted to take a detour to NYC after seeing it through the window... But it's not winter here, so I'll keep going.

And we're boarding. I am going to Perú. AAH. More details to come.

Wedding break!

So I'm on Peru overload. Now, I am beyond excited about this experience, and I can't wait to go. But school still sucks! I am not a fan of history books, I just can't read 'em. Makes my brain hurt. So I'm taking a Wedding Break!

I have a problem. It's called focusing-on-the-details-before-I-have-a-big-picture. Like we have our reception image planned. But no idea where that might be. In my mind the Oklahoma Heritage Center is awesome, but we have to see it in real life. I AM TAKING SUGGESTIONS. Ceremony outside, reception inside, somewhere in Oklahoma, preferably central because we know I don't like driving.

Anywho. Reception ideas:

• Pots of moss roses as centerpieces. Easy peasy. Presents for the wedding party? Maybe just the girls, haha.
• Tables lit from underneath. Like, glass tops with semi-opaque cover (see next) and lightbulbs underneath that make them colorful. Like this?
• Tables covered with newsprint. To color on. Possibly with printed designs. Like kitties. (I promise Cody is excited about this too, really.)
• Which brings me to favors = crayons! I would love to have custom wrappers. That would be awesome. But maybe just wrap the boxes.
• Balloons on the tables instead of numbers. If we do arranged seating... to be decided.
• Cody seriously wants a live band. Possibly an awesome one. Which I'm trying not to Debbie-downer him on.

I think that's most of our crazy ideas. If we go the arranged seating route, I want to have a fun/efficient way to get people to their table, so there's not a huge backlog of confused faces. But I suppose everyone will get it figured out by the time we're done taking pictures.

Because I refuse to take pictures with Cody before. We are both pretty excited about the whole surprise element with the dress and all. I think I'm taking it too far. I don't want anyone to know about my dress. I like surprises, so you should too?

I've been on two dress shopping trips. I think I'm not going to be a chain-shop girl. Mainly because I was amazed by the Bridal Boutique. (PS. Thanks for putting up with me today. I'm pretty sure I tried on 20 dresses. And at the end decided the first half were pointless.) I was totally expecting them to be more expensive! But they're still within my range, which makes me happy. I am slightly terrified about having to make a decision, but whatevs. It's so hard when everything is gorgeous! It's not like trying on clothes where some things just don't fit or look right. Everything. Is gorgeous. And I have to decide what's the most me-like. And when I tend to get defined as technicolor, that becomes a problem.

I'm going to go ahead and say that thinking about it too much might be a bad thing...

So. We don't have a location. But, in theory. I could be married a year from now. (Our date in relation to nothing is 6/12/10.) My only words are exciterrified. And 100% excited about the Cody part.

Oh, and if we hadn't established this, the blinding colors you see are ours. Kiwi green and skyish blue. Plus a little bit of everything else...

10 more days!

And here I thought I wasn't going to get in a 10 day post!

I just finished a writing assignment for the class that's associated with the Peru portion of Journey to South America. We have five due before we go, and I have really let them sneak up on me. We are assigned a variety of readings, and then a commentary under three pages on the associated topic. Tonight, it was "Rural and Urban Politics and Poverty". And Peru definitely has an interesting political history, to say the least. And I'm glad that I'm not walking in blind like the stereotypical "dumb American". But it is a LOT of reading. And some of the content is of questionable relevance (in my opinion). And reading on a deadline just ruins it.

And I'm just your typical college student complaining about having too much work : )

And now I'm back from re-uploading my paper, after realizing I hadn't spell-checked. Whoopsie.

Anywho, I really have enjoyed most of the readings chosen, and I've learned some interesting things. For instance, did you know that Peru/Lima has great Chinese food? I would wager that it's somehow related to the import of Chinese "workers" to replace the African slaves after slavery was abolished. Also, we had an excerpt from José Maria Arguedas's Deep Waters, which I now must read in full. Honestly, the introduction alone had me hooked. I think I must be part Inca at heart, because the description of how nature is tied to the people is just so beautiful and moving to me. If I'm brave, I might even try reading it in the original Spanish... But only if I'm really brave, as Arguedas wrote in Spanish from the Quechua (native Inca language) perspective, that is, using Spanish words with Quechua syntax. Only a little confusing...

Well, I must end this now, so it is published before my title becomes a lie!

14 Days Until Winter

So here it is, my fresh start, a new blog. At the old address. I can't help it! I love being Laurzilla.

Stay tuned for stories of my exploits. Currently, we are in the South America/wedding planning/summer episode. I'm trying not to lose my mind.

To catch everyone up, I am headed for Peru on June 16. Or as I'm trying to train myself, 16 June. Why must the US always be different?! Metric system, 24 hour clock, day/month/year - all these make a lot more sense. Oh well. Anywho, in a short 14 days I will take a ridiculously long and roundabout plane ride to the lovely city of Lima. I'm going with a program through OU called Journey to South America. It's half class, half tour, and I'm thinking all enjoyable. If we ever find out who we're rooming with... We spend 2 weeks in Peru, back and forth between Lima and Cusco/Machu Picchu, then hop over to Chile for another 2 weeks, spent in Santiago and Viña del Mar. I'm excited. And terrified. Which seems to be a theme for my life recently.

The rest of the summer, and I mean literally ever other available second, I am planning my wedding. Again, exciterrified. Cody and I are planning on getting married in the early part of next summer. I had this dream that maybe I could find a location before I left, but those days are quickly vanishing, and the panic of the perfect place being taken is replacing them. Luckily, I had the amazing luck to find a wedding planner - for free! The wonderful Leslie Conner is just starting up, and offered her services for free to the first 6 clients. She's amazing, and I am so grateful to have her help. But, I haven't quite figured out how much control I want to relinquish, and how to do that...

Somehow in the midst of all this, I found someone to hire me. For two weeks. And then lose me for a month to the Amazon. And then let me come back to work. This still amazes and confuses me. But, I am not arguing! All that to say, I must go get ready for my second day of training. Thanks for playing, and welcome aboard my blog!