Machu Picchu and Things

I know it has been an extremely long time since I have wrote. But these are my excuses; first, I had finals here. I had two exams, two presentations, a negotiation simulation and a final paper. So I was being very studious (for the first time since arriving!) and prepping and finishing those things. I think I did well in all my classes, I am still waiting for two grades but the two I have gotten were good and everything was in Spanish!

Once I finished classes, I had a couple days full of good-byes to all the semester people and only one breakdown on my part about staying for a year and being here for Christmas. So I would say I handled it pretty well.

After all this, Mari’s best friend and my Facebook friend, Jane came to visit us and we set off on a ten day adventure! This part of the story is way more interesting than the school description so, I will describe it in detail.

CUZCO

Cuzco is the town most people go to for awhile before visiting Machu Picchu. We decided to take a plane there, as it was almost as cheap as taking a bus, not to mention 19 hours shorter. So, we hopped on an early morning flight and I promptly fell asleep and missed all the scenery. Arriving in Cuzco, we took a cab and walked around the main plaza to find a hostel. We found a cheap one that met Mari’s standards of cleanliness and my standards of security and set out to explore. Cuzco is so CUTE. It has this great architecture that is a mix of Inca stone work and colonial style.

We walked around Cuzco and bought tickets for Machu Picchu and the train and our bus ride. There were some stressful moments with a women who was not terribly helpful in getting us our student cards, but we completed our errands and had all afternoon to explore!

We went to a religious art museum and were educated by a recorded tour. Mari snuck some photos, and I was thoroughly impressed although the only thing I remember is an Organ that was the first one to arrive in South America. Side note: the musical kind, not the human body kind.

After this we walked up the cobble-stone streets past lots of blue doors and found a great place for lunch! We all decided to try the Alpaca meat, but with different flavors. Jane and I had it in a rosemary sauce, Mari has it saltado, and Nico in a wine sauce. Served with tequeños (think wonton wrapper around cream cheese and guacamole) and pisco sours (traditional drink with egg white, lime, and peruvian alcohol called Pisco) it was all delicious!

Later, we went and walked around a plaza and some markets, where Nico, Mari and Jane were harassed by a shoe shiner and a women selling some small items. I watched and took pictures.

We ended the night with some hot chocolate, and then Jane, Mari and I sat in the main plaza and listened to a band consisting of old peruvian men playing a variety from the Beatles to a more typical peruvian style. The plaza was decorated for Christmas, and I would say the moment was quite magical.

SACRED VALLEY

All around Machu Picchu there are other ruins and on our way to take the train we decided to explore a few. We crammed on a tiny bus with other Peruvians and got dropped off in a town that seemed in the middle of no where. After hiring a taxi, we got to some amazing ruins in Pisac. They were gorgeous, I wish we had more time to spend there.

After Pisac we drove to Ollantaytambo, where you take the train to Machu Picchu. There were some ruins we explored there. My favorite part about this site were 3 cute brazilians and when Mari and I touched a roped off rock.

Finally, we were on the train to Machu Picchu. And I sat right next to the Brazillian! But he didn’t speak much English or Spanish. And there was an Australian across the table talking Jane and I’s ears off. Mari and I passed notes across the aisle.

MACHU PICCHU!

In order to take the very first bus up the mountain we woke up at 4:30 in the morning and got outside and in line. I bought some coffee from a street vendor to aid in the waking up process, but I was so excited I almost didn’t need it! The bus wound up the mountain, and then... I WAS THERE!

Machu Picchu is like a jungle ruin on top of mountains. Basically, completely indescribable. The first thing we did was take a picture to prove we were there. Then we walked up some floating stairs.

Our first hike was to an Inca bridge, which they used to escape. But we couldn’t walk on it because it was made of wood and also right on the edge of a cliff. After this we decided to go to the Sun Gate. This turned out to be a much longer hike than expected. I thought we were there about 3 times before we actually were. And then once we got there some old people showed up and it was just crawling with people (about 10). So, we left. I don’t like crowds.

After this, we had to race across to the other side to make our 10:00 start time for Huayna Picchu. This is a mountain that over looks the ruins of Machu Picchu so you can see everything. This hike consisted of rock stairs that were almost completely vertical. The only safety measure was the occasional rope nailed into the rock face. But it was once again very beautiful. After the difficult climb, some more floating stairs, a ledge jump and a tunnel we reached the top! It was breathtaking. Literally, I thought maybe Mari wasn’t breathing she was so scared. The top was a bunch of rocks with too many people, and Mari’s fear of heights kicked in. On our way back down, she may or may not have had a panic attack and took some of the stairs on her butt. I did my best to be supportive, but I did laugh a little. Although, I must agree it was very dangerous.

After Huayna Picchu we explored the main ruins, which were all pretty great. Although i don’t really remember them too much because I was so tired from all the hiking earlier. My enjoyment of Machu Picchu had a direct correlation to my energy level.

After Machu Picchu, we hit up some hot baths to ease our achey legs. There, we met the sweetest little girl who gave us kisses on the cheek. I would say that was almost as much fun as being at Machu Picchu.

Finally, we ended our adventure taking the train back to Cuzco. Here, I sat next to the Brazilian again! What a perfect ending to a perfect trip.

ALLLLLL Aboard

This weekend I took the HIGHEST train in the Americas. That's correct, we (Mari, Morgane, Katie and I) were 15,681 feet in the air at one point. Probably 15,683 if you count that we stood on a bench to take our commemorative picture. 

At the highest point!

The train left at 7:00 in the morning, so we woke up extremely early (Mari was the grumpy one this morning!) and arrived at the train station, which is also a historical library. They didn't say "allll aboard" in english OR spanish, to my great disappointment.

The train was a little less like Hogwarts Express than I expected, as in there weren't separate compartments, but there was a table that we sat around. So, you win some you lose some. 

They served us breakfast and lunch on the train, and our train attendant (what do you call them??) had stick on jewels and blue eyeshadow, so I instantly liked her, as I am pretty sure a pre-teen Kati rocked that style, only with silver eyeshadow.

One of the best parts of the train was watching people scramble from side to side to get a billion scenery pictures, when people are generally bored of scrapbooks after the first 5 identical photos (I'm talking to you, old woman who made us change seats!). We, in turn, scrambled around getting pictures of us sticking our heads out the window.

One of my scenery shots, I admit, it was beautiful.

But really, the best part of the train was "la hora loca", or "crazy hour". This included a women with a microphone announcing a dance contest, some limbo, balloon hats, and music. I didn't participate in the dance contest, as I was too busy waving to all the little kids on the side as the train passed, which I enjoyed a lot.

We safely arrived in Huancayo, and found a cheap and semi-clean "hotel". "Hotel" is in quotation marks to distinguish between a U.S. version of a hotel and the Peruvian version. Peruvian version meant rock hard beds and pillows, a communal bathroom that didn't include toilet paper or seats and extra charge for having a T.V. But it had a deadbolt on the door, so I was o.k. with it.

The next morning, we went to a Cafe which supposedly had really good coffee. I'd like to explain something about coffee here. Peru is famous for having excellent coffee. But not inside the country. They export almost all their coffee. So most people here drink instant coffee. The other thing that happens if you order regular coffee is that they give you a cup full of hot water, and then you have to pour a concentrated espresso type coffee into that. It is also weird to ask for milk, but not weird to pour a TON of sugar in. 

So I was pretty excited to get some really good coffee. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the hot water-espresso type kind. Not so great. 

(Side note: My host-dad makes his own coffee all the time, which I secretly tasted, and it's AMAZING. I am going to figure out how to get my hands on that)

Although the coffee was disappointing, this turned out to be my favorite location in Huancayo. That is due to the bathroom. It was the cleanest, best bathroom I have been in here. 

These are the things it had: toilet paper, toilet seat, soap, hand dryer, AND the toilet had chemical water in it to smell good. That is the FIRST time here.

All of the above listed things are what public toilets usually lack. Sometimes they charge you 50 cents to use a facility that may or may not have soap or seats. Usually they do hand you plastic wrapped toilet paper for that price though..  Anyways, my standards usually are if when I enter there is a seat, some tp, and it's free I am at a pretty classy place. So this place blew my expectations. We returned there before the bus ride.

Our day in Huancayo we spent outside of Huancayo touring little towns around it. We first saw a little market, where I was forced to publicly embarrass myself to win a free keychain shaped like a flip-flop. Then we went to a jewelry market, where a guy had a scary mask on. Third was a boat trip, where they trapped us in the middle and tried to sell us keychains (he didn't know I had already gotten one). 

Then we had trout for lunch, at a places that looked like a troll/gnome tree house village. And we got to fake fish! After eating trout, we went to a trout farm and got to see them as babies and feel guilty about lunch.

Finally, we went to a Franciscan monk convent/church thing. Where we weren't allowed to take pictures and they locked doors behind us as the tour went on. The church was very creepy, with lots of paintings of monks being killed my natives as they tried to bring them to god and teach them things. As if the monks were the martyrs in this situation. They had sticks! You had guns! Just saying.

Also, these monks were "scientists" which means they killed a bunch of animals, stuffed them, and they have now been in this church for over 100 years arranged as if they are in the jungle. Stuffed monkeys should not happen. 

That concluded the tour. The best part of the tour was making friends with a 7 year-old girl named Ashely, who liked to play "eliminación" with us for long periods of time, and made fun of our spanish to our faces. She was a sweetie. 

Mari and Ashley

The next day, we went to this famous market which was HUGE, but included a lot of things like shoes, pots, and other household items I wasn't really trying to buy. I bought a carved seed thing because I felt guilty after the lady explained a ton of things to me about it and also some earrings. Then we returned to my favorite bathroom and got ice cream.

I rode first-class bus on the way home. We didn't watch Taken! But some rocks blocked the road for a couple of hours. 

We arrived safely back, and I am now one week of classes away from finals. AHHH! Two presentations, two papers, and two tests away from vacation!

To all my outside Peru readers, I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH. To my inside Peru readers, you probably live in my house. So see you at dinner.

BESOS

These are the Things I Have Done

Well. My last few weekends have been filled with ADVENTURE. And SPORTS. The stuff in between has been mostly classes, which are quite the same. I try to concentrate for the first hour and then end up making to-do lists for the second half. I don't know why Peru insists on 2 and 3 hour classes. My spanish listening attention span is not that long.

Anyways, back to the the adventure sports. There is a lot so I will list them in chronological order for you.

SURFING

Last Saturday I had my first experience surfing! It was super fun and super hard. Right from the beginning when I put on my wet suit backwards and had to take it off and put it on again. Those things are hard to maneuver in and out of! Then, Katie and I had our lesson which consisted of us constantly swimming to our instructor, him pushing us in to a wave, and a struggle to stand before crashing into the water. I managed to get up a little bit, but always at the end. It is a lot more fun than it sounds. And after we rewarded ourselves with french fries.

ROLLERBLADING

On Sunday, Lima closes one of their busy streets and opens it up to rollerbladers and bikers. So we rented some roller blades and formed a super cool gang. I wore my capsack, wrist guards, and knee pads. No one told me how cool I looked until later. Later, we rewarded ourselves with frozen yogurt.

Always lookin' sharp

ROCK CLIMBING

Erin and I have completed our last in gym lesson. That means are next one will be on REAL rock. We are not prepared. Our last lesson consisted of us learning "the bicycle" and continuously failing to master it while 3 boys stood around watching us, later easily demonstrating what we should be doing. That was a nice confidence boost.

TAXI RIDES

You may not think this is an adventure sport, but taxi's can be quite dangerous here. Not only is driving crazy, I've heard they have a reputation for robbing people. So every time I get in a taxi, my heartbeat increases and I have a momentary panic attack. Luckily, this weekend we had very nice old men who told us traffic jokes and showed us pictures of grandchildren.

EARTHQUAKE

I felt my first really big earthquake! I thought it was maybe a truck passing by, but that was not true. Also, it lasted too long for that. We were on the third floor of our hotel when everything started shaking. I tried to remember safety rules but couldn't. So mostly we stood around and waited. But it was a great free adventure!

CANOPY

Mari, Erin, Nico and I went to Lunahuana this weekend. After the relatively short bus ride, we arrived and decided to do a zip line. I was a little scared, as you can clearly see in my eyes in all of the pictures. But it was very fun, and besides a bunch of bug bites I wasn't injured!

I chose this because you can't see how scared I was

RAFTING

The next day we decided to go rafting, called canotaje here. We woke up at 5, and commenced our 3 hour long ride. We all got soaked, stuck on rocks a few times, and were on the verge of falling out. For security, all you do is stick one foot in a hole. That is supposed to prevent you from falling. I don't think it is the best system. For breakfast, our guide brought us 7up, cookies, and chocolate so we were really prepared for hard work. 

After the breakfast of champions, ready for more.

Rafting was the peak of my adventure sport weekends. Non-sport things I did (because I am a wild card) include:

-Touring two vineyards, where we learned how to tell a fine Pisco (it's all in the tornado), and that Peruvian wine is incredibly sweet no matter what.

-Going to an art museum, where only two rooms were open.

-Eating ceviche with fresh-water shrimp, and some soup thing that is supposedly traditional at a nice restaurant

-Meeting and having lunch with Katie's sweet and wonderful parents

-Touring a Monastery and its catacombs, which I didn't handle very well. They ARRANGED the skulls and femurs. in a 10 meter deep pit! And there were HUMAN skulls stuck into cracks. I am not o.k. with that.

-Creating a morning news show with Mari: Real Talk in the Morning with Kati and Mari (#andthatsreal!)

- Also, a related event where we discovered we are a lot like Troy and Abed from Community

The Coolest Kids, touring a vineyard.

Those are all the important events, November is going to include one more trip (a train to Huancayo!) and a llllooootttt of homework. All of my classes put all their work in this last month. So expect less from me.

Sending huge hug vibes and lots of LOVE LOVE LOVE to my family and friends, who I miss quite terribly.

Peru: Hiking, School, Epidemics (in that order)

Once again it has been a while since I wrote. I'm sorry! Things have been busy, and I have been lazy. 

HUARAZ

Last weekend I went to a mountain town, Huaraz, to do some "trekking" (that's what they call hiking here). What I didn't know was how much of a difference altitude can make in your breathing capabilities. Answer: A LOT. The first day we had trouble walking up stairs. So instead of hiking, we went to a "hot springs". What it looked like was a pool with rusty water. But supposedly it was quite good for our skin.

The next day we decided to take a shorter hike to see giant flowers and glaciers. I don't remember the name of the flowers, but they were quite tall and looked slightly like cacti. The hike was on a nice path in the mountains to see some snow and ice-y lakes. It was beautiful. Once again, we were quite out of breath. We ate lunch there, while our guide explained how fat Americans are and proceeded to demonstrate how a fat American had walked this trail before. He told us we weren't the slowest hikers he's ever had. He followed this up with the fact that many of American's are also vegetarians. So there you go, if you're from the United States you are either fat or a vegetarian. As we were leaving I thought some lady yelled "Avalanche!", but am now thinking that she problem said something else in Spanish.

Big Flower Things, and part of Rebecca's Head

On Sunday, our last day there, we went for the big hike. This was a 5 hour ordeal that included 3 hours of walking straight up a mountain. The beginning was really beautiful and fun, but after I climbed up one mountain and realized there was still another one to go it lost some of the thrill. The last part consisted of taking 5 steps and then stopping for 5 breaths. Then, my inner competitive side kicked in and I trekked so hard. Finally, I reached our destination: Lago 69. I got to see it for a whole 15 minutes before fog and rain settled in and obscured the view. The way back down was easier, but because of the now fairly heavy rain we basically walked through a stream the whole way back. It was quite a relief to reach the van. This description may make it sound like I didn't have the much fun. But I did.

There is a really beautiful lake behind us.

Once I returned from Huaraz, it was midterm week at La Catolica! I had two midterms this week, which I hope I did o.k. on. One on Andean Archaeology and the other on Peruvian History. This is the first time I've really studied since I got here.

This weekend was one of the girl's in my house, Morgane, birthday. So we planned a party in celebration for last night. But, before we could have it EPIDEMIC struck the house. Starting Thursday night, one by one people in my house started getting sick. Of the 9 students I live with, 7 couldn't leave their beds for a day. I was the 7th to fall, just when I thought I might be lucky. Mari didn't get sick. It reminded me of one of those horror movies where you watch everyone in the world slowly succumb to a terribly disease. I had to drink this really icky Anis flavored electrolyte drink. Anis is this weird fruit flavor that smells like black licorice. We think it was one of the foods we had for dinner Thursday night.

Other highlights include:

Continuing rock climbing

Watching old people dance traditional dances and read poems

Parks and Recreation and Modern Family are back!!

Receiving my first piece of mail (although still waiting on my package!)

etc.

A Limean Life

As I have mentioned before, Mari and I created the best of schedule where we only have class 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday), and I only have one for 2 hours on Thursday. Thus, we achieved extremely long weekends.

My weekend began Wednesday night with "la noche de integración" (night of integration). This was a bar event sponsored by the four big universities in Lima. Thinking, "Oh great! A chance to meet more Peruvian students", I went with my household. Turns out they only want to integrate us with other foreign exchange students. But that's o.k. because I met some really great people from the U.S. and from Sweden. I also met a girl from Finland. I refrained from excitedly telling her my great-great grandparents were Finnish too. And that I know about 4 words in Finnish, if she wanted to converse.

What a cute group of friends

After my one class, I started off Thursday night with a little rock climbing. Erin and I have officially started bouldering lessons. The first thing we learned was how to fall properly. This turned out extremely helpful as I preceded to demonstrate my knowledge of this skill for the rest of the night. Bouldering is way harder than you think. My finger muscles were killing me.

Thoroughly exhausted I decided the best thing to do was go out dancing! We had a few people over to our house.. got ready... packed a cab full of people... and got to the same discoteca as last time. With a hilarious mix of American and Spanish pop, it was obviously a great time. Plus I planned 8 soles in advance for the incredible sandwiches they have outside.

Friday Katie, Mari and I played it low key and went to Miraflores. Here we encountered one of my favorite things in Peru; OLD PEOPLE DANCING. A group of older Peruvians come to Parque Kennedy every Friday and dance traditional dances while singing sometimes too. It was incredibly cute and the singers have hilarious faces during all the songs.

The same night we also had some more delicious Peruvian sandwiches. That is something Peru does well. Turkey piled with all sorts of things. We also went and got some frozen yogurt from a very friendly gentleman who told us to come back always. We will be. You get to chose your flavor and 5 toppings!! I can't say no.

After a very Lima week, we decided that we needed a little green and went to the Lomos de Lucumo, some really pretty, Sound of Music-esque, hills just outside of Lima. After getting told we were heading the wrong way up the trail, we preceded to discover lots of interesting rock formations and experience the hot sun. It was great. I did forget sunscreen however and came home a little burned (sorry mom!). I covered my head for a little bit with my sweatshirt, but I couldn't pull it off quite like Mari. I have to say that sitting on a rock high in the hills with new and great friends eating bakery bread is one of the great, specific joys in life. 

Check out the gymnastics on the hills. Especially my obvious skills.

These are the main events. Side antecdotes:

1) While walking through Miraflores a guy talking on his phone in Spanish stopped, said; "Hold on, there's some white chicks", and preceded to check us out before continuing his conversation.

2) While coming home from Lomos de Lucumo, we were trying to catch a combi in to town. We got one. But it was a family driving one off duty. They still took us in for a sol each (only slightly a rip off).

3) My climbing instructor thinks I'm really bad at Spanish. And it is quite funny having him explain things to me like a he would a 4 year old.

4) I made paper airplanes and hats with an 8 year old boy today at the Hospital.

5) My stomach hasn't been normal for 3+ weeks. I'm holding out on the doctor though.

6) Mari and I had our first fight about her not sharing her Big Mac with me. Don't worry, we are o.k. now.

A Summary of Activites

I realized it had been a little while since I had written, so decided to do a little summary of the exciting/interesting/strange activities.

Sunday, September 11th: All the American students got invited to a 9/11 commemoration event at the U.S. Embassy in Lima. So, all of my household decided to go, partly to check out what the embassy was like. It is HUGE, looking slightly like a large prison. The first thing we discovered was that we had underestimated the dress code (we were the only ones in jeans). I should have guessed by the gold embossed invitation that my dirty red sneakers weren't going to go over well. The ceremony was sweet, I only teared up, some school children sang, and they served Inka Cola and coffee after. I also signed a book as proof of my commemoration.

Monday, September 12th: Mari and I volunteered at a children's hospital. This was a really wonderful and difficult experience. The hospital was nothing like I had ever experienced. Incredibly crowded, not welcoming, and the poor funding was very visible. They don't use computers for most things, all the doctors I saw were writing everything. I was paired with another girl and we went to play with a group of kids. I couldn't understand/say much to the kids but they didn't seem to mind. One little boy was quite the talker. We colored some pictures, played a memory game, and did some puzzles. They were all so sweet and so excited to have a distraction from the day to day. Most of the kids are there for long periods of time. The program I am working with also tries to do some learning activities, but the kids I was with were pretty little for that stuff.
 

Tuesday-Thursday: I went to class, had my first quiz! I wrote in Spanish and put English translations for the words I thought I might have made up. I signed up for rock climbing classes!

Friday: Katie, Mari, and I went to the Glee 3d movie. Katie is the biggest fan ever, so it was quite exciting. The movie theater was located in this underground shopping mall. It is cut into the side of the cliff a little. I don't know how to describe it. But when we were looking for it, we were across the street and couldn't see it. But if you are in the ocean you can. It's crazy. Anyways, I cried twice during Glee. We also got asked to take a picture with some Ripley department store reps, so I expect to rise to fame shortly.

They blend right in with the group.

Saturday: Kati, Mari, Erin, and I decided to walk to Miraflores. This turned out to be a longer walk then expected, but it was along the ocean and we discovered the park of lovers. So it turned out quite nicely. During lunch, we were interviewed by two boys about family traditions in the U.S. This is my third time being interviewed (on camera!) here. I never knew I gave the interesting opinions vibe before.  Later, we went to a get together at an international student house. My favorite part of the evening was when we packed a taxi with 6 people and all sang the Beatles. 

Lover's Park Mosaic

That's all! For those who don't want to read this all and skimmed, here are my highlights:

- 3 on camera interviews since arriving

- Drinking Coca-Cola in jeans at the U.S. Embassy

- Tried McDonalds here (tastes the same, possibly more expensive, slightly different menu)

- Continuation of hollering: "Hi ladies, what is up?"

- Beatles in a taxi

-The sweetest little kids ever
- Constant stomach problems (if you are traveling don't look up parasite symptoms if you feel sick)

Food, Food, and Pick-up Lines

Today, Katie, Erin, Mari and I went to Mistura. Mistura is this huge festival in Lima where chefs, restaurants, and food stands from all over the country come and set up stands in a park. Basically, it is food heaven. They showcase everything from traditional dishes that they cook over a fire in the ground to disgustingly huge hamburgers with fries on them. Needless to say, we spent the entire day eating here.

List of Foods We Ate:

1) Chicken in some sauce with rice and beans. I can't remember the name, but this was quite good.

2) Anticuchos- Cow heart. That's right. I ate grilled cow heart. It was pretty good, but I don't really like steak so that probably was my problem with it.

3) Tamales- They were alright, we've found better ones on the street.

4) Cebiche- This is raw fish they cook with the acid of limes. It basically takes like the citrus from the limes, and I really liked it! It is one of Peru's most famous dishes, and I can see why.

5) Lamb with Potatoes- I don't remember the Peruvian name for this, but it was a type of lamb cooked over a fire in a big wrapped thing. We had two kinds of potatoes with it, one I liked and one I didn't.

6) Chocolate Samples and Chocolate Covered Fruit- There was a tent of chocolates. Let me repeat that, THERE WAS A TENT OF CHOCOLATE. I could have spent the whole day here. We walked around getting samples from all of them, and then also bought some chocolate covered fresh fruit. It was the best thing.

7) Pinneaple Drink- This was pineapple with possibly some condensed milk, in this icy awesome drink.

8) The Largest Hamburger Ever- This is what was on my hambuger: A humongous bun, lettuce, tomato, hamburger, an egg mixed with sausage, a fried egg, little fry like things, ketchup, mustard, aji, and 3 more unidentifiable sauces. I couldn't finish the last couple bites. I'll post a picture later so you can see just how crazy this thing was.

After eating all this, we stumbled to a cab and back to the house to groan about how full we are.

What I also want to talk about in this entry are the "pick-up" lines so frequently used on us. And by frequent I mean we get hollered at every day. The reason I am thinking about this is because today while we were sitting eating at the fair, an older man came up to us and started talking. He asked us where we were from, and if we liked the food. And then proceeded to tell us many times how pretty we were. Following this awkward exchanged he shook our hands, AND RUFFLED MY HAIR. What? Did that just happen? And that's not even THAT weird here. 

Types of Hollering:

1) The Blatant Yell: They yell things like "Hola", "Bonita"(beautiful), "Gringa (Tourist)", "Tienes un novio? (do you have a boyfriend), etc.

2) The Whistle: They just whistle several times to let you know you've been seen.

3) The Honk: Similar to the whistle, but they're in a car and have a different way of making noise.

4) Kissing Noises: This is my least favorite. They making kissing noises at you as you walk past, sometimes also coming off slightly like hissing.

5) The Whisper: This is where they say what others might yell, but instead say it quietly as they walk by you. Not as disconcerting as the Kissing Noise, but slightly more creepy.

These are the most common types, but can be combined to create new variations. There are also always those that surprise you, like the head pat today. I'm starting to get more used to them, or maybe just better at ignoring people?