Monday, May 26, 2014

May 23rd - 25th, 201


May 23rd, 2014

Good morning... I think??? My thoughts when I woke up on the bus after just finding out I had been asleep for 5 hours. We were now a restaurant known for its Pisco. Pisco is something similar to a tequila, but is only indigenous to Peru. This restaurant that we ate out had tons of different types of Pisco and even showed us where and how they made it. Aside from the wonderful Pisco, I also got to try 'Lomo Saltado' for the first time which was one of my favorite dishes yet.

We were finally in Ica. The name of the hotel was Sol de Ica and it had that name because Ica was known as the city of 'eternal light'. Right away the first thing I noticed was the different in taxis. They were so small and there were so many of them!! Anyways in the hotel we got our keys for our rooms and hung out by the pool for a while.
Elan straight up chilling in our room
                                         


While we were by the pool, some of the boys were playing frisby, others were in the pool, and the boys and I were playing some soccer... when all of a sudden we found Pepito the turtle.
Pepito, Nate, and I

After we were done messing around in the hotel, we went about exploring the city. As we were walking down one of the avenues we passed by a shop where we heard a group of men singing what sounded like traditional Spanish country music. Acknowledging there presence, the lot of us started chanting and encouraging the singing. We were invited in to this traditional end of the week party the the village men have every friday and celebrate with Pisco, beer, and lots of music.

Once we left there party, we met up with the rest of the group and went out to a karaoke bar bar named 'Soprano'. At the karaoke bar, everyone was drinking and dancing. I was singing like I've never sung before. I must have sang at least 10 Spanish songs. The next morning, we were off the Huacachina!

May 24th, 2014

Saturday morning we all woke up early after a fantastic night of karaoke to get on the bus to only continue this amazing journey through Ica. Once in Huacachina, the view of the desert was unreal. I could not believe where I was. We got on dune buggys and we were off through the desert!

I have to say that being in that dune buggy was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. It was fantastic! Once we stopped in the desert we went sand boarding for a little while but definitely did not enjoy that as much as the ride we had. Now I was in front of the Oasis and couldn't believe the sight of this natural beauty. Wow!

It was time to leave Huacachina...
After a night out with the group again at a club called 'Casa de Arena' it was time to head to back to the hotel and prepare ourselves to head back home to San Isidro the next morning.

May 25th, 2014

Sunday morning everyone was up bright and early and ready to head to the village where the Creoles live. Before we aired at the village we stopped along the water and went on a boat tour ride. We got to see penguins, sea lions, and all other different types of sea creatures native to that area.



 After we left the ocean, we finally went to the village where the Creoles are. Here, we got to watch them men and women of the village dance, sing, and play in their native style. It was an experience I will never forget. What a weekend!!!!!




May 22nd, 2014


May 22nd, 2014

Hola! Its thursday! Today we will be visiting Pachacamac today. After a full day of classes and the typical grammar and culture with my favorite math teachers ever, the group meets in Kennedy Park and we will be off to Pachacamac.

Upon arrival, we drive up in the bus in what seems to be the middle of no where. After looking around the somewhat desert and lower classes house in the area around Pachacamac, we finally see the breathtaking ruins. Once we exited the bus, we were all greater by this young stallion of a alpaca llama who just knew he was the alpha llama in his group.











Our tour guide begins to take us up the mountainous ruins of Pachacamac where everything was truly breathtaking. Most of the bottom of the structures had been restored but everything else was still in tact from when the Inca's left it. Once we arrived at the top, we had the greatest view of the ocean. Nathan and I decided to pose for a quick picture up on top.
After we came down from the mountain, we were brought through the area with all the different types of flowers. To me, although the history behind the ruins was incredible, I thought some of these flowers had a little something more to them. 

  


Once we got back to San Isidro, Elan and I had dinner with our family, and then had Kelly and Sam over before we all went out to Aura together. We left the house around 12am and got the the club shortly after. Once we got into the club we found out that we had went to Gotica instead of Aura. It was still fun though due to the Pachanga music that was playing inside the club. After dancing with friends and enjoying the club I also got to make friends with a guy who knows my best friend who's from Lima! We left the club very late and got onto the bus to Ica right after we got back from the club. What an exciting bus ride it was going to be!





Sunday, May 25, 2014

May 21st, 2014

May 21st, 2014
Buenos dias Perú,

It is my third day of class and once again Elan and I are walking to school with some of the girls because he and I have yet to find a place where we can buy cheap bike instead of taking the 45min walk to school every morning. Anyways, today we will be going into the center of Lima after school. Not only do Elan and I have a chance to finally get our bikes, but we also are going to get out of school early. After arriving at school, I decided to try to Coca Tea for the first time; surprisingly it didn’t turn out to what people made it seem it would. Furthermore, after grammar class with Laura and then culture with Gustavo, we were allowed out of school an hour early. Ironically enough, Guvtavo my culture teacher had no idea we were getting out of school early and didn’t believe any of us at first.

Finally we were off to Lima!

Once arrived in Lima, the first of three museums we went too was the Congress building. Before we went to Congress, a few of the boys and I went to get some drinks and some local food at a place near by to kill some time. Once we were done; now waiting in line, we had to show our passports to go in, and of course Elan forgot his. The walk into Congress was a lot easier than I expected. I couldn’t believe how they didn’t search anyone and they just let us all in without any inspection. The inside was pretty interesting. We were on Lima’s news channel for a little while because of the interview that was happening while we were in the lobby. Of course you know that Elan and I moved closer and closer to the camera until we saw ourselves on the live tv feed. Overall, the Museum of Congress was pretty cool.




Next, was the Museum of the inquisition. In this museum, we got to learn about the rituals that were performed by the church that used to be there. Back then, the church would accuse people of acts they didn’t commit and would punish those and any who were against them. In the church, they also would hold people who broke the law in the cells we got to see in the basement. The best part about this museum was that Nathan and I put Elan into on of the ancient jail cells.



Lastly, we were off to the museum of ‘Sitio Bodega y Cuadra’. This museum was described as one of the relatively newest ones. This is do to the fact that recently the property next to the museum was under construction when the workers found what looked to them like I city. In this museum we got to see ruins and also learned that the archeologists of the museum are currently still working on the newly discovered land. It is sais that many believe there is a city underneath this new found one.  


Thursday, May 22, 2014

May 20th, 2014


May 20th, 2014
It's Tuesday morning and I've just gotten back from my first official run through Miraflores. After running straight from my house to the 'Alcomar' I decided I was going to make this first run a great one. Those stairs! I keep feeling that burn over and over in my legs from running down those few hundred stairs to the beach and then back up them. Anyways, finally I'm at school and we're working on another day of grammar and culture.
Notice the irony in the photo. Also note, no Inca Kola in the US.
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After drinking my Inca Kola and finally understanding how to use 'para que' in the subjunctive form, it was time for the culture class to start. Every class starts with us practicing our speaking skills first with the great Professor Gustavo. Gustavo is an amazing guy. He's so nice, he's very understanding, so helpful, and extremely intelligent. Learning Spanish with him has been nothing but great and almost a blessing in all honesty. After the speaking portion of the class we start the culture part where we get to learn about the historic cultures from Peru. Today we learned about Caracas, Chavin, and Chincas. The most amazing people to me are the Caracas. Where they for class and status, the people bind their heads with rope and pads to make there skulls almost pointy. It's amazing.
Caracas Skull
After school some of the boys and I went to our spot right next to the school where I got to try the famous Ceviche from Peru. It wasn't what I expected but I did enjoy it. A little tangy thought if you ask me. 
Now we were on our way to Kennedy Park where we would be taking the bus to the 'Pueblo Libre'. Here, we visited the Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History. In this museum we got to see all different types of art from different cultures of Lima. One of the things that fascinated me the most about this museum, was the number of sculptures of different looking heads that were almost man-like but resembled animals as well. Overall, it was a quite interesting tour.