this and that !

Happy Birthday Gramsssss!! I love you!

I had a great weekend. I went out.. of course. 2nd to last weekend in Lima! Have to! We went out for a while on Thursday night, as we don’t have classes on Friday, and I got a couple free shots for turning 20 at midnight, then we just danced for the rest of the night in Calle de las Pizzas (Lima’s discoteca scene). Then Friday Pilar, my host mom, wait.. back up. Dad called me at, I believe it was 6:35am, which I answered to, and said, “Happy Birthday Molls! Were you sleeping?” no.. who sleeps at 6am – I’m always up! Lol, but it was nice anyway even tho the hour, then Mom called me at nine minutes til 9, which I still wasn’t awake for, lol. I woke up and Elisabeth, my maid gave me a big hug and so did Pilar. I went out to eat for Chifa with Pilar for lunch. , their version of Chinese – it really is the best, a lot healthier and just better and they know it too and talk about it all the time. We had arroz chaufa with chicken and this beef cut thing she likes and some really yummy vegetable chicken dish, along with won tons. I was super full, of course, like every meal, and then she ordered these little mini oranges for me.. which I hated, but I had to eat them because she ordered them for me. Mini oranges in like thing sugary goo-like syrup sauce that’s spicy and you take them with a tooth pick and put them in your mouth.. I don’t know why anyone desires to eat these! But it was very sweet of her and she also got me real silver dangly earrings and a silver bracelet to remind me of her when I leave because she always wears a lot of silver bracelets. I feel very lucky to be with her. Some people are having problems with their host families and Pilar and I are getting along better than ever before. Then I talked took a nap and talked to Paige for a while then tried to call Grams to wish her, but got the answering machine a couple times, and then called Mandy cause she had no way of getting a hold o me and I knew she wanted to talk to me :) lol. Kind of funny… I called HER so she could wish ME a happy birthday lol. And she made me and grams a super cool video on her blog of Presy, which I have not yet heard in sound yet, but I am very excited to! Then I got ready for the night again. Us girls, Chelsea, Amanda, Kia, Bethany, and Ashley, met in Sofa Café in Larcomar where they have these amazing deserts, which I got a “Waffle Forest”.. that has “natural” waffles, and chocolate waffles, stacked of like 5 of them, with raspberries (ohhhh I can’t wait for our raspberries this summer!!) and blueberries and snazberries and berry sauce and powdered sugar and a big scoop of ice cream on the top then a whole cup of chocolate sauce to drizzle all of over it. I have pictures. These waffle tower was impressive. And we indulged and enjoyed (I had help eating this, don’t worry) and then they went and bought me a huge happy birthday balloon at Vivanda (I have no idea how it made it home with me, but I woke up with it this morning! Score! You don’t know how obnoxious this balloon turned out to be lol) went off to this acoustic bar we really like by Parque Kennedy and we got some drinks and they told the waiter it was my birthday… and he brought me a flaming shot! My first flaming shot of the night (there were more to come, I guess a flaming shot is the norm here for birthdays! Come to Lima to do it big!) and I had to suck the shot through a straw (completely completely disgusting – I don’t know what is in these flaming shots, but more than one type of alcohol). And then my girls ordered me a tequila shot and we took that together and then we were off to the next bar! Lol… I got a little obnoxious after that. I basically wanted.. well.. everything free that night, and I asked for a free ice cream cone at Bembo’s (there version of McDonald’s) and they said no.. and I asked for a long time, and they still said no, so Ashley told me to say “Fine, we’re going to McDonald’s then,” … so I did! Lol “Vamos a McDonald’s” with a horrified look on my face and I also did the ssame thing in Burger King.. hmm.. wonder why American’s have the rep they do….:) No ideas. Then we met up with some of our Peruvian friends and we walked into another bar, got me ANOTHER flaming shot! Danced for a little bit, then went on to the next. The night started getting a little blurry after that, I got a couple more tequila shots… a couple more drinks from random people. Like safely.. don’t worry rents. The waiter or bartender always handed them to me. The balloon was a very good idea on my girls’ part because that’s how I got my free drinks. I’d walk in, wave my balloon around to let everyone know. Lol. It was very obnoxious. As you can probably imagine. I made a lot of friends that night tho and a lot of free drinks. Someone read my palm and.. it was a good night. Very very fun. My doorman asked me this morning when he saw me, “What happened to you?” lol!! I told him I went out last night. And tonight doing it again.
I feel so blessed and so lucky! The question of the night was “what do you wish for!” and I really didn’t know because I feel like I have everything! I have an amazing family that calls me at 6am, the time Im born, and 15 other times to wish me, brain waves sent to me so I knew to call another (mandy), amazing people at home who sent me so many messages to wish me and tell me they miss me, and amazing people here that when I said I didn’t want a big fuss about my birthday were not going to let that happen. Our Luther group is so great together. We get along soooo soo well. It’s really cool because none of us knew each other before the trip and now we know each other like the back of our hand. We’ve been through so much together, been through the good times and the hard times, been sick together and stayed out all night together. We all bring something different to the table and our group dynamic could not be better. I will miss them of course when summer comes, these are the people I see every single day! They know everything that happens to me good and bad, fun and not fun! But it’s so cool because we all get each other when we get back to college. There are some downfalls to our program, but this is a huge huge benefit.
I have 12 days left, it doesn’t seem real! I’ve been being touristy and taking pictures of my beautiful city for everyone to see. The places I’m at every day, the center of the city, my house, my room. It’s all so beautiful here. I neeeeeeed to start packing. I don’t know how all this stuff is going to get back. I really really don’t. It’s not going to. It’ll be a miracle. I’m getting excited for stuff. Not feeling sick all the time.. we all get sick so often, just like random stomach problems from the water or food, or head problems from always changing altitudes, or extreme sickness for no apparent reason lol. I didn’t even believe in being sick before this. To feel good for at least a whole week at a time! How different it will be! And food… as good as it is, I’m sick of Peruvian food. I’m sick of it. I never ever want to see rice again. We have rice with everything.. no matter what. You have rice. I’m never eating rice again. Im ready to eat when I want, how much I want, and whenever I want. I want to go back to my snacks and snacking and not eat meals anymore. That’s all I get here.. is meals. That seems like a normal thing.. but for me – it’s completely not! And meals that I don’t even know what it is.. and then rice. And I have to eat a lot of it because I don’t want to waste it. I’ve straight up started telling Elisabeth when it’s too much and tell her that it’s just going to go to waste cause I can’t eat it. And major break through today. I straight up did not touch this casserole stuff I don’t like. I didn’t even try to pretend like I tried it. I’ve been doing this for 4 months now – I’m sick of eating food I don’t like and eating when I don’t want to and stuff I don’t want to and not having my snacks. Lol. Sorry mom, I will be used to eating meals but I just don’t want to when I get back. I haven’t eaten one of my moms meals since.. like when.. like forever just because it’s my way to just snack and that’s what I like doing and I can’t wait to go back to it!!!!! And wheat bread. I can’t wait for wheat bread. It’s basically unheard of here. I hope nobody thinks that I’m going to be this slim Peruvian version of myself.. I’m like a pudgy bunny. Lol it’s true – we are all forced to eat so much, and we get like surprise things like “oh I made this especially for you” or “I saved this for you” lots of our conversations start with, “omg my host mom made me eat….” or “my maid served me 2 plates of…..” So I’m excited for eating when I want, eating what I want, food I like, and snacking. And I can’t wait for my night powerwalking! Completely can’t do that here – way too dangerous for a gringa to be out walking by herself at night, so I’m excited to get back to my routine. And don’t expect me to be tanned just because I live in Perú. It’s winter here. Which basically means 70 and snowpants. It is a little bit colder tho – I can tell, it’s probably like Iowa summer tho, but people wear like boots and scarves and big winter jackets and it’s for real 70 to 75… maybe 65 on a really really cold day. I’m prepping you so you won’t have false expectations about me when I return.
I’m also thinking of burning the clothes I have when I get back. We all have each other’s wardrobes memorized, when we get something at all new, whether it be jewelry, a shirt or a bracelet, we say “is that new!” just because we are used to seeing each other so much and we know every article of everything that we own. I’m sick of wearing and looking at these same clothes I have.
Sometimes I can’t believe that I’ve survived here. This is a huge city and.. I did it! It’s crazy. And I know the city.. people actually ask me questions now. Someone came up to me the other day and said, “you look like you know your way around, do you know where this is.” We know the combi and micro bus system and traffic codes and I have my street lights memorized by Larcomar I’m there so often. We know how much a taxi charges for certain locations and what prices are absolutely absurd. We know which taxis to take and which to stay away from. We know how to bargain for not only taxis but shopping as well. We know the exact time we have to leave so we don’t hit rush hour.. the time that you will be on a micro for 45 min, and the minute past the time when you will be sitting in it for an hour and half. I know rush hour like it’s not even funny. We know where the best spots are and where people get shot in the city and which parts to stay away from, or absolutely not get lost in at night (San Juan). I feel like I know this city and I love this city. I can get around, I can go places, I can be alone in this huge city and be OK. It’s a cool feeling. I will miss this city a lot. All my security guards who keep me safe that I was so scared of at first because I didn’t know why there were so many and all the cat calls that I detested at the beginning. Now when I get them I think it’s funny a lot, some of the things they say are just ridiculous, or when they try and speak in English and say “baby, hunny love” I laugh and think “that’s very good English – impressive,” or it’s funny when they just saw “wow” they will just stop and stare and say that or “como estas amor” – and I will reply to myself, I’m quite fine, thank you for asking. I’m used to creepers. Creepers are a part of every day life and I can handle that now. And there is always someone to help you here. People are watching out for you. There are dangerous people and there are good. We have seen the bad and we have seen the other side too. The people of this city are so very nice. Very willing to answer a question or help you with directions or tell you where their favorite Sushi bar is or dancing discoteca.
I’ve actually learned to chill out about time, if anyone can imagine that at all. Here, 1pm means 2pm, I’ll be there in a little bit can mean 30 min to 2 hours. Peruvian time is at least 15 mins late at the very least. I don’t wear a watch (had to lose that when it pointed me out as a tourist!) and most of the time if I’m not in class I have no idea what time it is – crazy I know! I’ll probably go back when I get to the states of course, life revolves around the clock there, but I know if I am late.. it will be ok and it will not be the end of the world. It’ll be kind of weird to go back to a place where nobody cares about you lol. Well of course the complete opposite, but where people aren’t yelling at me all day and whistling and asking if I want anything all the time and getting into clubs free and all that. I won’t be a celebrity in the states! Lol. That’s what it is – if you want celebrity status you come to Perú.
Ok – enough of that! Hope everyone is doing well! I miss you! I love you! I will see you super soon! (crazy huh!!!!)
So much love from lima!!!

Besos!!

machhhhhu!!! picchuuuuuuu!

Ok So, Machu Picchu – simply aMAzing!!
So cool! I was worried that I wouldn’t think it was as breathtaking as everyone said it would be… but it was – it so was! We left for Cusco on Thursday morning at 6am and caught a plane… where everyone was wearing masks for the swine flew! Super scary! Then we took a bus to Pisak to see some ruins there, which were pretty impressive, but nothing compared to Cusco, then we took a bus to Ollantaytambo and slept there for the night and got up at 4am to get up early to catch the train to go to Aguas Calientes and then on to Machu Picchu. We went super early because we wanted to be there in time to get in line for this mountain that has the best view of Machu Picchu, Wayna Picchu Mountain (the biiig mountain in the background of all the Machu Picchu pics - should look it up, I was on that!!) and only the first 200 people get to go on the trail, and we made it! And so we started the hike up this huge, steep mountain at 8am. I thought I was going to die. It was soooooooo hard! It was so sooo so so steep and added with the altitude and getting higher and higher, it was extremely intense, and I suppose a little dangerous, they told us that someone hadn’t died in almost a year now, so that was comforting! Lol. It was really really steep tho and some of the stairs were like half of a length of a foot and if you stepped in the wrong place you could definitely just fall off the cliff. They had arrows in this extremely odd places like at the ends of cliffs? Like really, I’m not supposed to jump off the cliff? We were thinking those were the areas where people fell off and so the arrows were there for “liability”. Liability what? Really no such thing in Perú I wouldn’t think. Anyway, we made it to the top, and it was amazing. It was cloudly all morning but just started to clear up when we got up there so we could see the amazing view of Machu Picchu, which we hadn’t discovered yet, only the distanced view. We stayed up on WaynaPicchu for about an hour, snacked, took pics, then started on our trek down… which we decided was how people died – going down not up. Going up was intense, but going down was downright scary!! If you leaned a little to far one way youd fall on your face all the way to the bottom.. and the half foot stairs.. harder to go down then up! But we made it down and cheered on all the people attempting to go up behind us, telling them they were almost there and that they wouldn’t die, because it definitely seems possible! There were people from every different country. We heard sooo soo so many languages there – it was sooo neat. People from all the continents, I wouldn’t doubt. We had just received an email from Luther telling us not to travel if at all possible because of the Swine flu, and if we do travel, to stay away from large, touristy groups. Really – Machu Picchu is like the capital of the tourist world so.. yeah.. swine flu here we come! Anyway, we made it down and signed in our names – you have to sign in when you leave and the time, and when you get down and the time because at 3 everyone has to be off the trail so they can look for missing people or see if anyone hasn’t made it back or… didn’t make it at all. But we made it! Lol, then Bethany and I made the trek to the bathroom after that… all the way outside of the park! We didn’t realize it was so far away! So we rewarded ourselves with ice cream for 8 soles (a little on the expensive side, you can get Bembo’s ice cream for 2 soles (like their version of McDonalds) and ice cream from Gelatería for 6 soles, but of course this was the tourist capital of the world, but we decided we deserved it, 8 soles = about $2.40 – funny we comment how 8 soles is expensive, but it is for here! I don’t think I’ll make it when I get back to the states and the prices there.. for real!) Anyway then we all went on a tour of Machu Picchu and.. it’s incredible. I’m not really a ruins-type I’d say but, you can’t help but be awed and amazed at this stuff. It seems impossible, and how they did it is just… out of this world - which is probably why there’s that big hoax of, ‘Aliens Built Machu Picchu.’ Then we climbed to the top of the Machu Picchu ruins (everything seemed sooo hard after our WaynaPicchu hike.. my legs were like jello after that – so hard! But worth it) and we hung out just laying around, napping, snacking, chilling out on Machu Picchu – was the coolest thing ever. Just hanging out at Machu Picchu. I just chilled at Machu Picchu. Probably one of the coolest things I’ve done. Then after a while we caught a bus back to Aguas Calientes, showered, got some coffee, then ate – this delicious pizza with dulce de leche, peaches, cherries, and cheese – sounds awful, but was soooo good! Then we went out for drinks after that – man I will miss that. I can go out for drinks.. and buy them.. and drink them.. all in the same place at the same time. They’d see us and be like ‘deal deal – 4 for one’ and we’d be like ‘well theres 5 of us’ and then they’d say ‘ok 5 for one’, so it was 5 drinks for 20 soles, and sometimes 15, which is about $6 – 5 drinks for $6 – unreal! Pisco sour, chicanos, cuba libre, and some of them were so strong we couldn’t drink them. The idea was probably to set us down for one deal and then we’d stay.. but we’d bar hop and find our next deal. And it takes about 2 drinks to feel it hit ya in that sort of altitude. Then we got up, took a bus, saw some ruins (nothing compares to Machu Picchu), went to a huge market, then got back to Cusco and hung out there for the night. Cusco is soo cool – we all wished we had more time there. It’s very Spanish, of course from the conquistadors, but more so than other cities in Peru, and all the streets are made of stone and they have the Incan wall there which is like the stone at Machu Picchu – which is just amazing, and then the Spanish copy cat right next to it trying to duplicate it, but it doesn’t even come close. Cusco is very very touristy of course too, about half the town is tourists they said, but a very beautiful town with very beautiful churches, architectures, everything. Then we went out – got some crazy food we hadn’t tried, chupe de camerones, alpaca meat, wine, then went back out and got a drink in this up scale bar in Cusco and hung out in bean bags and played games for a while, then got home and of course… no excursion and trip can ever fail… I got sick that night and was like death Sunday for the travel back home. Was very painful, thinking from the food, the hits of altitude so fast switching up and down so much, bus rides, the works, but now I’m perfectly fine and no clinic or IV in me this week! :)
This week holds a lot of work… a lot of going out – we only have 18 days left! So crazy! Hope everyone is doing good! And I hope I talk to you super soon! Love and miss you all! You have love from Lima!!
- Un beso

the amazonas

And this one is for Krista K, possibly the only one of my gfs who reads my blogs.. and likes it J lol.

Right now I am in bed recovering from the Amazon. We left on Thursday night and took a plane to Iquitos. I feel pretty much pro at taking planes now… I have taken like.. 6 since I’ve been here, and my fear is pretty much gone. I do think the plane will crash only like once a trip now (Mandy) not every 5 min :), although there was some discomforting turbulence which gave me good reason this time.. along with engine problems. Man I love getting on planes with engine problems. But all is well and here I am back in Lima! We stayed in Iquitos for the night, my most mom told me the town was feisima! – which is true, it’s a very very ugly town, with old run down buildings and such.. we couldn’t figure out if they were poor or of that’s just how the lived.. given they of course aren’t as well to do as well, ‘normal’ in the states, but ‘normal’ for Peru, we couldn’t figure out. Anyway we got on a boat early Friday morning to start our trek to the jungle.. and we boated on the Amazon to the Sinchicuy Lodge, our lodge for the weekend which was quite outdoorsy.. no electricity and basically outside with just mosquito like net/walls to protect us from the night. Then we dropped our stuff off then boated down the Amazon again to a tribe called Yague, that wore no shoes and grass like outfits, like you see in the movies, and they spoke their own tribe-like language, along with Castellano so they can trade. We were trying to figure out if they really lived like that.. and we think they do, we don’t think it’s just for show. They had very different mannerisms. After that we met a doctor, like a jungle doctor. His name was Marley or Marlo and he used elements, seeds, flowers, and other natural things from the jungle to heal the town and we got to try a few of his concoctions, except for one we weren’t allowed to try by ISA that makes you hallucinate, but it’s supposed to be their ‘mother-plant’, that heals major things or something. Then we went to another place and trade pure sugar cane this other plant from the area, tasted like cotton and sugar mixed together around this plant. I think it was camu-camu, or maybe cocona, not sure. Then we got back for the night, had supper, then got back in the canoe again to go on a night ride to listen to all the selva sounds and look at the stars, which are amazing amazing, and we saw the southern cross and it’s sooo pretty and sooo bright. Then the next day we went out on the amazon and went dolphin watching. Like normal dolphins, and then these pink dolphins – they’re really pretty and really pink too. It was mating season so they were all over the place. Then we walked through the jungle with our guide for the week, Jorge, basically George of the Jungle… he was crazy, a true jungle man, and a very good guide. Anyway, we walked through the jungle… hottest experience of my life! Soooooo soo hot and humid, almost unbearable, and we saw the biggest ants in the world… that are quite harmful if they touch you, good thing we were a whole foot away! Huge termite nests, pretty butterflies, huge huge huge trees – they were so cool, big gross tarantula’s, and with my luck, a snake – that I almost stepped on, freaked out, and Jorge to the rescue, ran back and caught it. It was actually a harmless snake, one of 3 in the jungle, it was the rainbow snake and it changed colors in the sun – was really pretty, I was just glad it wasn’t a boa constrictor, which is another of the 3 that are in the jungle! Later we went fishing for piranhas! Weird huh! I was the only one to catch one, showed you proud, dad, and all my years Wisconsin fishing! Was the only fish caught of the day, and the hook ruined his teeth or something so we had him for lunch, and he was quite tasty. Then we went swimming in the Amazon! The river in the part we swam in was bright black, except clear when we looked under water – it’s not because of pollution, unlike every river in Iowa, it’s because of all the erosion around the river. The next day we went to an island and we saw monkey’s that came up to us and played with us, baby ant-eaters, a crocodile, a toucan, a tarantula (ick!), and a boa constrictor, where they keep orphaned animals and put them back into the jungle after a time – it was neat. The trip was fun and intense and HOT, and I got really really sick the last night and didn’t sleep at all I was so sick and laid with a towel by my side for when I threw up.. so the last day of traveling was absolutely miserable, by boat for about two hours, by bus, and by plane, but I am feeling better so I am hoping that it’s not some jungle disease or malaria! And.. I’ve decided.. Peruanos have very different remedies.. you should hear the list of things I’m not allowed to eat… like.. juice.. fruit or vegetables, milk, cheese, bread, butter.. basically anything except this weird concocted soup my Elisabeth whipped up for me. When I had a cold and couldn’t talk I wasn’t allowed to touch anything room temperature or cold, and especially ice, that was “deadly”. I could only eat.. warm and hot things. I’ve been recovering today and watching a lot of Peruvian TV, I lovvve tv here. I normally don’t watch it at all at home. But here I love it! It’s like a learning experience, I’m such a nerd I know lol, but if something is in English (a lot is – sometimes it’s hard to find stuff in Spanish!) they have subtitles, which I’ve learned to read, and the other times they have really good dubbed movies. And they have cool channels too like Cosmo and actual Channels with music videos on all day long. Anyway – hope everything is well with everyone. I heard Pres babe rolled over all the way! Yay! Lol, Hope the IC formal trip was fun girlsies, can’t wait to do it next year! This blog was kinda boring Krista :P I’ll post a new one soon for you! Update me on your lives! I love and miss you all sooo much!

Besos!

KISS

So, Im just trying to get some homework done before I have class later today, just sitting in Starbucks in Larcomar ... and two of the members of KISS have to come in and start a commotion and it's clearly impossible to study now... lol. Life in Lima = never normal.

la selva!

Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve written! I think the last time was Máncora... and Máncora was, for kack of better words, amazing. So relaxing.. we laid on the beach alllll day, best beaches in South America, I guess it’s the vacation hot spot, and we’d see people riding horses and sometimes we’d get in and body surf and catch the big beautiful waves. We’d all cook breakfast together and buy coconuts to make piña coladas and pisco sours, we’d squeeze our own orange juice to make fresh juice each morning and basically just lay in the sun all day, then go into town at night to eat, fresh fresh fish and lobster and crab, soo good, and stay out. Soooo relaxing and our house was amzing – our living room was outside and it was about 2 and a half stories. It was sooo awesome, but while laying on the beach I couldn’t help but get excited for our time at the lake this summer, eating fresh caught fish, bluegill and bass, (that I hate catching, but always get suckered into going somehow), and playing Farkle and that one omish people card game, renting a pontoon and jumping in with our clothes on (Grams!), and going with PRESTON this year!! Oooooh I can’t wait. And he looked so comfortable in that life jacket dad got him, lol, he looked miserable! But he’ll be so good at being in the water now that he is taking baby swim lessons and can go under water! Yay for Preston! Lol.
Anyway, the next week after we got back from Máncora was basically like finals week, and I had a couple papers due along with a pretty dang hard exam, so that was fun to come back to, and then we went out.. Wednesday.. Thursday.. Friday… and Saturday. Lol. So we studied... then partied. We basically just started to explore. We are getting away from the normal places, Calle de las Pizzas in Miraflores and the normal hot spots and Barranco and going to new restaurants and little bars that are like holes in the wall and it’s so much fun! This weekend, for Easter, I got away because it’s my faaaaaaaaavorite holiday back at home – with all the pretty colors and beautiful church music, Easter egg hunt at moms (which we will never be too old for!) and going to Grams and having our Easter egg hunt there with the whole family and of course now we get Pres babe! Our Easter surprise. So I went to Hauncayo this weekend – la selva, the jungle, and to get there took a 13 hour train ride, really beautiful and they pride themselves in passing 70 tunnels, 58 bridges, and 6 switchbacks (I was highly drugged during this, so I endured it al! Lol, took some 8 hour pill my host mom told me about, and I was good for the ride!) and it’s the highest train ride in America, and second in the world, so the altitude was intense, and we got out at a few spots and it was snowing! But it was really beautiful in the mountains and all the rivers and scenery. So after our 13 hour train ride (26 hours total between the two days!!), we find a hostel, and then of course go out! We went to a discoteca for just a couple hours at 12 because we had to get up at 4am to catch a bus to the jungle, fun stuff. We toured the jungle all day and ate fresh oranges from the trees and drank coconut juice and swam under waterfalls, then we got to another hostel, showered, then went to a discoteca, then got up and did it all over again the next day, except a little bit more intense. We were gone all day in the jungle, through trails, and we climbed about… 6 or 7 waterfalls, was crazy! When the trail ended, we were like, "Where do we go?" and the guide pointed up at the waterfall and we were like.. no way! We climbed these crazy strong waterfalls when the trail would end, then hike up some more soaking wet, then do it again, then run into a cliff.. the tour guide would throw a rope onto the tope - then we'd pull ourselves up - was scary!! Then we got back and took a 2 hour bus ride back to Tarma, where they have a huge Easter celebration. The Easter celebrations in Peru are like carnivals. We got there and it was crazy – tons and tons of people outside, caramel apples, selling stuff everywehre, we left our stuff at a hostel, and then made a deal for them to pick us up at the carnival at 4am so we could get to the train station at 6am for our train at 7am.. so sleeping wasn’t in the game that night, but well worth it. They have bands all over the street… about 8 of them, all playing loudly with people dancing and drinking in the street. We got this really strong hot drink called Calentito with Pisco and herbs in it, and passed it around and took shots of it until it was gone.., and then we did it over again. Then we danced in the street for a while, then they had an amazing fireworks display for about an hour. Then we went into the street to eat… all this amazing food, for one sol! Crazy. Food made right in front of you, hot sandwiches with fresh pavo and pollo, cornbread, panqueqes, yuccas, caramel apples, anticuchos, papas, hot chocolate, coffee, soup with choclo and herbs, basically all the Peruvian food you can think of, and all ridiculously for one sole. One sole is about 30 cents. That is really cheap – it’s different in Peru, they don’t jack up the prices when they know that’s the only place you can get it. Like the prices of stuff on the train, it’s the only place you can buy water, but it’s still cheap. Then after we ate – we went and danced some more, then it started raining, and we danced in the rain. At about 3am we went to a discoteca until 4am for when our hostel was taking us to the train station. Then… I basically slept the whole train ride, woke up and was miserable, so then I fell asleep again. Cold, wet, and tired. Longest train ride of my life. Then I went to the internet café to call my beloved fam when I got home at 9pm and it was closed. Whatevs. I miss you all very much I hope you know that! It feels good to be back in Lima tho, I miss the city when I’m gone. Especially.. staying in cheap hostels with sick sick showers. I felt cleaner when I chose NOT to shower. One thing I won’t be able to get used to is the prices in the states. Everything is ridiculous cheap. A sandwich can be from 4 soles to 10 soles, usually not more than that. So, about $1.20 to $3.00. One sol is equal to about 30 cents. Crazy! Usually a nice meal, 20 soles, $6.00, combi ride 1 sol, nails done – 10 soles, internet – 1 sol, copies or printing – about 10 centimos, hostels - 8 - 20 soles, candy - 1 sol, water and pop too, 1 to 2 soles – 30 – 60 cents, ice cream too, taxi ride, depends, 8 soles – 20 soles, never more. Clothes, cheaper, shoes cheaper, movie about 8 soles, basically everything. School is hard, the night life is good, people are great. Miss you all love you all! I’ll blog soon! We go to Iquitos this weekend (back to la selva!) and I’m gone from Thursday to Sunday – my whole life here is a vacation for real! I know. Blog soon tho!! love you!

class, then mancora!

Just another weekend in el Perú. Thursday after class we headed to our hostel in San Bartolo for the night, took a couple taxis there … bought our supply of drinks for the night, and started playing cards. The boys of the group decided we would play Circle of Death, Peruvian style, and they made up their own version.. which was completely ridiculous and funny.. and long story short we started at 9pm and we were all toast by 9:30pm. We were about the only ones in San Bartolo it seemed like and… well we were really loud and quite a sight and entertainment for the hostel owners. And we wonder why Americans have the name they do – we weren’t loud and obnoxious at all! Lol. A few hours later, after a cruise down to the beach, and after one of us was done for the night after throwing up (not me!!!), we were hungry of course after our hard night of drinking, so we asked the hostel owners if they’d cook as food and they made us all chicken breast meals (except I wasn’t there when they served it!!) lol. It was quite a night and we all got up the next morning for our free breakfast and hunt for the beach. I woke up with a huge slash across my foot – about 2 inches and ouch it hurts when I walk!! So the beach in Santa Maria didn’t do my cut any good (which is now infected!), but oh the beach was beautiful. We laid out all day in the sun then grabbed a late lunch of mariscos, ceviche, lomo saltado, and pescado. Then we headed back to Lima for our intercambio. Last night most of us went to Peter’s host dad’s concert, Ruben Florez, which was quite entertaining and interesting. We all got formal invitations and the concert was in a castle in Castallao. Then we went out for Kelly’s birthday to a club in Barranco and today I laid around and studied. My life is so hard I know! Lol. The life here is so rich. This coming week, after class, we are going to Mancora, a city in the north with the richest beaches in Peru! For our spring break. Here is the site of where we are staying and what there’s to do in Mancora.. if the sun, sand, and ocean breeze isn’t enough for you. http://www.mancoraperulosalgarrobos.com/condo/index.html
vivamancora.com
Pretty excited!! Spraaaaaaaang breaaaaaak baby – Mancora 09’. Very excited, but I have a lot of reading to do while I’m there! (after you see this place you will see exactly how much reading I’ll get done……….!!) Miss and love you all! I hope everyone has a good week!! Have fun on spring break gfs, - have fun in cali grams! – visiting Pres dad – in DC ma - and at work everyone else :P – and Presy with his new teefers!! :)
Besos de Peru!!

busy busy - beach nite!

It’s been a while! Sorry everyone! I’ve been super busy non-stop, trying to find time to rest lately! Last week Paige and Carly came to visit – it was AWESOME! We did well, umm…. Everything! We did a LOT! Lot lot! They got the historical view, el Congreso, la Inquisición, la Catedral de Lima, la Iglesia de San Pedro, changing of the guards, Chifa (Peruvian Chinese), chichi morada (purple corn drink, they weren’t too fond of it!), we visited Pachacamac – ancient ruins that we made up stories to because we were without a guide, they met an ex congressman during Fuijimori’s era, and the first indigenous congress woman of Peru – Paulina Arpasi Velásquez, they got the night life, Barancco, Calle de las Pizzas, Larcomar, we went to a club with one of my new Peruvian friends, Alessandra, which was a ‘baller’ time, we danced on a couple bars and got on stage at the club with Alessandra, lol. We drank and got into clubs free almost every night. We met people from England and US Southern Command Military. We ate at almost every restaurant ever in Miraflores – it felt like anyway – we basically didn’t stop eating! Lomo saltado, ceviche on the beach, inka cola, amazing peru juices, lucuma ice cream, pisco sour ice cream, pisco sours!! Cusqueña beer... they got the taxi experience, combi experience, the broken down combi experience on the highway!, the crazy peru traffic and la hora punta (rush hour), we met the good, and we met the dangerous J lol. Oh and we also went hang gliding! Really hung over too… and Carly and I both got really sick.. but still awesome! They got the fam experience and met my host mom, Pilar, and sweet Elisabeth, and Carly got made fun of in the street for being white and American a lot.. lol, and so did Paige for that matter. Was a good time. And now I have a mountain of homework to catch up on! But it was def worth it! I was really sick this weekend, probably from all my going, and I couldn’t even get a word out, but now I am better and about 98% and going at it again. School is still.. hard. Tonight after class we are going to San Bartolo, a cheap beach resort the boys stayed at the other weekend and loved it! So we are going to be out on the beach tonight, then lay out in the sun tomorrow – then come home and get ready for our weekend all over again! I love it here, I love Peru. I have a really amazing group from Luther, we all get along really well and.. we are all here for the same reason – we want to learn and explore and have the time of our lives! Which we are doing. Last night I got to watch my Presy babe roll over on Mandy’s blog! Oh he’s so big! I miss him and everyone! I love your calls and your letters, although the letters aren’t necessary you know! I’m known as the girl who has gotten the most mail in ISA history.. so thank you for all your love! J Time is flying, I can’t believe it’s almost the end of March, it just turned March! I love it here, and I think of you all very often! It’s sort of like a double negative… I miss you tho!

Besos de Peru

i dont think you'd know me anymore!

First, I can't believe it's March and then some already! How fast that time went by!! Wow!
If you saw what I was eating you wouldn’t know me. You wouldn’t believe it. I eat so many weird random things.. every single day. From my not eating any of the main meals, rarely touch meat, and pick at everything at home, to just my salads and sweets at school and never the main dish, none of you would think I was the same person! Many times I have no idea, not a clue, what I’m eating. I don’t know if it’s a fruit, a vegetable, a meat. I just open my mouth, close my eyes, and hope that it’s not a hot dog and that I can swallow it. A lot of times it’s good lol. I mostly eat the meat I am presented with (I know rents – can you believe that!), or at least try it if I must. I will not try cuy tho (guinea pig!! ick! i wouldnt even eat that if you cooked it dad!!). But I did just agree to Pilar that I will try cow heart.. what!! Lol. Some of the stuff I eat looks so weird.. I had a salad for a while with bright pink and purple stuff on it, no idea what it was. The stuff I eat can be green, yellow, pink, purple, orange, any color, and any texture. I ate the other day like corn mush with spaghetti sauce on it, I actually loved it, but for the longest time had no idea what I was eating. And nothing has the nutrition facts on it – I know I’m a nutrition facts freak! But – ya just go with it here. And I can’t not try something that Elisabeth gives me, she’s so so so so sweet. And if I don’t like it, she just laughs. I try my best to cut it into tiny pieces and move it around, and hide it under rice, but Elisabeth always knows. Some other people’s maids will get mad if they don’t like something, so I am very lucky that I have Elisabeth. I also get a fresh salad every day before meals with palta (avocado) sooo yum! Which I’m very lucky too because some people don’t see vegetables at all or not-fried food, and I rarely have fried food (except for fried bananas that are pink with egg and rice, my host mom’s favorite meal – I know right?) I eat ice cream now too (everyone does every day.. it’s to die for! Sooo so so so good! And it’s so hot here too, it’s def necessary.) and I drink juice. The juice they have is amazing!! And Elisabeth will put it in a shake with sugar milk and sugar and it’s sooo yum. And they don’t drink milk here, so I don’t either – only the sweet leche in my coffee in the morning (I know ma – we are going to go through like a gallon a day when I get back!) So you wouldn’t think I was the same person if you saw my eating habits from now and before!
One thing that is just really different is how we are treated here. We talked about racism and discrimination here in Peru the other day in Ethics class and.. it’s kind of harder to tell and see, but the lighter skin you have the better you’re treated. Of course, that’s everywhere, but there are so so so so many different shades of skin here, and it’s not like.. obvious how people are treated? There are different class levels that everyone knows, that I can’t even see. We also have to interview people on the street for class (I hate doing that!! It’s so embarrassing!) and they said that it’s definitely evident, if you have too dark of skin you can’t get into certain places and clubs – I had no idea! The other night, in Barranco, we weren’t even on the list and we got in before the whole line did, I’m assuming just because we are white. It’s weird too, people just want to take pics with us sometimes. If we are at a club people will just be like, “Can I have a pic with you?” or they will be like, “Can you take a pic for me? Thanks, now you get in it too!” It’s like – what?? I don’t know you! One time in a taxi cab that we were sharing, a the taxi cab driver said, “Omg you are Americans! My wife loves Americans!” then he proceeded to call her and awkwardly handed the phone to us to talk to his wife who loved Americans, then after he got done telling his wife how he was driving Americans, he started to take a video of us with his phone! Completely harmless, but weird! There are so many instances where.. we get to go first or free or get free drinks. We are going to a dance club tonight where everyone in our group get in free (YES!) and the girls get to drink for free! How cool is that? We are taking private salsa lessons, had our first one last night, and it was awesome! Tonight we are going bowling (I don’t know why that’s considered a fun thing to do, I really don’t!) and then out to the dance club. Paige and Carly are coming next week and I’m excited! I live in a small apartment so we are basically going to be sleeping and breathing on top of each other for the week, but it will be fun! As for before then.. I have ‘un montón,’ as my host mom, Pilar, would say, of homework to do!!
Love and miss you all sooo soo much!
besos!!

just a weekend at the beach..

Right now I’m in my apartment with internet! Yes! It’s completely random and always chance on and off and never on of course when I need to look up things for homework, oh well tho! I live in Larcomar! This weekend was really really fun. Friday we actually just chilled out, we don’t have class on Fridays, and we went shopping (uhhh.. yeah I need to stop that pretty quick here!) and had a girls day and ice cream.. you know. Then we got together that night for a ‘baby shower’ for Michelle from the ISA staff. They call it a ‘baby shower’ here, there’s not translation lol! Weird I know. And the baby shower.. well it’s kind of a big deal! There was a commentator, a singer, background music, dancing, games, professional dancing of the National Dance, and sooooo soo many balloons and then all the food you can think of too, with their mini palta (avocado – they love avocado here, and so do I so I’m thinking I’m in the right place!) sandwiches, wafers, the best fruit you’ve had, mini potatoes, and Inka Cola of course! (It for real tastes exactly like bubble gum and even adults drink it and like it! :P) Then we just went to Mango’s, a bar in Larcomar, and had drinks outside overlooking the ocean (I def need to stop that too – drinks are expensive! But we like to buy really pretty ones just because we can J) And I talked to my gfs at Luther on Skype!! Oh I was so excited you don’t even know girlsies! Everyone was like, “What’s your deal Molly, why are you so happy?” and I was like, “I just saw my gfs!!!” Ooo I hope we can soon too! That was soo amazing! Saturday Amanda and I spent the day at the beach in Barancco. Oh I loved it. So soo so relaxing, beautiful. There’s people selling everything, we got ice cream (lucuma of course!) and I bought these really beautiful hand made earrings from 2 kids about my age. I should have bargained for them for less, but they were so nice and they made them themselves! Only 20 soles, which is $6 for really beautiful earrings, I think that’s ok! And.. I am soooo soo burnt. It’s so painful I can’t wear a bra today and it hurts to move. You’d have thought I would have learned my lesson from last time, and I did, but the tiniest parts I didn’t put sunscreen on are crisped right now – like my legs and like my armpit area? Totally random I know, but the rest of me is ok because I put sunscreen on every 20 min! Except for those parts of course and now I’m paying for it! Ouch! Then I was super tired and got ready for the evening out and got to talk to the Ma and Paige – who is coming not next week but the next!! Excited! Then we went to a club where Peter’s host brother and a couple bands sang acoustic for a benefit concert.. was soooo sooo soo good, and we got front row cause we just know the right people (aka Peter’s fam lol) – then we met up with our Peruvian friends and went to this club in Barancco that had a list to get in – but we got in and danced til about.. 4am. We always go in a big group (sometimes it causes a lot of attention, but we are always with Peruvians who know what’s going on) and I always call my host mom at 2am to tell her what I’m doing for the night, so you don’t have to worry rents (you will, you always do!). I called Pilar at 2am last night and my Castellano was a little less than perfect to say the least lol. It consisted of me saying, “Kelly, I have no idea how to say this in Spanish right now – help me!” “Ok Molly, just tell her…” lol. And now I’m here in my apartment awaiting to do alllllllllllll the homework I have for this week. I love everyone’s messages, notes, calls and skypes!! Even if I don’t reply right away, I always take time to take a big breath, relax, and read them. I just got done watching vids of Presy.. 3 times! Oh I miss him so - I can't believe how much he is moving Mandy!! I need to hear my baby talk soon, and his jungle molly monkey better be his fav toy!! :) This week should be busy.. we are hopefully going salsa dancing 3 times this week.. along with all the mountains of homework. I love and miss you all!! I think of you often!
Besos

finally fri!!

Backstreet boys concert….. AWESOME!! They didn’t start playing til 12! I guess it’s Peru-time they were on. They played some new ones ( didn’t know those – who does?? ) and alllll their old ones!! Was so fun, and so funny cause all the chicas there would sing the words and say the words dif – prolly just how we talk all the time, and it was just funny to listen to. Then we were walking back, and we saw police and the the backstreet boys in a car speeding away!! Then when I got back to my apartment, I saw the car again – going like 90mph and I’m like, ‘What the heck, who needs to go that fast right now, it’s 3am!’, and then I was like, ‘OMG! That was the BackstreetBoys!!’ Pretty sure they stayed at the super elite Mariott 3 blocks from my apartment in Larcomar – a super savvy hotel with watchdogs and secret doors and such. Yeah.. I pretty much met them! And Amanda was at the same club as them on Tuesday night but they gated it off so no one else could go to that part of the club – but still super cool! Sleep is not something that I’ve gotten this week. A lot a lot of homework, then I stayed up til 230am listening to Backstreet Boys the night before the concert (idk why!!) and then awake for the concert til 330am – and always getting up cause I have to do homework in the morning, and I can’t sleep pasta 8 or 9am anyway. So I’m pretty tired today – I need to catch up! I don’t know what the day holds, but going out tonight (of course!) and the beach on Saturday (I will apply sunscreen every 15 min!!) and then out and then.. hopefully rest on Sunday, but who knows. I’m really just kind of like.. loving it here right now. I’m kind of realizing like – omg – you’re in peru molly! – and it’s awesome. There’s so much going on all the time, always something new to do and try. I’m getting used to the cat calls – my life pretty much summed up here is sweating and cat calls, how those two mix, I don’t know but they do every day! My computer is being really dumb tho, it for real took like an hour for it to start today. I was pretty sick yesterday (so maybe it wasn’t the Peruvian hotdog) and less sick today. I think there isn’t a day that goes by that one of us in the group isn’t sick – everything’s just so new and different and the air and the food, but not bad sick, just like – oh I don’t feel good but I’m still going to have an amazing day. One thing that’s sad here is the poverty. The ones that make me the saddest and that I usually give in to and give money are the women with babies on their backs begging for money. All the beggars will come to me it seems like and keep pestering me, and Kelly will usually have to say “Leave her alone, she’s not going to give you anything!” lol, they must see the weakness in my face or something. It’s a different world here and it’s amazing. Update me on how all of you are, I feel like it’s been a few days. Love and miss you!
Un beso de Peru

hasta miercoles

So tonight.. uhh Backstreet Boys! I am super super pumped! Lol – should be amazing!! All the old 90’s songs!! This week has been alright, on Monday we had a field trip instead of class to church’s in Lima – beautiful, huge church’s with this tour guide (I should know his name!) who is a famous writer and well known historian here? And yesterday for class we met with former Congressman Carlos Ferrero who was part of Congress during Fuijimori’s term and he just talked to us about corruption in the world and in Peru and.. it’s really interesting. We get to meet some pretty interesting people and go to some pretty elite places while we are here! Monday morning I woke up really sick.. I think it’s because what I ate on Sunday night, or maybe what I didn’t eat?? I had the sickest thing on Sunday night, I couldn’t even pretend to like it, for real. It was hot dogs – and I had no idea what it was when my host mom said it, I don’t know what the word for hotdog is in Spanish! But she said, ‘Oh you’ll really like it – it’s American food!’… uhh no! lol. Elisabeth served it to me and I was like o m g! Except.. I don’t know how.. but it was worse! It didn’t even look cooked and it wasn’t like.. the same. It was worse. I didn’t know you could get worse than American hotdogs – it had like dif meat or something, like gushy – like maybe cat or dog or something? I don’t even know but I could not even pretend to like it. I couldn’t even stand the smell. I decided I had to try it, it wasn’t hamster, and it could be totally good right, I mean did eat duck the other day.. uhh wrong – it was soooo so sick I almost spit it out back on my plate. So I just cut the rest up in little pieces and tried to like move it around and push it under my rice lol.. didn’t really work. Elisabeth always knows and she laughed and said you don’t like it, and then asked me if I didn’t like American food, and I said no.. lol. I couldn’t even pretend to like it, I never wanted to see that on my plate again. So I felt sick all morning yesterday and I think it’s cause of that sick cat-dog or something. It wasn’t from my malaria pills tho.. cause I stopped taking those lol. Wendy, from the ISA staff said it was ridiculous that we all had to take them, especially since they make us sick (they make all of our stomachs upset and make me throw up a lot too!) So we all decided to stop taking them, we aren’t going into any Malaria zones anyway she said, even when we do go to la selva. Then.. Kelly got sick. Kelly went to Africa during J-term and she said she didn’t take Malaria pills, but was in Malaria zones of course. So Kelly thought she had Malaria and oddly enough we all stopped taking our Malaria pills.. So I might have Malaria now! Hah no – Kelly is better tho and hopefully does not have Malaria! Last night was Michaels birthday and we sang karaoke (it’s the cool thing to do here for real, and it’s super funny and quite fun actually) and lucuma cake – lucuma is the richest fruit here that is to die for when put with chocolate. A must have while in Peru! So tonight is Backstreet Boys (super super pumped!!!!) Thursday night is Salsa dancing, and Friday night is a baby shower for Michelle on the ISA stuff, then out again!! This week we have had a TON of homework!! Next week we are starting salsa dancing classes three days a week – super super excited for!! I need to catch up with everyone soon – I feel like I haven’t heard people’s voices in a while! And I’m getting unburnt and mostly tanner – my daily makeup routine is.. deodorant (it’s so hot it’s usually off in the first hour!), hand sanitizer, because everything is dirty and sunscreen – and my belly ring is raw and my belly button is very sunburnt and hurts! Lol, if that’s not sick info you wanted to know.
Love and miss you!
Besos!!

the weekend and then some!!

Ok! Sorry sorry sorry it’s been a while!! I’ve been busier than busy the last few days!! Where did I leave off? Oh yeah – I think Wednesday – hard hard hard day of class. I was just like – “Nevermind, I’d like to go home please, this is harder than I expected,” and I was just at a low point, and the group had made plans to go salsa dancing that night, but I didn’t want to, I just wanted to be miserable at home, but I told everyone I was going, so I went and.. it was amazing!! I love it! We are going to take classes weekly – hopefully more than once a week – and then go to the clubs on the weekend. We went to a salsa club on Friday after karaoke (yep, karaoke bar – first time – was hilarious), and the salsa dancing was amazing… amazing! The way they can move is incredible, oh I want to learn, but to be that good is of course impossible, it’s the coolest thing ever. We had class on Thursday, we went to a market to look at corruption in Peru, and looked at all these things for super super super cheap – like everything black marketed and.. it’s just different! Then Friday the girls in the group all went shopping in Miraflores.. super fun. I tried on like 10 pairs of shoes for super cheap in Saga Fallabella, but didn’t get any (I know ma – you wouldn’t believe it!), but did get some other things! A curling iron – cause if I use the one from the US, which I don’t know if it’s dual converter whatever, it will shut down all the electricity in my whole apartment building, which wasn’t a risk I wanted to take. I figured I could spend 100 soles on a curling iron, instead of a few loans to pay for the re-wiring of my apartment building! Shopping was fun, followed by ice cream (lucuma of course, a fruit here with super super rich ice cream, a def must try when you’re here), and then went home to get ready for the night of karaoke for an intercambio with other Peruanos, and it was so funny. We had drinks before all together (mojitos!), then walked to the karaoke bar (all in Miraflores, right where I live, super convenient for me!) and we sang karaoke for 3 hours! Lol – it was kinda weird at first, but it’s super fun! And funny!! It’s really chill cause no one cares if you’re really bad – like me, lol. Then we went to the Cuban salsa club – o m g amazing, you for real wouldn’t believe these dancers! I like to just sit there and watch, but sometimes someone will make me get up and dance, even tho I tell them I’m a gringa and can’t, but they say it’s the only way to learn – which is true!! So I give it my best shot and it’s always fun, lol, I’m sure you can imagine. Then the next morning went to Amanda’s to go to the beach in Santa Maria with her host sister and her friend, and laid out on the beach alllll day – was amazing…. And hot.. and I am no longer white, I’m pure red!! Ouch it hurts! Sunscreen 5 times I swear!! The ocean was so strong and beautiful, and we had ceviche for lunch on the beach (it’s supposed to be super good there) – a must have while in Peru! – I really like it too, and Chicha Morada – their purple corn drink, that’s quite good! (you need to try all this when you come Pagina!) Then, we got back to Amanda’s, I went home to get ready for the night, I got lost (to give you the PG 13 version.. rents J ) lol, and then we went out again! We went and got drinks in Café Café, a restaurant in Larcomar that over looks the ocean, yes – we can buy our own drinks! But it’s expensive… it’s like the same price, which is not too fun! And then we went to Barancco – kind of a sketch part of Lima, but where all the discotecas are, and danced for the night! Our Peruano friends had to go and ask for the price first before they saw all of us Americans, because they said they’d super over charge us if they saw us – so they got the price and paid before they even saw that all us Americans were coming in. It was – a weird bar kinda, girls danced on the table and – was weird lol, but fun! I’m learning to keep it chill – not everyone is out to get me, there are watchful eyes everywhere, and every taxi driver doesn’t have the same idea. I got my first fake money the other day! Luckily it was only 50 centimos, and the combi girl on the bus just handed it back to me and said no, it’s not real. And so I gave her another one – I was just glad it was 50 soles or 100! That would not be fun.. but it will probably happen! I asked the mom-like woman beside me if it was fake and how and she explained it to me. Then before she left, she kissed me and told me to be careful in Lima. So don’t worry rents, for every one sketch person, there are two good ones, I’m sure of it. One weird thing about being here is that.. I really don’t know the music besides some random stuff in clubs and the salsa – because everywhere everywhere they listen to American music! In the malls, in restaurants, in combis and taxis sometimes, everywhere! Like.. not now music tho – like 80 & 90’s music lol. Oh.. speaking of the good ole’ 90’s – we bought tickets for the Backstreet Boys in Lima for Wednesday! Lol – super pumped. (yes santh – I’ll do the dance we made up for dance camp to, ‘I want you back,’ don’t worry!)
I feel comfortable where I live – I get along well with my host mom and my maid – they are both super sweet. Pilar is my host mom and Elisabeth is the maid. Elisabeth makes everything – last night she made homemade lucuma ice cream! Was good – but really really rich! And I had spaghetti! I get excited every time I don’t have rice for a meal. I think I may never eat rice again after these next few months. It’s with everything! I don’t even wanna go out for Chinese, even tho it’s really good here, just cause I don’t wanna eat rice! And I still don’t know what I’m eating.. my maid will tell me but I won’t know what the heck the new words are so I try it.. and sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t and she always knows lol. I’m just afraid that one of these times it’s going to be cuy – which is hamster!!! Which I have made it a point to NOT try! I don’t know if I could sleep well after knowing I have a rat in my stomach. Ick! I have at least 6 pieces of silverware for every meal, and everything comes on a little saucer – even the jam. Very proper or something here. Sometimes there’s mayo on my salads too.. it’s different. But the mayo here isn’t like the stuff we have, it’s a lot lighter and made with more milk, and I haven’t the heart to tell Elisabeth yet that I don’t want it, all my stuff is laid out waiting for me before I can see it. They also have amazing juice drinks here too – maracuya, banana leche, peach, strawberry, papaya, sooo good!
Right now I’m in my room watching Jon and Kate plus 8 in Spanish, love it (you would too Mandy, I know it! Lol)! Except Kate’s spanish voice-over is waaay too nice! It’s totally not the strict, bossy Kate that we love! So glad I got to listen to baby Presy talk for a little bit today! Oh I miss him so and all his little movements. I miss everyone and think of you often, I’ve hung up pictures and my little notes and so my room is more like my own with you all here with me! I haven’t put up pics yet – I know I know I need to! – but I don’t have internet in my house so when I am on the net I like to talk to people and email back and stalk everyone’s facebook (they call it fa-SAY-book here, funny!) real quick! I’ll get them up sometime tho! Hope everyone is doing well and to hear from you soon!
Sylv – Happy Birthday babe! Sorry I missed it, I was thinking of you tho! And trying to think of your birthday last year…. And I can’t. Why is that? I don’t think that’s a good thing – must have been fun! Lol ;)
- un beso de Peru

home sounds good

And for today..... I'd like to go home.

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.

getting in the groove

I can’t believe it’s already the 17th! Things are getting easier; I understand the combis and I know where I’m at most of the time and school is school (they give us like sooo so much to read!!), but I’m starting to really like my environment. My host mom is sooo soo sweet, and she lets me do whatever I want basically whenever I want. She is very very artsy and there’s these huge beautiful paintings all over and she always tells me about her life (which is very rich and interesting). I’m not as put off by the cat-calls, I come to expect them, I am blonde! The other day I learned the hard way not to wear a watch. Someone came up to me and asked for the time (completely harmless parents, don’t worry, was in broad daylight – I think I should put a warning label on this sometimes), and I thought that was innocent enough, I can give someone the time, then he started asking for my name and where I was from and where I was going, so I said, ‘No gracias,’ like I didn’t understand lol. Girlfriends – you’d never recognize me! My geek-watch is too touristy to wear and my Peru phone didn’t come with a clip! Peru is stripping the geek from me! What do I do! lol. The fruit here is amazing amazing, soo yummy; maracuya, lucuma, the watermelon is so delic, even the apples are sweeter! I have fruit everyday and it’s so cheap too when I buy it on the street! I eat rice with everything everything while at home. They eat rice with potatoes, rice with bread, rice with meat, rice with vegetables, rice with .. anything and everything. I haven’t had a meal yet without rice! And they have super yummy chifa – the Chinese, which isn’t as sketch as we have it in the US (I hope!). I have super super delic coffee every morning with their sugary leche. They have dif pop tho – the cola tastes flat and they have this ‘peruvian pop’ called Inca – Cola. Tastes like straight up bubble gum in a bottle. Why anyone would wanna drink that, I don’t know, but everyone does! They drink something called chichi morada a lot for meals, it’s like a kool-aid drink made out of purple corn that’s super super yum. Their drink is the Pisco Sour – and oh it’s strong! But very yummy J. We got it free a lot over the weekend – at our hotel, at restaurants when we go in as a group, etc. I think I may have Peru-allergies tho, cause I’m always sneezing now. It could be from all the pollution – it’s so so strong! During rush hour, on my way home, my eyes sometimes burn, and my nose too cause there’s so much fuel emission. I do my power-walking along the ocean coast in the mornings with other joggers and runners – oh it’s amazing. The view is simply breathtaking. A picture or words cannot describe it.. and I get to walk it every morning! The desserts here are very dif, but yummy. (I’ll watch out sylv – try at least!!) (And Mandy, you’d love love the ice cream – it’s to die for! I had some with chocolate covered cereal the other day! My new fav) My maid made me something with sugar, milk.. and other stuff I didn’t understand – and it had kind of a weird texture, like a sponge or something, but it was good. While I ate it, she sat like – a foot away from me watching me eat it. Maybe less than a foot. I was like, “It’s good, thanks.” All the while she is staring at me. Then I said thanks again. Then she told me I had very beautiful blue eyes. Lol. It’s just different here I guess. A lot of times I have no idea what I’m eating (that would def not fly at home!), but my maid tells me I don’t have to eat anything I don’t like and she can tell when I don’t like something and laughs (I’m very bad at lies, especially trying to eat food I don’t like). And I feel comfortable enough where I don’t eat the things I don’t like. My maid refers to me in the formal, which is very different, like I’m above her, which is something we don’t do in the US. There’s def a class system here. My host mom rings a bell when she wants our maid to come, and then she does. Seems like something for a pet, just different I guess. I bought an air-freshner cause my room smelled kinda weird at first, from all my host mom’s paint supplies and such, but I think I’m getting used to it, or the room is smelling more like me, but I bought an air freshner and now I’ve got this cheaply-cleaned bathroom smell in my room, so I think I may throw it away :P. I should actually do something right now – even though I’m just super overjoyed I have internet in my house right now! Love and miss you! Un beso!

weekend weekend!!

So, I was originally planning on completely devoting myself to homework after I got back from the weekend, but a call from the ma and my internet working in my room (YES!) changed that! I have sooo much homework to do tonight - reading (lots) and writing a paper, but figured I should do some catching up as well! My weekend was.. well, amazing is an understatement! We left on Friday, cause we never have class on Friday, in the morning on a 5 hour bus ride to Ica. The drive there was a little humbling, going past all the boxes for houses - for real like boxes, it's really sad. And tons and tons of garbage too - I don't know where all the garbage comes from because they have nothing? There's so much garbage tho. (I just got done talking with my host mom - Pilar - and she said, I know you won't believe this mom and dad.. or anyone else really?? lol, but she said I had the best manners of any student she's ever had). Ok, back to the weekend - we arrived in Ica in the afternoon and decided to go swimming in our hotel pool - a true oasis - desert everywhere - heaps and mountains of sandy desert everywhere except for our plush green hotel area, and then we saw the boys of the group climbing one of the huge sand dune - mountain things and decided we needed to do that too. Was soooo sooo hard - so hard - it was like doing the stairmaster x 900, and then added with the desert heat and sticky sand, but once we made it to the top and saw the whole town and our own little oasis - it was so worth it - vale la pena - it was sooo so beautiful. Then we ran down the huge sand mountain and it felt like we were jumping on a trampoline it was so steep - was such a rush! Then we went swimming and found talking parrots in the trees in our hotel that said, "Hola!" Lol - was sooo funny. And they were soo pretty, except one was very mean and almost ate me. (but then we decided that maybe we didn't like the talking parrots so much after they woke us up at 6am the next morning!!) Then, after that, we were going to go on the dunebuggies and sandboarding, which I really didn't know what to expect. We got in the dune-buggies - they can fit about 12 passengers - and they have harnesses, like you're going on a rollercoaster or something. Yeah.. it was faster and scarier and crazier than the scariest rollerocoaster I've ever been on! The driver was for real loco and he wasn't even wearing a seatbelt! He would go sooo fast up these HUGE sand mountains and then we would fly - almost free falling - to the bottom. The whole dune-buggy was screaming for dear life - I for real thought I was going to die, lol, was a real rush. Then, we pulled over to go sandboarding - on these super super super huge huge huge sand mountains. HUGE! I was sooo soo soo so scared to go down - we all went on our bellies for the most part for the really big sand dunes, and actually sandboarded down the smaller ones. Omg was such a rush. Then we saw the sunset in the sand-dunes and was sooo soo pretty. Then we went back to the hotel, and they had gratis pisco sours waiting for us! Yay! lol - gotta love the Peruvian pisco sours - their drink - and they make it strong! The next day we got up (at 6am from our friends the parrots) at 8am to drive to Paracas. Paracas was soo cool! We saw the famous Candelabra geoglyph We got to see sea lions and penguins at Islas Ballestas! And lots and lots of birds - peruvian pelicans :P and the ocean was soo soo beautiful, and I got soo soo burnt too - and then sick on the boat as well - and right when I was sure I was going to throw up from the boat ride - our boat decided to run out of gasoline, so we had to wait for another boat to come help us. I felt better tho when we went shopping all afternoon! And I got some super cute stuff, and mostly not for me! ;) And I so bargained for it. After we left Paracas, we went on to Nazca for the night and hung out at the pool during the day, then went to the planetarium dedicated to Maria Reiche, the german mathematician who researched the Nazca lines for most of her life. After that we grabbed a bite to eat. It's interesting here because there are people outside the restaurant who try and sell their restaurant to you by showing you the menu, or telling you what their special is, or saying that we'll get free stuff - we went to the restaurant that gave us free pisco sour and cake lol. This morning, we got up early to catch our flights, or sobrevuelos, to see the Nazca lines! The planes hold 6 people and swirve back and forth back and forth so everyone can see the lines in the desert. It's pretty interesting. My theory, amongst hearing them all, is that they were an irrigation system, yes, but also a way of speaking to their gods - why else would they make something that no one else could see? And I do believe that they did try and line them up with the stars as well, even tho that theory is widely refused. Really interesting tho. After we got back to the hotel, we got on the bus - for 7 hours!! And I just got home! (a while ago now) And I guess Lima did have an "earthquake", but a very very small one - "muy chiquito" - said my host mom, so nothing to worry about mom and dad :). I got the pleasure of talking to a few people on Thursday night before I left! Miss you all sooo so much and like to stay connected with you! (can't believe I still have internet in my room speaking of!) And I love love the videos of Pres eating Mandy :) - you have to put up the one of him opening my present too! Ok.. now I have more homework than I should in Peru :P - but back to it now! love you all! besos

omg - first week!

Ok, so, I guess this is the first full week I've been here! Kinda crazy! I can maybe say that this may be up there with one of the hardest weeks of my life! It's just been intense taking everything in and learning all these new.. words and systems and .. everything! Today we had class of course, from 2pm to 5pm (3 hours Mon - Thurs) and it is getting easier, thankfully! The first day (last Thurs.) I was def thinking - what the heck am I doing here, uhhh I'd like to go home please! But it's getting better day by day, I'm a hard adjuster as everyone knows! School is dif here, you make copies of everything, and you can't just make them at the school - you have to go to a special shop, and you have print in special shops too outside of the school. Way dif than my Luther comfort zone where I can print and copy and waste all the paper possible at my beck and call. Got to class on a micro - bigger than a combi and more comfortable, and maybe like an eensy weensy bit cleaner. It takes about 45 min to get to class and about an hour 20 min to get home, cause of all the traffic. The combi fits probably about 16 people "legally" (there's no such thing as "legally" here), and today I counted.. there was between 16 and 20 people just standing in the aisles that weren't even sitting! It's hot and sweaty and close and there's no such thing as personal space. This girl told me to put my backpack in front of me so no one would steal anything, so I was thankful for the advice! I'm getting more used to the cat calls - I was really threatened by them at first and I felt scared everywhere I walked, but I'm getting accustomed. Guys will stare, whistle, yell out 'You're beautiful' and such in spanish, try to talk to you in english, taxi drivers will honk and do kissy faces out the window and stop in front of me all the time when I'm trying to walk across the street - it's definitely something to get used to! And it's everywhere especially because I'm white... and blonde. At times when I'm walking I promise myself I'll dye my hair and find myself wishing I were 6 foot 9! Thanks for the advice Pagina :) That's exactly what our director said too - that she stopped getting the cat calls and now she misses them! My computer.. is now working. It has not worked all day and I was pretty much a wreck this morning because of it. Having my comp not work sucks - having it not work in a dif country is so much more terrible! But our director said she knows a good technician if I have problems and that it's must cheaper and better service here too. It's working right now tho (have no idea why! I was basically almost in tears in Starbucks this morning) and I'm in my apartment and getting wireless internet! God is good! There are so many little things I don't understand here it's like whoa. For example.. I give my laundry away each week to the lavenderia.. I have no idea when I get it back. Also, there's this reappearing bread in my doorway and I don't know how it gets there. Many times, I have no idea what I'm eating. I ask, but I don't understand. Just these tiny things you'd never think you'd have to think of when you're in the comfort zone of home! I just started brushing my teeth with the water here, so hopefully I don't get sick! But def can't drink or do anything else with it. Little things are very dif - theft is super high, - you can't put toilet paper in the toilet, - you can't drink the water, - the police don't really have authority, - traffic is super crazy and they don't abide by signs (such as stop or pared) or others, - lots of money is fake, - many people won't accept "large" bills like 50/soles - which is about $15, just lots of little little things.
We are going to Ica, Paracas, and Nazca this weekend from Friday to Sunday and am super excited! But, first week - omg - dios mio - can't believe I made it through. It was a rough one. Asked myself many times what I was doing here with out the love and comfort of home, but that's all part of the experience, I'm sure!

First note!

Ok - so I'm in a whole different world - Peru, and having all of these crazy different things happen that I want to inform you all of without writing a bazillion emails, although you know I love you all :). I do have homework tho.. actually tonight, right now! But I wanted to let everyone know how I was doing so you can check in if you want to, or not bother you if you don't! I'm having so many new experiences it's just crazy! Some are not so fun, and some are exciting, but all hopefully well worth it! So here's the blog of Peru - to let the rents know I'm not dead (which they pretty much did think before they heard from me!!), and my sisters up to date and not just gushy emails about what Preston is doing every single second (Mandy) and my hardships and tough "problems" (Pagina), and able my friends to read when they miss me :). I'm in Starbucks right now about 3 blocks from my house in Larcomar. I live in Miraflores in an apartment in the middle of... everything! I live in the action basically and am attempting to do homework (homework on the second day of intense spanish - what the heck?) soon, after I created this blog of course, priorities! I had my second day of class today, and I finally got home on the bus! They call them 'combis' and they are.. a little sketch, but it's the norm, so what the heck. It's this little bus that's really dirty and they're all over Lima to get around, super cheap, about 2 soles (3 soles is about $1) and they try and pack as many people in there as possible so they can make more money. And it's hotter than heck as you can imagine. The combi probably naturally fits 14 people but I think about 20 or so were in it tonight. Then when you want to get off you have to yell, "Baja baja baja," and they pull over whenever you like lol. Little dif and little sketch, but it's how it works! And the traffic... well crazy is an understatement! Then I went home and my maid made me supper, I have no idea what I ate. They eat rice with everything, and they eat LOTS for meals. There are so many little things that you just don't have any idea about.. for example, I asked my maid what I was eating and I had no idea what she said of course, so - oh well! Lol, also bread always appears in the doorway of the living room each morning and I have no idea how it gets there. So many small things to figure out, that I'll keep posted! So I'll post often to keep everyone updated :) Hope you all are doing well and to hear from you soon! :) Besos.