Made it to Huánuco!

So the rest of the week in Lima was a lot of fun, we got to see the Museum of Archaeology and the Museum de la Nacion which has a section about the 20 years of violence in Peru. For those that don’t know, Peru had an internal war from the years 1980-2000 which caused the deaths of 69,000 people, most of which where Quechahablantes (people who spoke Quecha in indigenous villages). It was incredibly sad, but it was also incredibly complex so it was good to go through the museum and understand more of why this happened. We also go to go to downtown Lima with Noami (niece of Dámaris) and we got to see the first Catholic church in Lima which was BEAUTIFUL and we also saw the catacombs, which were interesting, but my Anatomy and Physiology background kept me saying, “Oh look a femur,” not exactly the reaction you are suppose to have. One of the nights we also went to the Parque de Agua, which is basically a water show with all these different fountains (pictures are on facebook). All of the fountains were beautiful and as a group we had fun joking around and taking pictures together.

Yesterday morning at 9:00 am I got on a bus to Huánuco, which is about a nine-hour trip. I was excited, thinking I could look at all the scenery and see different parts of Peru. When the bus first got out of Lima I saw the mountains, which I was picturing more as like slight hills, no these are MOUNTAINS, and at first I thought oh how beautiful are those. I was wrong, turns out, not so beautiful especially when your bus makes turns every minute to climb up the mountain, and I mean UP the mountain. My stomach wasn’t feeling so good, but I thought I was fine, I’m a tough girl, no problems. Well the decline off the mountain had something to say about that. I felt like I was in a hammock during a hurricane. I kept saying to myself, “Okay there is a bag there if I need it, but no I don’t need it, I’m fine, just keep breathing.” Well to make a long story short, I needed the bag. Yep, I was the “gringa” on the bus that threw up. This is really only funny because the rest of the Peru YAV’s showered and looked nice before going to see their families. Me, no I puked and rallied. The stewardess on the bus was less than amused with me, so she gave me a few extra bags and when I asked for a garbage she said they didn’t have one (they stop in different towns to collect food and get rid of trash, this was after the removal of trash) so I sat for the last three hours feeling a tiny bit better with my lunch in my lap.

However, the good thing about starting at the bottom is that it can only go up from there.

My host father, Luis picked me up at the bus station. At first I was scared I wouldn’t find him in the crowd, but lets remember that I am the only “gringa” on the bus, let alone in Huánuco so it was actually pretty easy. Luis works at Paz y Ezperanza also so I was excited to learn more about what he does. My Spanish still isn’t great but I’m trying! I have three siblings. Joanna is 19 and studies at the University, Ingrid is 16 and is also studying at the University, and Jonathan is 10. Cathy the mom is wonderful; when she came home she took my hands and told me how happy she was to have me. After a rough day, that was the best thing she could have given me. She also said that I can help her cook, bake, or whatever I like. I am part of the family she says. This morning we went to church, which started at 8 and got over around 10 and then we all had classes; I went with Joanna and Ingrid to the young adult class, which lasted about an hour. Now the rest of the day is for family and resting.

I hope everyone is doing okay on this tough anniversary for the United States. Much love to all from Peru! Besitos (Kisses)