Heartbreak

Yes my friends, the time has come. My last blog:( which means my last trip:( which means I'm going home:( I have never had such a bittersweet feeling. I just spent 4 months of my life in a completely different country. What? Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to come home. It took me being away for awhile to realize how many people back home that care for me just as much as I care for them. But at the same time, I'm leaving a part of my life here in Peru. The people of Peru have taught me some great lessons. Their love for life here is exhilarating. But as I've said in some earlier blogs, different doesn't always mean better. This past week Marki, Claire and I took our last trip to Arequipa. Let's just say that I wish I would've came earlier. This is the kind of Peru that I love to see. Less trash on the streets, less homeless animals (thank god). It's more of a hippie town that is definitely ahead of the rest of the country. This trip was one of our favorites because we didn't feel rushed. We got to choose when we want to whatever we wanted. The first day we just went window shopping and relaxed in the beautiful plaza. The second day we left to go to Puno. If you've read up on Peru, there is a place in Puno called Lake Titicaca. It's the highest lake in the world. Our hostal was a few blocks from that. We also took a tour to the floating islands. They exactly what they sound like.  We spent a few days there then took a bus back to Arequipa. The day after that, we went to Colca Canyon. It's supposed similar to the Grand Canyon but I have no idea how accurate that is. Colca Canyon is known for its high peaks to be able to watch their national bird: the condor. We got up bright and early and made our trek. The whole day consisted of a lot of time on the bus and getting to know the people on it. We tried a Colca Sour which is made from a fruit only found in the canyon. It's 10x better than a regular Pisco sour. On our way back down, we stopped to take pictures of an alpaca farm. I step off the bus and literally roll down the hill. I promise you that my luck is never ending. I got up and just bust out laughing because only that would happen to me. I busted my scar from my former roller blading accident open and swallowed a ton of dirt. I can honestly say that I entertained quite a few people that day. (I secretly do it for my fans) I could describe everything that happened on this trip but honestly it's kind of boring. It's one of those (you had to be there) moments. But let's go back to talking about my trip as a whole.

Wanderlust is the world I'll use. The entire trip just had me in awe. Everything I did here I just though "when will I ever get the chance to do this again?" And the answer to that is "hopefully real damn soon". This trip was lacking in only a few departments. The main one would be that I didn't have my friends and family to celebrate with. Yep I'm corny. But seriously, I am so happy I have the chance to love on some of the best people on this green earth. If I got you a gift from Peru, you are included in my list. Now I can't top Yurinas post but I will say a few things about my good ol' chicas I just spent the last four months with. I love you all more than you will ever know. You may not think you have, but each one of you guys have impacted my life for the better. Thank you for blessing me with some great friendships and a wonderful four months of my life! I can't wait for our Peruinions when we are all back. ❤️ But I'll end this with something I really hope I can keep to: It's not goodbye, it's see you later Peru!

MUST READ! I'm cool. I promise.

"The people that don't have anything are the people that give you the most" (quote of the weekend) No doubt, I've had the best weekend of my life. If you don't know me already, I'll tell you that I love animals. And after the first couple hours, this trip has already surpassed the coolest things I've ever done. 

Things about Iquitos

•Iquitos is the city which is about the same size as Omaha. The Amazon isn't part of Iquitos, it is its own district.

•In Iquitos they have so many mototaxis that it felt like Sturgis only the jungle version.

•Pirahnas are given a bad name. They don't bite you if you don't give them a reason to.

•Bug cream is not as effective as bug spray.

•Monkeys give love bites so hard that you may bruise. It's totally worth it.

•Rain doesn't stop people from doing anything here.

Day 1: We got to our hostal at about midnight. We had made reservations but how lucky are we that they didn't go through. 100% think it's my fault because  I think a cloud of rain follows me with all the terrible luck I have. But the manager went out of her way to find us one to sleep. And they had air conditioning. The jungle is definition the last place I would think had that. So we slept until about 7:30 and went to have breakfast. When we got back, our tour guide came to pick us up. We then took a mototaxi to our boat that took us to our bungalow in the jungle. The boat ride took about an hour and half on the actual Amazon river. We made a stop on this little reservation thing where you could feed the fish. At the Henry Doorly zoo they have one of the biggest fish in the world. Well we got to feed them. They could literally eat a child if it fell in the water. Freaky. We got to our place and they said they serve lunch at 1. After that we went to the thing I had been waiting my entire life for: Monkey island. We got there and immediately had spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and capuchin monkeys hanging all over us. They are more playful than little puppies. I don't know how much time passed by but I didn't care one bit. On the other side of the reservation, there was this deep pit. Turns out a big ol anaconda lived there. Our tour guide just poked around until they caught the tail. They then just yanked him out and grabbed his head. I then faced one of my biggest fears and (partially) held an anacond. My monkey wanted to come with me. They also had McCaw birds and Toucans there that we got to hold. I put one right on my shoulder (just for you Syd). We we left I think we all left our hearts with the monkeys. We went back and went on a night hike. That was kid of terrifying. Our tour guide let me use a head lamp. Nature is awesome but I think the bugs tried to eat me alive. (This is my only complaint) They only have electricity from 6-9 everyday so we all charged up in that time. Then we got in our little mosquitos netting and some of us went to sleep. 

Day 2: Up and at em at 5:30! We got on our boat and went fishing for pihranna. Yes I'm serious. Shelby never caught a fish before but she caught 6! Marki and I were the only ones that didn't catch one. It was a little bit discouraging but I was just really happy Shelby had such a good time. Fishing is fun when you catch something. On the way to our next stop, our tour guide stop and picked up a little tarantula. I held that gross thing too. Then he climbed a tree and tried to grab a snake for us to hold. These people are nuts but they have the coolest job in the world. We then left and came to a little village. These two little kids greeted us with a baby caiman (alligator) and a sloth. I can now die a very happy girl. I cuddled with the sloth until they had to pry her off me. Her claws are so sharp! We had been waiting to eat at 8 but here we are at about 10 still haven't eaten anything... I think they tried to kill us. We finally ate and then took the scenic route back to camp. At 1 we ate lunch and then headed back out at 3. At three we request d to go back to monkey island because duh. They ended up having the sloth there this time. This one was a boy and loved to cuddle. We all took turns holding him like a little baby. Ugh loved him! The monkeys only wanted to play with each other so they didn't care about us this day. But this badger looking animal (part of the raccoon family) really wanted to play with me. Turns out my payment for playing is a crap ton of scratches that will soon scar. It's okay because he could not get enough of me.In order for us to get back to monkey island, we had to buy something from the reservation. So I bought some really sketchy alcohol made out of tree bark. I think I might keep that for people with iron stomachs. After we left we took our boat into the middle and jumped in. We swam with the famous pink river dolphin. He was really far away because we did get to see them. I know there's terrifying stories about the Amazon, but a piranha only took off one of my toes. Not too bad right? (Kidding grandma Judy) We went back and ate dinner quick and set out in dark again...This time our tour guide just rowed the boat in the dark. We saw bats and bugs and even a tiny tree frog that stayed with us all the way back to the bungalow. (I named him "chancho" which means pig in Spanish. No idea why but I did it) Lights out for us.

Day 3: We woke up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise. Turns out we got up for nuthin because it was too cloudy to see anything. We just went right back to bed until breakfast was ready. After that we took a little boat ride to the village. This is where we hiked to see a performance from one of the 75 tribes that are in the Amazon. In exchange for their dances, they offer jewelry to buy as compensation. We also got to shot two darts out of their blow dart gun. Incredible to say the least. Later we came back, ate lunch and were on our way. It was actually really sad because they made us feel right at home. Granted it was a home with millions of bugs, but home nonetheless. We took our two hour trek back to Iquitos and went to our hostal. We found a Mexican restaurant and gorged ourselves with food. We were in the jungle for three days, I think we earned it. Now we just had to wait until 3:30am to go to the airport. 

If you didn't realize already, this was by far my favorite trip. Who else can say they've lived the Amazonian experience like we have. Bugs and all, I wouldn't have changed a thing. (The bugs thing is a complete lie, I hated those damn things) All I can say is that I'm nothing but blessed from this experience and I really hope one day I can make it back!

 

Familia

Life is too short. So everyone should travel. That's what I think at least. If you don't want to travel, do something you love. (But I think you're a little off if you don't want to travel). That's what I'm doing. I'm traveling and experiencing Spanish culture and holding baby animals: all things that I love. This blog is dedicated to all the people that should have gotten the chance to experience their dreams. And also to the people who still have time to do that! So if it's not for you, do it for me PLEASE. I think its a pretty reasonable request don't y'all?

This blog is meant to be about my family. Who do you consider your family? I have my mom, my stepdad, my two sisters, my niece, my brother-in-law, my boyfriend, my best friends, my friends of friends, and anyone in between. Not to mention my good ol' dad up there in the sky. Too many people to count on my fingers and toes but I have to tell you, that's the best feeling in the entire world. This trip has really let me experience the feeling of being loved by all of these people. Being away for this long is kind of terrible but kind of awesome. Yes I'm very contradictory but hey this is my blog not yours. I do what I want. Anyways, the other day I got to FaceTime my niece and let me tell you, all the homesickness I shoved away came rushing back. I thought surely she'd forgotten who I was by now. But that little princess immediately said "Hi Aunt D" and then I just wanted to jump on a plane right then and there. After that I came to the realization that I need to stay: for her and for myself. What would I accomplish if I just got up and quit right then and there. Honestly I'd probably be fine for a little bit then I would miss the last week in Peru. Ugh decisions are hard. Here I am making what should be an easy decision but turns out its hard. I can tell you though, that my family will wait the extra week and half for me to come back and man I cannot wait.

Now, lets talk politics. HAHA I know, I never talk politics. But I finally (kind of) understand it...her in Peru at least. So on Sunday, they had elections. The voting age here is 18 just like the U.S. But the difference is, you have to vote. If you do not vote, you will get fined depending on the place you live. My host sister is studying in Germany right now. She eve has to pay a fine. She can't get out of it from half way across the world. RUDE PERU GOVERNMENT RUDE. So there are a few things that do not make sense about election weekend. You cannot buy alcohol on election weekend. Us girls wanted to have a little party and we had to buy alcohol on a friday. Ugh #thirdworldproblems. I heard from my host sister that if you get caught drinking that you could get in a lot of trouble. I don't know how accurate that is though. Because on Saturday night we went out with our Peruvian friends and they seemed like they could care less about this rule. So to sum it up, I actually know nothing about politics still. Oh well.

Next order of business: I go to the Amzon tomorrow! Holllah back. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. This has always been my dream and now I get to go see little baby animals and snuggle with them and they might bite my head off but I don't care. My next blog with most likely be me bragging about getting bit by a piranha or licked by a sloth or some weird stuff like that. I can't wait.

So chao for now!

picture me holding a monkey instead....blessed

The light at the end

I don't have much to talk about. If you ask me, it has been a pretty boring week. I've taken some pretty extensive naps. We are talking 4-6 hour naps. And I don't nap. But that's what this blog has come to, me talking about naps. First off I don't nap so I guess I'm grateful for this time to nap? I don't know. Let's switch it up though.

I had a panic attack the other day. I went to class and on my way back I couldn't breathe. You want to know why? I felt like I needed to be home in that moment. I was incredibly sad because I miss everyone back home. Even if you think I don't miss you, I do so so much. So I got back to my house and had a good long cry. I then proceeded to call anyone who could calm me down. My best friend Sydney picked up the phone. She talked to me while I just bawled. Then I seemed to be fine. Sometimes it's all you need huh. The comfort of your best friend. I was thinking that I needed to spend a crap ton of money to go home early because I was that sad. Then Sydney sent me a message and said that I might miss out on the best week of Peru if I was gone. So I snapped out of it. I need to be happy about my time in Peru so that's just what I'm going to do. Heck 

yeah that's called optimism my friends so I'm going to go hang out with my friends here in an hour. Also just a heads up, I am about to register for my senior year of college so naturally I am freaking out. Here I come adulting. 

The world is my pearl (Pearls are prettier than oysters)

Friends, where have you been? I've only been exploring the world without everyone. I can tell you its been awesome but then I always have my friends on my mind. You suck. But I love you too much. First thing that I need to say this week is that I need to apologize. My Spanish has improved so much here but I can feel my English crumbling. What do I do? Well I am just going to apologize for how down right stupid this post may be. Oh you don't care you say? Well thats sweet because me neither(:

Lets get into the fun stuff I've been doing. We had class like always Monday-Wednesday. We never really have Thursday class anymore because we have some pretty rad teachers *wink wink Stephen and Barbara* So Thursday morning Claire, Marki and I took a bus to Punta Hermosa (a beach). We rented an umbrella and three chairs to just hang out. Shelby and Emi came later that night because Shelby was selfishly getting the job of her dreams instead of coming with us. Ugh love her. In case you all were wondering, she will be working for Habitat for Humanity in Bellevue!!!! Anyways, we had to get an umbrella because Claire burns worse than my ginger boyfriend. (Pobrecita) My host sister that is studying in Germany sent me one of her friends contacts awhile ago. We had been talking to him for awhile and he invited us to stay at their beach house for the weekend. He originally told me that we could go on Wednesday night. But that turned to Thursday morning, which turned to thursday night. Peruvians huh. It's fine because we were trying to get darker skin to blend in anyways. We ended up sitting under our umbrella and in the sun form 9am to 5pm. Claire didn't go out in the sun once and she got fried....people kept calling her a shrimp. Anyways, the point is that we had a great time bonding but were very ready to be in the house. Turns out, people had been there since 2. THANKS ANGELO. We stayed in that night and just got to know some of the guys that were there. Some people can be so awesome without any purpose. They didn't even know us but they let us stay and eat their food all weekend Fo Freeeee. At 4am Angelo woke Shelby and I up and we talked and ate ramen. The next day we slummed around and then went to the beach. Claire got burnt again (shocker I know) then everyone showered and ate their 5th thing of spaghetti form the weekend. We had planned on going to another beach that is about an hour away. We fit about 15 people in one taxi. Just about everyone got to experience my boney butt for themselves, lucky ducks. We got there and immediately got some (very crappy) hamburgers from Bembos. Bembos is seriously so gross. To put it in perspective, its like burger king had an ugly kid and named it Bembos. Guess who ate it anyways....Later we went into the club that our friend got us into. It was so late and I lasted maybe 30 minutes. (Always the life of the party) Some of us went outside to wait for the others. I ended up laying down and falling asleep. Whoops. We finally got back and passed out at the beach home. The next day we sat around for hours again. It was so relaxing just listening to the ocean and hanging out with some of the greatest girls I've ever met. Emi tuned 21 so we had to go out with a bang for her. That night we went to a club like 5 minutes away from the beach house. That was a blast. We danced for hours. I think Emi had a good birthday. She surely got told enough! Marki, Emi, and I took a taxi back but no one was home so again we fell asleep outside waiting for our friends. They came back and we stayed up for awhile longer just talking to our new friends. The next day we finally went back to our homes in Lima. It was actually Easter sunday. I think I scared my host family because they were shocked to see me there. (I think they thought I died). They said they made a special easter meal and we would eat in a few hours. This gave me time to catch up on some much needed sleep. Too bad a one hour nap turned into five. Ugh I suck. I woke up and immediately felt terrible but it didn't seem to bother my family at all. So I ate by myself and went back to my room. What a great semana santa (holy week).
The next week turned out to be more learning than my brain could handle at points. Monday we got assigned to our classes that we had to sit on that were close to our outside majors. Marki and I had class on Wednesday called Cross-cultural management. It was good because we met some new people. Everyone all of a sudden seemed to be so intrigued with our lives. But on Tuesday night, Ahnika, Gabi, and I went to see Batman vs. Superman. I would say it was pretty good but Im a marvel fan myself. Last thing it that believe or not, I am in love with sushi. I have been eating it religiously because for one, its cheap here, and I drown it in sauce. So thats all the fun stuff I've been up to lately. I do have exciting news!!

I am going to work at Camp Kitaki this summer as a Camp counselor! I received the news this week and I cannot tell you how stoked I am to start. Also Shelby got her dream job and Abby got into nursing school. So yes, we are actually doing something besides twiddling our thumbs here people. Well I love you and can't wait to see you all. By the way I would not mind a bag of flaming hot cheetos as a welcome home present in a month. Alright Chao for now!

 Made this one big because I think its one of the best!

Christina here has been sating her boyfriend for 5 years! 

This is the Philadelphia roll YUM

Short but sweet...like me right?

This blog is not very entertaining so I'm warning you all now. That day we had class in central Lima. At 12 everyday, you can watch the guards change in front of the government building. Since it was Saint Paddys day, they had an entire band playing. Everyone was a little pissy because we all sat in about an hour and a half traffic to get there. To be understandable. For lunch we went to little Chinatown! It was so fun because that's exactly what it looks like. We had some awesome (and cheap) chaufa. That's Spanish for fried rice. Pretty mad that crab ragoon is an American thing because it is nowhere in sight. Maybe it's for the best...mom says I eat way too much junk food anyways. Then we went to Houlihans (our favorite Irish bar) to celebrate with customary green beer. But I don't drink that harmful filth😉 Saint Paddys day was such a blast though. I will spare you the gory details but all of us had an interesting night to say the least. Emi's boyfriend Tyler was in town so we all decided why not go out on this occasion! 

The next day there was an orientation for over 100 foreign exchange students. A couple of us went to it to try and make friends. If you haven't noticed(I'm one strange lady, so making friends that don't speak English is hard). After that we went to our favorite little restaurant "El baguette". Then we went and hung out at Claire's pool. So if you know me, you know I hate sushi. But since I'm in a different country I have been saying Yolo as much as possible. My friends love it so I said I guess lets get some. We went all the way to miraflores and the place was freakin closed. Who does that?!? So we went to Chilis hahaha I actually had a bad experience because with my luck usually doesn't come my way. Our server was racist. And I formed a complaint. But I won't get into it because you don't wanna see me get feisty! Ha just kidding I don't do feisty. But my friends that's about it. Love you all. Also shout out to my friends Sydney and Preston for celebrating their three years together😍😍😍 

Good and bad days

Today is a sad day. My mom just left and I'm in tears. I miss her so much already. BUT I get to see her again soon. So instead of dwelling on the sadness, I'll tell you about my wonderful week with my wonderful mother.

My moms flight first got delayed. So she ended up coming a day later than we thought. I met her at her hotel. We went all over Lima. Larcomar (a mall built into a cliff) is very close to where we were staying. We walked around there. To say we didn't shop this entire week would be a complete and total lie. You can't put a mom and daughter in what's basically a giant mall and not expect them to blow a couple dollars. 

The next day we decided to go to a place called Gamarra. It was the worst mistake I could make! We didn't have a Peruvian with us so my anxiety was through the freakin' roof. La Gamarra is a giant place where you can buy fake brand name clothes and just get cheap things in general. Before we even got there, the taxi driver said we need to be extra careful. If only that deterred us. As soon as we stepped out it felt like 30 people attacked us with so called sales. But we were determined to not leave until we bought something (anything really). So we found something quick and then I just had to leave before I had an anxiety attack. Later that day, we met up with Barbara and Stephen for drinks and food. Turns out my mom loves Pisco Sours. She told me multiple times "when in Rome". That night my mom and I we're going to go out to a disco. Once we got to a bar I practically fell asleep there. I know I know, I'm a blast. On to the next day.

Saturday: Mom and I went to the Inka Market. My mom likes to wake up at the butt crack of dawn, but Peru doesn't. On our way, I got my mom her daily Coke Zero. The market opened at nine. We went around and got little presents for everybody. Then we had a show called "Brisas del Titicaca". It was a bunch of Peruvian dancing and music. I ordered my mom Lomo Saltado which is a great Peruvian dish. The show was incredible but it was like 4 hours long. Which is 3 too long. My mom got to see how Peruivans think gringos are famous here. After the show, my host parents took my mom, Mariah and I around town. We first went to the catacombs. We got to have a whole separate tour than before. Then we walked around downtown. We went to a place where we could try all different foods. Peruvian donuts (picarones) are the bomb.com. Later we went to parque de las aguas. It was awesome! They project a screen on water and it was just incredible. Then my host parents dropped us off and we went to bed.

Sunday: Claire, my mom and I went to Punta Hermosa so hang out at the beach. It was only 4 soles to get there and it's almost an hour away. We got to the beach and just drank and talked about life the entire day. It was one of the best days. We ended up getting lost on the way but the taxi driver took us home.

Monday: Mom and I went around town again. We found these little stores that sell knock off clothes and spent some time there. After eating at a restaurant, I left my mom at the hotel and I went to class. I was too tired to do anything because Spanish is HARD! I literally had been translating all weekend for my mom. Although I was really proud of myself, it's still freakin' hard. Oh hey did I mention that it was hard??!

Tuesday: I sent my mom on a tour by herself of some ruins. I had class. I got out early and met my mom at the hotel. We went to a restaurant again and tried going paragliding. But there was no wind so that sucked. That night Ahnika and Gabi came to our hotel and we went to the casino down the street. It wasn't nearly as fun as I thought. Everything's was in Spanish hahaha duh. Then we went to bed.

Wednesday: We got to go visit some kids at a lower income school. They were so great. My boys in my group were awesome. We played games in Spanish and then they had recess. They did not want us to leave at all! When we did, I think all of us wanted to stay all day with these sweet kids. When we got back, Rob (our professor) came to eat with some of us. Then I had class and came back to pack up all of my moms things. Then came the time that she had to leave. All I could do is think, hey I'll see my best friend again really soon. Man I love that lady.

It feels great to feel loved by so many people. Until next time my friends and family! 

Here's a picture of the beautiful girls (and Tyler) that I get to spend two more great months with.