Where do I begin.
So to catch up for the past few weeks. I went machu pichu (pics are up on face book FINALLY) chilled with some llamas, ate some berry skittles that were far too over priced, but when you crave berry skittles….
After 9 long yet short weeks of classes I have finally had a week in a half to relax and plan my classes in color in my calendar for next semesterJ its strange how much satisfaction and enjoyment I get out of organizing :p I have enjoyed taking history classes here about south america and Peru because I now enjoy and appreciate the places I visit because I have learned and understand the importance of the andian Culture. Machu pichu was break taking. I believe it to be a time when you can attempt to take photos but the camera, no matter now fancy shmancy or expensive, doesn’t do it any justice. There were a lot of tourists there…. But I explored off with this boy named Tom and we got away from the crowd to enjoy the beautiful ruins from a higher elevation.
I was successfully yelled at on 4 different occasion for one, sitting too close to an edge; 2- sitting too close to another ledge ( people need to just let me be and stop being afraid of heights!); 3- for throwing my apple core off a high clift down thousands of feet into a forest where there are no people. “chica, muy muy mala” tards…. , and 4-for climbing on top of this cool wall rock thing to take a sweet foto! ( I guess I deserved that one).
Went gift shopping all week and hung out with friends during the evening. Oh, and watched a few disney movies in Spanish. Gosh I love cloudy with a change of meat balls!
Last weekend I went to Manu national park.
For those who don’t know ( I didn’t before so don’t feel like a tard if you don’t) it’s THE JUNGLE! Oh yea! So let me tell you about my trip: (please do Jenna)
So as 5:00am approached I gathered my things, grabbed my back pack and a bread roll, and hopped in a van that would take me 6 hours south to Manu. The ride was bumpy but I was with two of my chicas from Madrid, Spain and they made the trip quite enjoyable. The first place we stopped was at a hidden lodge buried deep within the jungle trees that required climbing up lard stone steps to get to the entrance.
Lets review….
I love peru, and I don’t mind Cusco, but goodness was it a praise and a relief to be out in the middle of the jungle with nothing but fresh air, giant trees, funny looking birds, and the sound of rushing water as it poured over softly moss covered rocks.
As you can imagine, the first thing I did was venture out and sat next to this waterfall for a solid 30 min and just-----s-a-t. nothing else. I just sat there, and was still. Still before the water, still beneath the trees, and still before the God that created it all.
Dinner was amazing and as we headed back to our mosquito netted covered beds I praised God that I had remembered to bring an entire roll of soft wonderful toilet paper ;).
When in Peru, South America, and especially the jungle, you NEVER want to leave home without toilet paper or tissues. Just a tip for those who dare to travel in the future ;)
Early we rose the next morning as ham filled omelets and hot tea awaited us at homey picnic tables as the sun began to shine through the deep jungle trees. We were to leave around 8am to journey deeper into the jungle to where we would meet a boat that would take us to our second location.
Fortunately we were able to get out of the stuffed vans and walk in the wilderness for an hour or so. How nice it was to walk without cars buzzing by or the sounds of business on either side. We met a long skinny boat ( they look like the boats in Italy- but jungle/Peruvian style!) and got to see the jungle from the shore. After arriving at one of the islands, we went rafting for 2 hours and got to swim! How refreshing and dearly missed!
After rafting we headed back to the island to explore the trails for different types of birds, and then by nightfall, ventured out with flashlights to discover all the different sizes and ugliness of insects :p The next morning we were woken at 5:20 to leave by 5:40 to get to another island by 6am to watch Macaws in their natural habitat. I borrowed a really nice pair of binoculars from a lovely Peruvian couple and noticed that macaws are actually quite large parrot type birds. They fly around over head to investigate the ground beneath for predators, then fly back and land on the side of the bluffs to eat of of soil. They do this because they are receiving salt and nutrients from the soil that is excellent for their fitness and apparently, sweet to the taste!
Today was a fun day. After watching birds all morning and learning random facts about giant jungle ants and how the natives eat them (after frying the first of course), we headed back for breakfast to equip us with the energy that we would need for the long day ahead.: jungle hike, zip lining through the trees at least 80 feet from the ground (yahoo!!!), vine swinging, swimming, futbol on the beach, swimming again, mud fight, other island for more trails and I got to stear this cool boat thing that was pretty much sinking ( it was awesome) some a giant ginny pig for got the name but it swims and eats plants, shower, dinner, fiesta!!!!!, played in the rain, went to bed early (because im boring I guess ; p ) then left for home the next morning. We had a totally of 4 FLAT TIRES but hey, when things don’t go according to plan, you just grab a coke and chill because you have no where else to be. The germans were angry but the stars were out so I couldn’t complain J it took us 12 hours versus 8 hrs to get home but lucky for us, we left at 8 so I go to bed around 9:30ish. It was a wonderful trip:0)
I ALMOST FORGOT!
I saw two monkeys! And they were in a tree, not enclosed in fences in the zoo ;) they were black and super cute. Ok. that’s it.
It is late Friday night and before writing this I went to fiesta at my friends apt since many people, including myself, are leaving this week/weekend.
Im pretty sure im in denial about leaving, and my family here is as well. It is going to be hard and I am trying to pretend that the dreadful reality of me leaving in 5 days isn’t really happening. As my host mom keeps saying, “Wednesday doesn’t exist. We can just call you mom and tell her that you are going to stay here with us.” *break my heart* its going to be VERY hard leaving my siblings and my host mom here. I guess this is the Lord just continuing to prepare me since I now consider myself having 4 homes: Lake Luzerne, Fredonia, Peru, and Haiti. I love Peru, but what I love more is how confirming it is that the Lord has called me to spend at least a little more time in Haiti. I don’t know when, when He sends me-my prayer is that I will be ready and willing, humble and obedient. Peru, I hope to experience all that I can in my remaining 5 days. Buenas noches. -besos
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