Interesting food experiences:

First of all... if you have a weak stomach.. you may wanna skip this blog.... Seriously!!! Jenn.. read at your owe risk!



Ok.... so big event the other night it was Paulo´s birthday!!! I live with Erik and his dad Paulo.. so big celebration right! Well... we all head out to eat at an excellent restuarant and I even wear a cutedress I´m so excited. You know I can eat hotdogs.. because even though the meat may ba a little of a mystery... its the mystery and not actually know ing exactly what it is that allows me to happily it eat. These food didnt even have a chance with have a mystery as the looks were so scary. My friends... for the big birthday dinner night we went to eat.... la corazon de la baca ´the heart of the cow´ and the intestines of a cow! I hate that one of my key phrases in life is ´I´ll try again once´because I was tested this night. Yes... a tried it! The heart of the cow surprising tasted like steak... I know I must I ate like 3 because.. apparently if you didnt know cows have small hearts! haha!! But the initestines on the other hand... THE LOOKS! Small tubes... small with small spikes covering it. You know my lil medical mind was just picturing...oh well... I´m sure you are picturing the same.. and if not I have posted a photo or two! Enjoy!! :o)

Lima Central

Lima Central... wow the city of Lima is never ending.. I rode in a bus for over an hour and never got out of the city. Central central is the location of the President´s house, heads of congress and finance. THe presidents´s house really looks a lot like Buckingham palace in London. Armed guards were station all around the area as well as crowd cotrol and a few tanks and military hummers. Funny that while we were taking pics of the Presidents house armed men were taking pics of Sarah and I with a bright pink camera! Hahaha!!

After wondering a bit we (Erik, Paulo, Giselle, Sarah and I) decide to take a tour bus around and to the top of this mountain with a big cross.. I don´t really know the specifics as the entire tour was in Español! But it was beautiful from the top... I could see the Plaza de torros (bulls) and definitely felt like I was onto of the world.. well Lima... 7 million people below me! :o) Catholic is the major religion in Peru and I believe this cross overlooking Lima has great significance to people. Side note- on our bus tour up the huge mountain we had to close the windows because apparently people hide and throw waterballoons at tour buses!?!? Luckly not me!

Valentine´s Weekend:

Camping on the beach! My favorite part so far... I wrote about it earlier... but here´s some photos of the results of the weekend at the beach...

1 week post beach trip results in 4 people with skin diesases! Hahaha... ok maybe we are just snakes, but everyone live to peel off skin and we have pictures of just that!! :o) Enjoy! Some thing don´t change from one culture to another... the oldity of your skin coming off in massive layers and being able to peel away a layer and have another color below result is fun for Americans and Peruians!! :o) Pictures are of my leg and back, Sarah´s neck, Edmundo´s shoulder, Erik back (w/ tatoo)!! haha!! This Saturday consisted of watching burned movies still in the theatre we bought (4 for 10 soles... about $3) and peeling!!! hahaha!

Miraflores:

Miraflores (the looking flowers) is a beautiful district near where I live.. only a short bus ride.. 1-sol or about 33 cents away! The parade of the cows came to miraflores last year and all over Kennedy Park are beautifully painted cows. Acrossthe street the wonderful 2 story McDonalds which is ALWAYS packed... and no I haven´t eaten at hte McD´s here!! I have been continuing to try Peruvian foods. I did go to Erik, my roomies, favorite burger place where he claimed had the biggest best burgers around. Well... friends I bet you are like me and have had the Big Mac and others burgers you think are big and have everything on them. I thought so until I went to these place. I had a burger that included: burger, cheese, ham, chiken, ketsup, mustard, mayo, some mystery purple sauce, potato sticks and egg all inside of a bun! I had to flatten the burger to make 1/2 of it fit in my mouth at a time! Crazy! I´m sill trying to figure out all the tastes to determine if it was good! Def get the potato sticks on the side next time!

My first week in Peru:

Roomies- Sarah, my sister who I traveled here with! Giselle, Sarah´s friend from Brazil, who is here visiting her bf, Erik. Giselle is super sweet and I can already call her a hoochie mamma! Love it! We are all at Erik and Paulo, his father´s house. Erik is very funny and loves the Cranberries. And when I say love I mean he sings their songs every day while dancing around the house in his boxers! Paulo... I love a man that cooks for me. Too bad he´s 65 and doesn’t speak a word of English! KIANA… Erik’s pit-bull... Love her! She will wait outside of the grocery store until we are finished! She never wears a leash and is trained like I have never seen… Oliver when I get home… you are gonna have to shape up!

Weather-HOT! And not like hot in North Carolina… I mean a walked around Miraflores (a nice district of Lima) for about an hour and thank God I left my long hair down or I´d look like Sarah... crispy bacon shoulders! Haha!

Exchanging $$- Well Mom if you are worried about my safety…don´t! I think I´ll be fine walking around with my little purse containing $50 because there are people on every corner wearing green money vest. YES…people wearing bright green vest waving around fists full of money ready to exchange with any travelers. I guess I should also mention, there are about 2 cops on every corner as well.

Food- My new favorite is Ahi de Gallina... which I believe happens to be rooster... but none the less... it’s DELICOUS! Ceviche on the other hand... not my fav…. Its raw fish cooked in lemon?? mixed with about a whole onion sliced up. Erik… loves it even drink the juice when he finishes it… brave sole!

Beaches- OMG.. BEAUTIFUL! And you can camp right on the beach... yes in the sand by the waves! Everyone does it here! So cool… minus the sand venturing into my tent and on my air bed through the night! Haha! In Miraflores the beach starts out with tan sand… but as it closer to the waves its black with pebbles like it was in Italy. The beach we camped on was completely sandy and the waves were manageable, unlike the big rough waves on most beaches in this area.

Things you NOT supposed to do- Put toilet paper in the toilet… please don’t tell Paulo I forget about every other day! Oops! Smiling also not acceptable… not sure but no one here naturally smiles on the streets and Sarah has asked me to stop since people apparently don’t… sorry Sarah… it’s a habit and I love smiling! :o)

We both made it to Peru. the adventure has begun... minus luggage! lol. we are happy that we brought many extra pairs of underwear in our carry on... ha!ha!

They were delivered the next day.. so not too bad!! we got into the Lima airport at around 10 30 Saturday and had to wait a while to get off the plane, and then we had to go through immigration and hunt around for our luggage for a while, but everyone was super nice and helpful! Erik and Giselle waited for us for about 2 hours, but luckily they did not give up and go home! no really, everything is great. we had a big feast when we got back to the house and had a funny introduction to the new world of portspanglish... portuguese, spanish, and english mix! My sisters friend Giselle is like me... goofy and I am already calling her a hoochie-mamma! Ha! Erik already feels comfortable enough to dance and sing around the house with us here! And Paulo, his dad, is sooo nice and loves to cook! He made us a wonderful big dinner last night that is now my new favorite food... apparently is the breast of rooster with milk and bread... its yellow?? Soo good!

Today we went out in Lima.... crazy story...there are people on the street who exchange money... yes people standing on the street corners with green money vests and fists full of money to exchange from one currency to another! I don't see that happening safely anywhere in the US! And there are police men on about every corner.. probably watching out for all the money vest-exchange people!! haha!!

I love you all and thank you for all your prayers and thoughts!

We are safe and we are being well taken care of.