2013, So Far.

I'm back from lunch with a full stomach and super psyched to write all about 2013. My host mom made Cau Cau de Pollo, which is chicken and potatoes all chopped up and put in a special sauce, and then served with rice. It's really good, and she's a very good cook. I got back from a trip a few days ago and just realized how much I missed the food. And my family too. The house is a little emptier now, since Bili has gone back to Brazil and took Adriana with her for a few months. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to where I left off, right at the beginning of January.

After New Year's we all stayed at the beach for a while. Annalena stayed with us, which was nice. We had recently found out that we would both be going to Pucallpa, a town in the Peruvian jungle, very soon. A boy who was there would be coming to Tacna, while Annalena would go out into the wilderness for 3 months. When she gets back to Tacna, which will be pretty soon, I'll be heading out there. We hung out at the beach for a few days, and then went to go see the Dakar rally with my brother, older sister, uncle, and dad. Dakar is this huge race that goes through Peru, Chile, and Argentina every year. There are different categories, for bikes, cars, and trucks, but they all race over more or less the same terrain. People from all over the world come to compete or work in the rally. I met a team of Polish photographers, and there was a prince who was competing. It's a pretty big deal in Peru, and I had never seen anything like it before.

We had to wake up really early, which Annalena and I weren't too excited about

Carlos, on the other hand, was super excited

We woke up early, loaded all the food and beach equipment into the car, and took off for the middle of nowhere. The race went over a ton of dunes, coming from the more central part of Peru, the sierra. It came towards us at the beach, went along the coast line for a while, and finished that stage at more or less the Chilean border. There is only one road in that area, a two-lane highway that goes from Tacna up north to Ilo, passing the small summer beach towns on its way. We took that road out to where there are no towns, just giant dunes. That was where they had plotted the course, and had planted little stakes with rope tied around them in the ground to keep the drivers going the right way. They had blocked off the highway (the course cut across it) at about 5 am that morning, so there was a huge long line of cars parked on the road, waiting for the race to be over so they could keep heading towards Tacna or Ilo. I feel really bad for anyone who was traveling with seafood that day and got caught in the Dakar line. They didn't open up the highway until 8 pm that night, and we were in the middle of the desert. There was no shade at all, and the ozone layer is thinner there, so the sun is really strong. That hypothetical seafood must have been horribly smelly by the end of the day. Because they had blocked off the highway, and because a lot of people had gotten there before us, we had to go off-roading to find a place to park and watch the race. So we drove straight up the dunes. It was so much fun. There were a lot of other people doing the exact same thing, so it turned into a bit of a competition. Everyone would walk up, then the drivers would line up at the bottom of the dune and go at it one at a time. They'd usually almost make it and then have to turn around or risk getting stuck. It was so fun to watch, but I kept waiting for a car to roll while thinking that this would never have been remotely possible in the US. Things in general are a lot more easygoing in Peru. The idea is basically that if you can do it without dying, go for it. If you try, and get seriously hurt, well then you just didn't do it right. I get the feeling that there haven't been a lot of lawsuits yet, or that people just don't feel like trying to sue for stuff that goes wrong. Anyways, we finally made it up the first dune and kept going. Once you get up the first dune, it gets a lot easier. We settled in and sat back to wait for the cars.

We ended up on the hill before the hill with the flag on it, overlooking the course. All the people down below are the people who camped out to get a good spot. The darker line in the distance is the highway, before it filled up a lot. I took this at about 7:30 am. By the time Dakar was over you couldn't see the end of the line of cars.

We waited. And waited. And waited some more. The cars finally arrived at about 4 pm. It was actually really cool once they arrived, but it was a very long wait. I wish I had some pictures to put up, but what with all the sand and wind, my camera jammed and broke completely. (It's still broken, by the way. I took it to a repairman and he said there's no hope of fixing it. So now I am an exchange student without a camera - there is no purpose to my life.)

Let's pretend I took this photo... Actually I just googled dakar rally 2013. If you'd like to see more pictures you can do that too! 

After Dakar, we all headed back to Tacna. The two lane highway was complete craziness. Cars had been backing up from both directions all day long, and there were so many that they were in four lanes instead of two, all facing at each other. It took a very long time to get going, and there was a lot of shaking of fists, yelling, cutting in front of each other, and almost hitting other cars and people. That's another thing that never would have happened in the US, and it really made me thankful for how nicely everyone really drives, at least compared to South America.

I got back to Tacna and just chilled for a few days, until Zoe Bouras, one of the exchange students from Arequipa, showed up for a few days. Annalena, Zoe, and I climbed one of the giant dunes around Tacna, went out to eat cake, and went to a movie, among other things. It was really fun to hang out with her again, and climbing the dune was a nice challenge.

Oh hey, that's us! 

I returned to the beach for a few days and got to go to Ilo, the small coastal town about two hours away from Tacna. It was fun to visit, and I got to go on a tour and see lots of seals and birds, but I'm glad I'm living in Tacna.

Looking at local wildlife with Annalena and Maddie, the exchanger in Ilo

A few days later, the boy from Pucallpa arrived. Louis is French, and learned how to speak Spanish while living in the jungle. It's crazy how fast he learned! His Spanish is really good. A few days after he arrived, Annalena took off for Pucallpa. We all spent a few days together, just showing him around the city.

I started cooking and bartending classes at a local cooking school for the summer, and Louis decided to come with me. The classes were really fun and I learned how to make a lot of traditional Peruvian food, which I'm looking forward to making for everyone when I'm back in the States. I also met a great group of friends in my classes, and we spent a lovely summer together.

While it looks like Maria (the girl on the right) is trying to kill Josmara (the blonde) I swear that they're actually really great people!

We went swimming together

And went out to eat delicious hamburgers

They are some of the best friends I have made here in Peru. I will never forget these crazy chicas!

I spent the rest of February switching between Tacna and the beach. I went to my cooking classes during the week and then joined my family at the beach for the weekends. It was a really nice summer. I swam a lot, hung out with a lot of people, learned a lot, and even tanned a little bit. I hurt my knee again, stupidly, but I went to the doctor and only spent a week on the injured list, although I still managed to enjoy my summer while hurt.

I wrapped my knee up and hobbled to the front of the room to get my diploma from the cooking class.  It was great. 

Before I had hurt my knee, I was playing soccer with my team as well. We were in a tournament of "futbolito" which is soccer, but played on a small cement court. It's kind of like indoor soccer, but there aren't any walls around the field. It was really fun and I enjoyed learning how to play.

We won $200 for our team!

At about that time, Adriana and Bili headed off for Brazil. The house is a whole lot quieter without them! After finishing my cooking classes, I spent the rest of February (more or less) at the beach. Louis came with me for about a week, and we worked at Rotary's Carnaval dance and also with the poor children they run a camp for at the beach. Carnaval is basically a giant party that started in Brazil, but has spread all over South America. The Rotary Club of Tacna, which is the club I belong to, throws a giant dance the night of Carnaval, which helps raise money for the poor children who come to the beach. Louis and I helped out at the dance, carrying plates of food, helping set up, lighting candles, etc. It was a very big party, and they raised a lot of money. The next day was Carnaval at the beach. Together with a group of friends, we prepared water balloons, paint, chalk, and silly string, and went out to try to soak/paint/chalk/spray as many people as possible. Of course, everyone else is armed and trying to do the same thing. It was a huge war in the center of town, and afterwards, when we were completely soaked and covered in paint, we all ran straight into the ocean and swam around to clean off. Carnaval was so much fun, and I think it's definitely a tradition that we need to start up in the US. I'm sad I don't have pictures, but it wasn't exactly an electronic-friendly environment.

But while I was at the beach, I wasn't just tanning, swimming, and playing Carnavales. Louis and I went to Rotary's camp for kids and played with and helped care for them. Rotary runs a large camp for poor children from Tacna and the sierra, so that they can come to the beach for a week and just be kids. They're kids who live in abusive families, who work, don't go to school, have medical issues, don't eat correctly, and have never left their hometowns, never seen the ocean before. And yet they are some of the happiest kids I have ever met. They are so full of life, and are overjoyed to be at the beach, to receive a shirt, hat, swimsuit, and towel, and a little stuffed animal to call their own. They spend the entire day playing in the surf, marveling at the tiny fish they find. They fill their pockets with shells to take back every day, so that they'll never be too far away from the ocean. The kids who were at the camp for the week I worked there are poor children from Tacna. They live in poverty-stricken, sometimes abusive households, usually with just a mother or a father and several siblings. They're malnourished, and attend schools (if they go at all) that are overburdened and underfunded. They work in the cemetery in Tacna on the weekends, carrying water for the flowers. They're paid very little, and rely on tips from kindhearted mourners. Those kids really touched my heart, and I hope to go visit them all again soon. They have one week to be kids and enjoy the beach, and they enjoy it to the fullest, taking pleasure in the simplest moments. They taught me so much, in the small amount of time that I spent with them. I think they could teach us all something important.

After those weeks at the beach, I headed back to Tacna for the first week of March for a Rotary conference called RYLA. Two of the other exchange students went, a recent arrival from Australia named Alana and my good friend Kristen. RYLA was a weekend full of chats about leadership in Rotary and real life. It was mainly geared toward kids in Rotaract, which is like Rotary for people 18-30 years old. But still, it was nice to meet lots of new people and we had a lot of fun together.

After RYLA I had some down time in Tacna, just to take care of everything I had to do before I headed off on my next trip. That was last week. It was an incredible trip. I went up to Arequipa on a bus, and I got to stay for a day in Arequipa with all the exchange students there. Then, the next day, we all headed out on the trip. We drove all night from Lima to Arequipa, and arrived early in the morning. For those who don't know, it's a loooooong drive. And the bus wasn't very comfortable. We didn't sleep. At all. First up, we went to the Museo de la Nacion, and saw a lot of Incan and pre-Incan artifacts, which were very interesting. After lunch, we went out on a tour of the city, which included seeing the important plazas, the Government palace, a very old church, and getting to tour its catacombs. The catacombs were super cool. There are many layers, and they're still discovering things. It's amazing that they've withstood all the years, and the many earthquakes and other disasters that have hit Lima.

Kristen and I in the catacombs. That's my excited-about-catacombs face.

After dinner we went to El Parque de los Aguas, which is this giant park filled with fountains. There are lights and music and they put on a wonderful show. Everyone is encouraged to play in the water, and there are tunnels and mazes of water. It was so much fun and we all ran straight in. I'm the smallest out of everyone (story of my life) and so everyone else really enjoyed picking me up and pushing me into the jets of water. I got absolutely soaked, but it was so much fun.

Zoe Bouras, Kristen, and I in a water tunnel

That night we hung out with some of the exchange students from Lima, which was fun. I liked Lima, and if I ever come to Peru again I could definitely see myself living there. But I'm really glad I'm not on exchange in Lima. It's very American in a way, with large malls, lots of traffic, and lots of tourists. I like Tacna, with its small markets, crazy yet quick traffic, and people who are actually from Tacna. It's definitely better for my Spanish too - with only one other exchange student here with me, who doesn't speak English, I have to use Spanish all the time.

The next day we left for Lunahuana, where half of our group went white-water rafting, and the other half went 4-wheeling. I went rafting, which was so much fun. After rafting we ate lunch and got back on the road.

As you can see, we had a great and peaceful time.

That night we arrived in Paracas, where we went out to eat and then settled into our hotel. The next morning we went on a boat ride to the Islas Ballestas, some large islands off the coast where we saw lots of dolphins, seals, penguins, sea lions, and birds in general. Lots and lots of birds. As in a don't-look-up-with-your-mouth-open amount of birds.

This is my why-are-there-so-many-birds face.

The coolest thing I saw was towards the end of the boat ride though. A momma seal was teaching her baby how to swim. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a very long time. The baby seal would try to climb up on its mom's back, then the mom would go forward a bit, leaving it to figure out how to swim back to her. Every time it fell it would call out, complaining, and she would call back, as if saying "buck up and learn how to swim, buddy." It was ridiculously adorable, and I'm sad I don't have a video.

We had a fun time and saw lots of cool animals. And lots of bird poo, but that wasn't really the point of the tour. 

After the Islas, we got back in the bus and headed toward Ica. On the way, we visited a vineyard where they grow the grapes for some of the best wine and pisco of Peru. They explained the pisco making process to us (it takes a really long time) and then at the end we got to stomp the grapes they use.

It was very squishy and sticky.

 When we arrived in Ica we immediately headed out for the dunes in boogies. We bounced around and drove really fast, and then they took us up to the top of a very tall dune. The driver got out, handed each of us a sand board, and told us to lay on it. Then he gave us all a push, one by one, and we went speeding down the hill. It was so much fun. While I think I'll probably never become a professional sand boarder (I fell a lot) I'd love to be able to do it again. As the sun was going down we headed back to the hotel. We were staying at an oasis called Huacachina, which was beautiful.

Gorgeous. And I'm not just talking about our group :)

Although we are pretty fabulous! 

That night we arrived in Nazca. The next day we all went to the airport and boarded two tiny little planes to fly over the Nazca Lines. Ever since I saw an article on the Nazca Lines in National Geographic, I've always wanted to see the Lines. They did not disappoint. They were so cool. I'm just sad that I couldn't get any good pictures, as the only camera I had was my cell phone. But the Lines were truly awesome, especially how they've lasted for so long. I really want to know exactly what they were for, and how they were made so well.

That night we arrived in Puerto Inca, a nice seaside resort surrounded by Incan and pre-Incan ruins. It was really truly gorgeous. The next day was our last day of the trip, and we went on a walk around the ruins. It had been a pretty big village, and had included an exclusive resort just for the Inca, the emperor. You could see that it was his because it was two stories tall. There were also lots of other houses, and you could see how the city had been laid out over the entire area. After our walk we had free time to swim and enjoy the resort, and then we got back in the bus and drove back to Arequipa. I spent a few more days in Arequipa, and then came back to Tacna. Tomorrow I'll start classes at the local university. I'll be studying tourism and administration. It's only for a few weeks, until I go to Pucallpa, but I'm excited to do something new and meet some new people.

And now, that's pretty much all that 2013 has held for me so far. As more happens I'll be sure to let you guys know, assuming anyone is still reading this. If you are, thanks for sticking with me!

Chau for now,
Emily

Sorry... Here's a bit of what's been going on!

I last posted on November 19. It's the 17th of March now. Happy Saint Patrick's Day! But in all seriousness, I'm sorry I take so long to post stuff. Today I'm turning over a new leaf. Thanks to various people (hi Mom, Natty), I will start posting regularly again. Maybe they're the only ones who still read this. Oh well, I'll make it extra awesome for you two. 

So as of November 19, I was still in colegio. Normal stuff, really. It was the beginning of the holiday season, so I decided to cook a nice American Thanksgiving dinner for my family. I went shopping with my host mom, looked up recipes on the internet, and took Thursday off school. I spent all day cooking, but I think it was worth it! 

 I made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and salad. And I bought some applesauce.

I also made an apple pie, because I'm super cool like that. It wasn't the prettiest, but it tasted really good! 

That's pretty much it for the end of November. The rest of November was basically just school, although I did have some nice leftovers to bring for a few days after Thanksgiving. Some of the other exchange kids who live in Arequipa came down to Tacna for a few days, and we all went to a Rotary event called the "hug of peace" at the Chilean border. There had been some drama over fishing waters/international boundaries/whatnot, and so to show that they all still liked each other the Peruvian Rotary and Lion's Club members met up with the Chilean ones. There was a ceremony, some dancing, and lots of photos. It was really hot, especially because us exchange students had to wear our Rotary blazers. Those things are heavy, and they get really hot. Still, we had a good time and took lots of pictures. 

After the ceremony, Annalena and I took them around Tacna, and we hung out until they had to go back the next day. It was great to see them, especially because we all get along really well. In November my Spanish was still coming along, so I didn't have a ton of friends that I could hang out with and really talk to. It was just very nice. 

December was my last month of school. Since I was in quinto, the 5th and last year of Peruvian high school (they only have 11 years here) I got to take part in all the fun senior stuff. An important thing is the Baile de Promocion, which is basically prom, but just for the graduating class. We all got dressed up (some more than others: my sister left the house at 8 am, went to the salon and didn't come back until 8 pm) and then went to this restaurant that we had rented out. We all had dates, and walked in couple by couple as the parents watched and the principal said a few words about us. Then there were a few speeches, and then we danced. First there's a classic dance with the dad (or in my case, my host brother) and then with your date. Then everyone sits down to eat and talk for about two hours. After we're all comfortably full, everyone hits the dance floor. That was at about 1 am. We danced until about 5 in the morning, until some people (parents) were almost asleep in their chairs. It was a really fun way to end the school year, and I had an incredible time. I'm not sure if prom stateside will be able to measure up! 

Annalena and I, all dressed up!

Annalena and I, with our good friend Renza and our respective dates 

My promocion!

Then suddenly, we had graduated! I even got a nice framed diploma. I had a great time in colegio, and I met so many awesome girls, but I'm happy to have the chance to keep moving forward with my life here in Peru. 

Almost immediately after graduation, it was Christmas! One thing about my Christmas here - it didn't feel like Christmas. It was hot and sunny outside, the smell of pine wasn't filling the house (we had a plastic tree) and the general customs were different from what I knew. But that was fine, and I enjoyed it. I'd just say that's what made the holiday season so easy to spend away from my family - it didn't seem like the holidays that I was used to. And it wasn't like I was alone, either. I had my entire awesome host family there with me. My older sister Bili, who lives in Brazil, came home for the holidays. It was great to meet her! She's pretty awesome in general. On Christmas Eve we all went to Mass, which was different for me. The basics were all there - the cross, the singing, the kids preforming the Nativity scene - but there were some interesting subtle differences. There was also a lot of kneeling and standing. I was always the awkward person who knelt or stood a half second behind everyone else. If I ever decide to become Catholic I should definitely work on my sense of timing. After Mass we went back to the house, and the entire family sat down for a big dinner. We ate until 12 o'clock, when we turned on the radio and counted down, with the rest of Peru, to Christmas. Once the cheering started over the radio practically everyone in the country started shooting off fireworks. It was really cool. Maybe not perfectly safe, but really cool. I'm kind of glad we don't have that tradition in the US though... I can just imagine all the trees going up in flames after Junior found a sparkler lying on the ground. 

Fireworks! 

After the celebrations died down a bit, we all attacked the presents. My little sister handed them all out, and then we opened them all at the same time. After everyone had theirs open, we all went around and showed off the goods. I got some nice gifts, but my favorite one from my host family was definitely the giant bottle of sunscreen that they gave me. Spf 60. Yes, I am that pasty white. No, but honestly, I was really happy to get sunscreen. It's weirdly expensive here, and we spend all summer at the beach, starting at New Year's. It was definitely a necessary for my summer.  

Speaking of New Year's, that's what's coming up next! We went to the beach, along with the rest of Tacna. It was really pretty! The water is quite cold, but the sun is really nice and warm. I'd go out in the mornings and sit in the sand or swim with friends, and then we'd go back for lunch and go out again at night when it was a bit cooler. We had a lot of bonfires, and I taught everyone how to make s'mores. New Year's Eve was a lot like Christmas. We ate a large meal as a family, and then counted down to midnight and set off fireworks. However, that wasn't all. Here in Peru there are a lot of traditions for ringing in the New Year. All day long, people had been walking around the block dragging suitcases behind them, hoping to travel a lot in the coming year. Vendors on the street were selling different colors of underwear to everyone walking around. Yellow means money, red means love, and blue means peace. It was very common that day to ask anyone you saw, even if you barely knew them, what color their underwear was. There was also the tradition of making a life-sized doll out of clothes and things from the old year and burning it at midnight, to burn away any bad luck or experiences from the past year. It honestly looked a bit creepy, to look down the block at midnight and see all these human figures burning outside of people's homes. 

That's my sister, Bili, working on our family's doll

And that's it for 2012 from Peru! My mom's serving lunch right now, so I'll post this and then be back soon with what's happened in 2013 so far. I'll give you all a hint: it's been a great year! Sorry for not posting for so long... It won't happen again! (Well, it might, but not for 4 months again this time.) 

Chau for now,

Emily

Normality

As you may have realized from the title of this post, I haven't really had any new amazing experiences happen over the past couple of weeks. It's just been two normal weeks of school for me. Although I did get to go to the beach again, this time for the weekend! I went with my dad, little sister Micaela, and Annalena. It was really fun, and it's uncanny how similar it is to the Oregon coast. The only differences are that the water is about half a degree warmer, and there's more than 5 minutes of sun a day.

Strangely similar to the Oregon coast, right? 

A roaming ice cream vendor in his natural habitat

Micaela and Annalena. D'awwwww...

I love how colorful it is, at the beach and really all throughout Peru in general. 

It was really fun, and I loved just lazing around with my friends and family. After the beach I went to the first soccer game of the team I'm playing on, the Saetas. We tied 1-1, and while I didn't get to play because of my knee it was good to see how the team played together. Speaking of my knee, it's doing a lot better! I went to a doctor and he poked around at it for a while, and ended up pushing muscles back into their respective places. While that was ridiculously painful, my knee felt a lot better afterwards! It's probably at about 70-85%, and I'm practicing with the team and rehabilitating it every week. We had another game this last Sunday, and while I didn't play again, I hope I will be well enough to play in the next one! But it was a great game to watch, and we won 4-3. Apart from the beach and soccer, it's been really just normal for me. But a good kind of normal.

After typing that, I realized that probably almost no one who reads this really knows what I even do most days. Here's my answer: school. The following is how my day went today, and most other days are pretty much like this as well.

I wake up at around 6:30-7. Fun fact: I don't have an alarm clock, so my mom wakes us up each day. It's much more peaceful than a blaring alarm, and it works better too, because after she leaves the room my dog runs in and jumps all over the bed licking your face. I get dressed in basically 5 minutes. Having a uniform is so easy! I guarantee that going back to the US and having to choose pants and a shirt in the morning will probably be one of the hardest things that I'll have to deal with when it comes to reverse culture shock. My mom makes juice/smoothies/chocolate milk for my sisters and I and then away we go! School starts at 8 and goes until 5. We have lunch at school, which is usually a bowl of soup and some sort of main course with rice. While it's better than US school lunch, the fact that it's been cooked in bulk for over 200 kids makes it slightly less delicious than the average Peruvian meal. After school my sisters and I come home and eat our big meal that our housekeeper has made for us. It's always ridiculously good. We're the only ones that eat at that time, because usually the only big meal for Peruvians is lunch, which is at around 2 and contains at least 3 different plates of food. On Mondays I don't have soccer, so I just hang out around the house and do whatever I have to do. Today it was this blog, along with catching up on episodes of Two and a Half Men. However, today I also got the Peruvian chip put in my phone, so that was great. Now I can call people. Yay! Also, my sister came home from the store and had brought me a soccer ball! That right there made my day. It was so nice of her, and I'm so happy to have one so I can practice more. At around 10-ish the whole family comes together and we have tea and eat the fresh bread that my mom buys every day. That's another thing that I love about Peru: there's delicious fresh bread everywhere. They sell it on the street corners in these little wheeled carts. You could say it's the Starbucks of Peru. Now I'm just finishing up this blog post, and then I'll be heading to bed! That right there is pretty much my life. It's very normal, but it's still great. And hey, every day there are moments of excitement. For example, today I experienced my very first earthquake!

It was actually just a "temblor" (tremor) but it was still awesome! I was sitting in Communication class when I heard this low rumbling in the distance, and felt a slight shaking in my feet, which made its way up through my legs and settled into the pit of my stomach. It was a strange sensation, but I honestly just thought that it was some heavy machinery being used in the distance. However, then all the girls in my class started yelling "Temblor! Corre, corre!" which roughly translates to "the earth is being torn apart run for your lives!" (More or less.) We ran out of the classroom and down the stairs into the grassy area where no buildings could fall on us.  It only temblor-ed once more, but it was an awesome experience. I was one of the only ones in my class who wasn't absolutely scared out of their minds though, and all the other girls said that that was because I haven't experienced a very strong one yet. So I guess I'll see how I like it when one of those happens.

Well, that's pretty much all for now, so chau from the Southern Hemisphere!
Emily

Just a Few Things

Not much has happened since I last posted, but what has happened has been pretty awesome. My "spring break" was pretty fun, although it was definitely different, what with having three hours of math every day. But I actually understood what was going on for a change (we started a new subject), so that made it not so bad. 

This was basically math class for me before this past week: not understanding anything.

On Tuesday during spring break some of the girls from my class and I all went back to the pool for an afternoon of swimming. 

Stereotypical jumping picture! Told you the pool was gorgeous. 

I didn't do much else for spring break, as I was sick one day and then just mainly hung out with the family. However, that Friday after school my sister, some friends, and I went shopping at the market where they sell the American goods that have been thrown away because they're not good enough to sell in America. It was definitely a strange new experience, seeing all the American goods laid out for sale. There was a whole range of things, from American Eagle jackets to perfume to make-up to shoes to extra-large t-shirts from the northern New Jersey Baptist Church's 2009 mission trip. Almost everything was in near-perfect condition. It really made me think about how lucky we are and how much we take for granted in the States. We refuse to accept anything with the slightest defect and throw it "away" with horrifying arrogance, not realizing that what we consider trash, what we decide isn't worth our time or money, is an incredible luxury for others. We're really so amazingly lucky to have been born in America, in a country where it's an almost unthinkable idea that you'd have to wait for hot water to take a shower, or that you'd go to the grocery store and buy a banana with more than a slight bruise on it. People complain all the time that their lives are terrible, while in reality I think that most of us haven't even begun to realize the many blessings that we take for granted. 

After shopping we headed to our friend Majo's house to do karaoke. I learned a lot of new Latin pop songs - one of the only English songs on the disc was a Jonas Brothers song, and I try not to be familiar with the Jonas Brothers. It was really funny though, and good to know that I'm not the only one who sounds horrible while trying to sing along with Shakira. The karaoke was a good way to practice though, because last Wednesday (Halloween) we all went to a concert! Gianmarco came to Tacna, and practically the entire town went to his concert. 

This is Gianmarco. He's pretty cool. 

He also plays the ukelele and the harmonica. He's REALLY cool.

I went with Annalena, my sister Adriana, and some of our friends from school. We met up with our other friends while waiting in line to get in. 

We waited for almost four hours before the concert started, but it was worth every second of the wait. He's one of the most popular Peruvian musicians, and has been nominated for several Latin Grammys. We all sang along, and even though I didn't know any of the lyrics, it was still really fun. It was strange not doing the usual Halloween stuff though. Halloween isn't really all that popular in Tacna, and only some of the very young children go trick or treating. But they go to the stores, not the houses. I tried to buy some pumpkins so I could teach my family how to make jack-o-lanterns, but there weren't any at the store. However I still dressed up my dog - my sister and I bought her a little costume. 

I'm not entirely sure what she was supposed to be, but she's so cute I don't think it matters much. 

On Friday I was supposed to go on my class trip all around Tacna, and throughout the desert, but instead I got sick. Sickness seems to be a common theme of my time here, but I think I finally know why. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to aji, a spicy pepper that's really common. It's kind of disappointing because it's ridiculously delicious, but I'll trade not eating it for not having to miss out on anything else because I'm sick. 

This weekend has pretty much just been a weekend to relax and hang out with my family. My sister and dad are in Bolivia for my dad's friend's wedding, so it's just my grandma, mom, brother, and little sister here. It's been good to relax though. 

Something interesting is how hard this post was to write. I feel like my English is getting worse and worse, and there were sentences where I read over what I'd typed and legitimately not known if my English was correct. I hope it all is understandable! I had my first dream in Spanish a few days ago (well, it was half in Spanish and half in English) and so I feel like I'm really learning a lot. 

That's just about all, so I hope you enjoyed the pictures and reading about what I've done (even though it hasn't been very much). I hope everyone's having a great day, and I'll try to post again soon! 

Chau for now, 

Emily

Ups & Downs... And almost possibly having my kidneys stolen, but actually not.

Yesterday marked two months in Peru for me! The time has flown by - it seems like forever ago that I stepped out of the plane onto the tarmac and walked into a crowd of very friendly people, all of whom were speaking very fast Spanish and greeting me with a kiss on the cheek. It feels like I've been living in Tacna, and with my family, for longer than two months. I realized that Tacna really does seem like my home, and my family seems like, well, my actual family. It's been two months of perfection. But that doesn't mean that everything has been easy. The past two weeks have been the hardest two of my exchange.

Since I last posted, some not-so-great stuff has happened. I was sick, pretty seriously sick. I'm all better now, but I had to go to the doctor and buy a lot of medicine, which wiped out most of my money. (I get a monthly allowance from my Rotary club.) However, I also started to learn how to be a model. (Cue laughter...) A few days ago, there was a fashion show that Rotary puts on every year. The exchange students, along with other people from the city, model clothes to raise money for a summer camp Rotary does for underprivileged kids. It's a good cause, but it was really strange to learn how to walk like the people on America's Top Model that I'd made fun of with my friends. The best thing about that week of sickness/modeling was that I joined a soccer team! It's different from teams in America - women's soccer isn't really big so women of all ages play on the same team since there aren't enough for more teams. I'm the youngest, and then there are women who are 30 or so playing as well. Everyone was really nice though, and I was so happy to be playing soccer again. However... (here comes another not-so-great part) one day at practice we were scrimmaging and I got kicked in the knee. There was this loud crack, and I had one thought flash through my mind: that didn't sound good. Then I hit the ground and couldn't stand up for the next few minutes because it hurt so badly. It hurt worse than any injury I've ever experienced while playing soccer, and that includes breaking my nose twice. A few days later my knee was so swollen I couldn't really tell where my kneecap ended and the swelling began. I was starting to worry that there might be a slight problem. That day, last Sunday, my mom, sister, Annalena and I went to a clothing store to meet up with the lady coordinating the modeling, and to pick out outfits for the fashion show. By a lucky chance, a Rotarian was there who specializes in knees. he poked at my knee a little, and with a serious doctorly look told me to come in for an exam the next day. I was really worried that there was something seriously wrong with my knee, as in so wrong that I'd have to have an operation, which could result in me having to go home.

Luckily, that wasn't the case. I just had to get shots for a week to bring down the swelling and rest for 2-3 weeks. I was so relieved! My next adventure was getting my shots. It's VERY different from the way we do it in the US. You take the prescription to one of the many pharmacies, where you buy the medicine in little glass bottles and the syringes. Then you drive to this tiny little door set into the wall of shops that line the street. When you go inside, there's a woman that takes your medicine and brings you farther into the room, which is really just like a small hallway lined with curtained off cots. She tells you to lay on your stomach and wait. At this point I was seriously wondering if I was going to wake up in a few hours without a kidney or some other organ that fetches a good price on the black market. But nope, I just got a shot in my butt instead. Yep, you read that right. Apparently the arm isn't good enough... But oh well! Exchange is all about those new experiences, and that one was definitely a new one!

I spent the past week resting and icing my knee, which got really really boring. Once you've seen a few Power Rangers episodes, you've really seen them all. Even if the fact that they're in Spanish does make them more intense. I didn't miss the 9 hours of school per day, but I did miss getting to see my friends. But these past few days have been worth the days I missed! Friday was the fashion show. While it would have been fun to be in it, as I couldn't really walk for a few days there was no way that would have been possible. But it was fun to see my friends looking so pretty. Afterwards we all went out for a little to celebrate. The next day my family, Annalena, some of our friends, and I all went to a resort. It was gorgeous. A perfect blue sky and an incredibly blue pool, all set in the middle of amazingly colorful flower gardens. Today I'm a little sunburned - even though I used sunscreen, the sun is so much stronger here! But it was so worth it, and so nice to be outside. That evening we went to the movies with some more friends, and we all watched Taken 2, or "Busqueda Implacable dos." It was really fun to go out with my friends. I'd definitely been a bit lonely this past week, what with missing my friends and family from the US, but yesterday made me realize that I'm making good friends here, and that I have a truly amazing family. When I left for exchange I don't think I really realized what I would gain. Another family, awesome friends... And I also have gained a deeper appreciation for who is in my life back home. They say that you never know what you've got until it's gone, and that's at least halfway true. I never truly realized how much my family means to me until I left them all behind. I never truly realized how great my friends are until they kept caring about me, even when I'm in another hemisphere, living a completely different type of life. I really am incredibly blessed.

Today was a lazy day around the house. We slept in, and then ate an amazing lunch. Here in Peru the big meal is lunch. And on Sundays it's even bigger than usual.

I think that's roughly 2 chickens in that pan. And there was sausage too. 

Then we all played wii for a while. In fact, I'm alternating between playing Wii baseball right now and writing this.

That's focus.

I wish I could have posted more pictures of the fashion show and whatnot, but my camera has been having some sort of problems lately and so all the photos are on Annalena's camera. I'll see if I can get them from her and post them some other time though.

This next week is my spring break, but there's still math class for a few hours every morning. I'm definitely not looking forward to math, as it's the subject where I have no idea what's going on. But I'm looking forward to seeing my friends!

Chau for now!
Emily

This Wild Ride

Oh look, my last post was almost a month ago... Whoops. Sorry guys. I've been kind of busy. But what have I been up to, you may ask? Let me take you on this wild ride I call my life...

I went on the very first Rotary trip, starting on the 15th of September. This involved a 6 hour bus ride up to Arequipa with Annalena, where we met all the other exchange students. They're all pretty cool.

I had no idea who this exchange student was when we were taking this picture. Apparently that's how he likes to introduce himself to people. Like I said, the exchange students are pretty cool. 

The next morning, bright and early, 10 of us piled into a small camper van and set off for Colca. That day was the first day of my wonderful relationship with the changing altitude. Altitude and I weren't a great match at first, but with the help of lots of coca tea I adjusted to its demands and then we were quite happy together. During the drive, I saw my very first llama! And my very first vicuna, and alpaca. I also got to eat alpaca for the very first time when we stopped for lunch. It's a lot like beef, but a bit stringier. It's really good, almost as good as bacon. And that means it's fantastic. 

That day we climbed what felt like Mt. Everest but was really just a pretty tall hill to go see some old pre-Inca tombs. We met some archaeologists from the US who were digging there to retrieve the bones. There were three intact skeletons inside one of the tombs, which was really cool to see. They put their dead in baskets and then laid them in the tombs, along with things like sewing needles and jewelry for the next life. 

These bones are almost as old as the dirt they're laying on!

The next day we drove to Colca Canyon. Although it doesn't look like it, apparently it's almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. It was gorgeous, with awesome plant and animal life. At the top of one of the trails is a huge lookout area, with lots of vendors and LOTS of tourists. And they're all there because of the condors. It was amazing to be that close to that big of a bird. THEY ARE HUMONGOUS. 

LOOK AT THAT BIRD. THAT IS A BIG BIRD.

To get the condors to stick around, the locals who live around there and depend on having tourists buy their stuff will sometimes push cows off the cliff for the condors to eat. Oh, and the cows are still alive when they're pushed off. That's some fresh beef. 

After Colca Canyon we got back in the bus and drove into the night. One fun fact about highways in Peru: there aren't convenient rest areas every 10 or so miles like there are in the states. So when we all had to go to the bathroom, we had to hold it until we got to this tiny little gas station in the middle of nowhere, and then we all got to experience The Shack. It's a tiny little box of a room, sitting up on a hill away from the gas station. Boards with a hole cut into them make up the floor, which is also your toilet seat. If anyone reading this is planning on traveling Peruvian highways sometime soon, here's a tip: do some squats to make sure you're prepared. The boy from Canada didn't want to get his pants dirty, so he had one of us hold them while he took care of business. They say Rotary is a family. You get a whole new definition of family while on these Rotary trips. 

We arrived in Puno late that night, and the next morning set out for Lake Titicaca and the floating islands. The islands (Los Uros) are really cool. They're piles of dead reeds, with more reeds growing out of the top, floating in the middle of the largest lake in South America, which is also the highest lake in the world. And people live on them. 

That chunk of what looks like dirt is what floats in the water. People cover it with more reeds and live on it.
Now that's hardcore. 

The houses on these islands are all about the size of most of our bathrooms back home. Entire families live in them. One thing this trip, and what's been a little over a month of life in Peru, has already taught me is how incredibly blessed I, and everyone else I know, are to live the way we do in America. We have so much that is just given to us, and I honestly didn't appreciate it until now. We never have to worry about having enough food in the house, whereas if the people who live on the Uros don't sell enough of their handmade goods to tourists each day, they might not eat that night. We have whole rooms to ourselves, and their houses, for their entire families, are about the same size as our bedrooms. Just because we don't have the latest iPhone or whatever is no reason to complain, or even to think for one second, that we are being treated badly, or that we deserve more. Instead, I think a little gratitude is needed, because what we have and we consider necessary for life, is the height of unimaginable luxury for some of the people I've met. So, for whoever is reading this, stop and think about how you have a computer to read this with. How you have the free time to read this, how you don't have to be out trying to make enough to buy dinner for tonight. How you are so ridiculously lucky, and how you don't even realize it. Then, the next time that you feel like life isn't going too great for you, realize how great it already is. 

Speaking of great, let's talk about the Incas. They were pretty sweet, and pretty good at building stuff. After Lake Titicaca, we drove to some old ruins (Sillustani) where you could see examples of both Inca and pre-Inca construction. Here are two pictures... See if you can spot the difference. 

This is an Inca tomb. It used to be a tower, but then it collapsed and they filled it in to stop the Inca zombies from getting out. 

This is a pre-Inca thing. It might have been a tomb as well, but  we'll never know because it just kind of looks like a blob. 

After Sillustani, we drove through the night to get to Puerto Maldonado. Another fun fact: it is practically impossible to sleep for more than 4 hours in a bus while driving around hairpin turns on roads that are under construction and almost falling off the mountain. The seats are really uncomfortable. But on the plus side, at about 1 in the morning we drove through a cloud and it was like it was raining on us. That made me and the other Oregonian, Zoe, very happy. While we may complain about the rain at home, I really miss it here in Peru. It's very dry, and my eyes want to see lots of green plants and trees again. There's barely even grass. But luckily that all changed once we got to Puerto Maldonado, where our adventure in the Peruvian selva (rainforest) began. When we reached Puerto Maldonado at about 7 in the morning, the first thing I noticed was the humidity. Think Southern - Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, etc. Then at about 7:15, while we were waiting for breakfast, it began to rain. Real rain - practically a downpour. Zoe and I went out to stand in it. 

After breakfast, we took a hour long boat ride out to our lodge. At the lodge, there were gamboling monkeys and screeching macaws. Also, there was a cat that seemed to think it was a monkey too. We went out to go swimming in the river, and then came back and ate fried monkey for lunch. They didn't tell us it was monkey until afterwards, but honestly it wasn't the best meat ever. There wasn't very much of it (obviously) and it wasn't very flavorful. After lunch, we went to Monkey Island to find more monkeys (stocking up for the next meal?) but we didn't see any. (Suspicious much?) After the monkey-free Monkey Island, we went on a night boat ride to look for caimans. We saw quite a few, and also an ocelot, which was cool to see. 

The next day we woke up at 4 am and climbed 40 meters up into the canopy to watch the sun rise. 

Obviously, it was gorgeous. 

After we got back, we rested a few hours and then had breakfast at 8. During breakfast, we noticed a pretty big cloud of smoke coming out from under the roof of one of the cabins, but we dismissed it as steam from a shower. Then we realized... The  water isn't hot! 

Cue the shouts of FUEGO!

One of the other exchange student's bags had caught on fire when a lightbulb exploded, and it and the cabin were slowly being incinerated. Luckily everything was put out safely, her important papers and her camera were saved, and no one was hurt. 

The bags, however, were not so lucky. (Photo credit: Zoe Estes)

After the fire, we went on a 3 km walk and then got in a boat and paddled around a lake full of piranhas, electric eels, and sting rays. One girl went swimming, but she didn't know then that they all were swimming around in there with her. After lunch, the guide brought out a fruit that, when smashed up, produces the ink that the natives use for their warpaint, and he drew some tribal tattoos on all of us. (They were really just some stripes, but they were pretty darn cool stripes.) While paddling back to shore we got stuck in a little mini storm, and so spent some time sitting in the middle of the lake while Tyson (the exchange student from Canada) and the guide paddled but we didn't go anywhere. But it was all good fun. After we got back, we ate dinner in town, during which I got to eat anticuchos, which is basically pieces of cow heart that have been grilled and put on a stick. It was delicious. We then got back on the bus, and started the next sleepless night's drive to Cusco. 

When we arrived in Cusco that morning, we went out for a tour of the city's museums. I can't really tell you what we looked at, but I can tell you that I am a pro at sleeping while standing up. I would be a great zombie impersonator. After my nap, I mean the tour, we all went back to the hotel, where we waited in one big room for our rooms to be ready. We also pulled a tick off of one of the other girls, and then played a fun game called "whoops we dropped the tick, now let's hope that it didn't jump on one of us." It was great bonding time. 

A little while later, after being given our rooms and not finding the tick, we headed off to some ruins called Saqsaywaman. It sounds kind of like "sexy woman" when you say it. There are these huge walls of rock with different designs in them, like a cuy (guinea pig), a llama, a puma paw, and more llamas. It was really interesting and fun to explore. 

There's a picture of a llama in the rocks behind me. Do you see it? 

After Saqsaywaman, we went to a really long tunnel and walked through it. It was completely dark and so much fun. Apparently there are tunnels like that one crisscrossing all underneath the ruins. We also went to some slides that had formed out of ancient lava flows, and joined the throngs of tourists waiting to slide where the Incas slid. It was really fun, and if I had been an Inca that's definitely where I would have spent most of my time.  We got back to the hotel late, and fell into bed to try and get about 4 hours of sleep before waking up at 2 am to head to Machu Picchu. 

The next morning, bright and early, (actually, it was so early it wasn't even bright yet, it was dark and early) we took a 2 hour bus ride to the train station for our 2 hour train ride to Aguascalientes, the town under Machu Picchu. After breakfast, we hopped on a bus to go up to Machu Picchu. 

We almost died at least 5 times. I don't understand how two buses of that size fit on the same tiny road. 

Then, all of a sudden, we were at Machu Picchu. 

I understand why the Incas hung out here. The view is pretty great.

It was really incredible to see all of the buildings that were still there after all those years. And the technology was really amazing. We probably couldn't do some of the stuff now that they did then. There was this giant rock carved like a diamond that is a compass. One of the guides put his iPhone, with the compass app, up on it, and it matched up perfectly. Also, the points of the rock match up perfectly with the Southern Cross constellation when it's at it's highest point in the sky. How do you even do that, especially when you're still fighting with sticks and stones? 

After Machu Picchu, we went back to Aguascalientes for a late lunch, and then had some time to shop. I bought presents, a sweet pair of shoes, and had the most incredible massage ever. It was so relaxing and felt great.  That night we got back on the train and ended up back at the hotel the next morning. 

Six hours of sleep later, we headed out for more ruins. We visited this town where we learned how they make all the textiles, with the natural dyes and everything, just like how the Incas did it. Then we went to go see some old Inca terraces, where each one is so tall it's a different climate at each level. 

Aliens had to have helped with that...

After the terraces we went to Ollantaytambo, which are basically some really, really big stairs. It was fun to climb them though, and the view from the top is incredible. It was incredibly windy too. After looking around at some other temples and fountains, we headed to Pisaq for some shopping and then dinner. Before dinner, Zoe Bouras and I stopped at a cake shop and attempted to buy half a cake. We ended up buying the half of a cake, but in 5 different pieces, which we split among us all. It was ridiculously delicious, but it took a ridiculously long time to convince the bakery staff that yes, we did indeed want to buy the entire cake and we weren't just speaking bad Spanish. After dinner and cake we went to a show of native dances. The dances were very cool, and I loved all the different costumes. After that, it was back on the bus, and we drove through the night back to Arequipa. Annalena and I spent a day in Arequipa, and the next morning woke up early to catch the bus back to Tacna. When I got home to Tacna, I went to bed and slept for more than a day. The trip was so much fun, and I learned so much, but it tired me out. For the next one, I'll have to sleep a lot during the days beforehand so I'm prepared. 

After the trip, I've been going to school and just living life. This Sunday is Dia Familiar at my school, and we've been learning a dance that we dance in front of the entire school with all the parents. It's fun, but I'm not very good at dancing Peruvian style yet. The dance teacher and the girls in my class say that I'm doing well for a gringa though, which is slightly reassuring. I'm just thankful that I'm in the back most of the time, and I'm just going to hope I don't make too many mistakes during the performance. Next week I start soccer with one of the local teams, which I'm really excited for. My school goes from 8-5, and then everyone just goes home and waits until it's time for bed. I can't wait to get out and do something new, not to mention be able to play soccer again.

That's pretty much it for me, so I hope you're all having a great day too. I promise I'll try to post more often, and I hope this one wasn't too long.

Chau for now!

Emily