Sunny and 75...everyday

So much has been happening that I'm not even sure where to start! The weather has been beautiful and hot, the sun is always out and strong.

Last friday we went on a hike with one of our Peruvian teachers, Rob, to Matucana which was awful and wonderful at the same time. The climb was such a struggle for most of us and there were so many set backs that made the day trip last at least 4 extra hours. The bus' breaks kept overheating while driving up so there were many stops along the drive, waiting for our tour guide, stopping every 5 minutes of the climb because we're so out of shape (speaking for myself here), and then cooking 15 burgers on a small little grill that fit 4 burgers at a time. Overall it was a great experience, the waterfall was neat but really cold. The trek down took a much shorter amount of time and we were all exhausted. The driving here is insane (bare with me, this will be a fluid thought, I promise): the lines on the roads are suggestions, if you need to turn left or right you just pull right out in front of oncoming cars to make them stop and wait for you to cross, honking is a consistent thing, and all the cars/trucks/busses are stick shift so the jerky ride never ceases. They also have no care of nudging the car in front of them, touch their back bumper with yours? Not a problem at all. Anyway, on our return to Lima from Matucana we saw accidents, people getting out of their cars to yell at other people in traffic, we saw a fire on the side of the road (no clue how/why), we also saw a huge Greyhound-like bus u-turn, making the traffic absolutely insane for everyone. Eventually after a long and brutal day of hiking and trying not to get car sick, some of us headed to El Polo Plaza for some milkshakes-the perfect way to end the day.

So much yum

Saturday a large portion of the group went to the Barranco district to try out the infamous El Burrito restaurant. Spoiler: it was everything we imagined and more. The tacos were some of the best tacos I've ever had, I finally got my chips and salsa fix (for those of you who don't know, it is my weakness and apparently people don't eat it here), and the margaritas were delicious (and that's saying something for someone who doesn't like to drink tequila)! After we ate our weight in tacos and giant burritos, we wandered around the beautiful district of Barranco and walked along the beach.
Here I made a friend. Her name was Luana and she was about 6 or 7 years old. She was very mean. She really liked me and portrayed our new friendship by filling my hands with broken shells and slimy seaweed she found. The rest of the girls in the group she was not so fond of, calling them ugly and refusing to give them shells. I am not sure what I did to deserve such a nasty little friend, but I made sure to tell her it was not nice to call people ugly and she eventually gave everyone else, except for one person (sorry Abby) at least one shell/seaweed. After rinsing our feet off we headed up to a restaurant on the beach for happy hour (in Peru, happy hour is at least 8 hours, if not the entire day) and enjoyed the sunset.

There was a lot of really cool street art

Great friends, great views, great drinks (I had water lol)

After wandering around a little more we found the amazing Gringo Bar!! This is where we spent the majority of our night out. Cheap drinks, a cool english/spanish-speaking bartender, american music, and taquitos made for the best night out so far!!


Sunday was my day of rest, finally. My host parents invited me to go to one of her sister's houses. This was a lost in translation moment on my part, because I assumed we would be going to the sister who is hosting my friend Emi. We end up driving out of town and I decide I now have no clue where I am going. We arrive at a birthday party of my host parent's niece. Everyone is really nice and the cake was delicious! Apparently, one of the sisters is moving to the USA next month and they were all asking me immigration questions- I know nothing about immigration. So with everyone talking over each other, someone across the room trying to ask me a question in spanish with so much extra stimuli going on, I really hope I did not share any incorrect information.

Classes have been going well, as well as spanish classes can go. Last night my host sister Thalia invited me to go to a pre-opening night party at a new club, since I don't have any classes on Friday I said why not! It was a lot of fun! Meeting her friends, they were all very nice and welcomed me and kept me included all night! Free drinks and new friends made for a great new experience!

Today we had lunch with some extended family and we had cheesy potatoes and pot roast. It tasted like home <3 (don't worry grandma, your cheesy potatoes will always win in my heart)

More interesting things:

• They eat weird. They cut the meat off of chicken legs. My family and I had tacos for dinner one night and I picked it up to take a bite, of course, my host dad gave me a weird look and I then noticed everyone was cutting them with a fork and knife. Lesson learned.
• Everyone in Peru is required to vote. Yes, even the indigenous folk up in the mountains. The bribing of these people who otherwise do not know or care for politics is how the country always gets bad leaders in power.
• Driving is crazy, as I already mentioned, but it is worth saying again for emphasis.
• Castellano, not Español. They don't call their language español here, they call it castellano in Latin America.
• My host dad just walked in my room and handed me some cheese he was eating. One of the most random moments ever haha, just thought it was something funny to share.
• LOMO SALTADO is the best. I will be learning to make it before I return
• Going off of the previous point, we found some food trucks in Jockey Plaza and one of them had sushi...sort of. Lomo saltado sushi= delicious and a great idea

• Lemonade is not lemonade, it is limeade. They do not have/know of lemons here, instead they call limes: limóns. This explains the odd color of the lemonade- it all makes sense now
• All fruit juices in bars and restaurants are fresh and tastes so much better than processed juice like in the US
• disclosure: I have not tried all fruit juices everywhere so I realize this is an assumption and exaggeration, do not hold me to my word. Thank you.
• Not peruvian but still interesting: every time I Skype with my mom she is convinced I am never returning. The verdict is still out on whether she is correct or not (but isn't the saying "mom's always right"?) ;)