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.