3 Weeks in London: Health Determinants

 Individual heath determinants are all around us, in everything we do, every day. Right when we're born we already have things weighing against us--our genes and environment. As we grow up, our behaviors weigh into our health, too. This includes our attitude, beliefs, and actions. Even the kind of job you have as an adult can determine your health. For example, men that are at high positions in a company will have a MUCH healthier and stress-free life than the janitors of the company. Why? Because the less control you have over your own job, the more stressful it is! I like to say that my job is stressful because I work with crazy kids, but in reality, I have a LOT of say with what we can and can't do, and the stress doesn't come from the job, but the kids.

 One day while we were heading to class, the station for the underground train that we usually use was flooded, which meant no trains. Thankfully, we had a transit card that let us ride any transit. This includes the trains as well as the busses. So, instead of freaking out about not being able to take our usual train, we hopped on the next bus that was going the way we needed to go, and that was that! On another occasion, we were all going out of town to Windsor for the whole day, and when we went to the Underground station I realized that I didn't have my transit card on me. Instead of going back to where we were staying, because we were already late, I just went ahead and bought a day use card from the station. Both of these examples could have brought me a lot of stress, but because I didn't grow up having chronic stressors in my life, they were simply just minor hassles that I could easily get over.

 Something I think a lot of us take for grated is how easy it is to get around in our neighborhoods. Now that I've lived in Corvallis for a few years, I know that if I ever needed to get somewhere, I could walk, drive, ride my bike, or take the bus. Unfortunately for a lot of people, that isn't the case. In some neighborhoods it's close to impossible to feel safe, and walking around by yourself isn't something that people think of doing.

In London, they have two things to help with getting around without a car. One of the things they have all over the city is bike racks with bikes that you can rent, right then and there. Not only does this let people travel easier around town if they don't have a car, but it also increases exercise.

The other thing that they have are these notices in crossing areas. Most places in London pedestrians don't have the right-of-way, and driver get very upset if you're in their way. They also drive on the "wrong" side of the street there, and to help pedestrians to remember (and not get hit by a car) the city has pained "Look Right" and "Look Left" all over the streets. Whether they were think of this or not, the city has greatly increased the overall health of the people in their city by posting these reminders. 

 Another thing that's very popular in London is smoking. Of course, everyone knows that smoking is bad, and that tobacco is the leading cause of death worldwide, but did you know that there is a thing called "third hand" smoke? Third hand smoke is when you come in contact with items that have been contaminated by tobacco smoke, so clothes, cars, and furniture that have been around a smoker are now considered things that can also be harmful for you.

There are many other drugs that can be harmful for you and, and the biggest one is alcohol. Everyone has their own blood alcohol content that is considered "safe" for them, meaning that everyone can drink so much and still be under the legal limit. If someone goes over their limit and decides to drive, they are putting many more people than themselves at risk.

Did you know that going to college increases your lifespan? The more education you receive, the higher your chances of living to an old age become. But just because you did four to eight years of secondary schooling, doesn't mean that you will outlive your less educated counterparts. Some people need to take more medicines than others, be in for a condition, or just for pain. It's important to always know how you are supposed to take medicines, so you can protect your body. For example, taking pain killers without eating food can be very harmful to your organs, and can wear them down greatly over time. Also, taking antibiotics too often can also be detrimental to your health. 

Having kids is a big decision to make, and the fact that the women in poor countries seem to have little say in the matter makes it very stressful. Here in the United States, and as well as other wealthy countries, our ability to decide when (and where) we have babies greatly decreases out overall stress, and helps us to determine when the safest time is. Because most women wait until later in life to have kids, their bodies are fully developed and able to carry, and they are also able to make sure that they are financially able to care for their child once it is born.

A personal health detriment that I am very passionate about is nutrition. There are many places around the United Staes where people lack proper nutrition. There are also some cases where people just don't have much food available to them. In either case, the lack of proper nutrition can cause many health disparities. It can stunt growth, impede neurological development, and can cause stress within families. One of the most important things we can do is make sure that me provide food to children. In many places in Oregon and around the country there are reduced and free lunch programs that help to feed our nations youth. Without programs like this, children are less likely to succeed in school, and are more likely to be under chronic stress.

Lastly, LGBT individuals have been climbing a slow uphill battle for basic rights that are already available to most of the population. In many states, the legislation has already been passed to allow people of the LGBT community to get married, and in a few states, transgendered individuals are being allowed to use whichever bathroom they see fit within public settings regardless of where they are in their transition. Something that is important, and obvious for most people, is that people of the LGBT community are people. They are under attack now just like African Americans were back in the times of slavery. When future generations look back at what's going on now, they will look back with the same eyes that we are currently looking at the slavery years with. All people deserve the same rights and respect no matter what.

3 Weeks in London: Global Heath

While in London, we discussed issues that are related to health around the globe. Global Health is a collection of problems that is based largely on ethics and a collected vision of how the world should be.

One of the first things we talked about were the Millennium Development Goals set in place by the United Nations as world-wide goals to be met by the year 2016. We touched on almost every goal while in class while looking at case studies, country-wide problems, and regional beliefs concerning the goals. The goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

1. Achieve universal primary education

1. Promote gender equality and empower women

1. Reduce child mortality

1. Improve maternal health

1. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

1. Ensure environmental sustainability

1. Global partnership for development

When looking at these goals we had to understand that before we even can think about improving the water quality, lowering the infant and maternal mortality rates, or helping educate people from remote areas, we have to think about what they think of us. If someone you didn't know came to your house, started speaking in a language you didn't know, and gave you pills that they wanted you to take for some reason that you didn't know, would you take the pills? The likely answer is no.

What about if your country is suddenly in conflict with another, or disaster struck? Would you want people to come in, patch up the problem and leave? Of course not. The people in a country in conflict or in war could benefit the most from people that would come in and help them be successful by themselves. What every organization that goes to give aid over seas needs to do is create a way to help the local people how to deliver services themselves, so when the aid leaves they aren't left to spiral back to the way things were.

Often you will see people fundraising for certain diseases like HIV/AIDS, Malaria, or Cancer. A mindset that a lot of people have is that it's an "A" or "B" situation, meaning that they can donate to one OR the other. But really if you think about it, you can choose to donate to both. Maybe you have to split what you would normally give to one organization up between two or more, or maybe you can afford to support multiple organizations with the same original pledge amount, either way there is an option "C" when you are wanting to help a cause.

One of the largest world-wide challenges is dealing with access to fresh water. In rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia there is little access to water, and what water there is generally is unclean. The biggest issue with unclean water is when it has been contaminated by human fecal matter. While we said that 68% of the world has access to a sanitation facility, this doesn't mean that it is necessarily a toilet like the ones present in the Western world. In fact, up until a few hundred years ago London didn't even have modern plumbing, and the citizens used the River Thames for everything from their "toilet" to their source of drinking water. Around this time, the preferred method of wiping after using the toilet was by using the neck of a swan!

In many places, when the water is unclean the food is also unclean and often un-edible because of the fecal contamination. Without access to edible food, communities become malnourished, and must rely on foreign aid for food. It is sometimes hard to think about how lucky we are when it comes to food availability. For most people living in the Western world, we can very easily travel a short distance to purchase what ever food we want, be it locally grown produce or food imported from around the world.

By far one of the most important things we talked about it being able to minimize maternal and infant mortality rates. Proper sanitation is a great way to minimize the infection rate of infants and children with low immune systems, but another huge way to reduce this is by delaying the age at which women get pregnant and give birth. According to the World Health Organization, over 16 million women between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth every year. Many of these pregnancies are because the parents of girls in low income countries are in need of money, and one of the easiest ways is to marry them off. A way that the more wealthy countries deal with unwanted pregnancies is the use of birth control. Also, women in wealthy countries generally have more set plans for their lives, and usually having kids is behind many other things.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs364/en/

The last major thing we talked about was the advances of medicine throughout the history of London, and the "factory line" that was the soldiers lives. When wounded in battle, the soldiers were sent back to London by train where they entered a queue where they would either be cast aside to die, or put in another line to be reassessed. This happened quite a few times until either the soldier died, was diagnosed with a mental disorder (now known as PTSD), or was deemed well enough to be sent back to war.

Those who didn't survive were often grouped with many other men and put into unmarked graves. In London, this park is one of the large graves of over 20,000 men who dies during WWI. There were no actual memorials, so the park is what is there to remind everyone of the many casualties.

However, now many of the wealthy countries have universal healthcare so that everyone in their country receives care regardless of their income. In some wealthy countries, there are still private practices, where you have to either pay out of pocket, or but special insurance. In some cases, the private practices struggle to find patients, and on the flip side, many of the public services are often overwhelmed by the number of people they have to serve.

3 Weeks in London: I was a Tourist

With over 8 million residents, 100 theaters, and more than 16 million visitors each year, London has a lot to see and do. During my time here I've done things from seeing Big Ben, to riding the Underground, to going to the local zoo. 

These are just some examples of the tools they used in medicine between the 1600s and the 1800s. The tools on the top are typical instruments that were used for amputation, a normal procedure that was typically done without anesthesia. When surgeons first started using anesthesia, chloroform was used. What is seen in movies where a cloth with chloroform instantly knocks a person out is actually not what really happens. Surgeons would use a small amount on a cloth covering the face, but they had to be careful not to use too much because that would cause the patient to overdose and die.

We visited the Royal College of Physicians, and got to take a tour about alcohol and medicine, as well as a tour about medicine and war. We learned about the advances of medicine throughout the history of London, and the "factory line" that was the soldiers lives. When wounded in battle, the soldiers were sent back to London by train where they entered a queue where they would either be cast aside to die, or put in another line to be reassessed. This happened quite a few times until either the soldier died, was diagnosed with a mental disorder (now known as PTSD), or was deemed well enough to be sent back to war.

While in London we did many of the typical "tourist" stops. We rode in the London Eye, and got to see the great city form high up in the air. Compared to cities like Los Angeles, I was surprised by the lack of smog on the horizon. However, this could have been because of the constant clouds covering the sky. 

On a tour about the history of toilets in London, we were shown the only lamppost in London that is still partially powered by methane gas. Back when plumbing and sewer systems were in their first years, all of the lamps were powered by "poo gas" throughout the city. Pretty gross, huh?

We also got to see the Tower of London, Abbey Road, Baker Street, and go on a river cruise all in the first week! The amount of culture and history in this city is SO vast that it would probably take months to see everything.

The Tower of London is home to the Crown Jewels. To get to see them, you have to go through a security system, and walk what seems to be five minutes into the vault. There's multiple diamonds over 100 karats, as well as many golden table setting, scepters, and the Royal Robes of Victoria the First.

Of the 200 plus museums in London, we made it to about 10 of them. The National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, The Welcome Collection, and many public health related museums, all free. The majority of London's museums are free, which is such an awesome thing because if you're ever bored and looking for something to do, you can easily find something that's free and that you can easily spend hours enjoying. While here, we also went to the Sherlock Holmes museum and the zoo. They both had a cost to enter, but once there, we easily spent hours looking around.

We also got to see A Midsummer Night's Dream and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The theater was amazing, and the fact that we were in such a historical place made standing for three hours bearable. Why were we standing? We were in the "peasants" area of the theater, which is located in front and around the stage. In Shakespeare's time, the peasants would stand in this area while the wealthy got to sit in the boxes and seats in the back and balcony. 

The play itself was a modernized version. The cast was dressed in "normal" clothes to todays standards, and the character of Helena was a Helenus. Having not one, but two gay men in the play really was a shock, but it didn't change the story one bit. The love square between Helenus, Lysander, Hermia, and Demetrius was still as heart wrenching as it was when I saw a more "classical" version.

One of the most interesting things about London is the variety of food that is available. While here, I had anything from the typical Fish and Chips, beautiful Mexican tacos, pizza, and even sushi. There's dozens of cultures, and hundreds of languages around the city, and it's hard to walk more than a block without hearing a language or accent that isn't English.

The "full English breakfast" is certainly a plate full. In the ancient Anglo-Saxon days, the gentry (the class right below the nobles) would honor guests with a full breakfast to show their wealth.

(https://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/full-english-breakfast.html)

On our last day in London, we went to a restaurant near Tower Bridge where we enjoyed classic afternoon tea that consisted of tea, small sandwiches, and various pastries. 

The culture in London is incredibly different than that in Corvallis. There is no sign of the beloved Birkenstocks here unless they're being worn by a tourist. When you think of the "typical" person from the U.K. it's likely that you think of a man in a suit, or a woman in a skirt and nice blouse. This is EXACTLY what you can find in London, and let me tell you, if you don't look like that you can get some pretty weird looks for standing out.

We also took a couple trips outside of London to Windsor and Cambridge. While in Windsor we toured the castle, which is one of the current residents of the Royal Family. We also took a boat ride on the River Thames, and learned about the history of the area. There was also a fudge shop in Windsor called Fudge Kitchen that had some pretty awesome fudge and employees. 

In Cambridge, we went punting. Punting is when you get to sit in a really long, extra wide, canoe-like boat while someone "drives" you around with a long pole. We learned all about the different colleges within the University of Cambridge, and the history of a few of them. In this picture is Kings College Chapel, and one of the many punting boats on the river that day.

Fundraising

As of recent, I've found out that I, along with three other 4-H girls from Polk County are able to travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Poultry Judging contest this November. We have been assigned with the task of fundraising for our trip, so I decided to ask all of my friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, as well as the people who are following my blog-which I'm imagining is very few now that my exchange is over-to help me by donating whatever they can at my indiegogo page here ---> http://igg.me/p/540166/x/4871727 so I will be able to represent Oregon in this national 4-H contest.

I've been working towards being able to go to this competition for quite a few years now, competing at both the Polk County Fair and the Oregon State Fair, and this year we finally have enough qualifying members to go!

A lot of people ask, "What is 4-H?" and "What is this contest, and why is it important to you?" And I'll tell you right here!

4-H is a non-profit youth organization founded under the USDA with the goal of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." There are hundreds of different project areas that youth from 4th to 12th grade can participate id from learning to sew, learning how to raise and show different animals, practicing impromptu and public speaking, and learning proper  safety and technique in shooting sports. The choices are endless, and there is something for everyone. Projects that I focus on are photography, showing both rabbits and guinea pigs, camp counseling and leadership, and poultry judging.

The poultry judging contest gives 4-H members the chance to judge the quality of egg dozens, cracked open eggs, candling the insides of eggs, judging the quality of meat carcasses, as well as live laying hens, and naming the different 'cuts' of meat carcasses according to the USDA standard. This is a very important contest for me because I believe that only the best quality of food should be sold and fed to our nation, especially the youth.

After graduating high school, one goal of mine is to study agricultural science and keep healthy food on the plates of young Americans and reducing the percentage of obese children, and I believe that this will be a wonderful opportunity and learning experience for me.

I would like to thank every and all donors in advance for helping me with this amazing opportunity!

First week of school, done. (finally)

Today marks me being in school exactly one week, and I've got to say it's been interesting so far. I have a couple cool teachers that I know I'm really going to enjoy being in class with this year. And sometimes I wonder if anyone else gets the same thoughts as me in the classes, and the same feeling of awe over certain things that the teachers say.

And of course, there are other teachers who I'm not really sure if being in their class is going to be enjoyable or not, but I guess that's what I get for being an exchange student for a year; playing catch up in classes that I rather wouldn't want to be in with people who I wish I weren't in class with. The biggest challenge for me in these classes will be keeping my comments to myself and remembering that the people in these classes either are taking the class again because they didn't care about it enough the first year, or they're young. Either way, if I'm not careful I could  lose my temper very fast.

As far as things not school related, ballet started up again last week and it's been going very well. The past couple classes have been wonderful and I'm so happy that I'm getting back into shape again.

I hope people are still enjoying reading my blog, and I'll try to update it whenever something interesting happens.

Summer coming to an end

Well with summer coming to an end, I can say that my readjustment to Oregon has been fairly good so far. My summer was filled with volunteering at the 4-H Center in West Salem for a whole six weeks. Weather it was helping with horses or being a camp counselor, it was a very enjoyable summer. Until, of course, I went to school to register for my classes. Right when I walked into my school I could tell that I wasn't going to have a very easy year. Mentally, that is. And with

My adjustment has been what I assume is normal, but I've noticed a few things have changed. One being that the things that I find enjoyable have changed. And probably a very important change that I'm starting to go through is that I've started eating healthier, which so far I am very happy about.

So with my last year of high school starting in less than a week, I really hope that it goes well. Wish me luck!

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.

Coming to an end

I realize that I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd do an update about how it's been here in Peru.

About a month ago, I switched to a new family. They're a nice family, with more money than my first. At the house we are at right now they have two maids working for them that cook and clean. My host mom says that within about a week we'll be moving tot heir new house, which is super far from everything and it a very ritzy area of the city.
It's interesting going from one family to another when the style of living is so different, you really notice it. In my first family my host mom cooked all the time, they ate together whenever they could, and other family was always in the house. Here, we have someone that cooks for us, I usually eat alone or just one other person, and there's a huge ant problem.
I do like my new family, but this style of living isn't one that I think I would want for myself when I'm older. I like being able to do things for myself, like make my bed and wash my clothes. But I guess this is part of what exchange is all about; learning new cultures and how other people live.

Right before the family change, we went on a group trip to the capital of Peru, and other cities near by like Ica and Nazca. Over the course of the week we went sand boarding, toured a Pisco factory, went on a boat ride to see penguins, went on a dune buggy ride, and flew over the Nazca lines.

(the humming bird)

About a week ago I started bar tending classes with another exchange student, and I'm hoping to start some sort of cooking class soon. Because we weren't able to start classes in the university here, we decided to take bar tending classes. So far we've learned to make 11 drinks, the general history of Pisco, different types of glasses, and how to properly make drinks. It's been a great experience so far, and I'm super excited to learn more.

I have only about two months left in Peru, and this year has gone by so fast it's incredible. My plane lands at PDX at 1:50pm on the 15th of June, and I'm starting to be very excited to come back.

Carnival

This weekend we went to the beach. We left Friday afternoon.

That night we were at a birthday party of my parents friends in a town about three hours away from the beach town we go to. I didn't really want to be there, but I had an okay time. It went late and I finally was able to go to the hotel we were staying at at about two in the morning. The room was so hot and stuffy that I hardly got any sleep, not to mention I woke up at 8:30 that morning. We wound up leaving around one or two in the afternoon for the beach.

Saturday night was the 'Fiesta de La Punta del Bombon' and it was a dance that was like the one during New Years. Then on Sunday we were at the beach most of the day. I slept most of the time, but had a good time relaxing and got a little sunburnt.

That night was 'Carnavales' and I'm still not sure what it was all about, but it was fun. People were throwing something that was sort of like flour with food coloring in it, and spraying silly string at each other. I got it pretty bad, getting the flour smeared all over my face, and getting sprayed over and over, but it was very fun. I was glad that it all washed out well.

What is going on?

So it started raining today. And I mean pouring with rain. It started at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it hasn't stopped since. There is water covering the floor, filling up buckets, and I haven't the slightest idea what I should be doing.

The power in my area of the city was out, too. Most of the city, actually. It's really crazy to think that rain could do this much damage to things. But when you come from a place that is built to withstand rain and storms, you sort of pass it off as nothing. I'm starting to kind of freak out about it.


-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Happy holidays!

This holiday season has been a very hard one. And I'm sure I speak for every exchange student when I say that. For a lot, this time of year is when the first family change happens. Which makes it even harder.

When you first think about it, holidays don't seem like that tough of a time. But, we're away from family, friends, and the customs that we're used to. Every country has a different culture, and everyone experiences it different.

Christmas was so different. They celebrate it on the 24th and not the 25th. They stay up all night and at midnight they shoot off fireworks, then eat. The 25th is just like any other day, which is strange.

For New Years I went to the beach with my family. And if that wasn't the best New Years ever, well then I don't know what is.

We got to the beach around 6 at night. It was already dark, so we walked around and saw the fireworks that they had set up in the square.

At 12 that night we shot off fireworks and danced at the house. Then later my cousins and I went to a party. There were so many people. And a live band. All through the night we danced and drank. At times I was tired, but near the end I had energy again.

We were there until 6 in the morning. The band was really good, and the drummer was very cute. To my surprise, they dedicated the last song to me. I don't think anyone else noticed, but it's something that I will never forget.


-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Surprises

Today was an interesting day, to say the least.

First, I went to the Plaza de Armas with Kristen to look for shoes and earrings for my prom that's on Friday. Nothing too special. She also returned a dress that she rented. After no luck we went to Mall Aventura to continue our search. After finding shoes (S/.150) Kristen was taking money out of an ATM. She got her money, but didn't get her card quick enough. The machine sucked it back up and she didn't get it back. After trying to figure out what to do we got some ice cream and went to my house. We ate lunch and then she went home.

Then Michel came a little bit latter. We played Minecraft.

After a few hours, John showed up and we went to the plaza again to meet up with everyone to do a Christmas gift exchange. We shopped around with a S/.5 limit and met back up to exchange what we got. Then we were just walking around when a very obviously whit guy hands us tickets for "Free Pisco Sour" for a restaurant. It was strange when he was talking, because he had very good English.

A bit later he walked after us and asked, "Hey, do you smoke weed?" In a very loud voice. So we said, 'yeah, of course." just for the fun of it. He went on to tell us that he was from Florida and used to be a Marine, and he went to California and handed out bibles. And now he's married to a Peruvian lady that sells cookies in the plaza, while he works at a restaurant, trying to sell white teenagers weed.

Anyways, we happily declined and were on our way. We talked about what his story really was, thinking that he was a cop and did that just to get kids sent to jail. We said that he was a Rotarian, trying to get us sent home, and all sorts of crazy things.

At this point, Tyson wanted to go get his head shaved. We asked around and everyone said that the hair places were probably closed and he should try tomorrow. Instead of listening to them, I offered to do it for him. And surprisingly, he went with it. So Tyson, John, Zoe and I went to my house to get this done.

We gathered razors, water, a towel, and you know, everything we needed to do it. It took us about 2 hours, but we finally got it done. Now, this wasn't a normal shave with a buzz razor in the bathroom. We were using scissors, conditioner, and just a regular razor. We were on my roof, listening to Christmas music. 'Tis the season, right?

After all said and done, today was a good day. Tomorrow I'm going to get my face cleaned for prom. Why I have to do it so much in advance, I don't know. Then I'm probably helping my host mom make cakes, yay!

Random update

Recently, a lot of interesting things have happened. And I'd like to tell short, random stories that aren't related to each other...

First off, I got lost because I took what I thought was the right bus, but it was going the wrong way. I ended up way out of the way, and had no idea where I was. Luckily, there was a shop that a little old lady was working in. I called my mom, explained what happened and asked the lady to tell my mom where I was at. About 30 minutes later my mom and aunt came to get me, and I was very relieved.

Prom is right around the corner, so for the past few weeks I've been looking for a dress and finally found one last weekend. It's pink, long, and sparkly, and I'm probably going to wear it next year too. Now I just need shoes and earrings.

It's starting to be summer here, but the weirdest thing is happening. Instead of getting warm and dry (like it usually is) it's starting to rain, and get colder. Now, if you ask me, that's not summer at all. But I very much like this "rain" that they are having now. All I want to do is just stand out in it, regardless of if I get a cold or not.

With school almost out, I get to think about if I want to go back to La Salle, or try to find a university that I want to go to. Another exchange student is going to go study Portuguese, and I might go with him. Why not learn as much as you can?

My sister and brother are leaving for the US tomorrow, so I guess I'll be an only child again for a while. Not sure if I'll be changing host families or not. I hope not, because I love my family here, and also feel like it would be better if my mom had someone at the house.

The last full day of school was today. It was a sad day for everyone, even me. I love my class at La Salle, and don't want to go back next year because it wouldn't be the same. It really felt like I couldn't have been with a better class. I'm really going to miss them all.

I had a feeling lately that I couldn't quite describe. I tried describing it as "this won't last forever" and "this isn't a dream" to a past exchange student. Luckily, he understood what I was trying to say. We decided that that was the moment that I realized what living in the moment was. When that happened, I was just at home with some other exchange students watching movies. It didn't make too much sense at first, because we weren't doing much. But he said that moments like those are when that happens. "You realize to love the little things just the same as the big" He said.
I love realizing things like that. Although it can be very stressful, it's a great life changing thing that I don't think I would experience if I were anywhere else.



So, there's my update for now. I'll probably do another one around Christmas or New Years. (:

Three Months

I've now been in Peru about three months. The hard part is finally over!

Lately I've been feeling very happy about my situation, and more confident in my Spanish. I've been able to make jokes and actually have full conversations. I'm also starting to make more friends at school, and I love being able to talk with my classmates.

We got a new Communications teacher, who at first didn't know that my Spanish was very basic, so after the first test he gave, which i did my best to guess on the multiple choice questions, but then just decided to doodle because I couldn't answer anything else, he told me that he was going to take my test to the school psychiatrist. I told him that I am an exchange student, and then he understood. Now, I'm able to understand his class, and I'm happy that I understand their version of our English class, because I think it will most help me with my Spanish.

So over all, things have been going great lately!

Spring break

Well, this week is spring break here, and it hasn't been very exciting. Instead of my usual three or four hours spent at home alone, it's turned into most of the day. Yay! But, I have been able to go out a couple times. I went shopping with the other Zoe here, and bough a bunch of clothes. We also went to eat at the restaurant that John threw up at, the food was good, and the view of the plaza was very pretty. Earlier that day I went to the post office to pick up a package from my mom, I was there for about 5 hours. That was loads of fun.
Other than those couple great adventures, I spent most of my time in my room trying to entertain myself because I can't go out alone. So I painted my nails, and did some yoga.
My sister, right after skyping with Vanessa, which she shouldn't have been doing, and right before leaving for a class came in and told me that I've been here for two months, and that I'm not trying to be a part of the family. Now, I will tell you, it's very hard to interact with a family who is rarely home. It's also very hard going from being an only child living with just your mom to having siblings and a family that lives right below you. It's a big change, but I'm starting to get used to it.
I also went to Bolivia to renew my visa. And boy, was that a trip. My host mom told me the day that we were going to leave that we were leaving at 10 that night. So, I packed up my things, and we were off soon after that. We got on a bus and headed to Puno, we arrived there at around 4 the next morning. Then we got on another bus that took us tot he Bolivia-Peru border, we got there a couple hours later. After waiting what seemed like hours, we went to go get my visa renewed, but turns out I threw out the paper I needed to get back into the country. Oops. But, a man that was working there helped us out and managed to get me a new one. So we had to walk around Bolivia for an hour or two.
Being super duper tired all day, I hardly ate anything and wanted just to go home. After we got my visa renewed, we went on a bus back to Puno, at this point I had no idea what time it was. We got to the little house that I'm guessing is my host family's, and all I wanted to do is sleep. My host mom made me eat some food, and I found a scale there. It said I was about 53 kilograms, which is about 116 pounds, so I haven't really gained anything here so far.
After that, I turned on the TV and watched some show on Animal Planet about pandas, and fell asleep for a few hours. We left Puno at around 6 that night to head back home. When we got home it was 2 in the morning on Saturday, but i thought it was Sunday. So I was really bummed that I had only one day to rest before school, until I woke up at about 9 that morning to realize that it was in fact Saturday.
Saturday I hardly did anything, and I sure needed the rest. Now it's Sunday night, and everyone is doing their own thing while I'm just here on the computer. I have school tomorrow, which I'm a little excited about because my spring break wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be.

Lima kids

The last couple days have been very interesting. After we got back from the trip everyone felt sick, myself included. We were told it was from the food. Everyone had something going on.

We went to Tyson's house to exchange pictures from the trip and ate some really gross pizza that made John sick. It could have been because he ate mine.

A couple days later John, Kristen, Zoe and I went to Plaza de Armas. When John and I got there the first thing he did was throw up. On the stairs of a restaurant. The lady by the door said it was going to be five soles to clean the stairs.

Then we walked around the plaza for a while and didn't do much else.

The next day, the exchange kids from Lima showed up, so we went to meet them. It was such a fun night. We met them at the plaza, exchanged stores about walking around and feeling safe, and got serenaded by a mariachi band. Super cool. John and I went back to their hotel with them and them his dad picked us up and took me home.

The same sort of thing happened the next night. At about 4 John and I went to the plaza. I needed to but gifts for people, so we went to do that and then walked to the Lima kids hotel.

That night was a mix of walking around and shopping mostly. After a couple hours we went with them to eat. We talked and tried talking in different accents. At the end of dinner we talked about doing a flash mob at the plaza, and thy didn't work out very well. It just turned into us walking there and standing around.

We saw a couple people sitting on a bench playing music and some of us went over. A few of the m started dancing while the rest of us just laughed. Afterwards, they wanted to take pictures with us.

We joined back up with the rest of the group, who were just taking and standing around. Getting to meet them was so fun. I can't wait to visit them in December!

-abrazos y besos de Peru.

Location:Plaza de Armas

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