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?

The Love/Hate List

The other day I was feeling homesick so being me, I decided to consult the chart of emotions we were given to determine what stage of adjustment to living abroad I was in. Basically, first you like it, then you start to get grumpy about it, then you really hate, and then you are adjusted. I was worried I was in the "hate it" stage. But then, that afternoon, we went shopping, walked outside, laughed and the sun shone in Lima! I was once again glad to be here. 

It seems to me, that I flip-flop between liking and disliking Lima all the time. Sometimes it is just so hard. I can't communicate, my friends and family are thousands of miles away, and Lima is a HUGE city. Other times I never want to leave, I'm meeting new people, seeing interesting things, and learning a lot about the world and myself. 

I think this is a pretty normal study abroad phenomenon, especially for those year-long participants. But, in the spirit of my thoughts I decided to make a top love/hate list about Peru.

LOVE:

1) Meeting new people: It has been really interesting to meet people from all around the world and the United States. I haven't made a ton of Peruvian friends yet (mostly because it is hard for me to carry out an interesting conversation with native speakers) but slowly I know it will be easier. And these new relationships are going to be so memorable!

2) Deserts: I have never been surrounded by so many good deserts in my life. They sell all sorts of cake like things at my school, and we ALWAYS have desert with dinner at my house.

3) Adventures: Everything is new here. I can go pretty much anywhere in the city and have it be a new experience, I can also travel interesting places. Also, because I usually don't know where I am going or what to expect, even running to the grocery store turns into a mini-adventure!

4) Prices: Peru is developing still, so the cost of living is a lot cheaper here. The cheap meal at my school costs fifty cents, and most things in general are just a lot less than in the U.S.. That means, I have more to spend on travel and other things that I love to do!

DON'T LOVE:

1) Pollution: This is not unique to Lima, but it is a new experience for me, who has always lived in the clean Midwest. Lima has a lot of trash in the streets, and constant smog. I have only actually seen the sun two days since I have been here.

2) Class Times: First of all, classes here are long. Most are 2 to 3 hours, with a 10 minute break. I also can only understand Spanish for about an 1hr 30min before I start zoning out. Basically, I miss all of the end of my classes. Second of all, teachers feel they can change class times according to their needs. I already had one class moved to Saturday, one class extended an hour, one on Sunday, etc. This gets difficult when you have other classes scheduled/other plans made for those times.

3) Hollering/Staring: There are not that many tourists in Lima, and especially not in my neighborhood. Therefore, many people stare or yell "gringa" or whisper about me and the other exchange students. Worse than this, there are men who always feel the need to say something (From hola to beautiful, one time we even got "charlie's angels") or whistle at you as you go by. Additionally, the taxis always honk at white people. To which I say; I WILL SIGNAL YOU IF I WANT A TAXI.

And finally, what I don't know what to think about is the constant feeling I am an outsider. On one level, this makes things really hard and slightly uncomfortable. On the other hand, it is a good experience to have and one that I think will definitely change my outlook on a lot of things. Also, I feel as I become comfortable with the language and customs and establish connections to the city I will feel less and less like this.

That's it! Notice that I have one more thing that I love than not. Because Peru really is a great place. And I'm glad I came.

Part 2: Mancora, mi amor

Ok, so lunch. Lunch was made by Ursula and was tasty. After lunch we drove about an hour away to an unprotected Mangrove area. In this area motor boats are allowed, so we took a boat out to an island covered in birds. I don't recall if we were told what kind of birds they were, but the males have a large red throat they puff out to be more attractive. It has been compared to the Galapagos according to the tour guide (I'm assuming the whole bird displaying adaptation idea, etc.). I didn't particularly enjoy the island, as it smelled like bird poop and I discovered I'm afraid of large groups of birds.

After driving past the island, we landed on another one which hosts a crocodile sanctuary. The sanctuary was a little sad, as they have too little space for all the crocodiles that are there. Also, crocodiles have a very long maturation cycle (15 years) and there is a specific span in which releasing them to the wild is best. The sanctuary has about 20 crocodiles in this span, but unfortunately they have not started to release any because they want some unnecessary research money and, I believe to continue the sanctuary as a sort of tourist attraction. It's a really unfortunate situation.

After feeling a little let down by this portion of the tour, I was incredibly happy to spend some time in hot springs! Ursula took us to a local place that the city has be maintaining. It was really fun to get it, but since it was hot inside and out we didn't spend much time there. Before leaving the tour, Ursula asked us if we wanted to volunteer at a swim race the next morning. Our jobs would be to kayak next to the swimmers in the ocean and give them water and a break if they needed any help. Being sufficiently under-qualified, having just learned how to steer a double kayak, and no knowledge of life-saving skills we enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early for the 6km ocean swimming race. After a few instructions, Mari and I hopped in a kayak and were off! For awhile it was quite fun. Free ocean kayaking! And with something to look and talk about while we did it! Then, one of the swimmers needed a break. So she grabbed on to the back of our kayak and we pulled her for awhile. Finally, she got off and swam a little more. Then she grabbed on again. And we pulled her. For ONE HOUR. I think that counts as cheating. After starting to feel exhausted from pulling a person in a kayak against the current in an ocean, we asked her if she would like us to signal the boat. She didn't. Finally, she went in to shore. And none to soon (I thought I, the rescuer, was going to need rescuing!) we reached the finish line! I'm sure the swimmers were more relieved than I was, they were so impressive! Big waves that day! We then had some fruit (peruvian idea of a breakfast buffet) and headed back to the hostel for some rest.

The next few days at the hostel passed by in a blur of beach, sun, reading, and good restaurants. We also discovered 3 bakeries in town which we frequented alternatively several times a day (we asked when they took the bread out of the ovens). And, oh!, I almost forgot. On our last night there, a truck crashed into the side of our hostel! It came in on the back corner and couldn't stop. It knocked down a wall and two bathrooms. Luckily, no one was in the bathrooms so no one from the hostel was harmed. However, they had to carry the driver away and someone said that he didn't have feeling in his legs. Scary! It is really fortunate that the truck hit where it did, because it wasn't a wall connected to any bedrooms.

Finally the day came where we had to head back to Lima, aka. school, cold, real life. I, of course, felt sick.

Despite feeling slightly sick, I decided it was nothing and boarded the bus prepared for 20 hours of the same horrors. The first thing that happened was the bus driver put in a movie. The movie was Taken. I'm not even kidding. I had to watch again, the story of kidnapped tourists. What does that mean?? As the day went on, I also began to feel sicker and sicker. I kept a trash bag ready at all times. Finally, just as I thought I might need to use it, we made our ONE stop of the night. After scrambling off the bus, I raced to the bathroom. I had just gotten my first bout of traveler's diarrhea. With 11 hours left on a bus. That doesn't have a functioning bathroom. 

This goes in to one of the worst moments in my life list. After vomiting and drinking some water I got back on the bus and had a fitful sleep and cramps and generally yuckiness. We finally arrived in Lima, took a cab back to the house and I laid in bed for about 8 hours. I missed my classes and wanted my mom. But, the next day I felt a lot better. I ended up taking an anti-biotic for this kind of thing and am happy to report that I am doing much better. I am however, going to be a lot more careful with what I eat from now on.

After all this eventfulness, this weekend has been mostly catching up on homework and resting. Tomorrow, I may go do a little shopping at an Inca market in Miraflores. Possibly watch a pirated version of the help tonight. So for now, Ciao!

The Long (Awaited) Update

I have been procrastinating writing in my blog. I know. I'm sorry! It's just that this is going to be a long entry, a lot has happened since I last described my life. But, after multiple inquiries from my many devoted fans (aka my parents) I finally decided to stop using my free time to watch Modern Family episodes (ok, I watched one) and WRITE.

The Main Event: MANCORA

Last Wednesday night, a group of us from the house decided we were going to spend a long weekend in a small, coastal town in the north of Peru called Mancora. I don't have class Mondays or Fridays and we had a day off on Tuesday for Santa Rosa, the patron saint of Lima. I think it was her birthday. Possible deathday. Anyways, with the extra long weekend we decided to travel to a place farther away, 20 hours by bus to be exact. 

Initial stresses: 1) While trying to buy bus tickets, my card wouldn't work. I don't know why, it works everywhere else her. Mari had to buy ours with her card while I tried to calm down from the online shopping experience. 2) I only had brought my hiking backpack and daypack as luggage to Lima. Therefore I had to pack my embarrassingly large bag and endure the criticism of my traveling companions (mostly in my mind).

Despite these setbacks, we arrived at the bus stop early to have them not understand our tickets for just enough time for me to stress out again (I'm beginning to think I am not cut out for travel planning). Yet, finally we boarded the bus. The bus which we were to spend the next 20 hours is best described in what it lacks; adequate leg room, toilet paper, lights, and general cleanliness. But ok, I had some motion sickness medicine and they were going to play movies! The results? I fell asleep from drowsiness during the light part of the day and the was up during the pitch dark/no functioning lights part. 

And the movies. First, we watched Taken. Taken is the story of tourist girls traveling abroad who get kidnapped and made into sex slaves. I AM A TOURIST GIRL TRAVELING ABROAD!! This didn't go over well. Taken was then followed by a moving detailing the virtues of christian marriage, one involving Rob Schneider toughening up for prison, and one where a girl is made into an assassin.  Please also remember these are dubbed in Spanish. Not quickly enough, the movies ended, we "slept" and ended up in MANCORA!

Upon exiting the bus, we were immediately swarmed by taxi drivers. After politely and then not so politely refusing them we walked to a hostel I had scoped out on the internet, Kokopelli. Lucky for us, Kokopelli had a room with 8 beds in it (how many of us there were) and they were all free! So we got a room to ourselves, that had its own bathroom, and clean sheets! What more could we ask. Kokopelli ended up being a great hostel the whole time, with friendly staff and lots of hammocks.

The first day, we went immediately to the beach where despite careful sunscreen application, the majority burned. After signing up for an early morning tour, most of us decided to go to bed early that day. However, at about 12 the hotel next door threw a raging discoteca with fabulous reggaeton music at full blast until 3 or 4. So sleep was not so easy.

The next day Mari, Natalie, Katie and I took a guided tour of the Mangrove reserve, close to the border with Ecuador. Our tour guide was the incredibly cool Ursula, an Italian-German Peruvian who grew up in Lima and spent here time being a Marine Biologist (with a huge belly scar from rescuing dolphins!) and giving adventure tours throughout Peru before meeting the love of her life, a jewish, middle-eastern Peruvian and settling down in Mancora. 

The day started with kayaking/canoeing through a protected Mangrove area. Mangroves are trees which can only grow in areas where fresh water mixes with salt water, making them pretty rare and pretty endangered. In the reserve we got to see 5 kinds of these trees, as well as many crabs, birds, and other little creatures. The kayak was a two person deal, which we swapped using. It was HARD. Hard to steer and hard to move, as we were against the current for awhile. After some initial confusion and a lot of me yelling "MARI" we got the hang of it just in time to maneuver our way through a maze of trees and even have the pleasure of lying flat to fit under a fallen branch. Finally, it was lunch.

Ok, I'm sorry to leave you at that cliff hanger but I am about to watch a movie with my amigas. So this is To be continued.... Tonight or Tomorrow.

A Day at the Beach, A Day Waiting

So Saturday my household decided the next day we were going to go to a small town outside of Lima to catch some sun, and maybe some fresh air. All full of hope and dreams we went to ask our host parents how to get there. We were immediately told it was a bad idea. I guess all the limenos (people from Lima) like to get out of the city and catch sun too. On Sunday. The traffic is thus so terrible that it would take at least double the time to go there and back. Panic ensued. We weren't going to have anything to do for one whole day!! After a flurry of guide books and google searches we discovered Punta Hermosa, a beach south of Lima with a forecast of 74 degrees! We left at 8:00 the next morning.

The ride took a little over an hour, and passed through a lot of poorer areas of Lima and its outskirts. Here, it looked as if houses were built upon houses, upon garbage, on these steep sand hills. For the first time, I was reminded that Lima is a desert. After some of the places we passed, I was becoming a little concerned about the beach. However we finally arrived in a cute-ish little town, where everything was closed and we were the only tourists. We got off the bus and started following a lady, hoping she was heading toward the beach.

The beach was beautiful, and we had it all to ourselves! I took a nap. When I woke up, everyone was ready for lunch so we walked back toward the main street and found a great, small Peruvian style restaurant. I had tequeños and Chaufa--like fried rice. After, we walked along the beach for awhile past all the boarded up summer homes. Things we discovered on the walk: crabs, seastars, surfers, a couple bird skeletons, and no bathrooms.

One thing that has been really hard here is the constant worry of muggings. Although it has yet to happen to anyone in my house, we attract so much attention as foreigners it is probably bound to happen sooner or later. And while the crimes are not violent, so many people here are so poor that stealing is extremely prevalent.  When we arrived in this little town as a huge group of gringas and without too many other people around, it was a little hard to feel comfortable at first. This persistent worry is something I won't miss!

The return home was successful in that we took the right buses and a peruvian boy in front of me was rocking out to Ke$ha.

After this we had to wake up extremely early to register for classes the next day. At Católica all the exchange students have to register in person, on a first come first serve basis. We arrived 2 hours before registration opened and were in the 50s. Thus commenced the waiting. Our numbers didn't start registering until about 11:00. We were there at 7:00. This was one of the worst systems I have ever dealt with. And I am also not that patient. By the time I was through I was on the verge of losing my head. Literally. But, I got all the classes I wanted and hope that they all go well!

After this, Mari and I had to wait even longer to get copies for our classes. Here, instead of buying books, Professors send copies to a little room in the school and you have to go wait in line and have them make you a copy of the copy and buy that. It is a little complicated, but cost efficient. It also has long lines and an inefficient system. I think my whole day could of taken 30 minutes, but with waiting it was 6 HOURS.

Side Note: A trend in Peru seems to be multiple lines for things that could take one. For copies, you first ask to see the copies, then you tell them you want them, then you receive the price, then you go pay the price at the cash register, then you bring your receipt back and get your copy. For lunch, you wait in one line to purchase a ticket and then a second to pick up your food with the ticket. And I won't even explain registering because that was about 5 different lines. I'm not sure I have sufficient patience to survive in Peru.

Now, I am attempting to read 50 pages in Spanish for homework. It is going slowly at best. Which is why I am writing in my blog.

What's on the Lettuce?

Today, everyone in my house decided to go to an organic market in a nearby district of Lima. Rebecca, who had been there before, told us it was pretty small, so I wasn't expecting much. When we arrived we walked into a beautiful park, in a cute neighborhood with great colonial style architecture. There, we found the cutest best little market! I think it maybe the best thing I have encountered in Lima yet. 

There were soo many vegetables (all organic!) and things like organic perfume, homemade jewelry, picture frames, cakes, etc. I was in heaven. Everything is so cheap too! I got a beautiful bracelet for 5 soles, made out of seeds that are red and black. It is supposed to offer protection. Hopefully, it protects me from getting sick because I ate a wrap from one of the vendors that was delicious! You're not supposed to eat anything from the street here and especially not vegetables because the water here has some bacteria that foreign stomachs often cannot handle.

I also bought some delicious goat cheese and lettuce (to wash at home) for 7 soles!!! That is like $2.50! I can't get over it. Mari and Rachel then bought tamales from some nuns and we sat in the park eating them, contemplating profit margins.

Later, we walked back to Parque Kennedy looking a little again for shoes and stopped in a La Quinta. La Quinta is kind of like bargain barrel. There are piles and piles of clothes and you just have to search for what you want. Here, it is all new and they have a ton of different brands. I don't know if they are extras from the factory, or knock-offs but they are CHEAP. I only bought yoga pants, because this many clothes turned out to be a little intimidating. Upon entering, I immediately felt the urge to run. But, if you have more patience then I do it could be a great store.

Next, we decided ice cream and some french fries were necessary to regain energy lost in all the shopping. While eating our ice cream, Erin leans forward and asks what is on our lettuce. It is then that we notice, THERE IS A SNAIL IN OUR LETTUCE. Now that's organic. I personally, was completed freaked out, because it was gooshy, and moist and vaguely reminiscent of a leech. But Mari saved the day ripping off the plastic and putting him in the empty fry container. We then preceded to transport him to a nearby flower pot. Only gringas would do this.

His name is bembo (after the restaurant we were in) and I didn't like him at all.

After the snail, the day was pretty uneventful.

People Here Have Small Feet

So when I decided to come to Peru, I decided I needed a hiking backpack. Thus, my lovely parents bought one for me for my birthday in June. Once I had my hiking backpack I decided that this was the ONLY bag I was going to pack for Peru. Now, normally I am not a light packer. For a two day trip I might bring the biggest duffel bag I have so that I can have outfit "options" and all possible medical and entertainment supplies. I cannot explain why the first time I decided to pack light was when I was going to Peru for a YEAR. So please, don't ask.

As a direct result of my packing extremely light, I don't have that many clothes here. And a lot of the clothes I brought are summer-ish. It is winter here. It hasn't been warmer than 65, max. For shoes I only brought running shoes, my beloved red sneakers, and sandals. I have been wearing the red sneakers everyday. So today, Mari and I (who has a similar shoe problem) decided to go to Miraflores and find us some comfortable, affordable, everyday type of shoes. Easier said then done.

Now, I'm 5'9, close to 5'10 so I like to think that my size 10 feet are appropriate for my height. But here, I would say I'm taller than 80% of the population (including males). And apparently no one has size 10 feet. Mari and I discovered this quickly as every store we went into (which all seem to carry the same shoes!) told us the largest size was an 8 at each shoe we pointed to. 

Finally, after about the 15th shoe store (because there are an incredible amount of shoe stores in Lima!) I found TWO pairs of boots that were in size 10. I bought one. They are alright. At least they fit! Mari found some super cute slip-ons that I am jealous about because she has size 8 feet. Moral of the story: If you have large feet, pack plenty of shoes.

The Trial Run

I have finally started some classes! This week the exchange students have the opportunity to attend whatever classes they want. For me, this means I'm going to as many as possible to see which Professors I can understand and if they give special treatment to gringos (gringos = tourists/white people in South America). 

Attending classes has been... interesting. No, really I have like most of my classes. I am probably going to take most of them in the general (i.e. easy) college. Peruvians start University a lot earlier than in the states, thus I am taking classes with 16 and 17 year olds. It's a little weird, but I'm too busy trying to figure out what the Professor just wrote on the board to really think about it.

I also met my very own first Peruvian friend! His name is either Jose or Juan. I can't quite remember. But he is in my Archaeology class and after class, when I had to ask what the books we passed around earlier were for he took a very confused me to the library and tried to explain. Later, we got to have an equally confusing lunch where he ate and I didn't, filled in with some awkward silences because I can't really keep an interesting conversation going in Spanish yet. Potential for lifelong friendship? Yes.

Other than that, mostly other exchange students talk to me in class. This will probably change after we all stop looking so scared and nervous. But, it is interesting to meet people from other countries too! There are a lot of people from France and Germany here too.

I'm trying not to have classes on Mondays or Fridays in order to travel on the weekends, so far I think that is going to work. I'm going to try a few more classes tomorrow and then decide this weekend what my schedule should be! 

Other things equally important as classes that happened:

1) Walking down the street to catch a combi this morning with two of my friends a man looked at us and said " Los angeles de Charlie" or, Charlie's Angels. We all have the same color hair more or less.

2) Mari and I spent 2 hours in Radio Shack with her computer. They played music from Oasis to "My Sharona". The radio shack-man said he doesn't choose the music. Mari asked me whether she should buy them cookies.

3) I had the BEST dessert twice. It is called an alfajore and is delicious! It is two pastries with manjarblanco in between. I don't know how to describe it, but google it.

This Day Would Have Been Perfect With Some Sun

Today everyone in mi casa went to el centro de Lima to look at pretty buildings and see the changing of guards. Morgan, the girl from France who lives in my house, managed to get everyone out of the house by 10:30 (impressive!) in order to be in at the centro by 12:00.

Note: I failed to describe earlier in my blog how I transport myself everywhere. Lima is not small. This is an understatement. Lima is HUGE. We can walk some places, but usually we take the private bus system in Lima. This sounds fancy but there is no public transportation. In reality, the buses are called combis and micros and consist of rundown vans and buses with a driver and another person hanging out the door or window yelling where they are going. You rush on and off a combi. They rush everywhere too. I'm actually quite impressed by the drivers ability to weave in and out of traffic with a packed bus and stop at a moments notice to pick up someone. I also feel like praying every time I get on one. But, they only cost 1 sole (about 50 cents).

Back to today. After we survived yet another combi trip we arrived in the centro. We walked rapidly through parque de universitario and a street with lots of stores in colonial style building, finally arriving in the Plaza de Armas. Where, we were greeted with a surprise parade of traditional style music and dancers. If you are my facebook friend, you can view the video I am going to post after this. Otherwise, I guess you won't.

After this parade, the changing of guards was a little disappointing. Mostly a bunch of men in uniform doing a silly walk to music. But I guess I am more cultured because of it.

We also had the chance to enter the Cathedral across the square at the end of Mass to see the recessional and take some photos before getting yelled at that we shouldn't be using flash and that there are guided tours Monday-Saturday. Opps.

                            This is one of the beautiful sculpture "rooms" they had in the Cathedral. 

                                               You can't tell, but I'm peering through bars.

After a short walk which included discovering a park with some ruins in it, we were STARVING. We satisfied this hunger at Wallys. Wallys only has chicken. So first we had a soup with some chicken feet in it (which I ate around), then pollo de brasa and fries which was very good. All this washed down with the famouse Inca Cola, the premier soda of Peru. Which happens to taste exactly like bubblegum and is overwhelmingly sweet. All this for only 8.50 soles! And we had a waiter who told us his name is Luis and he works every Sunday if we want to come back.

After lunch some went home, and some of us (me) went on a little walk around the centro with ice cream. There were a bunch of different street performers and we discovered the spectacular China town they have here.

Finally, we took another combi home on which we got a little lost. But, just as soon as we were lost we asked directions and found ourselves a new combi which dropped off a block from the house. All's well that ends well.

La Universidad--Or the Reason I am Supposed to be Here

Thursday I had the opportunity to see my new school for the first time. The campus is very pretty, and very safe, with a wall all around it and guards at the doors. Inside, there is a lot of green space, some nice buildings and some not so nice (if you know the UW campus think of a mix like Humanities and Bascom). 

The strangest thing on campus are the small deers, called Venados which roam around campus. They run through the sidewalks and are fed daily by the University. My compañero de PUCP said that the legend is two escaped from the zoo which is close by years ago and since then have multiplied. I think this may be more legend than truth.

             This is a Venado on the PUCP campus, but I didn't take this picture.

There are four cafeterias on campus and a couple cafes where I can buy lunch, which is a large plate of food, for only 3 soles. This is equivalent to about $1.25, so it is very cheap!

Right now, I'm trying to decide on my classes.. Whether to take easier classes in the more general faculty or harder ones in the Anthropology college. I also would like to only have classes during the middle of the week if possible so I can travel on the weekends. But I think I might have to take some classes on Monday. We have a week to go to classes and see which ones we would like to take. Then, on August 22nd we have to arrive early to register for the ones we want to take.

All together, I think I will like my school a lot. All of the Peruvians I met there have been really nice, and the international students too.

Mis Primeros Dias (My First Days)

Hola a todos! (I'm still figuring out how to do spanish accents on this website, so please excuse the mistakes!) 

I am safely in Lima! The flights went well, Mari (my friend from WI and current roommate!) started feeling sick but we slept in the Miami airport for awhile, because we had an 8 hour layover there. The flight from Miami to Peru was about 6 hours, and was very nice. We had an on-flight dinner, each seat had a pillow, blanket, and its own T.V., with different movies and shows to choose from. The best flight I've had! Go LAN airlines! (O.K., enough free advertising)

Our host family, Cecilia and Luis, picked us up from the airport and took us back to their house. We went to sleep immediately! In the morning, Mari was feeling worse and Cecilia took her to the doctor who said she had un infecion fuerte (strong infection). She spent the rest of the day in bed, feeling miserable :(

I met the rest of the house-mates and we went to Miraflores, a richer district of Peru. There was a lot of shops, and a pretty park with a lot of stray cats! There are a surprising amount of "american" stores here... Starbucks, Payless Shoes, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc. So far I have avoided them! 

Finally, today I went and saw my school for the year, Universidad Catolica. It is really pretty, with a lot of green space. There are also a type of deer that wander around campus. It is very strange because the campus is in the middle of the city, and has walls all around it. I'm not sure why they are there.. A peruvian friend tried to explain but I didn't really understand. When my spanish is better I will ask again!

That has been the hardest thing so far. My spanish is definitely not good enough to understand all of what those from Peru say. I can understand most of what my american friends say because they talk slower, and with an american accent. I can't wait for my language skills to improve! It's difficult to not understand things, and I'm tired of asking "que?".

But, all else is well. Mari is feeling better, and with each day I get a little bit more comfortable with my surroundings. I'm excited to see how the next few months go!