Summary

I realized that I hadn't finished off my blog, so I'll let you know what went down until I arrived home (almost a week ago now).  I took my last test, and apparently it went just fine because I recently received my grades, and I passed all my classes!  On that Wednesday night, the whole group including the professors met at a restaurant to celebrate the end of classes.  Esther and I already had plans to eat at an Argentine restaurant with our host mom, so we didn't eat.  We left to eat at that restaurant, called "El Gaucho", and I had THE best steak I've ever had in my entire life.  I maybe eat steak once or twice a year, so I haven't eaten too much, but still it topped them all.  It was so tender and there was not a single fatty part that I had to spit out.  I will never forget that steak!

The next day was a free day, and I spent it being sick (surprise surprise) and packing.  I left a bunch of stuff behind.  Esther and I also went to a market with tons of different kinds of fruits and vegetables and meats.  There were stands with dried llama fetuses that people buy to pay homage to "Pacha Mama" or "Mother Earth".  It was disgusting.

The next morning, Friday, we had to meet the whole group at a nearby park to set out to Nazca on bus (a 10 hour ride).  We had to be there by 7:45 AM, and our host mom hadn't waken up yet by 7:35.  Her older son came in saying that he was going to take us to the park because his mom had gone to bed late and wanted to sleep in.  I have to admit, I was a little offended.  I said, "Ummm...well, I'd really like to say goodbye if I can."  So he woke her up, and she hugged us goodbye.  I thought that it was a tiny bit strange because we felt so close to her, and she seemed to love us.  I just need to keep in mind that it's a different culture.  Anyway, the bus ride actually wasn't that bad.  They always timed our stops perfectly, plus we got to watch a movie.

We stayed at a pretty sweet hotel in Nazca with a pool!  The rooms even had ancient weavings from thousands of years ago, which kind of surprised me because they would be pretty easy to steal.  That next day was free.  Nazca is known for the lines that were traced in the land supposedly over 1,000 years ago.  The best way to see these lines is to do a flight in a tiny plane.  There have been a few recent crashes within the last couple of years with all on board dying, so many of us decided not to go. Plus, it cost over $100 for a 30-min. flight.  I'll just look at pictures online, thank you.  Here are some pics: http://www.unmuseum.org/nazca.htm .  It's a mystery where they came from and why they were made.  Very interesting.  Many who chose to do the flight got very sick and threw up.  I guess that's pretty common on these flights.  The next day on our way to Lima (another all-day bus ride) we were able to stop at a look-out tower to see two of the glyphs: a tree and two hands.  I have the pics on Facebook.

Before arriving to Lima, we made a stop at Huacachina, an oasis in the middle of the desert.  It's literally a mini lake with palm trees surrounded by huge sand dunes.  It was pretty cool.  Most of the group did a dune buggy ride and then did "sand-boarding".  It looked like fun, but I was nervous about being sick from the dune buggy ride, which apparently was just like a roller coaster.  If I hadn't had to ride a bus for 4 more hours after that, I probably would have done it.

In Lima we were upgraded to an awesome hotel.  It was awesome! We went to a traditional show that night, which was very entertaining.  The next morning, I was off to Costa Rica first, then to Los Angeles!  When I arrived to LA, my luggage didn't come. It was already 11:30 PM, and I was soooo tired and frustrated. How could my luggage not get on the plane in Costa Rica when I had a 4 1/2 hr layover?  I filled out the paperwork and requested that my luggage be sent to Mexico, which is where I was flying to in 9 hours.  I stopped in the bathroom quickly before leaving, and I thought I'd check the baggage claim one more time, and what do ya know, my luggage was just sitting there!  It had arrived on a flight that came in shortly after mine from El Salvador!  I have no idea how it got there, but I didn't really care.

It was so good to be home for a couple of hours to see Jordan and the kids.  I packed for Mexico, slept for 2 hours, then we headed back to the airport to go to Cabo!  Cabo was very very nice.  It's a great place to go and just relax.  The heat and humidity were unbearable, but at least we weren't doing anything active.  We just laid out every day.  Unfortunately the pool water was warm, and it even hurt our sunburns a little, so that wasn't too refreshing.  The one activity we did was swim with a dolphin.  I recommend that you swim with a dolphin at least once in your life.  They are AMAZING creatures.  So intelligent and so cute!  We bought a CD with a bunch of pictures (which costs waaaaay too much money, but they know that people will want to have pictures of the experience since you aren't allowed to bring in your own cameras), and I'm smiling like a crazy person in almost all of them.  My face hurt afterwards.  Jordan and I were like little kids.

Anyway, go to Cabo for a relaxing vacation.  Don't worry about language barrier because everybody speaks amazing English there.

Last night here in Glendale, Jordan and I went to a Peruvian restaurant that we hadn't tried before because it's a only a year old.  It...was....amazing!  I actually know the Peruvian menu so much better now, so I'd like to go back to the other two Peruvian restaurants that we've tried.  We were the only other people in there besides a big birthday party for someone from the family of the owner.  The owner was our server, and we talked to him a lot.  He started speaking to me in Spanish when he served us our drinks, and I don't know how he even knew I spoke Spanish.  I had mentioned to him that I was just in Peru, but that doesn't necessarily mean I speak Spanish.  He was extremely nice and excited that I was in Peru.  He even gave us free wine.  We met some of his family there too.  When I asked where they bought a few of the foods specific to Peru (like choclo, purple corn, lucuma), he said that they have to import them.  He said that if I want any of those foods to let him know and he can order extra.  I really hope the restaurant does alright because it wasn't too busy.  We will definitely return.  Besides the food being great, hospitality goes a long way for me.  We want to bring our families there when they come for Thanksgiving week!

Ok, so to sum my grad experience all up, I'd say it was pretty amazing.  My favorite year was Spain.  The country is awesome, and it was my first year, so everything was new and exciting.  Guatemala was beautiful, and my friends made it very fun, but I don't think I'd return honestly.  There are too many other countries I'd like to visit.  Peru is an incredible country to which I'd REALLY like to return.  I was closest to my host family on this trip compared to the others.  A few tears fell upon arriving to Machu Picchu, and I fell in love with the Islas Uros.  I had so much fun, but this was also the hardest year.  I just wanted to be done with the program and be back home.  It will be nice to return with no pressures of studying, and to be with Jordan!  I'm pretty lucky to have experienced these countries with some wonderful people.  I hope to know many more countries in my lifetime.  I'm lucky to be married to someone who loves to travel too!

To finalize my Master's I have to fly up to Sacramento in November to take my 4 huge exams.  I will basically have no life from now until then because I have to read over 20 books I think.  But 3 months of no fun in my life will be worth it to have this degree I think!  Thank you all for your prayers and for reading about my adventures.  I will probably periodically update this, especially every time I travel.  Hasta luego!

Stuff

I spent this weekend being sick for most of the time.  It's been off and on, but right now I'm not feeling well again.  On Saturday we had 1 class because we had to move all classes that were scheduled for this coming Thursday to Sat.  It's Peru's independence day, and the school will be closed.  Luckily, my other two professors decided not to hold class that day.

On Saturday night, we went out to celebrate a birthday of one of the girls in the program.  It actually ended up being the most fun I've had since being in Peru.  I thought that I was going to stay for maybe 1 or 2 hours, but I ended up staying for 4 hours, and I didn't get home until 2:30 am.  Seriously, I've been going to bed around 10:00 pm, so this was quite a feat for me to stay up that late.  I actually danced.  I do not dance in public anymore.  But this music was just so good...such a variety, but mostly latin, and you just can't help but dance.  I danced for hours straight.  That night was anything but normal for me, but I think that's what made it so much fun.  I never go to clubs in LA, and I have no desire to.  The atmosphere in US clubs is much more unappealing.

On Sunday, we waited forever to go to lunch. We told Valerie that we were going to pay this time.  I was starving by the time 2:30 came around and we still hadn't eaten.  I only had bread for breakfast.  At the restaurant, Ricardo (Valerie's boyfriend) actually let us pay, so that was good.  The rest of the afternoon, I wrote a paper that's due tomorrow.

Today I had my final 2 presentations.  I think they went pretty well.  All I have left now is the one exam that I'm dreading in my Spanish Lit. class.  That's on Wednesday, and then I'm DONE with classes!  I've already kind of started packing.  Unfortunately all I have packed are the things I've bought for myself and others, and the suitcase is already half full.  I still have to buy gifts for 5 more people I think.  These will be your Christmas presents, people!  I'm finding it very hard to shop for guys down here by the way.

Well, it's past my bedtime.  Night night.

Love

I love my husband.  That's all.  Bye!

1 week left!

This weekend was a good one.  I got my paper done on Saturday and went to Chili's with the girls that night.  On Sunday, I just did some school work and relaxed.  On Monday, I got my test back from Spanish Literature. I passed, but it's one of those things where I don't really know if I should have.  I feel guilty for getting a B because if I were grading that, I would have given it a C, tops.  A C+ and below is considered not passing in this program, by the way.  There were only 7 questions on the test, and three of them had huge question marks covering the whole paragraph.  I mean, I'm happy that I passed, but the professor admits that she doesn't understand our American grading system.  I can't help but feel stupid.  You know, someone last year called this program "Master's Light".  It's the "easy" way to get your Master's.  It's hard only for these 4 weeks, but pretty much everybody passes every class, even if they really suck at it.  So anyway, I don't know if that sits right with me. I'm an extremely honest person, and I feel guilty having something that I may not have deserved.

Tuesday definitely did not start of very well.  My first class of the day starts at 8:00.  Guess what time we left the house?  8:02.  Guess what time I got to school?  8:22.  This is my class of 5 students, so it's not like nobody notices when I walk in late.  Needless to say, I came in after the professor, who usually arrives at 8:10 or 8:15 at the latest.  I was extremely embarrassed and pretty upset.  That night, I decided that I had to talk to Valerie to let her know that I'd like to walk to school in the mornings from then on.  I was so nervous because I didn't want her to feel bad.  But I mean....20 minutes?  That can't happen.  I just told her that I arrived so late, and I was worried that it was going to start affecting my grade, so it would be best if I walked.  I made sure to thank her over and over for being willing to take me.  But I felt so bad because I don't know if she quite understood.  I don't know if I hurt her feelings or not.  I haven't seen her since.  It's so awkward!

Today I got a test back that I took in my culture class, and I did well.  All I have left for that is my presentation on Monday, which I can do pretty poorly on and still get an A in the class.  On the way home today I was walking with 2 girls and they noticed this little weasel of a guy walking a little too close behind us. I loved how they were so aware and that I'm not the only paranoid one.  We started walking the normal way home, the way without many people, and we noticed that he was on the other side of the street.  We stopped to see if he would keep going.  But he stopped too and pretended to talk to some taxi driver.  We thought...hmmm maybe we should take the old way home on the busy sidewalks.  We started walking that way, and noticed that he crossed the street and started following us again.  We stopped again and pretended to talk about something, and he did end up passing us while looking out of the corner of his eye.  After a little while, we turned around and headed back the quiet way home.  They decided to take a cab, and I decided to go to the gym, which was right there anyway.  The end.  Sorry it wasn't more exciting.

Only 5 days of classes left (and one class on Saturday), and I'm done!

I'm still alive

Another week down.  Two more to go.  This week actually went by fast because I had so much to do.  I feel like I can take a breather for a few seconds, so I thought I'd write.  I'll start with last weekend.  On Saturday we went to that museum that I mentioned, and it was pretty interesting.  The mummy was a lot smaller than I expected.  That night Esther and I met up with the Midwest crew at a TGIFriday's.  We didn't eat though because we went to Chicha a few hours later.  That restaurant was sooo nice.  The food was amazing! I had a shrimp risotto thing.  Of course we had crazy appetizers plus dessert.  Since Valerie's brother owns the restaurant, the whole meal was free, so that was awesome.  We're going back one more time before we leave I think.

On Sunday, it was a work day.  But we took a break for lunch.  We went somewhere way outside of town, and it was this place famous for its chicharrones, which is fried pork rinds.  The place was huge. There were hundreds of people there.  I looked at the menu and decided I was gonna go light since I had eaten like a pig the previous night.  We waited forever, and I was wondering why it was taking so long for them to take our order.  Then, a waiter came by with our food.  I guess Ricardo had already ordered the same thing for all of us.  It was the biggest plate of food ever, and the greasiest.  Almost everything was deep-fried: fresh pork rind, crispy pork rind, potato, and sweet potato fries.  I have a nice little picture to the side.  To be polite, I ate a lot of it.  Needless to say, I felt gross after eating that.

Monday-Friday: school time.  You know how I said that I was the dumbest in my class?  Well, it was confirmed by the professor in my Latin American literature class.  He gives us a new short story/poem to read every day to present to the class the next day (we each get a different one).  Well, like I said before, I can't explain myself very well in Spanish because I stutter a lot, and I'm lacking vocabulary.  But I try my best.  Also, there was one story that I was assigned that I didn't really get, even though it was the shortest out of everybody else's.  Anyway, at the end of class one day when he was passing out the stories, he goes, "And for you Beth, the love story since you love those.  For you, Christina, an adventure story because you hate love stories.  And for you Julee, the simplest one."  Ummmm....excuse me?  Ok #1. Thank you for giving my the simplest one....really, I do appreciate it.  #2. But you probably didn't need to let me know that you realize that I'm the dumbest one in the class.  Anyway, that night, I read the poetry for about 3 hours, and I understood most of it, but I wouldn't necessarily describe it as "simple".  The next day I chose a few of the 25 poems and tried explaining them awkwardly.  Whatevs...then the story that I presented yesterday I actually understood quite well and I liked it.  I explained the whole story and ended with, "And that's basically it...."  The prof. just kind of smiled and said "basically..."  Then he was like, "What's the moral?" and I said that I didn't think there was one, and he actually said I was right because that's more for fables.  Then he asked me what I learned from it, and I said, "To be honest, I didn't learn anything. It was just a descriptive writing describing the land of the Incas. It was pretty."  He just kind of chuckled and then went on to explain the story all over again, still without mentioning something that should be learned from it.  After class, I was talking to 2 of the other students, and they told me that they understood my story perfectly fine when I explained it, and that the prof. literally just told us the same exact thing that I had told them.  It was good to hear that to know that I wasn't just imagining this.  I'm just kind of bothered by this because he seems to have me labeled as the "dumb-dumb", and he doesn't really give me a chance.

Anyway, in my other classes....In culture, I had a test on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I had to give my scariest presentation for Spanish lit.  I think it went alright, but I was noticeably nervous I think.  Then today I had another test in that same class, and it was HARD!  I studied way too much for other things I thought would be on the test, but it was mainly only about 1 of the 4 readings we had.  Many others thought it was hard too, so we'll see how she grades.

Oh, also in the Latin American lit class, the professor decided to give us something for a mid-term after all.  He gave us a reading today, and we have to write a 2-3 page paper on it, and it's due on Monday.  There goes my weekend....really....it's wrecked.  I also have another test on Tuesday for culture, and I need to find time to memorize lots of stuff for that.  Usually they don't give us big assignments like that on the weekends because they do want us to explore the city.  That professor is from here, and I don't think he realizes that it's part of the program to get involved in cultural things around here.

We finally have our gym passes!  Esther and I went this morning, and the place is huge.  We spent the first 10 minutes trying to find the gym.  It's like a miniature city!  It has everything.  There are courts/fields/pools for volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis, track, swimming, gymnastics, and more.  There are restaurants and playgrounds too.  The actual gym is alright.  The elliptical I was on was outdated.  But it felt good to finally work out!

This is way too long.  Sorry!  I probably shouldn't let a whole week pass until my next post.  There's just no time to write.

A gooder day

Today ended up being a really good day.  In my first class, we just watched a movie ("Martin Fierro"), which was pretty interesting although it was from the 70s.  On Fridays we don't have our culture class, so I was able to go home and rest a little before going back for my last class.

Tonight, Valerie asked us if we wanted to go with her and her significant other, Ricardo, to the same restaurant we went to last week.  We really liked it last week (especially the desserts), so we went.  Again, the food was great, and I had a Chocolate Insanity cake for dessert.  Last weekend I had a Choco Brownie Tart, which was a brownie baked into a tart topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings.  It was ridiculous.  This is the third time we've gone out to eat, and Ricardo has paid every time, refusing to take our money.

Afterwards, we went to Ricardo's house for a little bit, and we met his awesome dog, Charlie.  Wow, this dog was soooooo cute!  It's a small dog, but a big puff ball.  She had a ponytail to keep her long fur out of her eyes.  She was so hyper and would run all over the house, running into walls and springing onto couches, crashing into the back.  I've never seen a dog act like that, but it was hilarious!  She would spring up like a grasshopper and plop on your lap.  I was seriously smiling the whole way home!

Something so different here for me is greeting people and saying goodbye.  You give a kiss on the right cheek.   Before going to the restaurant we stopped by Ricardo's house to pick him up, and Floppy (his 19 yr.-old daughter, whose real name is Florencia) was just arriving home with a friend and Sebastian (one of the sons here).  We had to give everybody a hello kiss, and then 2 mins. later when we were leaving, we gave a goodbye kiss to everyone.  Many of you know that I'm not a touchy-feely person, so it's something that I just have to get used to here.

Tomorrow, we're going to a museum to see the famous mummy, Juanita, discovered on one of the volcanoes here.  She was an Incan girl, sacrificed at around 12 or 13 years old.  Back then it was considered an honor to be sacrificed.  So she was probably happy to be chosen, as were her parents.  It should be interesting.  Hopefully in the afternoon I'll get some studying done.  Then at night, we're going to the restaurant that Valerie's sister owns (and that's also Valerie's place of employment).  It's a nicer restaurant called Chicha, and it's by the famous chef (who I've never heard of, but maybe some of you have), Gaston Acurio.

Next week is looking to be a busy one.  I have a test on Tuesday, my hardest presentation on Wednesday, and another test on Friday.  I'm hoping it will go by fast. Anyway, it's time for beddy-bye now.  Chau.

Kinda over it

Warning: I'm going to complain a lot.

Ok, I've had enough now.  I'm definitely ready to come home. Peru is an amazing country, and now that I've seen most of it, I feel satisfied.  I just can't wait to have my life back...my organized, on-time life.  This week has gone by incredibly slowly.  I don't know how I'm going to make it through 3 more weeks.

Complaint #1: traffic.  It's INSANE.  There are apparently no laws.  If there is a stop sign, I guess that means you don't stop, but drive by really fast honking your horn?  But there normally aren't stop signs at intersections, so you just go when you see the slightest space in between two cars. On larger roads there are no lanes, so cars are all over the place constantly beeping their horns.  Every once in a while there's a stoplight, and people actually obey those.  And blinkers....what's a blinker? (I can say the same thing in LA actually).  I walk to and from school every day 4 times a day, 1.5 miles each way, both ways up-hill half the time.  Trying to cross streets is literally like playing Frogger.  Pedestrians do not have the right of way.  Our host mom just told us to run as fast as we can across the street when we see a small gap or we'll never get to cross.  We usually just wait for a local to start crossing, then we follow.  The exhaust is crazy here.  I may come back with black lungs.  I guarantee that 90% of the cars here would not pass California's smog test.  Which brings up a little side story...

During our big tour, one of our guides was talking about how big countries like the US, Brazil, and China are ruining Peru's environment along with being the only culprits for ruining the entire world's environment/causing global warming.  Ummmm....obviously she's never been to Arequipa.  Geeze, talk about rose colored glasses.

Complaint #2: I don't like being late.  My host mom offered to drive me to my 8:00 class in the mornings because it's on the way to her work.  That was so nice of her.  The only thing is...I've been late all but 1 day.  Today I arrived 15 minutes late to class.  We left the house like 12 minutes later than normal, and we have to drop her son off at school first. Of course traffic is always horrible, and today there was a road blocked off that we needed to use.  The funny thing is...my professor for that class has always come in after me...even today.  He's a local, so that explains it.  Still, I hate the feeling of thinking I'll have to walk in late. It's just so rude.  I think I'll just do the 27 min.walk in the mornings by myself.  I'll feel a little awkward telling my host mom that, but I don't want to ask her to adjust her morning routine to fit mine.

Complaint #3: I hate literature with a passion.  I would love to burn all poetry and classic novels.  Ok, some are alright, but the majority suck.  All they do is make me feel stupid.  I'm easily the dumbest student in my lit. classes.  I never have an opinion, and I have a hard time finding the deeper meaning.  I only see what's on the surface.  I feel like an idiot in my class with 5 students when we read a poem and then he asks each of us our opinions and what we think it was about.  Everybody else goes on analyzing the poem pretty much, and then it gets to me and I'm like..."Uhhh, it was good?  Yeah, he uhh described nature in great detail, and he used colors a lot...and yeah."  Luckily for that class we aren't having any tests, just a presentation. At least that's what we all understood, but it's still a little unclear.

A lot of people in the program seem very unhappy and depressed right now actually.  I don't know what's going on.  Everybody just keeps saying, "I wanna go home."  That wasn't the vibe I got the last two years from the group, so it's a little weird this year.  It's not that we don't like Peru.  It's a great place to visit.  I just think it's the classes that are putting everybody over the edge.

Other than all of this, everything's going great!

Chivay and finally Arequipa

The long bus ride day wasn't so bad.  We arrived in Chivay, which is near Colca Canyon, which is supposedly the deepest canyon in the world.  On the way to Chivay, we drove through an area where we were at 16,000 feet.  That's really high up!  That's the highest we'll be this whole trip.  Chivay was pretty darn cold just like Puno, and of course our heaters didn't work very well.  My sore throat was still going strong.  That night for dinner, I think I ate something that didn't agree with my stomach because the next day I was pretty sick.  It was a cool day regardless.

We headed up on a lovely dirt/gravel road for an hour and a half to El Mirador to watch condors in flight.  They usually fly between 8 and 10 am, so we left at 6:30.  Condors are the largest flying bird out there.  They can weigh up to 15 kilos and their wing span can be up to 9 feet.  They're huge, and they never flap their wings, they just soar for hours.  We saw so many, and it was pretty amazing.  It was hard to get a good look into the canyon though.  I could see that it was very far down.  Recently I guess two explorers went out into the canyon to prove that someone could survive for 15 days there.  Well, after 15 days, search and rescue teams went out to find them, and they found the girl alive (barely), and they still haven't been able to find the guy.  He's probably not living and they probably won't find him they say.  That's extremely sad, but the idea was suicide to begin with.  Anyway, after watching the birds, I was walking down a path, when suddenly this huge bee/fly/wasp thing started hovering by my leg.  Holy cow!  The thing was HUGE, and its stinger was in the front, and it was like a sword.  Of course, those stupid things followed me everywhere I went, and I was dancing all over the place like an idiot.  Then I was so paranoid and jumpy that I would flinch when a butterfly or a bird flew by.  I wanted to leave pronto.  No other creature scares me more than bees and spiders.

This is something like how it looked.

After a long day of driving we finally ended up in Arequipa, where we'll stay for 4 weeks.  We met with our families in a plaza, and they drove us to their house.  Oh.....my......gosh.  This house is like a mansion.  My jaw just dropped when we walked in.  It's so modern and well-kept.  They have 2 maids, one is a live-in maid and the other comes during the day.  They make the meals and do laundry 3 times a week.  They have WIFI, which is awesome because I won't have to take my computer to school.  They've got cable tv, and Esther and I have our own bathroom.  The family consists of one mom (Valerie), a 12 yr. old boy (Gabriel), a 15 yr. old girl (Daniela), and an 18 yr. old boy (Sebastian).  The youngest has sooooo much energy, and loves to be around me and Esther.  They are all so nice.  They had just gotten a tan-colored cocker spaniel about 8 months old, but it escaped from the house a day before we arrived.  I think I was more sad to hear that than they were about losing the dog.

Today was the first day of classes.  In my Latin-American literature class, there are only 5 students, so that's pretty awesome.  I'm not so intimidated about doing my presentation for that.  My culture class seems interesting, and my Spanish Literature class will be alright.  We have like 23 students in that class, which is huge, so I am a little nervous about my presentation for that, which is the 2nd week of classes.  Our walk from the house to school is 30 mins., and it's a great workout, but it's not fun breathing in all of the exhaust from the millions of taxis and buses around. Tomorrow we get a tour around the city, then those in the culture class have to take a test in the afternoon. That kind of stinks for a Saturday, but oh well!

Now, story time.  Esther and I were walking home tonight around 6:30, and we were pretty close to home when we came across this really cute tan-colored COCKER SPANIEL (that looked like my old dog, Taffy) eating from a trash bag.  I froze, and said, "Uhh, Esther, I think that's their dog."  Then we tried to talk to him, we bent down and whistled, and he was terrified.  He started trotting away, looking back at us, unsure.  I wish so badly that I would have picked him up because we were really close.  I quickly called Valerie telling her where we were and that we thought it was their dog.  She said she was on her way.  We followed Rock 'n Roll (that's his name) into an alley, and then we lost him.  I could have cried.  Valerie arrived with her daughter and we drove around for a little bit looking for him, but it was already dark.  It was definitely their dog.  Esther had seen a thin red collar and that's the same collar that they had for him.  Plus, it's not that often that you see a beautiful pure-bred cocker spaniel on the streets in a big city.  He was soooooooooooo cute, but kind of dirty and  afraid.  Poor little guy...trying to survive on the street.  I hope that he doesn't get hit by a car or hurt by other dogs.  Oh my gosh, I'm almost crying writing this. What a HUGE dissapointment!  It would be so nice to have such a cute pup in the house too.  I can't stop thinking about him.

Anyway, this is long enough.  But pray for this puppy and for Gabriel, because he just said today very sadly, "I miss my dog."  I felt bad for him.  Alright, hasta pronto.

Machu Picchu and Puno (Lake Titicaca)

My dream has finally been realized. I can now officially say that I've been to Machu Picchu.  I can also say that it lived up to my expectations.  We left our hotel at 5 am to get on a train for 2 hours to Aguas Calientes, where we hopped on a bus that took us up to Machu Picchu.  That was quite the ride.  We climbed for a little bit, out of breath, then we were able to see that famous view.  Unbelievable!  It's just like the pictures, and I almost felt like I wasn't there.  It's so unreal.  We toured around forever and climbed a lot.  My glutes and hams got a great workout.  We went to see this old bridge, and the route there was a little scary.  The path was very narrow, and there were drop-offs of about 1,000 ft. (or at least it seemed).  The bridge wasn't that special.  We then toured around the old city, and our guide was very knowledgeable, but it was just too much information.  I could have enjoyed some simple explanations, but they were just too long and I closed my ears about 30 mins. into it. I was very ready to leave when we actually did leave.  It was still an overall great experience.

Yesterday we were on a bus all day starting at 8 am.  The stops were planned very nicely though, so it made it seem not so long.  We arrived in Puno, which is right on Lake Titicaca, around 7 pm. This lake is the highest in the world at around 14,000 feet.  It's freezing cold here, and our bathroom window won't shut, so it's constantly letting in cold air.  There's a space heater, but it doesn't work well.  Unfortunately I'm developing a sore throat now because of all the weather changes.  It's so extreme.

Today has been awesome.  We went on a boat ride on the Lake to arrive to Las Islas Uros.  There are about 70 of these small islands and the people are called Uros.  They speak the language Aymara.  These islands are floating islands made of these reed-like plants called totoras.  They anchor the islands down with stones so it doesn't float away, and they have to keep adding totoras to the ground.  The people there were amazing.  It's so interesting how these islands were made and how their houses were made. They make everything using totoras...their boats and homes included.  They proudly showed us their tiny huts, and we could take as many pictures as we wanted without being charged.  They make their own crafts, and I bought a tejido with the story of their islands.  We then went on one of their handmade boats for a ride.  They called it their "Mercedes" boat because it was fancy.  Pictures are up on Facebook if you want to see all of this stuff.  The women sang us a few songs in different languages.  Gosh, life is so different there.  I really do appreciate my life so much more when I go on these trips.  Really....I have everything I need plus way more.  It's crazy.

Ok, una queja.  I know that I've complained about this in Guatemala and Spain, but I'm gonna do it again.  Why doesn't anybody in Peru have change?  Why do the ATMs only give out 100s and 50s?  I mean, last night I bought something for 3 soles with a 20 at the hotel, and they had to go searching for change for me...for a 20!  Today I walked into a bank asking if I could get smaller bills for my 100s, and she told me only for 1 100 bill.  Even the banks don't like breaking down bills.  So come on, if your banks can't even give you change, why the heck do you even have bills of 100?  The ATMs should only be allowed to give out 20s.    Ok, I'm done complaining.  I do love this country, it's just the large bill thing that gets me.

Well, tomorrow it's another long day on the bus.  We'll finally be in Arequipa on Thursday.  I can't wait to be in one location!

Cuzco

Yesterday we spent the whole day in Cuzco to watch the festival of Inti Raymi, the celebration of the winter solstice. We started early, standing in the street to try and see the beginning of the dancing and music, but we couldn't really see. The party moves throughout the city, so we went to the main plaza and waited for the dancers and musicians to arrive. We waited for almost an hour in the blazing hot sun. One girl kind of passed out (a couple of times). Pretty much 2 minutes after the musicians and dancers came out, we had to leave to go to the next location, Sacsayhuaman, where the main event was occurring. We sat in our bleacher-like seats, and luckily it wasn't that hot there. We waited for almost 2 hours. The show then started and it was a reenactment of the ceremony that the Incas did for the Sun god. It was all in quechua, the language of the Incas. But there were so many people involved. The dancing and music were great. But then our guide wanted us to all leave early before it ended so we could beat the rush out of there. Well, instead of leaving through the exit immediately to our right, she decided to take us all the way to the other side to exit, which meant we had to walk in front of a few thousand people. It was soooooooooooo embarrassing...35 of us leaving like that. People were booing us saying “It's not done yet” “You're horrible”, and some people even threw stuff at us. I felt awful. Anyway, after that, our day was done. Some people were sunburned really badly, but I've been ok so far. My spf 15 has done its job.

Today we got up and left to head to Urubamba and we made several stops on the way in the Sacred Valley. One stop was at a salt mine. That place was pretty cool, but getting there was not. It was a narrow, curvy gravel road with literally 80 degree drops the whole way hundreds of feet down. Of course our driver drove fast. He took the curves pretty fast, and what do you know? We meet a couple of vehicles. We barely scraped past going 3 miles per hour. It was a terrifying experience.

Once in Urubamba, we saw the Templo del sol, an amazing Incan temple. We climbed a lot and my legs are pretty wobbly. Now, I'm in our hotel which is much nicer than the ones we've been in. Tomorrow is an extremely long day. We'll spend like 7 hours at Machu Picchu (which I don't know why we need that long), then return back to Cuzco. Machu Picchu is where the famous Incan ruins are that I'm sure everybody's seen pictures of. It's going to be my dream come true.

Please pray for me as I'm having some extremely bothersome problems in the stomach area. It's not fun being sick on a bus for 8 hours, so I don't want to have to deal with that.

Also, I decided that I'd really like a donkey, sheep, and a llama or alpaca as pets. They are sooooooo cute. I can hardly stand it!   

Lima & Cuzco

So, I made it here. My six hour layover wasn't so bad because it actually turned into 5 hours. Instead of landing in Costa Rica, we landed in Managua, Nicaragua because the Costa Rican airport was closed due to an “incident”. We waited for an hour and then took off again. Once in Lima, I ended up waiting for a couple of hours for some other students to arrive so we could take a taxi together.

The next day at breakfast we were all reunited...and it felt so good. It was so great to see everybody! We took a tour throughout the city, and it lasted for quite a while. I was in and out of sleep on the bus. I still have not been able to catch up on my sleep, and I've been falling asleep on our bus tours a lot.

The next morning (Thursday) I was up by 5:00 AM, and we left the hotel at 6:30 for the airport to head to Cuzco (where many Incan ruins are). Flight was good, but within 10 minutes of getting off of the plane I felt pretty dizzy. We're at about 11,000 feet right now. First thing everybody had when we got to the hotel was mate de coca, which is a tea made from coca leaves. Cocaine is made from those leaves, but let me clarify that we were not drinking “cocaine”. These leaves are supposed to help with altitude sickness. I've read some stories online where people had this tea then had to get a drug test for employment, and it showed up as positive for cocaine, so let's hope I don't have to take a drug test.

In Cuzco, we toured around a lot. It's been nonstop. We saw many sacred places of the Incas, and it's so interesting how they built things with huge stones that fit perfectly together. They were the most advanced in the world with this. It's more precise than the pyramids in Egypt, and they haven't budged in the major earthquakes they've had.

The only thing I've felt from the altitude is dizziness and shortness of breath, but that's to be expected. It's really hard to get a full breath. With all of the climbing we were doing today, we were huffing and puffing like crazy. I don't care how in shape you are, you will get tired. It's also quite cold here. Our hotel room is freezing. I will be wearing leggings, sweatpants, a t-shirt, zip-up hoodie, hat, scarf, and gloves to bed tonight. Seriously.

The alpacas here are so funny looking. But I haven't gotten a picture of one yet because every time I've seen one there's a woman in traditional dress sitting next to it, and you have to pay her to get a picture. It's not like it's expensive. I just don't want to spend money on that right now. People were taking pictures of two women today with the alpacas and one yelled out “Propina, nina! Propina!” (“Tip!”). She was mad, and I don't think she received her tip. I don't quite get it. They just go sit next to whatever animal is grazing nearby, and even if you want to get a picture of just the animal, they still ask you for a tip. Ok, maybe that's not how it works. They probably own the animal.

Anyway, we're going out to dinner tonight, and tomorrow we're going to this huge festival all day so that should be interesting.   

Vaccinations

Oh my gosh, it's almost here!  I have butterflies in my stomach!  I also had other problems with my stomach a few days ago.  I was not well at all, and I went and talked to my pharmacist and found out that I've been doing so many things wrong since I got my vaccinations.  I went to a "travel clinic" a few weeks ago to get my vaccines, and I got a pill form of the typhoid vaccine as well as pills for malaria.  Well, I was told to take the last typhoid pill on the day that I leave for Peru (there are 4 pills to take every other day).  Apparently, as I found out later, it's supposed to be finished a week before you leave.  Also, you're supposed to take the pills with lukewarm water because cold water can affect it somehow.  I was never told this (until talking to the pharmacist), so I've been taking them with ice cold water.  I was told to start taking my malaria pills one week before leaving, meaning I took my first malaria pill on the same day as my first typhoid pill.  Well, the pharmacist told me that you're not supposed to take a malaria pill within 10 days of taking the typhoid because it could make the typhoid vaccine inactive.  Awesome.  She told me to make sure not to take Pepto Bismol or anything like that for my stomach ache because that could also reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.  Guess what had I done the night before?  Took Pepto...and Maalox.  When I told her that I had taken both, she about passed out.  Oh, and if I get diarrhea while on these pills, it makes birth control less effective.  I thought that was kind of weird, but that's not something I'll have the worry about....the getting pregnant part I mean...the diarrhea is a different story (she pretty much told me that I will get traveler's diarrhea...yay).

I really should have gotten the vaccines through the pharmacy.  Apparently the typhoid vaccine is easier to deal with than the pills, plus everything would have been cheaper.  As for the travel clinic....I will never go back there again.  All they did was print out information about Peru, saying which vaccines are recommended.  They didn't even check to see if there would be any reactions between the drugs that they gave me.

The pharmacist wasn't just making all of this up.  She was showing me all of this info from a big book about vaccines.  When I went home to look more online, all of the websites supported what she said.  I won't be able to take my malaria pill until next week, so let's hope I don't contract the disease between now and then.  

I do feel much better as of right now, and I'm looking forward to this trip, but I have to admit that I'm terrified to eat anything there.  I really don't want to be sick during our tour...especially on the bus rides.  That was torture last year!

It's That Time of Year Again

Yes, one year has already passed. I cannot believe it. This summer I will be going to Peru with Sacramento State University. This is my last summer in the program (unless I fail a class), and it's a little bittersweet. These experiences that I've had have been incredible. I've met amazing people and been to some amazing places. But I will be glad to be done so that I don't have to spend any more long weeks away from Jordan. Also, I will feel more free with a Master's degree under my belt...no pressure to study.

I'm leaving on June 21st at around 2:30 AM. I'll fly to Costa Rica where I have a six hour layover, then I'll head over to Lima. We'll be traveling all over the place, including Cuzco. I'm so excited to see Machu Picchu!

Anyway, I have this week to finish some things up. I'm done with work as of last Friday, but I won't really have time to relax. I still have stuff to do for the classes this summer. I do feel much more prepared this year. I'm taking 3 upper-level classes, 2 of them being literature classes. Normally we're only allowed 2 upper-level classes, but the lower-level one that I was signed up for fell through. I have pretty much all of the readings done, it's just the presentations that I have to work on. After two years of purposely avoiding classes with presentations, I am stuck with presentations in all 3 classes this summer. I'm very nervous about them. I get embarrassed speaking in my awkward Spanish in front of people that obviously speak it better. Two of the presentations have to be 15-20 minutes long, and that's actually not possible for me, so I'm just going to try and do my best to pass. Those are going to be the boring literature presentations too....no visuals...just me standing up there talking. The other presentation is supposed to be no longer than 5 mins. but I have about 15 mins. worth of info on a cute little PowerPoint. It's the interesting one, and I actually don't know if I can keep it under 5 mins.

Please keep me and the other students in your prayers for safety and for great learning experiences. I have no idea how often I'll update, but if you want, you can sign up to receive an email every time I update so you don't have to keep checking here. The sign-up is in the upper left-hand corner.

Hasta luego!