Leaving Babylon and arriving in...Babylon.

On the 9th of Sept I left Denver International Airport and after about 20 grueling hours of waiting and napping and plane transfers I arrived in Lima in the early morning hours of the following day. I was graciously greeted by Francis and Ursula, my former hosts from my last stay in Lima (fall 2007.) Finally after months of preparation and hard work, I found myself back in this massive city of 9 million people. The first few days were nothing but fun as I visited all my favorite places and met up with friends from semesters past. Then my stomach decided to rebel and I was forced into the confines of a 4ft by 6ft jail cell of a bathroom for 24 hours. I'll spare you the details but believe me, it was not fun. Less than 72 hours in the City of Kings and I was already sick!

My expat honeymoon ended as I writhed on the floor, my guts in pain. Remembering my Peruvian history I thought to myself, ''If you get Montezuma's revenge in Mexico, then surely this must be Tupac Amaru's revenge.'' The last Inca emporer may have pillaged my bowels for a couple of days but I emerged cleansed and renewed, ready to take on whatever gastronomic adventures Lima might throw at me.

Snapping back into reality from such an experience made me question my motives for traveling to a far off land such as Peru. Just as I do every time I travel, I asked myself, ''Why in the world did I leave behind everybody and everything that I love to come here and wander around for three months?'' This is a question I ask myself everyday as I observe Limeños on the streets walking to work like robots, bustling about in search of money and status. Why did I come here to observe a grey, polluted and noisy city when I was perfectly happy at home in Denver?

Actually, I was not perfectly happy in Denver. I realized some time ago that I am always either traveling or thinking about traveling. Shortly after I returned to Denver in December 2007 I began to plan my next South American adventure. Brazil? Argentina? Chile? Why not all of them? I decided to take the next three semesters to work and think about where I would make my next move. I would graduate and work the following summer to save enough for a grand excursion of epic proportions. Actually, I made these plans over a year and a half ago and I am pleased to say that so far, all is going to plan! So here I am. I even planned to encounter this strange feeling of ''why the hell am I doing this in the first place?'' I can't really come up with a good answer except that Latin America is a thing, a place that occupies much of my time. Whether I am researching the Zapatista rebel movement in Mexico, observing the fantastic art of Frida Kahlo, watching films by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles or reading surrealist poetry of Pablo Neruda, I find myself surrounded by Latin culture every day. What was once a curiosity back in 9th grade Spanish class has blossomed into an obsession which drives my life. Where exactly is this obsession taking me? I don't really know. And that is what makes me ask ''what the hell am I doing here?''

Part of this is the feeling of being a recent college graduate with nothing to do, in an economy where even people with masters degrees are having trouble making ends meet. In part, I feel as if I am running away from the madness of the United States. It sounds romantic to go ''get lost in South America.'' Frank Sinatra even said ''come fly with me, we'll fly down to Peru. In llama land there's a one man band'' and blah, blah whatever. The reality of the situation is things are just as crazy here as they are back home. Limeños are talking about the bad economy and healthcare reform too.

I wake up every day to car alarms and loud busses outside my window. I cough up the diesel exhaust and second-hand cigarette smoke that accumulated in my lungs from the previous day. I then tell myself that even though I may not be living in a Frank Sinatra song, I am going to make every day an adventure. Whether it means walking 5 miles to go buy a guide book at a travelers club, trying to surf Lima's massive cold water waves or riding with Francis to browse black market items at a local market, I am determined to make an adventure out of this trip.

''Welcome to la Babylon.'' These are the words of Edu, a 5 foot Peruvian rastaman who denounces the creation of this illusion we know as ''modern civilization.'' Thus far, he is the wisest Peruvian I have met because he made me realize that I simply left one form of madness for another.