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.