Hola! Hola! Hola!
Well the weeks are zoominnggggg by as I have headed into my 4th and final month of this adventure! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone in comparison to when I first arrived. I thought for sure that 4 months was going to be too long and that the other study abroad programs had it right by only having it for 3 months, oh heavens was I wrong! Had this been a 3 month program I would be leaving in 5 days....yeah no. I still have things to do and places to see!
Speaking of places to see. So ya know how I said that after my parents left I was going to relax. Hmmm...interesting. That definitely did not happen. I know you all are in utter surprise right now. Basically, like I said in my last blog, my best friend in the whole wide world came all the way to Peru with her MedLife group to visit me! She was only here for a week, so we obviously had to make the most of every single day. And I can valiantly say that we did just that. Going to discos, exploring Miraflores, and heading back to Paracas for round 2 of sand boarding for me was well worth it! This time around was much different than my first Paracas experience though because after doing the regime boat tour of the Islas Bellestas, we headed to Huarachina (the real deal sand boarding and dune bugging). Riding in the Dune Buggies was absolutely worth every single penny! It was like jetskiing....except on sad... in miles upon miles of desserts and dunes...and we were in like a 10 person seater race car looking thing! Seriously epic! After bouncing around on the dunes for awhile in the buggies, it was time to sand board again. Thank goodness we did not have to trudge up a mountain of sand like I did last time at the resorts "free sand boarding." That was so exhausting that by the time we got to the top it was like we were too tired to even do it! But this experience was much nicer having the buggies toll us around. We strapped into our boards and I decided to try standing on my feet rather than lying on my stomach or sitting. Bad idea. Bad idea. RED ALERT! I should know better. When it comes to clumsy and uncoordinated I receive an A++ every time. I was doing great at first, flying down the sand dune at record breaking speed! Wait a second, record breaking speed??? Mallory why are you going so fast??? STOP! Well I definitely did stop eventually, my tailbone luckily (kidding) braced my fall. Oh heavens it was a doosy from that point forward. I couldn't stand, sit, lay, or anything without being in excruciating pain. Luckily I knew that I had not cracked it though since I was able to hobble and walk-ish. My loving friend let me lay down the whole 5 hour ride back home in the bus, bless her heart.
The next week that followed was finally when the relaxation started. I had 1 class on Monday and 2 on Tuesday.
This week I have my last class of Literature (which means my final! ah!) and then the other 2 classes will continue going for 2 more weeks. How I only have 7 more classes is a total mystery to me. Wednesday rolled around and I had the opportunity to have lunch with Anna and our Peruvian friend, Gressia, and then another girl that Anna met from Germany, Lisa. It was fun bouncing around languages between Spanish and English and helping each other learn. After lunch we quick did some errands (I got some more of my favorite peanuts from the Mercado that are covered in this hard coating stuff. Oh my goodness they are amazing). Then we went to Anna's house to have her FINALLY TAKE OUT MY BRAID. I got this colorful string braid type thing in MANCORA...that was in February...and I have yet to find a time to have someone help me take it out. Low and behold I found out I might as well have just chopped it out because even after Anna doing careful surgery on it for like an hour, the top was so ratted and knotted that a few days later they entire chunk of hair fell out. I was sad. Thankfully though I did it on the underneath part of my hair so no one can tell!! We also watched the award winning movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which was interesting. I liked it a lot I really did! I just don't really have adequate words to describe why I liked it.
On Thursday my family and I took a little adventure to the beach Punta Hermosa. My host dad's sister rents an apartment there on the beach. The apartment was absolutely breathtaking and was on the top floor so we could look out over the ocean. We originally left at 11, but unfortunately we drove all the way there and the sister was not even home so we took a pit stop and ordered some tequenos (fried cheese) and beer. Such a total Peruvian move planning to have guests over to your house and then not being there when they show up haha. Once we finally got up to the apartment we chatted, ate Peruvian appetizers which were amazing tamales and empanadas, and then eventually we headed to the beach for a short 40 minutes. I don't know what is up with me lately, but I am exhausted all the time so I conked out right away on the beach and took a nap. We returned to the house and they made Paella, which is actually a Spain-inspired dish. My oh my was it the most wonderful thing I have ever tasted. I soooo badly wish I would have taken a picture of the giant pan they prepared it in! It was a skillet larger than a family sized pizza! In the skillet they put all sorts of vegetables, peppers, peas, carrots, onions, and then they put beef, chicken, octopus, muscles, scallops and shrimp. I am sure that they put some sort of sauce in it, too, and then topped it off with a load of rice. Wow, seriously absolutely incredible tasting. I had vowed earlier this week to stop eating so many sweets. But then...they brought our a Lucuma tort dessert that I could NOT say no to. When in Peru, you eat Lucuma desserts every single chance you get because they are amazing!!!! Again, I have said this before, but such a shame that we do not have Lucuma in the states. This get together was huge and it made me so happy inside to see a giant family laughing, cursing, telling stories and spending time together. It made me so happy, yet at the same time it did make me a little bit sad. I got really homesick that night, which I have not been since the first two weeks that I got here, and from then on have been missing my family quite a bit. I am really going to try and stop that nonsense though since I only have a short few weeks left here! I want to relish and enjoy every single last moment I have here in Peru!
Friday I had the house to myself because my brothers and sister had all headed to the beach with friends while my mom and dad also went to the beach with another couple. It was an amazing day having the apartment to myself. Full on relaxation to the max. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted. That has been one strange adjustment here in Peru is going back to "high school days" of always having to tell my host parents where I am going, who I am going with, and when I will be back. It was wonderful to just come and go as I pleased like I do normally when I am at college.
These last couple of weeks will really be a blur though. The homework is starting to pile up a bit as we are rushing to finish our classes almost 2 weeks earlier than planned. Also, I am going on my last trip this next Tuesday-Friday to experience what the Peruvians call the "Switzerland" of Peru! Stay tuned next week to hear how that one goes for me!! :)
As always, I shall end with a nice list of random thoughts to round out this blog:
*With all the supposed free time I was going to have on this trip I promised myself to start my first "series" show ever since the entire world is incredibly indicted to them so I should be too right? Nope. Too many travels to go and places to see. Have yet to get around to it.
*The gym. Dear me. This will be my largest complaint about this trip (obviously as you can see I love this trip because this is a minute detail) but still. We have a UPC gym that absolutely nobody uses because Peruvians workout. You have to reserve a time that is on the hour, so if your class ends at 7, you have to wait to go until 8 because if you are late you are penalized 15 days of not being allowed to use the gym. Also, if NO ONE, not ONE SINGLE HUMAN, is using the gym and you do not have a reserved time but would like to use it anyways... Nope!! Can't do it. They gym essentially sits empty all day long. Also, there is a 3 times a week rule where we can only use it 3 times. Again, if you want to use it a 4th time lets say when NO ONE is there...still can't do it. Literally the most awful system known to man.
*Having Peruvians demonstrate to you what they think a "southern" accent sounds like is the most hysterical thing I have ever heard. Then, having them demonstrate the different accents of people around South America, also incredibly hilarious!
*The maid, Martita, forgot her key to get into the house this morning so she was ringing the doorbell at 7am. I was freaked out because who on earth would be at the door that early (not knowing she was coming). I tried looking through the peep hole and saw no one...yet again, SOMEONE WAS RINGING THE BELL. I was so confused. How could there be no one outside the door, yet the bell was ringing. Soon to find out that Martita is too short to be seen when looking through the peep hole :) bahahah. She is adorable.
*I often times feel like I am living with Snow White because our other maid, Gorda, whistles while she works :) It is actually the most beautiful whistling I have ever heard!
Well the weeks are zoominnggggg by as I have headed into my 4th and final month of this adventure! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone in comparison to when I first arrived. I thought for sure that 4 months was going to be too long and that the other study abroad programs had it right by only having it for 3 months, oh heavens was I wrong! Had this been a 3 month program I would be leaving in 5 days....yeah no. I still have things to do and places to see!
Speaking of places to see. So ya know how I said that after my parents left I was going to relax. Hmmm...interesting. That definitely did not happen. I know you all are in utter surprise right now. Basically, like I said in my last blog, my best friend in the whole wide world came all the way to Peru with her MedLife group to visit me! She was only here for a week, so we obviously had to make the most of every single day. And I can valiantly say that we did just that. Going to discos, exploring Miraflores, and heading back to Paracas for round 2 of sand boarding for me was well worth it! This time around was much different than my first Paracas experience though because after doing the regime boat tour of the Islas Bellestas, we headed to Huarachina (the real deal sand boarding and dune bugging). Riding in the Dune Buggies was absolutely worth every single penny! It was like jetskiing....except on sad... in miles upon miles of desserts and dunes...and we were in like a 10 person seater race car looking thing! Seriously epic! After bouncing around on the dunes for awhile in the buggies, it was time to sand board again. Thank goodness we did not have to trudge up a mountain of sand like I did last time at the resorts "free sand boarding." That was so exhausting that by the time we got to the top it was like we were too tired to even do it! But this experience was much nicer having the buggies toll us around. We strapped into our boards and I decided to try standing on my feet rather than lying on my stomach or sitting. Bad idea. Bad idea. RED ALERT! I should know better. When it comes to clumsy and uncoordinated I receive an A++ every time. I was doing great at first, flying down the sand dune at record breaking speed! Wait a second, record breaking speed??? Mallory why are you going so fast??? STOP! Well I definitely did stop eventually, my tailbone luckily (kidding) braced my fall. Oh heavens it was a doosy from that point forward. I couldn't stand, sit, lay, or anything without being in excruciating pain. Luckily I knew that I had not cracked it though since I was able to hobble and walk-ish. My loving friend let me lay down the whole 5 hour ride back home in the bus, bless her heart.
The next week that followed was finally when the relaxation started. I had 1 class on Monday and 2 on Tuesday.
This week I have my last class of Literature (which means my final! ah!) and then the other 2 classes will continue going for 2 more weeks. How I only have 7 more classes is a total mystery to me. Wednesday rolled around and I had the opportunity to have lunch with Anna and our Peruvian friend, Gressia, and then another girl that Anna met from Germany, Lisa. It was fun bouncing around languages between Spanish and English and helping each other learn. After lunch we quick did some errands (I got some more of my favorite peanuts from the Mercado that are covered in this hard coating stuff. Oh my goodness they are amazing). Then we went to Anna's house to have her FINALLY TAKE OUT MY BRAID. I got this colorful string braid type thing in MANCORA...that was in February...and I have yet to find a time to have someone help me take it out. Low and behold I found out I might as well have just chopped it out because even after Anna doing careful surgery on it for like an hour, the top was so ratted and knotted that a few days later they entire chunk of hair fell out. I was sad. Thankfully though I did it on the underneath part of my hair so no one can tell!! We also watched the award winning movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which was interesting. I liked it a lot I really did! I just don't really have adequate words to describe why I liked it.
On Thursday my family and I took a little adventure to the beach Punta Hermosa. My host dad's sister rents an apartment there on the beach. The apartment was absolutely breathtaking and was on the top floor so we could look out over the ocean. We originally left at 11, but unfortunately we drove all the way there and the sister was not even home so we took a pit stop and ordered some tequenos (fried cheese) and beer. Such a total Peruvian move planning to have guests over to your house and then not being there when they show up haha. Once we finally got up to the apartment we chatted, ate Peruvian appetizers which were amazing tamales and empanadas, and then eventually we headed to the beach for a short 40 minutes. I don't know what is up with me lately, but I am exhausted all the time so I conked out right away on the beach and took a nap. We returned to the house and they made Paella, which is actually a Spain-inspired dish. My oh my was it the most wonderful thing I have ever tasted. I soooo badly wish I would have taken a picture of the giant pan they prepared it in! It was a skillet larger than a family sized pizza! In the skillet they put all sorts of vegetables, peppers, peas, carrots, onions, and then they put beef, chicken, octopus, muscles, scallops and shrimp. I am sure that they put some sort of sauce in it, too, and then topped it off with a load of rice. Wow, seriously absolutely incredible tasting. I had vowed earlier this week to stop eating so many sweets. But then...they brought our a Lucuma tort dessert that I could NOT say no to. When in Peru, you eat Lucuma desserts every single chance you get because they are amazing!!!! Again, I have said this before, but such a shame that we do not have Lucuma in the states. This get together was huge and it made me so happy inside to see a giant family laughing, cursing, telling stories and spending time together. It made me so happy, yet at the same time it did make me a little bit sad. I got really homesick that night, which I have not been since the first two weeks that I got here, and from then on have been missing my family quite a bit. I am really going to try and stop that nonsense though since I only have a short few weeks left here! I want to relish and enjoy every single last moment I have here in Peru!
Friday I had the house to myself because my brothers and sister had all headed to the beach with friends while my mom and dad also went to the beach with another couple. It was an amazing day having the apartment to myself. Full on relaxation to the max. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted. That has been one strange adjustment here in Peru is going back to "high school days" of always having to tell my host parents where I am going, who I am going with, and when I will be back. It was wonderful to just come and go as I pleased like I do normally when I am at college.
These last couple of weeks will really be a blur though. The homework is starting to pile up a bit as we are rushing to finish our classes almost 2 weeks earlier than planned. Also, I am going on my last trip this next Tuesday-Friday to experience what the Peruvians call the "Switzerland" of Peru! Stay tuned next week to hear how that one goes for me!! :)
As always, I shall end with a nice list of random thoughts to round out this blog:
*With all the supposed free time I was going to have on this trip I promised myself to start my first "series" show ever since the entire world is incredibly indicted to them so I should be too right? Nope. Too many travels to go and places to see. Have yet to get around to it.
*The gym. Dear me. This will be my largest complaint about this trip (obviously as you can see I love this trip because this is a minute detail) but still. We have a UPC gym that absolutely nobody uses because Peruvians workout. You have to reserve a time that is on the hour, so if your class ends at 7, you have to wait to go until 8 because if you are late you are penalized 15 days of not being allowed to use the gym. Also, if NO ONE, not ONE SINGLE HUMAN, is using the gym and you do not have a reserved time but would like to use it anyways... Nope!! Can't do it. They gym essentially sits empty all day long. Also, there is a 3 times a week rule where we can only use it 3 times. Again, if you want to use it a 4th time lets say when NO ONE is there...still can't do it. Literally the most awful system known to man.
*Having Peruvians demonstrate to you what they think a "southern" accent sounds like is the most hysterical thing I have ever heard. Then, having them demonstrate the different accents of people around South America, also incredibly hilarious!
*The maid, Martita, forgot her key to get into the house this morning so she was ringing the doorbell at 7am. I was freaked out because who on earth would be at the door that early (not knowing she was coming). I tried looking through the peep hole and saw no one...yet again, SOMEONE WAS RINGING THE BELL. I was so confused. How could there be no one outside the door, yet the bell was ringing. Soon to find out that Martita is too short to be seen when looking through the peep hole :) bahahah. She is adorable.
*I often times feel like I am living with Snow White because our other maid, Gorda, whistles while she works :) It is actually the most beautiful whistling I have ever heard!