September 11, 2017
I woke up later than intended (we aren’t surprised) and immediately started getting around. My clothes were still slightly wet from the night before, so I gave them some more time and took a shower/ate breakfast. I talked to my host mom about what time I needed to go buy last minute things from the stores. After breakfast, I attempted to finish packing and got around for the day. Afterwards, I headed to Jesus Maria with Mama so we could buy my last minute items. While we were out and about, I ran into another exchange student who was also shopping for items in the cheaper part of town. While Lince (my district of Lima) is not upscale or overpriced, if you travel to another district for a few soles, you can save some cash. For example, I had went to the grocery stores and had tried to buy some sunscreen for my face. The sunscreen was 50 soles in LInce, but in a different district of the city (Jesus Maria) the sunscreen only cost 24 soles. And while if you do the math, there is only a 26 sole difference (less than $10). While that doesn’t seem like a enough money to take a taxi to shop, here, 26 soles is a decent chunk of money. 26 soles could buy me 5+ ice cream bars, take me home from school 26 times, etc.
After the shopping was finished and we returned home, I was greeted by my cousins that live in Ica. I still don’t really know why they were in Lima, but it was nice to see them again. I finished packing, ate lunch, and then sat around waiting. Eventually mama got home and I said goodbye to Mamita (she started tearing up a bit). I told her I would be back, and she told me to be careful about 10 times and warned me about something with the stomach even more. Mama and I took a taxi to the bus stop for the trip, and after getting out I got my ticket, gave them my luggage, etc., etc.. I got to see all of my friends and I began catching up with them. Mama and Tia Carmen took tons of pictures of Tiia, Jeanne, and I (typical Peruvian mom). Eventually we were all able to load the bus and we got on. We ended up leaving a lot later than planed because Dominik (German boy in my Rotary club) had forgotten his passport. The passport is very important to have, as we needed it to get into Machu Picchu and other places on the trip, so it was a bit of a problem. Eventually the problem was resolved and we were all able to board the bus. I sat with Tiia (my Finnish soul sister) and we managed to make the bus ride interesting. We listened to music, danced, watched movies, and talked with the other students. The most memorable part of the evening was when all the other students joined us and we started doing different accents. This has become a thing with Tiia and I as we talk in fake British accents together all the time. This started when Tiia randomly said something at school in English and sounded so British. So now we talk in fake British accents when we are together (in English and Spanish). Nonetheless, British accents turned into Australian accents that somehow morphed into German accents (This was was with lots of exchange students). Our fun was short lived however, as we all got yelled at and told we had to sit in our own seats. After being told off, we all just talked a bit more and slowly grew tired. After a while, Tiia and I fell asleep on each other, a difficult task as the bus ride wasn’t the smoothest ride.
September 12, 2017
The next morning, I woke up at 5:36 because I was cold. This is something I rarely experience in Peru, as “cold” is never actually cold by Indiana standards. The bus wasn’t actually freezing, just a bit chilly, and before I knew it, Tiia had woken up from the cold too. After discovering I was cold, we decieded body heat was the best option to warm ourselves up. Eventually the sun started to rise, and the bus began to warm up. This was my first Peruvian sunset (at least I think) and it was pretty beautiful. After the sun began to rise, Tiia and I decided we were going to brush our teeth in the bathroom. I had brought bottled water, but after opening it, I realized it was carbonated. In Peru, it is super common to find plain carbonated water in the supermarket, and it looks like regular water. I had solely selected the water based on the size and hadn’t bothered to make sure it said “sin gas”. So Tiia and I brushed our teeth with carbonated water (tasted disgusting), before returning to our seats. After another three hours, we arrived in Arequipa. To put it simply, Arequipa is stunning
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| Excited for Arequipa, but excited! |
After arriving at the hotel, we all waited in the lobby for the Areqipeños. We lounged around and talked about our exhaustion. After some time, we received the rules and our roommates. I was assigned to be in charge of the key for my roomates Nadja (Switzerland) and Kaitlynn (USA). Most people only had one roommate, but since Kaitlynn had decided to come last minute, she got to join our group. After settling in our rooms, we had a bit of time before we headed out to explore Arequipa.
The first thing we did was traveled to a lookout point and take pictures o the mountains. I bought some colca leaves while we were here. Colca leaves are the same plant they make cocaine from (but they are good in their natural state).
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| Casual view from walking around the city |
After the nunnery, we had dinner where we celebrated Axelle’s 18th birthday with cake and singing happy birthday in every language present. Afterwards, we headed to the hotel and called it a night.
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