Peru, a land of both great history and great culture

Peru managed to captivate me and fulfill all that I was hoping it to be. Peru, is a place where the culture is not only clear, but practiced. I showed up in Lima, after taking a 55 hour bus ride from Santiago, Chile. I had to rush north, because I has a special visitor for a couple weeks. Yes, mi madre came down! I got accustomed to the city some, first by eating at a local restaurant to get to know the food and people. For a whopping $2.30, I sat down for a huge bowl of soup followed by a plate of rice, chicken, and some veggies and a fresh glass of juice. I ended up drinking 3 or 4 glasses of the juice, and by the time I had picked up madre from the airport the following day, my stomach was not pleased. I then thought, shoot, thall shall not drink the water in Lima. I had not needed to worry about the water in the south and likewise had become accustomed to doing things as normal. Moms and I spent the day checking out Lima some more, and dining at a fine restaurant over the water. We enjoyed fresh seabass ceviche and a couple different Pisco drinks as we watched the surfers and the sunset. A great way to start her first full day in Peru. The next day we headed off to Cusco. If I wasn't with the mom, Cusco would have become a trap for me. Every once in a while, while traveling, you find a place that captivates you and draws you in in such a way that it becomes easy to lose track of time and stay beyond your expectations. The place becomes a trap. Cusco was amazing; it is a trap. I love the stone roads, the cool, at time freezing, weather, the food, the markets, and all of the history that surrounds it. Here, mom and dined for some more traditional food and ate both guinea pig and alpaca along with drinking the best Pisco sours we had our whole trip. During our time, we did both the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. I am in love. Here Incans were truly an incredible society. The architectural design and their history are both fascinating. They cut faces into mountains, and constructed buildings that have lasted an incredible amount of time. And when you stand before them, there is no greater expression than pure awe. For me, at times I feel like I want to move back in time. I want to live in a time where truly the first time you can see something is with your own eyes because after I have seen photos and videos of places, I often feel like I already have been there and it can take away some of the awe. While preparing for Machu Picchu, I thought it might be something of the like, but when you see this city with your own eyes, it captivates you in a way that no photo can ruin. Machu Picchu was just as amazing as it was made out to be. It is an inspiring, soul clenching, thought provoking piece of history that one must see with their own eyes, touch with their own hands, and smell will their own nose. I left the city feeling nothing less than fully intrigued and the opportunity to share that experience alongside my mother, was one that I will never forget. In time, we made our way to Puno by means of the Andean Explorer, a 10 hour executive train ride through the Andes. It made for yet another beautiful experience, and I think one of the favorites for the madre. Now, Lake Titicaca, had been on my list of things to see since I was a child watching Beavis and Butthead. Not sure why it was ever included in the episodes, but it made an impression on my young mind. So, for B&B, amongst other reasons, we found ourselves on beautiful Lake Titicaca. We took a tour for $15 to the Uros and Taquile Islands. The Uros islands are especially interesting because they are floating islands and the people that live there are of pre-Incan decent. And Taquile Island is inhabited by indigenous as well, however, it is not floating. We managed to be there while they were still celebrating Easter; hence, they had a huge party going on with all sorts of dances and costumes. This would mark my first native dance. :) My second native dance would be marked in Arequipa, our next stop. Here, we visited all sorts of plazas, a historical monestary, and the main attraction, the Colca Canyon with the Condor Cross. The canyon is noted as the deepest in the world, and is famous for the condors that fly over early morning and late afternoon. As we were there, we waited and waited for the condors. Mom was not convinced they were coming, and about 15 minutes before we had to head out, one flew over the canyon making a few circles about marking for us yet another successful adventure. I forgot to mention. It is at this point that mom was supposed to be flying home, but she came to see that the time she had was not sufficient, and extended her trip by a whole week, which opened up for us the opportunity to see Paracas and the Ballestas Islands, which she was dying to see. The Paracas National Park is basically a hug desert, and technically, still part of the driest desert in the world, the Atacama, even though the name may not follow that far north, as our guide pointed out, nature is not bound by our politics. The islands were full of all sorts of creatures: sea lions, a ton of different types of birds, and even penguins. I do believe this was moms favorite part of her trip, especially because we were finally in warm weather, because those andean cities are quite cool. Moms last day in Lima, we did some shopping at the markets, and headed back to the hotel to pack and wake up at 3:00am to get her to her flight. However, we pulled the classic sleep though the alarm, and luckily, I had called the taxi the night before to come get us at 4:00, and so at 4:05, the phone rang alerting us that our taxi had arrived. Allowing us to get to the airport nearly right as planned. At security, we said our goodbyes, and mom headed on her way back home. As for me, I had plans to meet up with a friend that I had meant in Iguazu, Argentina in the afternoon, so I headed back to the hotel to sleep some then met up with Ron for some seafood and surfing. I ended the night at a sports bar near my hostel where I watched to Bulls lose to the heat. :( I met a few students studying abroad and went out dancing for a little bit in a retro club that had a live salsa band for the night. I returned to my hostel to find I was locked out, and managed to enter finally around 4:00am. I woke up around 8:00, got my things packed for my bus north to the Ecuador border, and went to check out some sites in the center of Lima with one of the guys I met watching the game the night before. We saw the Catacumbas. I couldn't help but think about whether or not any of the bones were fresh. :) After the Catacumbas we made our way to the bus station, and long story short, I ended up staying another night in Lima which turned out to be quite relaxing and pleasant. Aka, I passed out around 8:30. :) The following day, I caught my bus to Tumbes, and made my way up to Ecuador. I will admit, I was sad to leave Peru, but with time quickly running out in my trip, I needed to continue to make my way north. Here in ecuador, I look forward to some volunteer work I have lined up in Quito for a couple weeks, as well as kicking it with Lauren Parisi! I now have my return flight booked out of Maracaibo, Venezuela for the 5th of June and it is such a strange feeling to know that I'll be back in the States shortly, and that time has gone by so quickly, but all I know is that the life I am living is quite beautiful, and each one of these days will be nothing short of magnificent. You can either go big or go home, or go big and go home. I chose the latter. :)

Peace!

Chile: yes it has it all.

Following Ushuaia, I landed myself in Punta Arenas, Chile. I got in early evening from a 10 hour bus ride. Karin, who had done a study abroad in my high school and had played basketball with me my senior year, had set me up to stay with her family during my time in southern Chile. Unfortunately, I had just missed her because she had already headed north to Concepcion to start school. However, her family received me into their home very graciously and I got to play the role of Karin for a week. I stayed at her grandmother's house who is just the sweetest woman in the world; she had this gigantic rose in her kitchen, but unfortunately it died before I got the chance to take a picture of it. I got in on a Saturday and the next day it started to rain. Sunday began for me what would be normal routine for a short while. I woke up, it was raining, her grandma had breakfast all ready, we hung out, later in the day around 1:00 some members from the family would come over for lunch, which was the big meal of the day, then around 5:30 we would have coffee/tea and some sandwiches or other snack, since it was Sunday, we went to church, then whem we returned around 9:00 when another light meal would be offered. We had hoped to go check out the canopy that her family had built out on the farm, but with the rain being so persistent, we decided to hold off. For the next four days, the rain just came and came and came. The streets in the lower part of town began to flood, and by the time Wednesday hit, it looked like a hurricane or a tsunami had come through. The streets were flooded, with both water and mud, Punta Arenas was all over the news. People came to the streets with shovels to clear sidewalks, free cars, and empty out their homes of the mud and water. There were young children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents, locals, and foreigners, all helping. Karin's family owns a construction company, and when her uncle asked if I was interested in helping out I jumped at the opportunity. We drove a dump truck, at least thats what I think it's called, to the lower streets and began clearing the way, helping people with mud from in front of their houses, and moving water and mud away from the street. I was amazed at the character of the people. To my surprise, no one looked all that upset. It's not that they weren't upset, because they had to have been, but it's that they just had that face and way of talking that said, I can't do anything to change this by complaining; it is what it is; now we rebuild. The rain continued and finally stopped on Thursday. The damage was great, but the people were rebuilding. Thursday, Karin's mom had set up for me to go to visit the island off of Punta Arenas that had all of these penguins. I felt a little guilty about doing touristy stuff while the community could use an extra pair of hands, but I went and the penguins were pretty awesome. The whole island was just filled with penguins. The first thing we were told is not to touch the penguins, naturally, I'm just like ahh I gotta touch a penguin. I thought they would be all sweet and playful like they are in the movies, but that was far from the case. The penguins were quite creepy. When you walked passed them or stared, they would turn their heads all creepily and look up at you and when one of them started barking, they all would. To be honest, I never touched one. I was too creeped out hahahahaha. Mr. Popper must have lucked out with a different breed :). The following day, I woke up around 5:00 to head to Torres del Paine with Karin's uncle. Her family members are part owners of a hotel there and her uncle had a meeting so he offered to give me a ride so I didn't have to take the bus. We got there around 10:00, the hotel hooked me up with a lunch to bring along with me on my hike, and I headed out. The park was absolutely gorgeous. I hiked all over, got a little off the normal course, and so again, I found myself alone, immersed in nature, just the way I like it. I had lunch on some random football field of rocks, hiked a trail to its end, then decided I must have taken a wrong turn because this, although it was gorgeous, didn't seem like the trail I had set out for. I started my way back, and when I got to a turn, I realized I had gone straight instead of taking the trail to the left. So, I began my hike upward yet again. The trail was super pretty, and when I reached the peek, I saw what I had set out to lay my eyes on and it was amazing. Earlier, when I had been lost on the rocks, I had gotten that itch to reach some sort of a peak, so I started climbing the rocks. Intermittently, I would run into a waterfall or something that I would have to maneuver my way around, and the rocks were beginning to fall beneath my feet much more often. I looked and there wasn't a soul in sight. I thought for a moment, and decided that this wasn't the smartest nor safest thing I had ever done, and I began to make my way down and about 30 minutes later, I had ended up at that turning point and continued up the other trail. Ok, so when I had reached this peak, the three towers were perfectly visible with a clear turquoise lake below surrounded by rocks. I grabbed my camera, set it up on a rock with the timer, ran out to a spilt where I thought the camera could catch me, thought I had time for a bite if my apple, then the camera flashed. I decided I had to get another, but realized that my battery had died. I was a little bummed but hey, at least I got one :). Then, I eventually put two and two together. The rocks I had bee climbing led to this and the water from the falls was coming from the lake. Part of me wished I had continued, but I was also thrilled I had gotten to see another trail, and made it safely to the top. I looked around, and found that just off the coast of the lake there was a gigantic rock in the water. I used the few rocks that were around as stepping stones, and I sat on the rock, looked around, and couldn't see anyone. It was so peaceful. From there on that rock, the wind was so strong; I could actually see it move across the water, and the colors of the rocks, mountains, and water seemed to blend so perfectly. I opened up my bible and began to read and then I began to journal. I, again, felt at home. But, I had a sudden reminder that I had to meet Karin's uncle back at the hotel at 7:00. I looked at my watch and it read like 5:45. I grabbed my stuff and started to book it back to the hotel. The hike was supposed to be 5 hours out and 4-5 hours back. I had made it back in 2 hours and 15 minutes. We grabbed dinner at the hotel, then headed back to Punta Arenas. The sunset, and the stars came out. The stars down south are unreal. It's like the farther south I got, the more amazed I became at how many stars there truly are in the sky. We pulled over, got out of the car, and gazed. I was starstruck hahahahaha. I wish I could show you guys pictures, but one, camera died, and two I can't take pictures of the night sky to save my life. Karin's uncle had a thing for old American music, songs that I didn't even really know, so we listened to the music and I translated the lyrics to him. We got to the house around midnight, I headed straight to bed, because the next day I had to head north. Saturday, I had a bus to catch around 9:00. I had never been so bummed to leave someplace. Her family was amazing. And I already miss her grandma. They sent me off with gifts of chocolate and snacks for the road. And I embarked on my 38 hour trip north to Concepcion to meet up with Karin. I got in around midnight on Saturday. Karin and I got to catch up some, I met her housemate, and then we all crashed for the night. I had come at a real bad time for Karin. The following week, she had like 3 exams, and a couple papers. It was Sunday, and I figured we probably wouldn't get to spend too much more time together on Monday or Tuesday between classes and studying, so I booked a night bus for around 11:00pm to Viña del Mar. We spent all day Sunday hanging out and catching up. She showed me the destruction from the earthquake a couple years back, and explained to me where it hit and what not. I was a little bummed to have to say bye so soon, but it was really cool to now know where she comes from and to see her life here and meet her friends here because the only Karin I had known was the one from the States. We both agreed that I would have to return so we could do a week circuit at Torres del Paine. The following day I landed in Viña del Mar, Chile. I would be spending my time there with Rafaela, who was an exchange student my first year of college. I spent the week living in the shoes of Raf, to some degree. She now works as an English teacher and so I got to go to class with her and help teach and what not. I even gave an impromptu presentation to the junior class about my travels and the importance of studying abroad and knowing another language, amongst other things. I really enjoyed talking with the students, and I was glad I could get a few laughs out of them. To be honest, I felt like I was in my zone; maybe some sort of public speaking is in my future. I also spent the week getting to know the city, visiting the beach, seeing Valparaiso, climbing the dunes, hiking La Campana, which is a national park, and three more things which I would call highlights. 1) I got to visit a vineyard, do a wine tour and a tasting. We hit up Casas del Bosque with their premium tour and tasting. The tour was short, but interesting; I found much of the process, at least in the early stages, to be much like that of coffee. The tasting consisted of their 5 best wines. I'm not much for the white wine, but their Sauvignon was incredible. Without a doubt, my favorite part was the tasting, but I did really like eating all of the grapes off the vine too, I was surprised at how sweet they were. 2) I finally got to meet Pablo. In January, I started to sponsor a child through Children International. I have been writing him frequently and had been very eager to meet him. Luckily, he lives just outside of Viña del Mar, where Children International's office is located, and so last Monday, we got the chance to meet up for an afternoon. He reminded me a lot of myself, a kid that both likes to listen to stories and play, likes to climb everything and loves all kinds of sports. I was so thankful for my spanish because we were able to talk one on one about what he loves and what he wants to be when he's older...a policeman :). I showed him pictures of my trip and home and he agreed to mail me a photo of his family. I had a nice talk with his mom about how she was liking the program, and about what she does for a living, ect. I felt really encouraged by our meeting up and getting to know each other, and I look forward to his coming letters. He asked when I would be back to visit. I told him it probably wouldn't be for at least a few years; I'm thinking that's not too bad, but I guess for a kid, that's about 33% of his entire life. But, I don't doubt well see each other soon enough. 3) Patrick Dever, is a student at Westminster College. We had a class or two together, and discovered through Facebook that we were in the same area, in fact that we were staying a few blocks from each other. So we hung out for a couple nights. I got to meet his friends that were also studying abroad and his host brothers. It was great to see a familiar face and speak a little English. There would have been a number four, but I have had a cold for a couple weeks that has held me back on this; Rafaela's brother Cristian offered to take me scuba diving, but with a cold, theres no way because of the pressure. Unfortunately, the scuba diving will have to wait for another time. On Wednesday however, a week and a half or so after I had arrived in Viña, I had to make my way to Santiago so I could head north. I stayed in Santiago for a couple nights with Rafaela's brother and cousin, then made my way to the bus station for what would turn out to be a 55 hour bus ride to Lima, Peru. To be honest, the bus wasn't all that bad; although it did only stop like 3 or 4 times. Some of you might be wondering why I've been moving around so quickly, and the reason is because I have a special visitor coming to meet me here in Lima today. Yes, my mother is coming to Peru! Tonight I'm off to the airport to pick her up and we will embark on our adventures to Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and Arequipa later in the week. Wish us luck!!!