Toto, I'm Definitely Not in Kansas Anymore

Oh God. What have I gotten myself into?!? Those were the exact words that went through my head as we landed in Talara. I've done a lot of crazy things in my life, but this definitely tops it all. As we flew into Talara, all I saw was desert, desert and more desert. No towns, no roads. I was thinking that this couldn't be it. Surely the school director would have warned me. I entered the airport that was no bigger than my apartment in Toronto and waited on them to trolley my bag over from the plan. I spotted a "gringo" in the airport that I could only assume was my school director. He greeted me warmly and off we went, on our journey into the biggest culture shock of my life. Words cannot express what I felt as we drove into town. Shanty towns with tiny cardboard boxed sized straw homes, dusty mountains, mototaxis, crazy roads, stray dogs... omg. I can't even tell you. The apartment is like nothing I've seen before, not even in Trinidad. It's dusty, dirty and the bathroom is something out of a nightmare. There are bugs in the fridge and it smells like something died in there. There was a male teacher living in my room before me so there's a framed collage of bikini clad women on the wall. The only saving grace so far is the school director and my roommates, who all seem amazing. I just chatted with one of them and it sounds like we all might have a good time together.

Dear God, I don't know what the eff I've gotten myself into but I hope and pray it'll all work out. If not, I'm hopping on the next plane back to Lima. I felt at home there. I could see myself being comfortable there. Here?!?! I don't know. I bawled my eyes out as soon as the director left me alone in my new home. This place is so alien to me. It's culture shock to the fullest.

After briefly visiting the school, my roommates and I grabbed a mototaxi (S1.50-S2.00 = approximately $0.60-$0.80 to anywhere in Talara) to Challes, the local grocery store where we stocked up on rum and groceries for a whopping $15! Anyway, it's been an overwhelming first day. Let's see what tomorrow has in store for me.