Spring Breaaaaaaaak

Let's just say that this week has been a dream.
Day 1: 20 hour bus ride to our fancy destination. We get to our beautiful home and get to see that we have a view of the pool and the ocean. Just wait it gets better. The first day was just beautiful. We met our maid (yes a maid) and she showed us everything of ours. We had enough room for everyone! We automatically went to the pool and jumped in, then checked out the beach. We got a couple mototaxis to take us into Los Organos to buy groceries for a couple meals. Each night we said that we would each cook a meal which wasn't really true. Mariah made Salchipapas and they were delicious. Come to find out that cooking for 10 is really hard to judge. Then we made some drinks and hung out on our balcony all night.

Day 2: Another beautiful day, hot as heck though. We went to the beach and played in the ocean. Then later that night we went into Mancora (a 20 minute drive from our place) to go out for the night.  The only bad thing is that we found out that we were paying way too much for transportation. Plus the mototaxis seemed like they were barely moving at times, like we could walk faster than they drove. Let's just say that the night was fun but guys are just creeps.

Day 3: Super bowl Sunday....doesn't exist here. But our girls were determined to watch it. Our TV thankfully played English. We went into Mancora before and got information about different tours that we could do during the next week. I think that is when we went into to ask about scuba diving and met our new friend Maurice. He is so awesome, we even found out he lived right next to our place so we could catch rides with him when we wanted! The girls tried their very best to made cheese dip. It actually was not half bad (not velvetta though). I read my book Gone Girl most of the game because if I'm being honest, I could care less about the Super Bowl. But I did care about the half time show cause my girl Beyonce was on. After Half time, a couple of us went and night swam. Eventually we came home and went to bed.

Day 4: We went surfing! I tried surfing in Spain and I thought it was incredibly hard. Here it was completely different. We each had our own instructors so that helped so much. I think I caught about 6 waves! We spent the day in Mancora and then a couple of us stayed there until night time.

Day 5 or 6?: The days were kind of blending together at this point. We had a couple rainy days which really sucked. Some of the day we would go to Mancora, others we would just stay in Los Organos. One of the days, 8 of us got on a banana boat floatie thing and rode that in the ocean. That was a blast. Someone's contact fell out, others thought they were dying, but I was just in the back having the time of my life. We found a spectacular pizza place there that we ended eating twice that week. I had been messaging back and forth with a guy to see when we could go scuba diving. 

Thursday: We got up early to go scuba diving. That was the coolest thing I have ever done by far. We went out to an old abandoned oil rig and dove there. We went down about 35 feet. Abby and I swam with our instructor all around the oil rig. There was an octopus like 4 feet away from us just staring at us. Then our teacher peeled a starfish off a pole and put it in our hands. We swam through schools of fish and it was the best experience of my life. When we were about to leave, we got to get really close to these giant sea lions that live by the oil rig. My life was made by 11 o'clock that morning. When we got back to the dock, we got to see these giant sea turtles swimming with tourists. We were trying to do that the day before but it was too rainy. The rest of the day was a blur but all I know is that I love scuba diving and I want to do it from now on.

Day 8 Friday: We signed up for a day trip to Las Manglares. Honestly we had no idea what we were doing this day. We just got on a bus and ended up at a beach called Punta Sol. It was beautiful and hot that day. We spent an hour there and went to another beach. Then we drove for an hour to eat lunch. We got on a boat that took us to a little island. Then we rode to Crocodile island to see a crocodile farm. It wasn't very cool because we have a white crocodile at the Henry Doorly Zoo so I wasn't very impressed. We got on the bus and came back. I was really sick on the bus but slept for the 2 hour bus ride back. We were so close to Ecuador when we got to that island. It would've taken 30 minutes to visit another country, but oh well. We came back and I went to sleep almost immediately.

Our last day: I took about 5 naps this day because I still felt so sick. Some of the girls went surfing and had a blast. I went out to our pool and fell asleep out there, then came inside and fell back asleep. I actually really wanted to go back to Lima at this point. I love the ocean but feeling sick on vacation doesn't make for a good vacation. At 5 we got on our bus to ride back to Lima. Only 20 short hours to get there, sounds easy enough right? 

Back to reality: I'm back from my vacation to continue with my vacation and I definitely missed my little house here. My host mom deep cleaned my room and washed all my clothes and bought all my favorite foods. I'm really spoiled down here but man I love it! 

Things I want you all to know:

1: I got stung by a jellyfish (I'm just that lucky I know)

2: Peanut Butter and Jelly is still one of the best foods you can have

3: I bought a hammock, don't ask why

4: Wi-fi is one glorious thing

5: Scuba Diving is the best

6: The ocean is one of the most peaceful places on this beautiful earth

7: My niece FaceTimed me and said "I love you Aunt D" and so now I'm extremely homesick.

Here are some pictures from throughout the week!

I mean did you expect anything else?

I wish you all could've seen this place, it just takes your breathe away.

Llamas spit

I'll start my story off by what happened on Friday night. We finally we're making some Peruvian friends so we decided to go over to see them. On the way over, we ran into a rally or dance party? I don't know but once we got there all eyes were on us. This old man came up to dance with me and obviously I did. We hung out at the car park for awhile and had a great night with our new friends.

On Tuesday we had class and then we had to be in Miraflores by 2:15. Without traffic it doesn't take too long but we took a taxi anyways. We were going on a double decker tour bus to central Lima. It was about 3 hours long. It happened to be the hottest of days then but I love the sun so it was fine by me. We eventually got to the St. Fransisco church where we got to go under to see the catacombs. Once we got off the bus, tons of venders harassed us to buy their stuff. There was anything from hand painted pictures, to little llama figurines. Being the pushover that I am, I bought plenty. Once we got in the church, we weren't allowed to take any pictures. I don't know if I was fascinated or freaked out by the fact that dead people were surrounding me. The bones were organized and I was sure we had all been possessed.Then we rode back and went to get food. Marki, Abby and I went to Pizza Hut for some good ol American pizza. That will be a frequent visit of mine because a whole meal only cost $3. We got a cab to go home but it was miserable. I will never again complain about the traffic in Omaha. It was so bad. What was supposed to be 20 minutes, took like an hour and 15 minutes. That trip took a lot out of me so I went straight to bed.

Wedensday: Class is the same ol thing. That night 7 of us girls planned to travel to Huaraz. A town about 8 hours away where we could hike. We got on the bus at 10:30. Trying to sleep was impossible. This girl (old enough to know better) cried bloody murder for at least 3 hours of our trip. It was so awful. We wanted to ask when they were retuning to Lima so we would never have to get on the same bus with them again. Eventually we arrived and went to our hostal. It was more than we bargained for. We met Emilio the sweetest owner. He gave us huge private rooms and awesome hospitality. We call him dad. He would tell us how much  we should spend on taxis, where to eat, and gave us towels! He was so accommodating. Some people took naps while some of us went to get breakfast. I have already spent way too much money on this trip(so sorry mom) but everything is so cheap I feel I can justify it. In Huaraz, most things you bargain for. I immediately got an Alpaca sweater for 40 soles (about $12) and then bought name brand things for about the same. I just can't stop buying everything because it's so cheap. There was a lady in the town square who walked around with a llama. It was a donation where you volunteer money to take a picture. Out of all the girls, the llama spit in my face(hence my title). So I payed one sol to get spit on!

Yay me.Taxis here cost 6-15 soles which is extremely cheap because we usually split it with 4 girls. Huaraz is actually a lot bigger than any of us imagined. We hiked three different trails and thankfully they had a horse that could take me to the top. Thank the lord. The first trail was freezing towards the top. We walked in sleet for awhile but the views were breath taking! The second day was 10 times more grueling than the first. It was to go see Laguna 69 (a lagoon with the bluest water). It truly was beautiful but the trip was way harder than I thought. We started the day off by getting on a bus at 5:30 am. We rode for about 2 and a half hours on a very bumpy ride.

We got to a restaurant to eat breakfast. Found a puppy there and named it Pato.

Then we had about an hour left to go. We stopped at the beautiful lake that was clear as day. Little did I know, that lake looked pretty similar to Laguna 69. Then we started out hike. It took us 4 hours. We scaled 3 mountains. This hike would be hard for someone in shape, so you can imagine my chip eating self dying. Each time we conquered a mountain, I would think "oh we have got to be here" I COULDNT BE MORE WRONG. I can honestly say that was the hardest thing I have ever done both mentally and physically. I could tell my dad was pushing me not to be a little wimp and just finish it. There were times I thought I was going to pass out, lose air, and not get to see what I worked so hard on. We did make it. This four hours includes like 80 breaks to catch our breath too. We didn't spend as much time at the lake as I would have wanted.

Partially because this break was absolutely necessary and it could've lasted days if it were up to me.

*Note: when a tour guide says 15 minutes left, he really means 45. After we ate lunch, we made our way down. I was proud of myself for making it but my legs didn't agree.

At some point, one gave out and I tripped and fell, smashing my knee against a rock and bruising my thigh and my ego. I'm gonna look really nice for spring break now(; On the way back, we passed by our fair share of domesticated cows.

They were cute but scary up close. Finally we got on the bus and I read on the way back. Our trip up and down scared the crap out of me. We passed over bridges equipped for a 3 year olds weight and rode so close to the edge. Never have I been so happy to see my bed. But we had to get right back up in the morning for our last hike. That hike was not nearly as bad as I thought. We did not know where we were going on Sunday but just got on the bus anyways.

We ended up going into the mountains for 3 hours and stopped at some Ruins. It was a nice cool down from the hell we endured the day before. We met so many people on this little trip from all around the world. The girl who sat next to me was from Hungary but lived in London. The day before we met someone who was from Canada. When you hear someone who speaks English,you feed off of that like they are the only people that understand. Even though I came to speak Spanish, English is a glorious thing.

 I won't be posting for about a week and a half because we have spring break in Mancora! My ultimate goal is to just take pictures with all the wildlife. But shoutout to my mom and boyfriend for always pushing me to do things I never thought imaginable! I love you both. Until next time fam😁

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.