The best part about getting another year older here is that when I walk into work everyday the receptionists say 'Good morning Miss'. And when they interrupt me in class for something they say 'excuse me Miss'. And as the students leave my classroom for the day they say 'see you tomorrow Miss'.

When I separated from my ex-husband 3 years ago I decided I had a mild loathing for the term 'Ms'. Don't know where it stems from or why. Just the way I feel I guess. When I changed my name at places around NZ, it was surprising how often the assumption was that my title would be 'Ms'. I love that here in Peru, the assumption is always 'Miss' first. And if I'm really lucky, every couple of days someone calls me Senorita.

Way to make an old girl feel young and sexy Peru! You rock!!

So, its been a big few weeks since my last post. Here are the highlights:

· I ended up back in hospital, fighting a bacterial infection throughout my body.

· I've got the hang of this teaching stuff and am not too modest, in this particular moment, to say … some of the time I'm even crushing it!!

· I've learned more about English grammar in the last month than I ever care to know in my lifetime! Who knew, that all these years I've been using cleft sentences, gerunds and limiting adverbials just willy-nilly like that!

· I've been ripped off by a Peruvian property owner and learned a valuable lesson about contract law in this country.

· I've had a couple of days R&R away from Arequipa and teaching, giving me time to reflect about what's important to me in this unique journey.

· I've met some more interesting people with interesting stories.

· I've enjoyed the amazing hospitability of a couple of our language students and their parents.

· And I celebrated my first valentine's day, ever. (yup, you read that right)

Basically, I've had some real highs and some awful lows. Or otherwise known as …. living your life in a developing country. There's too much to put into 1 blog but let me tell you about a couple of them …..

Dodgy property owners: My kiwi flatmate/fellow teacher Sue and I, live in an apartment with mostly cold showers. The building houses about 15 teachers and other assorted guests. On the roof is solar powered water tanks, but unfortunately here in Peru they are not designed to retain the heat. So as the night approaches and the temperature drops, so too does our hot water. If 4 or 5 people have a shower at night then all the hot water is gone until the sun has been out for a few hours the next day. Which is perfectly fine if your teaching shift is in the afternoon/evening, but not so good if you want a shower at 7am! Also, as an added bonus, the plumbing drainage system here is not the best and on occasion you find the ensuite shower has turned your bedroom into a mini paddling pool. Especially when you score that 1 semi-hot shower and you just don't want to get out!

Thinking we must be able to do better than this, Sue and I embarked on an adventure to find a flat. We mentioned our plans to our local coffee guy who happened to have an estate agent friend. He took us to view a few places and we settled on one that we could sign a 6 month contract for. It's fair to say we got enthusiastic about our new apartment …. planning parties to meet new people, dinners with friends and naturally, fantasising about hot showers every morning. I went in a couple of days later to pay the deposit and secure the apartment. Plans were made for us to meet later in the week with the property owner, to sign the contract and pay the balance of money for bond and first months rent. All seemed fine .....

When I turned up to sign the contract it was in Spanish. Now this was not a total surprise to me obviously and I had already arranged translation via a fellow English teacher who speaks both languages fluently. What became clear to me however, was that the property owner would not allow me to take the original contract away overnight, but instead would provide a copy. When I explained that I was not comfortable signing anything other than the exact version that I had translated, things turned ugly.

This strong and determined reaction from the property owner made me nervous and warning bells went off. I decided then and there to pull out of the whole thing, just as poor Sue arrived in the room. What we didn't realise at the time, was that in Peru the estate agent gives the landlord the money straight away. In NZ nothing would be handed to the property owner until a contract had been signed. So, this guy (who happened to be a lawyer) had half our money and was refusing to give it back.

The next day we spent 3 hours with him and our 2 estate agents trying to come to a compromise, but he was keeping it all. The estate agents were horrified. It turned out he was a new client of theirs, this was their first encounter with him and it would prove to be their last. Negotiations were heated. Our agents and the owner squared off, face to face, yelling all sorts of Spanish insults. Apparently, near the end one of the agents was trying to get the owner to hit him by throwing personal insults about his character as a Peruvian - in the hope that he could get the upper hand over the determined lawyer. It was the craziest thing we had ever seen. Spanish is a beautiful, melodic and sexy language …. until you hear it in this context.

In the end we negotiated half of the monies return and the agents told us afterwards, as we de-stressed over a coffee, that they would reimburse us some of the difference. They were embarrassed at his behaviour and keen to reassure us that most Peruvians were genuine and loving people who would never treat foreigners this way.

Hospitable Peruvians: Sitting waiting for Sue one evening at work, I saw a young student struggling to answer a question in her homework book. She was asking her Dad for help in Spanish. He shrugged his shoulders, a look of confusion mixed with despair on his face i could tell he felt like he was letting his little girl down. I waited to make eye contact with her and asked if I could help. She immediately came over to my table and politely introduced herself as Rebecca. She then introduced her Dad before we got down to the business of understanding her homework.

The next night she came to find me and was ready for a conversation. She asked me; where I was from? What food we eat in NZ? What was the country famous for? Did I have kids? Was I married? Why did I get divorced? Why didn't I have kids? …. You know, all those easy to answer questions! I was thinking to myself 'just go with it Mish, she's practising the language, it's good for her'. That night she introduced me to her Mum.

The next night was the same, but the questions were a little less awkward. At this point I was introduced to her younger brother, Oscar, who was also a student here. Before long I knew all the family and they knew me. There were hugs and cheek kisses when we saw each other and then again when we said goodnight. Such a loving and warm family. Rebecca, at 14 years old, had graduated to the advanced English level this month and little Oscar is just starting out in the basic elementary classes. Mum and Dad, know a few key words of English but mostly their faces shine with pride for their kids.

Meanwhile, as I was getting to know the family through small conversations every night, it turned out that Sue was as well. Before long we had received an invitation to come to their home for a meal. Now, we only get 1 day off a week and to be fair it's not always a day off. Sometimes there is homework or exams to mark, or lessons to prep for. While we loved this family, were we really prepared to give up our 1 day off? Our 1 day of 'me time'? Our 1 day where we don't have to speak and teach English? Of course we were ….

What we expected was a nice lunch and some pleasant conversation. What we got was so much more.

The day started with breakfast which was sliced fresh banana sprinkled with cinnamon, accompanied by a quinoa and apple hot drink. It had the consistency of a chunky, slimy soup but what it lacked is sex appeal, it certainly made up for in taste! After breakfast we piled into the family car and were taken for a drive deep into the Arequipa countryside to a small rural community with an ancient church built in 1769. Then it was off to an old flour mill that has been converted into a museum/animal sanctuary/market and picnic area. The kids were keen to go horse back riding with the English teachers, so Sue and I saddled up and played along.

As we drove from place to place I discovered through a mixture of Spanish and English conversation that young Oscar was a fan of zombies. This resulted in me undergoing a 10-question quiz on what would I do in a zombie apocalypse? I was given scenarios with multi choice options. Much to my delight (and amazement), I got them all mostly right. In the end Oscar, his Mum and I would be the only survivors of the zombie apocalypse. #nailedit

We came back to their house for what we thought was a quick packed lunch, but it turned out to be a fully cooked traditional spread. Beautiful food made with such love and pride. Lucky for me Sue is vegan so there was not a fried guinea pig in sight!

After the apartment debacle, our faith in just how beautiful, sweet and kind Peruvian people are, was being restored. Gracias, la familia de Rebecca y Oscar.

Be my Valentine: So, how many of you scrolled through this blog, skipping the other stories to get it this one first huh??

Yes, it is officially tragic. I'm somewhat in my 40's and have never celebrated Valentines Day. As a young adult it was just not as popular as it is today, and as a married woman for 20 years, it was not a day we observed. So, this year I didn't think about it, or even remember the day, until I started to receive a few sweet and friendly kisses on the cheek from some of my male students as they left class.

It makes me laugh really, I taught a class on the topic of April Fools Day a few weeks back. When I was prepping it I thought it would be such a fun class. I was excited about it .... but alas, none of them knew what the hell I was on about! We did a reading exercise on some of the worlds funniest April Fools pranks, it fell flatter than a crepe. No one in a class of 14 students understood at all the Burger King prank of a left-handed burger, nor did they get the classic BBC prank of the 80's where spaghetti trees were being harvested to support the worlds insatiable desire for pasta. But Valentines Day they know all about!

Shop windows are filled with red balloons, even when the shop has nothing to do with Valentines - like a plumbing store, or a carpet/tile showroom! There are people everywhere walking around the streets selling soft toys, chocolates and balloons.

It was a lovely start to the day for sure, however it turned very sweet when a guy I have been dating arrived at my flat with a surprise. When I opened my eyes, he was holding up a beautiful hand-made dream catcher. Now to some of you I'm sure this will seem a strange gift but for me it was overwhelmingly thoughtful.

Since being in Peru I have had to confront a lot to change and unexpected emotions. Some of it welcome, some of it confrontational. Some of it I have shared on here. One of the side effects of dealing with a massive amount of change in a short period, is that I've had a series of nightmares over the last 3 months. My conscious mind is busy processing and dealing with so many challenges here every day, it appears the only way my subconscious mind can keep up, is to throw me head on into some confronting dreams, waking me in the early hours of the morning. While this has been a little scary at times and certainly tiring, I also fully understand it's part of the path I'm on right now and actually good for me. I wanted to challenge myself, to put myself in situations that scare me. You don't move to the other side of the world; to a completely different culture; a completely different language; a completely different job; surrounded by completely new people, without some s*** going down right?

So, when I opened my eyes and saw this astonishing and beautiful dream catcher, my reaction was tearful (not quite what my friend had planned I'm sure ) However since placing the dream catcher above my bed I have slept through every night in total peace. Is it all in my mind? Maybe. But I choose to believe it is the mystical and ancient traditions of the Native American Sioux culture at work, protecting and safeguarding me, as they have done for many people over the centuries.

OK, enough deep and meaningful ......

R&R: Since we work 6 days a week, it's important to make the most of the few days off in-between each teaching month. Sue and I planned a trip to Lima, she needed to get some work done there and I was planning to begin my work visa application at Interpol. I don't know whether it's because I have been so ill over the last 8 weeks or just the universe nudging me, but in the 11th hour (literally, just before getting into a taxi to head to Interpol) I decided not to apply to stay on in Peru. My current visa expires in May and I've made the decision to let that be the end of my time here, for now. Don't get me wrong, I've loved this experience! (challenging as it has been) Who knows, maybe I'll get back to NZ and miss this place and its people, repack my bags and come straight back! But for now, it feels right to move on.

So, what am I going to do after May you ask??

No idea!! All suggestions gratefully received …… lol

Following more than one deep and meaningful (and sometimes completely random) conversation over Pisco Sours with my flattie, as we sit on the balcony overlooking Plaza de Armas (feeling slightly superior watching the 'tourists' ew and ah over the spectacular Spanish architecture ) I decided that my word for 2018 is going to be 'trust'.

Trust my instincts. Trust my abilities. Trust my heart. Trust the universe. Trust that I am protected. Trust that whatever happens, it's what I am supposed to experience and learn from. Trust that I will be led in the direction I am meant to be going in.

It's amazing how wise a pisco sour makes you

Having said all that …. If the next time you hear from me I'm sitting cross legged on the floor in some seedy hotel room, with pay by the hour rooms, in a third world country, rocking backwards and forwards humming some inaudible tune …. please come rescue me!