Colca Canyon, Puno, Madre de Dios, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu

Day one.
We left Arequipa very early in the morning and started our trip. We spent most of the time on the bus with stops in the way to Colca Canyon. We saw old tombs from pre Inca days with human remains still inside.

We also bought coca leaves. When you have the coca leaves in your mouth it helps with altitude sickness. They also make tea and candy out of coca.

Later we went to a natural hot springs. The water was 39 Celsius. It felt good after walking to the tombs. After that we went to have dinner and watched a show.

By that time everyone was too tired, so everyone wound up just going to bed when we got to the hotel.


Day two.
Again we woke up super early. We ate breakfast and then we drove to Colca canyon which took about an hour and a half. It is beautiful. We were told that it is twice as deep as the grand canyon, although it doesn't look like it. While we were there we saw condors. Condors are huge birds with a wingspan that can be 9 feet across.

Then we went to the little plaza Chivay to buy some movies for the bus ride to Puno. I bought a pair of pants, which are super comfortable. We got on the bus and then watched The Avengers. A little bit later a lot of us had to go to the bathroom. So we stopped at this little restaurant to see if they had one. They did, but it wasn't much of a bathroom. It was a shack made out of rocks with a hole in the middle. It was super hard to go to the bathroom in that. Tyson didn't want to get anything on his pants, so he took them off and had us hold them. That was one of the funniest things. Then about two hours later we arrived in Puno.

We checked into our hotel and then had about an hour before we had to go to dinner. Tyson left his suitcase in our room because he couldn't lock his door, so we took all of his boxers except for one pair. After dinner we just went back to the hotel. We played card games for about an hour then went to sleep.


Day three.
The next morning, we had leftover chicken from dinner and bread. Tyson was the last one up, and the first thing he asked was where we but his boxers. We split them up between a few of us so we each had one pair.

After breakfast we went to Lake Titicaca to see the floating villages.

It was super cool seeing them. Then we went to go to a fish hatchery place to see the types of fish that live in the lake, because the lake was murky. That was pretty boring. But then we went to a fertility temple, and there were penises everywhere.

I even bought a keychain.

After that we went to a place where there were both pre Inca and Inca ruins at the same place.

The Inca ruins were very exact and precise in their design, where the pre Incan's looked more sloppily put together. At the end we had time to just sit and think as the sun was starting to set.

Then we went to dinner. We had pizza in a place that had a very romantic atmosphere. There were even candles on the table. After dinner we went to buy gatorade and snacks. And I bought Dark Shadows. Some locals said that we were "Gringos with black asses." In Spanish though.

We then got on the bus to start our night drive. We watched American Pie and Dark Shadows. At about 1 in the morning they stopped the bus and just about everyone woke up. At that point we were driving in the mountains and were in a cloud. I stuck my hand out to find that it was misting. That made Emily and I very happy.

During the night we ran into a lot of construction. Which meant going on detours off of the already scary road. And at one point we ran into a very large puddle going over the whole road. That was pretty scary.


Day four.
I slept on and off for about 5 hours, trying to find a comfortable way to sleep in a bus seat. Nothing worked very well. I decided to officially wake up when I saw that it was starting to get light. At some point in the night what I'm guessing was a bug landed in my chest, so I picked it up to throw it on the floor, and it kind of bit my finger. That was interesting.

When we got to the next town we got breakfast. No one wanted to eat. Then it rained again, and Emily and I went to stand in it. after that we got on a boat and went to out lodge that was about an hour away.

When we got there, there was three monkeys and two birds. Then we sat around for about an hour and went by boat to a beach. It was really hot, but the water was super nice. The after we got back we ate fried monkey for lunch.

A little while later we went to Monkey island and we didn't see any monkeys. All we saw was butterflies. When the boat came back for us (and it was dark by now) we drove around to look for cayman. We saw a few, and also an ocelot. we went back and ate dinner, then went to bed.


Day five.
We woke up very early (4am, no big deal) and took a walk to a platform to see the canopy that was 40 meters up. I saw a really cool bird, because I was the first one to cross the bridge.

Once we got back, we ate breakfast at 8. It wasn't good. At all. After most of us were done eating, we noticed that there was smoke coming from the lodge. A few of us just thought it was steam from the shower, until we realized the water was cold. Then a girl who went to shower came back and said that one of the rooms was on fire. It was Riana, Zoe (not me, there's another Zoe in our district) and Clarisse's room. Everyone in the dining hall ran out to see what was going on.

The workers took a fire extinguisher to put it out. Riana's suitcase got pretty badly burnt, and Zoe's backpack as well. I took pictures so we could see what was lost. Luckily none of their important papers got lost.

After the fire, everyone recuperated packed up their things. We then walked about 3 kilometers and got on a boat. We paddled around to look for animals, and were out for about 5 hours. The guid of our boat made Tyson help paddle the boat, but he wasn't very good. So Kristen did it instead.

We went to another platform to see the river. When we got to the top we ate lunch. Then we saw some otters across the river. The guide found a fruit that the locals use for was paint, and gave us some marks on our arms. After that we got back on the boat to go. We saw four types of monkeys in the trees, as well as prehistoric birds.

Tyson and Kristen were paddling while the guide ate his lunch. And of course, the wind picked up right when we were in the of the lake, and we started going the wrong way. They tried for a while to turn us around, but it didn't work very well. So after out guide finished his lunch, he took over for Kristen and we started our slow journey back.

We walked back to the lodge, and then left. We got back to the town and ate dinner. I had anticuchos. Then, I got some ice cream that was really good. We got back on the bus, and started our drive to Cusco.


Day seven.
When we got there, we ate bread and jelly for breakfast and put all of our bags in one room and went to take a short tour of the city's museums. Since none of us had much sleep the night before, I don't think anything was really gained from the tour. Then we ate lunch.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to wait for our rooms. All of our things were in a big room, where we went to wait. While there we took turns taking showers. The showers were hot, and felt really good. Riana got out of the shower and said that "we have a job to do." She had a tick. So we got tweezers and alcohol, and took the tick off. Right as we were about to put it in a bottle, it fell on the ground. We all took our bags and put the on the beds to keep them a little safer, and checked each other for ticks. With luck, we didn't find any.

A little later we were given our rooms, and then we had to leave again. We went to Saqsaywaman, which sounds very close to "sexy woman" when spoken. There, there were more ruins. The walls were made out of limestone with a zigzag pattern. We walked around and saw shapes made out of the rocks like a puma paw a Cuy and a llama.

Then we went to walk through a very small, completely dark cave tunnel. it was actually fun. After that we went to a naturally created slide. I got my pants wet. That wasn't so fun. Then we went through the tunnel again, and went to eat dinner.

After that we went to buy drinks ad snacks for the bus and the next day. Riana went to go buy some clothes, and we all helped her pick things out. Once we got back to the hotel it was getting late. Kristen and I went up to Tyson's room, because the other girl that we were rooming with was having bowel problems. Turns out, she was in the bathroom for about an hour.

Once we decided that we were too tired to stay up anymore we went back to our room so we could get as close to four hours of sleep as possible. Waking up at two in the morning was not something I was looking forward to.

Day eight.
The day started with waking up at two. Not something I was happy about at all. I got dressed and got ready for the super log day to come. We ate breakfast, bread and jam, and got on the bus.

The bus tide took about two hours, and everyone seemed to get sleep, except for me. At one point, we picked up a cop. I'm not sure why, but it was pretty strange.

Then we got to the train station. We walked to go catch the train, which was very nice. I think I manages to sleep for a couple of much needed hours. We got to "Aguascalientes" which translates to "Hot Waters" and ate an actual breakfast that was more like an early lunch.

Then we took a bus to the ruins of Machu Picchu. We walked around for a few hours, learning the history. I didn't understand a lot, but what I did understand was interesting. Serif something so beautiful made by people so long ago is just amazing. There was a lot of different types of architecture that was very interesting.

After we were done walking around there, we took a bus back to Aguascalientes to get lunch. We ate at the same place that we had breakfast at. So, nothing special.

When we were done with lunch, we had until 6 to walk around and shop. There were a lot, it was like a farmers market, but just with clothes and material things. I got a sling bag, a pin with an Incan and a llama, and a sticker for my lap top. I also got a massage for a little less than 10 US dollars.

At dinner, we ate at the same place again. And after we headed to catch the train back to Cusco. When we got on the train, there were three guys that kept trying to talk to Riana and I. We found out from one of them thy they are from Isriel and are taking a trip all around South America. I started thinking how it was sort of like the movie Taken. Except there is more than just two of us, and we aren't traveling alone. But it was still pretty creepy. Our chaperone told us not to talk to them.

I fell asleep after that with my head on the table and slept for the whole train ride. We got off the train and headed to the bus for another night drive to Cusco.

Day nine.
After having to wake up at seven, we went to a place where women make textiles all by hand. We watched how they die the wool and how they make table runners. All of the money that they get helps to send their kids to school.

After that we went to a very old church that has about 50 weddings a year. Down the hill there were terraces that each had their own type of potato growing. When we left, we went to the Sacred Valley and ate a huge circle of bread. When we got on the bus again "Hey Jude" played on repeat about four times.

Then we went to a place where there were terraces in the shapes of perfect circles. They said that each terrace was thought to be a different climate from one another. Once we were done there, we went to a buffet where little kids that we saw in Aguascalientes wanted to take pictures of us, again.

When we left we went to Ollantaytambo, which looked like a bunch of big stairs. And, it pretty much was a bunch of stairs. At the bottom there was a 'fountain' which is called 'The Bath of the Princess.' Our guide showed us that if you ran your finger through the water stream that it slows the water, and if you push water out it starts going faster. At the top of the terraces was the 'temple of the sun' is the sacred district.

We then went to the Pisaq market. We finally found cheap alpaca string for bracelets. When we got on the bus again, our chaperon was teaching us a tongue twister in Spanish. It is 'Que rico la naranja roja' which is very hard to say. So most of us just kept trying to say 'naranja' over and over.

Then we went to go to a Jesus statue that must have been 30 feet tall, which was pretty cool. We took some pictures and then left to go see a typical Peruvian dance show. there were eight different dances. My favorite ones were 'Malena' and 'Aclamare.'

Then we went to the marketplace next door while we waited for our bus to come. Once it did we went to dinner. A couple people went to go buy cake first, and shared it. They bought 5 pieces. After dinner we went back to the hotel to get our bags, then headed on home.

During the bus ride, I decided to try sleeping on the floor. It was the best idea. We got back to Arequipa at 8:30 in the morning, and I was sure ready to sleep!



-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Location:Peru

One month (well, close enough)

So, it's already been a month, and I feel so at home here. I've decided to make a "list" of things that I've noticed are very different than my average life in the USA.

1. Pedestrians never have the right-of-way. Ever. When walking the streets, people can't just walk into the road and assume that cars will stop. They generally don't.
2. There are a lot of stray dogs here. Which makes me sad. Quite a few of them are very cute.
3. The English that they learn hear is very different than the English that we grew up with as kids. Instead of our 'American English' it's more formal. And our never realize how hard it is to learn your native language until you have to learn it in class.
4. More on streets. There are a lot of taxis and busses that seem to rule the roads. The taxi drivers are very impatient with traffic and overuse their horns. Combis are small busses that are very cheep. They stop wherever they are flagged down, and they cram as many people on them as possible.
5. They always wear some sort of shoes in their house. The freedom of walking around barefoot isn't something they enjoy.
6. It isn't common for girls to wear shorts. Even if it's warm.
7. A lot of the girls don't shave their legs. Maybe because it's 'winter' here and it's cold to them. Tank tops are generally overruled as well, unless they are going out on the weekend.
8. At my house we get fresh bread every day. It's super good.
9. They don't refrigerate their eggs or milk. The eggs taste like fish. The milk I have yet to try by itself.
10. In school, when someone is accepted into a university, it is a tradition for classmates to cut some of their hair off. Because they will get their hair cut before starting at university.
11. They sell what would be common things like toothpaste and shampoo behind counters like they were drugs.
12. Most malls also have a grocery store hooked on, a very smart idea I think.
13. Pandora doesn't work here.
14. They use military time.
15. There is a type of fast food that is shredded chicken, french fries, and hot dogs. Which is one of the best things I've eaten here so far. As well as cow heart.
16. They treat Aeropostale as if it were Holister or Abercrombie and Fitch.
17. Inca Kola is only .57 cents.
18. Everyone wants to know if I have a boyfriend, and what kin of music I listen to. I've decided to make it easy for everyone, I say yes, and that I listen to classical music. So far it's doing a good job.

As of tomorrow I am heading off to Colca Canyon, Puno, Cusco, and Madre de Dios for 9 days with the other exchange students. I am very excited, and hopefully will be uploading a lot of pictures from that trip.


-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Questions at Primary school

I started helping with English classes this week, and boy is it fun. Every day I have a different schedule with different classes. So likewise, I get asked a lot of the same questions by so many kids. Most of the time it's "How old are you?" "Where are you from?" "Do you play sports?" It get tiring.

Another thing that comes with little kids is doing ridiculous things. Among others some things I've had to do is sing the Hokey Pokey, listen to Little Red Riding hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Jack and the Bean Stalk about a dozen times, listen to them sing along to ridiculous songs about food and family, asking a whole class of students questions one student at a time. 5 questions, 20 something kids, very boring.

Today I have a super full schedule.
Hour 1: The first class I was in recited a poem about recycling. This is the pronunciation version of it.



Hour 2: The second class wasn't as interesting. I scored homework and then they sang a Michael Jackson song. That's about it. But during the break, a little girl sang for me. It was super cute.

Hour 3: The kids recited a poem about recycling. A different one than the other. It's funny. They also sand the alphabet. It was a little disturbing because 'z' they said as 'zet' a very abrupt end.

Hour 4: A large wave of questions. The most common ones, " Do you have a boyfriend?" and "Do you have a Facebook?"

After, there was a hole in my schedule, so I went to watch an English contest. The little girl was there singing again.

Hour 5: English class with kids about the age of Freshmen. They were learning about comparative and superlative adjectives. Nope, I didn't know what they were, well most of them. When the teacher asked me to write words on the board, I didn't know some of them. It goes to show that when you grow up using a language, you never really think about the rules.

Secondary break: I got to see my classmates during our half hour break. During this, we were showing different ways to tie shoes.


It ended with her shoe laces being tied into a knot.

Ballet class: The girls today had a 'test' over what they've learned so far in the last week. Surprisingly not, only a couple of them did a good job. But unlike any other day, they were relatively quiet.

And there you go. A 'typical' day at La Salle.

-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Birthday

My cousin had his birthday last night. It consisted of poprocks with a lollipop, Inca Cola, and Peru Monopoly, which I'm pretty sure I lost.





-abrazos y besos de Peru.