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