Runnin' Full Speed Ahead!

Well, hey there, good lookin’. Oh, how I have missed YOU! It’s been a long time, but I’m back! I’m crossing my fingers that this time it’s for good, but you never really know when I’m finally going to be inspired and motivated at the same damn time! (That song seems to always be stuck in my head these days! LOL). 

The last few months have been CRAZY! I “graduated” from Xavier University with honors (CUM LAUDE!!) but in the midst of all that excitement, life kept happening! Big surprise right? Ha!  Throughout all the craziness that we all know as the Jazmyn Farr (insert expletive) Show, I have managed to stay calm and centered. Although there have been crazy obstacles, nothing has stopped me from running full speed toward my goals.

Therefore, I want to take the time now and pass along this little nugget of serenity to you: The moment you start looking at your ISSUES as LESSONS instead of PROBLEMS, your whole life will change! Life is 100% what YOU make it! If you want to live a sad and miserable life, CHOOSE to be sad and miserable. If you want to live a happy, productive, and meaningful life, CHOOSE to be happy and productive! Bad things happen every day, but your reaction determines if the bad thing is life altering or just a speed bump along the road! 

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now! Peace and blessings to all of you! MWUAH! 

Live For Today

I think that I’ve arrived at the moment of truth. I have been back in the US for over two months. Naturally, I have been reflecting on my experiences in Peru and have attempted to put some value into it. I think the most obvious thing is that after four months of living in Peru, I FINALLY improved my Spanish speaking skills. I won’t say that I’m 100% fluent, but I can definitely hold conversations in Spanish about a variety of subjects. Now what else did I learn?

I learned that whether I like it or not, my life will not pause for anything or anyone. Each second that passes is another second of my life that I will never get back. Therefore, I need to stop thinking that I have all the time in the world to make my dreams reality. Everyday that I keep telling myself, “tomorrow” is another day wasted that pushes me farther and farther from my goals. The phrase, “Carpe Diem,” has become real to me. I am a young, twenty-something year old with (God-willing) a lot of life in front of me. If I don’t take advantage of every opportunity placed before me, however, I will wake up one morning and realize that I let my whole life slip away right before my very eyes. I have this horrible habit of planning for my future without any regard to my PRESENT!

Let me be your example, folks. Enjoy your life EVERYDAY! Start TODAY! Plan for the future, but enjoy your present as well. Happiness in life comes from the JOURNEY, not the final destination. 

"Living in the past isn't going to give you a future. Living in the future isn't going to give you today. Live for today."

Fixin' My Lemonade

It's just been one of those days! Ha

Don't you hate those days when it seems like no matter how hard you try, things just won't go right? Well today was definitely one of those days for me and I am currently laughing my ass off about it! OMG! Yes, I could honestly cry myself to sleep right now, but what would that do? Instead, I'm going to focus on the positives. Here they are:

• I learned that Peruvians don't believe that they'll catch an STD, especially AIDS (#TeamCelibateinPeru) 
• I made a class of naive Peruvians realize that Americans living on their own once they turn 18 is NOT the party full of raunchy, decadent behavior that they seem to think (We go to school, work, join school clubs, play sports, etc. We don't have time to drink and have sex all day, dear. We actually have R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-I-E-S!) 
• I managed to give my number to not one, but TWO attractive Peruvian guys (And I will absolutely still be #TeamCelibateinPeru) 
• I'm living in Lima, Peru!!! 

Screw it! This was a great day! Simply because I said so. 

Always remember that your perception is your reality! Life is 90% What YOU make it, so let's make it great on purpose! 

Really Though?

So I'm obviously down for trying new things and learning new customs, (if I wasn't I wouldn't be thousands of miles away from my comfort zone) but even I have my boundaries, sheesh! I went grocery shopping with my host mommy and there was a bowl of raw chicken wings that already had teriyaki sauce on them so that all you had to do was throw them in the oven when you got home. I was a little confused about them, since I had never seen anything quite like it, so my host mommy stuck her finger in the sauce, licked it, and then offered that SAME FINGER to me to try it!!! WHAT THE FLIP?! There are so many things wrong with this picture!!! First of all, the chicken was RAW, I have no clue where your finger has been, and then you JUST licked it! And then, when we were at the mall, she got a sample piece of chicken on a toothpick from the Chinese spot and literally bit off half of it and then offered the rest to me! It's going to be a longgg four months lol!

My host mommy thought this would make me feel more about home, so she bought me a few!!! Woohoo! lol

 Look at this! Their potato chips are MUCH fancier than ours! Apparently it's perfect for a fancy steak dinner! 

Once you pop, the fun won't stop! Even in Peru! lol

 My host mommy made me hot dogs. It was made of real meat, not leftover body parts like in the U.S. lol. It was REALLY good :) It was just missing mustard and relish (and chili for my Detroit peeps lol)!

Okay this is called "lomo fino saltado" and it is DELICIOUS! It's filet mignon with tomatoes and onions and it was seasoned PERFECTLY! The fries and rice were amazing too :)

I'm in PERÚ!!!!

¡Holaaaa amigos!

Okay, I've been in Perú since around 2 am Wednesday morning (five full days) and things have definitely not been how I expected them to be, AT ALL! After being deplaned (because of an engine failure) and then forced to reboard the SAME plane, I finally arrived at my host mom's hotel and to my surprise NO ONE spoke English! I went to sleep for a few hours and then woke up a little early to make sure that I could catch a ride to my orientation at my new university. Once again, the joke was on ME! There was NO ride to catch. I used what little Spanish I could remember on TWO hours of sleep and one of the workers used the little bit of English that he knew and threw me in a taxi with an address I didn't understand. Thank God, I made it to campus safely, but I was definitely shaken up a bit!

Universidad San Ignacio De Loyola (USIL)

I can say that things have gotten a LOT better. I've met a lot of cool people and I'm actually understanding and speaking Spanish a lot better! I'll try to update this daily, so you guys better check it out!!! Besos!

Chao!