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).