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!!!!!