The big two-four

As far as birthdays go, this year was pretty tranquilo.  My host mom made a small dinner for some friends in site, and we ate cake.  

But as a year-in-review type thing, here are things I did last year, and hopes for next year:

23 things I did last year

1. Rowed 112 miles down the Amazon in a raft
   
2. Became the madrina for the most adorable 12 kindergarten graduates that you’ll ever see
   
3. Taught my first group of teens sex ed
   
4. Painted a World Map in the Primary School
   
5. Painted a map of Peru in the Secondary School
   
6. Read all 7 Harry Potter books in Spanish
7. Visited home
   
8. Completed one year in Peru, one year in site, and had the mid-service meltdown
9. Taught English classes to both students and professors
10. Participated in a giant paint fight for Carnival in Cajamarca
    
11. Watched the Broncos lose the Super Bowl
12. Milked a cow
    
13. Learned to make queso fresco
14. Walked 9 days in the Cordillera Huayhuash, including over a pass of 16,400 ft, with my favorite hiking buddy
    
15. Learned to cross stitch
16. Ran a marathon
    
17. Started applying to medical school
18. Dated (and broke up with) one of the best people I’ve ever met
    
19. Wrote my first ever cover letter
20. Said bye to a best friend
    
21. Was thrown head first off a bridge over a 150 meter canyon
22. Taught a second year of sex ed, including meetings with parents
    
23. Was adopted by a Peruvian family
    

24 hopes for this year

1. Go to Mistura (food festival in Lima)
2. Bring 2 teens to a youth camp in Ica (help by donating HERE!)
3. Finish all my trainings with teens and parents in site
4. Leave my site ready for my replacement Volunteer
5. Finish Peace Corps feeling good about my service
6. Get a tattoo
7. Travel to Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia
8. Paraglide off of Giant Jesus in Rio
9. Celebrate Thanksgiving at home
10. Move to Denver
11. Finish applying to medical school
12. Get into medical school
13. Start medical school
14. Figure out all the technology in the developed world
15. Visit family and friends around the States
16. Ski every moment I possibly can
17. Stay in one place, without travelling, for more than one month
18. Run another marathon, or do a triathlon (or both)
19. Get a job
20. Stay in touch with my Peruvian family
21. Go to Italy
22. Visit Hamilton
23. Go to Telluride Bluegrass Festival
24. Play a lot of piano