Peace out Peru

So these past couple weeks, I've basically been counting down the days until I come home. I didn't have any upcoming trips to focus on. I didn't go to the Amazon. All I had was school and my amazing group of girls to keep me busy.

Last weekend I went out to pizza street for the last time  with Yurina. I love going out with her because she is seriously so much fun. We stumbled across a club I'd never seen and we danced the night away. The next day, I went shopping with a very sick Mariah. We went to the inca market in miraflores. It's all culturally unique souvenir kind of things with bright colors and llamas everywhere.

This past week I've been prepping for my finals on Monday and Wednesday. I got to see my grades yesterday and was pretty happy with them. (They're all A’s, Dad.) Then last night we all gathered at our favorite bar, the gringo bar (where else?), to celebrate the end of the semester. We had the whole group there. It was all of us girls, Barbara and Stephen, our professors Roberto and Josue and our program coordinator Monica. Stephen, Barbara, Rob and Monica all gave speeches and we just relaxed and had fun with everyone. I am so glad that we got to do that because it was a great way to bring everything to an end. I'm really going to miss everyone so much. We had the best professors possible. Barbara and Stephen were amazing guides for us throughout everything, they couldn't have done it any better. Our Peruvian professors were amazing as well. It might have taken me until the end of my time here to fully realize that but that's okay. I think I loved last night so much because it made me realize how unbelievably lucky I am to have been able to go on this journey with such amazing people.

However, as I sit here in traffic, listening to constant honking and breathing in fumes, on my way to the airport I can't help but think about the things I'm happy to say farewell to. And first place goes to the traffic. Although, getting honked at and yelled/whistled at every time I walk outside is a close second. My patience for that shit is wearing thin. I want to drink well water and drive my car. I want to make a run to the grocery store and not have to prep for an hour long excursion. Speaking of groceries, I want to buy them. I want to plan a meal, go buy the ingredients and then make my own meal. I miss cooking so much. But what I miss the most, other than Tyler of course, is my independence. I miss the freedom of choosing what I'm going to eat. I miss being able to go wherever I want whenever I want. Not being able to drive really inhibits that because I can't walk everywhere and I don't have the money to pay for a taxi all of the time. But, in other ways I think that I've gained more independence. I navigated through a very large city in a Spanish speaking country, a lot of the time by myself. I learned how to successfully negotiate and barter with taxi drivers and vendors. My confidence has gone up as my willingness to put up with bs has gone down. I'm very excited to return home with these new skills, all of these lessons I've learned and a new perspective on everything. So even though I'm pretty worn out and tired of Peru, I owe it so much for opening my eyes, making me even more grateful for the life I have and helping to shape me into the person I am today.

So thank you, Peru. You were great.

Martinez comes to Peru

So hey, my boyfriend came to Peru! He was here for a total of eleven days and it was very badly needed. I rented an apartment through Airbnb and we stayed in Miraflores the entire time. If you don't know what Miraflores is, it is a neighboring district of Surco, the one I live in and go to school. And it is immensely different from Surco. In Mira there are a lot more young people, there are a lot more tourists so the locals are used to seeing people from other countries like myself. So it was nice staying in miraflores because I didn’t get stared at as much as I do here in Surco.

So while Tyler was here we didn’t get to go on any big trips but we did explore Lima and the area a lot. The first night that Tyler got here we walked down to pizza street and he finally saw the madness that is pizza street. It was actually really funny because he’s not used to people trying to sheepdog you into their restaurants and talking to you and telling you their happy hour deals. So we were walking through the street and he would just stop and talk to anyone and everyone who started talking to him and I couldn’t get him to just ignore them. But it was there that Tyler finally had his first legal drink of alcohol because the legal drinking age in Peru is 18. We also walked by Parque Kennedy and also known as the Cat Park but I could not get Tyler to walk in there. We walked a lot to LarcoMar, the nearby mall, and we went shopping and we went there a lot to go eat because they have a lot of really nice restaurants there. The next night we went out with some friends with Mariah and Claire and we tried to get into this club but it was just too packed so we ended up going right back to pizza street. When we got there we went to a smaller club that they had and then we saw karaoke so of course we had to go in and it was the best decision we made that night. Not saying we made any bad decisions, but Tyler did manage to find out who the big-time cocaine dealer of pizza street is.

That weekend on Saturday we went to Brisas Del Titicaca, which was a cultural Peruvian dance show. They had a bunch of dancers and they all of these numbers in different costumes and they they had different dances for different regions of the country like the jungle, the Andes, the highlands, Cuzco and it was very very interesting and a lot of fun. Then that following week I had classes on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday so on Monday I went to class in the afternoon and he picked me up from school in a taxi  and we went straight to Barranco for supper and drinks.

The next day I had class in the morning and then we decided to head to the center of Lima to look at some of the historical architecture. There we got to see Plaza Mayor and more importantly we took a tour of the monastery of San Francisco and ever since I saw it the first time I had wanted to take Tyler there because I knew that he would love it. We got to go down into the catacombs and around the court yard but I was a little disappointed because they didn’t take us upstairs or to the library or an entirely different section of the monastery and I'm not sure why. But it was still as beautiful as ever and I’m glad that he got to see some of it instead of none of it. Then after that it was time for supper and I had heard about the ruins near Miraflores called Huaca Pucllana and also about their renowned restaurant. We got there early and we waited until the restaurant opened and we sat outside on the patio right next to the ruins. They had them all lit up with a different colored lights and it was was very beautiful. Not only was it a great view but the food was probably the best I've had here and it was one my favorite nights when Tyler was here. That next day we went shopping in the morning and got some ice cream and then I just went to class and we didn't do much that day. It was a nice relaxing day.

The following day was St. Patrick’s Day so we got ready and late morning we went and met my entire class in the center of Lima. At noon they had the changing of the guard and  it was this big production with a band and marching in and out and switching the guards. From there we explored and we went into the cathedral which is just as beautiful as the monastery. Then we walked around and ended up going to Chinatown. So I just had so much fun with that because were walking through all of these people everywhere pushing me and us just because that’s just how they walk there. Then, I got stabbed so that’s cool. Yeah, this lady was walking next to me and she literally stab the back of my calf with her pointy umbrella and then she  just kind of looked at me and laughed. Tyler thought that I was going to punch her because of the look on my face. Now I didn’t see the look on my face but I’d imagine that if anyone got stabbed with umbrella they would have a pretty pretty unique facial expression. She straight up drew blood and I gave a new scar to prove it. But I’m moving on. Then walked around, got some ice cream, went to a market, found puppy Street which is cute but also depressing because a lot of the puppies there were way too young to be away from their mothers, sitting in a box waiting for someone to buy them. Then we went to Hotel Bolivar which is famous for their pisco sours. Then from there we grabbed taxis and set off to our favorite Irish pub because it was St. Patrick’s Day. One notable thing that happened during that cab ride was Tyler managed to find an aux cable and the cab driver let him blare his trap music the entire way there. We got a lot of stares from neighboring drivers but it was so much fun to just drive and listen to really loud music and in addition the cab driver enjoyed it a lot too. So we got to Houlihan’s, we drank, we laughed, we had fun, Shelby broke a glass, then we went to me and Tyler’s apartment to drink a little more and then go out after that. I won’t tell you everything that happened that night because I would end up writing a novel. But some of the highlights are Mariah ate like three slices of cake, took shower, in her clothes, while face timing someone. I guess she also drank all of our water because she has a video of herself just pouring it all over her face… I don’t know what happened with Mariah that night but it was pretty hilarious. My guess is it was the Jäger that Tyler kept giving her. Also Tyler dropped my phone on the glass awning of LarcoMar and ended up lowering Shelby down onto the glass in order to retrieve my phone. So needless to say, Saint patty’s day was fun.

We ended our weekend at el parque de las aqua. It was a park that had multiple water fountains, it up by colors. They had them running all night as well as a light show that ran for about 20 minutes four times a night.we took tons of pictures and it was a really great way to end his trip here. We sat down on a bench and talked and watched the big fountain change from red to purple, all of the colors of the rainbow. We couldn't have chosen a better thing to do that night. Because the next day at 10 am I had to say goodbye again at another airport. It was pretty hard and I may or may not have hyperventilated once I got back to the empty apartment to do checkout. But I never doubted us for a second and I only have two weeks left now so at this point I'm just trying to enjoy as much as I can because it'll be over so soon.

Well anyway, a post of my birthday weekend will come in the next couple of days and then I'll be basically getting ready to come home. So exciting. Okay bye.

Machu Picchu

OK.. I’m just really bad at this. But oh boy do I have a lot to share with everyone. Now, for everyone's sake, I'm going to post these in three different parts so you don't have to read a 6 page post in one sitting. So my first one is about my trip to Machu Picchu. Enjoy 😊

So a couple weeks ago I went to Peru’s most famous tourist attraction. And it’s the most well-known attraction for very good reason. Machu Picchu and the mountains there in general were just amazing and breath taking. In order to get to Machu Picchu, first we flew to Cusco from Lima. Then we took a two hour bus ride followed by a two hour train ride and then we were at the bottom of the mountains that Machu Picchu is nestled into. From there, we took a second bus for only a half an hour and this was maybe my favorite part. I know it sounds crazy how could a bus ride be better than seeing the ruins? Well, first off, I fell in love with mountains during this drive. Now, I've fallen in love with mountains before but this was different. This was the kind of love that I will never forget about. As we were zig zagging upward on a tiny road and I was staring out the window studying the endless green mountains with their peaks engulfed by fluffy white clouds, it all just hit me.

Everything that I have been doing for the past three months. Every place that I have traveled to, all of the beautiful things that I’ve seen, all of the friendships that I’ve found and all of the memories that I have made. I have come such a long way and I couldn’t be more proud of myself and the group of young women that I came here with. A group of people, the majority of whom, I didn’t even know until we started this together. I never thought that I could accomplish and grow this much in this amount of time. Time which has flown by so quickly.

After I thought of all this I had another thought. My mind went to all of the people that will never see this and never experience what I have experienced. That made me kind of sad but also determined because I don't want this to be it. I don't want to go back to Kearney and finish my schooling and then settle down in my career and never travel or do things like this again. I want to bungee jump and para glide and scuba dive and climb every mountain that I can. I want to go to Spain and Ireland, the Czech, Germany and Australia. I want to come back to Peru some day and do the four day hike up to Machu Picchu.

But I also understand that this is huge. This is a huge trip. Four months out of my life and I know that not everyone can do a trip like this whenever they want. I surely won’t be able to spend four months in a foreign country again until I'm retired and by then I won't have the energy to climb mountains. But that’s OK because you don’t need four months to travel and experience things that will change your life and your perspective of life and your way of thinking. And in this jumble of thoughts I became very determined to never settle, never stay sedentary for too long and to always challenge myself and see new things whether I travel across the world, across the country or across the state. This is something that I never want to compromise on because this is who I am now. I’m just a travel hungry twentysomething who wants to go everywhere and see everything. So that’s why I enjoyed the bus ride up to Machu Picchu more than taking a bunch of pictures with some old ruins behind me. Because it’s about your journey, not your destination 😁. OK that was too cheesy and cliché, I’m gonna stop now.

Thanks for reading and for next time, look forward to the adventures of Martinez in Peru. Bye bye!

Photo time!

Here they are! They start in Mancora and end in Paracas. Enjoy!

The whole crew on our first night in Mancora.

February 6th was national pisco sour day.

Ahnika and me.

Pre banana boat

Post banana boat

The beautiful view from our backyard in Órganos.

Shelby and me

A picture with the birthday girl at El Gringo Bar.

The boat ride to Las Islas Ballestas

Una ballesta (arch)
Photo cred: Abby Crouch

Penguins!
Photo cred: Claire Dull

Lobos marinos. Direct translation: sea wolves. Or as we like to call them, sea lions.
Photo cred: Mariah DaMoude

The water was so beautiful and clear.

Amazing pork loin and sweet potatoes. Only cost like 17 bucks.

The terrible gin martinis that Ashley and I basically choked down. Oh and the sunset.

Paddle boarding with Shelby. This basically describes our entire relationship. "Stop following me."

Kayaking with Danielle. She was nicer.

Our amazing swimming pool.

The entire UNK study abroad Peru group including our amazing professors.
(starting left to right)
Front row: Barbara, Yurina, Abby, Ahnika, Shelby, Stephen
Back row: Me, Claire, Marki, Mariah, Danielle, Gabi, Ashley

Two back to back vacations = no motivation

In the past three weeks I have traveled 19 hours north to Mancora and then four hours south to Paracas. We only had three class sessions in between that time so I got really good at being on vacation and finding motivation to study for tests and to do homework has been a little challenging. But first, let me talk about these amazing places I've been to. 

So first off, Mancora. I was there for a total of 9 days and if it hadn’t have been for the sand getting everywhere and how far outside of Mancora our house was, I could've stayed there forever. So, our house wasn't actually in Mancora. We were in a gated neighborhood in a town called Organos which was about 10 kilometers away from Mancora. The house and the neighborhood was beautiful though. It had three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor then the kitchen, living room and a fourth bedroom upstairs. There was a porch along the whole front of the house and two second level decks; one coming from the living room and the other from the upstairs bedroom. But the house wasn't my favorite part. What did it for me was the pool and beach. The sun was so intense that the pool was a perfect place to relax. I would lay out on one of the chairs and read or listen to music until I got too hot and then I would jump into the pool for a little and then go back to my chair. Literally the best system ever. We also had prime access to the ocean. Just a two minute walk to the nicest beach in the area. It was a sandy beach with free shade, no rocks and hardly any people. It was the perfect place to swim in the ocean for the first time.

The town of Mancora was pretty different but equally cool. There were vendors everywhere with jewelry, decorative sculptures, seashell boxes, clothes and little trinkets like key chains. But the majority were the kind of stores where once you've seen one, you've seen them all. The beach was a great place to hang out because there were restaurants, bars and clubs facing the beach. We could either sit inside or sit out on beach chairs under umbrellas. We just had to order a drink to sit under the umbrellas. One day while we were sitting out there, we decided to go tubing on a banana boat. So it went like this: first super excited that we were doing it, then a little uncomfortable because the salt water was just rocketing into my face and the sand and rubber tube combo was just bad, then a little scared because the waves were kind of big and I was about 50% certain that I would fall off very far away from shore, and finally laughing and having fun because I was used to it by then, it was almost over, and everyone else was going through the same disaster as me. We were brought to shore by a huge wave and had a very abrupt and apparently comical stop because everyone else was taking pictures of us and laughing. But the group that went after us didn't even make it past the first wave going out before the tube flipped upside down and dumped everyone on the sand. So it was a struggle for everyone.

At night, the same beach area turned into a huge club. There were about four or five clubs along that strip of beach all competing to have the loudest music. You usually couldn't really tell who was playing what unless you were inside one. None of them had a front door or front wall. It was very open and casual so people could just come and go through different clubs and dance outside on the beach if they wanted. This place was pretty cool but you definitely had to be on your guard. Being a taken lady and all, I just wanted to drink at the bar and … Nope that's about it. Dancing is fun and all but when everyone else pairs up with a guy, dancing by yourself is just awkward. I'm glad that I was not single when I was there because I could've had my shoulder bitten, been—the best way I can describe it is—aggressively danced on, or almost robbed like some of the other girls in my group. But because I had my don't-touch-me-don’t-dance-with-me-don’t-try-anything-with-me guard up, I avoided some rando latching onto me for the whole night. But it kind of comes with the territory when you go to a super touristy place like that.

The only other bad aspect of our trip was the fact that it rained two nights in a row. Because of this the water was cloudy so we couldn't go snorkeling with the turtles and the ground was too muddy to go zip lining. I almost went scuba diving but I'm glad that I didn't because it sounded super sketchy. When the girls who did it came back, I heard about how they had less than five minutes of training. They literally gave them two minutes of instruction right before they dove down, accompanied by an instructor of course, but still. I also heard about how Shelby put her goggles on too tightly and because of the pressure change her eyes started to swell shut. Needless to say, it could've been really, really bad. 

But overall, it was an amazing trip. I got a tan, bought some cool things and had the best churro of my life. Seriously, it was still warm and had this amazing caramel sauce inside. It’s actually depressing to talk about because I know I'll probably never have something that delicious again.

Once we returned to Lima, it was back to normal life, kind of. Like I said, we only had three normal class sessions. For our class with our professors Stephen and Barbara, we went to the US Embassy. It was pretty cool although I wish we could've looked around some more. 

That night we celebrated Shelby’s 22nd birthday in Barranco at our favorite bar El Gringo (of course). 

The next morning we were at the bus station bright and early to go to Paracas. We had the average double decker bus ride with the usual, annoying, shouting child and all. Seriously, is that like a mandatory thing? Every long bus ride in Perú must have at least one loud, small human and one parent who doesn't even attempt to keep their offspring from yelling so loud that the driver downstairs can hear them? 

Oh well, Tte bus ride was worth it though. The resort was so beautiful. The pool was in an oval shape with an island in the middle with pool chairs and bridges connecting from side to side. Drinks were ridiculously overpriced but the food was amazing. My favorite night was Saturday when my roomie Ashley and I sat at the bar with Stephen and Barbara and listened to a Peruvian 3-person band. It was so unique I loved it (I’ll post videos on my Facebook). I also went kayaking and paddle boarding. But my favorite memory from that trip was going to Isla Ballestas. On our way there we saw dolphins swimming next to our boat and the occasional swimming sea lion. But once we got there, I saw an insane amount of birds just chilling on the sides of rocks. We didn't actually get on the island, we just drove around and through it. The island is known for its arches and the sea lions that sit under them. There were so many. We saw hundreds and hundreds of males, females and in the maternity area there were tiny baby sea lions. We also saw a total of three South American penguins just hanging out with the other birds. It was an amazing two hours.

Sunday afternoon it was back to real life as we got back on the bus and returned to Lima. So like I said before, all of that excitement and time off makes it hard to get back into my rhythm of normal Peruvian school life. But it's alright, I could use a weekend of no traveling. AND in two weeks Tyler will be here and can share this amazing country with him. I'm really excited to show him some of the places and things that I've done and seen but to also explore new places with him.

Well, I think that's all for now. As usual, thanks for reading and I'll talk to you again soon! 😘

So, it's been a while. I know, I know, I've been slacking but now that the shock of everything is wearing off, I can actually focus and write about my life here in Peru.

In the past four weeks that I've been here in Lima, I have seen a lot. I've adventured the district of Surco, hiked a mountain to a waterfall (Catarata de Antakallo) and taken a bus tour of the historical section of Lima.

Surco is where my house is and where I spend most of my time. I'm usually either at my house, on campus at UPC (Universidad Peruano de Ciencias Aplicadas), or walking around most likely in a shopping mall. Speaking of shopping, for anyone who knows about my “problem” you will be proud to hear that I've done very well and have only bought like 5 articles of clothing.
Surco is.. Not what I'm used to. I’m a farm girl, and as I first walked out of the airport and had my first look, it hit me that not only would I be adapting to a Spanish speaking country but also to the largest city I've ever been in. Lima has a population of roughly 8.5 million people and for the past two years I've been living in a city of about 32,000. Talk about culture shock. And with the big city, comes the usual big city problems. We'll start with traffic (God help me). It's a nightmare. Even if I could drive here, I wouldn't dream of doing it. So you know the dotted lines in the road that tell us where to drive? In the states we call those lanes and try our best to stay inside of them. Well here in Peru, they’re more like suggestions. My first night here during the ride back from the airport I seriously just accepted my fate and the fact that we were going to get hit. I mean, 80% of the cars that I saw on the road had at least one dent in them. But come to think of it, I haven't seen one accident, not even a close call. Another thing that is common for drivers is to just honk at everything. Back home, when you get honked at, it means that you did something wrong and ticked another driver off. But here, honking is much more casual and friendly. Also, it's not just other drivers that get honked at, which brings me to my next point. Just the fact that I'm American means that I stick out like a sore thumb. I dress differently, I look differently and every time I open my mouth it's painfully obvious that I'm not from around here. Very often will I be walking down the street and I get honked at, whistled at or shouted at. Taxi drivers just assume that I don't know where I'm going and that I probably need a ride. They will pull over on the street, wave at me and ask if I want a taxi. Also, anytime I've worn a nice outfit, a random man will tell me that I’m very pretty as I walk by.  Some may take it as a compliment but it really bothered me at first so I’ve started to walk around with headphones every time I'm alone. I've gotten very good at ignoring people while walking down the street simply for self preservation.

The area itself is really beautiful. There are trees everywhere and the architecture is so unique. I thought I died and went to heaven when I toured the historical section of Lima because I love seeing old buildings like that. The most notable thing we saw was the St. Francis cathedral. First off, the outside is so big and magnificent and then you want in.. I don't even know how to describe it other than amazing. I was in awe for the entire tour. There was a rose garden in the center and a relic room. We went through the catacombs and saw the library with thousands of ancient books. Ahnika and I were the adventurous ones and we wandered off more than one time while our group was resting or waiting to go into a room. Needless to say, I will be going back there before I leave to see even more.

I've also experienced some of the night life here in Peru. Our first weekend we went to the highly praised Pizza Street. It’s nothing I've ever seen. All of the restaurants hosts stand at their own entrance and practically jump on you trying to get you to go inside their restaurant. I'll just say that being sheep-dogged into a restaurant is not how I like to choose where I'm going to eat. But it must work for them because they just keep doing it. As the night went on, we walked by a man offering us free pisco sours if we drank at the club he worked at. We got him to three piscos, went inside and had the drinks out of miniature sized glasses. After we finished the first one, we discovered that they would only give us one free round and that everyone who had one had to pay for a second drink. So I
definitely learned my lesson that nothing on pizza street is really free. Needless to say, I wasn't that impressed and the pizza wasn't even that great. Right across from pizza street is Kennedy Park or as we like to call it, the cat park. (There's at least 50 cats there at all times). But in this park there are a lot of unique vendors that only come out at night and they sell little Peruvian trinkets like bracelets and key chains.

We've also gone to another district called Barranco which is right along the ocean. We walked down to the beach and took off our shoes to stand in the water. While we were standing there, Shelby made a little friend. A girl came up to her and started talking to her and giving her shells and sea weed. When someone else in our group asked for a shell she said she couldn't have one because she was ugly. The little girl then proceeded to point at each of us and say if we were either pretty, ugly, or China (that was for Yurina.) I love that my first memory of going to the ocean involves a little Peruvian girl calling me ugly.

So in general, I'm really enjoying my trip. There are some cons of course like being away from the ones I love. However, Tyler is planning to come visit me in March so that will be a huge help. I'm starting to make a list of all the things I want to show him and the places I want to take him. Lima is my home for the next 3 months and I can't wait to share my home with him. It turns out, I'm not that great with communicating with my parents. I've been scolded a couple times for taking too long to email them back. But, I'm not used to emailing them once or twice a week. I'm used to calling them up and talking for a little while or just texting them. But like everything in my life right now, it's an adjustment.

Well, my next adventure has already begun, on the north west coast of Peru in Mancora. I've been tanning on the beach, reading and swimming for a week now and I will return to Lima tomorrow. So that means that my next post will soon follow and I'll have plenty to share with you!

Thanks for reading!

Yurina and I with our crepes from the mall

The St. Francis cathedral

Abby and I enjoying sangria

 Chocolate volcano cake I shared with my host mom

 

Well, here I am; a week into my four month stay in a foreign country and I think that I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough week. Trying to adjust to a different eating schedule, different mode of transportation, different city, different language and overall a different way of life. Not to mention, being separated from my best friends. These are all barriers and obstacles that I am beginning to overcome in order to enjoy and really make the best of my journey here in Perú. But I'll talk about all of that later, first I want to talk about everything that was going on before I got here.

I'm not sure that I was completely mentally prepared to leave when I did. January 6th kind of snuck up on me. This made a couple things more difficult for me and packing was definitely one of them. I scrambled to get everything together from the several half finished packing lists I'd made on my phone. I've ended up buying a lot of things like toiletries here at the local market Vivanda, when I had plenty of space in my suitcase to just bring what I already had. Also, not being mentally prepared made saying goodbye to people more difficult, particularly my boyfriend Tyler.  (Sidenote: I don't want to be that girl who always talks about her boyfriend, but this guy is also my best friend, other half, and the person that I literally do everything with so he might come up a few times.)  My last remaining days in the states consisted of last minute shopping, packing, seeing as many family and friends that we could and just trying to enjoy the time Tyler and I had left together. Also, to everyone that I didn't say goodbye to, I am truly sorry. That's just something that can happen when you're the world's worst planner. Oh and we're not even going to talk about the nightmare of getting my new debit and credit card to me on time.

Other than packing and saying goodbye, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there... Oh that's right, I almost forgot about the three connecting flights to Lima and the 18 hours of traveling. After crying a little (or a lot) in the airport where Tyler and I said goodbye, my friend Shelby and I proceeded to go through security and to find our departure gate. Once we got there we met up with the majority of our group and embarked on our long journey.

So, like I said earlier, I wasn't fully mentally prepared to come to Lima and flip my whole world upside down. Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I came to Peru and am experiencing an entirely different way of life. But I did pull a 180 and time to adjust has been completely necessary. I started that process of adjustment while sitting in the airport waiting for my second flight. One of my friends Ahnika described it to me very well, "I'm sure that deep down I'm truly excited but right now I'm freaking out." Well, I was right there with her. I was slowly starting to comprehend exactly what I was doing and even began questioning if I was cut out for this.

My biggest concern was the fact that I would be living with strangers, but once I got to Lima and was greeted by them in the airport, I began to feel a little relieved. They are very kind and welcoming people who are truly excited to have me with them. They like to eat healthy and at the end of the day, they all just chill out and watch tv before they go to bed, which is exactly what I like to do. I have a host mother, father and sister. The father and sister are gone most of the time because of their jobs so I spend the majority of my time at home with the mother Patricia. Every morning I eat cream of wheat with fruit at the kitchen table while I visit with her. Every once in a while, like this morning, you can hear little footsteps stomping throughout the house and that means that Patricia's grandson has come to visit. I've only seen him twice for short amounts of time so he's still pretty shy around me.

Now, I already mentioned what I have for breakfast every morning and that never changes, but I've eaten quite a few different things for dinner and supper. Some of my favorites are quinoa and vegetables, tequeños--which I can most closely compar e to mozzarella sticks but can also be filled with shredded chicken-- and lomo saltado.

Even though I've thoroughly enjoyed the food, my stomach seems to have a different opinion. Apparently a complete and sudden change in your diet isn't so great on a sensitive stomach. The culprit could be something else like the questionable fast food burger that I had and will never have again or the fact that while I was swimming in my family's pool, I might have accidentally swallowed a tiny bit of water. Bottom line, I've had to deal with an upset stomach for the past four days, which were also, coincidentally the first four days of classes. Yay. But on the bright side, I seem to be through the worst of it and now I can begin to enjoy my classes and continue to explore the amazing city that I'm currently living in.

So by reflecting back on the feelings I had a week ago, I've realized that I really can do this for the next four months. In this past week I've begun to familiarize myself with the city and start to become comfortable with my new routine. I've realized that getting to this point wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's been just as difficult but in a good way, because anything that is worth it, won't be easy.

And on that note, I think I'll stop there. I have so many more things to talk about like the city of Lima and the different districts, the shopping and the nightlife, but I think I'll save it for another post.
So until then, thank you so much for reading and stay tuned.