Home

Wow. I can't believe it. I'm back. I missed my connecting flight from La Guardia to Minneapolis, but don't worry, I made it a little later anyway. I actually lost it a little waiting for my flight, knowing that I will never go back and have everything be the same that it was. Knowing that I might never see my host family again. Knowing that the friends I made at USIL and I will never be classmates again.

Coming home, I think the most shocking thing was that everything was the same. It wasn't home that changed, it was me. However cliche that sounds, it's the truth. I'm basically picking up right where I left off here. I guess I don't really know what else I expected. It is going to be weird readjusting to everything. It already is.

I had a nightmare that Lola didn't remember me during my time in Peru. When I saw her today she was just confused but I think she remembered. She's actually laying by me right now. It makes me sad to know that I this is my last post in here, but who is interested in my ordinary life back in the US? Thank you all so much for following me and coming with on this incredible journey. I think people get confused because I'm a complainer, but I am so thankful for this experience and wouldn't change any of it for anything. I know my life is changed for the better and I am just thankful to have had this amazing experience.

Thanks again for caring about me and the adventure I went on!

Millones de besos.

Last night out

Last night was our official last night out and it was definitely bittersweet. We first went to a nice restaurant as a whole school for a final dinner. The food was pretty good I must say and it was fun to have dinner with everyone all together.

Cristain giving a toast

After that, we went to Norton's for a bit and got some drinks. There were so many moments that I kind of just wanted to cry cause I'll never do that again with all these people who have become my close friends while I was here.

Found a cat in the bar....oh Peru. God love ya!

amigas

We then went to Nuna Machay to see our friend Gretchen play some live music! She did covers of the Indigo Girls and Tracy Chapman and a few of her own. She is really really talented and it was cool to see someone doing something they love in ANOTHER COUNTRY. After that, we headed to Inka Team one last time, where the bouncer was really rude to us. I don't know why. We danced for a bit but then a few of us got bored and decided to go home.

bonita cantante

captivated

I definitely feel weird today, knowing that tomorrow I leave. I want to see everybody but I want to stay here, but at the same time I want to go home. I'M SO CONFUUZZEEDDD. I'll be fine. It will be weird not having to update this lil guy.

I definitely feel changed by this whole experience, though. Like you know how some people get in car accidents or have some traumatic experience and they have their "Life before the accident" and "Life after the accident"? Well this has had that effect on me. I definitely had a life before this adventure, and I am 100% changed after it.

WELL, LOST MY DEBIT CARD TODAY SHOPPING! Guess it wouldn't really have been right if I had held onto that thing for 4 months straight. H8 lyfe.

Besos

Last week

Last week here. SOFA KING WEIRD. Last Thursday we went to visit the beer factory to see where and how Cusquena was made. We found out that the Bakus brand was actually owned by Budweiser. CLASSIC "capitalism" and the illusion of selection! I'll spare you all that rant though. The tour was really pretty sweet and we got free water (never happens here) and beer so what college student would complain? Well, besides me. We got to wear cool helmets though and they played music in them. I didn't get a picture of myself so I'm uploading a picture of my friend (sorry, if you ever read this, Mols).

Friday was the last day at the clinic which was mostly exciting but kind of sad. I just wish the nurses were nicer to us because it really ruined my experience there. They didn't trust us with anything and to say they were stand-offish is an understatement. They were straight hostile but whatever. It was fun to play with the kids for one last time.

Friday night we did paper plate awards and drank Sangria at our favorite pizza place La Recoleta and it was really fun. I got the "Most Likely to Marry her Taxi Driver or Waiter" Award. GUILTY AS CHARGED. The taxi drivers LOVED ME. I think there were 6 that asked for my number. I learned after the first one that it was a mistake to give it out. Also, none of them were cute. And I probably had a crush on every single waiter I had. Sorrryyyboutcha. I also got "Most Obscure Taste in Men" because I made the mistake of telling people I found Conan O'Brien attractive and "Most Likely to See an Imaginary Mouse" because Andy doesn't believe that I saw one or taht it chewed through my backpack in the jungle! It was really fun and I'll really miss my friends here. We're all so different but it has been so fun with them.

Fwiendz!

Andy gave me a mini Packers
helmet with my award
...sorry mom!

Otherwise I've just been taking finals and shopping my ass of for presents that I need because I did ZERO shopping for ANYONE even myself all semester. I just kept figuring I'd do it eventually and now it's crunch time and I'm annoyed at myself I didn't do it sooner. I wanna start packing because it takes me forever and I don't wanna rush last minute, but I can't bring myself to do it.

We all kind of leave in waves on Sat so there is one group who's flights leave at like 9ish or 9:30 and then another group (mine) who's flight leaves at 3:30. We're gonna go with to say bye for the am group. Thursday night we are having a farewell dinner that I'm excited for. It's the whole school including all the teachers. Also FREE FOOD AND DRINK! What else could I ask for?

Finger puppets for dad. confused as to why he needs twenty but whatevs!

Nos vemosss <3

Hungle Tyme

So, the jungle. I went on a five day journey there and it was quite incredible to say the least. I'm glad I went to the jungle, but I wouldn't have to go back...like ever. I'll stick to the forests of Minnesota for camping/hiking/trekking. There are no giant tarantulas, jaguars, poisonous frogs, vipers, or bullet ants there. Where to begin...ah yes, the bus ride. We rode first class, bus style and the seats were great. We were all excited to go, yay. I don't know WHAT Peru's deal is with air conditioning, but they certainly have no clue how to use it. Half way through the ten hour drive it was hot. Like, I couldn't breathe hot. It was pretty miserable, even in first class bus seats.

awkward faces. delicious food.

We got to the bus station in Puerto Maldonado and got picked up and brought to the office for Explorers Inn, the place we were staying for the next four nights. The guy who picked us up said "We are waiting for others, it will be a bit." Little did WE know, 'a bit' was five hours. So from 6:30am to 11:30am my companions and I tried to sleep on chairs in the room shown below. I'll be honest, I was cranky AF. Anyway, the people we were waiting for came. They were some really strange people from Holland. Off we went, on the hour long car ride, hour and a half long boat ride to the lodge.

we all took a five hour nap in this room -_-

lunch on da boat. rice and chiggen

saw these lil guys on the way

We got to the lodge, met some monkeys, got our rooms, and passed the eff out until nightfall where we got dinner and went on a hunt for Caimen. Caimen are relatives of alligators and crocodiles. They are smaller, I think, or at least the ones we saw were. So we all got in the boat and had to be really silent to find these little dudes. I got some pretty good pics.

hola monos

sup

The next day, we went on a 7 hour walk starting at 5:30am. We walked 6 kilometers to a lake in the jungle and went on a boat to see some wildlife. The walk there was pretty incredible. Everywhere we went we had to wear rubber boots and all the paths were supper muddy. I love tromping through mud though so I loved every second of it. It was so humid the first day though that when my shirt was soaked through I wasn't sure if it was because of the humidity or sweat. Lovely. There were a shit ton of cool natural things in the jungle. Like the juice from a seed that, if applied for a certain amount of time makes a scar go away for ever. Or vines to swing on. I tried and failed. No upper body strength. Sorry boutcha.

 We saw a little bird I don't know the name of, a flower, I made friends with a butterfly, stinky birds, a heron, and most importantly; giant otters! Our guide (who, on an irrelevant side note, sounded like kermit the frog) told us we had a 50/50 chance of seeing them. But we did! My one cool picture is really blurry and I was gonna take a video but I was so excited to see the otters my brain stopped working and I didn't know how to take one.

butterfly

stinkybird!

ottersss

this would be THE BEST if it weren't blurry

We got back, met a parrot. They said the parrot would drink tequila and rum sometimes but not all the times and that he likes to come and hang out with them. They feed him juice and bananas. I thought that was so cool. Especially the fact that the parrot chooses to drink and get drunk or only have a little bit. Crazy. Then we ate lunch, napped, ate dinner, I kind of forget what else.

That night, went on a nightwalk and saw a bunchwe went to bed and a little critter joined us at about 3am. Ate a hole in my backpack, rummaged around the wrappers in there, left. I am honestly so scared of the dark it's terrifying. I have this overactive imagination so of course I thought it was a monster or a tarantula or a giant spider and was too scared to look at it. Defs got a bad nights rest.

We were supposed to get up at five to go to a clay lick for the birds in the area, but it was raining and bad weather so we got to sleep more, went to breakfast, then walked to a tower that goes above the entire forest. On sunny days, our guide said that you're supposed to be able to see the mountains in Puno which are 100 miles away. It was, for lack of a better word, STELLAR!

the view

all smilez

I don't remember which day, but at one point we went on a night walk and saw a few terrifying creatures. Giant tarantulas, big aggressive spiders, a viper that could kill you within minutes if it bit you, and a frog. Cool but terrifying. We had  a few minutes of "meditation" and the girls and I just talked about shopping and how great the Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual sale will be.

.

bye

baby snake

viper

froggie

 The day that we left, we got up at 5:30 yet again to go see the clay lick because it was beauttiiffuul that day. The clay has salt in it because plants don't need it so it's all in the soil. So it's like a big natural salt lick for the birdies. There were all different kidns. It was kinda cool but we were with a big group of old people who were bird watchers or something we spent wayyyy too long there. It was cool to experience though! We went back, had breakfast, packed, and left for Puerto Maldonado.

beautiful sunrise on the river

birdz

We voyaged back to Puerto Maldonado and spent the day there because our bus didn't leave til 7:30 and we got to the city at like 11:00am. So we had like 8 hours there. I actually love that city and it make me wish I had planned on staying and travelling around cities I didn't get to experience while I was here. Everyone drives a moped/motorcycle or takes a mototaxi. The people were so nice and it's not a touristy place really so we had kids coming up to give us gringos high fives and saying hola and it was just a really good city. AUNNO MAYNG. I'll just have to come back at some point. The bus was a sauna again, but at 6:30am we were back home in Cusco.

golden gate bridge?

main plaza

moto taxi!

not looking forward to the drive back

Well. 6 days until I leave Peru. WEIRD. SO WEIRD. I can't deal. I was pretty homesick for a while but I just wnat to stay. I don't want to leave my host family, I hate knowing I'll never be with this group of friends again all in one place. It just makes me sad this experience is all over. That doesn't mean I don't miss home, because I really do. Especially Lola. Sorry not sorry I'm a dog lady. 

Today I tried cuy! It was actually really pretty good. I was a little shocked when it came out with the claws and teeth still on. They just like fry the shit out of the guinea pig, whole. It was weird. But it was the last Sunday with my host family and I may or may not have teared up a little bit when Julietita fell asleep curled up in my lap on the car ride there. Saying goodbye to her will be the hardest because she is so young she won't understand I may never see her again. Okay, I need to change subjects because this makes my heart hurt.

I've of course avoided getting gifts all semester so now I have to scramble to get them all. So finals and shopping is what I'm doing with my last six days! I think this post is way too long so I'll letcha go. Besos

Comida

I'm up late and bored so I figured I'd do a lil post on all my favorite foods here in Peru and fill you in a little bit on typical dishes here. In Peru, they eat a normal sized breakfast, HUGE lunch, and then dinner really late at like 9 o'clock. Well, at least my family does. They take food very very seriously and if you don't eat it all they think something is wrong or that you are unhappy. Rice is also a huge part of their diet. It isn't typical asian rice it's made with a little bit of oil and salt and garlic if you want it. SO DELICIOUS. Let us continue.

 My first and favorite is Aji de Gallina (Chicken with pepper). It's a dish made with the peruvian yellow pepper, shredded chicken, potatoes, and an olive and hard boiled egg if you want it. You make the sauce, shred the chicken..?, and cook the potatoes. Mix the sauce and the shredded chicken together, put the potatoes on the dish and pour the mixture over the potatoes and then top it off with the egg and the olive. All of this is served with rice, of course.

Second, cuy. AKA Guinea pig. They don't eat it real often here and it's pretty expensive. They eat it on special occasions. I actually have yet to try this, but my friends who have say that it isn't very good. I will try it before I leave because I can't have come to Peru and not tried Guinea Pig!

Quinua is popular in the states now. I missed that memo, but they use it here too! In a lot of stuff. I especially like their quinua soups.

NEXT is the corn. They have huuuge corn here and they call it 'choclo'. You usually order it with cheese and eat it with your fingers, picking the little kernels out one by one. It's pretty good but I got it from the street once and it made me REAL sick so I haven't really been able to eat it since.

There is also a purple corn that they use to make a drink that kids love called Chicha Morada. It's like a juice, and it doesn't taste super corn like. It's pretty good.

They also make this thing called Mazamora Morada. It's kind of like a jelly but it's warm and they give it to me when my tummy hurts. It's pretty tasty.

Ceviche is next. This is a big dish here and from what I understand it's raw fish mixed with stuff? I don't eat seafood, like, ever, so that's why I don't know that much about it. Here is a pic though.
                                             

This stuff is called Inca Cola. It tastes like bubble gum and is a very popular drink here. I like it but its VERY sweet.

Lastly, the deserts. MY FAVORITE! We'll start with alfajores. These tasty little shits are crumbly cookie type circles that have dulce de leche in between them. Topped off with powdered sugar and coconut on the sides. TO DIE FOR.

Sublimes are my favorite type of candy here. Idk if they're in other parts of the world, but they're here and they're TASTY. You can either get milk or white chocolate and it has peanuts in it. So yums.

Picarones. PICARONES. The closest thing I can relate them to is doughnuts but theyre crunchy and have a warm syrup poured over them. I could eat a thousand of these and not get tired of them.

QUICK CORRECTION

I just realized that in the entry titled 'And then I got my butt massaged' I didn't ever elaborate or explain WHY that title has that title. So, without further adieu, let us go back to the day that my friend and I got our butt's massaged.....

We started out with the intention of going shopping for gifts for us, friends, and family. We meandered into the San Blas area which is where hipsters that come here go to evolve into full fledged rastafarians/hippies. We were meandering, looking at backpacks, looking at alpaca hats, looking at wallets; just looking at shit. We found a little nook that had a bunch of different types of items and were obviously intrigued. When we got back ther,e a woman approached us and asked us if we wanted a massage. After deliberating for all of a minute, we decided why the hell not lets get the massages. She led us into a little room and told us to take off all of our clothes. Okay, so far so good, pretty normal. We took off our clothes except our undies because we felt a little weird about that and covered ourselves in our little blankees and waited. They came in and went to work. I mean, it was fine, except the fact that the massage went extraaaaaaooorrrdiinaaarily high up your thighs. I told myself to relax and that it was Peru and they do shit differently here. Then, after massaging my legs, the lady got on the table and started massaging my butt! It was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever experienced! I'll save you the deets, but it was definitely unusal/uncomfortable/unreal.

love ya mean it

hi

So. I haven't forgot that this blog existed but I haven't had pictures to post so I've been resisting because the last few posts of mine have been pictureless and if you're anything like me you get bored after reading a paragraph if there isn't a picture along with it.

I shall fill you in on my vida. School is school, test in Latin American Lit on Monday, gotta read a book by the 30th La Casa Verde I hear it's pretty abstract. I have it but haven't started it. Woops. We had a guy come and ask us how everything was. I hate my Institutions in Peruvian Society teacher. He doesn't teach in an unbiased way it's all biased and (sorry to get a little political) he's a huge capitalist and just LOOOOOOVEEEESSS America, even though he's completely jaded about the way our country works. We obviously told them we hated him. Sorry not sorry. Spanish is Spanish. I have my final oral presentation in two weeks on local peruvian/cusquenian beliefs and supersitsons, yada yada.

Four of us are going to LA SELVA or in english words THE RAINFOREST next weekend for four days. Can NOT wait. It will be amazeballs. We got our Yellow Fever shots today. Let me tell you public hospitals here are something else. It honestly looked like a hopsital out of a horror film. Here are a few pics of where we're staying/what we'll be seeing.

So that animale is a Capybara and I know Chelsea will love that. But we're gonna see a shit ton of animals. I will take millions of pictures so ye be warned. The other two pics are the rooms and the grounds of the place that we're staying. Pretty nice, and all food included!

After our shots, we went to the peruvian Burger King, Bembos. They have the best food there. THE BEST. Then we explored a market but the smell was too strong and horrifying to really enjoy it. We found a beautiful church though, so I snapped a few pictures.

Other than that, I've got exactly 3 weeks left here. I can't believe how fast time has flown. It feels like I just got here, just experienced my first rain, just awkwardly made conversation with the people I now call my best friends. I can't believe this adventure is coming to an end. It probably won't hit me until I'm back and doing something that makes me miss the shit out of Peru. Meh. As the french say it, C'est la vie!


Besos betches <3

And then I got my butt massaged

Of many of the wonderful things here in Cusco, I would have to say food is the most wonderful. It's just so damn good. The rice is made with oil and salt and water and it's not typical white rice that is missing something. But let me just tell you about the PIZZA here. It's pretty much all thin crust, and DELICIOUS. It's served with a spicy sauce and a garlic sauce. While there is no ranch, these sauces really make up for it.

On Thursday night, I went with my host Mom and sibs to my host Dad's house where we made pizza. IT WAS SO GOOD I could've eaten all of it but instead I made myself stop. It was fun to spend time with the family. We talked about what superstitions we had and if we believed in ghosts. Pretty fun.

Friday night, a few friends and I went in search of this bar called Indigo where we had heard they have hookah. Well they did! It had been so long since I had hookah I was beyond excited to have it again! I tried blowing smoke rings and it only worked some of the time but I think I've mastered the French Inhale/Irish Waterfall. LOOK OUT WORLD BAD ASS COMING THROUGH. Ha. Jk.

Today everyone is doing fun shit besides my friend Molly and I so we are going to go back to Indigo and smoke some hookah, enjoy the happy hours, and possibly go out. Who knows. My time in Cusco is coming to an end, but I won't let my last days consist of me sitting on my ass!

Besos

When I Come Back

I'll be real: shit will be weird. My friend, Bryna, has a blog (she's in the Peace Corps and way more of a bad ass than me). She had an entry that talked about how she was eating breakfast, and there was a monkey and her first thought wasn't "Holy shit, a monkey!" it was "That monkey had BEST not try to eat my egg". She went on to say that a year ago she eating breakfast with a monkey would seem absurd to her and now it's just...routine. 


I think a lot about when I first got here: who I was, how ready I was to experience something completely new, how naive I was, how immature I was, how CRAZY I was to do something like this. Then, I think about who I am now: how this has been like a pandora's box for me-only in a good way, how privileged I really am, how much I've grown up, how completely different from the me four months ago I am now, and I can't help worrying that all this good and scary change isn't going to last.

I often wonder if it would have been better that I went to some fashionable, first world Spanish speaking country. I could have even studied in a bigger city like Lima, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, etc. and had a completely different experience. But this is the experience I wanted...this is the experience I needed. I needed to go somewhere that was dirty, and see young kids who were obviously malnourished. I needed to go somewhere that I had to walk or take a sketchy ass bus to school. I needed to go somewhere where men pee on the streets only two feet away from you, where dogs run rampant, where there are no laws about driving, where pedestrians don't have the right of way. I needed to have a Service-work placement in a clinic where kids with mental disabilities stay. I needed to be reminded of how absolutely lucky I am to have the life that I do regardless of the problems I have. I look back on how upset I'd get about stuff before I came here and just want to smack myself. I am so lucky.

I feel such a mix of emotion when I think about May 12th at 3:30pm. With just about thirty days left here, I feel an anticipation to go home and take advantage of things I always took for granted before coming here, but I also feel this pang of anxiety knowing that I'll never get to come back and do this experience over. I see myself returning to Peru, yes, but will it be with the same people who have become some of my best friends? No. Will I ever get to live with my host family again? No. Will I ever get to eat the amazing authentic food every day again? No. If I ever come come back here, it will be as a visitor and not as a resident. This is what makes me so sad.

I miss my family and friends so much. I miss my country. I miss fitting in and not being an obvious gringa. But at the same time, my heart already aches for the things I will never get to do again once I leave. My Mom once sent me a video that Louis CK did about students who study abroad. He spent his time making fun of twenty-somethings who don't really do anything THAT important while they're abroad, or in general. While there is plenty of the stereotypical beer drinking and nights out, I whole heartedly disagree with him. Maybe my service at the clinic won't have a life changing impact on those kids, but the things that I've done and experienced have forever changed my life in a profound and irreversible way. And for that, I am glad.

Easter Sunday

Today was packed! After weeping like a small child for the majority of yesterday when my parents left, I woke up this morning to go to play some soccer and volleyball with my family. It was pretty fun, but I am really competitive and hate losing so I got kinda annoyed when we lost at everything.

Anyway, after that we went to ride horses! I was so pissed I didn't bring my camera! I've been waiting to do that here all semester. The horses were different and cooler though. They were like mountain horses and could climb on all these rocks and shit. They also had really long hair which was kinda kewl. But my host dad, host mom, and I were the only ones who really knew how to ride them and my host brother and sister freaked out and had to get off. On their behalf, the terrain on the trail was either muddy as HELL or rocky as HELL and there were a lot of steep hills so even I got a little nervous my horse was gonna take a tumble.

Even after THAT we went to see a game at the Garcilaso stadium! Cusco has a soccer team named Los Ciencianos. The game was kinda boring and the crowd was NUTZ! They cant have any alcohol in the stadium because otherwise there would be riots and fighting and such.

After the game we came home and all my friends got back from their vacation so I've been able to catch up with them. I also caught up with Miss Lisa Harrigan who I haven't talked to in LITERALLY months. On top of THAT lent ended today so I ate a shit ton of candy! This has resulted in a head/belly ache. So overall after a bad day yesterday, today has been pretty good.

Tomorrow we start school again -_- but there are only 35 days left in my journey. Insane. I am excited to leave, but also dreading it. It's the weirdest feeling EVER.

Besos

parents!

Hi all! As you all know, my parents are visiting! It has been a packed and fun week and I am so glad to be able to see them after 3 months! The day they got here, I dragged them to a festival at Lucia's school for all the sports teams. It was really cool and they met my whole host family/extended family right away. After that, we went to lunch up by Sacsayhuaman. It was deliiiicciiiooousss and it was nice to be able to get to sit as one big familia. After they were dead tired, so they went to their hotel and to sleep.

The next day (Sunday) we went on a tour of the Sacred Valley. So sites like Chincero, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and one other place that I forgot. It was so cool to be able to have my parents see how incredible the ruins are and experience it all with them another time. I also felt very fit because I've been here for 3 months and they had been here a day so they got winded easily. HEH.

We had a day off, and Monday was 'La Procession' because Holy Week here is HUGE. They have a Jesus crucifix in the Cathedral of Cusco that they take out every Holy Monday of every year and parade him around the city. His name is 'El Senor de los Temblores' or the Lord of the Earthquakes. The rumor is, in 1650 there was a huge earthquake and all the people were terrified so they took this Jesus outside to the plaza and as soon as he was out there the earthquake stopped. That was prettyyy kewl. The next day, we were going to Machu Picchu and we were LEAVING at 4:30am, so we retired early.

sup, Jesus?

Machu Picchu was BEAUTIFUL this time around. The weather was perfect, I am so glad I have nice enough parents to let me go for a second time :]. We didn't hike Wayna Picchu because after I told my parents how hard it was they said they could do without it. We did go back to the Inca Bridge, though, and that was SO COOl in the daylight! Last time I was there, you couldn't see five feet in front of you due to fog so it was amazing to be able to see the river so far below instead of just hearing the roar of it.

cool pic of the clouds

haaayyyyyy  

advice: don't wear capris to the Picch. I have 69 bug bites.

Today is a very important day in Holy Week. Here in Peru, you eat TWELVE dishes for lunch. All of them were fish or seafood because they don't eat meat today, tomorrow, or Saturday. So my whole family even my host dad and host brothers came to eat lunch. My parents met Julietita finally, not to mention everyone else! It was a really fun day and I'm glad my host family got along so well with my real family. Tomorrow, I'm spending the whole day with my parents as it is their last full day here. I'm sad this week has gone by so fast, I think it's gonna be pretty tough saying goodbye to them again.