The hike from hell and other things that might not be my favorite

First I will start out with my dislikes. Get ready because there is a lot. Don't get me wrong, Peru is great, these are just things I have noticed over the last two weeks.

Traffic: It is terrifying. If someone wants to get into the space you are in, they will do it. You see people all over that have little dents on their cars, thats because people will just hit you. I've seen it too many times already. Its something that really scares me, so lately I will just try and concentrate on anything else.

Speed bumps: Speed bumps here are guidelines. Same goes with Stop signs. Have you heard the phrase "no cop, no stop"? Well it doesn't matter if a cop is there or not, they just don't stop. They like to go like 50 over speed bumps too. I was riding in the back with my host sister Daniela the other day while her dad was driving. He flew over them so fast that I hit my head on the ceiling while wearing my seatbelt.

Chifa: That is Chinese food here. It is so hard to order. Usually people can't pronounce the words correctly in English, much less another language. We had the hardest time at our Chifa restaurant that I ended up ordering fried shrimp (not chinese at all).

Water pressure: If you want a nice shower with high water pressure, forget it. I don't know what the hotels look like but my shower at home is weak. Its like when you are just turning off the hose at home and a little bit trickles out, but in the shower. But the sink has tons!

Air conditioning: I don't think I have been in a place yet that has air conditioning. My house definitely doesn't because my room is a constant hot box. I almost always have the fan on full blast. Even restaurants have their windows open for cool air.

Beaches: They are so rocky around our area. You have to go pretty south to find one that won't cut your feet up. I was pretty disappointed to find that out but oh well right?

Separate checks: Don't even think about getting your food or drinks on a different check than your friends. We've gone out to eat a lot and discovered no place gives you your own check. This is so frustrating. Almost always, someone gets ripped on money. The only people who may do that, is the ones who speak a little english.

Okay my rant is over. Let's talk about the hike I went on to Matucana to see the Cataratas or waterfalls!

Our professor Rob is awesome. His English is great but he hardly uses it with our class. For one of our classes, we were going on a hike that was about 2 hours away. We got up on Friday morning to get on the bus by 8am. Our breaks over heated a few times because we were going up rather than down in elevation. I really do not know what time we got there, but we eventually did make it to the town of Matucana. We then started a climb up to the waterfalls. Little did I know that I was going to die on the way to the top. Rob (our professor) and I had to take so many breaks. I told people to just leave me because I was embarrassed at how out of shape I was.2ish hours later we made it to the waterfalls. It was so beautiful there. Rob and Ivan were trying to make a fire to grill our hamburgers. Eventually I took over and became grill master. We took tons of pictures next to the waterfalls (Mariah actually went under it). We got followed around by these stray dogs that people ended up naming. After a few hours, we came back down. It was so much easier going down than up. The dogs even came with and scared us every time they got close to the edge. We finally got home and everyone basically went straight to sleep. It was an awesome trip. I really enjoyed it after I got there not during! I am going to try and spread my money around enough to be able to do more of that kind of thing.

One thing I wish I could do here is lay in a room that has air. My bed isn't the most comfortable but the worst thing is waking up in sweat almost every morning. All in all, it's been great and I can't wait for spring break!

They wanted me to own them...

This shake tasted like straight nutella but it made a great picture!

You guys will have to get used to seeing pictures of me with animals. Can't stop won't stop. 

This picture is Daniela (my host sister) and we are at the country club that I get to go see every sunday!

Yogurt in a glass?

Hello my beautiful friends and family, nows the time for blog number 2.

Life in Lima has been good to me, besides the fact that I cried already. Whoops. Let me tell you about my first couple of days here.
 Day1: Slept until almost noon because I traveled for like 18 hours straight. My host mom made me breakfast and I hung out with my host sister. My host mom Amparro is the sweetest lady here I'm convinced. The funny thing is that my host dads name is Daniel, and my host sisters name is Daniela. Of course I respond to all of those names so it got very confusing. I tried Chicha for the first time....not a fan but I may be the only one. It is made from purple corn and the Peruvians just love it here. Eventually...like a lot later we went to the mall. They must have known that I loved to shop because it was the place I would then call home. I got a chip for my phone there so I could message around here. The only downside is that I can't message people back home with IMessage. People just have to rely on good ol' Facebook. I really no one has been continuously texting me. The first day was really overwhelming. That is why I cried. For the night I thought this was all a mistake I need to go home now. But the next days to come got me right out of the mood.

Day 2: It was Friday and we had orientation for our school. For breakfast I had drinkable yogurt. Yes, it is in a glass and you chug it like milk. Another thing I need to get used to. My host mom got up and drove me to school. Walking it takes about 15 minutes, but driving its like 5. I get there and am totally amazed by how beautiful our campus is. Kearney has nuthin' on UPC. We listened to speakers talk about different programs that they offered. It was like we were incoming Freshman all over again. We got to eat in the restaurant on campus and that was pretty fancy. By that time, I was exhausted but I definitely didn't get to sleep. My host family took me like an hour away to their cousins house. It was a scary neighborhood because they told me to roll up my window and put my purse on the ground. I sat in their place for maybe 3 hours just staring off into space. I had not even a clue as to their conversation topics. Once we got home, I got ready to go out with the girls. We caught a cab to El Jockey Plaza (the mall) and found a place to eat. El Papachos was a delicious burger place. Miraflores is the place to go out but we were only there for a day so we didn't know that at the time. We tried ordering shots, and that was just absurd haha. We eventually decided maybe we should just go home, so we did.

Day 3: Saturday made me fall in love with Lima, sorry Callen. We took a taxi down to Miraflores where our professors live. Let me tell yah, they are living the life there. They live on the top of an apartment complex with a beautiful view of the city. We walked around their area to see the beach and other shopping centers. We went to Larcomar, a shopping center that reminds me of Village Pointe in Omaha but with an ocean view. We sat down to eat at a place called popular. I had crab cakes for the first time and they were so good. Something I really don't like here is that you do not get served water right away. The water is bad here so it is bottled for you. So usually you have to buy your drinks every time. Later we walked to an Irish pub called Houlihan's. They had happy hour for a solid 8 hours, so thats a place we will come back to. Then we walked down Pizza street. I was informed that you can find ANYTHING there, meaning: Drugs, Sex, Piscos, and Pizza. At the end of the street was Kennedy Park. This has been my favorite place by far. I walked in to a pile of cats. Any type of cat you can think of. I started crying, and I think people were like who's this blonde gringa. Best moment everI tell you. But the worst part was, they were all so skinny. Next time I go there, I'm buying cat food for sure. Later we went back to Steve and Barbs. Some girls went back to their houses but Claire, Emi and I stayed. I got to ask Steve and Barb all about their adventures. They have been everywhere and I can honestly say, they are some of the coolest people I have ever met. We had some drinks with them at the Hilton hotel down the street and then the three of us went to Pizza street (for pizza and Piscos, not sex and drugs). The other girls caught up with us later and we had the best night drinking and dancing. Finally sleep came!

Day 4: This day was also one I could get used to. Woke up at 1. My host family was gone so I just did my own thing. I messaged claire to see if I could come over. She has a rooftop pool so naturally who wouldn't want to go there. Turns out, I got so so lost. (Mom don't freak out) I walked around Circo trying to find her house for an hour. I'm pretty sure I sweat out my body weight getting there. Her parents were having a BBQ and were so kind to me. I came up and they offered me food and Pisco which I willingly took. We just relaxed the day away. Claire's cousins girlfriend let us practice our Spanish with her while she practiced her English with us. Emi, Marki, and Shelby came over and hung out for a little bit, then we went to eat. We found a place called norkys. It was a chicken place but none of us got chicken. Then Shelby, Marki, and I got a taxi home and I went to bed.

Emotions during this time: Overwhelmed, Happy, Sad, Relaxed, Nervous and everything in between. I cannot wait to see what is in store for this next 4 months.
Below are some pictures from the past couple days!

The night before...actually 2

My official first post.
I'm currently sitting here at my boyfriends' apartment with some of my best friends. Sydney, Hunter, Taylor, Jake, and Callen. I just finished making them a dinner and now just started to watch my favorite show New Girl. It's so hard for me to imagine that a year ago, I just talked to my mom about this idea of going to Peru. We both thought that it was a great idea, but here I am in small (huge) freakout mode. Callen and I have done the whole long-distance thing for the past two years so if I'm being honest, I'm completely comfortable with leaving him for awhile. Of course I love him but we will be fine. The person I am most nervous about leaving is my mom. If you don't know her, you are missing out. She is probably one of the best people you could ever surround yourself with. This past week, my mom has been off work, and I have had the best time in the world with her. The thing is that we did absolutely nothing of value. The lovely woman that I keep raving about gets to come visit me in March. My grandpa was going to come with, but he had other commitments. Anyways, this four month period is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done before. But I cannot wait for what is in store. From seeing one of the seven wonders of the world, to spending a semester in an area populated with over eight million people, every adventure is just waiting on me. Remember to follow my blogs to keep up with what is going on in my life! Thanks for reading.