Ica/Independence Day

My mama woke me up around 8 am and handed me a glass of something. I had gone to bed the previous night around 3 am (blogging btw). I was asleep standing up so I had no idea what she handed me, but I just took it and got ready for the day (thinking we were leaving for Ica). I ended up drinking what mama had handed me (I think it was a strawberry smoothie of sorts) and I went to eat breakfast (it is important to eat breakfast in Peru). Next, I waited...and waited... Angye and Nati were still sleeping (they wouldn't get up). I don't really blame them, they stayed up late (part of the culture) and both are sick so I can see why their bodies needed a little extra sleep. I took the time and continues to update my blog. Around 6pm we ended up leaving for Ica.

After finally leaving the house, we got in a taxi and went to the bus station. This wasn’t the city bus station, but an out of Lima station (if you want to get on a bus in Lima, you just flag the bus down and get on before the bus starts moving again). We all waited for the bus to get there, and after boarding, I fell asleep. The bus trip was around 5 hours and I didn’t bring my laptop (Angye said it was best if it stayed Lima). I didn’t feel like I was missing out on the views, as by the time we left, night had fallen. Eventually, we went arrived in Ica. I experienced the “cold” I had been warned about (it was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit). I also got my first look at the city despite the darkness. I really enjoyed my trip to Ica (don’t get it twisted), and while the tourism things I saw were simply amazing, the trip to the city for me was very eye opening. I had thought in Lima it was odd that people left their trash in bags near the road (I think its a system I haven’t figured out yet). In Ica, however, people simply throw their trash on the ground. As explained by Naty and Angye, there is no system of trash removal (because the government doesn’t feel it is important). Ica was a beautiful city, but the trash everywhere not only made the city less beautiful, but made it look dirty. Around ten years ago, Ica wasn’t filled with trash on the ground, but the times have changed (whether this is due to tourism or not, I am not sure). Nonetheless, we dragged our luggage through the streets so we could book our tickets for the bus ride home. We went to one place, and they had no available seats, so we ended up going to another bus company. Eventually (after long rapid conversations I didn’t understand) we walked to the house of my host aunt (not sure if that is the proper way of saying it but oh well). I had been told that there was a party going on and when we arrived I was a surprised to see a group of men/boys disassembling a giant tower made of something (I honestly don’t know what to call it, kinda like straw but not straw because it was strong). Beyond the tower, was a group of people in a circle dancing a traditional dance (I believe the dance was of the mountains because I was told that many people fled the mountains after terrorists made them dangerous). After watching the dance, I kissed some host family members and we went inside the house of my family. The house was very large (for the standards I had seen in Peru) and inside was many family members. We all met and ate muffins (mine was mango) before I left with Angye, Naty, and my host cousin Darley. We all walked around Ica and ended up getting food. I wasn’t hungry but I tried a bit. The first dish we ordered was a chaufa. It was a giant plate of rice with chicken, chicarron, egg. I liked it a lot (the rice in Peru is much better than the rice in the states). The second dish was soup called caldo de gallina. It had a chicken leg in it, a boiled egg, and noodles. It was okay (I was told it tastes better in Lima). We needed up talking and not getting back to the my host aunt’s house until later. After that, we all said goodbye and we walked to our house with the luggage (my host family is from Ica and they have lots of family there, so Mamita and the family still have a house there). After arriving, we all settled in and went to bed (it was fairly late at this point, around midnight). I had wanted to take a shower, but Angye explained that everyone showered mid day because there was no hot water in Ica. With that said, we all went to bed. 

The next day was the 28th of July, Peru’s Independence Day. Angye and I were woken up around 11. We ate breakfast, and then Angye, Mama, Darley (host cousin age 8) all got around to leave. I didn’t know how to communicate with Darley so I just did her hair for her to bond with her (it worked). The previous night I had met her and she had asked me “Tu hablas ingles” (it was pretty cute). After I did Darley’s hair, we all left for the town center. 

Angye, Darley, and I before the parade

The town center was beautiful and clean, but more importantly there was a parade going on. To our dismay, the parade had already attracted a giant crowd. We wandered around trying to find a spot to stand but we kinda failed (so instead we got ice cream). Next, all I know is that Angye had talked with someone and had went up a stairs so we all followed suit (later realized this was so we could book our tour of Ica for the next day). Once going up the stairs, the sounds of the parade got louder, and after walking around the corner, I discovered a window that looked straight out into the street. Just our luck, the window not only didn’t have a screen or glass, but it had the perfect view of the parade. Darley went to go get some stools from the tourist office and we both climbed on to watch the parade. Mama and Angye soon joined. It ended up working out splendidly, we got the perfect view of the show…

After the parade, we walked back down to the stage that was set up and watched a performance with rifles... 

We then headed to the center park so we could get some pictures. I forgot to mention that I was wearing my Peruvian flag as a cape. Not only did this peg me as an obvious tourist/gringa, but it got a few chuckles, stares, and compliments from Peruvians (not sure what they said but Angye said they appreciated my patriotism). We took pictures with the flag

In the town center, had to use the Peruvian flag!

And then headed back to our original place. A group of women approached me and asked if they could borrow my flag for a picture (Angye translated because all I understood was bandera). After getting my flag back, we continued walking until again I was asked if someone could borrow my flag for a picture (I guess the Peruvians were depending on this prepared American). Eventually, we took a motortaxi (we don’t have them in Lima, pictures later) to our house, where I met another cousin. Angye, Darley, the new cousin, and I all walked to Darley’s house so that we could drop her off. I met some more family, and then Mama (who had come after us) took Angye and I to a shopping center. We went inside and bought a cake (our next stop was a birthday party for another family member). Before buying the cake, we bought Pisco from a local vendor and Angye and I got Pisco popsicles (Pisco explanation later). After, with our cake, we went my motor taxi to the birthday party (it was inside a funeral place because the front of the family’s home was a gravestone place). Once entering, I kissed about 20 cheeks and gave about 25 smiles. I sat down, and Angye began talking in rapid Spanish. I had a few family members approach me and ask me questions in English to practice. Before I knew it, a plate of food had been given to me along with a drink. I ate my food, was pressured into singing for some little girls and I listened to speeches. After a while, Lucia (Host cousin) outbound going to Denmark, fluent in English) arrived with Jeanne (French girl hosted my Rotary club, host sister of Lucia). I moved over to sit with them and we all talked. Eventually there were more speeches and then Jeanne and I were asked to say something (we both opted to have Lucia say stuff for us, I’m okay with sounding crazy in front of my host family, not so ready for the extended family). Afterwards, we took pictures (once again used my Peruvian flag), and lit the candles for the birthday boy (his face ended up getting shoved into one of his three cakes).

Birthday boy is in the blue plaid

We ate cake, and eventually Mama left (Angye and I were going to hang out with Lucia and Jeanne). Eventually I had to use the bathroom, I couldn’t hold it any longer, I had to go to the second floor (there wasn’t water in the bathroom on the first floor). After using the restroom in the dark (the light didn’t work), we all left in a different cousin’s car. Night had fallen at this point, and we headed toward the dunes of Ica. We started walking traffic was very bad, when Angye asked one of the dune cars how much it was to ride. Next thing I know, we are all getting into the dune car. After getting out of traffic, we went on my first ride into the dunes. It was dark, thrilling, and so much fun. We went sand boarding down a large dune (I stood up and didn’t fall going down, I’m proud of myself). 

Lucia and I before the ride :)

Ica from the top of a dune

Group photo!

Jeanne and I 

Another group photo with Ica :)

The lake from the Dune

After our spontaneous ride, we went back to the car and went and got Papa John’s pizza (it tastes the same in Peru) with the rest of the family. Afterwards we got dropped off and we all went home. We were going to go out dancing, but decided against it and went to sleep (we had a giant tour of Ica the next day).