So the Migrations office in Lima claims they don't have one of my papers...

...the paper that was the whole point of my trip to Lima a few weeks ago.

I got the email yesterday, so this morning I packed my things up and said goodbye to the kids in Ocongate after breakfast. After 2 hours of travel I sat in the Cusco office of Migrations to find out what the deal was. They need me to bring them a document that proves that I handed things in to the Lima office. I'm not sure where that document is, but it should be somewhere in our house.

If you had trouble following that, don't worry. I only asked the woman at the Migrations office to explain it to me 5 times. It wasn't for lack of language understanding, just for the complicatedness of the process.

This frustrating day has made me think about a Swahili saying Barbara, a JV Tanzania, recently blogged about: “Haraka haraka haina baraka.” (Hurrying hurrying is not a blessing). Today's rushed journey from Ocongate to Cusco illustrated that point clearly. Hurrying to deal with Migrations was not a blessing because it took me away from the joyful work of teaching in Ocongate. Hurrying when I arrived at home in Andahuaylillas to pick up papers was not a blessing because in my rush, it seems that I forgot the one paper I really needed. Hurrying to get to the Migrations office in Cusco before it closed was not a blessing because it meant spending extra money to take a car and a taxi, instead of buses. And after all this hurrying there was nothing to do but go back home and look for the paper (I'm going to wait to do that until after dinner).

But maybe I needed that. Maybe I needed to spend today rushing from something I enjoyed doing to something I dreaded because it has enforced the lesson that hurrying doesn't mean things will happen faster or better. Hurrying only means that I'm exerting more energy. It takes less energy to walk across the room than it does to run in place. Maybe I needed that reminder. 

So tomorrow, when I go into Cusco for Migrations, I'll take my time. I'll eat at my favorite place (Mercado San Pedro) and I'll take in the urban atmosphere. Maybe I'll even make time to go surprise visit my host family. Hurrying is not a blessing. So tomorrow I'll bless myself by taking my time.