Motivational thought of the day:

And How 'Machu' It Was!

Well, it's been quite an adventurous week - probably the most exciting vacation I've ever been on! There is so much to get through though, so I hope you understand if I let the pictures do the talking :)

This is us at the beginning of our trip. We left Arequipa at 6:00 am on Monday morning, ready to journey to Cusco! We stopped about 3 hours into our trip to take this picture. These are our adventure faces and poses. We were on top of the world - literally (we were about 14,000 feet in elevation!) Nothing could bring us down. Little did we know the twists that were about to intrude on our smooth trip just up the road.

About 2 hours further in our trip, in the small town of Ayaviri (that is apparetly most famous for their mutton...) our trip was stalled. We were driving and as we approached the toll booth to enter the town, we were met by angry Peruvians who were yelling for us to "get back." It was fairly unsettling, but we continued anyways...until we were stopped by police officers who informed us that the mutton town ahead had gone on strike not 2 hours prior. We weren't allowed to go through. This really wouldn't matter, except for the fact that we HAD to pass through Ayaviri to get to Cusco. It's by far the fastest way to get there.

Seriously?!

Luckily, the town of Puno was about 2 hours away, and after a few calls to the travel agency and Julio's boss (our bodyguard), we secured a hotel for the night. We would just have to continue our trip the next day. Bummer!

It turned out to be a good thing - Puno had just gotten finished with striking the day before. And we had already planned to visit Puno. So, as soon as we checked into our hotel, we decided to go to Puno's main attraction - Lake Titicaca. It's the world's highest-elevated-livable lake! What a mouthful...We found someone who had a boat and could drive us out on the lake. It was a man and his son who seemed very nice. We got into the boat, and, to our surprise, the man didn't take the wheel... his son did!

Here's a picture:

He was probably 10. At most. We were fairly freaked out, but we soon got over our fears and Markie, Morgan, Tanya, and I ventured out to the top of the boat. How beautiful it was!

You might be thinking that's it's fairly weird for a lake as highly elevated as this one to have reeds, but that's what makes it so amazing! The people who live on the lake make floating islands out of these reeds and they live on them! Yes - they make islands to live on - - and we were going to see them!! :)

Isn't it amazing!? It was so awesome to be able to be in a boat floating past these marvels! But the boat ride got even better when our driver (yeah, the 10 year old) pulled up to one of the islands and we were able to walk on them! We met the natives of one island and they explained to us how they build the islands. I was surprised to see that they had solar panels and water towers and heaters. I guess they haven't been left out in the race for technology. The best part though, was the fact that we were the only tourists on the lake. We had been able to get into Puno by a fluke.

Absolutely Amazing.

Unfortunately, our time in Puno was cut short when we were informed that there was rumored to be another strike in the town the next morning. If that happened and we were still in the city, we would be stuck. We had to leave our warm beds and flee at 3 am. ** A little tip: if you want to hear the worst Spanish music you've ever heard in your life, just listen to it at 3am. You won't be disappointed. **

The road to Cusco was still closed, so we embarked on an alternate route - one that would ultimately lead us down a dirt road for 4 hours, through many poverty-stricken towns, to a drunk man giving us directions, and through rainforest mountainsides.

But we finally got to Cusco around 4pm. AND avoided the strike in Puno. Strikes have made our lives most miserable the past week. Yup. An 8 hour journey turned into a two day venture in a 12 seater van. Dumb strikers...

As you can see below, we were often squished.

But we kept our happy faces on. After all, we had made it to Machu Picchu! :)

(Actually, that's a bit of an overstatement. We had to drive 1.5 hours to the train station, take a 2 hour train trip, ride the 25 minute bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu only to realize that you had to buy your entrance tickets at the base of the mountain so that put us back another hour as well.) But, after waking up at 5am, we finally got to enter the amazing Machu Picchu ruins...at 1pm.

Like I said, it was an adventure, but we kept our happy faces on:

Machu Picchu was absolutely breathtaking! (not only because it was so high in altitude, but because everything about it was beautiful!) The Incas were so particular in their stonework. It's amazing that it's lasted this long - and how lucky we were that we were actually able to walk within the walls. Here's a few pictures:

Out these windows are spectacular views of the mountains and valleys below. Everything was so densely forested and lush!

Here's a picture from the main floor, looking out towards Manu Picchu (the mountain in the picture). I wish we could've hiked that.

What did I tell you about being high up in altitude? And would you look at all the trees covering the mountains!

Absolutely Spectacular.

We left Machu Picchu around 4 to get back to Cusco. But the fun with Inca ruins didn't stop there!

We went to Sacsayhuaman, (pronounced sexy woman haha) a place where the Incas built not temples like Machu Picchu, but fortifications to ward off invaders. The walls were huge and so were the stones used in building! Of course, since it is now a tourist attraction, there were llamas.

These llamas were racially segregated (just for you Lee).

Below is a picture of the walls in their zig-zag formation, with the city of Cusco behind it.

Fun fact: did you know that Cusco, Peru is the oldest city in Latin America? :)

Sacsawhaman also had caves the Incas used to make quick getaways. We went in one - and I'm surprised we're all smiling after going through! It was so pitch black I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or not; and we had to nearly crawl the entire way through! I'm glad it was a short distance though. (There are longer ones, but they've been closed off because people kept getting lost in them! Scary!)

Sacsayhuaman also had giant natural rock slides that were super fun to go down. It was like a giant natural playground!

Fabulous!

Here's a picture of two little girls at the pisac market we went to on Thursday. I've never seen so many shops in my life! But I bought some pretty fun stuff! :)

That's pretty much all to say for our trip. Nothing bad happened on Friday, and we were able to return to Arequipa safely - in 8 hours. Such an easy trip compared to the rest of the week!

More adventures to come! Everything is so interesting!

Adios!

Just another average Sunday...

Yesterday, Uncle Steve had his Young Men over to watch the soccer game on TV. 9 guys. It was really fun! We had a BBQ with amazing chicken and sausage completos. :) Before the food was ready, some of the guys came outside and started playing soccer. They were quite good! Doing backflips and catching the ball on the back of their neck and everything! Of course, I'm sure the showcasing of those moves had nothing to do with the 4 American girls watching them play ;) haha. It was fun to watch them play until I had to live with the effects of it. After lunch, the Young Men went to clean the baptismal font at the church for a service project. We had a 15 passenger van to carry them all, but the girls needed to go to as well to practice the musical numbers.
9 sweaty boys + 4 girls + 1 driver + 2 adults = a squished ride. We were going to have 5 girls in the front bench, but one of the guys willingly gave up his seat so we wouldn't be crazy squished. Thank you chivalrous boy - I got to sit in the back with the guys. Who had just been playing soccer... No further comment. But it was fun :)

Now, onto Sunday. Don't let the title fool you. Today had to be the most interesting experience at church ever. Markie and I sang a duet for the intermediate hymn - in spanish. Be proud. It was "Jesus, The Very Thought Of Thee," one of my absolute favorite hymns. You should see a picture of my cheat sheet. I wrote the verses out phonetically so I could actually say the words. Aunt Janelle and Uncle Steve said it sounded like I was fluent! Awesome - except for the fact that it made the ward think I could speak spanish, which, in reality, I can't. At all. I learned a new word though: "bonita." It means beautiful - and it was repeated over and over to Markie and I, followed with many kisses on the cheeks. I think I'm getting used to the touchy-feeling greetings, goodbyes, and congratulations, but it's definitely different from a handshake or a hug!
After Sacrament meeting, we went to Young Single Adults class. I have never been so intimidated in my entire life. I never realized how frightening it would be to sit in a class of 10 people and cross my fingers for the entire hour, hoping the teacher didn't call on me. I wish I knew spanish. I sat next to a guy who I think offered to share his scriptures with me, but I'm not sure haha. I feel bad.
The last class wasn't as awkward as the previous class because it was all the women and men (and there are actually a lot in their ward - I was surprised) but, because I had no idea what anyone was saying, I lost interest a little. It didn't help either that the class went 15 minutes over. I went to the bathroom afterwards and got some weird looks as I entered (it was a different ward I hope). They probably thought "What is a gringo doing in here?" Well going to the bathroom obviously! :) That was a dangerous move for me, because I was halted by more people from the ward who were (I assume) telling me good job. More uncomfortable conversation for me, followed by quite "gracias" from my mouth, and of course, the kiss on the cheek. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy talking to them (if someone can speak english and spanish is next to me) and I am always cordial and polite and I smile, but that's the most I can do! It's frustrating.
It was quite the day at church! Bring it on for June 12th! :)

Here are some random pictures:

Shopping for Tourist-y items at one of the many tourist shops. Disregard the candid-ness of this shot. Just move on to the next one.
Markie and I at one of our very favorite places in Arequipa - Francos! It's the only place the Security Guards aren't required to follow us around and the bread is SO DELICIOUS. No joke. They have rolls that are crunchy on the outside and are soft and warm on the inside. American bread doesn't hold a candle to these bakery perfections. As you can see next to us on the counter, we got a lot of bags of bread. :)

Another picture from the mining tour we went to on Thursday. This one makes me smile :)

From Prior Experience here's a caution for the next two pictures:

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED
the following pictures are from real events and might not be suitable for children under 10 years old, or for people with queasy stomachs.

Always something new at San Camilo. Anyone want some chicken feet? ...No? What do you mean no? What about the next picture? (If you thought the llama heads with fur were gross, wait until you see the ones we found on Friday ---)

Awful, right? Sorry Lee, but I won't bring these home for you. Even if you want something weird.

Anyways, that's a recap for today! Cuzco tomorrow!!! :) I can't wait!

Recap!

Well Hello world! Happy Saturday! I've missed the past couple days because it's been so busy! We've done a lot, so I'm just going to recap what's been going on! On Thursday we went to the black market, known as Avaleno. Apparently the only things black market there are the pirated DVD's and cd's, but it's fun to say "the black market." It adds to the excitement of it all :) Here's a very candid shot of me buying things. I bought a headband, a new sparkley ring, and a flower - all for 21 soles - - which is about $7 in American money. Boo Yah!

On Friday, we went back to San Camilo to buy flowers for our hostess (we were going to a BBQ that night) and Morgan got her scissors sharpened. It was one sole - or $.30 in American money! The people at the knife store had probably never had Americanos come to their shop. Their expressions were priceless and they were excited to have us watch them sharpen the scissors. So funny - and the sparks in the picture are real.
Going back to Thursday... after the black market, we all went with Julio to pick up Uncle Palmer from the mine. We went up to his office and we all got glasses, vests, and hard hats to go for a small tour! I really liked that hard hat! They mine copper at this mine and it was cool to hear about the mining process and how they get the copper as well. After our trip next week, we are going to take an in-depth tour of the actual refinement process and I'm excited for that! We kind of look like professional gangster miners... hahaha :)
I'm just jumping around here, but more about Friday - here are the flowers we bought for the BBQ. We took a picture in San Camilo as you can see. It was funny, because as Aunt Janelle was taking the picture, a whole bunch of Peruvians gathered around behind her to look at the picture we were taking. Haha, they all smiled and said "so beautiful" and other things like that. If you think a group of 4 gringo girls with 3/4 of them being tall blondes walking around San Camilo gets attention from the locals, try adding a bouquet of flowers to the mix! We were never NOT stared at! That's one thing I can't get used to here - Being analyzed wherever you go. But it's fun :)
Last but not least, here's a picture of La Plaza at night. We've been there a lot. Lots of tourist shops, and lots of pigeons during the day. Lee Scott and Hisicane - I bought your ties here for $5 each! HA! And - to all of you who made fun of me becausa all I can say really in Spanish is "uno, dos, tres porfavor" - Markie asked the shop lady over and asked how much the ties would be, and the the shop lady asked which ones I wanted. And guess what!??? I pointed to the three ties and said "uno, dos, tres porfavor!" HA! Showed you all... :)
Anyways, there are always fun things going on in Peru. I love it here!
And guess what!?? Next week we travel to the city of Cuzco (yes, like Emperor's new groove) and we see Machu Piccu next Wednesday! How exciting!

Until I blog again! Buenos Tardas!

I love the animals here...?

What a way to start out the day. We were on our walk just like yesterday (check my previous post for the amazing pictures) and we were just about finished. The end was in sight. However, this walk did not end like yesterday - not in the slightest. Markie and I were about 30 feet behind Sis. Palmer, Morgan, and Tanya; but before we could catch up to them, they started yelling at us to move and get close to them. We thought there was a car coming, so we moved off to the side of the road. But they were still yelling for us to move. We didn't understand why until we heard a huge bellow. I mean HUGE bellow. It was then that Markie and I realized that a huge bull was charging down the hill - straight towards us. Heck no we weren't running to the three girls - we were running to the car! We got in the car just in time to look out the window and see the crazed bull plow past with it's tongue hanging out like a savage animal. Don't worry about the other girls - they were on the opposite side of the street, but man was that freaky! I wish I had a picture of it, but it was either get a picture, or not be gored by a rampant bull. I think you all can assume which option I picked.

More adventures later in the day as we journeyed to San Camilo, a huge market. But first, I must tell you all about one of the things that constantly amazes me about Peru. They have shops for everything! The shops surrounding San Camilo are so interesting. You need to buy a belt? There's a shop completely designated to selling those. You want a new bra? There's a shop for that. What about some Tupperware; or nuts? Maybe a piñata? Or some cooking pots? Whatever you need, there's a shop for that. And, of you can't find a shop that sells what you're looking for, there's always a street vendor - like the shoelace man. :) But enough about the shops surrounding San Camilo, I want to tell you about what's inside. There are aisles and aisles of everything! There's an aisle with tons of cheese, and another with vegetables, and it basically goes on through the list just like at a grocery store - but San Camilo is an outside farmer's market. Although it was fun to look at everything there, I would never buy anything.

Here's a few reason's why:

1.) The health codes are not up to FDA standards. A woman selling bread dropped a loaf and instead of getting rid of it, simply placed it back in the basket. No big deal or anything...?

2.) They sell meat in an open area. It's not refrigerated! Also - they sell sheep heads. See for yourself.

3.) There are stray animals running around everywhere (hence why I was so fearful for the bread being placed back in the basket.) Some of the animal even take advantage of the situation and decide to take a nap - like this little kitty here:

4.) There are crazy dried up llama heads apparently used for sacrificial reasons, and after I saw these little pretties and the smelly meat aisle, my appetite was gone.

5.) Did I tell you that they also sell sheep heads?

Despite the different conditions they keep their food in, and the oddities I've seen today, I really am loving this whole experience! Don't get me wrong - San Camilo was...different...but I've never had more fun! Haha, it's one of my favorite places in Peru. I love it here! Also, don't worry - I am learning more spanish. :)

Buenas Noches! More to come soon! Everyday an adventure... :)

Welcome to Peru

Wow. I can't believe the last time I blogged was in November. Slap myself on the wrist! It's time to revive this blog from it's forgotten state. Thankfully Peru provides me with fun stories to actually blog about! haha

This trip originally started out just as a wish in the wind. My friend Markie just suggested the idea in a conversation last November. It's been a lot of work getting here - especially in convincing my mom that I wouldn't die, but it worked out and here I am! I flew to Peru last Sunday morning with Markie Palmer, her mom, her sister, and her cousin. Two layovers later, we arrived in Arequipa Monday morning.

It's been quite the culture shock being here but it's such a neat opportunity to experience the cultures and customs of a foreign country. I just wish I knew Spanish! We have security guards here, and body guards as well, so I feel very safe. Markie and I went for a stroll around the neighborhood yesterday and the guards would radio between their different stations to inform the other guards that we had just passed them and that we were coming their way. Haha, they take their job very seriously.

Sister Palmer warned me about altitude sickness, but she can't describe the symptoms. She said it's the worst thing I will ever go through if I get it. The bad part is that I won't know I have it until the third or the fourth day, so I could be sick right now - but won't find out until tomorrow. Awesome. To prevent this "indescribable disease" you just need one thing - water. And lots of it. I've been drinking bottle after bottle of water and I have to go to the bathroom almost every hour. I don't want to get sick! However, as of this morning, we have no water in the house. Where am I supposed to go to the bathroom!!????!!

This is one of the street in the neighborhood. Just for you mom. I am alive, and smiling. I love it here!

The view from our walk this morning. So beautiful! Although Arequipa is mostly desert, the river that runs through the mountains makes this area perfect for farming.
There are small neighborhoods on the opposite side of the mountain, facing the fields. Obviously this neighborhood had community spirit. :)
The mountain homes. Opposite from America, the higher you get up on the mountain, the poorer the population becomes.
So beautiful, isn't it?

Welp, that's it for today, but there are sure to be more adventures coming soon!

Adios!