Peru-Argentina-Chile

We have finally finished school and classes! I received GREAT grades and I could not be happier with them and everything that I learned. After a group of my friends from here left it is now only me and Danielle Bartels living here fearlessly until May 8th. We are currently getting ready to leave today at 6pm for Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile :) I am so excited to go and explore with her and her father from Nebraska. This weekend I went with my family to a movie and to their camp grounds :) They belong to a club that is kind of like a forest and there they camp like we do and not on the beach! It was nice to walk around there and have a barbecue and play games. The weather here is amazing right now because it is not hot at all but then it is not cold. It is my favorite type of weather where you can wear shorts and a sweatshirt! But winding down and having this be my last couple days in Lima I am very sad. I can not wait to go home and then I wish I was staying here as well. I am torn but in the end its bittersweet. Also this weekend I got to go with my family to the other zoo that they have here! It was in Huachipa Peru and it was very interesting. It was in an interesting part of Lima because the area around it was full of open side restaurants that had women singing and dancing for entertainment. They were dressed in fluffy skirts with a lot of sparkly decorations! The animals that they have at the zoo are really cool and a ton of them I had never seen before. It is very interesting because they have deer in their zoo as an exhibit. It is weird because we are used to seeing deer everyday and for them it is something interesting and weird to look at. Also they have peacocks in a cage as well while we just have them running and walking around our zoo. Also at the zoo I had my new favorite ice-cream that I am going to miss dearly when I leave Peru. It is called PRINCESA and it tastes like peanut butter which I have missed dearly from being here! But I think this will be my last post until I get back from Chile :) Thanks everyone for reading and I will see you all soon in NEBRASKA!!! :) Chau Chau. 

Adios. Chau Chau.

We are coming to an end :( We are in our last week of school right now and taking finals right now. This was the last weekend we had with everyone in Peru. On Friday we had our goodbye party with our Colegio that we were going to and helping them with English. We went for lunch there because they made a little party for us. They had stands up everyone in a big room and they had prepared every type of Peruvian food that was popular along with drinks and pictures. They also had some of them dressed in typical Peruvian costumes and dance costumes. It was a very good time and the food was very good. I tried everything as usual and at the end we all received thank you cards with a necklace of Mary. Later that night was my FIEsta with my family!! We were throwing a goodbye party for some of my friends here before they left back to the U.S. I had my friends over and then my brother had his friends over as well. I prepared some dips for the potatoes that we had and we also had little turkey sandwiches that we made! I set up on our deck and we had loud music, dancing, and lots to eat and drink. Our party ended at 4:00a.m. and my father here was a champ and stayed the whole time. (He slept in a chair for a little but was still present ha). The next day my whole family woke up very late and we were all zombies. Thalia had to go to a mall for a project that was all anime things like Dragon ball Z and Pokemon and all that. It was a mall only for those things and every level had action figures and collectable items and costumes, etc. There were people walking around that were dressed as the characters because they believed that they were those people. It was

interesting to say the least and I went for support and it really was one of the weirdest places I have ever been in my life. After I had to get ready for the goodbye party of Lukes! His family was throwing a party now to say their goodbyes. We went over and they made us drinks and appetizers and we sat and played games for most of the evening. After me and Danielle decided that it would be a good idea if we went and got Sandwiches, more of my idea but that happened :). Sunday was a great day. I finally got to experience a Peru soccer game!! My brother Jaime asked if I wanted to go with some of their friends so of course YES and then I had Luke, Danielle and Haley come with! We left at 4:30 and arrived at the stadium. We had to walk a little before we got close to the stadium and there they had tons of vendors of THE U team with jerseys, hats, the cloth that they waive around, and more! There were also lots of motor taxis running around everywhere. It was surrounded by a crazy looking gate that looked like it was in a jail, and huge tall gates. When we walked up to get closer to the stadium we had to wait to get our "under the table seats". We payed 7$ for our tickets which was awesome and finally entered. There were men all around just going to the bathroom outside the stadium on fences and just out in the open (very disgusting) because you have to pay to go to the bathroom in the stadium we later found out. We had to pass a line of security/police officers that were waiting, some waiting with police dogs. Guys went to guys and girls went to girls. There was a pile in the middle with pens, bottles, clips, and the biggest item, BELTS. No one was allowed to wear belts and all the men that did not hide it in their pants before, took it off and fastened it to the gate or hid it in the ground to get after the game (not a high possibility you would get it back). Luke was wearing one and he had to leave his belt there, sadly to say he did not get it back when we came out because it had been stolen :( After we got past the security we walked in and the stadium you could already hear the chants. It was ridiculous. It was not all the way filled because of who they were playing but it was loud. They had two sections where they cheered, jumped up and down, and chanted the whole 2- 45minute periods. We saw a little fight in the crowd only to find out that it was because if you stop jumping and cheering people will start hitting you with their shirts and cheering things until you get up and start again. They had police officers with big shields lined up all around the stadium because the crowd sometimes gets to rowdy (this I thought was scary). The game was fun to watch and here everyone get so upset and mad at the other team. They had to carry someone off in a stretcher at one point and also they had a little ceremony where these people threw someones ashes in the air. 

(Not quite sure if we caught that right, but pretty sure). They play soccer pretty violently and ruthlessly and for that it was even more exciting to watch! People carry around huge bags of popcorn and sandwiches as well just like at a baseball game. A lot of people bought things next to us, due to the amount of how much they were smoking (the type of smoking caused this ;) ....on that note everything is just legal here I have came to think). They feel like soccer as we feel about football. They are fanatics. I loved it and it was an amazing experience and I am so happy that I got the chance to go. This week are my last 4 days at the University. It is very sad to think about but at the same time I am excited to be done with school. On wednesday we are going to go to a Chifa for a goodbye lunch with our class. Thursday another goodbye party but from our school after our last final. And then a week from today, I will be in B.A and Chile :) Cant wait!!  ADIOS. CHAU CHAU. 

Donde está el tiempo!!

These last few days in Lima have been stressful and as always packed with fun. This last weekend we went out to celebrate with some of our new friends for their birthdays and it was a very fun time. We danced all night and took great pictures! On sunday I went to church with my mom and dad and then later that night went out to a movie with my family. We went to G.I Joe 2 and it was a very good movie! After we came home and had lunch and it was Papa Johns, very refreshing to taste Nebraska sometimes. This week has been extremely difficult due to my computer crashing, having all of my assignments for finals. FAIL. Yesterday I had the longest day because we got up and went to our Colegio Pio X11 to help and talk to the high-school students (which all look like they are five but in reality are 17 and 18) and help them with their english! It went from 10 until around 1:00. We helped them create a Peru and Nebraska commercial and it was all in English which was also fun. After we took a snack that they gave us and we had empanadas and Inca Cola. From there we got taken back to the school and had to go to a final in 30 min. that was at 1:45. Took the final and I did not get out of it until 3:45. We had a 3 hour conversation class at 4:00 until 7:00 so I went to that class following the final. My brain was gone and when I got home I finally got to eat lunch at 7:15. Days are always packed here with things to do and homework that needs to be done or volunteering that we have. We have so much going on the time went too fast for me! While I am still awaiting my computer to arrive let me explain that process. I had no idea how much I would appreciate the states and their ways of doing things because I love Peru, I do, but sometimes there ways of doing things takes to long...Went to their apple store that was at a mall. Arrived and they were supposed to open at 11:00 but they did not get open until 11:45 because they were painting inside. Once they opened and we went inside I asked for someone who knew English and no one did but they understood me enough to take me to the back. Waited in a line for around 30 minutes because the men that were supposed to be helping us were messing around in the storage room. While waiting we were all getting high from the paint fumes and sweating because their air conditioning was not working. Finally when I got up to the counter all I wanted was to be angry and talk in English and at that point I am glad I couldn't. I simply explained very calmly what was wrong and eventually we figured it out. For all of this I dragged my poor friend Danielle with me and she waited with me and helped me. Love her for that. And as we sum up these last few weeks I have started getting very sad. It is sad to think that I may never see these people, families, and friends ever again. I want to make a point to keep in touch with everyone because to me they are my second family. And I have grown to love these places :) GOING TO MISS IT !! 

Pascua! (Easter!)

The week and weekend of Semana Santa! Since I have been I have actually been celebrating a lot of holidays. It is always very different and interesting to me to see how other people celebrate holidays! In Lima I have seen how different Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Lent, my birthday!!, and now Easter! Here in Lima we had Thursday off of school because Thursday is the starting of their holy week (Semana Santa). For that reason my family and I went camping for the whole weekend. We packed up, left early thursday afternoon and went to relax! It took us 3 hours to get there when it usually only take us 1 hour because of all of the people leaving to go places! The beach was packed with tents and campers everywhere and when we arrived there was a schedule of many different events that we could attend during the day and night if we wanted! On Thursday there was bull 

 
 ----------Above are all of the tents that were starting to show up! and below is me trying to balance on the rope !! After there is a picture of a typical Peruvian Dance!! All of the music that was playing was live too!

 ---------Later all of the dancer and horse dancers came out right before the bull competition began. The horses did not walk normally but instead they pranced around and were dancing the whole time! I thought they were injured at first for how they were moving... :X

competitions. I for one LOVE watching bull riding on T.V. ill admit it so I was very excited! They had stands set up in the sand and places to stand around the arena also! They first had music with singers, typical peruvian dances with two people and then with horses! It was very pretty and I am glad that I got to see it! After started the "games". There were teams of around 13 people and what they had to do was this: 1st they had to have one "captain" who would stand on a chair while the group huddled behind them in a close circle with the girls in the middle. The bull was then let out and they got more points if they stayed in the middle while the bull charged them for 10 LONG seconds it seemed like! After they had to run out of the middle and behind this wood safety boards. They had people with the red sheets to help out if needed. After they had to have two people stand together and go towards the bull and have it run in between them while they kept their hands together. After they got done with that they had to have a couple people with long wood sticks go and   poll-volte or at-least try over the bulls. After that was done they had to use the red sheets and have the bull go under them a certain way. Lastly at the end they personally as a whole team had to put the bull back into its cart. It was INSANE to watch and they were very brave to do that because many times the teams would mess up and the bull would just attack. It was scary but so entertaining at the same time!! On friday they had a Santa Maria walk down the beach at night. A lot of people carried hand made lanterns of different things with streamers and lots of decorations. Inside of there items was a candle that they walked to a bonfire to have a celebration! On Saturday they had games, blow up water games, carnival games and more around the pool that we went too. I tried to walk on a rope and so did my family, we all failed. My parents played games to win food items and then there was another Torro Match! We went and watched again, and this time the players got injured a little bit. They were more scared so I think that is why they messed up more. After the match me and my sister went and laid on the beach to look at the stars. In Lima you cant ever see them at night so my sister told me at the beach is usually the only place you can really see them. Later that night I played ajedrez con mi. papa (chess) and then we were off to sleep. It was a long relaxing weekend and I was happy to have spent it at a beach. For Easter we came back home and went to have lunch with my grandma and cousin. We ate at my favorite place called Oceanica. Its a sushi buffet and naturally I stuffed myself with it. Going to go there before i leave back to the states. :) After lunch all of us kids bought the movie Argo and went to watch it upstairs. It was a good movie and a good way to end my Easter. Feliz Pascua !! :)

CUZCO!! Con mis amiguitos ;)

I know I just wrote a book for my last blog but its not my fault! We have been going on so many adventures lately and I have to explain them all :) Our last class trip in South America was CUZCO. We finally got the chance to go, and save the best for last I guess. The first thing I will say to sum it all up instead of writing a huge paragraph about it is : NOTE TO SELF...AND TO ANY OTHER SANE PERSON.....do not, ever, take Peruvian Airlines. If you need a list to as of why not: They have broken pilot windows, they loose stairs, you take uncomfortable combis around, they are always an 1 or more behind schedule, you do not get to have a perfect flight, and nothing will ever go right :) Anyway, after a little confusion at the airport, weird, we got to CUZCO! It was by far one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been too. It reminded me a lot of Arequipa flying in because you could see the mountain tops peaking out of the clouds and then when we went under the clouds it was miles and miles of green and yellow mountains. Our tour guide was there to pick us up and we were brought to the hotel. You could tell how high we were in altitude because we all felt how hard it was to breath and how quickly we lost our breath. Once we arrived at our hotel we were sat down and given COCA tea--it did wonders. It helped a lot with the

wonders. It helped a lot with the altitude and with the fact that our room was on the 4th floor (no elevators). Once we got situated we had time to take a nap since we had been up since 3-am, and after we went down to have our first tour. Before our tour we were advised to eat very light and so we had chicken noodle soup, HOMEMADE, and it was delicious. Then for the tour we had with us our tour guide named Marco. He was the best and very funny. He took us to many famous Chapels around Cuzco, Sexy Woman, and many more! We had the coolest little headsets so that we could hear him and take our time taking pictures and looking at all of the interesting sites. I learned so much history about the places we visited, see a lot of llamas, got to walk through small pitch black caves, climb a lot of rocks and see amazing places. After our last tour we got little cups of Coca tea mixed with another ingredient to help us with the altitude. When we returned to our hotel it was dinner time! We went to a famous Jacks Cafe that is known by all American toursits I guess, and we found out why. The food was to die for, so good that I got the same thing twice because we ended up going Firday as well. I ordered Tostada Francesa :) -french toast. With it came a little cup of syrup, and sliced bananas and strawberries. When we finished we stopped at a little store to buy snacks and water for our big adventure to MACHU PICCU :) Ofcourse we ended up getting a little lost and it took us around 30min to walk home, which was alright. We went to bed and were up and ready again the next day at 7am. It was a very long journey to get to the 7th wonder of the world and now that I look at it, it really is in a hidden place. We took one bus, to go to another bus. When we got to our second bus it was around 1-45min ride. Then after that bus we got transferred to another form of transportation which was our beautiful train. The train ride was around 2 hours and it had snacks and beautiful scenery to look at. When we were closer it was starting to look like we were going into the jungle! Later we found out that at Machu Piccu it was the begining of the selva. Finally after our train ride was our last form of transport, another bus, and it winded us all the way to the top until we arrived. When we arrived we started climbing our way to the top. When we got our first view point of M.P. it was everything I had expected and more. I couldn't grasp my mind around how old this place was and how incredible it was that it was never found in time to be destroyed. Our tour guide gave us loads of interesting information about M.P. when we started walking around the grounds. Mostly about how the Spaniards didn't find this place and how lucky it was because it was not destroyed, how extremely smart the Incas were with how they built this structure, their sun temple, rocks shaped like their symbolic animals (my fav. the condor drinking area) and much more! We all took loads of pictures and me especially=see face-book. I was so happy to say that I have now seen a 7 wonder and it was all worth the time of getting there in the end. When we were done touring the grounds and hearing all of the fun facts about M.P. we had to hurry and take lunch at buffet restaurant. They had great desserts I recall because I decided to eat mounds of brownies and cheesecake instead of all the other foods. All in all it was a great trip and when we finished eating we took our bus to  train to bus to bus journey back to our hotel in Cusco. Since we did not really get a chance to shop when we arrived back at the hotel at 9:00 pm some of us ventured out to go and shop for a couple of things before we called it a night. Sleeping and waking up the next morning for our Saturday adventure was a little rough. We did it though and had breakfast and took off for the Sacred Valley. We stopped at the Sacred Valley and had a chance to take pictures of the valley and then on to our next spot. We stopped at a sort of animal refuge and also got to look at many things made from 100% real Alpaca fur! It was amazing because here we also got to see Storks, have HUGE condors fly over us, see Pumas, and many other interesting animals. My favorite part here was when we got to have the condors fly over us and then take pictures with them. We had to stand a certain feet away from them para take a picture with them which kind of freaked me out after seeing their beaks and their claws. I did it though! After that we went to have lunch before going to our last site. We had a buffet at this beautiful place that I swear was just placed on top of a garden. It was next to the Amazon river and had a flute band playing outside for entertainment, a little shop to look at, and llamas and more in the yard. It was my favorite restaurant in Cuzco I think only because it was so pretty. We ate a lot of really good food and I tried a lot of different things. I had sushi, carrots and beats put together (very weird), different meats, salads, eggs, and much more! For desserts I once again tried them all! There was really good chocolate cake and a good lemon pie also! When we finished we went to look at the shops and Sam went to go and get chased by a llama. :). After we got back on the bus and headed to our final site! Before walking up to the site we got to see a jewelry making store and to shop around a little before. 

When we arrived to the site it looked like it had MILLIONS of steps, which I knew we would probably hike up so I was mentally preparing. We got out and she had us sit down while she explained the area and the history of it. She showed us how their were faces in the mountains across from the site and a kings face as well that you could still make out. We climbed the steps and had to take many rest breaks because of the altitude. At one point our guide had us hum into a a carved out opening in the rocks and when we did it was a loud vibration that we heard! Really cool! It was also neat when we finally reached the top of the mountain! After the top we had some free time to do walk around other paths and to shop around. We were all tired and on the bus ride home with all of our suvenirs and the bumpy rodes we took it was impossible to nap! It started rainging on the way home which was a nice noise to listen to in the end! Later that night a couple us went back to eat at JACKS and then went out to get a feel for Cuzco. The next day we proceeded to shop and I bought a lot of things in Cuzco....oops! It was a lovely trip though and I was so happy that I got to finally go there and see Machu Picchu :) It was by far one of my favorite trips so far!! Write more later Chao Chao!

LA SELVA--THE AMAZON !!

We finally made it to the jungle. I was extremely nervous to get off of the plane because the whole time on it I was thinking about how I did not have the yellow fever shot! Eventually I got over that because we were at THE JUNGLE. WHen we arrived we could feel how hot and muggy it was from all of the rain. We got escorted to our bus and met our fearless leader--ASHUCO. He spoke to us in spanglish for awhile and then just how ever he felt like it which was nice! We had to go on the Amazon River in order to get to our lodge. On the way we saw so many markets of people chopping off fish heads and cleaning/skinning them with their hands. The smell was just awful but we passed the area and walked to the river. When we passed on a man made bridge ( literally pieces of wood pilled on the water for walk way) I saw my first glimpse of the jungle. It was on a mans back and was the smallest, furriest orange monkey I have ever seen. I was in love. When we got to our boat, it was made out of dried out palm leaves and with our suitcases pilled in and our flashlights boughten we headed down the amazon. It was such a huge area and the water was a bright brown. On our way to the lodge we saw little bird houses inside of a wall along the river. Traveled some more down the river and then took a little stop at a place in the jungle. We saw evil alligators, adorable parrots/other tropical birds, fish as big as me with bright neon orange scales, bats, huge lily-pads, and much more! We got to hold some birds and watch a parrot fly down and drink a cup of sprit. It was so funny and he just tipped it back into his mouth. We then got to feed some piranhas. They were very vicious and very ugly things. After this stop we went back on the boat and traveled to our lodge. THe lodge was hidden within the jungle, and we took a turn on the boat and entered a path between the trees. When we arrived we were shown around the area. 

It had a huge dining/meeting room, a hammock room (which grew to be our best friend), and then our 4 bedroom with bunk-beds! All which had lovely mosquito netting. After we all got situated we had lunch. The one thing I don't think I could ever get used to is the food of the jungle. I think I survived on bananas and coffee. We had catfish with the skin and head just hanging out still, rice, palm leaves ( white with a taste of lime) and bananas. After lunch I felt a little sick and we had some time before we went on our walk through the jungle. We all got lathered up with bug spray and sunscreen. I wore long socks, leggings, and a long sleeve shirt. It was very hot outside but it was EXTREMELY worth it. We started our walk and went through amazing trails with vines hanging everywhere, HUGE leaves and trees, huge beetles, exotic frogs, and even a tarantula. To get to the spider they make big holes in the ground. Ashuco went with his machete and  chopped away at lots of things to show us including the home of this spider. When he got it out, it climbed all over him and on his head. I hate spiders but I let it crawl on me. When it did it had pokey feet and it tickled a bit. After, we crossed some puddles of water and saw more cool things and kept dodging the muddy ground. When we returned we spent some more time in the hammock and later we had dinner. Again it was rice, bananas, chicken, and some vegetables. I was not feeling well from the last meal so I filled myself up with coffee and snacks that I brought from home. Our night walk was an adventure and was extremely terrifying as well.

 We saw jumping banana spiders that were the size of dinner plates, snakes that were hanging in the trees, little rat looking animals, more ugly spiders, huge moths the size of my hands, big ants, and again a lot of interesting plants. Once we found the snake we headed back because we had an early morning. We woke up at 7-am and took breakfast. BREAD!!! Stuffed myself with that and jam in hope of not being terribly hungry for lunch. It was raining and our guide wanted to see if it would stop so after breakfast we all took nice siestas in the hammock room for an hour and a half. The rain was still going when we got ready to leave but it was not as strong. We were on our way to monkey island! My favorite place of the whole trip. When we were on our way we saw a huge iguana hanging on the tree; it blended in really well. Once we pulled up to monkey island we heard monkey noises and all got really excited. They were coming from the yard but we could not figure out from where because we didn't see any monkeys yet? Finally there on a tree was a tropical green bird that was pretending to be a monkey. It was very entertaining. When we went into the hut monkeys started running out from the jungle into the yard and into the little hut. Some of them were walking upright and it was kind of intimidating. They jumped on you and played with your hair, bracelets, water-bottles, hats, literally everything. They especially liked hair we found out when they jumped on our heads and tried to wrap themselves in our long hair. It was hilarious! There was many tropical birds all around and even a toucan! He was hopping around on the porch and we got to feed the birds and monkeys bananas. The same bird that was acting like a monkey at the beginning also talked. It kept saying, "hola hola hola". I was in love with it. Here our tour guide also spotted a sloth on the tree and another man pulled him down for us. He was like a statue, a warm/long clawed, smiley faced statue. He was so adorable and we all got to take pictures of him. After we saw the sloth we got to see a big anaconda that they let slither around on the ground. I put it around my neck and took pictures with it. It was so cool and weird to touch. The head was in one of my hands and his tail in the other. After the snake there was a baby crocodile. We held him and he had really creepy eyes. The monkeys didn't like him and the guide kept sticking his tail to the monkeys hands and they would run away. After monkey island we traveled back to the lodge and changed into our swimsuits. Some of us wanted to swim in the river and we got the chance to that afternoon! We were scared and eventually just jumped right in. It was not very cold and after we got over the fact that we were swimming in the amazon with pirañas, dolphins, snakes, and other unknown creatures, it was really fun. We got to see pink dolphins that were swimming around us and jumping around. They were plump and short little things. Once we got back in the boat we went looking and seeing more grey and pink dolphins, turkey vultures, and white big cranes. We headed back to shower and change and have dinner. We couldn't go on our night walk because of all the rain and it was too muddy so we hung out the rest of the night. We started early again the next morning to go piraña fishing! It was a really cool place where we decided to go and it was in-between trees and bushes and it was a little nerve-racking because we took a different boat. This boat was literally 2 inches from the water and having the boat fill and sink. When we started seeing snakes in all of the trees and around us I was a little freaked out. While we were going to our spot to fish we saw a huge anaconda slithering on top of the water in front of us, it was terrifying and really cool all at the same time! We saw another big iguana and another yellow and black snakes in the trees above us. Our fishing was hard because the piranas tore off the raw chicken so fast that we barely got a chance to pull them in! It was fun anyway to feel how strong and crazy they were and Haley did end up catching a small catfish! After we headed home for lunch. We ate quick so that some of us that were heading home could go and see the amazon tribe! We walked through the jungle for about 15 minutes to this tribe. It was crazy to see that people still live in there! We got greeted and sat down right when we arrived. They didn't speak a language that I could even relate it to but to me it sounded like a gibberish. They used a plant to paint lines on our faces like they do and them explained their way of life. They didn't wear much clothes and they had many little children. We actually  got to shoot their blow guns that they use to kill their food. We got to shoot it at 2 coins that were placed farther away. I was the only one to hit the target! It was exciting and we got to wear their tribal hat while doing it. After we danced and they pulled us all out eventually to dance with them. In the end we bought some of their handmade items and little trinkets. On our way down we had to hurry to the boat and get ready for what ended up being a 3 hour boat ride to the floating markets. We slept and played cards until we arrived. The markets were all literally just floating on top of the water and it was very weird to see them and to see animals just hanging out on them. When we got to the shore we got out and our taxis were waiting for us. We were ready to get out of the jungle. Once we arrived at the airport our plane was taking forever! Finally an hour later we got to board. After 3o minutes of waiting in the plane we heard an announcement that we had to get off and have another plane take us. When we were leaving the plane we saw that a whole window from the front pilots window was broken and completely off...No wonder we couldn't fly?? We got back in the airport only to find out that our flight had been canceled. Tired, hungry, sweaty, full of bug-spray, we were all not very happy. Sitting in the airport trying to figure out when we could go home was another story. At 11:30-ish we got a new plane, BUT it wasn't going to fly out until 2:00 the next day. QUE LASTIMA...They gave us a hotel with breakfast in the morning and sent us on our way. Our little taxi buggy was a blur for me and to top it off when we arrived, Luke's backpack was stolen. WE COULD NOT WIN. Our hotel had air-conditioning which was the only great thing because in our room we had no towels to shower with, and our shower head drained like a sink faucet. Also our luggage reeked from the jungle which did not help...yikes. Finally it was to the point were we were starving and so we decided to venture out in this unknown area at 12:00am to find something to eat. I lost my appetite and when we finally found a place we went in and 3 of us just ordered a plate of french fries to cure ourselves. We finally got to bed at 3:00am and left the next morning to get to the airport on time. We finally made it home that next day and it was just a terrible struggle. BESIDES that whole extra day of messiness, the jungle was by far my favorite trip so far. Enjoyed a lot of interesting things and got the chance to experience some of the most amazing things. I can say i went to the amazon Y LO AMO!! :) 

ICA..LAS DUNAS!

CAUTION: LONG POST-----Well well well, it has been an EXTREMELY long weekend/week that is for sure. But it was extremely long with all of the traveling and fun that I did! Starting on Friday my family and me decided to go camping on the beach again :). We had a lot of fun with swimming in the ocean, going out, and wake-boarding! Sadly we couldn't stay till sunday because I was leaving for my trip to ICA on sunday! When sunday came our tour bus ( was a two story bus) was leaving at 7:30 am. and so my dad dropped me off at the station a little before! Once we got on the bus I was very impressed with how nice it was! We had nice big comfy/reclining chairs, pillows and blankets, air conditioning, free breakfasts and dinners, and a TV that played movies for us the whole way! I can honestly say I was very content :) The bus took around 3-4 hours until we finally arrived at our hotel resort! It was called Las Dunas ! We went and got our keys and Whitney, Allie, and me all shared a really nice room!   After we all got settled in we went out to Central Ica and took lunch out there! After lunch we went back to the hotel and Marta found us a guide that said she would take us to the area where the dunes were so that we could go "sand"boarding... :) After sand boarding she said she would take us to a pisco/vinery! We decided to go and change and get ready for our adventure! We got in her bus and she took us to where we needed to go. Once we arrived we payed 50S for all of the equipment, a ride out on the cart, and an hour sand boarding! I was terrified to go into this big go-cart looking contraption. But once I did, it was so much fun. It felt like we were going on a roller coaster up and down the sand mountains really fast. We had interesting seat-belts so that we would not fly out and if they were not there, it was definitely a possibility. These carts were flying everywhere around the sand and it was a very beautiful site to see all of the mountains of sand around us. Once we arrived at our stop where we would start to sand board, we were all covered in sand and eating a little bit of it as well. The guides kindly took a bunch of  pictures for us on top of the mountain before we were given our boards. My board was red, it had 4 velcro straps on it and that was all that we needed :) I was one of the last ones to go down the hill, and I was terrified that my board was just going to PLUNGE into the sand at the bottom because of how steep this hill was. The stance was to have both of your elbows inside the board while holding onto the straps. After I did that you had to spread your legs and keep them off of the sand so that you were not constantly "braking". I flew down the hill and made it all the way to the bottom with no sand in my face or anything! It was amazing and very fun. Then we climbed the next hill and proceeded to go down another hill that was smaller then the first. I decided that I wanted to stand up and "snow board" down this one.

To my amazement I did not fall once!!--until the end. I made it all the way down the hill some how and had a blast! Finally we all went down one last hill, this one was my least favorite because I sat on my board for this one. You had to sit with your feet on the board, hands extended out and close to the ground to brake. I did not seem to catch this memo of "braking" because I kept my hands out to the sides of me no where near the ground. I suffered at the end and went over what felt like a HUGE ramp, and landed pretty hard. I survived and was not hurt but had a little pain from the landing. Once we all finished going down the hills we were covered in sand and we all looked really dirty! We got back into our buggy and had a fun ride back over lots of cliffs and hills. When we returned our guide from the hotel took us to this amazing vineyard. We got a tour of the area and an explanation of how everything was made and picked. After the tour we all got to try little shots of wine, pisco, and creams. At the end some of purchased some wines and creams to bring back to the states for our friends and families to try! Despues the vineyard we went back to the hotel y all went straight to change into our swimsuits. We immediately jumped into the pool to rinse off our sand! We ended up playing a very heated game of pool basketball and after decided we needed some rest because the next day (Monday) was our trip to Las Islas. We had to be up and ready by 6 because our transportation was leaving at 6:30. We all got up early and went to eat breakfast which consisted of FRESH fruits, FRESH fruit drinks, breads, cheeses, hams, eggs, and jellies! It was a filling breakfast and we needed it for the energy. The guide took us to Las Islas (islands) around 50 minutes away from our hotel. Once we arrived we were given some time to shop around and look at the little souvenir shops. Paracas was the little name on all of the souvenirs and such and here I bought a hat finally! We also went and looked around the sand at puppies and a man that was friending lots of pelicans. They were following  him around and he was feeding them fish. They were so adorable and some people went to take pictures next to them. Finally it was our turn to get onto the big speed boat. When we did we all had to wear bright orange lifejackets and then we started on our way. We drove, they said, for 2 hours out to the islands where all of the seals were, and stopped a few places along the way for cool pictures and stories about the area. It was chilly on the boat ride but we managed to make it through, and eventually did not notice because of the wind and sun. When we arrived to the islands, it was a jaw-dropping site...There were big rocks coming out of the water, with arches and holes and different levels, it was amazing!! We went around the islands and saw TONS of seals and baby seal pups, crabs, birds everywhere, and jellyfish! 

They were the biggest jellyfish I have ever seen in my life, and they were a kind of orange color with LONG long tentacles. When I said birds were everywhere, it is not an exaggeration. They were constantly flying and there had to be millions and millions just sitting on all of the rocks and flying around. The sky was full of them and yes, people did get bird poop on them :X !! I was lucky and did not but others, not so lucky. On the way back we got to see one of the NAZCA LINES!! It was so neat because I never thought I would ever get the chance to see them! The others you have to take a plane ride to go and see but we were lucky enough to see this one from the boat!! :) After we got back we returned to our hotel and decided to go out to eat at an Italian Restaurant. We ate and shopped a little around the area and then returned to spend the rest of the night around the hotel. At one point, I wish I could remember what day and when, we went to a chocolate factory :) It was very cool and I of course bought some chocolates for myself! When Tuesday rolled around we all got lunch and lounged around by the pool until it was time to return home on our CRUZ DE SUR bus. It was an exceptional trip and I had loads of fun. :) Can not wait to see what the AMAZON has to offer this friday--TOMORROW :) Nos Vemos! 

MINION weekend. :)

Time has been flying by. I want it to slow down! This weekend I went to my first theater play in Lima! It was called TOC TOC and it was allllllll in spanish :). I was very happy and proud of myself that I could understand most of what they were saying! It was about all of these different people that came into a doctors office and were waiting for the doctor. They all had different problems for ex. one had the tics, one had OCD, another had a problem with germs, another repeated everything two times, one was obsessed with numbers and dates, and the last one was always thinking that she was forgetting things. It was a comedy and it ended up being extremely funny with many different twists at the end! I am very happy I went and my father even packed up snacks for us to take in secret to put in our purses! Saturday and Sunday I was the bum at the beach and I enjoyed it very very much. I can not imagine coming home and not having the option of going to the beach anymore. It makes me sad and jealous because they live so close to it here! This past Thursday my sister and I went out shopping at Larco Mar. We took little buses to get there, which never cease to please me....and then arrived at these little shops! First we walked around a lot and saw lots of interesting things!  We stopped to get a

manicure and it was only 4 US dollars! There they also had these tanks where you put your feet in and these little fish in the tanks suck on your feet! They do not have teeth but I found it insane! I have never seen anything like that before but it is supposed to be very healthy for you! After that we kept walking around and at one store I bought myself a Peruvian Jersey for the soccer game that we are going to go to March 22! I am very excited because it has been on my bucket list to go to a big soccer game in a professional stadium. This game between Chile and Peru is a qualifying match to enter into the World Cup. I heard these games are crazy and it doesn't help that Peru and Chile are rivalries!! But I am excited either way ! Later that night  a couple of us went to a very classy pub and hung out there for the night, it was called Aura. This week here has already started up I am once again busy as ever. Spanish is starting to stick a little more everyday but it is deff. something I have to study everyday. Loving it here. Not wanting to leave. Bueñas :)

Un Carnaval de Pintura!!

Friday, 22 of February some of our friends and our conversations partners went to a paint carnival down in Lima! It was amazing and very interesting to experience. We arrived there and waited in line and payed 15S to get in. Once we arrived we made our way up to the front of the stage and started dancing and having fun! There was un monton of people there and it was very hot for awhile. They played a lot of fun songs and old ones, some in spanish and some in ingles. Songs from the Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, and many others! After awhile of dancing men in white outfits came on stage with paint guns. They started spraying the crowd with all different colors or neon paints. I was not paying attention to what was happening until after the paints were in my mouth and my eyes. Was not prepared for that but after it was so funny to watch everyone get hit with paint. We danced around with everyone and they kept spraying paints and playing music. They then emptied a big bag of confetti and balloons out to the crowd. The stage was all decorated and they had decorated flags that they also let loose after the confetti. It was a blast and we stayed and danced until the paint was uncomfortable and we needed showers haha. The next day I went to the beach with my parents and my brother 

Andres. We stayed there all day and then in the night Danilelle came over and we had a barbeque with my family on our deck upstairs. We took chorrisos, hamburgers, and cheese on sticks, all really good food! Sunday my family and me went to Jockey and had Pizza Hut, and then went to a movie! My first movie in Peru! It was called- Duro de matar-Hard to Kill. It was an action movie so I enjoyed it a lot! It was in 3 different languages and I am very happy to say I understood all of it-Russian, Español, y Ingles. It was another amazing weekend in Perú 
and I cant wrap my mind around how long I have been here and how much longer I have! This week has been crammed with examens and I learn more and more everyday. Speaking is the hardest part because there is so many ways to say the same thing. I hope to figure it out soon enough. I can understand a lot though which is extremely exciting, now its just putting it together in my head! This week I met some more of my family here, my cousins and aunts and uncles, all extremely nice people and we also celebrated my cousin's birthday! I love how everyone has a lot of family time here, something I wish people in the states did more. Puesssss, Hasta Luego!

Never waiting for más adventure!

Kidnappings in Cuzco...no bueño. :( I was so sad that we were not going to Cuzco this weekend but I have discovered other fun things to do around Lima that I was not sad for long ! We were done with classes early this week and decided to go hang out after class Wednesday in Mira Flores with our companeros de conversacion! We passed by a very pretty park area where they have a bunch of chess tables! It was really cool looking and reminded me of the movies :) We took a snack and drink at this famous place called La Lucha-it was an outside restaurant! After we went to this place called Huaringas for a drink and it was in a cool house, tons of stairs and levels, and we went all the way into the attic. It was decorated very neat and had great drinks! The next day we all decided to go check out las tiendas that we would have seen in Cuzco. We went and shopped all around and I bought a couple things which was good because everything was so cheap! Later that evening I made my family lonche!! It was a mad mess going to the store and trying to find these items to make my food. The store was huge and when I tried to explain I needed chocolate chips and butterscoth chips....well it was a lost cause after awhile. I made it work though with different ingredients and thankfully it worked just fine!  They wanted an American snack and so I prepared Little Smokies, Scotcharooes, and Deviled Eggs! I was surprised but they loved all of it and thought it was all really weird until they tried it. Tonight I am very excited, Me and some of our Peruvian friends and american friends are going to go to a Carnaval Dance :) It should be a lot of fun and I can not wait. I will write more when this never ending weekend...ends. :)  

Perú el Zoologico !

After a long week at school I decided to take a more relaxed weekend at home, it was amazing. Friday I got up early and went to the Zoo!! I didn't know what to expect but when we arrived we got trampled by mobs of people trying to sell us umbrellas and hats due to the sun! We entered and started walking around. They had lots of play areas for kids, penguinis, a ton of monos (monkeys), birds, and tigers. We walked through a tree/plant garden which was interesting, and also a fake "selva" jungle. It was exciting to see the fake selva because it got me excited to see the Amazon when we go this march!! I think my favorite part was when we got to see a huge lake of lily pads. It was so pretty and we walked along it and looked at different animals and baby monkeys! They had huge bamboo trees all throughout and on them people wrote their names and who they loved, I thought it was cute so I wrote an L.. for myself hah. We walked through the whole zoo, smaller then ours but still pretty big, and we were exhausted. I went and had lunch at home and then went to mass that evening with my family! I also didn't no what to expect for this either! When we walked up they didn't have doors, so people can go and leave as they please. It was   more relaxed then our churches in Estados Unidos porque all the people dress down more here. My dad said people here can wear swim-trunks and it will be okay to wear. Crazy! Mass started and everything, that I could understand, was in the same order so that was nice! They had fun music with tambourines, bells, and drums and it sounded very pretty in español! They take confession before being able to receive the Body of Christ which I thought was interesting, but also kind of neat. We made the sign of peace, and here they hug and kiss on the cheek which is also what we kind of do! When it was time to receive the host, they do not wait here to go row by row but instead everyone that  wants/has had confession, stands and just gets in lines! After mass was over my mom took me to the front because after the priest uses holy water and sprays you with it and puts it in your hands if you hold them out. 
We did this and while we were leaving the group still

there was singing feliz cumpleaños to the priest! It was quite an experience. On saturday I went running and site seeing with my parents and ate a really nice restaurant, and Sunday I went to the beach :) I love when we go because it is so relaxing and getting a tan is never bad :) After the beach we had a big dinner at the best sushi place I have ever eaten at. I can sadly say it was better then BLUE. For 45S we got a buffet of sushi and ate and ordered all different kinds until we couldn't move. It was heaven and really good because it was sushi with all different kinds of Peruvian sauces. I will be going back there for sure! This week is going to be really exciting and really busy because this thursday were going off to CUSCO!! I can not wait....Write more this week :) Hasta la proxima vez! 

Arequipa,Llamas,Condors,Pisco,y amigos :)

Our first viaje alone!! Well, it sadly was not supposed to be but Marta got food poisoning from eating duck. No bueno! Regardless we traveled our way to the airport at 2 in the morning and waited for our flight. In order to get to the plane we had to take a packed bus (terrible) to the plane to board outside. We took the baby plane out to Arequipa and it had breakfast but I was a zombie and fell asleep so I missed it! Once we arrived we waited in the airport until our Johnny Depp look alike came and found us saying that he was our tour guide! He spoke really good english and right from there we started our tour to Colca Valley and Chivay. We had others on the tour with us and they were from Chile, really nice people :). We started our site seeing of volcanoes and beautiful mountains. 

Along the way we got to see alpacas, llamas, and another kind of llama just roaming around the land. When we made a stop at a restaurant they had a little shop where they sold llama and alpaca fur clothes. It was amazingly soft and I bought socks and other things there! We mainly stopped there to drink coca tea. The tea was supposed to help us all with the altitude sickness that some of us were feeling. For some of us it made us more groggy but Im so thankful that I was feeling okay. When we reached the highest point where the volcanoes were, we took a stop at some open huts. These huts were our bathrooms :) and a hole in the floor. Here we felt the worst I think haha and we had to jump over a little creek to get to the bathrooms and that is when I felt weird. Danielle had to put her head between her legs, and I had to eat about 20 lemon drop candies to feel better! It was an amazing view but a little painful! 

Finally we arrived to Chivay. Here we took lunch and we had alpaca meat! It was nothing to brag about thats for sure but I am glad I tried it! Our hostel was actually connected to the place where we took lunch and so we went and got situated and then off to the hot springs we went! This tour/ trip really did not allow sleeping, it was unheard off actually. The hot springs were very cool! We walked down thousands of stairs and the hot-spring looked like an actual pool. It was extremely warm and it relaxed us all for awhile until we thought our bodies were cooking from the openings in the pool that shoot out water (im lost of this english word. . . really thought about it for a good 10min. and now I give up)

 After the hot-springs we traveled back to the hotel and it just seemed like the day was never ending. Our tour guide told us he would be back to pick us up in an hour in half. Me and Danielle went to our room and pretty much pretended to sleep and then we got ready for a dinner and a show! We ate at a restaurant that had peruvian music and dancing! It was very cool and Luke and Whitney got pulled into dancing! The dances told stories and they were funny at times too. I had alfredo con tomato soup and a cake for dessert! It was all very good and by the end of the night we went to sleep but only till we had to wake up at 6:30 :) Saturday we went and traveled to Colca Valley to see condors!! THE BIGGEST FLYING BIRDS IN THE WORLD. Once we arrived it was unfortunately foggy but I did see a huge rabbit thing :) Me and Danielle saw more of their stacking rocks around this area and I decided to stack some rocks too and make a tower to honor gods. (the reason why we saw condors later) Once we left and headed back to Chivay, we stopped at two more site seeing places where we eventually saw condors, held huge hawks, and took pictures de the landscape and cute llamas! Our tour guide told us stories about the land and everything and how Colca Valley is the biggest canon in the world. He dropped us off at our hotel in Arequipa which was an amazing place with a huge REAL WORLD looking kitchen. Once we got here it was around 5:00 o clock and we decided to walk around La Plaza de Armas to see shops and gather food for an American styled dinner. Macaroni and Cheese with sandwiches. 

We ate them up and then we played card games and finally went out on the town in Arequipa. The downtown area was a really fun place and the dancing was non-stop. Definitely made some memories down there. After our fun night out we went to bed and woke up early to check out and go shopping around Arequipa. After we got attacked by children with water buckets and cans of spraying soap, we ate a little restaurant and then headed back to the hotel.

 ATMS are impossible to find in Arequipa, and children attack GRINGOS,  heads up for everyone!!

We had taxis called for us to take us to the airport and at the airport we all bought the famous chocolate from Arequipa-Iberica. It was really good and to top it off we got food on the plane again, and this time I was awake. I was awake because someone had to be due to our flight attendant was falling asleep showing the safety procedures, and our plane roof was falling down. :) It was a great trip and something I will never forget !!

Camping a la playa!!

Que bueno! Que lindo! Que gracioso no?

Loving the spanish language. Even though at times I like to rethink what on earth am I doing here, I honestly enjoy everything about Peru. This weekend I got a full ear full of spanish because I was with my family, my cousin and my sisters friend camping a la playa! It was an amazing experience. We arrived there and set up our tents just like you do if you were en un bosque, and then we unpacked all our stuff! We got settled in and my father started making us some hamburgers for dinner! 

Friday night my sister, Natalia ( her friend) and I got ready and went out to the clubs near the beach we were camping at. First we went to her friends house where they had an outdoor pool! ( soo cool, looked like the ones that fall out over the edge!) We then went as a big group out to the club strip. They had a bunch of little places to go and dance and eat and it was all outdoors! We stayed out till 5-am and then we all took a charter bus shuttle back to the beach and went to sleep right away.

 We were in the tent and I only slept for about 4 hours until I started getting hot from the sun. We all woke up about the same time and we grabbed our pareos, laid them down on the sand under shade, grabbed our pillows and slept some more outside. It was definitely something I could get use to- falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. After there was not a lot of breeze and the sun was getting hotter we were forced to wake up. My dad made us cheese sandwiches for breakfast and then we changed and fell asleep by la piscina. We took lunch at Del Abuelos where me and my sister had hawiana pizza! My cousin joined us in the night and we had a BBQ with chorizo y hamburgers and a little bonfire. My family had never heard of SMORES before so I went and bought some supplies at the mini market in the beach and I taught them how to make them. They loved them which was good and they thought it was the weirdest combination. How? I have no idea because sometimes I wonder in my head how they come up with some of their creations. Always good though :) 

Mi cousin! Making us a bonfire for SMORES

By sunday I didnt think it was possible to listen or try to comprehend anymore spanish. It was SUPERBOWL sunday and when I got home and showered I watched the game. . . in spanish none-the-less. It was a great way to end my weekend though and I cant wait for more adventures. Spanish is slowly creeping in my brain at all times. When I am talking to my friends I forget english words and im constantly making words and phrases in my head. Scary but interesting haha. 

Pueesssssss..........buenas noches! ;)