To my Sweetest Sweet

Every time I find myself resting in a new place, I think of how perfectly I rest with you by my side. Sleeping on a bus, although first-class, couldn’t compare to the rest you’ve allowed me to grow accustom to. One thing that was constant is I awoke with the same to goals as any other day: to explore Peru and to hear your voice. This past weekend on my trip to Puno, the excursion I’ve anticipated most, instead of willing myself to focus on exploration, I was reminded of you more. My mom told me the distance would bring us closer together, but my how fond I am of you is constantly growing, regardless of distance. Instead I was faced with this other entity growing inside me. Like a tumor that’s benign this feeling causes no harm but has manifested inside me, as a growth beyond my control, one thing holds true its apart of me, its function only pertinent to you.

Today as I drifted across Lake Titicaca I thought of us more. I connected with this lake, somehow identifying with its vastness, its beauty. It's dry season here, and much like me departing from you this lake is missing the rain that keeps it filled of the most essential substance for a lake, water. Without the wet season and the rain that follows it, the geographic greatness that is this lake would dissipate until all the life depending on it would surely be adversely affected too. Seeing the lake functioning is this way I look to you as my rain, you pour into me a substance much like what I consist of, giving me a life-like energy that keeps me strong, and able to continue to devote myself to the ones I love and the things I love doing.

I thought the connections I made on the boat ride to the island would be enough, that I would be challenged or intrigued in a different way once arriving on this island, but the island, the most beautiful part of the island only reminded me of what I found most beautiful, you. Oddly, this island reminded me of how remote I am, not in that moment, but just from the world, my world, you.

After exploring, shopping, and eating some of the freshest Trout ever we began our decent from 540 steps. Looking down at these steps oddly reminded me of Rene, but only you and her would know why. After reaching about the 350^th step, the point where I could finally see the boat, my escape vessel, my legs began quivering in the most irrevocable way. As if my body had recalled leaving something similarly as beautiful, it was rejecting this experience as it had when I had to say goodbye to you. I began to laugh at myself, this shaking surely a result of the physical activity was so reminiscent of the emotional state you evoke out of me, filled with anxiety and nerves, our unique type of butterflies.

On the boat ride back I tried to decipher and understand why I was feeling this way, why all roads led back to you. It didn’t take me long to come to the conclusion that our bond is so strong that it permeates all my senses, my vision the most detectable. Every sight is tainted with the love I have for you, so now all things worth seeing, all things holding beauty, I associate with you.  This connection with you and the many sights Peru holds only intensify my experience. Baby, thanks for amplifying my experience in Peru without even knowing it you bring me joy 3000 miles away.

With growing love and appreciation

Your's