Peru

Hey guys! Finally have some decent wifi & wanted to talk about my past three weeks in Peru. I originally came here with my school just to get 2 Spanish classes out of the way, but being here I have learned so much more outside of the classroom. 

The first couple of days were spent roaming around Lima. We visited a couple museums and catacombs, along with Huana Pucllana, a clay pyramid site. We were there for New Years and spent it at a place called Tequila Rock, supposedly one of the top places to go, but when we got there we were the only people in the whole bar haha The bartenders handed us yellow necklaces & yellow whistles for the night. I learned that on New Years in Peru, people wear different colors to express what they want that year. Red for love, green for wealth, yellow for prosperity, etc. 

The next day we headed for Paracas, where we took a boar tour to see the Islas Balletas. There were giant sea lions lounging on the rocks & penguins above them. We stayed in a super nice hotel with air conditioning (!!!) and learned how to make ceviche. 

Our next stop was in Ica/ Huacachina. We went to El Catador for a wine tasting and tour, then to Huacachina for sandboarding. Sandboarding was amazing! We rode up the mountains on tubulars and sped on the mountains. Then we hopped off, grabbed boards & flew down the hill on our stomachs. It was crazy & the view was even better. The next day we woke up, laid out by the pool for a bit, then headed to Nasca to meet our host families.

My host mom and dad were the CUTEST people you'll ever meet. They have a cute house with a chicken coop in the backyard. The first night was a little rough because the chickens started making noise at 2am & our room was super hot, but we got a fan the next day which solved all of our problems haha our host parents took us to the beach, the pool, and to the first annual special needs school prom. It was so sweet, the pavilion at the school was decorated with lights, an arch, and all of the kids were dressed in beautiful dresses and suits.

While in Nasca, we took classes, went on a few excursions to the aqueducts and Nasca lines, and experienced a level 7.3 earthquake! One morning at around 4:15 we were awoken by some extreme shaking. I was freaking out haha I didn't know what we were supposed to do so I just stayed in bed and prayed that the house wouldn't collapse. It felt like years until the shaking stopped but eventually it did & everyone was fine. Of course Nasca has an earthquake once every like ten years & it happened during the two weeks we were there haha the last one completely damaged the town, but this one wasn't as extreme and didn't do much damage. Aside from the earthquake, the other adventures were fun! The Nasca lines were super cool. They can be seen by airplane, but you can also see the tree & frog from a platform, which is what we did. One of our classes focused on community work and our class divided up into three groups: one group taught English to kids, another helped out at a nursing home, and my group played sports with kids. These kids were adorable... and crazy haha every day they came with more energy than the day before. They asked so many questions and I learned a lot about them too. I was able to practice my Spanish and also help them with their English. As far as the sports go, we played basketball most days and I think they taught me more than I taught them hahaha but we did teach them how to play sharks and minnows.  

10 of us from the group decided to stay a bit longer to see Machu Picchu. We are heading there tomorrow while the rest of the group flys home. I'm very excited to see Machu Picchu and also very excited to head home haha this warm weather and experience has been great, but I miss my new puppy and the snuggle weather!