37 Pounds

Things I have learned in Peru so far:

-       Always travel with toilet paper, I have yet to see a public restroom that has it

-       Learn to love rice, they mean it when they say it is a staple

-       Try not to look while the taxi drivers are driving, let’s just say it is a little terrifying, but they hardly ever get in accidents so there is a method to the madness!

-       One of their methods is “he who honks first, has the right away”

-       When crossing the street, look both ways, 20 times, and even while you are crossing. Pedestrians are not a priority

-       Sublime is the best Peruvian chocolate bar

-       Don’t leave your Keens (shoes) outside your room at night, the dogs like to pee on them

Our first weekend in Peru was wonderful! On Saturday we met at Debbie and Harry’s apartment and then took a bus to Pachacámac; ruins south of Lima. It was very interesting to see the ruins, learn about the groups that inhabited the area, and what each group contributed to the area. Most people think that the Incas were the only indigenous group in Peru that offered anything substantial, hence Machu Picchu, but Pachacámac had three other groups that lived in the ruins before the Incas even arrived. After the ruins we went to El Mercado de Bolivar (Market in Bolivar) to have cerviche. Harry swore that this tiny little spot in the middle of this very busy market had the best cerviche, and I think he was right because it was delicious! I even tried a couple new types of seafood such as octopus, which tasted pretty good, probably because everything tasted like lime.

Sunday we woke up bright and early to attend church literally around the corner. It is the church that Dámaris, Debbie, and Harry go to so it was fun to meet their church family. Sean, Kaley, and I decided we would try to dress up considering we had basically been wearing the same clothes for a week, but it was so cold that we ended up just layering jackets and looking silly. It isn’t actually cold here, it’s usually around 50, cloudy skies, and slightly windy, but because we are all coming directly from warm summers, to us, it is cold. We keep reminding ourselves that this is winter here though and it will only get better from here. Apparently Huánuco is warm all year though; basically I’ll be living in Heaven, sounds awful right?

Church was very different than what I am use to, but that made it even more special. Service is suppose to start at 9 and us being the “gringos” showed up on time, only to find that we were the first ones their besides the people setting up music. Peruvian time is wonderful and caused worship to start at 9:15. We finally left the church at around 11:30 to have lunch with Harry and Debbie at their favorite Sunday-after-church-restaurant where I got arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), my favorite thing in the entire world (besides chocolate). Shane decided to try Patitas (tendons), a delicacy in Peru, so I decided to be brave and try a piece. Let’s just say I won’t be ordering it for myself anytime soon, give me a break it had hair on it still (it is suppose to have hair on it by the way). After our big lunch, Harry took us to Miraflores, which is the touristy part of Lima. Apparently it is the spot to go when you need to get out of Peruvian culture and just have a nice hot white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. My favorite thing about Miraflores was a circle in the middle of the main park which everyone gathers around and dances. We also visited Barranco, which is the hippy part of Lima and found a spot near the ocean to stop and have refrescas (sodas). All in all it was a wonderful day and the perfect end to the weekend.

The rest of this week is full of Spanish classes, museum visits, and chances to see the other hotspots in Lima! My Spanish is getting better poco a poco (little by little) but I think it will be better when I am totally immersed. Until Saturday (immersion day) I will continue to enjoy my time with the YAV crew, laughing constantly through each day.