not your MTV spring break.

While I was jealous to hear about the times friends back home had on Spring Break, I have to say, after this weekend, my jealousy went out the window.


The roomies and I decided to take a vacation to get away from the stress that is school here in Lima, so we grabbed a cab to the good old Soyuz bus station to head South.

Our cab driver was thrilled we were from the USA and wanted to know all about which Sex & the City character American women were most like. Immediately after he asked us about what we thought the cause of AIDS was. His opinion: you get AIDS when you do not eat well.

Hm.
About that...

We spent the night in Pisco, met some other people at a bar and then travelled to a night club, where I was taught the basic merengue steps by an Usher look-alike. Not bad, not bad at all.

Bright and early Saturday we jumped on some big boats in Paracas to visit the Islas Ballestas- often called the "Poor Man's Galapagos". The islands were filled with thousands of sea lions and over 700,000 assorted birds- including..wait for it...PENGUINS! The islands are rocks that are white and yellow on top- which with that many birds- you can guess why they are those colors.

Thoroughly wind-blown, we headed to Huacachina to go sandboarding. The dune buggy that took us out there were a blast- it was like a rollercoaster...

Except with no tracks. Or seat belts that fit. Really not safe at all actually.

The dune buggy rides were almost better than sandboarding itself. We were first brought to a low hill, where we were told in Spanish

"lie down. keep your arms in or else they will break, keep your head up or else your teeth will get knocked out. if you put your legs up, you'll go fast"

Great.

Good thing they told us- a girl in a group before us had the board smash her in the face and knocked her teeth out. How's that for a nice vacation?


After going down on our bellies down a much much much steeper hill, we were brought to 3 consecutive hills to go down on standing up.
And the directions this time?
There weren't any.
Of course.

Considering I have no experience snowboarding...or actually any balance whatsoever, I didn't completely embarrass myself! Success!

After enjoying the sunset over the sand dunes we buggied (and boogied-no-Peru has not made me any cooler unfortunately) back to our heavenly hostel and went night-swimming at the pool before spending the night playing drinking games with new friends from Holland.

Sunday we went back to Ica to visit Bodegas (wineries) to go wine and pisco tasting. The wine was all fantastic, although pretty sweet. The pisco on the other hand...

At the first bodega the bartender told us to sip a little first, then drink it all fast, because if you swish it around, it will burn your mouth.

Nothing like gulping rubbing alcohol, let me tell you!

Back in Ica centro we grabbed some great food and returned to Jesus Maria, with sand in more places then we cared to have it and cumulatively about 1400 pictures. Not bad, not bad at all.


So to those of you who went to PCB, or like my family to Cancun, I hope you enjoyed your tanlines and margaritas. Next year, may I highly recommend watching the sun set over the sand dunes in the south of Peru after a day cruising on the ocean with penguins and bouncing around in a dune buggy overlooking an oasis in the desert.

Just a suggestion.
Besos y Abrazos!

cheddar salt?

If you have not seen Slumdog Millionaire, GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW.
Seriously.

The roommates and I went today, and it was absolutely fantastic.
What was even more fantastic was that all together the ticket, popcorn, and drink added up to only $6.00. Yes. You can't even get the ticket for a movie for that price in the USA.
We asked for salt for the popcorn and got cheddar powder. God I freaking love this country.

Dinner tonight was lively as ever.
Our host sister, Cynthia, who is about 28 I believe told us about her travels around the world and the prostitutes she's seen in Japan, Germany, and Holland. She told us how to sneakily take pictures of them, and that the blonde boys on corners in Japan are the hookers. Great.
Included in her detailed talk was a story about her friend and friend's husband going to a redlight-district area and entering a brothel that had a MENU of things you could order, including a "trio".
Oh, and not to worry, Peru is no exception. Our Señora let us know that here in Miraflores, late at night around the park there are young guys standing on streets, and older women drive up in their cars to "pick the boys up".

See mom and dad, I am learning so much here in Peru.
So. Much.

no me digas!

Unfortunately, not much has been going on here in Jesus Maria. Other than attempting to stay awake in my 4 hour long straight blocks of classes and struggling through the all-Spanish reading assignments, life is still relaxing.

Thursday the roommates and I met up with a large group of exchange students in Miraflores at a bar, where if you are a lady you get your first drink free. Hey, I'm not going to argue that.

I once again attempted to salsa dance. Epic fail. One of our fellow exchange students is from Mexico, and is a bailarin, meaning he is a FANTASTIC dancer. At one point when we were dancing I told him I couldn't do a certain move, and instead of telling me I could he bluntly said in Spanish that I was right, I couldn't and I shouldn't try.

Awe. Some. Nothing like getting that ego deflated a little bit. Yesss.

The Peruvians we danced with there were relentless as ever, trying to tempt us with their so-called perfect English skills. ("Ah dis song ees so Fuuuhhhnnkkyy! We are de rieesky guys").

Similar to my dancing attempts, their pickup attempts : Epic fail.

On Saturday K.O, Jenna and I ventured South to Playa Pulpos, a fantastic sand beach on the ocean. There were huge waves, so we got a chance to body surf...which sort of ended up just us getting owned by the ocean. I think I swallowed enough salt water to last the rest of my trip.

My family maid has been making great vegetarian food...with the exception of the lack of understanding about tofu. The point is to mix it in with other sauces and food so it can take on that taste...she just chops it up without cooking it and puts it on top of my vegetables. Ay. Hey, points to her for trying.

To all in WI: Hope spring break treated you well, and sorry about the B-ball loss :( Besos y Abrazos!

Attempt at dancing: Take 4. Still a mess.
Enjoying cerveza at Bierhouse in Miraflores!

Playa de Pulpos (octopus).
Gianfranco, Katie, Me, Rodrigo, Diego, Jenna, Tapio and LynnPhoto courtesy of Rodrigo: Who says Gringas can't jump?

Thai sin Thai

The ladies and I were excited about this Thai Festival in Miraflores and hoped to find some Pad Kee Mao.

Problem: There was no Thai food at the Thai festival.
WTF.
Get your act together with your festivals Peru.
Psh.

um, they weren't kidding.

First day of classes = terrifying.
Katie, Ashley and I found ourselves in a 5th cycle Lit class somehow, and between the multiple books we must read, there are 112 other readings and many exams.
Awesome.
Good thing alcohol is dirt cheap here.
My $7 bottle of Bacardi and I have a date tonight, that's for sure.

pineapple and cheese empanadas. mm-mm.

It's been odd and wonderful adjusting to life in Jesus Maria.

Everything is at a slower pace here...to me it feels lazy.

In Madison I would be up early, running errands, making my own food, cleaning up after myself, doing my own laundry (and the laundry of many of my old roommates at 525...) etc.

Here, we get up for breakfast which our maid Mariluki makes and clears for us at 8, then normally go back to bed for a bit. We slowly get ready and decide what beach to go to. We drop our clothes off at the Lavanderia, which for about $6, people wash, dry, fold, and fix rips/tears in your laundry. Then we stroll home for dinner which Mariluki has ready for us, we chat with our host family about our day, get dressed up, go out dancing, come home around 2:30 am, and then do it all over again.

Jealous yet?

Now, this is not every day, but definitely a typical weekend day.

New Things:
-I've been learning to salsa dance, which of course I look like a complete fool doing.

-We learned there are cockroaches EVERYWHERE on the streets at night.

-Evidently Pontificia Universidad Catolica is the best school in Peru. We found this out by the fact locals CLAP for us when we tell them we are going there. Awesome.

- People don't go running here. Katie and I went for a run the other morning and people looked at us like we absolutely crazy.

-Since I am so tan, my host mother calls me "negrita". Yikes.

-The ladies and I went to our first Chifa (chinese restaurant). It was heaven.

The other day the roommates and I ventured to Miraflores to visit the beach and El Parque De Amor. Let me tell you, being at the park of love when you're single is quite the treat. There are people selling roses to the couples cuddling in the shade and mosaic benches with famous love quotes in Spanish. At the park we met a Peruvian named Rafael, who ended up showing us around Miraflores and Barranco. That night we met up with him and his friend Eric in Barranco and danced the night away at the crazy packed Discotecas. The dancing is interesting, because unlike the glued-to-each-other-grinding that occurs in night clubs in the States, they actually DANCE. Sure, there is still plenty of sexuality if one so chooses, but the people dance salsa, cumbia, and more.

Next to my love for being picked up when someone hugs me is my love for being spun around while dancing. Hands. Down.

And now, a few pictures...

Orientation at PUCP includes penguins! YES!! Beautiful artwork in Parque Kennedy Another day at the beach in Miraflores...
One of the mosaics in El Parque de Amor...

Free balloons thrown out during dancing at Hakuna. Random much?

Salsa dancing with an old man in the plaza in Jesus Maria. In athletic shorts. Definition of classy. It was a dance with a band for senior citizens...and somehow Katie and I got pulled into it. We got plenty of "dumb Gringas" looks. Shocking.

Besos y Abrazos!

free cotton candy? si, por favor.

I always thought that running away to the circus was the only way to get free cotton candy.
I was wrong.
Ashley, Katie, and I were walking through a supermarket today, and I see people holding cotton candy.

----For those of you who really know me, you can guess how long it took me to find where the source was.
----For those of you who don't: it took under 5 seconds. In a double-level market the size of a large department store. Yes.

And it was free. Free. Naturally I took a picture, I am that cool.

Katie and I have 2 more roommates, Ashley is also from Madison, and Jenna is from Indiana. Orientation for school was today which was even more boring than SOAR, which I did not think was possible. The only interesting part was at the end we had a safety lesson. We get to the room, and the powerpoint was entitled "Survivng Peru".
Not "Living safely but having fun in Peru"
SURVIVING.
Awesome. Love the optimism in this country.
Our teacher was very animated in explaining where we should sit in the taxi ("behind the driver so he can't as easily pull a gun on us, and plus we can choke him if we he tries anything funny"), how to be safe alone ("you are NEVER safe alone"), etc. The best part was that she was saying all this in rapid Spanish with elaborate motions and sound effects. It was like a one-woman comedy act...but TeleMundo style.

It's hot and humid here, not to rub it in to those of you in chilly MN or WI...
To make you feel better, Katie and I had gotten cocky about sunscreen, and when in Huaraz on our hike we wore hats and put sunscreen on our face- but forgot our ears. (yes mom, I know, you are shaking your head at me right now). Needless to say we now have lovely blisters. Definitely going to get myself a Peruvian boyfriend with like this. Mmmm-mmm. Nothing says sexy like bright red ears.
Speaking of Peruvian boyfriends....

So, our Señora (host mom), is a feisty 70 year old who speaks her mind and encourages us to do the same. Last night at dinner, the 4 of us were chatting with her after dinner about novios-boyfriends. 2 of the roommates have them, and Ash and I were joking with her how we need to get one as well. She promptly replied "Ay Laura, no. No necesitas un novio, necesitas un "amigo cariñoso"".
Translation: Laura, you don't need a boyfriend, you need a "caring male friend".
Caring male friend? I'll let your imagination go to work here.

Tonight we ended dinner with a shot of Divino Pecado- a liquor that has Lucuma and Pisco in it.

Between free cotton candy, great advice from my host mom, and now knowing how to choke a taxi driver, I do believe I will LOVE living here.

turns out, breathing is a good thing.

Symptoms of Altitude Sickness:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, shortness of breath, pins and needles.

Side effects of my Altitude Sickness Pills:
Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, etc.

Anyone else see a problem here?
Thought so.

Katie and I just returned from our adventure to Huaraz, a city about 8 hours North of Lima by bus. Our first day we went on a tour that took us through the Cordillera Blanca y Negra.
Some highlights included finding beer flavored ice cream in Carhuaz, seeing a beautiful memorial/cemetary in Yunguay for the 30,000 people that died in a 1970 earthquake, trying Cancha (toasted/seasoned corn) in Caraz, and hiking around Laguna Llanganuco (even though we got rained out).
That night we laid low at our hostel, meeting a crazy Irish guy who told us to go to Bolivia because "La Paz is a coke den. You go to a bar, and instead of ordering a drink, you order a line."
Excellent.

We woke up at 6 am the next day for our Trek to Laguna Churup. Along with us on our hike was a boy from England named Oliver, and a guide whose name I absolutely cannot spell or pronounce. We were told it was a simple, easy hike. Hah. Not only did we hike up to 4,500 meters, or 14,850 feet (which for you back home, this is higher than the highest point in all the Rocky Mountains), we also lept across rapids and scaled vertical rock walls, without ropes. To make this all more fun, it was the rainy season in that area, so all the rocks were wet.
Although I had taken my clearly useful altitude medication, I still got altitude sickness, and had to stop a few times on the way up so I did not pass out and fall down the mountain. That might have been sliiiightly embarrassing. The pins and needles thing? Totally true. My whole face and both my hands tingled even 3 hours after the hike was completely over.
Once we reached Churup, it was all worth it. We could see for miles, and the lake was a gorgeous clear teal. (The picture on the right of my blog under the title was take in front of the lake!)
After our sandwiches con queso and bottles of water, we realized somehow we had to get back down. Let me tell you, scaling vertical rock walls going UP is one thing. Going down? Whole different ball game.
Then it started to sprinkle: No biggie, we were hot after the hike.
Then it started to rain: Eh, Dad always said I wasn't so sweet that I'd melt.
Then it started to pour: Okay, kind of hard to see.
Then it stared to HAIL: No longer okay.
Then the wind picked up: FUN FACT: the wind on top of a mountain hits you a lot harder than on the flat old plains of Wisconsin.

Clearly we made it down okay, since I am here to write this oh-so riveting blog.
Tired from the hike, we spent the night with Oliver learning English card games and their ridiculous lingo. Dodgy.

Our last day in Huaraz was a lazy one, and before we knew it, we were back on the bus home to Jesus Maria, with some attractive Israelis to chat with about how lame the on-bus movie was (Matrix reloaded. Boo to Keanu Reeves. Enough said.)

Below, just a couple of the hundreds of pictures taken:

Gorgeous cliff in the Cordillera Blanca:

Flower field in Yunguay:

Memorial in Yunguay:

Boats on Laguna Llanganuco:

A view from the beginning of the Churup TREK:

A little further...

Laguna Churup..Before rainfall (hailstorm):

Myself in very becoming hiking gear with Katie and Olly looking happy as ever.

Rock wall on the hike back to Huaraz:

Besos y Abrazos!

you could a teach me the english?

ah, good day.

A day of first peruvian love (beautiful boy on the bus), first peruvian pick up line (you could a teach me the english you have boyfriend?), and first peruvian ass grab (katie did NOT love that).

The bus system here is crazy. they are called "carros", and if a school bus and an AstroVan had a love child, the "carros" here would be what that looked like. They are all different colors with locations painted on the side of them of where they go. One person stands in the doorway screaming out in spanish where it's going with a neon sign, whistling, yelling, snapping at people trying to get them to come aboard. To go anywhere it only costs 1 nuevo sol, or about 33cents in US dollars. They drive like MANIACS and cut each other off. If you need to go somewhere, a bus will come for that place about every minute. Literally. So cool.

Katie and I went to La Punta today, which is this fantastic rock beach. (see pics below).

view looking out at one of the many piers and boats. ah, palm trees.

Katie is the pretty lady in purple on the left, behind us is a statue of soldiers loading cannons.

Right now we are packing for our trip to Huaraz. We leave tonight at 10pm, and return Tuesday at 6 am. Which means no internet for a while, thus you all can happily take a much needed break from this blog! We will be trekking, hot spring-ing, going to the market, and hopefully going out on the town!

espero que ustedes tengan un buen fin de semana!

besos y abrazos

appreciate your tap water, USA

Highlights of the day:

-Going to the mercado and hearing "Happy Birthday" while buying food.

-Homemade strawberry papaya juice with breakfast.

-Trying the local drink, Inca Kola, which was rumored to taste like bubblegum/banana cream. It totally does. Strange.

-Attaining five 2.5 liter bottles of water for our fridge (can't drink the tap water here)

-Investing in our first Peruvian candy, FrutiFrus. Look like Mambas, taste like Tums. Bleh. What I wouldn't give for some sourpunchstraws!


So we are living in Jesus Maria, a district of Lima. Consider it a nice suburb. Nice being theoperative word. Nice by Peru's standards, not so nice by USA standards. Nevertheless, Katie and I have explored and feel 24504858345083409 times safer here than in Lima. Our house is yellow with 3 stories (and yes mom, a HUGE locked gate is surrounding it so no one can get in.)


This is a view off our stairs (we live on the 3rd floor), if you look to the bottom right, you can see the metal spikes that are guarding our house! (click on the pic to see better!)


The family is a 70 year old couple and their youngest single daughter, Cynthia who is a professor at our college here, PUCP. They have two other children (Dante y Mariana) who are older and married and live outside of the house. The little kids they both have come over during the daytime and are so adorable they could easily be on the Gerber labels or LIFE cereal boxes. Fact. We eat breakfast and dinner with them, which our maid, Maria Luisa both makes and clears for us.

Dinner tonight started with a shot of Cachaça, which is a liquor similar to rum but is made with sugarcane & not aged in barrels. Our host sister brought it back from Brazil to share! Dinner was amazing tonight. I have no idea what our first course but it was tasty. Some kind of lettuce and cold boiled potatoes in a yellow sauce with spices? I am great at explaining things, I know. Second course was pasta with the best homemade pesto ever. Juice tonight- Drinkable! YES! They said it's made fresh from the tree outside. Speaking fluent Spanish was easier tonight, and our host parents are hilarious. They were asking us what we liked to drink, where we go out, and then warned us about the "women of the street" late at night in Lima. Nothing like talkin' about hookers and booze at dinner.
Amen.

Besos y Abrazos

also:

check out what's RIGHT next to my bed ^^^^^

ah, love being a Jew here.

recibí mi primer beso en Lima hoy...

Yep, first kiss. From a girl. Oh god, it was on the cheek, calm down.
Random lady doing a mayorial campaign.
Later recieved them from maid, host mom, host dad, host sister.
Guess I won't have to worry about a lack of love while I am here.

Which leads me to...

The catcalls of Lima.
The occasional "hola lindas", "Ay..tan hermosa" or "niñitas" is better than the hisses, whistles, and obvious sexual grunts we also heard from men EVERYWHERE. Even the police officers. Creepy.

K.O and I went to explore Lima Centro today, and got to witness the changing of the guards at the President's house! Very cool- a band plays for the crowd standing outside watching.
Lima Centro is crazy; it is full of (but not limited to)
-narrow streets and markets that could get a person lost (see next PP for details)
-5-year-olds trying to sell you candy
-ceviche (raw fish in lime juice), chifas (chinese style restaurants), Norky's (like KFC?)
-people that look at katie and me like we are white aliens
-the worst traffic I have ever witnessed (no street signs, no use of traffic lanes, no right of way, no stopping for pedestrians, constant horn honking)

So...naturally since it was our first day, Katie and i decided to get lost.
Couldn't find our hotel for an hour. Damn those winding streets that all look alike.

We made it to Jesús María by 4:30, more about our host family later.
Dinner consisted of arroz (white rice), papas amarillas (pureed potatoes with milk), neon-pink puddingy stuff...and our beverage- which I do not know the name of, nor do I care to.
We see it in a pitcher, thinking it's lemonade by the color.
WRONG.
Hot (as in like slightly cooled down from boiling hot) and a flavor mix of bubblegum/lemon/melted down suckers that you get at the doctors/vinegar.
Bahhhhh.

I am all about trying new things but MAN. Shudder.

Also: we only speak Spanish. Yes, I realize you may be thinking "Um DUH LAURA it's Peru". Clearly I realized we would speak Spanish here, but going from never using it, to having to understand and speak in it fluently in ONE DAY is rough.

Okay, this is long.
Write to me:

Elias Familia
CO: Laura Podlich
Jr Caracas 2625
Jesus Maria, Lima 11
Peru

besos y abrazos

Como se dice "SHENANIGANS" in español?

Yikes.

Well, our layover was surprisingly nice; we got to go outside and enjoy the Florida sun and listen to Air Jamaica flight attendants bicker incessantly.

Then...we landed in Lima.

The line for Customs was hot but only took about 30 minutes.
I went to get my passport stamped, but the man refuses to do so without my StudentVisa. I explain in broken Spanish that we wouldn't have our visas until we visit the Peruvian Consulate. After some pleading and promising I would get my visa right away, I was let through.
Whew.

So we jumped into a Taxi Green, and expected to breeze right to our hostel with no worries or problems.
Spoiler alert: This did not happen.
Our driver Carlos pulled over numerous times, scaring us more with each stop. He drove down terrifyingly tiny streets that were dark and full of people drinking, peeing, chasing dogs and sleeping on no more than dirt. The buildings were full of broken windows, graffiti and rusted metal bars. He kept trying to persuade us to go to a different hotel, and continued driving around warning us about the danger that was Lima.
Cool.
We arrived at our hostel, only to find that they didn't have a room for us.
Cool.
We were brought to a different hotel, argued about the price of the room, got hit on by the receptionist, but finally, FINALLY arrived to a room that seemed as safe as one can get in downtown Lima.
Cool (sans sarcasm).
Around 2 am, we actually got to bed.

The view out our window includes a deluxe brick wall, hanging laundry, dirty windows and ash.
Breakfast was heaven. It's amazing how a cup of coffee can make everything seem alright.

K.O. and I are on our way out to walk around Plaza de Armas, wish us luck.

Besos y Abrazos

welcome to miami

After a ridiculously early and a no-free-beverages SpiritAir flight, the lovely Katie O'Brien and I have arrived safely in FL.


7 hour layover, here we come.