Hola!
Sometimes I think I focus too much on the big, awesome adventures that are happening to me on my crazy-busy weekends here in Peru. So with that, I thought I would start this blog off by mentioning some of my more day-to-day lifestyle regimes. Things that to me, have become what is normal and routine. For instance, I live only a 3-4 minute walk from the University (wonderful! amazing!) As I walk down my street every day there is a man who since day 1 has said, "Hola Senorita" to me with a wide grin and sparkling eye. Little by little we would talk more and more as I passed by, commenting on the weather and such things. This past week I learned his name, Mario. He has a sincerity in his voice that cannot be described, and he looks at me as if he were my grandfather, proud and beaming. I don't know why or how we became such strong acquaintances so quickly, but we did, and I am thankful for his daily greetings.
Another somewhat regular activity in my life is doing my Insanity workouts on the roof of the apartment building I live in. This may sound strange, but the roof is actually a huge deck with tables and chairs. Unfortunately, the UPC (the school I attend) gym is under construction because something is wrong with the restrooms. Have no fear though, I've done Insanity so many times in my life that I now have the workouts memorized and simply set a timer to know when to move on to the next exercise! It may not be glamorous like LifeTime, but at least it is something!
Another norm that has come about is spending time alone. Honesty time, this is so incredibly difficult for me. Being a the social butterfly I have always been, I do not enjoy time to myself unless it is when I am sleeping. With all of the other people in my group living a fare distance away from me, it is hard to meet up and spend time with them. I try to make it happen during the day, but I get too nervous to walk alone at night back to my house, so many times the time with them is short lived. My sister swears that I am being so ridiculous and that walking alone at night would not be a problem at all, but still, I am in a foreign country that does not contain blue-eyed, tall, blonde girls. I stick out like a sore thumb, day or night. Although this is a frustrating obstacle for me to overcome (considering I am not one who can binge watch shows and movies on Netflix), I have decided I need to start seeing it as a blessing. This way I can have more time to reflect, read my bible, be with the Lord, study His word, watch sermons, research random things on the internet I never have time to research when my free time is spent with my friends back home. This is going to take a long time before I actually enjoy the time alone. And maybe by the end of the trip I still prefer time with other people. But, ultimately, I hope and pray that I will learn to be content in whatever the situation would be, and take whatever my surroundings are to my full advantage.
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13
This verse helped me through my toughest times in Costa Rica, and although the interpretation from how I used this verse to help me in Costa Rica and how I will use it to help me in Peru is very different, that is the beauty of the living, breathing word of God. No matter how many times you read a verse, the Lord will continue use the same verses over and over to help us through drastically different situations. What a wonderful Lord I follow.
Now I know I said at the beginning I would talk about some more normal things...but I just have to at least comment a little bit (who am I kidding, I am the most wordy writer I know) about my trip to Matucana yesterday! Let me just say, after every awesome adventure I have, I truly think to myself that nothing will be able to top it...and then the next adventure happens and blows me away! Love that about Peru! So, yesterday my Grammar Professor, the one and only Roberto Garcia, took all of us Americans to a tiny town called Matucana. When we first arrived a whole new time of culture shock hit me. This town was so strange in the sense that one minute I felt like it should be full of middle class people with steady jobs and a family, and one street over I was devastated by the broken down buildings practically crumbling to the ground. The mood was strange, and I could not figure out how I felt about this place. Some of it might have had to do with my lack of sleep during my time here and the fact that I woke up at 6am to get on the bus, maybe my mind just was not fully functioning, yet. Before we started the hike we used the restrooms, and fun fact, they make you pay to use the restrooms and provide you with toilet paper when you pay. What an incentive to pay to use the restroom...toilet paper. Once we started walking through the town our tour guide explain a multitude of murals that covered the buildings. I many times wonder how murals on buildings is so common in this country and so highly uncommon in America. Maybe I am just naive or don't know that much about the country I live in, but to my knowledge I have maybe come across 2 or 3 wall murals in Nebraska, those being in downtown Omaha. In Peru they are everywhere, especially in what seems to be poorer areas. Maybe it is to distract the eye from the molding, broken down buildings and remind people that brick, platinum and steel skyscrapers is not what this country is about, culture is.
After walking for only 10 minutes through the town I could feel the fatigue of my body kicking in. The air was thin, and I started to dread the hike to the waterfall. But, as we dug deeper into the mountains we came across green, rich prairies. Cows, goats and donkeys roamed and the smell of farm (aka poop) was strong, but it weirdly didn't bother me because it fit the atmosphere so well haha. At times I felt like I was in Ireland because the color of green was so brilliant. The first 30 minutes or so of the hike was truthfully, brutal. I felt like I was literally walking at the largest incline possible while still being able to stand up straight. The hike was exhausting, but well, well, WELL worth it. After those first 30 minutes it was much more of a normal incline, and at times nice and flat. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the silence was incredible. Truly if I were to be the only one on the hike, removing the sound of the noise from my shoes against the rocks, it would have been complete silence. What an incredible 180 from the normal, everyday atmosphere I live in. Lima, Peru has 8.4 million people. Believe it or not that is the exact same number of people in New York City. Lima is loud and obnoxious with sirens, horns, music, and shouting creating the atmosphere 24-7. I've gotten relatively "used to it"...yet never will I completely be able to not notice it. As many people know I have zero to little idea what I am going to "do" with the rest of my life, I like to pretend that I'm never growing up (childish, I know), but one thing I do now know is that I would not like to live in a city the size of Lima. One decision for the future made, now only like 999 more to go!
Once we reached the waterfalls we ran in and out of the freezing cold water and took millions of pictures! It was a wonderful treat at the end of the trail, and I wish I could have stayed there for hours upon hours. I seriously believe that nature is the most beautiful, physical thing in this world. God crafts and designs so many wonderful sights with the stroke of His hand, I can't help but marvel at the sight of it. The trip back down the mountain was much faster paced naturally, and actually for me was more difficult than the journey up. The pebbles and rocks lacked stability as we slipped and tripped all the way down. My knees, feet and body ached, but I barely noticed until I was sitting on the bus because I could not get over how amazing (sorry I use the word amazing so much, I need a bigger vocabulary) the mountain hike was.
Once back into the town we stopped to load up on snacks before we hit the road back home. I tried my first Lucuma ice cream bar and was pleasantly surprised. I have heard many a good things about this delicious fruit and finally got the guts to say no to chocolate (well...not entirely because the outside of the ice cream bar was covered in a hard, chocolate coating), and try this sweet treat. Lucuma is going to be the go-to from now on during my time here in Peru. I can eat chocolate back in the U.S. During the drive home most of the bus was silent as people attempted to sleep, yet to be woken up every 5 minutes by the never ending jerking motion and giant speed bumps we would race over. I gazed out the window taking in the tiny cities we passed through. Although much of every little town was the same, each had a unique twist to it as well.
We arrived back at UPC and pow-wowed around to think up plans for the night. I originally thought the plan would be go home and sleep forever considering we were planned to get home at 2pm and did not get home till 5pm (typical Peru move), but, the sun was up and so were we. We met back at 6:30 to hop on a combi and make our way to the district of Barranco! I think this might end up being my favorite district in Lima. It is so unique and interesting, filled with themed bars from different countries. We had all read/heard from the groups in the past that we must find and eat at the "Burrito Bar" in Barranco. Litte did we know that this hole-in-the wall actually completely lacks a name. There was no sign, no nothing. Just a door cut out of the wall that lead you into a tiny restaurant serving burritos, tacos, chips and salsa, and margaritas of course. Wow oh wow will I never ever want to eat another Qdoba meal again. This food was outstanding, the best mexican I have ever had in my life! I can tell already that this will become a regular hot-spot for the group and I!
On Friday my professor from the states, Anita, took me to the markets that are only a 15 minute walk from our houses. The markets will now and forever be my go-to place in Peru for food. Oh my goodness the amount of fruits they have there is absolutely incredible! Most fruits are very cheap, but I bought a couple that I think must be out of season because they were $4 a piece, in english they are called Dragon Fruit, in Spanish Pitahaya. I also bought a Cactus Fruit (Tuna), a pepino which is supposed to be similar to a melon but it is tiny along with 2 other fruits that in all honesty I don't know the names of them! I tried looking them up and cannot find them, but all I know is that they smelled good so I am excited to try all these crazy things!
Onward to my ongoing list of interesting things about Peru:
*The struggle is real when I read a word in Spanish that I don't know, look it up in the bilingual dictionary to find the English word, and then literally don't have any idea what the English word is. Welcome to the world of Spanish Literature Mal Pal.
*Starting the stove with a match was so incredibly difficult for me at first because I don't do well with matches!! But...with time I am starting to get the hang of it.
*Jaime Sr. told me the other day to always wear shoes in the kitchen or else I might get electrocuted...uhhh.
*Papa Relleno is a wonderful wonderful food that practically melts in your mouth.
*We had to give a speech about a Spanish song that we like, hence we had to listen to a bunch of Spanish songs to find one we "liked"...I am starting to learn why all they do it listen to Lady Gaga and One Direction.
*Went to buy ice cream at Burger King and the lady did not a have 10 centimos (cents) for me...so I just did not receive my change back. What??
*The sun is making my hair blonder! YAY!
*Being the typical American I am, being very timely, it partially drives me insane that class goes like 30 minutes late and the professor thinks nothing of it.
Well my friends that is all for now! The next couple weekends are going to be crazy as I am going to Mancora (the nicest beach in Peru that is in the northern part) for all of spring break, the next weekend I go to Machu Picchu, the next I am off to go camping on the beach with my family, and the one after that is already the first weekend in March where my whole group will travel to Paracus! Ah the craziness, I am SO ready for all of it!!!
Besos,
Mal Pal
Sometimes I think I focus too much on the big, awesome adventures that are happening to me on my crazy-busy weekends here in Peru. So with that, I thought I would start this blog off by mentioning some of my more day-to-day lifestyle regimes. Things that to me, have become what is normal and routine. For instance, I live only a 3-4 minute walk from the University (wonderful! amazing!) As I walk down my street every day there is a man who since day 1 has said, "Hola Senorita" to me with a wide grin and sparkling eye. Little by little we would talk more and more as I passed by, commenting on the weather and such things. This past week I learned his name, Mario. He has a sincerity in his voice that cannot be described, and he looks at me as if he were my grandfather, proud and beaming. I don't know why or how we became such strong acquaintances so quickly, but we did, and I am thankful for his daily greetings.
Another somewhat regular activity in my life is doing my Insanity workouts on the roof of the apartment building I live in. This may sound strange, but the roof is actually a huge deck with tables and chairs. Unfortunately, the UPC (the school I attend) gym is under construction because something is wrong with the restrooms. Have no fear though, I've done Insanity so many times in my life that I now have the workouts memorized and simply set a timer to know when to move on to the next exercise! It may not be glamorous like LifeTime, but at least it is something!
Another norm that has come about is spending time alone. Honesty time, this is so incredibly difficult for me. Being a the social butterfly I have always been, I do not enjoy time to myself unless it is when I am sleeping. With all of the other people in my group living a fare distance away from me, it is hard to meet up and spend time with them. I try to make it happen during the day, but I get too nervous to walk alone at night back to my house, so many times the time with them is short lived. My sister swears that I am being so ridiculous and that walking alone at night would not be a problem at all, but still, I am in a foreign country that does not contain blue-eyed, tall, blonde girls. I stick out like a sore thumb, day or night. Although this is a frustrating obstacle for me to overcome (considering I am not one who can binge watch shows and movies on Netflix), I have decided I need to start seeing it as a blessing. This way I can have more time to reflect, read my bible, be with the Lord, study His word, watch sermons, research random things on the internet I never have time to research when my free time is spent with my friends back home. This is going to take a long time before I actually enjoy the time alone. And maybe by the end of the trip I still prefer time with other people. But, ultimately, I hope and pray that I will learn to be content in whatever the situation would be, and take whatever my surroundings are to my full advantage.
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13
This verse helped me through my toughest times in Costa Rica, and although the interpretation from how I used this verse to help me in Costa Rica and how I will use it to help me in Peru is very different, that is the beauty of the living, breathing word of God. No matter how many times you read a verse, the Lord will continue use the same verses over and over to help us through drastically different situations. What a wonderful Lord I follow.
Now I know I said at the beginning I would talk about some more normal things...but I just have to at least comment a little bit (who am I kidding, I am the most wordy writer I know) about my trip to Matucana yesterday! Let me just say, after every awesome adventure I have, I truly think to myself that nothing will be able to top it...and then the next adventure happens and blows me away! Love that about Peru! So, yesterday my Grammar Professor, the one and only Roberto Garcia, took all of us Americans to a tiny town called Matucana. When we first arrived a whole new time of culture shock hit me. This town was so strange in the sense that one minute I felt like it should be full of middle class people with steady jobs and a family, and one street over I was devastated by the broken down buildings practically crumbling to the ground. The mood was strange, and I could not figure out how I felt about this place. Some of it might have had to do with my lack of sleep during my time here and the fact that I woke up at 6am to get on the bus, maybe my mind just was not fully functioning, yet. Before we started the hike we used the restrooms, and fun fact, they make you pay to use the restrooms and provide you with toilet paper when you pay. What an incentive to pay to use the restroom...toilet paper. Once we started walking through the town our tour guide explain a multitude of murals that covered the buildings. I many times wonder how murals on buildings is so common in this country and so highly uncommon in America. Maybe I am just naive or don't know that much about the country I live in, but to my knowledge I have maybe come across 2 or 3 wall murals in Nebraska, those being in downtown Omaha. In Peru they are everywhere, especially in what seems to be poorer areas. Maybe it is to distract the eye from the molding, broken down buildings and remind people that brick, platinum and steel skyscrapers is not what this country is about, culture is.
After walking for only 10 minutes through the town I could feel the fatigue of my body kicking in. The air was thin, and I started to dread the hike to the waterfall. But, as we dug deeper into the mountains we came across green, rich prairies. Cows, goats and donkeys roamed and the smell of farm (aka poop) was strong, but it weirdly didn't bother me because it fit the atmosphere so well haha. At times I felt like I was in Ireland because the color of green was so brilliant. The first 30 minutes or so of the hike was truthfully, brutal. I felt like I was literally walking at the largest incline possible while still being able to stand up straight. The hike was exhausting, but well, well, WELL worth it. After those first 30 minutes it was much more of a normal incline, and at times nice and flat. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the silence was incredible. Truly if I were to be the only one on the hike, removing the sound of the noise from my shoes against the rocks, it would have been complete silence. What an incredible 180 from the normal, everyday atmosphere I live in. Lima, Peru has 8.4 million people. Believe it or not that is the exact same number of people in New York City. Lima is loud and obnoxious with sirens, horns, music, and shouting creating the atmosphere 24-7. I've gotten relatively "used to it"...yet never will I completely be able to not notice it. As many people know I have zero to little idea what I am going to "do" with the rest of my life, I like to pretend that I'm never growing up (childish, I know), but one thing I do now know is that I would not like to live in a city the size of Lima. One decision for the future made, now only like 999 more to go!
Once we reached the waterfalls we ran in and out of the freezing cold water and took millions of pictures! It was a wonderful treat at the end of the trail, and I wish I could have stayed there for hours upon hours. I seriously believe that nature is the most beautiful, physical thing in this world. God crafts and designs so many wonderful sights with the stroke of His hand, I can't help but marvel at the sight of it. The trip back down the mountain was much faster paced naturally, and actually for me was more difficult than the journey up. The pebbles and rocks lacked stability as we slipped and tripped all the way down. My knees, feet and body ached, but I barely noticed until I was sitting on the bus because I could not get over how amazing (sorry I use the word amazing so much, I need a bigger vocabulary) the mountain hike was.
Once back into the town we stopped to load up on snacks before we hit the road back home. I tried my first Lucuma ice cream bar and was pleasantly surprised. I have heard many a good things about this delicious fruit and finally got the guts to say no to chocolate (well...not entirely because the outside of the ice cream bar was covered in a hard, chocolate coating), and try this sweet treat. Lucuma is going to be the go-to from now on during my time here in Peru. I can eat chocolate back in the U.S. During the drive home most of the bus was silent as people attempted to sleep, yet to be woken up every 5 minutes by the never ending jerking motion and giant speed bumps we would race over. I gazed out the window taking in the tiny cities we passed through. Although much of every little town was the same, each had a unique twist to it as well.
We arrived back at UPC and pow-wowed around to think up plans for the night. I originally thought the plan would be go home and sleep forever considering we were planned to get home at 2pm and did not get home till 5pm (typical Peru move), but, the sun was up and so were we. We met back at 6:30 to hop on a combi and make our way to the district of Barranco! I think this might end up being my favorite district in Lima. It is so unique and interesting, filled with themed bars from different countries. We had all read/heard from the groups in the past that we must find and eat at the "Burrito Bar" in Barranco. Litte did we know that this hole-in-the wall actually completely lacks a name. There was no sign, no nothing. Just a door cut out of the wall that lead you into a tiny restaurant serving burritos, tacos, chips and salsa, and margaritas of course. Wow oh wow will I never ever want to eat another Qdoba meal again. This food was outstanding, the best mexican I have ever had in my life! I can tell already that this will become a regular hot-spot for the group and I!
On Friday my professor from the states, Anita, took me to the markets that are only a 15 minute walk from our houses. The markets will now and forever be my go-to place in Peru for food. Oh my goodness the amount of fruits they have there is absolutely incredible! Most fruits are very cheap, but I bought a couple that I think must be out of season because they were $4 a piece, in english they are called Dragon Fruit, in Spanish Pitahaya. I also bought a Cactus Fruit (Tuna), a pepino which is supposed to be similar to a melon but it is tiny along with 2 other fruits that in all honesty I don't know the names of them! I tried looking them up and cannot find them, but all I know is that they smelled good so I am excited to try all these crazy things!
Onward to my ongoing list of interesting things about Peru:
*The struggle is real when I read a word in Spanish that I don't know, look it up in the bilingual dictionary to find the English word, and then literally don't have any idea what the English word is. Welcome to the world of Spanish Literature Mal Pal.
*Starting the stove with a match was so incredibly difficult for me at first because I don't do well with matches!! But...with time I am starting to get the hang of it.
*Jaime Sr. told me the other day to always wear shoes in the kitchen or else I might get electrocuted...uhhh.
*Papa Relleno is a wonderful wonderful food that practically melts in your mouth.
*We had to give a speech about a Spanish song that we like, hence we had to listen to a bunch of Spanish songs to find one we "liked"...I am starting to learn why all they do it listen to Lady Gaga and One Direction.
*Went to buy ice cream at Burger King and the lady did not a have 10 centimos (cents) for me...so I just did not receive my change back. What??
*The sun is making my hair blonder! YAY!
*Being the typical American I am, being very timely, it partially drives me insane that class goes like 30 minutes late and the professor thinks nothing of it.
Well my friends that is all for now! The next couple weekends are going to be crazy as I am going to Mancora (the nicest beach in Peru that is in the northern part) for all of spring break, the next weekend I go to Machu Picchu, the next I am off to go camping on the beach with my family, and the one after that is already the first weekend in March where my whole group will travel to Paracus! Ah the craziness, I am SO ready for all of it!!!
Besos,
Mal Pal