Sloths are officially my new spirit animal. Although giraffes have long since been my go-to animal, the sloth has taken full control of my heart. I love sloths with every inch of my being. Holding them and watching them blink in slow motion fills my heart with pure joy. On the plane ride home, after leaving my new friends behind, I shed a tear not knowing the next time I would have the opportunity to hold such an incredible creature again.
Now that I got that out of my system...
Greetings!
The past few weeks have been crazy crazy like usual with yes, you guessed it, MORE TRIPS! Three weeks ago the entire UNK group headed to a Paracas for a relaxing weekend at Las Dunas. I had the opportunity to try sand boarding for the first time in my life as well as see what they call "the poor man's galapagos," Islas Ballestas. The island tour opened my heart up to having a new love for sea lions. They are the weirdest looking animal in the whole world! So fat and derpy, I love it. One of my favorite parts of this trip was "going out" on Thursday. Little did we know that the discotekas were not open during the weekdays. Instead we found a nice, quaint coffee bar. The owner opened up her shop for us, moved some tables and chairs to make space for dance floor, and hit us up with some jams! It was so silly, yet so fun to be dancing around in a coffee shop! The next night we found a real discoteka which was also a lot of fun, but I have to say that the coffee shop turned into a discoteka was just way more corky and awesome!
The week after Paracas my incredible parents joined me in Peru for the adventure of a lifetime! They had a crazy schedule of changing hotels almost everyday. The trip was long and tiresome, but overall absolutely amazing and well worth it! They started off the trip a little bit unsure about this whole traveling business, but they ended up falling in love with the same country that has become such a huge part of my life. We ventured all around the country of Peru as we started in Lima with a tour of the city including the San Francisco church which has catacombs in the bottom of it! A little bit creepy at first, but overall super cool and interesting. We then flew to Arequipa to see one of the largest convent's in the world, amazing cathedrals, the famous Colca Canyon which is four times deep as the Grand Canyon, and we had the opportunity to spend a lovely evening with Carmela as was talked about in my last blog. The convent was one of my favorite parts of this trip because I found in so interesting to learn about the nun's way of life. When I heard that they prayed for 10 hours a day I was absolutely blown away. I have a hard time keeping my focus for more than 20 minutes! It was also interesting that girls would be sent to the convent at age 6 and then at age 12 they were arranged to marry a 40 year old (which back then was really old considering people did not live nearly as long). Colca Canyon was absolutely breathtaking and worth the insane roller coaster ride of a drive to get there. While in Arequipa I started panicking about trying to pick out gifts for all of my friends and was getting really really stressed! I want everyone to love Peru as much as I do, but then I realized that these gifts to them will never mean nearly what they mean to me. So, with some wise advise from my mother I started to calm down and realize that truly it is the thought that counts. This is just one example of my somewhat neurotic behavior that does not come out frequently by any means, but it is definitely there.
After a wonderful weekend in Arequipa my parents headed to Cusco to experience the wonders of Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu as I returned to Lima for classes. The next weekend we experienced the wonders of the AMAZON! This has been one of my top experiences during my time here and I am so thankful that my parents were there to experience it with me! On the first day we hiked through the jungle to a famous tree called the Ceiba tree. It is over 300 years old and trees of its kind are very hard to come by because people keep cutting them down to make rubber. This breaks my heart as this tree is the most magnificent tree I have ever seen in my life! It sounds silly that a tree could be magnificent, but once you see the picture below you will start to understand. This tree reminded me of how small I am in comparison to the universe. That I am just one tiny spec in this gigantic universe! Feeling small is neither a good nor bad feeling, but simply a feeling that everyone needs to be reminded of. The next day we had the opportunity to visit a legit amazonian tribe. There used to be over 3,000 tribes in the Amazon, but now there is only a heartbreaking 150.
Technology. Good, bad, advancing, crushing, growing? I know that there are an overwhelming number of good things that come from technology, but sometimes I wish that it did not destroy things as beautiful as native tribes. So much of our world longs to be advanced and westernized, but in the process so much of their roots and history diminish into nothing. I hope and pray that the tribes remaining will stay strong to their roots and never give in to the pressures of this world. Their way of life is beautiful, and I hope they always remember that. When visiting the tribe I was able to talk with a little girl named Sila who was 8 years old and has a pet sloth named Maria. The moments with this little girl and sloth were precious and are at the top of my "greatest moments in Peru" list.
As the days passed my parents and I were slightly discouraged about the lack of animals we had seen. We had heard that where we were staying was not nearly as animal-filled as some of the other resorts, but we still had hoped to see something! We asked our guide about seeing more animals and he told us we could go to a reserve to see the monkeys. I was skeptical at first because my last "reserve"/ torture chambers for crocodiles, experience was horrifying. I did not want to go stare at more dying animals in cages, all the while trying to come up with 007 plans to break them free and get them out! To my pleasant surprise NONE of the animals were in cages! This reserve was amazing and the animals had tons and tons of rooms to swing through the trees, play in the water, and be free while still being taken care of. All the animals there were endangered. The people who lived there and took care of them essentially treated them like their pets. I wish I had a stronger vocabulary to adequately describe how marvelous my experience was! We strolled into the reserve on a tiny boat and started watching the monkeys swing from the trees. I was content with this and would not have been disappointed had I only got to watch them from afar. Suddenly, we approached a tree and the monkeys scurried down the tree, hoped in the boat, and started climbing all over us!!!! Pancho was super chill and calm as he sat in our laps like a lap dog as we pet him. Blondie was much more sassy and would crawl on our heads and all over the boat. I have not laughed that hard in a long long time! Their personalities were so evident and human-like, I wish I could have stayed there for hours. We also got to see another sloth, more monkeys, this weird animal that looked like a raccoon but wasn't, an anaconda, parrots, and what looked like a 5 million year old snapping turtle. So much awesome in one hour!
After flying home my parents had two days of rest in Lima. On Monday we had a fabulous lunch with my host parents. It was so wonderful to have both sets of parents in the same place at the same time! I ate my best meal in Lima at a place called Seguna Muelle. It was the freshest, most delicious seafood I have yet to eat in my entire life. We also had Pisco and Maracuya sours at lunch, needless to say it was the strongest Maracuya sour I have ever had! I finished half and let dad take down the rest. Although Pisco Sour original is what Peru is known for, I have grown to love Maracuya (Passion Fruit) Sours since they are sweeter and more exotic! Later that day I toured them around my University and then I went to class. My parents somehow made it all the way to the mall and back without dying! I was so proud of them for getting their own taxi and everything! That night we visited the apartment I live in and my host parents were so sweet and made dinner for my parents and I! It was so wonderful having all of my host family (including my siblings) and my real parents all in the same place at the same time. The conversations were filled with laughter and smiles as we constantly translated for one another and learned about the culture and way of one another's life.
The next day I took my parents to my favorite district of all, BARRANCO! This hippie little district is so quaint and charming that they had to spend at least a few hours there. I took them to the famous El Burrito/Burrito Bar (still unsure of what the real name is) and they walked out of there claiming those as the greatest Tacos they have ever eaten in their entire life! And yes, I will 100% stand by that statement and claim that they are indeed the greatest Tacos in the world. Later we walked around Miraflores and took in the sites of the para gliders floating in the air across the beautiful ocean water. We eventually got to meet up with my best friend from high school, Lauren Greufe! She decided to come and spend her spring break here on a medical mission trip. It was insane seeing my best friend in another country! That night I called a taxi for my parents and we said our goodbyes. Although I was a little sad to say goodbye, I was lucky to have Lauren there to keep my spirits up as we went to a Salsa Dancing club that night! I cannot say that I am good at salsa dancing by any means, but at least I actually know how to do it! This experience made me so excited to get to spend the next 4 weeks in LIMA!! My travels have been amazing amazing amazing and I would not trade them for ANYTHING! But, at the same time, I am so excited to sit back, relax, and enjoy Lima for what it is before I say goodbye for good.
Time to end the blog with a little bit of fun facts and things to remember:
*My host father Jaime uses the word "muerte" meaning dead to describe everyone. So everyone is dead, all the time? I have no idea.
*Our tour guide in the Amazon claims that he named one dog "why do you ask" and the other dog "his name." I'm not so sure I believe that.
*Marybelle (Arequipa) is the greatest tour guide in the whole world!
*Talking in general in a club is tough because it is so loud that usually my lip reading skills come into play. Needless to say, talking in Spanish in a club is impossible.
*My host father loves to give advice about EVERYTHING! I hesitate telling him where I am going on the weekends because I know that it will turn into an hour long conversation filled with every bit of information that he has ever learned about this location.
*Sloths. Enough said.
*I actually became excited about March being the "cooler" month (low 70's). Unfortunately summer is coming late apparently as we are sitting in the mid 80's everyday!! So. Hot. I used to tan all the time, now I am starting to shun the sun.
Tis all for now!
Chau!
Mallory
Now that I got that out of my system...
Greetings!
The past few weeks have been crazy crazy like usual with yes, you guessed it, MORE TRIPS! Three weeks ago the entire UNK group headed to a Paracas for a relaxing weekend at Las Dunas. I had the opportunity to try sand boarding for the first time in my life as well as see what they call "the poor man's galapagos," Islas Ballestas. The island tour opened my heart up to having a new love for sea lions. They are the weirdest looking animal in the whole world! So fat and derpy, I love it. One of my favorite parts of this trip was "going out" on Thursday. Little did we know that the discotekas were not open during the weekdays. Instead we found a nice, quaint coffee bar. The owner opened up her shop for us, moved some tables and chairs to make space for dance floor, and hit us up with some jams! It was so silly, yet so fun to be dancing around in a coffee shop! The next night we found a real discoteka which was also a lot of fun, but I have to say that the coffee shop turned into a discoteka was just way more corky and awesome!
The week after Paracas my incredible parents joined me in Peru for the adventure of a lifetime! They had a crazy schedule of changing hotels almost everyday. The trip was long and tiresome, but overall absolutely amazing and well worth it! They started off the trip a little bit unsure about this whole traveling business, but they ended up falling in love with the same country that has become such a huge part of my life. We ventured all around the country of Peru as we started in Lima with a tour of the city including the San Francisco church which has catacombs in the bottom of it! A little bit creepy at first, but overall super cool and interesting. We then flew to Arequipa to see one of the largest convent's in the world, amazing cathedrals, the famous Colca Canyon which is four times deep as the Grand Canyon, and we had the opportunity to spend a lovely evening with Carmela as was talked about in my last blog. The convent was one of my favorite parts of this trip because I found in so interesting to learn about the nun's way of life. When I heard that they prayed for 10 hours a day I was absolutely blown away. I have a hard time keeping my focus for more than 20 minutes! It was also interesting that girls would be sent to the convent at age 6 and then at age 12 they were arranged to marry a 40 year old (which back then was really old considering people did not live nearly as long). Colca Canyon was absolutely breathtaking and worth the insane roller coaster ride of a drive to get there. While in Arequipa I started panicking about trying to pick out gifts for all of my friends and was getting really really stressed! I want everyone to love Peru as much as I do, but then I realized that these gifts to them will never mean nearly what they mean to me. So, with some wise advise from my mother I started to calm down and realize that truly it is the thought that counts. This is just one example of my somewhat neurotic behavior that does not come out frequently by any means, but it is definitely there.
After a wonderful weekend in Arequipa my parents headed to Cusco to experience the wonders of Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu as I returned to Lima for classes. The next weekend we experienced the wonders of the AMAZON! This has been one of my top experiences during my time here and I am so thankful that my parents were there to experience it with me! On the first day we hiked through the jungle to a famous tree called the Ceiba tree. It is over 300 years old and trees of its kind are very hard to come by because people keep cutting them down to make rubber. This breaks my heart as this tree is the most magnificent tree I have ever seen in my life! It sounds silly that a tree could be magnificent, but once you see the picture below you will start to understand. This tree reminded me of how small I am in comparison to the universe. That I am just one tiny spec in this gigantic universe! Feeling small is neither a good nor bad feeling, but simply a feeling that everyone needs to be reminded of. The next day we had the opportunity to visit a legit amazonian tribe. There used to be over 3,000 tribes in the Amazon, but now there is only a heartbreaking 150.
Technology. Good, bad, advancing, crushing, growing? I know that there are an overwhelming number of good things that come from technology, but sometimes I wish that it did not destroy things as beautiful as native tribes. So much of our world longs to be advanced and westernized, but in the process so much of their roots and history diminish into nothing. I hope and pray that the tribes remaining will stay strong to their roots and never give in to the pressures of this world. Their way of life is beautiful, and I hope they always remember that. When visiting the tribe I was able to talk with a little girl named Sila who was 8 years old and has a pet sloth named Maria. The moments with this little girl and sloth were precious and are at the top of my "greatest moments in Peru" list.
As the days passed my parents and I were slightly discouraged about the lack of animals we had seen. We had heard that where we were staying was not nearly as animal-filled as some of the other resorts, but we still had hoped to see something! We asked our guide about seeing more animals and he told us we could go to a reserve to see the monkeys. I was skeptical at first because my last "reserve"/ torture chambers for crocodiles, experience was horrifying. I did not want to go stare at more dying animals in cages, all the while trying to come up with 007 plans to break them free and get them out! To my pleasant surprise NONE of the animals were in cages! This reserve was amazing and the animals had tons and tons of rooms to swing through the trees, play in the water, and be free while still being taken care of. All the animals there were endangered. The people who lived there and took care of them essentially treated them like their pets. I wish I had a stronger vocabulary to adequately describe how marvelous my experience was! We strolled into the reserve on a tiny boat and started watching the monkeys swing from the trees. I was content with this and would not have been disappointed had I only got to watch them from afar. Suddenly, we approached a tree and the monkeys scurried down the tree, hoped in the boat, and started climbing all over us!!!! Pancho was super chill and calm as he sat in our laps like a lap dog as we pet him. Blondie was much more sassy and would crawl on our heads and all over the boat. I have not laughed that hard in a long long time! Their personalities were so evident and human-like, I wish I could have stayed there for hours. We also got to see another sloth, more monkeys, this weird animal that looked like a raccoon but wasn't, an anaconda, parrots, and what looked like a 5 million year old snapping turtle. So much awesome in one hour!
After flying home my parents had two days of rest in Lima. On Monday we had a fabulous lunch with my host parents. It was so wonderful to have both sets of parents in the same place at the same time! I ate my best meal in Lima at a place called Seguna Muelle. It was the freshest, most delicious seafood I have yet to eat in my entire life. We also had Pisco and Maracuya sours at lunch, needless to say it was the strongest Maracuya sour I have ever had! I finished half and let dad take down the rest. Although Pisco Sour original is what Peru is known for, I have grown to love Maracuya (Passion Fruit) Sours since they are sweeter and more exotic! Later that day I toured them around my University and then I went to class. My parents somehow made it all the way to the mall and back without dying! I was so proud of them for getting their own taxi and everything! That night we visited the apartment I live in and my host parents were so sweet and made dinner for my parents and I! It was so wonderful having all of my host family (including my siblings) and my real parents all in the same place at the same time. The conversations were filled with laughter and smiles as we constantly translated for one another and learned about the culture and way of one another's life.
The next day I took my parents to my favorite district of all, BARRANCO! This hippie little district is so quaint and charming that they had to spend at least a few hours there. I took them to the famous El Burrito/Burrito Bar (still unsure of what the real name is) and they walked out of there claiming those as the greatest Tacos they have ever eaten in their entire life! And yes, I will 100% stand by that statement and claim that they are indeed the greatest Tacos in the world. Later we walked around Miraflores and took in the sites of the para gliders floating in the air across the beautiful ocean water. We eventually got to meet up with my best friend from high school, Lauren Greufe! She decided to come and spend her spring break here on a medical mission trip. It was insane seeing my best friend in another country! That night I called a taxi for my parents and we said our goodbyes. Although I was a little sad to say goodbye, I was lucky to have Lauren there to keep my spirits up as we went to a Salsa Dancing club that night! I cannot say that I am good at salsa dancing by any means, but at least I actually know how to do it! This experience made me so excited to get to spend the next 4 weeks in LIMA!! My travels have been amazing amazing amazing and I would not trade them for ANYTHING! But, at the same time, I am so excited to sit back, relax, and enjoy Lima for what it is before I say goodbye for good.
Time to end the blog with a little bit of fun facts and things to remember:
*My host father Jaime uses the word "muerte" meaning dead to describe everyone. So everyone is dead, all the time? I have no idea.
*Our tour guide in the Amazon claims that he named one dog "why do you ask" and the other dog "his name." I'm not so sure I believe that.
*Marybelle (Arequipa) is the greatest tour guide in the whole world!
*Talking in general in a club is tough because it is so loud that usually my lip reading skills come into play. Needless to say, talking in Spanish in a club is impossible.
*My host father loves to give advice about EVERYTHING! I hesitate telling him where I am going on the weekends because I know that it will turn into an hour long conversation filled with every bit of information that he has ever learned about this location.
*Sloths. Enough said.
*I actually became excited about March being the "cooler" month (low 70's). Unfortunately summer is coming late apparently as we are sitting in the mid 80's everyday!! So. Hot. I used to tan all the time, now I am starting to shun the sun.
Tis all for now!
Chau!
Mallory