Gitana on replay

Holaaaaaaaaaa!

So my mom bought me an iTunes gift card and sent me the code. So I was able to download Gitana by Shakira. And its now on repeat. And I am excited about new music. Any suggestions?

So I can't believe that I haven't updated about what happened to me on Wednesday. I just laugh every time I think about it.

**Before the story, I have to explain one thing. Strangely enough there are deer that live on campus. I don't know how many but there are a lot. And they are little and pretty cute.**

Alright, here we go. So its wednesday afternoon. Amelia and I just got back to campus after getting some gelato in between classes. We justified having that for lunch by saying that we would eat our fruit when we got back to campus. We figured that balances things out. So we find a nice place to sit down in the grass on campus (which is usually frowned up, but people do it all the time). So we are sitting and enjoying out fruit. Amelia has a nice little mandarina and I have my apple. I love apples, like a lot. And the last two apples that my host mom has given me were kind of old. You know how when an apple gets old, its kind of dry and no longer juicy? Thats how my last two apples were. So I was a bit skeptical, but hoping for the best. I bit in and it was juicy. What a pleasant surprise. So I was thoroughly enjoying my fruit, as was Amelia.

All of a sudden a cute little deer starts walking near us. Awww so cute. So Amelia decides to see if it will eat the peel from her mandarina. Much to our surprise, it did! And comes back for more. After the peel is all gone it keeps sniffing around and hanging out right next to Amelia who thinks that its going to kick her. So she stands up and starts to walk away. Then our new little friend comes over to me. I'm thinking, oh no you don't! This is my apple. No way you're getting it. So I try to shoo it away, but it is a persistent little bugger and won't leave me alone. So I stand up and walk away. I really wanted to kick it or something to scare it and make it go away but I didn't know if I could get kicked out of la Católica for hurting the deer. So I was trying to be gentle, but it wouldn't listen. It starts sniffing around my backpack and then starts to follow me and Amelia. So its following Amelia and I walk back towards our bags to pick up my cell phone. Then its like chasing me and nips me in the bum! I kid you not! I got deer nipped! So I freak out and throw the apple. It doesn't realize it and is still in front of me trying to get it. So I yell "Go get it! Go get it!" And point to where the apple is. It runs over and starts eating the apple. Amelia and I are laughing so hard and I'm almost crying. A mixture of fear and hysterical laughter. And we aren't the only ones laughing. There are some peruvian students who saw the whole thing and must be thinking, silly gringas.

So Amelia and I grab our bags and book it out of there before the deer finishes the apple and starts looking for more. Only in Peru. So of course we're telling everyone the story. Amelia loves telling the part where it nipped me in the butt. The guys at CBU found that especially entertaining. We laughed about it for a while at lunch yesterday.

Yesterday (Thursday) my music prof didn't show up to class for the second time this week. So we didn't have class at all next week. But I think that we are supposed to have a midterm on Tuesday. But even the peruvian students are clueless, so I feel a bit better. After that I went to lit class and the professor talked a bit about our exam. I'm a bit worried, but I'll study and just hope for the best. Then I went to CBU and had lunch with them afterwards. After lunch René invited us to go and check out the Amazonian fair going on in Lima. So Amelia, Chris and I went with him. It was pretty cool. Lots of little booths with artesanía and such. We even got to try some food that was wicked good!!!! Then Amelia and I met up with Caitlyn at a bus stop and headed to Amelia's house to make mac n' cheese. It was fun. I love spending time at Amelia's house. Her host family is so great and very welcoming. After eating we just hung out and chatted about life. I got home a little after 11 and I was exhausted. But I went on facebook and was chatting with people until like 12:15. YIKES. Too late for Abby, especially since I had to get up early today to go to volunteering.

So I woke up around 6 this morning, very unwillingly. But I planned on taking a nap when I got home (which I did). Surprise of all surprises: I WAS EARLY to meet the taxi today. Take that peruvian time warp! So it was just Laura and I that went to help out with Deporte y Vida today. We arrived and went into the classroom for the older kids who go to school in the afternoons. They were working on their homework so we helped out with that. These kids are learning English at like 10,12 years old. Its very impressive. So I helped out a lot with English homework. Also the first little girl that I met, I asked her what her name was and its Abigaíl. Just like me!!! So that was cool. She is six and didn't have any homework to do. So I drew her some pictures to color. Turns out I'm not very good at drawing seals, mosquitoes or flies. But oh well. Then one of the teachers asked me to look over her brother's english homework in his notebook. I didn't understand at first, but she actually wanted me to do the work. I was like, if I do it then how is he going to learn? And I'm sure that the teacher will figure out that its not little Jesús who is writing all these sentences. But oh well. Laura spent a lot of time with this girl Angélica and talked with her a lot. We learned some interesting things about what they are learning. Her english teacher is not teaching them correct information. Angélica told us that she had been taught that the ph in english is just like a p. So telephone would be pronounced telepone. At one point Laura wrote down the word ansujer and asked me what it meant. I was like, I have no idea, and she told me that it was a word in english. Turns out that is how the teacher thinks you spell answer. So interesting and I'm glad that we were there to help out. At one point one of the kids yells out "Profesora! Los chinos llegaron! Los chinos! Los chinos!" (Teacher! The chinese arrived! The chinese!) Turns out they were just a bunch of gringos that showed up to work on the church right next to the school area. But it was pretty funny. The kids all ran out to see them and wave. Didn't know that I was chinese. Also, here in Perú I'm considered blonde haired. Strange...

So I really enjoyed helping out today with Deporte y Vida and I'm looking forward to going back. I got home, took a nap, had some lunch and took a shower. I'll be leaving in like half an hour to go and hang out with some girls and get smoothies. Then tomorrow I have a cultural activity with CIEE - swimming with sea lions!!! I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

I would like to wish my very

Super Smart Special Sawyer Sister Kelly

a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

(and yes, we're sisters. we may look nothing alike,

but we're more similar than I thought)

I hope you're day was filled with friends, laughter and lots of fun.

I miss laughing with you late at night.

You're great and I've learned so much from you.

All my love,

Abby Z.

More than I thought

Tuesday night.

9pm in Lima.

10 pm in Boston.

I'm bored so I'm going to spend my time updating my blog.

I changed up the design. Hope you like it. I was feeling the need for a little change in my life.

Once again, nothing super exciting to report...just normal day-to-day living in Lima. Which I suppose is exciting in its own way. I mean riding the micros is always an adventure. I like watching people listening to their iPods and totally jamming out. Like grooving to the music. This one girl was totally getting into it. Shoulders going and lip-syncing. I also like listening to the cobrador-chofer interactions and trying to understand what is going on. Sometimes I can, and sometimes I can't. And sometimes I pick up on grammatical errors. ¿Alguién baja Sucre? Nadies. I still haven't figured out what the numbers mean that the dateros call out as we drive by. I'm determined to figure it out one day. It must be important information if its worth 10 céntimos.

Last Friday I went on a tour/orientation session for my volunteer work. Time warp got me bad and I was late and had to get picked up by the taxi. Laura, Cristina, Aprill, Marion and I travelled to Villa el Salvador to meet with the coordinator for Deporte y Vida. Then we all piled into her little old yellow VW bug and drove up the road to a section called Oasis. This is where we will be volunteering. Oasis just celebrated its 4th anniversary. The houses are all made out of plywood and there is no water. We will be helping out at a pre-school daycare sort of place. In the morning they have younger kids, ages 3-5 and some older kids too. Then in the afternoon its more of an after school program to help the kids with homework. The teachers were very sweet and welcoming. They are doing such a good thing in such a hard place. We will be going there on Friday mornings to help out in any way that we can. I'm excited.

When we arrived back in Miraflores, Marion, Cristina and I went to a restaurant with Arabic food and had a great turkey shawarma wrap. Delicious. Then we took a taxi over to el Museo de la Nación. It was a CIEE cultural activity. One of the professors for CIEE Jorge came along to explain things to us. It wasn't that impressive. The "artifacts" weren't very old. There were ceramics made in the 1940s and 50s. I even saw one that was made in 2009. Its like, I know there must be older more legitimate artifacts somewhere in Peru. You would think that the national museum would have them and want to display them. But oh well. Some of the paintings were pretty cool. Then we headed up the elevator to the 6th floor where there is a photographic display of the years of terrorism in Peru. It was really well done. Pretty heavy stuff, but good to learn about. Strangest part, I walked into one of the small rooms with pictures and information about the taking of the Japanese embassy in '96. There was a TV playing a documentary from the History Channel about it. And this man was talking and I was watching, and he looked and sounded very familiar. Then it clicked, it was Clint VanZandt. My sister-in-law Jenna's father. He used to work with the FBI on hostage situations and was getting interviewed. It was so weird to see him, I guess because it was just so unexpected. After the museum I came home and just chilled. I was thankful that my host mom didn't want to discuss the museum or anything. I appreciate that she likes having conversations with me, but sometimes its just hard. I mean what do I know about the teenage Japanese suicide rate or why poverty can exist in such wealthy countries? Yes, these are actual conversations that we've had.

Saturday I woke up and just kind of lounged around all day. I was going to go to Polvos Azules with Amelia and Audrey, but we didn't eat lunch until like 2:30 so it was a bit to late. So I just bummed around, did some homework and started feeling sorry for myself. Not sure why. It was just one of those days. There was no particular reason, I was just feeling crummy. Or "punky" as my Daddy would say. But I had plans to go bowling at night. So around 6:30 I left my house to head over to Parque Kennedy where we were meeting at 7. I walked down the 3 blocks to Benavides and waited to hop on a micro. And I waited, and waited and waited. I probably let like 5 micros pass me. I have no idea what my problem is and I was getting so frustrated with myself. It was strange and I was on the verge of tears and just about ready to turn back and call it a night. (I'm very glad that I didn't) I finally got on a micro and ended up arriving around 7:15. But thats ok, because things in Peru never ever happen on time. So I found Chris and Amelia showed up shortly after me. We just chilled for a bit and chatted. Then Raffa (short for Rafael, in case you're wondering) showed up. He knew Amelia from youth group and was joining us for the night. We walked over to the bowling alley and waited for Miki (Miguel Angel - our friend from CBU) He showed up and we went inside. Instead of bowling we decided to play pool. So I learned how to play pool on Saturday night. Now I'm not very good, but hey, it was my first time. I got two balls in. Thats pretty good, right? Raffa's friend Dyago joined us at the pool hall. It was fun hanging out with them. We were swapping slang words in Spanish and English. They've seen American Pie and had quite a few questions about words and phrases. So we had some explaining to do. I think I swore more on Saturday night that I have in my whole life. But it was a lot of fun. The guys are all Christians and really friendly. After playing a few games of pool, we took a taxi to Barranco and ate at Roky's restaurant. So yummy. Then we walked Amelia back to her house. After Chris got a tour of Amelia's amazingly awesome beautiful house we walked up to the paradero and waited for a micro that would pass my house and continue on to where Chris lives. Turns out there aren't many micros passing by that paradero at midnight. But we finally got one that would take me home, and Chris got off and was going to walk up to Benavides and catch another one to his house. Turns out he never found one and ended up walking for about an hour to get home. I felt bad.

Sunday I was tired, so I slept in and didn't go to church. It was nice because I got to have breakfast with the fam. Then they went to mass and I stayed home to do some homework. I stayed in my PJs all day. Well sort of, I kept my PJ shorts on all day. It was that type of day. I called and chatted with Mrs. Dee because it was her birthday. I miss her and everyone at the BBQ very very very very much. I would kill for some pulled pork, mashpot and mac and cheese right now. And my mom's pizza. And while we're at it lets have a chocolate chip bagel from Panera and fries from Nick's Roast Beef. Thats a totally healthy meal, right?

Monday night I talked with my parents. =) I love them and I miss them very much.

Also, on Monday during Spanish class Julio made a list of all the stories that we're going to read and we got to vote on what we would read next. Not surprisingly there were no female authors on the list. At the end of class I asked him why that was. He "apologized" and said that he would find a female to put on the list for next time. Apparently the good female authors aren't popular and the ones that are popular aren't very good. But he did admit that there are a lot of good female poets in Latin America. Good cover Julio. I'm on to you.

I discovered the newest single by Shakira today. I think its pretty good.

Gitana

Lo que tengo, lo doy
Digo lo que pienso
Tómame como soy

Y va liviano
Mi corazón gitano
Que solo entiende de latir
A contramano
No intentes amarrarme
Ni dominarme
Yo soy quien elige
Como equivocarme

Aprovechame
que si llegué ayer
Me puedo ir mañana
Que soy gitana
Que soy gitana

So wow, I guess I had more to share than I originally thought.

I hope all is well with you wherever you may be (Massachusetts, Spain, DR, New York, Minnesota, Lima...etc.)

All my love.

Thoughts, Revelations, and Happenings

Alright, so I feel like I should update. But the thing is that nothing very exciting or noteworthy is going on. I just go to school, come home, sleep, eat and repeat. But I do have some things I can share with you all:

*I learned something about the Spanish language that totally rocked my world. The letters ch, ll, and rr no longer exist in the spanish alphabet as of 1994. Wow. I definitely learned that they were letters and I held that idea until around 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon. I still don't know what I think. I feel like I've been deceived, but then again, it doesn't really matter. But they are different phonemes, obviously. I think that schools in the U.S. should really get on that and switch up the curriculum. But don't you worry, ñ is still standing strong as its own letter. More power to you, Ñ.

(lies, lies, lies)

*A thing that I've noticed and been curious about is, at what point do peruvian women stop wearing normal bras and decide to go with ones that look a bit lumpy instead? Is there an age cut-off or something? Or just personal preference?

*Monday night (well around 2:30 am Tuesday morning) I felt my first earthquake ever. I'll confess, it was a bit scary. But it was short and sweet. It woke me up, but I was so disoriented that I wasn't quite sure what was going on. After it was over I realized what had happened and went into the hall to see what was up. And Alfredo just told me to go back to bed. So please pray that we don't have any more, and that they don't get bigger. Thanks.

*I can't quite figure out why we aren't reading any works by female authors. Oh wait, machismo. I'm going to have a little chat with Julio.

*At the grocery story, they seem to think that it is a good plan to sell eggs in a bag. A nice little plastic bag. Strange. And its not like they've never heard of cartons, because I've seen cartons with eggs too. But for some reason they still put them in a bag. A little too risky for me.

*Tomorrow makes 2 months that I've been here in Lima. Thats crazy.

Thats all for now. Sorry I'm not more exciting tonight.

I miss Tijuana.

Disfrustrante

Thats right. I just pulled a César Vallejo (famous Peruvian poet) on you all , making up a new word when language failed to accurately describe my feelings.

Disfrustrante

disfrutar + frustrante

to enjoy + frustrating

Thats the best way that I can think to describe my feelings about Lima. I enjoy it, but it is terribly frustrating at times. I enjoy my friends, my family, traveling, being near the ocean, speaking Spanish, picarones, learning a lot, understanding, studying at la Católica, reading Latin American literature. I get frustrated by my lack of fluency, the sometimes overprotectiveness of my host mom, being over charged on the micro, traffic, verb conjugation, my pronunciation, the food situation, my always dirty feet, feeling like I sometimes don't fully understand.

Since I'm taking relatively easy classes I don't have a lot of homework to be doing. Which leaves me with a lot of free time. Which gets me thinking a lot. I emailed a good friend, sort of mentor although he'd prefer to be just called a friend so thats what we'll go with, of mine back at Gordon. I shared of my struggle to leave things from home behind and focus on the phrase "be here now". Its been a hard thing to do. I'm tired, frustrated and I miss my home. But I don't want to leave. Its this weird feeling. But my friend shared that its better to be in the middle of God's will and be having a difficult time than to be having a great time and be out of His will. So true. As hard as its been, I know that Lima is where I'm supposed to be right now. I'm not completely sure why, but I know God does. He's teaching me and growing me and preparing me. I'm not quite sure exactly how yet, but I'll just have to wait and see. Which reminds me of a song that I just discovered in my iTunes. Called "Wait and See" by Brandon Heath.

There is hope for me yet

Because God won't forget

All the plans He's mad for me

I have to wait and see

He's not finished with me yet

I know that this experience will become a part of me, a part of who He created me to be. I feel myself changing but I'm not exactly sure how.

Now on a less pensive note, I met up with Ms. Sano this morning. It was good to see a friendly face and get a hug. I miss hugs. And she had one for me from my mother. =) And guess who finally made it to Peru!?!?!

Mama Llama!! Along with some peppermint patties, a t-shirt from my Dad's last race, some microwave popcorn, hot chocolate packets, sunscreen and peanut butter. It was basically like Christmas.

So after arriving home and checking out my "gifts" I decided to read for a bit and take a nap. I was abruptly woken up by men hammering and making very loud noises on the roof right outside my open window. Strange...I still don't know what they were doing, but they've gone now. I'll do some more homework this afternoon and hopefully get to read for pleasure. I'm reading "Redeeming Love" in spanish. I'm hooked. But first I have to finish "Aura" by Carlos Fuentes for my spanish class. And now its lunch time!!!

A Sunday in Chilca

So yesterday my parents and I headed about 70 km south of Lima to a town called Chilca. We went to the beach for a while in the morning. It was a bit breezy and super foggy when we got there so we just relaxed for most of the morning. I read some and took a little nap. We also got ice cream. YUM! Then we headed back into town and had lunch. We ordered arroz con pollo but they had run out of pollo (chicken) so we ended up with pato (duck) instead. It didn't taste very different from chicken, but I still wasn't a huge fan. Our waiter was a little 13 year-old boy named Facundo. He was nice, but I felt bad for him. The people in the restaurant were so demanding. Including my mom Ruth, she can be quite feisty. I guess because I work in a restaurant and have to deal with customers I tend to sympathize easily. Its hard work dealing with demanding customers who are picky and sometimes rude. And little Facundo was the only one serving. I totally understand that the customer should be satisfied, but I always appreciate it when someone is polite with me. It always turns me off when I see someone being rude to their server and treating them like less of a person. But anyways...I'm getting off track.

After lunch my mother and I went across the street to one of the mineral baths. It was like a huge pool of warm water. This particular one was high in sulfur so the water was green, like wicked green. It wasn't very deep, maybe like up to my hip at the deepest part. The water is also really dense so you float very easily. What you are supposed to do is rub the mud all over your body and its supposed to have medicinal powers and be good for the skin. So my host mom and I put some on our faces. It didn't smell good at all. But anyways, it was an experience.

Backing tracking a bit to Saturday, Amelia came over and spent most of the day with my family. We went to the market on a search for yeast and we found some! We even had a choice, fresh yeast or dry yeast. I had never heard of fresh yeast, so we went with dry. My mom even bought us some snacks to try. Some maní confitado (sugary coated peanuts) and some palitos de yuca (little white packing peanut-looking things made from yuca, they taste like packing peanuts as well). Then we did a few other errands with my parents and came home to have lunch. After lunch we made PRETZELS. We even had the help of Camila, the 3 1/2 year-old daughter of the empeada (maid). They turned out pretty good, not quite as tasty as when I make them at home, but not bad for not having actual measuring spoons, just regular spoons so we estimated quite a bit.

Started another week of school today. Mondays are hard because I have a four hour break between classes and I don't really have much to do. But Amelia and I kept busy and had a good chat with Marion. Then we got our new government issued carnets (ID cards) that give us a discount on the micros. I'm wicked excited.

Lima-Ica-Nasca-Pisco-Lima

Its Friday. How wonderful. No classes and I'm going to hang out with some girls tonight and get Bubble Tea. I'm not really sure what that is, but I'll let you know.

Sorry it has taken a while for me to write about my weekend. During the school week I get up early, get home late and usually all I do is eat and sleep. So here it goes...

THURSDAY morning I woke up wicked early. 5 am to be exact. My host uncle Panchi has a taxi service - sort of. He only does it for friends and family. So he picked me up, then we headed to Barranco to get Amelia and then to Parque Kennedy to pick up the Miraflores chicas. We then got dropped off at the Ormeño bus station and checked it. While we were waiting for the bus I'm facing the door and all of a sudden in walks our friend Chris. I pointed with a surprised look on my face and everyone else turned around to look. We had just been talking about him and how he had told us that he might meet up with us in Ica and then he just strolled right in. So he was able to get on a bus that left 2 hours after ours! Craziness. So we got onto this double-decker bus. Audrey, Amelia and I ended up sitting right in front. I was in the driver's spot on the second floor. So we had like a huge windshield in front of us and could see everything. It was so cool. The movies that played were the Blind Side and Ice Castles. I watched the first and then drifted in and out of sleep during the second. The seats were nice and comfortable and we even got a sandwich and juice. Pure luxury. When we arrived in Ica we took a taxi to our hotel to drop off our bags and wait for Chris. When we were checking in the Señora of the hotel realized that we were 5 girls and had reserved a room for 4 people. Oops, she figured us out. So instead of trying to sneak one of us and Chris in each night, we decided to be honest with her and tell her that we would be 6 people total. She then sat us down and explained that we would have to pay for the extra people. Alright. She was also upset because she was actually losing money because we weren't about to pay the rate for a holiday weekend. So it was a bit frusterating, but it all turned out ok. So we're up in our room chilling out and wondering when Chris is going to show up and if he'll even be able to find it. Then there is a knock on the door and guess who it is. Second time in one day. So we catch up and decide to go to the Plaza de Armas to walk around and get something to eat. We end up eating at a chifa (chinese restaurant) and drinking 3 liters of peach fruit juice. Delicious. We finished our food but spent a while hanging out in the restaurant playing marry-kiss-kill. A game that Lauren Imke taught me where you are given three options and you have to choose who you would marry, who you's kiss and who you're gonna kill. Its quite interesting and very funny. Then we walk around and head over to a travel agency and book some tours for the coming days. We then went back to the hotel and then headed to Plaza Vea (supermarket) to stock up on water and snacks. The Señora told us it was only 100 meters away. That was incorrect information. Oh well. Then we played the question game before going to sleep.

FRIDAY we went on a tour of Nazca. We got picked up by the agency and then started a looooooooong drive. The tour guide was talking pretty much the whole time, but it was hard to not fall asleep. Our first stop was in some valley to appreciate something. Who knows what.

Then back in the van. Then we saw our first lines!! These are from the Paracas culture. Made about 2000 years ago. We climbed up this rickety tour to see them better. The we got to go and see the famous Nazca Lines. Not quite as impressive as I thought they would be. I guess because I thought they would be bigger. But I guess some others are more impressive. We only got to see two from the tower. There was no way that we were going to go up and fly over them in one of those little airplanes of death. So seeing them from the tower was sufficient for me.

The tree

The hands

Then we went to see lines made by the Incas. Not as creative or exciting as the previous cultures, but still impressive. Totally straight lines that seem to go on forever and ever. Bad news, before a lot of these things were even discovered they decided to build the Panamerican Highway right through them and ruin them without even knowing it. Oh well. Live and learn.

Me with some straight Incan Lines. Woohoo!!

Then we drove to the airport to drop off a man from our tour who was going to fly over them. While he was risking his life, we shopped around in the market and went to a ceramics place. This husband-wife-son team works and creates exact replicates of Nazcan pottery using the same ancient methods. It was pretty cool.

They even gave us a student discount and the wife introduced Laura and I to her son. Funny and awkward, but nice.

**Side note about the ceramics place, they included a little pamphlet about the shop in the bag when I bought something. And the English translations are hilarious. "We invite you to urs workshop that you will be to take care of with much cordiality and we watch it the process of the manufacture of the huacos, with origninals tools of the Nasca."**

Then we went and picked up the guy at the airport. He had survived. Then we continued on to various sites of ruins. Our guide kept using the word "appreciate" but to be honest the only thing I was appreciating at that point was shade and getting back into the van. We finished up the day at a restaurant with the tour group that had mediocre Italian food. Once again, live and learn. I'll wait for some Bertucci's. It'll be worth it. Then we went back to our hotel all hot, sweaty and tired. When we got back we were disappointed to find that the water in our bathroom was not functioning at all. So we let the Señora know and she had a bucket of water sent up to us. Just one. For 6 people. Haha. So a few of us washed our feet. Then we just sort of waited. Played some Uno. Then the water finally started working again. So some of us were able to get showers. Then before bed we had story time and I shared some funny stories from my family. The story about Pepper was a big hit. Especially with my Boston accent. =)

SATURDAY we got to sleep in a bit. But we were woken around 8 by the vendor walking up and down the street selling tamales. It made for a good joke the rest of the weekend though. So we got up and went downstairs to have breakfast that we were told was included. Turns out is was included, but at the price of 8 soles per person. Oh well. After that we watched some of Pocahontas and then had to leave right was Aladdin was starting. We went to the Regional Museum of Ica. Pretty interesting stuff. Except the mummies. Gross. I'm not a big fan. Amelia is though, so I'm glad we went. Everyone else thought it was cool. Then we headed to the Plaza de Armas for lunch. After lunch Laura and I hung out by one of the fountains and did some people watching. Around 4:30 we left with the travel agency again to head to Huacachina, an oasis just outside of Ica. There we were able to go for a ride through the dunes in a sand buggy and we also went sand boarding. It was wicked fun.

Chris, Aprill and I in the back of the buggy

Laura, Amelia, me, Aprill and Chris in the dunes

Amelia and I looking a little windblown

The first dune we went down on the board. We laid on them

like sleds and flew down the dunes! Got sand everywhere!!

We ended back in the town of Huacachina with sand all over us. We did a little shopping and then hung out by the lake. We went to a hostal restaurant for dinner and had ice cream sundaes as our meal. Yum! Then we took a taxi back to the hotel, played some Uno, tried to get in some showers with the small trickle of water in the shower, played never-have-I-ever, and told some life stories before bed. (Reminded me of telling life stories during my Discovery trip. Good memories)

SUNDAY we had to get up super early because they were picking us up at 6:30 for a tour of las Islas Ballestas.

el Candelabro

So we got there and went on a boat tour around the islands. We saw lots of birds, some penguins and sea lions. It was nice. I really enjoyed the boat ride and it made me miss going out on my brothers' boats during the summer in Gloucester.

Gloucester? Nope, Pisco.

We got back from the tour and met up with Laura (who didn't go because she went last semester) at Plaza Vea. Everyone bought some food to share and we had a nice little picnic. Then Aprill, Chris and I headed over to the bus stations while Audrey, Amelia and Laura went to the Plaza de Armas to buy some chocolates. Chris got a bus ticket and left around 2:30. Aprill and I met up with the other girls at the Cruz del Sur station where we waited until 6:30 for our bus back to Lima. Christ texted me when he got back to Lima and we were still waiting in Ica. Little stinker. But we did watch Hook and some of Shrek while waiting in the bus station. The trip back was good, but the food was not. The movies were Nim's Island and UP! But I slept through most of them. Then Uncle Panchi picked us up and brought us all to our houses. Finally home. It was nice coming back to Lima, it felt like home. I like it.

Then it was up early for another week of school. So now we're pretty much caught up. But here are a few random thoughts:

*Ms. Sano is coming down next week with a group of adults. I'm going to meet up with her and she is bringing down a bag of goodies from my mom. I'm wicked excited.

*I went to the supermarket with my host mom last night and we bought ROSCA! The sweet bread that we always eat at la Casa for 3 Kings Day. It was yummy as ever.

*Amelia and I have been going to the CBU group and I'm really enjoying it a lot.

*I'm going to try and make pretzels tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be successful like with my chocolate chip cookies.

#21

So I turned 21. Not quite as exciting here in Lima as in the States. But birthdays are always fun. I got a package from my mom with a new scarf!! Yay!!

For dinner my family and I went over to this little restaurant near our house for anticucho (grilled cow's heart) and picarones (peruvian donuts - sort of). It was quite delicious.

L-R My brother Yuri (he really was having a good time, I promise), my father Alfredo, my mom Ruth, grandpa Mario, me and a good family friend who lives on the corner.

After dinner I came back and packed my bags while skyping with Kelly. Then I had to get up around 5 am to head over to the bus station. Ica was GREAT!! I had a wicked good time. I've found a good group of friends and we had so much fun together. I'll update about that later. But here is a link to the album that I put up on Facebook.