Reflexión

It has now been two months since I returned home from Peru, and I thought it would be a good time to write a final reflection on the six months that had such a large impact on my life. Since being home I constantly think about my time in Lima and how much I would love to return. I also think about how I can use what I learned in my life back in the United States. Since being back, I have been busy with the semester at Holy Cross and am studying to take the MCAT exam to later apply to medical school. It´s certainly been a different experience being back home.

The six month experience in Peru was a whirlwind that flew by before I could even blink my eyes, but somehow so much happened in such a seemingly short amount of time. It was certainly not an easy experience and it put me outside of my comfort zone quite a lot. I witnessed a kind of crime and poverty that I was not used to, opening my eyes to the reality outside of my happy little bubble at home and at college; but I witnessed more than this ¨social reality¨. I witnessed an amazing country full of pride and home to an incredible culture. Through all my experiences and adventures I learned a great deal about myself and about a country and its people I had previously known so little about.



I will always have memories of the La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where I met so many unforgettable friends and went through the struggle of adapting to a new education system and classes in Spanish. I loved having lunch with friends en El Comedor Central, watching deer walk freely on campus, and playing soccer once in a while in the small fields on the edge of campus. I loved my project for photography class taking pictures of informal workers throughout the city and my Peruvian Social Reality project investigating a mall that sprung up in a poorer area of the city. I miss being involved on the campus of la PUCP, in the choir Voces en Christo and in my Afro-Peruvian dance class. The choir was such a welcoming group, and the members wanted to share with me just as much as I wanted to share with them. The Afro-Peruvian class was one of the most challenging and embarrasing things I have done! I can certainly say that I am not a natural Afro-Peruvian dancer, but the class really helped put me outside of my comfort zone and adapt.

Outside of the university, I miss my Peruvian family so much. Although sometimes a little quirky, Señora, Dante, and Cynthia created my home away from home. In that house I improved my Spanish by long dinner conversations and I met an amazing group of other exchange students to share the experience with. I miss Guillermo´s family as well, who loved to cook meals for me and invited me into their family just as if I was their daughter. I also miss the craziness of the unorganized transportation systems. I miss taking combi or micro buses and watching the ¨cobrador¨hanging out the door to yell to people about which direction the bus was going.

Looking back at pictures, I think of all the traveling opportunities I had while in Peru. I saw and did things that I never imagined doing and realized that trying new things is the best way to learn. Each journey was new, different, and made me want to explore and experience more of all that is out in the world. I was able to visit a local tribe and hold an anaconda snake in the rainforest, swim with a colony of seals, sandboard in the desert, visit a floating hay island on the highest-elevated accesable lake in the world, climb Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, camp by a lagoon in the middle of the Andes Mountains, surf in the Pacific Ocean, and hike into and across the deepest canyon in the world. With my sister I had the opportunity to see other South American countries, exploring a little coast town of Uruguay, relaxing on the beach in Chile, watching Tango in downtown Buenos Aires, and enjoying a fruit salad of every fruit imaginable in a market in Santiago. In Lima, I was able to witness one of the largest religious processions in the world for Señor de los Milagros, experience a crazy New Years celebration complete with fireworks and bonfires in the street, run the 100th annual half-marathon of Lima, cheer on the national soccer team to victory, and interview a famous Limenian chef. The experiences will last a lifetime in memories and have inspired me to seek out more of the truly amazing world we live in.

I often look back on my volunteer time spent in the Hospital del Niño, the children´s hospital, and La Posadita del Buen Pastor, the orphanage for children with HIV. This experience is hard to describe in words, since it really made me realize what matters to me and what I want to do with my life. Leaving after a morning or afternoon of volunteer work gave me a feeling I had never experienced before - I felt an inner peace in knowing that this was really my passion. I know that I will find some way to make this my life´s work. Whether in the field of researching disease or pediatric medicine, I want to devote my life to battling the diseases that take away so many innocent lives. The children in the hospital and orphanage taught me what real courage is and serve as an example for how to appreciate and take advantage of what one is given in life.

Finally, I look back on the friends I made in Peru. Meeting and getting to know the Holy Cross students and the exchange students living in my house was so helpful in giving me people who could relate to the experience, talk about differences in culture, and also just be almost a piece of home. The Peruvian friends we met showed me how incredibly open-hearted people can be. Many of our friends genuinely wanted to help us learn about their country and language and wanted to learn about us as well. My Peruvian friends were a blessing that I will never forget, and I hope to be able to stay in contact with them and some day see them again.

Ahora tengo que decir gracias a todos en el Perú por todo lo que han hecho para hacerme sentir cómoda en un país y cultura muy diferente que el mío. La experiencia de vivir en Lima no era fácil y tenía que acostumbrarme mucho a la nueva forma de vida. En los seis meses que estuve en el Perú, aprendí muchísimo del idioma, de la cultura y de la vida en general, y al final me enamoré del país. Tengo muchos buenos recuerdos que nunca olvidaré y amigos que nunca quiero perder. Todos tienen un hogar en mi país si me quieren visitar y algún día muy pronto quiero regresar a Lima. El país del Perú, su cultura y su gente siempre tienen un lugar especial en mi corazón.

Los últimos días en Lima

We arrived in Lima around 11am on Wednesday and went back to my house to upack our things and shower. After getting settled and greeting my family, we went to Guillermo's house since his parents had invited us over for lunch. His mom had cooked us a lovely lunch of ají de gallina and we all sat around the table for lunch. His parents do not speak English so Guillermo and I had to do some translating for Christy, but it was a really nice lunch and Christy loved the food. After lunch Guillermo, Christy, and I took the bus to Magdalena district and went to the market there. I wanted to show Christy what one of the typical markets was like to explain to her my photography project. After we walked to some of the parks on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Magdalena around sunset. We rushed back home to my house to have dinner with my family, where Christy got to talk more with Señora, Dante, and Cynthia while I did some translating if she needed help. Unfortunately the woman who works in the house, María Luisa, was on her yearly vacation back to her hometown, so her sister was working instead.

Guillermo and Christy in a park in Magdalena watching the sun set over the ocean

On Wednesday night after dinner, Christy, Guillermo, and I went to the dance show Brisas de Titicaca with our two friends Luis and Martin. We had a nice view from the second-floor seating and enjoyed watching all the different dances and dancing a little bit in between the performances. On our way back to my house, Christy noticed the casino called New York right across the street from my neighborhood. Since she loves playing black jack, she convinced all of us to go in for a little while. It was funny to see Christy gamble in Peru and we left not too long after with Christy content with some winnings.

One of the dance performances at Brisas de Titicaca

On Thursday, New Years Eve, we woke up and breakfast in the house. We then walked around the neighborhood to drop off our laundry and waited to pick it up. In the mean time we started looking for a particular pharmacy that my family had told me has a doctor working in it, since my throat was still really sore. We had some trouble finding it, but ran into this sweet older woman who brought us to her home and had her housekeeper bring us to the pharmacy. The doctor in the pharmacy gave me some antibiotics, which cleared up my sore throat within the next day. After having lunch near my home and picking up our laundry, Christy and I headed to Miraflores. It was a pretty day out and we started out walking along the parks on the cliffs and passing through Parque de Amor. We really wanted to go paragliding over the city, which I had never gotten to do before, but when we got there we realized that the prices were pretty steep for our end-of-vacation budget. Instead we just walked around enjoying the view of the ocean, browsed the mall in the cliffs called Larco Mar, and then walked to the center of Miraflores, Parque Kennedy. We browsed some street art and jewelry vendors, tried to go the the pre-Incan Huaca ruins which ended up being closed for New Years Eve, and then shopped around. Guillermo and Luis (Chuliso) met up with us in Miraflores and we went to the Inca Markets to buy some last-minute souvenirs.

Christy and I viewing the ocean from the mall Larco Mar in the cliff in Miraflores

After the day in Miraflores we took the bus home and Christy and I got ready for the night. We had made online reservations to eat at La Rosa Naútica, a fancy seafood resaurant on a jetty in on the ocean that I had always wanted to go to, for a New Years Eve dinner. Little did we know, the restaurant didn´t open until about 10:30pm due to New Years and the prices were extremely high. Instead of waiting around, we paid the expensive taxi ride back up the cliffs to Miraflores and ate dinner at a nice café in Parque Kennedy. After dinner, we headed off to Guillermo´s house. It was his father´s birthday that day so they were having a combined birthday and New Years celebration with friends and relatives in the house. In Peru, none of the celebration for New Years really starts until midnight.

Right before midnight, Guillermo told me and Christy to come outside. Outside of his cousin´s house they were getting ready to have a big bonfire in the street! Every year it is tradition to burn big stuffed scare-crow-like dolls to burn out the old year and welcome the new one. As soon as midnight hit, everything in the streets went crazy! Guillermo and his uncle and cousin´s lit their huge bonfire in the middle of the street, and every other street had a bonfire lit too. People everywhere were running around setting off fireworks. Me and Christy ran for cover under a stoop! Eventually we got the courage to light off a few fireworks ourselfs though. After the crazy fireworks displays we went back into the house to congratulate everyone on the new year and then headed off to a party with some of Guillermo´s high school friends in the next district over. The party was fun and everyone was dancing, although it was a little difficult for Christy to communicate since not many of his friends spoke English. Christy and I left the party around 2:30am to try to get some sleep before the next day.

At midnight on New Years, frightened ¨Gringas¨ watching the bonfires and fireworks!

On New Years day it is tradition for Guillermo and his friends to go strait to the beach from the party without sleeping. Luckily Christy and I snuck in a little sleep and then met up with them again to take the bus to the beach. We were skeptical of the plans since it was sprinkling rain in Lima, but we took the 2-hour bus ride to the beach Santa María. Although it wasn´t too sunny, the weather was warm and we relaxed on the beach and went swimming a little bit. We enjoyed a nice lunch of ceviche and later in the afternoon headed back to Lima. That night after dinner with my family again, Christy, Guillermo, and I went to the fountain park. We had a lot of fun and Christy liked it a lot, although Guillermo got me soaked after we ran into the middle of one of the fountains!

Christy and Guillermo posing in front of a fountain at the fountain park

On Saturday, Christy´s last day, it was Guillermo´s 20th birthday. We met up with him and with my friend Martha in the center of Lima. We showed Christy the Plaza de Armas with the government palace. Although we hoped to enter the Cathedral since I had never seen the inside, it was closed. We walked to La Iglesia de San Fransisco to get a tour of the church and the catacombs beneath. We then went to a Museum of the Spanish Inquisition. After we took a bus ride past my University so that Christy could see it, although it was closed for holidays and we couldn´t enter. We went to the gastronomic festival that I had gone to with Meredith and my friend Karen in the past to have Guillermo´s birthday lunch with Martha and Guillermo´s parents. Although it was difficult to choose one of my last meals in Peru, I chose Sopa Seca with Carapulcra, one of my favorite dishes that is from Chincha. After some Pisco Sours and Algarrobinas, Christy and I headed back to my house to start packing up our things. Christy said her goodbyes to my family and then we headed to Guillermo´s birthday party with his friends and family at his house. Christy and I had to leave the party early to head to the airport for her flight, but Guillermo´s uncle was nice enough to drive us and Chuliso came with us too. It was sad to say goodbye to Christy after such an amazing adventure together, but I knew I would be seeing her soon.

Christy and I with my good friend Martha in front of La Iglesia San Fransisco

Guillermo´s birthday lunch with Martha, Christy, and his parents

After dropping Christy off, Chuliso and I returned to Guillermo´s party for the rest of the night. On Sunday I woke up with a strange feeling in my stomach, knowing that it was my last full day in Peru since my flight would leave the next morning at 8am. I had breakfast with the family, packed a little bit more, and had my fairwell lunch with the family too. Then I went to the mall at Plaza San Miguel to meet up with my friend Karen to say goodbye. We had some iced coffee drinks together and chatted about the future. It was sad to say one of my many goodbyes to Karen, who had been such a great friend from Photography class all along. I returned to the house, got all my things together and then said my goodbyes to the family. It was so hard to say goodbye to a family I had grown to call my own and I couldn´t prevent the tears. After I went to say my goodbyes to Guillermo´s family which was a teary goodbye as well to such a wonderful family. Guillermo and I went out that night and reminisced on the last 5 months that we had known each other and all the things we had done together.

Saying goodbye to my house, mi casita :(

Saying goodbye to my room

The next morning our director Julio and Guillermo were both at my house around 5:15am to take a taxi to the airport. It was so surreal to be leaving the life I had lived for the past 6 months and the life I had grown to love. After I checked my bags and Julio left, I was surprised when Guillermo´s family arrived in the airport as well. We all walked to the security entrance and it was a very tearful goodbye before entering the door to security. I spent a while crying and remembering all the wonderful things that happened in Peru on my flight to Miami, sat sadly in the airport in Miami for my 6-hour layover, and then got my spirits up a little on the flight to Boston. Arriving in Boston, my parents and my best friend Jenni were there waiting for me and it was really nice to see them after so long. It was a whirlwind of events, and although bittersweet, it was nice to be home.

Cusco and Machu Picchu!

We left Chile for a morning flight to Lima on Thursday, Christmas Eve. After landing in Lima we had another flight right out to Cusco, and we arrived in Cusco around 1pm. We had booked a nice hotel to spend Christmas in through my sister's credit card points, and it was beautiful. It was so refreshing to have comfortable, big beds! After resting a little in the afternoon to get used to the altitude we walked around Cusco. There were a lot of people in the city for Christmas, and the Plaza de Armas was filled with vendors selling last-minute Christmas gifts. After walking around we met up with my friend Anna Maria, a fellow exchange student from Finland who lived in my house during the semester. Anna Maria and her family arrived in Cusco that same day and we had plans to do our 3-day treck to Machu Picchu with them. We had a nice dinner of Al Paca steak and then Christy and I walked back to go to bed in out nice hotel. Soon after that we were woken up by tons of fire-works being shot off at midnight! In Peru, we were surprised to find out that Christmas Eve is almost comparable to our celebration of New Years Eve. People celebrate the turning of midnight drinking and setting off fire works, and they open presents and party with their families until dawn!

The Cathedral in La Plaza de Armas, Cusco

The streets were quiet on Christmas morning but Christy and I woke up and headed to mass in the cathedral. There were so many people inside the church, and masses were being held every hour! Outside of the church groups of people where dancing in costumes. Inside, Christy and I luckily found a seat. The mass was really interesting and all the families brought the baby jesus from their manger scene in a basket to be blessed by the priest after mass. After mass, Christy and I called our parents and brother to wish them a Merry Christmas, had a nice lunch and explored the city a little more. We shopped around and found the 12-angled rock in a stone-wall that was used by the Incas. We also met up with our guide for our treck to Machu Picchu to start planning for the start of the treck the following day. After a nice dinner of my favorite dish, ají de gallina, we went to bed early to rest up for the upcoming 3-day treck.

The treck was nothing short of an adventure! We got picked up around 8am and met Anna Maria´s family again in the van as well as 3 hikers from Switzerland who would only be with us for the first day (they were being brave and doing the 4-day treck). I was a little worried before even beginning the treck about our guide, since some of my friends had already done the treck with her and said she was a little unorganized and unprofessional. Nevertheless, after loading on about 11 mountain bikes on the top of the mini-van we started the long, scenic drive through the mountains. We stopped in Ollantaytambo for a bathroom break, where I accidently left my phone in a little shop! Luckily, though, the wonderful woman who worked there came out of the store with my camera looking for me. It was quite a close call! We proceeded on up the mountains and stopped two more times to give some food and old clothing to very poor children and their parents. At the top of the mountain, in the freezing cold, as it began to rain, is where the treck begins.

The children gathering around the van for food on the way up the mountain

We all got on our bikes and rode down the entire mountain. The first 2.5 hours was winding around the mountain on a little highway, staying to the side of the road so that we wouldn´t get hit by a car. It started to rain harder, through my poncho and soaking my jeans. Just about every time the rain slowed up, we would come across a small waterfall coming down the side of the mountain that passed right over the road. The first time spotting one I hesitated on what to do, but those in front of me yelled ¨Just pedal quickly and lift up your legs as you go through it!¨. As you can probably tell, my pants never dried! After the highway ended and turned into a bumpy dirt gravel road, we stopped for our packed lunches and continued down the new path. It was a bumpy ride but after about another hour and a half we made it to a tiny town where we got in the van to drive to Santa María. We dropped off our new Swiss friends since they were to spend the night in Santa María and eventually got in the van to try to make it to our next destination, Santa Teresa. Here is where the real problems started.

After driving for 5 minutes we reached a backup of cars and realized that the road was being worked on. Since it was the rainy season and the rains that day were clearly strong, part of the road was covered in a huge pile of gravel and rocks since part of the cliff of the mountain had fallen down. There was a bulldozer trying to plow through the mounds but it was making barely any progress. After waiting for almost two hours and listening to our guide tell us the road would be cleared soon be retreated back to Santa María to figure out what to do next. Our guide had really only been speaking in Spanish the whole time, even though she originally had agreed to speak in English since Anna María and I were the only Spanish-speakers of the group. She continued to tell us that our only option to get to Santa Teresa was to take the ¨alternative route¨ which would be going up over a different mountain and that we could choose to go that night or wait for morning. After talking it over we chose to wait that night, which was the worst decision we could ever make!

We left soon after with a young boy driving, who probably was about 15 years old. The route was winding around a mountain on a dirt pathway literally on the edge of the cliff with no fence or guard-rail. We had to repeatedly ask to slow down and had to get out of the car twice, fearing out lives as the driver was stuck in the mud and had to back up to the edge of the cliff. On one of the stops we encountered another car coming towards us and had to let the car go past before proceeding on. After the first stop we realized how completely crazy it was to be driving up this road in the middle of the night and after the second Anna María and I started to yell at the guide, telling her that the ¨alternative route¨ was never a real option and she was crazy to take us on it! Interestingly enough, neither the guide nor the driver were too concerned and we continued on. Tied with the experience stuck in a storm on the Amazon River in Iquitos, this was the closest to death and most frightened I have ever felt! We finally made it up the hill to an area where the road was not wide anough for a car, since some of it had deteriorated away in the rain. All 7 of us got out and crossed the little pathway on the cliff with flashlights and belongings in hand. A car was waiting for us on the other side, and somehow my nightmare ended when we arrived safely in Santa María after the whole 2 or 3 hour process.

Waiting for the bulldozer to try to plow the fallen road

The events of that night put a damper on the rest of the treck and especially annoyed us with the guide, but the next day was better. We woke up and went to the hot springs near the town. The town is beautiful because it is in the middle of enormous, grass-covered mountains. The hot springs were relaxing and were pools filled with naturally hot water from beneath the mountains. After relaxing, we proceeded on to our hike. We hiked a total of 6 or more hours that day, stopping for lunch at the entrance of the Machu Picchu reserve and walking along train tracks for the entire second half of the walk. At one point we tried to board the train while it was stopped, but we were kicked off since you need to buy tickets back in Santa Teresa. We had sent our belonging along on the train, though. We finally made it to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu slightly after darkness hit. The coolest part of the day´s walk was when we got close to Aguas Calientes our guide Abigail pointed out the back-side of the Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu mountains. Once in Aguas Calientes, we saw our hostel that had clean bathrooms, a step up from the last one, and we ate a nice dinner together. Unfortunately, Abigail was mixed up again and we had to wait until after 10pm to retreive our luggage from the train station. Very frustrated with Abigail, we were relieved to say our good-byes as she left for Cusco the next morning and we would have a different guide scheduled for inside Machu Picchu. We finally were able to shower and went to bed as soon as we could!

Baños Termales in Santa Teresa

About to cross the first of many scary, shaky bridges on the trek, day 2

The next morning we woke up bright and early at 4am to hike up Machu Picchu for sunrise. It was a grueling hike up steep stairs, but it was well worth the feeling upon reaching the top. The view from the gate of the surrounding mountains still covered by the hovering morning clouds was breathtaking. We were one of the first in line for the entrance to Machu Picchu, which opens its gates at 6am. We were allowed in and were among the first 400 to enter and thus received access to hike the Wayna Picchu mountain. It was an unbelievable feeling to have earned the viewing of such amazing ruins, and it was quite a different feeling from the last time I went when we took the train. The clouds were still hovering around the ruins but eventually cleared up and we had pretty good weather for the day. We first had a tour of the ruins, learning they were discovered my an American Hiram Bingham in 1911. We also learned that most of the gold and artifacts collected from the site at on display at Yale University instead of in Cusco. How unfair! The Incas abandoned the site when the Spanish started to invade, and the Spanish new found the site although they had heard of it. The tour was very interesting and we walked through most of the ruins.

View from the hike up Machu Picchu at sunrise

Inside Machu Picchu, overlooking Wayna Picchu mountain

Exploring the ruins of Machu Picchu

After taking a bathroom break and a rest, our time slot came to hike Wayna Picchu! Wayna Picchu is the steep mountain on the other side of Machu Picchu and we were a little nervous of more hiking - especially when we saw an empty body bag and a stretcher waiting at the entrance! We hiked basically strait up for about 40 minutes and certainly felt that it was worth it when we saw the view from the top. The ruins looked totally different, and you could see the many layers of agricultural rows. Hiking back down Wayna Picchu was a process and when we finally got down we rested and finished the rest of our packed lunches. We spent the rest of the day sitting on the opposite side of Machu Picchu were we overlooked all the ruins from the post-card view side. Before you knew it, all 5 members of Anna María´s family, Christy, and I were all napping in the grass. It was the perfect day. We finally left the mountain around 4 or 4:30pm and decided to take the bus down, rewarding our hard work from the day. It was really nice to get to do the hike with Anna María and her family, who make great company.

The amazing view of Machu Picchu from the top of Wayna Picchu

The Finnish family, Christy, and I after our nap

We waited around for a while for the train back to Ollantaytambo since the schedule had changed, and finally boarded the train at 9pm. After some trouble in finding out arranged transportation in Ollantaytambo we found the van and drove back to Cusco. At this point I was really not feeling good and had a sore throat, probably from all the events of the past few days. We finally arrived in Cusco, where Christy and I took a taxi to our supposed hostel for the night. We had made plans with the hostel to stay there Monday and Tuesday night since we needed to switch from our luxurious hotel, but when we got there a different boy was working who told me he had no such plans written down. He also told me the price was much higher than I had been told originally, saying it was New Years prices. Frustrated, we left the hostel and roamed the streets for a little while looking for another hostel. Realizing it was 1am and we didn´t have many options we returned back to the hostel, and I resorted to arguing with the body in tears. He refused to lower the price but said he would call his friend´s hostel. We finally arranged to go there, and took a taxi there. It ended up being the grossest, most over-priced hostel ever! But we slept until 1pm the next day catching up on our rest, aftering being oddly woken up at 7:30am when the man who worked there had to ask us a question.

The next day we decided to relax and have a nice lunch. In the late afternoon we took a taxi up one of the surrounding mountains to where there are a bunch of Incan ruins. We got a tour of Sacsayhuaman, the ruins of an Incan temple that was partially destroyed by the Spanish. We also walked up to the white statue of Jesus that overlooks the city of Cusco. The views of the city were beautiful. Of course, we had to deal with a few more hostel problems when we tried to switch hostels that afternoon. They told us that since we had agreed to stay two nights, we would have to pay for two. After some more arguing (and on the bright side, some more practicing Spanish) Christy and I finally had no choice but to stay there the night. We yet again ran into a problem when the hostel did not have the laundry we had given them ready that night. We waited until they could somehow retrieve it, since our flight left early the next morning.

At the entrance to Sacsayhuaman

The view of the city of Cusco

After almost a week filled of many difficulties and frustrations, the overall experience of Cusco and Machu Picchu was an amazing, unforgettable journey. The next morning, Wednesday, we left early for our flight to Lima. I was relieved to finally be going ¨home¨ and to show Christy my home for the past 6-months.

Chile - Santiago, Viña del Mar

After our short flight to Santiago, Chile, Christy and I made it into the city by night time. There is a tax for citizens of only a select few countries to get into Chile, and of course the USA was on the list. So, unfortunately, we had to pay a pretty steep tax to enter the country, but that was the only bad thing about our trip to Chile. We had booked a hostal in advance planning for our late arrival, but we had forgotten to write down the address! We knew the general vicinity and ended up wandering around the streets with all our bags for a while until we finally found the hostal. The hostal was really nice and offered free breakfast in the morning with a wonderful fresh juice.

Las vista de los Andes del avión cerca de Santiago

On Monday we spent the day wandering the city. We realized that Santiago is not a very touristy city, which we actually though was kind of cool. We climbed a park built onto a hill in the middle of the city called Cerro Santa Lucía where we got a beautiful view of the city from the top. After, we went to a market where we shopped a little for souvenirs. While we were there we found a little fruit and ice cream stand, where we got a giant fruit cup filled with every kind of fruit typical to Chile (including some fruits that they only have in Peru and Chile) and with a scoop of lucuma (one of those unique fruits) ice cream on top. It even had chocolate sauce dribbled over it! That was the highlight of our day and we made sure to come back to the market on Wednesday to get another giant fruit cup. After the market, Christy and I found the Pontificía Universidad Católica of Chile, which is the same university as my university in Lima. We browsed the beautiful buildings inside and I even found the same snack shop that we have in my university! We then walked over to the Plaza de Armas which was a really large and pretty plaza. In the plaza there is an area where older men play chess every day! The fountain in the center was filled with children swimming, and there were also large crowds at random times watching clowns of comedians. We went inside the cathedral, which was the most beautiful cathedral I have seen. After that we enjoyed some pizza dinner and went to bed.

La vista de Santiago desde el Cerro Santa Lucía

On Tuesday we woke up and took the subway to the bus station, which we had found the day before. We took the 2-hour bus ride to Viña del Mar, which is a pretty city on the coast. We walked for a while to get to the beach, bought some sandwiches for lunch, and laid on the beach for the rest of the day. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a wonderful, relaxing day on the beach. The water and sand were pretty, but the water was pretty cold due to a cold current. We went swimming anyways to cool off. In the evening we decided to take a public bus to Valparaísco, a city right next to Viña del Mar, which is supposedly a cute, touristy city. We ended up missing the spot where we should have gotten off, but I made friends with the bus driver in the process. He told me all about his life, asked about where we were from, and showed us pictures of his children! He even offered to give me his watch after noticing that I didn't have one, telling me it was important to have a watch when traveling. The bus driver, Guillermo, was one of the many very friendly people I met in Chile. After browsing Valparaísco we decided to go back to Viña del Mar to have a nice seafood dinner before taking the bus back to Santiago.

Christy y yo en la playa en Viña del Mar

Viña del Mar

On Wednesday we walked to another hill in the city called Cerro San Cristóbol, and this time the hill was even larger. We took a rail-cart, called funicular, up to the top which was quite steep and the views from the top were gorgeous. There was a statue of Mary and an outdoor church-like area at the top. We later walked back to the Plaza de Armas and tried a typical Chilean drink, called Mote con Huesillos, along the way. It is a summer drink made of a sweet syrup with peaches (huesillo) and mixed with cooked husked wheat (mote). After our refersher, we went to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum and it was really neat to see art from the Incan and Mayan cultures throughout South American and Central America. After the museum we walked around some of the government buildings and saw the president´s building. We also returned to the market to get another delicious fruit cup! We had dinner and cake for desert and then got to bed before our early flight the next morning.

Museo de Arte Pre-colombino - Arte de la cultura Mapuches de Chile en los inicios del siglo XX

Thursday morning, Christmas Eve, we left the hostal in the morning for the airport and flew to Lima where we waited for out flight to Cusco - the next city on the list in our adventures!

Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Iguazu

Christy arrived Saturday night, December 12th, and we left the next day for our flight to Buenos Aires. The flight was about 4 or 5 hours long, which made me realize how far away Buenos Aires is from Lima! We arrived in Buenos Aires in the evening and looked for a hostal as soon as we got there. After walking around for a little while we finally found one that was in my prices range, Hotel Piedad. It was nothing special, but had a lot of character. The man who worked there, José, was always there and was a really friendly guy. Also, the bathroom that Christy and I shared had a shower head in the middle of the bathroom with no shower curtain and a drain in the middle of the bathroom floor! We stayed in the hostal the whole week, so it turned out to be a good choice.

El obelisco, cerca de nuestro hostal

We woke up on Monday planning on walking around the city and planning for the week´s activities. We went to the Plaza de Armas and walked around the inside of the Cathedral. We then tried to go to another church, but it was closed for renovations. We saw the outside of Argentina´s white house which is actually called the pink house, La Casa Rosada. After having lunch at a little cafe we walked down the popular Florida Street where a lot of people come to shop and then walked into a big, high-scale mall called Galería del Pacífico. We later walked over to the ferry station to look into ferry rides to Uruguay and then we went to the bus station to buy tickets to get to the Iguazu falls for later in the week. That night we went to Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, to see a tango show and have dinner. I tried a typical steak dinner which was tasty, and the show was really cool. I had never seen tango before, and it was a really interesting dance.

Christy y yo en la Plaza de Armas con la Casa Rosada

Tango en Cafe Tortoni

On Tuesday we woke up and walked back to the ferry station to go to Colonia, Uruguay for the day. We took the 3-hour ferry, although there was a 1-hour option. When we got to Colonia it was really cool to just know that I was standing in Uruguay! I never thought I would end up going to Uruguay in my lifetime. Colonia is a really cute, quaint town on the coast and we spent the day walking around, shopping a little, and sitting by the ocean. We climbing a little light house to get a view of the area and later when we were walking along a tiny little beach we started finding a bunch of pieces of sea glass. I used to collect sea glass when I went to visit my grandfather in Cape Cod, so I collected a bunch and brought it home to give my mom and grandfather. We had a nice fish lunch in a restaurant near the water. At the end of the day we returned to Buenos Aires by ferry. The one bad thing we noticed about both Colonia and Buenos Aires is that there a tons of mosquitos, so we were glad to be inside on the ferry ride.

Christy y yo en Colonia, Uruguay

On Wednesday we woke up and went for a run in the city. We had a later breakfast and then made our way to the bus station. We left around 1:30pm on our long journey to the Iguazu port, where we were planning on just spending the day seeing the waterfalls and then coming back the next night. The bus ride was certainly an adventure! It ended up being 6 hours longer than planned due to unplanned stops and a car accident along the way, and in total it ended up being 24 hours! By the time we actually reached the waterfalls we had a little more than 2 hours to see everything. The Iguazu falls are in a national park so we had to walk through that to reach the falls, and we arrived there sweaty and tired. The falls, however, made the dreadfully long journey worth it. They were beautiful, and much larger than the Niagra Falls, which I had seen years ago. We got to walk under the falls to see the view of all of the and then over the falls. There was a pathway that literally went right over the falls, near the points where the water falls over! It was so scary but really cool to see the falls from that angle. There was one other path to see the falls that you need to get to by train, called La Boca del Diablo, but unfortunately we did not have time to see this part. After that we had to go back to the bus station to catch the 18-hour bus ride home, arriving back in Buenos Aires on Friday around 11am.

Las cataratas de Iquazú desde arriba

Las cataratas de Iguazú

On Friday after we ate a nice big lunch we showered and relaxed a little bit. We walked in the afternoon to the port area of the city, called Puerto Madero where we walked into an ecological reserve that had a nice view of the city. The port area was really pretty and we ate dinner at a cafe overlooking the port at sunset. After walking around we decided to go out to a bar to see what the night-life is like, although we were not really up for going out dancing since Argentinians supposedly go out very late. We had a glass of wine and then went back to catch up on some of the sleep we lost on those bus rides.

Puerto Madero

On Saturday we went to do our laundry and then started walking towards Recoleta, a nice area of the city with markets, museums, and other sites. As we arrived there it started downpoaring horribly and we had to take cover in the doorway of an apartment building for a while. It was pretty rainy for the whole day, so we decided to change our plans a little and go to a museum. We went to the Museo de Bellas Artes and saw a lot of really beautiful art from around the world. After we walked to the Recoleta Cemetary, which is a huge cemetary full of giant stone tombs above the ground! There are many little lanes of tombs and many famous people are buried there, including Evita. After we took a taxi to another part of the city called Palermo. We were going to try to see the Botanical Gardens there, but they were closed due to rain. Instead, we walked around and then went to a really nice mass at a pretty church nearby. We had pizza for dinner in Palermo before heading back to bed.


On our last day in Buenos Aires, Sunday, we woke up to make it for a tour of the Pink House, the president´s palace. We got to see a bunch of different rooms inside and even the inside of the president´s office! The president of Argentina is a woman, which I found very interesting. After that we went to a Sunday street market near the plaza and had so much fun browsing through the tons of items sold by the street vendors. After having a lunch near the market we headed back to collect our things at the hostal and then went to the airport, heading for the next destination of our journey: Chile!

Arequipa y más despedidas

So, it has been quite a while since I last updated! I am now home safe and sound from my 6-month amazing adventure, but I have a lot to write about! I will start with our last group trip to Arequipa, and then I will write entries about travels with my sister and my last days in Lima.

We left for the long bus-ride to Arequipa from Lima the Friday after finals ended, Friday December 4th. I went on the trip as a way to celebrate the end of finals and our last trip together with my Holy Cross friends Meredith, Meg, and Peter as well as our two Peruvian friends Guillermo and Luis (Chuliso). The bus ride was a little longer than expected due to many stops at bus stations along the way, and we finally arrived in Arequipa after 20 hours on the bus! The trip was very interesting and as we got closer to Arequipa the roads were winding through mountains and had some nice views.

When we got to Arequipa on Saturday morning we went to the Plaza de Armas and from there found a hostal for the night. The plaza was really big and pretty and all the buildings there were made of white volcanic rock called sillar. We walked around and found a tour agency to do a treck of the Colca Canyon starting the next day, Sunday. After lunch, we visited the convent of Santa Catalina which is an old little village-like convent and then browsed a few markets. I caught a mass in a smaller cathedral right next to the plaza and we all had dinner together. After that we all went to bed early, because we had to wake up at 3am the next morning!

La Catedral en La Plaza de Armas

On Sunday morning we all woke up at 3am and were ready when our guide, Angel, picked us up. We drove for 6 hours, stopping when we got to a look-out point on the canyon. The Colca Canyon is supposedly the deepest canyon in the world, and it was absolutely beautiful. The look-out point was called Mirador del Condor and we could see a huge condor bird in the distance. From there we could see how deep the canyon actually is. We then proceeded on to a small town on the edge of the canyon called Cabanaconde where we had lunch and then headed out on our treck. We walked to the edge of the canyon and looked out onto where we would be walking, braced ourselves for a long walk ahead, and started our decent. We walked for about 4 or more hours weaving down the canyon on a path until we finally reached the bottom. We all were exhausted and rested at the river in the bottom and took in some beautiful views. But not for long! Angel told us we needed to keep going because the sun was setting and we did not want to get stuck in the canyon in the dark. We kept on walking, across the bridge and along the canyon this time going up and across. After what seemed like days and barely making it before darkness we got to the little canyon town where we stayed in a little stone hostal. It was a difficult day, especially since I was not feeling well, and we all rested well than night.

Trecking en el cañon de colca

The next day we started out early and walked further across the inside of the canyon for about 2 hours until we reached the oasis! The oasis was a little town at the base of the canyon that had beautiful blue pools. We got to take a break, rest, and cool off in the pools because the sun was very strong in the canyon. Of course, I got sun-burned pretty badly! After resting and eating lunch, it was time for the 3 to 4-hour ascent. Guillermo, Chuliso, and I decided that we would probably not be able to make it to the top before sunset so we opted to take mules up instead of walking. I have never ridden a horse before, let along a mule, and it was an interesting experience. It was kind of fun, and the views were amazing, but I had to hold on tightly so that I wouldn't fall off! Chuliso, Guillermo, and I made it to the top and then waiting for the hikers who proudly made it to the top a little while after. We had a nice dinner together that night and Angel, who turned out to be a great guide, ended up telling us some spooky ghost stories from his experiences in the canyon.

Guillermo con su mula en el cañon

The next day, Monday, we left Cabanaconde for Chivay, a larger village on the way to Arequipa. We took a bus with some of the local people who were going to Chivay for a religious celebration of one of the saints. The typical dress of the women in the Arequipa area was my favorite from the typical dress I have seen in Peru. They were beautiful dresses and hats that are covered with brightly-colored embroidery. When we got to Chivay, we went to the hot springs there. They are a group of pools overlooking the mountains, but the pools are filled with naturally hot water from the water under the mountains. We were told that the sulfur in the water is what makes it hot. It was a nice, relaxing way to end our strenuous hike. We had lunch in Chivay and took the bus to Arequipa, from where we took the bus to Lima. After a long nights journey Tuesday night, we arrived back in Lima in Wednesday, content from a really nice trip together.

Los baños termales en Chivay

The rest of my week was busy with last-minute good-byes, Christmas shopping, and a bit of packing. On Wednesday, Meredith, Jen, and I met our Spanish teacher for lunch and to say our good-byes. It was the first of many good-byes and it left us all feeling unsettled at the idea of saying good-bye to so many people we had become close to over the last 5+ months. On Thursday Meg and I went for a run in the parks overlooking the ocean for one last time. Meredith's sister was visiting so I met up with the two of them and some of the other girls for lunch in Miraflores before going to my volunteer work at La Posadita del Buen Pastor one last time. It was pretty sad to say good-bye to the kids, since I had grown pretty close to them over the 4 months of my volunteer work, and they all made little good-bye cards for me.

La clase mayor de niños en La Posadita


La clase menor de niños en La Posadita

On Friday morning I went into the hospital for my last day. It was also very hard to say good-bye to all my friends in the hospital, and I made sure to get many pictures, especially with Lady and Anderson. Much to my surprise, my dear friend Josselin was not in her bed in the neumology wing. I was informed that she went home because she was feeling better! After 4 months of always working with Josselin and then hearing from another teacher that Josselin was probably going to die soon, I was overjoyed to hear that she was actually doing better and went home! I know that she has cystic fibrosis and will probably run into future health problems, but I am so happy that at least for now she is doing better. It was sad that I didn't get a chance to say good-bye to her, but I left her a note with a little bracelet I had bought her from Arequipa. Josselin was a very significant part of my experience volunteering in the hospital and I learned a lot from her positive attitude and her friendship. It was sad for me to leave the hospital for the last time and say good-bye to the other teachers, but I am so lucky to have had such a meaningful experience volunteering there. I will carry the memories with me for the rest of my life.

Con Anderson y la otra Josselyn en el Hospital

Con Lady en el Hospital

Con todos los voluntarios del viernes en el Hospital del Niño

After the hospital on Friday morning, I went to a get-together that my chorus had planned as a going away party for me. We all went to one of the group member, Alejandra's, apartment to chat and play board games. It was nice to hang out with the chorus members outside of school, and it was another sad good-bye. Later that night all of our friends got together in Meg and Jen's house before going to a discoteca to celebrate Jen's 20th birthday and to go out together one last time before everyone started traveling and going their own ways. It was great to have all of our friends together - exchange students, the girls from our house, the HC group, our Peruvian friends - but at the same time it was really sad to say my good-bye to many of the people at the end of the night.

Despidiendo a la PUCP

Despedida con los chicos del coro Voces en Christo

Todos celebrando el cumple de Jen y la gran despedida

The next day I met up with Meg and our friend Luisa from our Peruvian Social Reality group to have breakfast. I then said my good-byes to Luisa and to Meg, because Meg and Jen left that afternoon on a bus ride to the beaches in northern Peru. Meredith had left that morning for Cusco. The rest of the day I spent packing for the trip with my sister and organizing my things. That night Guillermo and I went to the airport to pick up my sister and she finally came out of the exit over an hour later than expected! We found out that her luggage had been lost in Miami, but luckily it arrived the next day, Sunday, right before our flight to Argentina! Christy and I slept in my home in Lima that night, had breakfast with my family, and left for out flight to Arentina to begin our adventure!

Despedidas y viajes

Hello!

The past week has been a whirlwind of good-byes and getting things ready for travel. We left for Arequipa last Friday and took the 20-hour bus ride there and the 18-hour bus ride home on Tuesday night. It was so much fun and a nice final trip with friends. We saw the city a little bit and did a three-day trek of the Colca Canyon, the largest canyon in the world!

Since I've been back from Arequipa, I've been busy getting ready for the trip with my sister! My sister comes tonight and tomorrow we leave for Buenos Aires, Argentina. We will be there for a week and then go to Santiago, Chile. Then we go to Cusco for Christmas and we start a trek of Machu Picchu the day after Christmas. We will end up in Lima from December 30th until January 4th, when I return home the the US. I cannot believe how fast everything has gone by, and I am just trying to enjoy every moment of the time left here.

This week we said a lot of good-byes, to friends and to the children in my volunteer work. It was extremelly difficult to say good-bye to people who have made such an impact on my life, but I have to keep in mind what a blessing it was to have met them.

I will write more all about this week, Arequipa, and my trip with my sister when I return home and have the time to express all the details. This will be my last entry in Peru! It has been a completely amazing experience to have lived the past 6 months of my life in this country, and I will never forget a single moment of it.

Hasta luego!
Michelle