Wednesday, March 31, 2010
FUNNY!! Me.... a NUN!
So when I arrived in Callao everyone kept referring to Sarah and I as sisters, which we are. But later that night someone finally asked us what everone had been thinking.... so you are sisters... like of the church??? HAHAHA!!! They thought SARAH AND I WERE SISTERS.. LIKE NUNS!! HAHAHA! Thats funny stuff! Apparently because Sarah and I don´t look alike and Sarah had told people she doesn´t drink they assumed we were sisters of the church! There is a first time for everything!! :o) Good thing they cleared that up at dinner because they were having a farewell party later on that night involving pisco!!! haha!
IDUKAYPERU- Callao
I have moved!!! I am living in Callao.. a different part of Lima with IdukayPERU. A volunteer organization- NGO. And I LOVE IT! So basically over the past 9 years they have developed a program for children in one of the poorest area s of Lima. They have a small house/ school called the Casita... small house. There are 3 classrooms, a library, kitchen, and a clinic. All are about the small of 1 small room with a common opened area in the middle!
So far a have gone there a few times. Once in the afternoon to wash the the childrens hair. This consists of having one kid at a time lean their head over a bucket while I pour water in their hair from a larger bucket. They I wash with shampoo, brush, fine comb- because of the lice buggies, and lastly add vinegar- its suppose to kill the buggies! Some of the lice buggies are pretty big about ---- that big! Yeah!! Jenny Payne would love it here!! Haha! I like doing the little boys hair because most of them have shaved heads and its easy to brush!! After they get their hair washed all the kids get lunch!We wash their hair twice a week and every evening 3-6ish we have an afterschool program. The children are divided into 3 classes by age and I currently have the pequeños... ages 3-8! And they are FULL of energy! Yesterday was math day so some are learing the numbers and how to write them while others on doing simple addition problems! I can successfully teach this kind of math! haha! Alex... the founder of the organization came and had a puppet show for the children in my class and they LOVE it and him!! A lot of times there is a nurse volunteer here, but right now there is not... so that puts me as closest to medical type skills! So far I have cleaned and bandaged a little boys arm that was scraped up pretty bad and clean a nose sore!
At the house... its great! Over the past few years Alex and his family have continued to build on to their house to allow all the volunteers to live here as they come throughout the year. Now its huge four story house with 8 or more small rooms.. most of which have bunk-beds. I here in the summer they have up to 18 volunteers living here.. in addition to the family members! Wow! Now there are about... 3 of us from the US and 1 or 2 from Spain.. 2 just left yesterday!
My favorite part is the meals. Not only because they is always someone to cook you a wonderful meal... its the TABLE! We have 1 big table that everyone sits at together to eat every meal! Breakfast, lunch and dinner with 12-18 other people! All my girls at home know I don´t like being alone.... so yo understand why I love being surounded with people at every meal! I can pretty understand all conversations in Spanish now..... but 2nd dinner here the people from Peru and Spain got into a big debate about how the corruption here and in Spain... with 8 people all talking in spanish at the same time... well I only got the key points!! haha!!
So far a have gone there a few times. Once in the afternoon to wash the the childrens hair. This consists of having one kid at a time lean their head over a bucket while I pour water in their hair from a larger bucket. They I wash with shampoo, brush, fine comb- because of the lice buggies, and lastly add vinegar- its suppose to kill the buggies! Some of the lice buggies are pretty big about ---- that big! Yeah!! Jenny Payne would love it here!! Haha! I like doing the little boys hair because most of them have shaved heads and its easy to brush!! After they get their hair washed all the kids get lunch!We wash their hair twice a week and every evening 3-6ish we have an afterschool program. The children are divided into 3 classes by age and I currently have the pequeños... ages 3-8! And they are FULL of energy! Yesterday was math day so some are learing the numbers and how to write them while others on doing simple addition problems! I can successfully teach this kind of math! haha! Alex... the founder of the organization came and had a puppet show for the children in my class and they LOVE it and him!! A lot of times there is a nurse volunteer here, but right now there is not... so that puts me as closest to medical type skills! So far I have cleaned and bandaged a little boys arm that was scraped up pretty bad and clean a nose sore!
At the house... its great! Over the past few years Alex and his family have continued to build on to their house to allow all the volunteers to live here as they come throughout the year. Now its huge four story house with 8 or more small rooms.. most of which have bunk-beds. I here in the summer they have up to 18 volunteers living here.. in addition to the family members! Wow! Now there are about... 3 of us from the US and 1 or 2 from Spain.. 2 just left yesterday!
My favorite part is the meals. Not only because they is always someone to cook you a wonderful meal... its the TABLE! We have 1 big table that everyone sits at together to eat every meal! Breakfast, lunch and dinner with 12-18 other people! All my girls at home know I don´t like being alone.... so yo understand why I love being surounded with people at every meal! I can pretty understand all conversations in Spanish now..... but 2nd dinner here the people from Peru and Spain got into a big debate about how the corruption here and in Spain... with 8 people all talking in spanish at the same time... well I only got the key points!! haha!!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Paracas-Ica-Nasca...extreme sports and near-death experiences included!
WHAT A WEEKEND!!!
Day 1- 7am on Cruz del Sur bus to Paracas. Arrive in Paracas and am pick-up by the Santa Maria Hotel driver. Get to the hotel and successfully talk the man down from s/100 to s/70! YES! I got skills... that´s like $25! Head out on our first adventure to the National Reserve of Paracas. Paracas is a very small town but the landscape is amazing. The ocean goes straight into the beach and then the desert with zero green! The contrast of the bright yellow sand out to the dark blue Pacific is breath taking. At the reserve we rode from spot to spot just to look at some of the most breath taking landscape ever! We saw some of the most beautiful rock formation out in the ocean, some red rock cliffs, salt covered banks, literally millions of birds. I ran through the millions sitting on the edge of the water!! So much fun! Even the view of all the old wooden boats in the cove was wonderful. We even got within 2 arms lengths of a huge bird... thanks to our new found friend from England! After returning we decided to relax on the beach... which turned into time to learn to make bracelets on my leg and get a free cooper wound ring from some locals. Thank goodness our English friend came by to rescue Sarah and I. For lunch I tried my first Pisco Sour-The National Drink- Includes Pisco, Lime, Lemonade, and raw egg whites! Yum! Then the 3 of us had a late stroll down the beaches and super nice Hotels of Paracas.. priced over my budget with their pools with individuals jets! Haha! Dinner and a few Piscos on the 3rd floor hostal terrace and off to bed.
Day 2- 8am off on a boat to see the Islas Ballestas and Candelabro. While waiting to get on the boat a group of pelicans walked close enough from me to touch! Beautiful blue beaks. The islands were about 20 minutes out in the sea, so we got a bonus and swung past the famous Candelabro- carved in the sand. As we continued to the islands flocks of birds were stationed on every rock protruding out from the ocean. The Islas Ballestas were literally covered with birds on ever cliff... some many the sand was hard to see. Sea Lions- mariana lobos- were sun bathing on all the rocks. We even saw a beach covered with HUNDREDS of babies, huge sea lions, and lots of parents too. They were all barking and cooing together and cumulatively it was sooo loud! Like the whole beach was howling together! Must the reason for the name ´sea wolves´ in Spanish. I watched to waves crash in on the beach with the hundreds of sea lions and bunches of them would be carried in with the waves while others would be pulled out as the wave would recede. It was probably the most amazing wild life animal display I have ever seen (and I took videos for everyone else when I get home). After we circled the islands we headed back to Paracas. My boat was caught inside of a flock of hundreds of birds forming a ´V´ so on both sides of the boat were trails of birds as far back as I could see. At this moments I truly felt like I was in Jarassic Park with all the birds and wildlife around me... it was surreal!! We then wondering through the local market and relaxed on the beach for a bit more- minus locals! At 4ish we headed to the Cruz del Sur station to venture to the next city. At the Paracas station we met Silvestre -Sly- and and in Ica we met Sarah Charley. Who became our traveling buddies for the next few days. Sly had a hostal lined up so we all took a taxi together out of Ica to Huacachina... where we all stayed for the next 2 nights- The Carola del Sur. Minus the black steams of ants, the roosters that cock-a-doodle-dooed at 2am, and the ducked-tapped shower head that sprayed the whole bathroom I liked my top bunk! Sarah, Sarah C. and I all shared the same room and Silvestre apparently had a room to himself.. plus ant in the bed! Haha! We were able to sign-up for a dune buggie/ sand boarding venture and receive an extra s/5 off a night... for s/20 each a night...that's like $7!! The 4 of us around the Lagoon of Haucachina and Sarah C. and Sly tried their first Pisco Sours at dinner. After a few each we all decided to climb these HUGE sand dune... which we later realized had no top. I know your thinking of course it did but really we climb up for like an hour, I still only felt 1/2, and I could see the entire lagoon and all the surrounding building from a great height above... And Sarah C. had continued above the us 3 so far I couldn't see her and she never found the top!!! The sand recedes out from under you as you climb and no matter how big your steps are you only move forward a few inches. On the way down you can jump out and fly like 20feet. Sarah C. took 7 steps/jumps to make it back to the bottom practically! A late night dip in the murky water pool at the hostal and bedtime!
Day 3- Taxi driver from the bus station to the hostal yesterday... Is now our wine tours guide.. who would have thought! He was early for 10:30 and Sly, Sarah C., Sarah and I headed to our 1st Ica winery. It was over 250acres over fields of grapes with a bell tower in the center as I great look-out point. I almost rang it via dare of Sly.. but good thing I didn´t cause later I found out it signals for lunch and the end of the day... all those workers would have been real mad lunch wasn´t ready! hehe!! We sat at an outdoor patio and started the wine tasting. 3 whites, 3 reds, 2 blush, 3 sparkling... and 3ish pisco´s. Obviously you can tell why I lost count! Sly bought 3 bottles, Sarah C. got 1, and got 2... and my sister was too busy passing of her samples to the rest of us.. like we didn´t have enough! PS-Pisco is not a wine.. it it the national LIQUOR.. So yes we were taking straight shots of pisco for every trail! Needless to say we stopped to buy crackers before proceeding to the 2nd winery. 2nd... took another nice tour solely about pisco... but I´m still not sure what the bubbling dark red swamp was... or the ´toxic´ portion they pour out that we tasted was?? We sat bar front here.... and only had a few wines... follow by many salads of pisco -cheers-!! I think I might go chest hair after that!! JK! We were definitely all pretty tipsy and needed some lunch... right after Sly bought 3 more bottles and I got 1- the cream del pisco, it was delicious! And the taxi / tour driver got us safely back to the hostal. We all grab quick naps in the room or hammocks before our extreme sporting adventure!! Dune buggies arrived at 4:30... basically huge tires, rows with 3 seats each, roll bars only-like a jeep-, and seat belts like roller coasters.. yep over both shoulder and buckled between your legs! READY! They ROARED sooo loud!! We headed straight up a nearby dune over the mountain and out of the towns views in seconds. I was literally coming out of my seat as the driver drove over hills of sand I could not see the bottom of! No exaggeration! People in the military of Israel with us were screaming! Haha! We reached a smaller hill and all got out. Sand board time! Sand boarding is like snowboarding- same boards- but you rub candle across the bottom to make it stick.. as sand is not! Then you Velcro your feet right in and off you go! Everyone was beginners and we all kinda slide half way.. then rolled a bit! First run we all did face first on our belly!! Haha... adrenaline rush for sure! Kinda got the hang of it some he walked to the next hill.. lil bit bigger... then the next... bigger... then the last... HUGE! Sly went down before us girls and when he reached the bottom he was ANT SIZE! Crazy.. that didn't help me out much! Last one every returned to face first tactics.. obv. not for beginner boarders! On one of the middle sized dunes I wiped out worse then anyone... sand in my hair. pants, shirt, bra, and eyelids!! Definitely jammed a finger and got some good bruises to prove it now! haha...and just when you think you headed back.. One last death race through the dunes! Its half dark now as we already watched the sunset over the dunes(AMAZING)... and wondering if the driver can see much at least point. Everyone was a little more worried because he would even pause before going over hills to check the other side out before diving over it!!! hahaha! All hoping the lined of previously buggies didn´t end bad.. cause we were following them!! Can´t top that night of with much,, just crazy Peruvian pizza and a Fanta!
Day 4- Before 8am in a taxi (same guy too! hehe) off the Cruz del Sur station headed to Nasca! Sly, Sarah C., Sarah, and I all venture to see the lines together. We all planned perfectly to arrive in Nasca 3 weeks after the plane crash - everyone died- and 2 days after the riot ended and prices are crazy high! A guide a had been emailing met us at the station and tried to charge us $80 each... we took a taxi straight the the airstrip and got tickets for $65 (only had to get drive pretty shady to another place to pay.. wait forever... find our German/ Denmark friends from the bus wigging out and final return to the same air strip :-/ weird)! So the 4 of us get a plane for 4.. yes.. literally 4 passenger seats, a pilot, and co-pilot. They have 2 now post-strike to insure they don´t forget to put gas in the plane.. no joking here! This plane is SOOO small and that´s not what made it soo bad. The Nasca lines can only be seen from the sky and the is no definitely explanation of where they came from, but basically they are designs of bird, people, swirls, hands, trees, etc. so huge you could see from the ground. So the 4 of us in the lil plane are shacking through the sky of Nasca to see all the pictures. As one comes up on the left the drivers says- your the headphones we are all wearing- BIRD... then leans the left wing parallel to the ground... right ´HANDS´ right wing to the ground... left ´TREE´ left wing to the ground... I think you get it... We are almost doing barrel rolls through the sky and after like 6 my sister is asking for a bag!! She tells me later she didn't even see the last 4 pics! Hahaha... I was seriously gripping the seat in front of me.. I am not much braver!! The landing... surprising was very smooth! Def know for sure... that's is my last time seeing the lines of Nasca! After we all recover at the airport.. we head off to lunch. Once again sport our friends from Germany/ Denmark and find out the 2 guys threw up in the plane!! Haha! As the 8 of us our eating lunch and we are finished with all our extreme sports... guess what happens... My first earthquake! Yep in nasca it was a 3.0.. off the coast of Peru it was almost a 6! Yeah.. we are on unsteady looking 2nd floor of some small restaurant and everything starts shaking! It wasn´t bad.. people just running outta building to go back in 20 minutes later. Lunch was still good.... aji de pollo! Back to Cruz del Sur... and arrived home in Lima around midnight!
WHAT A WEEKEND!!!
Day 1- 7am on Cruz del Sur bus to Paracas. Arrive in Paracas and am pick-up by the Santa Maria Hotel driver. Get to the hotel and successfully talk the man down from s/100 to s/70! YES! I got skills... that´s like $25! Head out on our first adventure to the National Reserve of Paracas. Paracas is a very small town but the landscape is amazing. The ocean goes straight into the beach and then the desert with zero green! The contrast of the bright yellow sand out to the dark blue Pacific is breath taking. At the reserve we rode from spot to spot just to look at some of the most breath taking landscape ever! We saw some of the most beautiful rock formation out in the ocean, some red rock cliffs, salt covered banks, literally millions of birds. I ran through the millions sitting on the edge of the water!! So much fun! Even the view of all the old wooden boats in the cove was wonderful. We even got within 2 arms lengths of a huge bird... thanks to our new found friend from England! After returning we decided to relax on the beach... which turned into time to learn to make bracelets on my leg and get a free cooper wound ring from some locals. Thank goodness our English friend came by to rescue Sarah and I. For lunch I tried my first Pisco Sour-The National Drink- Includes Pisco, Lime, Lemonade, and raw egg whites! Yum! Then the 3 of us had a late stroll down the beaches and super nice Hotels of Paracas.. priced over my budget with their pools with individuals jets! Haha! Dinner and a few Piscos on the 3rd floor hostal terrace and off to bed.
Day 2- 8am off on a boat to see the Islas Ballestas and Candelabro. While waiting to get on the boat a group of pelicans walked close enough from me to touch! Beautiful blue beaks. The islands were about 20 minutes out in the sea, so we got a bonus and swung past the famous Candelabro- carved in the sand. As we continued to the islands flocks of birds were stationed on every rock protruding out from the ocean. The Islas Ballestas were literally covered with birds on ever cliff... some many the sand was hard to see. Sea Lions- mariana lobos- were sun bathing on all the rocks. We even saw a beach covered with HUNDREDS of babies, huge sea lions, and lots of parents too. They were all barking and cooing together and cumulatively it was sooo loud! Like the whole beach was howling together! Must the reason for the name ´sea wolves´ in Spanish. I watched to waves crash in on the beach with the hundreds of sea lions and bunches of them would be carried in with the waves while others would be pulled out as the wave would recede. It was probably the most amazing wild life animal display I have ever seen (and I took videos for everyone else when I get home). After we circled the islands we headed back to Paracas. My boat was caught inside of a flock of hundreds of birds forming a ´V´ so on both sides of the boat were trails of birds as far back as I could see. At this moments I truly felt like I was in Jarassic Park with all the birds and wildlife around me... it was surreal!! We then wondering through the local market and relaxed on the beach for a bit more- minus locals! At 4ish we headed to the Cruz del Sur station to venture to the next city. At the Paracas station we met Silvestre -Sly- and and in Ica we met Sarah Charley. Who became our traveling buddies for the next few days. Sly had a hostal lined up so we all took a taxi together out of Ica to Huacachina... where we all stayed for the next 2 nights- The Carola del Sur. Minus the black steams of ants, the roosters that cock-a-doodle-dooed at 2am, and the ducked-tapped shower head that sprayed the whole bathroom I liked my top bunk! Sarah, Sarah C. and I all shared the same room and Silvestre apparently had a room to himself.. plus ant in the bed! Haha! We were able to sign-up for a dune buggie/ sand boarding venture and receive an extra s/5 off a night... for s/20 each a night...that's like $7!! The 4 of us around the Lagoon of Haucachina and Sarah C. and Sly tried their first Pisco Sours at dinner. After a few each we all decided to climb these HUGE sand dune... which we later realized had no top. I know your thinking of course it did but really we climb up for like an hour, I still only felt 1/2, and I could see the entire lagoon and all the surrounding building from a great height above... And Sarah C. had continued above the us 3 so far I couldn't see her and she never found the top!!! The sand recedes out from under you as you climb and no matter how big your steps are you only move forward a few inches. On the way down you can jump out and fly like 20feet. Sarah C. took 7 steps/jumps to make it back to the bottom practically! A late night dip in the murky water pool at the hostal and bedtime!
Day 3- Taxi driver from the bus station to the hostal yesterday... Is now our wine tours guide.. who would have thought! He was early for 10:30 and Sly, Sarah C., Sarah and I headed to our 1st Ica winery. It was over 250acres over fields of grapes with a bell tower in the center as I great look-out point. I almost rang it via dare of Sly.. but good thing I didn´t cause later I found out it signals for lunch and the end of the day... all those workers would have been real mad lunch wasn´t ready! hehe!! We sat at an outdoor patio and started the wine tasting. 3 whites, 3 reds, 2 blush, 3 sparkling... and 3ish pisco´s. Obviously you can tell why I lost count! Sly bought 3 bottles, Sarah C. got 1, and got 2... and my sister was too busy passing of her samples to the rest of us.. like we didn´t have enough! PS-Pisco is not a wine.. it it the national LIQUOR.. So yes we were taking straight shots of pisco for every trail! Needless to say we stopped to buy crackers before proceeding to the 2nd winery. 2nd... took another nice tour solely about pisco... but I´m still not sure what the bubbling dark red swamp was... or the ´toxic´ portion they pour out that we tasted was?? We sat bar front here.... and only had a few wines... follow by many salads of pisco -cheers-!! I think I might go chest hair after that!! JK! We were definitely all pretty tipsy and needed some lunch... right after Sly bought 3 more bottles and I got 1- the cream del pisco, it was delicious! And the taxi / tour driver got us safely back to the hostal. We all grab quick naps in the room or hammocks before our extreme sporting adventure!! Dune buggies arrived at 4:30... basically huge tires, rows with 3 seats each, roll bars only-like a jeep-, and seat belts like roller coasters.. yep over both shoulder and buckled between your legs! READY! They ROARED sooo loud!! We headed straight up a nearby dune over the mountain and out of the towns views in seconds. I was literally coming out of my seat as the driver drove over hills of sand I could not see the bottom of! No exaggeration! People in the military of Israel with us were screaming! Haha! We reached a smaller hill and all got out. Sand board time! Sand boarding is like snowboarding- same boards- but you rub candle across the bottom to make it stick.. as sand is not! Then you Velcro your feet right in and off you go! Everyone was beginners and we all kinda slide half way.. then rolled a bit! First run we all did face first on our belly!! Haha... adrenaline rush for sure! Kinda got the hang of it some he walked to the next hill.. lil bit bigger... then the next... bigger... then the last... HUGE! Sly went down before us girls and when he reached the bottom he was ANT SIZE! Crazy.. that didn't help me out much! Last one every returned to face first tactics.. obv. not for beginner boarders! On one of the middle sized dunes I wiped out worse then anyone... sand in my hair. pants, shirt, bra, and eyelids!! Definitely jammed a finger and got some good bruises to prove it now! haha...and just when you think you headed back.. One last death race through the dunes! Its half dark now as we already watched the sunset over the dunes(AMAZING)... and wondering if the driver can see much at least point. Everyone was a little more worried because he would even pause before going over hills to check the other side out before diving over it!!! hahaha! All hoping the lined of previously buggies didn´t end bad.. cause we were following them!! Can´t top that night of with much,, just crazy Peruvian pizza and a Fanta!
Day 4- Before 8am in a taxi (same guy too! hehe) off the Cruz del Sur station headed to Nasca! Sly, Sarah C., Sarah, and I all venture to see the lines together. We all planned perfectly to arrive in Nasca 3 weeks after the plane crash - everyone died- and 2 days after the riot ended and prices are crazy high! A guide a had been emailing met us at the station and tried to charge us $80 each... we took a taxi straight the the airstrip and got tickets for $65 (only had to get drive pretty shady to another place to pay.. wait forever... find our German/ Denmark friends from the bus wigging out and final return to the same air strip :-/ weird)! So the 4 of us get a plane for 4.. yes.. literally 4 passenger seats, a pilot, and co-pilot. They have 2 now post-strike to insure they don´t forget to put gas in the plane.. no joking here! This plane is SOOO small and that´s not what made it soo bad. The Nasca lines can only be seen from the sky and the is no definitely explanation of where they came from, but basically they are designs of bird, people, swirls, hands, trees, etc. so huge you could see from the ground. So the 4 of us in the lil plane are shacking through the sky of Nasca to see all the pictures. As one comes up on the left the drivers says- your the headphones we are all wearing- BIRD... then leans the left wing parallel to the ground... right ´HANDS´ right wing to the ground... left ´TREE´ left wing to the ground... I think you get it... We are almost doing barrel rolls through the sky and after like 6 my sister is asking for a bag!! She tells me later she didn't even see the last 4 pics! Hahaha... I was seriously gripping the seat in front of me.. I am not much braver!! The landing... surprising was very smooth! Def know for sure... that's is my last time seeing the lines of Nasca! After we all recover at the airport.. we head off to lunch. Once again sport our friends from Germany/ Denmark and find out the 2 guys threw up in the plane!! Haha! As the 8 of us our eating lunch and we are finished with all our extreme sports... guess what happens... My first earthquake! Yep in nasca it was a 3.0.. off the coast of Peru it was almost a 6! Yeah.. we are on unsteady looking 2nd floor of some small restaurant and everything starts shaking! It wasn´t bad.. people just running outta building to go back in 20 minutes later. Lunch was still good.... aji de pollo! Back to Cruz del Sur... and arrived home in Lima around midnight!
WHAT A WEEKEND!!!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Volunteer update...
We have not returned to the teeny-bopper club yet… I do have a still like them since they had a free hug (´Abrazos Gratis´) hour at the ´Woman´s Day´ event!! Hehe!
PERU vs. US
DIFFERENCES:
I have been trying to compile a list of the differences between things in Peru and the US…. I am sure I´ll find more but for now…. Here are some really interesting things I have found:
- CORN- its huge… like every kernel is 3 times as big... you can only eat like 3 at a time and have mouth full!
- NAPKINS- they are tiny….a napkin is normally folded a few times but here its 1 small piece… so strange… like really give me a napkin I can wipe more than 1 finger on! Hehe
- BANANAS- Huge… probably twice as thick as regular bananas at home!
- KETCHUP- well…. It has a strange purple-ish tint and is a lot sweeter… still good though!
- BURGERS- All inclusive… really…. Eggs, 5 sauces, potato sticks, ham, bacon, chicken, and much, much more but somehow still fits in 1 bun!?!?
- PEANUT BUTTER- Apparently Peruvians don´t eat PBJs… so its soooo expensive!!! Random!
- TUNA- Fish… no.... here´ tuna´ is a strange green fruit with a million seed inside… and depending on who you ask may or may not be ok to shallow?? I personally won´t eat another one while I´m here.
- PIZZA HUT & DOMINO'S- Thankfully… the exact same!!! Love it!
- EGGPLANTS-Small… I had to buy 3 instead of my normal 1 for eggplant Parmesan the other night.
- DELUX BUS RIDES- Trying this out this weekend, but just got the tickets. CHEAP!! S/20-30 each… about $7.15-$10.70 for 1 to 4 hour rides!! With Internet, a meal, TVs, and fully reclining seats! Can´t wait for my Cruz de Sur trip!!!
- KARAOKE- Everyone loves it and practices nightly at our house…. If not nightly its at least every other night. At this point I haven´t seen it live in public yet.
- EGGS- Did you know you can put eggs with runny centers on top of pesto pasta. I never thought of this combination until my friend Edmundo ordered it the other night. I tried it… like I´ll keep them separate still! Enjoy Edmundo... sorry bud!
PARKS… PARKS… EVERYWHERE…So I went to an event about architecture of Lima last night and the presenter stated Lima abides by the minimum for amount of green space in the city. Sarah and I were SHOCKED because there are beautiful parks are over the pace. I could literally walk to probably 20 in 5 minutes from my front door. Sarah and I have also become very creative with our picture taking since there are so many! I think the number of parks here is the number one thing in Peru I wish we had more of in the US!
Park for brides and grooms…
Yes…. In Peru there is a park designed for brides and grooms to have their pictures taken. Sarah and I visited this park on a Friday night and in the 30 minutes span we probably saw over 20 couples having their wedding pictures taken. There are ponds, bridges, carriages, grassy knolls, flowers, etc… They couples just wandering around having their pictures taken professional. A few couples even posed for me to take their photos!! Hope you like these really pretty pictures... PS- so glad I had just worked out and was wearing gym clothes for this black and white park occasion that occurs every weekend I am told.Saturday, March 13, 2010
Surprises.....
So a trend has begun here in Peru for Sarah and I. We agree to go to every event and activity we are invited to. Each time we go people tell us a little about what it’s about and/or what will being happening and every time… it’s nothing like we expected. I have a lot of examples.
#1- Carmen´s church event. Carmen, the director of our español school invited Sarah and I to come with her to her small group at the church she has been going to one night. So when we get there, there are waiters were black vests and bowties serving champagne, and trays of cute sandwiches on silver platters. It turns out to be the farewell party for the parson/preachers of this church for the past 20 years. There are professional dance performances, young groups performing songs, comedians, etc. Great idea of Carmen to put us on the second rows right behind the guest of honor…. Since are so important and know so many people!! Haha!
#2- The organization we joined- The Municipalidad of San Borja… volunteers of our neighborhood-San Borja. Our friend Edmundo has a brother that works with the municipalidad and we joined the group to volunteer at events in the neighborhood. Our first day is the Dia de la Mujeres... Women´s Day… to celebrate appreciation for all women in San Borja. As I try to control to crowd of women fighting to talk to the doctor about their skin… I realized I was doing crowd control for these women and San Borja, Lima is the same as the South Park of Charlotte. This was verified when Sarah and I went to the first meeting last Tuesday night 4-6pm. All the little South Park kids join this volunteer organization to hang out after school with their friends and sing and dance together. Sarah and I left the teenage club early at 5:15!
#3 We decide to go to the night to celebrate Women on Friday… you know a small neighborhood event… 40-50 people maximum. We invited like 4 people to come so more people would be there. Well… there were over 100 people there and it was broadcasted live on TV here in Peru. The singer of the #1 hit in Peru right now performed at our neighborhood event and a very famous Peruvian comedy was the host! There was a huge stage… flashing colorful lights… the famous singer zip-lined to the stage from a nearby tower! Really!?!? My neighbor Edmundo said he didn´t even know about the event when I invited him!
So in case you ever travel to Peru and you think you know what is happening at the event your are about to go to… please keep an opened mind… because you might be like me and Sarah… We never really know what anything is going to be like! :o)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Internet...
Soo... apparnetly I will no longer have internet at the house... unless Erik´s crazy idea of standing on the roof and re-directing the antena to ´borrow´ someone else´s wireless actually works. haha! Wish us good luck! Sorry you all don´t get to see the fabulous photos from Paulo´s birthday!! :-)
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