Only 63 days remaining. Somebody, HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON!

Why Hello again! Seems like it was just yesterday I was posting on here. I can't believe it has already been 2 weeks. Unfortunately, my post will not be as interesting as the last because I do not have sloths or the jungle to talk about, but I have done some other pretty neat things :)

Vamos a la PLAYA!!!

Last week my Mom told me that a friend of her's invited her to go to the beach for the weekend, and asked if I wanted to go along. Of course, I was not going to pass down that opportunity! My mom left on Wednesday, and my Dad and I hitched a ride on Friday with my brother Jaimie and his girlfriend Nicole. Since I've been here I have hardly seen my brother because he works during the week, and then heads straight to the beach on Friday for the weekend (which who could blame him). Nicole's parents have a beach house, so him and his friends go there, and her beach house happened to be where Giselle (my mom) was staying, which is why we hitched a ride with Jaime. The beach we went to was in the North, and was absolutely gorgeous! Apparently everyone here in Lima during the summer either goes to the North or South to go to the beach. Where we stayed was pretty interesting! It was a club solely for Navy or previous members of the Navy. Viviana's (Giselle's friend) boyfriend(Blancho) was a member of the Navy, so he was able to fill me in on some pretty neat stuff. Their bungalow (club house) was so cute and little, and sat perfectly in front of the beach! It was also pretty impressive how many people we were able to cram into the little house. There was me, my dad, my mom, Viviana, Blancho, his daughter and son, and his daughters two friends. So yeah, I think it's safe to say that fitting 9 people in a 3 roomed bungalow is pretty impressive. Luckily, I'm not too picky, and just need a place to rest my head ;) Heck, I could have slept on the beach if they would've let me! We stayed Friday through Sunday and pretty much relaxed the whole time, which was fine by me! I was able to get my February tan on and swim in the Pacific Ocean, what more do I need!? Oh yeah, I also was able to receive my first ever massage, which was fabulous! You know how in the states they use those CD's with music of waves that are supposed to calm and relax you, well lucky for me, that was not needed considering the ocean was a mere, few steps away. :D hehe Alright, I'll quit bragging for now, but my gosh was it beautiful and surreal! Anywho, our short weekend came to an end and we had to sadly return back to our house. I was so thankful for being able to go. Blancho and Viviana were a hoot, and such great hosts! I was never hungry or thirsty the whole time there because they were constantly passing me food and drinks, which is all this girl needs to be content. :)

 My wonderful Parents and I :) 

 Aren't they the cutest? :)

 The view of the ocean/poolside from their bungalow 

My mom, Viviana and I after our morning stroll on the beach :)

PARQUE DE LAS AGUAS!

Now, ever since we arrived here we have been told time and time again we need to go to the park with the lights. So, Tuesday evening after our Midterm Exam(ugh), we decided park with the lights it is! Now, "park with the lights", or even "park of the water" does not even come close to justifying the beauty that we saw! Oh my gosh was this place incredible! There were about 4 or 5 attractions of light shows going on at once, so at first Missy, Marina, Jorge, Finn, Adam and I didn't even know what to do with our eyes. I was absolutely amazed by the crazy colors and formations of light these fountains were spewing out. I'm going to let your eyes do the rest of the explaining because it's pretty indescribable! 

National VINO day!!! 

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I love my wine. Lucky for me, Finn was resourceful enough to inform us that it was National Wine Drinking Day! So naturally, we all decided to drink some wine after Parque de las Aguas. Which was a blast! We all sat up on my rooftop and played some card games and chitchatted our brains away. I think that we are getting accustomed to the Peruvian lifestyle because we all chit chatted until about 3 in the morning. 

It's still crazy for me to fathom that all of us have only known each other for a little over a month. We've created so many memories and have all developed some great friendships! Our group has to be the best Peru has seen, or maybe I'm just being biased :)

Last but not least..BURRITO BAR & DISCOTECA! 

On Friday night we were all bound and determined to find this so called "Burrito Bar" that a few other members in the group had been bragging about. So, Finn, Jorge, Amber and I caught a taxi and set off for Baronco, where the Burrito Bar supposedly was. Our taxi driver had never heard of it before, but was sure that he could find it once we got there. It took about 15 min to get to Baronco, (15 minutes too long...like I've said driving here is LOCO) but unfortunately our taxi driver couldn't find the exact place, so we decided to say screw it and walk the rest of the way because we knew we were at least in the general area( smart I know). After about 10 minutes of walking around like our true touristic selves, we FINALLY FOUND IT! And boy was it worth it! Qdoba and Chipotle has nothing on the Burrito Bar! After we smashed our faces and down two delicious margaritas, we decided we wanted to go to the DISCOTECA! We all went back to my house and pre gamed for about an hour and then headed to Mira Flores to meet one of the few Peruvians we know outside of our families, Marco. He was able to get us in for free and we danced the night away! Now, I love my Karaoke nights in Kearney, but nothing compares to the discotecas here. The music is perfect music to dance to and it helps that the majority of guys know how to dance! The rest of my weekend was consumed of homework, homework, and more homework! We have a pretty full week ahead of us, so I'm going to mentally prepare myself tonight by watching countless hours of Netflix and hoping tomorrow doesn't come as fast as I know it will :)

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed! You will probably hear from me again sometime next week because we have our last group trip. We are going to Baracas and staying at a resort, so I'm sure I will have some interesting stories to tell. Take care, Chou!! 

An Amazonian Queen of the Jungle in the making!

One of the 7 Wonders of the World!

So, this past week I was able to experience two completley different parts of Peru. First, I lived vicariously as an Amazonian Queen of the Jungle in Iquitos, and next I lived vicariously as an Andean Princess hiking up the mystical Incan Ruins of Machu Picchu in Cusco hehehe. AHH! What I would do to be back in both of those places. First, let me sum up my adventurous trip to the MIGHTY JUNGLE! 

Now, when I say I was in the Jungle, I was really in the Jungle people! This was not like your typical camping trip in Nebraska. There were tarantulas, and poisonous frogs and deadly insects. OH MY!   Upon arrival, were were immediately picked up by our terrific tour guide, Neil. Who, later on fell in love with me and my amazonian ways, but don't worry I left our love behind in the Jungle ;) Anywho, we instantly hopped on a bus and zoomed through the town of Iquitos to do some short but sweet sight seeing. We visited a local market, similar to a farmers market, and took a peek at some of the typical products Iquitosieans buy for food. Now, I've been to a farmers market before, but I did not eat a COOKED WORM like I did at this market. Yes, you heard me, a cooked worm! Okay, maybe I ate two by choice, but that was only to help my girl Missy out because she could not hang like me and eat her worm. It's just extra protein right? I could go into detail of how it tasted, but I will refrain for those of you with weaker stomachs :) After the market we hopped back on the bus and headed to our boat which took us to the AMAZON! The boat ride was a little over an hour long and when we arrived we were greeted by the kind staff of Heliconia Amazon River Lodge, which is where we stayed. They greeted us with a delicious freshly squeezed coconut drink.  After, we briefly unpacked and had our first meal. (The meals we had were beautiful! Everything was made fresh right from the Amazon and absolutely perfect!) After lunch, Neil came to tell us about our first excursion into the mighty, mighty jungle! We were going to have some time to rest, and then head out on a boat to do some PIRANHA FISHING! Sadly, I did not catch a Piranha, but I did make a valiant effort with my wooden stick of a fishing pole that Neil had so kindly prepared for me. Neil then spotted some botos, pink river dolphins, and we all watched in awe as Neil did some dolphin calls to get them to come above water. It was incredible! Definitely beats my Sea World sighting of dolphins. We then returned back to the lodge and ate another fabulous meal, which afterward, Neil let us know that we were going to all wake up at good ol' 5 AM the next morning and do some bird watching. 

Bird watching...... at 5 am......Ya..........Right on that Neil! 

It was actually quite amazing. I got to watch the sunrise in the Amazon, what more could you ask for!? Next, was our hike into ZEE JUNGLE! I had three main feelings during this adventure. 1.) My confident amazonian feelings of, LETS DO THIS! 2.) My okay maybe I'm not so cut out for the jungle and 3.) My HOLY SHIT this is real life right now feeling. I'm not for sure if there is an exact word for all three of those feelings because I've come to the conclusion it is indescribable until you feel and experience the jungle for yourself. Everywhere you look there is something new, something new, different and amazing for your six senses to clench onto.  

 This is Neil, our tour guide, who had a slight crush on me. hehe The others noticed first, but it didn't dawn on me until he invited me to look at the stars with him one night. Tarzan just wanted himself a Jane, and clearly I was the best fit out of the group ;) However, our love will remain in the jungle. 

Basically, the rest of the trip was consumed with more sight seeing adventures like this, and our last stop was by far my favorite, The Village of The Yaguans. I could go on for hours about the feelings that encompassed my heart while visiting this village, but instead I'll sum it up in a few short sentences. Upon arrival we were immediately greeted by a few children whom were gleaming with joy to show us their pets. A sloth, monkey, turtle and parakeet. As we were walking through their village, we were greeted by such kind, free spirited souls. One lady even invited us into her home so Neil could explain to us a little bit more about the village. Their day to day activities typically consist of hunting, fishing, and cooking what they have gathered. There are no tvs, no i pads, no iphones, no xboxes, no computers, not even electricity or running water. Just themselves, a few clothing items, hammocks to sleep on, friends, family, and the few necessities they need to survive. The Yaguan children are luckily able to attend school because the government provides funds for them to. However, the likelihood of them moving out of their village and furthering their education is pretty low. The current issue their facing at the moment is whether or not the government should provide them with generators so they can have electricity. Something we as Americans see as a necessity, but to them it's a privilege.  We closed up our time there by hearing a spiritual song by some of the tribal members. We were even able to dance with them and purchase some souvenirs that they had hand crafted! On our way back to our lodge I remembered, it's the simple things in life that matter, like the love we have for one another. Life should not be measured by the things we possess, but should instead be measured by the love and compassion we have and show for the ones we love and care about. Luckily, I was reminded of this that day because of the members within the Yagua village. 

My time in Iquitos may have been only for a few days, but what I felt, saw, and learned will carry with me forever!

NEXT STOP....CUSCO!!!

Whew, one trip down, now one more to go! We all left for the airport bright and early at 6 am and arrived at our hotel in Cusco a little after noon. We were greeted with a coco plant tea, which was to help us with the change in altitude. After, a group of us went to venture off to eat some lunch. Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit under the weather from my previous travels (only 4 of us went to the Amazon and everyone went to Cusco), so I decided to take a nap back in my room while everyone did some sight seeing. The next day we had to be up at 3 A.M. to head to Machu Picchu. After a few bus rides and a train we FINALLY MADE IT! I don't know how we lucked out how we did, but somehow we were able to experience Machu Picchu with no rain and hardly any clouds. Now, this is pretty impressive since it is their rainy season right now. Anyway, thanks to our tour guide, we were able to sight see, and hear historical information about Machu Picchu as well. It still blows my mind how intricately designed the ruins are, and everything the Icans did to build such a mysterious masterpiece. Now I know why it is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world, and why people travel from near and far to see it. I was able to capture some amazing photos, and even now when I look back at them I still can't believe I was there. It's incomparable to anything I have ever seen before! 

The next day we were able to go to the Sacred Valley, which was another incredible sight to see, and steps to climb hehe. We also visited several shops and I was able to improve my bardering skills..woot! The last stop of the day was by far one of the most fascinating things I have ever witnessed! We went to a market that had scarfs, sweaters, blankets, and table cloths, which were all hand made with pure Alpaca fur. We were able to watch these young women and their process of making the Alpaca cloths. The vibrant colors come from herbs and berries. It was so cool seeing how a simple herb can transform white Alpaca fur into turquoise, purple, blue, magenta, ect. It was pretty amazing! These processes aren't simple either. Depending on the type of Alpaca fur, it could take up to several weeks, months, and even close to a year to complete a blanket, sweater, or table cloth. Pretty crazy huh? After they demonstrated their amazing skills, we all shopped around and then headed back to the hotel. 

It was weird for me to think in my head: "Ah, I love everything I've experienced thus far, but I'm ready to be back home and rest." Home: as in Lima not as in Kearney. Oh yeah, did I also mention it's been a little over a month since I've been here. Could someone please press the pause button because my time here is moving way too fast for my liking! Luckily, we have one more group trip planned, and I have plenty of homework that I'm sure will make the time drag on more slowly. :) Well friends, this is it for now! Tomorrow is Thursday, which is our last day of classes for the week, and then Friday I am headed to the beach for the weekend with mi mama and papa! Hopefully I will catch enough sun rays for all you Nebraskians that I'm sure are missing it right now. Until then, hasta luego mis amigas!!! 

Dancing the night away, BBQing with Americans and Hiking all in one weekend!

This weekend was jammed pack with so many fun activities, I've hardly had enough time to breathe. :) Thursday marked week two of classes here, so what better way to celebrate than go to the discoteca and dance the night away, right!? I have been so lucky to have such great host parents here who are always so welcoming to my friends and I. We had a little get together here on the rooftop to "preview" ( their saying for pre game here in Lima ) before we headed out to the clubs. My sister Thalia was able to get us onto a list, so we were all able to get into the clubs for free!! It's so crazy re-reading that..I feel like I'm some sort of celebrity, or some important person or something (Which, clearly I'm not :)) Rooftop and on a "list" say what?? Anywho, We all socialized for awhile and then around 1130 we split up into taxis and went to the club, Arula, which is in Mira Flores. It was about a 30 min drive and only cost 5 soles for each of us--which is like 2 dollars! Now, I thought my friends and I back at home knew how to have a good time, but Peruvians definitely know where it's at! This club was definitely not like any bar or house party I've been to in Nebraska that's for sure :) We all had such a great time and definitely made some memories we will not ever forget..AHEM (Jorge).  :) I can't wait to check out some more clubs and see what they are like!

                                As you've read from all my previous posts, I've already done so many 

                                      wonderful things here, but one of the most memorable so far has been the BBQ            

    Amber took Finn, Marina, Emily and I to on Saturday night. Amber was connected by a friend back home to a group of missionaries, who are originally from the US, but just recently moved to Lima to provided services to those in need. The BBQ was to celebrate the opening of the church they just started here! I love Lima and all of the different people I have met so far, but it was nice to hang out with some Americans who spoke English, and also who live here and have experienced the same culture shock we are all experiencing right now! They live in this beautiful community and share one HUGE backyard between 6 or 7 other families'. All of the surrounding families of their neighborhood gathered for the BBQ as well, so we were introduced to even more friendly, peruvian families! It was so heartwarming to see how these two families from the US moved here to Lima for the purpose of helping other people. John's family has been here for 5 years and Josh's family has been here for a year. It was a definite eye opener and made me think twice before the next time I wish I was home or wish I had some of the luxuries I do back in the states. It is just another reminder to myself how lucky I am to be apart of this experience here in Lima! I was even able to talk with them about doing volunteer work within some of the lower socioeconomic levels here! Overall, they were so welcoming and told us that if we ever needed anything their doors were always open, which was the kind of reassurance I think we all needed to hear :)

So, we were all told on the first day of our intensive grammar class that we had a class hike coming up and that we had to be at the school at 5:45 AM for it... ayayaya! Well, that hike was today, and I think it is safe to say I got my work out in for the next few weeks :) No but really, this hike was absolutely breathtaking! We took a 2 hour bus up to the town, Matucana, which was the cutest little village where basically everything is hand crafted and made there by the local people. Our tour guide Ivane met us when we got off the bus and directed us through our 2 mile hike up the mountain! He told us so many fascinating things about the mountains and the community of Matucana, it was really interesting! He kept mentioning una cascada ( a waterfall ), and so we were all anxiously wondering when we were going to hit it. Once we did..I could not take my eyes off of it! It was such a refreshing and rejuvenating feeling, especially since I have never really seen anything like that before. Ah, why can't Nebraska have landscaping like this!? Nonetheless, we all survived the 3 hour hike and were all so very thankful that our professor was nice enough to take us there! It is definitely something I want to go back to when I hopefully return to Peru in the future :) 

I just can't get over how green it is! It's so beautiful and pure!

 Amber and I with our stylin' visors we got as a group for a souvenir!

You can't look at this and tell me it doesn't take your breath away! :)

Doce Dias already!?!? 

My oh my, where has the time flown!? It feels like it was just yesterday I was frantically running around my house anxiously packing my bags to head to Lima. It is crazy that I have been here for nearly 2 weeks now, however, I wouldn't change my experience so far for anything! First, I would like to start out by introducing everyone to my amazing host family, my time here would be nothing compared to what it is if it wasn't for them!
There are 5 people in mi familia: Jaime: My Dad, who is such a kind and funny man. He is so patient when speaking with me since he knows no English at all, and my Spanish isn't too up to par(it is improving though :)) However, he does like to make fun of my "deer in headlights look, or my constant usage of "sure" or "si, si, si" whenever I don't know what he is saying exactly :D Then, there is Giselle: My Mom who is such a kindhearted lady as well, who luckily for me, speaks very well English and can translate words/sayings for me that I do not understand. I also have 3 siblings: Jaime Jr. who is 26, Thalia who is 20, and Andres who is 23 I believe. Jaime and Thalia currently live at home so they help keep me company and also help me with anything in Spanish I may be confused about!

Thalia, me, Giselle, Jaime, y la Mama de Giselle

This picture was taken at one of my families' clubs they are members of, on my first day here! It reminds me of the country club in Kearney, just way fancier and with the ocean :) That night Thalia invited some of her friends over and we got some Peruvian wine from a local store here and had a relaxing evening at our house.

Maria, Thalia, Nathalia and I on our rooftop enjoying el vino!! 

These first two weeks have felt much like a vacation and it has yet to seep in that I am here until the end of April, but luckily we have multiple trips set up for the near future, so I'm sure that will keep us busy and from getting home sick :) (Even though I do miss all my friends and family dearly!) My first two weekends here have been exactly what I needed: TOTAL RELAXATION! Our first weekend was a bit of a confusing weekend trying to get used to the city and how to go about finding each other and things we need. For example, we all live very near in walking distance to eachother, but upon first arrival it seemed as if we lived miles away. Luckily, my sister Thalia and her friend, Nathalia navigated Finn, Emily, Missy and I around so that we knew how to get to and from eachothers houses by foot without getting lost :) After, we all voyaged to Jockey(minus Thalia and Nathalia) to purchase our phones. Next time I want to shoot my brains out at Verizon, I will think again! This was much longer of a process..took nearly THREE HOURS! Nonetheless, we paid equivalent to like 50 dollars for a phone, dinosaur phone may I add, and minutes. But hey, now we all have a way to communicate with eachother when we don't have internet!

Missy, Finn, and I were feeling brave the night before classes started and decided to take a taxi to Jockey(a HUGE shopping mall here), I even bardered with the taxi and made it so we had to pay less soles :) We ate at the cutest little restaurant and had our first cocktails here in Lima. It was a great time to catch up and wind down a before our first full week of classes! However, it was quite the process getting home because we told our taxi the wrong entrance, but luckily Missy's Mom Ayita picked us up and we all made it home safely!

And yes, I am aware that I am muy rojo, but it has now turned into a tan, and YES I did wear sunscreen:) 

Mi Universidad: UPC!!!

I am so in love with UPC's campus. It is absolutely beautiful! 

Every professor I have or have been in contact with has been so nice and welcoming, it's so great! 

However, each one of my classes meets once a week and is three hours long, so you can imagine how that goes :) 

They actually haven't been to bad at all, and I feel like my Spanish has improved tremendously already! My first prueba is tomorrow so we will see how that goes!!

Ah, sorry my first post is so long, but I've just done so many fascinating things while here so far :) But here are a few of my favorite!

Of course the first one has to be LA PLAYA!!!! It was my FIRST TIME EVER at the beach and it was definitely a sight to see when I hopped into the cold, salty water! We went to a part of the ocean that had rocks instead of sand, and lets just say the rocks did not feel too great when a huge wave came rolling in, but nonetheless, it was beautiful and I want to go back every chance I get!! 

Las chicas!!!!

I had a small little get together at mi casa as a celebration of our FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES! It was so much fun! We all went to Vivandas and purchased some beverages, and I stuck to what I know best, el vino hehe, and we all went back to my house and hung out on the rooftop! My Dad set up some speakers for us out here and played us his music, which was a combination of classic rock and mexican salsa music. Jorge and Daniel were drinking tequila and it just so happens my dad won a shot contest once in Cancun with tequila, so of course Daniel and Jorge gave him a few shots! My brother Jaimie and his girlfriend and one of his friends' joined us as well and we all chit chatted until about midnight and then all went our separate ways :)

 Mi Padre was so excited to hang out and chit chat with us :)

Whew, alrighty, that is it for now! Tomorrow will be my 2nd full week of classes, and boy am I ready for it to be el fin de semana! We plan to go to one of the discotecas here, so I am beyond pumped to let loose and BAILAR! 

Oh and here is a little fun list of random things I've noticed while here in Peru:)

1.) The people are SO kind! 

2.) Whenever you greet someone for the first time, or really just in general, boy or girl, you greet them    

with a kiss on the cheek. So don't be alarmed if I kiss you on the cheek when I'm back in the states :)

3.)Traffic is LOCO! I really don't think I've ever seen a speed limit sign here..and road lines or blinkers? pssht who needs to use those anyway!?

4.) Rice chicken, meat, and more rice and more rice and more rice is a main food of choice here

5.) CAR ALARMS! Oh my goodness, this is really one of my ONLY pet peeves here so far. I swear I hear at least 20 alarms go off a day. And they aren't just your basic alarms..they last for like 1 minute and are the most strangest sound i've ever heard!

6.) They eat a big breakfast and a big lunch and just a small snack for dinner ( No wonder they are all so skinny here :) )

7.) The Cambis.....Oh The Cambis..There is really no way to describe these until you experience riding one for yourself. No seats? No problem! Just stand and hold on to the handle bars for your life and you'll be just fine :)

Okay, that is all I have for now! Hasta Luego mis amigas y familia!