Year in Review

As one of my last posts for this year, I thought it would be a cool idea to recap over the whole year. I've learned so much this past year, and it's just incredible. Starting of course, with Spanish.


When I first got here, my Spanish was very basic. I was lucky to have taken a Spanish class in school, and I learned things to help me get by at first. Month by month, I learned new words, phrases, and typical ways of saying certain things like a Peruvian.


Learning a new language is an interesting experience, because everyone learns differently. For me, I would notice that i was hearing a word more often than I usually did. So when I noticed that, I'd either ask someone what it meant, or I would look it up by myself. And once I knew the meaning, I would add it to my vocabulary. I wouldn't have thought in my first few months that my Spanish would be at the level it is now. I'm able to have conversations with anyone, and I even get complemented on my Spanish from time to time.


Being able to understand Spanish so well, I really enjoy talking to people, and learning about their lives. Some of the most interesting things that I've learned have been from people I've met this year. Things that I wouldn't have learned if I were still at home. One thing that I think will stay with me forever was when I had a talk with my current host mom over breakfast about relationships. She told me all about how relationships shouldn't be just about sexual desire, and that you should really and truly love them. She told me that getting married is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make in your life, and after you do get married it's a lifetime commitment, and shouldn't just be thrown away. Divorce isn't very common in Peru, because of the mindset that they have about marriage, and I really wished that more people had that view on relationships.


Another interesting talk that I had was after my dad was dropped off at the airport. The family that I'm with now has a driver that takes them around when they need him to. So the night that my dad went to the airport, the driver took us there, and then took me back to my house after. On the drive from the airport back to my house, he told me about how bad the police are in Peru, and how they're corrupt. He explained that there are police that do their job of protecting the people, but there's also the ones who abuse their job and steal from people. People hear more about the latter type of police, and with that, they don't trust them.


On a different note, I want to say just how amazingly happy I am to have met all of the amazing other exchange students and people from around the globe that I got the chance to meet. Each and every one of them taught me something either about myself, or about the culture of other countries.

I hope you all have enjoyed my blogging throughout the year, and would enjoy hearing my story as a rebound when I return.
Thank you all for your support!

Puno and Cusco round two

So this past week my dad came to visit. We took a trip to Puno and Cusco. The first day, we took a bus to Puno and got there in the afternoon. I had terrible altitude sickness all day and didn't want to do anything.

The next day, we took a tour of Lake Titicaca for most of the day, and thankfully I was feeling much better. We visited the floating islands of the Uros and the Island of Tequili.
After visiting the islands we spent a little time in the main part of the city and then went back to our hotel.

The next morning we took a bus to Cusco and got there around three in the afternoon. When we arrived at the terminal an hour late, there was a stopped bus in front of ours and our driver decided to pass it. In the process, an electrical wire got caught on the air vent on the top if the bus and ripped it off. Luckily no one was hurt.

Since we arrived late, we missed the start of our tour. We manages to get to three of the four places. After, we went to see a performance of national dances, got pizza for dinner, and went to our hotel for the night.

We woke up the next morning with another full day ahead of us filled with more ancient ruins. We went to see Pisac, the agricultural center of the ancient Inca empire, and Ollantaytambo with the sun temple. Then in the afternoon we took a train to 'Aguas Calientes' which is a little town near Machu Picchu.

The last day was to see Machu Picchu. We got up around six to catch our bus up to the mountain. When we first got up there, it was all fogged over and you couldn't see anything. After our tour, about mid day, the clouds burned off and the view was wonderful. After we were done we went back down to the town to eat lunch and look around a bit until catching our train back to Ollantaytambo at around three, getting back to Cusco, and catching a bus back to Arequipa that night.

I was so happy to show my dad around my wonderful country, and am getting excited to share all of my experiences with people when I return home in a month.

We met a lot of world travelers, a lot from Canada and other states, and even a few people from Oregon.


-abrazos y besos de Peru.