Peruvian Graduation/Prom

Before coming to Peru, I always thought that Graduation Ceremonies and Prom were solely American things. Well I have since learned that Peru not only has lots of American food and companies, they also have Prom and a Graduation Ceremony. 

My school being as small as it is the graduation ceremony and the prom were to take place on one day back to back. 

I woke up on my prom day to a not so great message. My beautiful, wonderful, spectacular, awesome prom date’s hot mom had told her that she was no longer able to leave the house until around 4:30. This definitely was not good news, as I not only had to do her makeup, traffic would be horrible, which would put us being unbelievably late to my prom and graduation ceremony. Gracie (my prom date) and Elsbeth (a friend for the Netherlands) and I had all wanted to get ready together for our prom. So, after Elsbeth and I got the news from Gracie that she couldn’t get ready with us, we did the next best thing, and got our butts to La Molina (a district of Lima very far from the center of Lima). 

Elsbeth and I ended up getting in a taxi to Gracie’s house a bit late (with some yummy wafers in tow). Me, knowing that we were going to be cutting it close on time, started getting ready in the car. Upon arrival to Gracie’s house, I finished my hair and makeup as fast as possible before attacking Gracie’s face with some makeup brushes. After makeup we whipped her hair into shape before all three of us rushed into a taxi being very late. 

Originally, the plan was that Gracie and I would go back to my house so that my host mom and family could see us and take pictures. However, after getting into the taxi Gracie and I decided that we should get out at a shopping mall close to my school (we literally would have went past where we needed to be and then had to come back. So instead, we decided to get out of the car on a one of Lima’s busy streets in our prom dresses and heels so that we wouldn’t be late.

Here is the thing. Being a foreigner in Lima, you get stared at. Being two foreigners in Lima, you get even more stares. Being two foreigners in Lima in prom dresses gets even more stares (especially when one of the foreigners in blond and very tall). Nonetheless we made it past all the Peruvians and their stares and into a nearby shopping mall so that we could look for bobby pins. This meant that Gracie and I (in our prom dresses) went around the mall searching for bobby pins and getting lots of stares (and some compliments). 

After walking around the mall and getting stared at, we both decided we should probably leave the mall and start walking toward the hotel where the prom was. But before we started our journey to the hotel, Gracie graciously took some photos of me in front of a grocery store…

We somehow ended up making it to the hotel in time after walking through Lima in giant heels. The hotel was very nice, and Gracie and I were right on time. After giving some information, Gracie and I waited for Jeanne and Tiia to arrive. Tiia came with her date first Jared (from Canada) and we all took some pictures. After the quick photos, Tiia and I said a goodbye to our dates and went into a separate room so that we could try on our graduation gowns. 

Once the gowns were in place, we all got in line and got ready to walk for graduation. The exchange students were all last, and then arranged in alphabetical order. This meant that Tiia was to go first, then me, and finally Jeanne. However, after Tiia’s name was called they called Jeanne’s name, which was a little embarrassing as I had already had started to walk through the door. Nonetheless my “name” (or something resembling my actual name) was called and I walked out to join my classmates for our graduation ceremony. 

The ceremony in all honesty was very boring with speeches and a few songs. Nonetheless, eventually, we all got our diplomas and our yearbooks. Except, our yearbooks were very screwed up. First off, they all had our pictures on the front. Honestly I couldn’t help but laugh, the photo company must have thought that I looked so ugly in my picture that they photoshopped me to the point where I was unrecognizable. It was also pointed out to me that while I had received the book with my face on it, I had Jeanne’s name on my book. Jeanne had received a book with her face and my name, which was spelled wrong. Additionally, any time my name was written in the book it was spelled completely wrong. And finally, as if the yearbooks couldn’t be any worse, in our class photos, the same girl’s photo appeared 3-4 times, replacing other girls in the class.  

The yearbooks were so horrendous that it was comical (what else could we do). However, the school ended up collecting the yearbooks after the ceremony to have them fixed (still haven’t gotten my yearbook back). Just after the ceremony ended, we all got to throw our caps off our heads before joining our dates at the tables. 

Once at the tables we laughed, joked, and ate our dinner. Once the music started, none of the Peruvians got up to be the first ones dancing. This meant that Jeanne, Gracie, Jared, Joshua (Jeanne’s date), and I all got up to open the dance floor. This is something I never thought I would do, especially in South America. But we all got the dance floor going and had our own fun. I quickly learned how hard it is to properly dance in a long dress, but also learned how to make it work. The night ended up being a good memory with my fellow exchange students and the few friends (like 3) I had made in school. 

Journey to Pachacamac

Pachacamac is a city outside of Lima. The city itself is not one of wealth, which is what led the exchange students there. Specifically, we were headed to a school so that we could plant trees and later we would head into the city center to give out wheelchairs. While our time at the school was fairly brief, it was certainly an overwhelming experience. We started off by introducing ourselves and singing each national anthem. After this we sang the Peruvian national anthem with the students (in typical Peruvian fashion). Once we were all done singing, the exchange students watched a gymnastics routine of sorts that the students had prepared for us. While it was fairly simple, it was obvious that the students had spent a lot of time working and practicing. Moments of the routine were difficult to watch, as the boys were tumbling and jumping over each other. Another performance was done by young girls in polka dotted skirts. They pranced around shaking their little hips. The final performance of the students was a traditional dance in which the women have ropes and make sorts of bird calls (I don’t know how else to describe them) while the men prance around. After the students were done performing, if was the exchange students’ turn. We performed one dance routine that we had prepared for the night of talents. We were originally going to perform more, but we couldn’t get the audio to work. Once all the performances had been concluded, the exchange students were given food prepared by the students and people from the town. At first it was small chocolate snacks, but it quickly evolved into bigger meals of chicken, noodles, and beans. While I was eating with Gracie (USA) and Els (The Netherlands) and I began talking with a girl who had a deck of cards. Before I knew it, we were playing a card game, pretty soon after that, we had a small crowd of children playing or watching us play. Only a small amount of time had passed before we were told we had to stop playing. We all thought we were leaving, so I headed toward the bus. Turns out we weren’t, we were simply beginning to plant the trees. I never got to planting a tree however, as around this time all of the students began swarming the exchange students wanting us to sign things. I signed papers, games, school uniforms, ties, jackets, arms, and hands. I took pictures with people, with my flag, and even just posed so that someone could have my poster. It was so overwhelming not only to have swarms of kids desperately trying to get you to sign something or to take a photo, but crazy to think about. I have yet to do something spectacular with my life, yet these kids acted like we were superstars. All because we were from a different country. Eventually we were done planting the trees, taking photos and signing things, so we all said goodbyes to the children that we would never see again. 

The next stop on our agenda was to go to the city center and give out some wheelchairs. After the assembly and the handing out of the wheelchairs, I met a baby. Now this might not sound that abnormal, but this baby was the happiest baby I have ever met. She was very small, but able to sit up and hold her head (which was covered in thick black hair). She smiled and laughed when you talked to her, and beamed when you kissed her little cheeks. She also happened to be an orphan. It’s been a while since the Pachamac trip, and I still think about this little happy baby. But after holding her for a little bit, we all had to leave the little nugget to her caretaker and board the buses. We weren’t headed home however, we had one final stop for the day. What else would we do but see another ruin? This particular ruin was huge. We quickly toured it, made it to the top of the giant hill, took some pictures, and then headed back to buses. Everyone was exhausted and wanted to make it back to Lima so that we didn’t all get stuck in horrible traffic. 

Trip to Oxapampa (Days 2 & 3)

Saturday 28, 2017

After waking up on Saturday and getting around, all of the students boarded the bus and headed to the first stop on our tour of Oxapampa. Before heading to Oxapampa, I was told that the area was known for its milk and cheese, making it no surprise to me that the first stop on the tour was a dairy farm.

Needless to say, I was a little less impressed by the dairy farm than the other exchange students, as a dairy farm is a normal part of my Indiana life. It was however, quite interesting to have things explained in Spanish. During the tour I got a cow to lick my tongue (which may sound weird), making the rest of my day (who doesn’t love a cow tongue?). The other exchange students also seemed impressed that I knew the types of cows at the dairy farm (S/o to my bestie Kiah for teaching me the names). For anyone wondering, the name of a Brown Swiss cow is the same in Spanish :)

After the tour, we all got to sample the different types of cheeses made there, and had an opportunity to buy them. While many of the cheeses were delicious, I ended up buying cream cheese, just to get a little taste of home (my mom cooks with cream cheese all the time). After the dairy tour, we headed to the next leg, a little talk about local coffee.

During the coffee length of the tour, we learned about the coffee beans grown, and got to sample some of the goods. We also had the opportunity to buy frozen coffee popsicles, which were not only delicious, but nice to have in the heat of the jungle (your northern girl can only take so much). 

Popsicles in hand, we headed into the actual jungle. We went through some weeds, crossed a little creek, and ducked through some wire fencing. Once through our natural obstacle course, we stood in a little clearing. Some of the vegetation was explained before we gathered around a giant tree to hug it and chant something.

After the tree hugging, we all headed back out to where we started the tour, boarded the bus, and headed to our next destination, a small community of locals still practicing the ancient traditions. Here, we watched dances, participated in dances, ate lunch, had the opportunity to buy the handmade crafts, and learned how to shoot some “arrows”. One of the men living in the community, was from France (or lived in France, didn’t really catch it all) and was able to speak fluent French (a little shocker). 

After our lunch of chicken and potato, we went to a place where liquor was crafted from sugarcane. The process did not spell that great, but it was nonetheless and interesting process. We even got to sample some of the liquor. The first drink was quite delicious, a good blend of fruit and alcohol. We also tried some honey before moving on to the main stuff, shots. Felix (a Rotarian) showed us all a little thing to do before taking shots, which I was the first to do as I was given the first shot. Don’t ask me why the unexperienced American was taking the first shot, but I gave it my all. The alcohol was very potent, and I know this wasn’t just because I’m a rookie, but because my European companions were also making some faces. 

Next on the tour we all went to a sort of rodeo. This is when I thought I had truly returned back home. There were giant fields, cows, farm dogs, horses, and even American country music playing. The only distinct difference was the giant hills covered in trees of the rainforest. Here, the exchange students got to watch some games and participate in them as well. The first was a game that had Peruvians on horses. In their hands were darts that they were trying to use to penetrate ribbons hanging from an archway. In order to penetrate the ribbon, the horses had to be running very fast and the riders had to stand up a bit (an exciting combination). 

The next game was a sign of strength. It was a classic teamwork to cut a log in half. Everyone took part in this games, as it was not only something you got to do with a friend, it was also a race. I ended up participating with Gracie (South Carolina) and we ended up winning. The next game was to lift a very heavy hammer and to nail a stake into the ground. I personally skipped on this game, as I knew that my little arms were not lifting that hammer. After we got the stake a little bit into the ground, we moved on to the next game, which was to pull a weight up using a polley. I tried to do this by myself, epically failed, and went back to do it with Gracie and Els (Netherlands). 

During the entire time at the farm, I had been playing with a new found love, the cutest puppy ever. I was a little sad to leave my new friend, not going to lie. Nonetheless, eventually I had to say goodbye to my newfound love. We then boarded the buses and headed back to the hotel. 

Sunday 29, 2017

The next morning we all woke up, ate breakfast, got our luggage around, and boarded the buses. The destination for the day was an exciting one, as we knew we were headed to go swim in some waterfalls. The drive was fairly uneventful, and we eventually arrived to some cold waterfalls and with a cloudy sky. The majority of us were already in our swimsuits, so upon arrival we all stripped and got into the water. 

In all honesty, the water was fairly cold in the beginning, but after a few minutes, we all started to adjust to the icy water (or at least some of us did). We all swam around and took tons of photos, before all the exchange students had to get out so we could take group photos with our flags.

After the photos, a few students got back into swim, while the others (including myself), ventured back to go change and dry off. After we had all gotten dried off, we boarded the bus again and went back to the hotel. After arrival in the hotel, we were supposed to quickly grab our bags and then leave. However we ended up waiting and talking for a long time, not only delaying our return back to Lima, but meaning we all got several mosquito bites from the jungle (very fun). 

Trip to Oxapampa (Day 1)

Friday 27, 2017

At the lovely hour of 1 am, all of the exchange students who were invited met in San Borja to board our buses and begin the journey to Oxapampa. After a taxi ride with my host mother (she didn't want me in the city alone at night), I was able to board the bus and see all my friends. We were all very excited but of course tired as well, so as soon as the bus started going, we all fell asleep pretty quickly (or attempted to, I don't think anyone really slept that well).

When we awoke the next morning, we were in the jungle. The bus was definitely hotter than the night before and the scenery was longer a city landscape. The majority of the towns or civilizations we were passing were not only smaller but blatantly poor. We were supposed to arrive around 10, but we didn't actually arrive until around noon, meaning the majority of the exchange students went back to sleep.

Upon our arrival, the other exchange students and I were fairly surprised with our accommodations. Before coming I had thought we would be staying in something similar to a hostel, boy was I wrong. We ended up staying in an awesome little cabins. In my cabin was Elsbeth (Netherlands), Gracie (USA), Arianna (Italy), Appoline (France), and Emily (USA). In my opinion, we got the coolest cabin. Not only was it very large, but it had a jacuzzi (we couldn't use it) and it was where the Prima Dama de Perú stays when she visits Oxapampa.

After we got settled in our rooms, we headed out to explore the grounds of the hotel (they were pretty large). Before long, we all went to go eat lunch. For lunch, we were eating the classic foods of the area (cheese and sausages/meats that weren't chicken). We also got a taste of the strong German influence on the area, with some traditional Bavarian dances going on as we ate. Of course, some of the exchange students had to join in.

After we finished lunch, we brought out the things of food we had all collected to donate along with the wheelchairs to everyone. After packing up all the bags, we set them aside to rehearse our number that we would also be performing for the event. Afterwards, we all loaded the buses with our bags and set off to the city center to the event.

Once we arrived we stared assembling all of the wheelchairs. Within a little time, all of wheelchairs were assembled and we were ready to go. We ended up getting all lined up with our flags and having our names announced. We all received medals in gratitude along with a certificate. Afterwards, we all went back to the wheelchairs so we could begin giving them out. Once everyone had received their wheelchairs, we performed our dance (a success). On our way back up to the stage, we received some more gifts from the lovely people of Oxapampa, a cowboy hat and a wall decoration.

After everyone had a wheelchair, we set off in a parade around the town to celebrate with the town. We carried our flags and waved at the people as we went. The most memorable part of parade for me was the joy on a 10-year olds face as him and his dad played around with the boy's wheelchair.

After the parade, we all rejoined the stage. Sara (Italy) gave a speech on the behalf of the exchange students and Madelaine (France) read a poem. We then watched some more traditional German dances, before we were all invited to join them down below. Me being me, I got a an ambitious partner, who chose to drag me into the middle twice to dance. This wasn't booty shaking dancing, this was dancing that involved my feet leaving the air because my partner and another boy from a different couple linked arms and twirled us into the air for a solid 15 seconds. I won't forget the look of panic I sent Tiia before my feet left the ground. And of course, I went a second time, although it was a different technique. After I was done being thrown into the air, we continued the dancing until the party ended. We then took pictures with the dancers before we all went to the hotel and called it a night.

Days with Tiia

As mentioned quite a few times on my blog, Tiia is one of my best friends. Not only is she the sweetest person I know, she is the cutest and the coolest. This is why I called upon her to do something very important with me. We only had school for three days that week, so on our days off, we decided to explore more of the city that we love so much. But more importantly, I enlisted Tiia to help me on my quest to find Mexican food in Lima.

You might be wondering why the heck I want to eat Mexican food when I live in Perú. And while that is definitely a valid question, the answer is that Mexican food is delicious and I eat it all the time in the United States. Which means having been in Perú for some time, I have grown to miss my enchiladas, tacos, and everything delicious that comes from the blessed southern neighbor of the U.S.. With that said, Tiia and I decided to embark to San Isidro to not only get some Mexican food, but to see some new aspects of our city.

Tiia arrived to my house a bit later than intended (I think all the exchange students here are adapting to that part of the culture), which meant I was close to starving by the time my girl arrived. After checking our bus routes, we walked to what we believed to be the correct bus stop. We were wrong, as after we got on the bus, we realized we were going the wrong direction. Not worried, we just hopped of the bus and crossed the street to take another. Now I know which direction takes me to San Isidro and which direction doesn't. After a quick little bus ride, Tiia and I hopped of the bus and walked to through a park of olive trees. Eventually, we arrived at the Mexican restaurant, where we quickly were sat down and served. Not knowing what to eat, we settled on Tacos and Nachos (quite basic I know, but we wanted to start easy).


After a satisfying lunch, we decided to head to a pre-Incan ruin that was located only a few blocks away. The after arriving, we paid 5 soles to enter and then read up on the history. The ruin was really cool and very out of place in San Isidro (the most commercialized and leading district of industry in Lima). Tiia was impressed with my reading skills, as we stopped to read the signs and I finished it apparently way too quickly. I read the sign and moved on to the next one, but when Tiia joined me at the second sign, she asked if I had actually read the whole thing. I of course had, but it still made me laugh a bit. We ended up taking pictures of the ruin, before heading on to the next thing.

That next thing ended up being a Starbucks so that we could get wifi. We needed the wifi to locate our bus and bus stop. After getting our drinks and the wifi, we headed back to our bus stop, which was through the park of olive trees. Tiia and I wanted to take pictures on the olive trees, so I sat down on a branch of one and was posing when we got whistled at by a patrolman of the park. Not knowing what to say, Tiia just talked to me in Finnish and I pretended to talk in Finnish until we passed him. It worked, as he didn't stop us for sitting on the trees. After that, we made it to the bus stop and got safely back to my house.

The next day, Tiia and I got up and went to explore some of the shops close to my house. I would describe these as thrift shops. You can get really good deals for clothing, and get some cool clothing pieces. As mentioned before, Tiia is the coolest person I know, not only because she can dance like no one's business, but because she can wear the coolest clothes and pull them off. This is how I knew Tiia was the one to take with me to go thrifting.

After getting around Tiia and I walked in the general direction of the shops. After finding our first one, we struck gold when Tiia found a jacket straight out of the 80's or 90's. Personally, I could have never had pulled it off or even picked up the jacket, but Tiia being Tiia, looked suave. After she paid 40 soles, we headed back to a park nearby my house to meet up with our friend Isaac (Peruvian). Once meeting Isaac, we sat in the park and talked, while enjoying the sunshine. We also listened to some Reggaeton, both mine and Isaac's favorite music (Isaac is a really good singer so this is how we bonded).

After our Reggaeton session, Tiia and I decided that we wanted Cinnabon, and so we all set out for around a 1.5 mile walk to a different district of Lima (actually walked through two) until we got to a nearby shopping mall in San Isidro. Once we made it, we got our Cinnabon and sat down to enjoy. Isaac told me (a now normal occurrence) that I eat a lot of sugar and that I am going to die because of it. We also discussed what we could do after our Cinnabon treats, and decided to go for Isaac's suggestion, see a movie. That day happened to be the day of movies, meaning we only had to pay 5 soles to watch a movie (Under 2 dollars). While Isaac could not join us, he did make  sure we paid for the theater and got in safe and sound :) So, after saying goodbye to our Peruvian companion, Tiia and I set off to go watch our film (it was a children's film about a Condor, a type of bird). While I didn't understand all of the film, I understood enough to follow and to enjoy it. After our movie, Tiia and I set back to my house before she went home.

Visting a School/Interact

On one lucky Wednesday during the week, I was able to skip school with the other students in my Rotary club to go visit a primary school. The school is in the district of Pueblo Libre (the same district of my Rotary club). This not only meant that I got to sleep in, but I got to hang out with some of my good friends. Renato (my host cousin) and I located my Rotary Club and I got dropped off. All of the students in my club Emma (France), Dominik (Germany), Malin (Wisconsin), and Jeanne (France) eventually got their as well. After everyone arrived, we all set out to the school in Violeta's car. Here is Perú, it doesn't matter how small the car is and how many people there are, you just make it work. Thankfully, the drive to the school was fairly short. After we arrived, we were greeted by the school staff and a cute banner that had been made by the kids. We then were all directed to the right, where a make shift auditorium had been assembled, meaning chairs were all gathered around for the students and parents to use.

While Malin, Emma, and Jeanne all chose the sit in chairs, Dominik and I sat on the bench that was built into the wall (it went the entire length of the wall). We initially sat here because they had to go get us more chairs, but once sitting down, we were sprung on by the surrounding children. The first initial questions were about the Rotary jackets. Mine being more covered than Dominik's, I received the most questions and grabs from children. After that, questions started. Personally, I love talking to children in Spanish for two reasons:

1. Their Spanish is much more basic and they use a smaller vocabulary

2. Their Spanish is very clear to me and they don't use slang

My conversation in Spanish started off with the two girls sitting next to me. They had many questions (Where I was from, how old was I, I could speak English, etc.). But they also had so many questions about my Rotary jacket (Where were all the pins from, had I been to all those places, etc). After the initial basic questions passed, the girls started asking me how to say things in English. While it started off with colors (the older of the two girls told me she knew that a pin on my jacket was blue), it somehow morphed into names. While there are a few names in Spanish that have English equivalents, the majority do not. I honestly think that this confused the girls a little bit as both of their names had no equivalents, but their classmate Jorge (who one of the girls told me is crazy) had the English name George. During these conversations, Dominik and I were both asked repeatedly if we wanted to sit in the chairs that had been brought for us, which we both declined, as we were having too much fun being questioned.

Eventually the questions died down and the show began. A few were singing and quite a few were dancing. I quite enjoyed the dancing ones, as they were dancing to remixes of songs I knew. It was also a little insightful as to how Latino/as are raised, and that is, dancing from a young age. The girls in the primary school were already learning how to shake their little hips quite well if I do say so myself.

There also happened to be a little boy that was dressed as a little mime. He however, was terrified to go and perform. I felt horrible for him, as he looked like he was going to vomit and he kept running away from the stage. Eventually, his friends and the teacher convinced/dragged him on stage. He happened to be quite good at his little magic act, and after getting past his stage fright, he performed well. He did; however, run as fast as he could off the stage when he was done, only to be greeted by tons of students who congratulated him.

The magic was the last act, and afterwards the exchange students, Rotarians, and school officials all met in a little room. While I don't really know what was being said, we did get to eat little sweets. While American sweets will probably always be number one in my eyes, we were all starving at this point, and gladly took what we were given. After the quick little meeting, we went to one of the classrooms and introduced ourselves to the students. While there are times I am not always proud of my country and the decisions we make, nothing can describe the feeling you get when children get excited I'm from the United States. It goes to show you how present American things are around the world and how far we have reached into other countries. Every time I tell a child I am from the United States, the incredulity on their faces and in their voices is something that makes my heart happy (and the French a little salty that their country doesn't have the same effect).

After the classroom, we all returned to Violeta's (my counselor and a Rotarian) car. We crammed in, drove back to the Rotary club and then all clambered out. Knowing we had a few more meetings before lunch, we all headed to a nearby convenience store. We all ended up buying a liter of ice cream to all share (we make healthy choices), before heading back to the club building. We all sat down and started eating, before Jeanne (French) and I were pulled away to help set up for the Rotary. Emma (France) quickly joined, and we ended up moving pop and cutting cake. Afterwards we returned to eat a bit more ice cream.

After polishing off the ice cream, we talked with some Rotarians and other people about our exchange thus far. The discussion wasn't that long, and included quite a bit head nodding from me, but eventually we wrapped it up. After the discussion, all of the exchange students once again left with Violeta for a more important thing, lunch. We went and got Pollo a la Brasa (Rotisserie Chicken and French fries dipped in Ají or Mayonnaise with a salad on the side). We talked a bit more about the Rotary events our club would be doing while we ate. Afterwards, we all went to back to Violeta's house to figure out what to do next. After some discussion, we decided to all take the micro to Plaza San Miguel (a large shopping center in Pueblo Libre). Here, we all got coffee, looked around Ripley's (department store), and got churros. Eventually, we all headed back to Violeta's/Emma's house. Jeanne and I ended up calling for a taxi to take us to a different part of Lima for our first Interact meeting.

Jeanne and I's taxi driver to our Interact meeting seemed fine and normal at first. By no means was he dangerous (we only take taxis through a Rotary recommended app that does background checks on our drivers), but after we asked him to crank up the radio, he knew we weren't from Peru. He then started to ask us questions, all of which lead to him asking us if we were religious. After we both told him know, this opened up a giant conversation that I didn't particularly want to be a part of. So instead, I got to silently send moral support to Jeanne for 15 minutes as she argued with the driver about why she didn't need to pray or be religious. He never fully understood her, so he turned to me instead. This is when I gave him the most basic and watered down version of why I am not religious. But instead of arguing with me, he simply said okay and continued on. This was not only a bit comical, but made Jeanne a little angry. Personally, I think he could tell from my response my Spanish wasn't that great, so he just gave up. Nonetheless, he didn't receive a very good rating from us on the app.

After we found the location of the interact building, we went up and had our first meeting. We (meaning a ton of exchange students), were all inducted in. There were also three presentations given, two from exchange students (Italy and France), and one from a Rebound. During his presentation, the rebound started to cry when he looked at photos of his friends. This proceeded to make everyone else almost start crying or cry (my eyes were pretty watery). After the meeting, we all talked with Charo and Henry a bit before we all left and headed home.

Final Day of our Trip

25 September 2017

After blessedly getting a decent night’s sleep, we all rose the next morning for a hotel breakfast. I showered before heading upstairs for a very picked over breakfast. The poor hotel was not prepared for the might of so many hungry exchange students, and they were very behind on getting food out to all of us. After waiting a decent time and getting my hands on a small breakfast, I headed back down to my hotel room to wash my face, etc. However, upon my return to the hotel room, I realized that we know longer had water in our hotel room. This posed a problem, so I ended up returning to the 5th floor so that I could grab a cup of hot water. I then returned to my room, let the water cool down a bit, and then washed my face/brushed my teeth from a tea cup of water. Needless to say, I was very thankful that I had already taken a shower. After headed down to the lobby, I discovered that not only had I not had water, many students no longer had water in their rooms. 

Thankful we were all checking out, we put our luggage into storage before heading out to explore Cusco for a few hours. We all first headed to a museum that was originally built by the incas before it was taken and modified by the Spaniards. Inside was beautiful, with many incredible paintings. Sadly, we were unable to take pictures of many parts of the museum (eg. The paintings). After our tour, we were then all able to go out on our own. I ended up walking around with Nadja (Switzerland), Salome (Switzerland), and Malin (Wisconsin).

We first went to the Plaza de Armas so that we could not only take pictures, but so we could exchange money. We then walked around before we decided to ask someone where the closest grocery store or supermarket was. After we got directed in the wrong direction a few times, we finally walked several blocks until we reached a market, not a supermarket. The two are very different. Markets are much more packed and disorganized, but are fairly cheaper. Supermarkets are cleaner and more pricy. We ended up going to both, as we purchased all of our dry goods (dried sweet potatoes and dried corn) in the market, but went to a nearby grocery for pre-packaged things (Oreos, etc.). After going back and forth between the market and grocery store a few times, we finally got everything we needed and were able to head back. Along the way, we stopped to buy some patches and some bracelets to remember Cusco by. We made it back to the hotel just in time. After our arrival we said our goodbyes and boarded the bus to go to a bus station that would get us back to Lima. 

Machu Picchu

24 September 2017

We all woke up very early, ate another mediocre hotel breakfast, and then all started walking past the restaurants and down to the town square. We then waited a bit with the town statue, before we continued on the road toward Machu Picchu. The walk was right by a river and had stunning views…

After a while we arrived and began the hike. Sabrina and I had previously thought we were going to take the bus up to the top, but after fearing we would regret not walking up the trail, we decided to stick it out together. The walk was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was however not really easy, as it was over 1000+ stairs. The stairs were also in the jungle, meaning it was humid and wet. So while I am happy I chose to walk, it was a cake walk. Sabrina and I ended up walking up with Marion and Pierre (Belgium). Our method to hiking was to go up as far as possible before sitting down and taking a break. I also put on music and started dancing on the way up. While I didn’t have any energy, it was better for me to get hyped up while walking so I didn’t acknowledge my exhaustion. 

Once we got to the top, we all paid to use the restroom, stamped our passports, and of course took photos with them. We then all split into groups based on language. While I am beginning to understand more Spanish, I went with the English group. When touring Machu Picchu, you want to understand what is going on. As we were entering, we had to have our passport and tickets ready. However, Sabrina couldn’t find her ticket, so she ended up getting separated from our group. This meant that we spent around 10 minutes waiting for her, until we were told be the authorities we had to leave. After leaving her behind, we went up some more stairs before we got our first real view of Machu Picchu…except as I learned from the tour, it wasn’t Machu Picchu. The mountain we were climbing was Machu Picchu, which meant the mountain we were viewing with the wonderful ruins was Wayna Picchu. I felt like I had been lied to my entire life, but nonetheless, the views were stunning. 

We continued to climb higher-up the mountain and take photos before we stopped with the other exchange student groups. Here we quickly posed with all of our flags (we weren’t supposed to have our flags out, not really sure why not). After taking those important photos, the tours split back up again, and we went back to the tour. 

We continued climbing higher, before going back down to view and tour the actual ruins…

After the tour, all the students had to exit Machu Picchu before we could reenter and stay. This meant we all left, used the bathroom, and then reentered. When I reentered, I went with Nadja and Salome (Swiss). We decided to climb to a part with a great view and not a lot of people to take some more pictures…

Here we also met with some other students, all of with we took some more pictures…

We then all went back down, took more photos, before going to try and find a llama to take photos with. After our llama photos, we sat on the grass and admired Machu Picchu, it was honestly the most beautiful and magical thing I have ever seen. There was something about the entire place that was serene, beautiful, calm, and peaceful. After our break, we all decided it was time to move on with our day (we needed some real food). 

As we were exiting Machu Picchu, we ran into some Rotarians from Belgium that were also there to visit the wonderful destination. We talked with them a bit, before we headed down. Sabrina, Tiia, and I all walked down for the first bit. After doing so many stairs that day, everyone’s legs had started to shake. So we decided we would take the road up, a longer, but easier path. We conversed as we walked, but when we got to the next staricase, Sabrina and I decided to take it. Our legs were shaking pretty bad at this point, and while the stairs were more difficult, they were much quicker. We ended up with Girdeon (Austria). We all had a conversation about refugees (Girdeon’s family had Afghan refugees living with them and Sabrina’s parents are both Afghan). It was a really cool conversation, and helped me get some insight on the refugees in Austria. 

After what seemed like a walk forever, we finally got back to the hotel. By now, Sabrina and I had convinced ourselves that we deserved ice cream for walking up all those stairs. We ate lunch and then found Macie, bought a 1 liter tub of ice cream, walked to the Plaza, and ate it all. We talked and enjoyed the views before we headed back to the hotel. We gathered our things and then all walked to the train station. On the train ride back, we all talked and enjoyed our final glimpses of the magical Machu Picchu. 

Once we arrived in Cusco, we got the blessed news that we wouldn’t have to wake up early the next day. So, exhausted, we all got our rooms and went to bed. 

A Day of Incan Ruins

22 September 2017

After waking up and eating a hotel breakfast of the typical things (bread and fruit), all the students loaded the bus for our day of looking at Incan ruins. We were only in the bus for a short while before we stopped at the first place. Before entering, we all received our tickets with our names on them. However, seeing as some of the students had forgotten their ISIC cards (myself included), we had tickets with other student’s names. After I got my ticket (I was Olivia Moore), we all entered the ruins. I was walking with Anna and Courtney until Courtney got winded from going up the hill. I then had to go back down the hill to tell Charo and Henry (Exchange student coordinator and his wife) that Courtney couldn’t walk anymore, was feeling sick, and needed to go to the bus. After we got Courtney all situated, we continued on to the ruins. By then, we had missed what the guide had said, and had to get a quick refresh from the other students.

After the Tambomachay (first ruin), we went to Q’enqo. While we got a tour of the ruins, two unsupervised children started climbing the ruins like they were a playground. This was very distracting and concerning, so two students ended up removing them from the ruins (we had no idea where their parents were), before telling them off. Afterwards, the tour of the ruins continued. 

In the ruins was a table where sacrifices were performed. While this was interesting, it was more fascinating that the stone table was MUCH colder than the surrounding walls and atmosphere. Also with these ruins was a natural stone slide, which all the students had fun going down.

After these ruins we headed to Sexy Woman, or as it actually is Saqsayhuaman (sounds like Sexy Woman a bit). Here we got lots of information about the ruins, as they had been very important. There was a lighting temple and a sun temple (although both had been destroyed by the Spainards). The rocks that constructed the ruins were also a mystery, as they were not from any of the nearby surrounding mountains. This mean that they would have had to been relocated, but the rocks were so large and the Inca’s weren’t that advanced. The theory I believed was that there had once been a mountain or hill where the ruins stood, that had been dug away at by the Inca’s to form the temple. Martin (Chezch Republic) suggested aliens, but I wasn’t buying it. After we walked Saqsayhuaman, we went to the top, where we had an amazing view of Cusco…

Afterwards, we went and had lunch in the city. The next stop on our tour after lunch was the most fertile valley of Perú, which as you can imagine, was beautiful…

It was also very close to our next destination, Pisac. Pisac was not only the sight of many Incan graves, many of which were disturbed, but also had a great view of the valley (once you climbed it)…

Once we had turned Pisac, we ended up going to a jewelry store (not really sure why but). It was very interesting, as we got to learn how everything was made. In particular, this jewelry store specialized in using precious gems in the jewelry. Many of the pieces were related to Peru in someway, and all were very beautiful. Not to mention, you could fetch lots of them for a decent price…

The jewelry store was the last stop of the day, if you don’t count the tourist shops we visited right outside the jewelry shops. Afterwards we returned to the hotel. We all sat in confusion, as we didn’t really know what was going on for Machu Picchu. We eventually got the real information, and packed our bags for the next day and the days following. 

Montaña de Siete Colores

21 September 2017

The next day, we all woke up at 2:30 in the morning and got around as quickly as possible. We were definitely all exhausted, but nonetheless made our way down to the lobby. I attempted to eat a piece of bread, but ended up just sitting there exhausted before we all boarded the buses to get to the rainbow mountains. They were roughly 3 hours away from the city of Cusco, so we all attempted to fall back asleep on the bus (harder than you think). The bus ride was through mountains and was therefore not at all smooth, meaning the bus was shaking and jumping all the time. However, everyone succeeded in getting a little sleep before we eventually all arrived. Upon arrival, we all used the bathrooms before some students decided to take horses and others chose to walk. I chose to walk instead of taking a horse, and so I set off with other students to get to the mountains.

The hike to the rainbow mountains was the hardest thing I have ever done physically. The altitude of the mountains made the air very thin, meaning after only walking a short distance I was out of breath. The walk to the mountains wasn’t short either, the walk was roughly 3 hours to get there. The views along the way definitely made the walk a little easier…

When I was almost to the top, I had to give in and use a horse. It only cost 5 soles, which was honestly worth it seeing as I thought it would do me in to go up another hill. Plus I got to say I went horseback riding at the Rainbow Mountains. So after my poor horse got me up the final hill, I set off to the final destination, the Rainbow mountain. After going up what felt like an impossible amount of steps, I made it to a platform with a great view of the mountain and a congratulating Charo…

After a break and some photos, I had the energy to climb the final mountain, with the best view of the beautiful colors…

After freezing my butt off (we were told it would be hot), I trekked back down the mountain with Courtney. We took some more photos, and ended up walking back with Nadja and Paul (Swiss and German). Courtney and I ended up explaining the U.S. legal system and the election results to Paul, who had decided to come for the U.S.. Along the way back to the buses, Courtney slipped and fell into horse poop, making a great memory. 

After we got back to the buses, we headed to lunch and back to the hotel. We then had two hours of rest (everyone needed them at that point), before we headed out for dinner. The dinner that night was at a traditional restaurant that had traditional dances. The dances were definitely interesting, as they had people in masks that resembled a devil and one dance included women whipping the men. It was also Olivia’s (Canada) birthday, so we all got to see the cake be smashed into her face (no one got to eat any after that). Afterwards, we all went back to the hotel exhausted. 

Arrival in Cusco!

20 September 2017

The next day, we rose early as usual. We had a hotel breakfast, before we boarded the buses and set off for Cusco. The drive to Cusco would have been long, but we stopped along the way to take breaks and to see tourist destinations. The first thing we stopped at was an famous Inca burial grounds. We walked up the hill and learned about how the graves had changed as years passed. The most recent graves were ones that looked like towers, but many of the graves had been destroyed by the Spaniards, earthquakes, and lightning. At the top of the hill was an incredible view of a famous Peruvian lake and island…

After we all took pictures, we walked back down to the buses. The next stop on the ride to Puno was some other Incan ruins. We arrived at the ruins, and walked around with our guide to learn some information. Once again, the Spainards had destroyed a lot of the Incan city, but we were still able to see the architecture, the storage, schools, houses, and trail of the Incas. Surrounding the ruins were tons of locals, some of who owned local shops. Once of the most impressive was a man who made pottery. His entire shop was filled to the brim with detailed pieces that he had all made by hand. While I didn’t buy anything, I did take some pictures…

After the pottery, Courtney and I headed back to the main part filled with all the little tourist shops. We walked around trying to find cheap bracelets, which we ended up suceeding in. The key to getting things cheap in bartering is walking away or pretending you aren’t interested anymore. So Courtney and I went up to a lady, and asked her how much it cost for bracelets we had been wanting for a few stops on the trips now. She told us 1 sole (.33). We asked her how much it would cost to buy all of them (29 bracelets). She told us 29 soles. We had been hoping she would cut us a deal, so we just shook our heads and walked away to the next table. As soon as we showed we weren’t interested she started calling us back, “Mis amigas, mis amigas, senoritas, senoritas, etc.). She then told us to name our price, and we told her 20 soles. She agreed, and before Courtney and I knew, we had the bracelets and were sprinting back to the honking buses (we were late). Everyone on the bus was very impresesed with our deal, especially the girl who had paid 5 soles for one bracelet the day before. 

We ended up finishing the drive and getting to our next hotel in Cusco exhausted. Nadja, Annie, and I all trekked up to our room and fell asleep as fast as possible for the next day’s adventure, rainbow mountain.

Floating Islands

19 September 2017

We woke up bright and early so that we could make our way to the boat on time. I woke up, finished packing, ate my pancakes and jam, and then said goodbye to my host family. We all then trekked down the giant hill to get to the boats, thinking we were late (we ended up being some of the first kids).

After the others joined our group, we all boarded the boats and set off for the next island. After about a hour and a half on the boats, we finally arrived at the island. We unboarded the boats, and all met with the guide. We then had a bathroom break before we started the hike. The hike was not easy, as we were once again climbing up a steep mountain/island thing.

Eventually, I made it to the center of the city (the final destination). We walked around, took pictures, and shopped a bit. We also got to learn about some of the history of the island from the tour guide. After a while, we all walked back down to the boats and headed for our next destination, the floating islands. 

The ride to the floating islands was a long one, but we eventually made it there. We all walked off the boats onto the islands, which kinda sunk underneath your steps. The people on the islands spoke an Incan language, but we nonetheless got a tutorial on how the islands were made and learned a few words. 

After the tutorial, we all took pictures, looked at items made by the islanders, and we all eventually went on a boat ride. I paid three soles for what I thought was a special boat ride, but it ended up not being anything different. We were told that we were going to go to the middle of the lake, where we could jump off, but we ended up just going to a separate island. Here, we once again shopped around at the islander goods, before returning to the original boats that would take us back to Puno. 

Once we arrived in Puno, we all headed back to the hotel and took showers.  We all then headed to Puno’s Rotary meeting. Here speeches were given by the Rotarians and Fred (the boy hosted in Puno). We all recieved pins as gifts from Puno’s Rotary as well. Afterwards, we had free time to explore Puno a little bit. We got food and shopped around. Tiia and I went on our own adventure and ended up walking in the wrong direction to get to the city center (the meeting spot). So we ended up asking a Peruvian lady who was super sweet. Then we all went to eat pizza before calling it a night. 

Going to School!

18 September 2017

The next day we woke up very early so that we could get to school. The girls and I ended up being late (not last though), because we couldn’t skip our breakfast of pancakes and strawberry jam. We also received necklaces of flowers from our host families. Once we arrived, we joined the other exchange students  before going to get into lines (typical Peruvian school). After we got into lines, some Peruvian students approached us to give us more necklaces of flowers. I was feeling pretty blessed after receiving two more necklaces from two Peruvian girls (some exchange students didn’t get any necklaces). After getting our flowers, we went and sang all of our national anthems. We also listened to the Peruvian anthem and speeches given. 

After the speeches were given, we all got into groups so that we could go to class with the Peruvians. I ended up getting put into the right class, art class. We went through and talked about traditional Peruvian instruments and then we went through all of the countries and talked about traditional instruments. This was a difficult task for me and my fellow American, as we literally had no idea what instrument was originating from America. We needed up choosing the washboard and a harmonica (not really sure if those are American). After that, the Peruvian boys played songs for us and sang in Quechua. All the students were asked to sing or do something in their counties, so Tiia rapped in Finnish and everyone else sang a song. According to Tiia, all the boys were staring at me a little shocked when I stared singing, and when Jeanne started to sing in French, one of the boys started to cry. Afterwards, the Peruvians took back over and we all got up to dance while they played and sang. 

Eventually our class ended, and we all got into new groups to start conquering our task, painting. We ended up sanding the walls, scraping off old paint, and painting the walls with fresh white paint. Our wall didn’t take that long, so my group ended up being done fairly quickly. This gave us time to go to the bathroom and to eat a lunch of oranges, cheese, potatoes, and little fish. The fish were whole fish (eyeball and guts) breaded and seasoned. While it tasted delicious, I could only manage to eat one. 

After lunch, I went with some other exchange students to approach the Peruvians, At first I was a little surprised they didn’t approach us. I thought that since most of the kids on the island would live there for the rest of their lives, they would have many questions for us. But after thinking about it and having someone suggest something I realized why they didn’t want to talk to us. Some kids were so nervous they couldn’t even tell us their names. The kids simply didn’t want to talk to us because they felt inferior. This honestly broke my heart, as everyone is a human and it doesn’t matter if you come from a first world country or third world country. 

So I along with a few others took it upon ourselves to go and try to talk to the Peruvians. While some still were so nervous and didn’t want to talk to us, we did find a group of girls who wanted to talk to us. They asked me if I sang, and so after they sang for me, I sang for them (in English and Spanish). It was really nice to just talk to people on the island and to hopefully teach them that everyone in the world is equal. 

After break, we finished up painting. We had a farewell speech and we all sang the cup song for the school. A lot of the students smiled and got a little emotional hearing us sing. After our song, a Peruvian student told us farewell in English. Then, my roommates and I found Papa Jorge and we walked back to the house for lunch. 

After lunch we had free time. At first my roommates and I thought we would go to the beach. However plans changed and I ended up going with a group of kids to go hike the other mountain of the island Pacha Mama. Pacha Mama was harder than Pachatata, but once again the views were simply stunning. 

After watching the sunset, I started my descent down the mountain. I went to go buy more water and then started the way to my house by myself. I thought I knew how to get there, but I ended up getting a little lost and a little freaked out. It was a lot easier to navigate the paths during the day, but I managed to calm myself down and make it home safely. I only knew the first names of my host parents, so I couldn’t ask anyone for help. Nonetheless, I made it safely back and went up to Gracie and Elsbeth’s room. We then talked with our little brother and waited for dinner to be ready. We learned how to say thank you in Quechua (Solpayki). 

During dinner, I was falling asleep, which my host family found hilarious. I fell asleep at the table, which put them over the edge, unable to control their laughter. They also asked us where we lived in Lima because our host dad had lived in Lima for 6 years. 

Afterwards, we all went our separate ways and packed/called it a night. 

Lago Titicaca/Amantaní

17 September 2017

We woke up early, ate hotel breakfast, and then headed onto the buses so we could be dropped off at Lake Titicaca. We had confusion between all the buses and who was sitting where, but eventually all issues were resolved and we made it to the lake. While the lake was stunning, it reminded me a lot of a Great Lake (only surrounded by different terrain). After we received our four bottles of water for the next few days, we carried our things to the boats waiting for us. I boarded with Sabrina and we climbed to the top of the boat…

Chezch Republic's finest, repping the flag!

Arrival on Amantaní

After a stunning and long boat ride (the boats went very slow), we finally arrived at our island. My first impression was that it was breathtaking and seemed very cut off from the world. We unloaded the boats and all gathered around to hear what Henry had to say. I had left something on the boat (go figure) and had to go back for it, so I missed most of what was said. However when I returned I dropped off my painting supplies and got in the line to be assigned roomates. I ended up rooming with Emily (USA), Gracie (USA), and Elsbeth (The Netherlands). After taking a picture with our host mom Juanita, we began the difficult journey to our house. By difficult, I mean tremendously hard, with us basically climbing a mountain just to get to our house. We stopped many times because we needed breaks, and we were all dropping things along the way. At one point Juanita jumped into the ditch to the side of the path to pick us all muña. Muña can be drank in tea or inhaled to help with the altitude anded breathing. Eventually our host dad, Papa Jorge came down with a cloth so he could help us carry all of our water bottles to the house. Eventually we were able to get to the house, where we met our adorable host brother.

Inside our house, the red bin to the left of the blue door was where the water for the toilet was.

I am forever grateful to have lived and stayed in the house I stayed in. The islands and my time in Lake Titicaca taught me so much. In the U.S. I always know that I am blessed to have what I have. But living with this family taught me that all of those things are not necessities. In this host family we had no running water. This meant that in order to do something as simple as flush the toilet, you had to scoop rainwater into the toilet until the toilet automatically flushed. This also meant that brushing your teeth or washing your face (completely normal things) took more effort. As for showering, it was possible, but all of us opted out on taking a shower. This was because when you scooped water into the toilet, it could sometimes splash up, meaning the floor had urine on it. None of this is meant to say that Peruvians are dirty people or that they have no hygiene, it’s simply to point out differences between my everyday life in Lima and my life in Amantaní. 

Another main difference between the island and my home in Lima is that Spanish was not spoken in the home. While my host family did speak Spanish, only Quechwa was spoken between the family members. Some families that had students didn’t speak Spanish, only Quechua. My family in Lima actually does speak Quechwa (it is my grandmother’s first language), but we speak Spanish in the home. Only my host mother and Tia Nely speak Quechwa fluently, while my host sisters know some basics and can understand it. Nonetheless, I am focusing on the Spanish for now, so I was pretty thankful that my family spoke Spanish. 

After our arrival, we all ate lunch with our host family, and bought some goods from them. 

Lunch, Quinoa soup with some veggies (we ate this more than once on the island)

The goods were a bit overpriced (not really expensive still), but we all felt a little pressured to buy from them, so I spent some money on a bracelet and something for my Rotary jacket. We then headed to the city center. 

Traditional clothing of the island (worn every day). 

Ignore the random Swiss in the front of the photo.

After everyone got there we began a climb the mountain. We were all tired from our previous climb to the house, but we somehow made it to the top of Pachatata. The climb was very difficult, and the exchange students all stopped often to catch our breath. However, while the climb was difficult, it was definitely worth it.  

Halfway up...break for pictures or because we were dying?

Almost there!

Made it without dying!

Smiling because I can breathe and take in the view!

Americans!

With my soulmate of a friend! 

The climb down was not only easier, but a lot quicker. All the exchange students went and hung around the plaza. I ended up going to buy some snacks, where I found Bon Bons. This is the closest I have yet found to a Reese’s, although Reese’s are way better, without a wafer shell and creamier Peanut butter. After snacks, we found Papa Jorge, who took us back to our house for dinner. After dinner we all put on traditional Peruvian clothing and headed down to the dance…

Acting like the serious Peruvians...

Going back to myself :))

The dance was tons of fun, and very very hot. I let loose a bit and my sash holding my skirt came off, meaning it had to be retied. A very nice Peruvian man retied my skirt for me, but he seemed to think I was much smaller than I am. My skirt was now tied very tight. The altitude already made it difficult to breath, add a tight skirt and dancing around without a care, and you are struggling a lot to breath. Nonetheless I had a great time, and danced in a circle of everyone with everyone watching. Dancing is growing on me in Peru (that is when I can breath). 

Sabrina and I :)

Adding Levi (Netherlands) to the mix!

After the dance let out, we all met back up with Papa Jorge, who graciously untied my skirt for me after I had to sit down so I could attempt to get oxygen to my lungs. After that, we trekked back up the difficult path to our house, and after figuring out how to wash our faces and brush our teeth, we all went to bed.