Thursday, July 31, 2008

Just getting started..

So this is my third day here! I am having such an amazing time. Yesterday (Wednesday) morning my Tio Ismael came to visit me after his doctor´s appointment. He is going to be having surgery in about a week and a half. He recently found out that he had prostate cancer. And it amazes me how happy and energetic he still is. He is one of the funniest people I know! So he came over to my Tia Mimi´s house and we had some tea and bread for breakfast. He told me stories of when he lived in the jungle, in Iquitos, and all his adventures with the tribes and people from there. I love to hear his stories they just seem so exciting and beautiful. I definately want to go into the jungle someday and see it all.

As the afternoon came around we started to get hungry so we decided to go find somewhere to eat. I was craving ceviche so we went down to this little market down the road and there is this "Cevicheria" there that serves really good stuff. So we went there. We sat up stairs to where you could see out to the whole little market. I ordered Ceviche mixto which comes with shrimp, octopus, calamari, clam, fish and other stuff I don´t even know. It was so good!!! There´s nothing like eating ceviche that comes form fresh fish! We drank some Chicha Morada which is a drink here thats really good too. It´s made from purple corn, and boiled over a wooden stove type thing. We also had some fried clamari and yuca. It was a great lunch!

I went over to my cousin Becky´s house after they went home and just hung out with her until early morning again. We just can´t stop talking when we get together. I just love it. I love being here!

Photobucket
Me and my cousin Becky

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My Arrival to Peru!

So yesterday was such an exciting day! I was finally leaving Nashville and on my way to Peru. I have been so anxious about this trip for weeks now. I left Nashville around 10:45, my plane left a little late. I wasn´t too worried though because I had a couple of hours in Houston for my connecting flight. The flight went well. But I just don´t get why they dont give out snacks on plane rides anymore. It´s so annoying! I have to be snacking on something at all times. Luckily I had bought some gummy candy before I left so I atleast had that. There was no way I was going to spend 5 bucks on a bag of candy from the airport.

So I arrived to Houston and that airport is kinda big. I don´t think I have been to that airport before. Well there I was just walking around trying to figure out where to go as I talked on my cell phone to my cousin Joanny. I got on the little train which is supposed to take you to the next terminals. I guessI was so into my conversation with her that I didnt realize the train had already made all its stops and was headed back to the beginning of where I started! Ahh! oh well it was a fun little ride and I had plenty of time to waste. I was starving and luckily I was able to find a healthy place to eat. Well all I got was a Acai smoothie but it tasted fantastic. I was full for a few hours atleast. I finally found my gate and I decided to maybe walk a few laps around the terminal since I wouldnt be able to exersize all day. I don´t know why I have been so obsessed with working out recently but it´s probably a good thing...

The plane ride wasn´t too bad. Atleast I had the window seat. But it sucked because I was right over the wing! I hate when that happens. But my dad never really checks where on the plane he is seating me, he just always makes sure it´s a window seat. Oh well. It´s not like I can really do anything now. Two young loud girls sat next to me. They were nice though. They were on a group trip with some organization. They were so excited to be going to South America. It was cute. Atleast on this plane ride there was food and they gave us food more than once! I was glad becuase it was a 6 hour flight! The girls next to me were vegetarian, so they ended up giving me their food I so happy because I like to eat when I am bored! (so being a vegetarian is just too difficult for me on this trip. I am postponing the lifestyle for the duration of my trip. Plus they dont kill the animals the way they do in the States or inject them with crazy stuff either, so I dont feel too guilty about it) So I ended up reading 6 magazines and some of my book "Fast Food Nation". I tried to sleep but it was so uncomfortable. I also watched 2 movies that they showed on the plane. So the 6 hours went pretty fast. Something pretty disgusting that happend though was that I went to the bathroom and it smelled so awful!! And I looked around and there was poop smeared all over I thought I was going to puke!! It was the most disgusting thing ever! I just had to get out of there!

When the plane landed on Peruvian soil I was so anxious with excitement! It´s been 3 years since I have been back and I just felt so happy to be in such a beautiful place again! This is my first international trip going by myself so I was a little nervous. Everytime I go anywhere with my mom or dad it just seems so complicated. Well it wasn´t, not at all. I was able to pass through immigration quickly and I found my bags pretty fast. Usually everytime I have come here they lose one of my bags. Thank God this time it didnt happen! So then I rolled my bags out and had all these little baggage cart people trying to convince me to rent a cart, they are crazy and wouldn´t leave me alone so I justwalked as fast as I could! Then I was so happy that the little baggage checking button thing I pushed came up green so they didn´t have to look through my bags. augh I hate when that happens..

So I was on my way to see my family once again. I was getting nervous that I wouldnt find them and be lost but I knew they wouldnt forget to come get me. Well....so I walked out and there were tons of people picking up other people. I didnt see anyone I knew anywhere! So I rolled my little bags out from the crowd and stood by the door but not too close because its not exactly safe. Some taxi guys kept harrassing me to go with them in there taxi and I was getting a little scared. I didnt see anyone! What if they forgot I was coming, and I didnt have any local money to even call anyone!And I didnt even have anyones phone number anyways! Ahh! I was about to panic a little then maybe 10 minutes later I see my cousin Becky running through the doors she looked all panicked! And she ran towards me and gave me a hug! Apparently they had left late and then her husband forgot his wallet so he couldnt get in to park the car in the airport parking lot so they had to run from the street while he waited in the car on the side of the road. I was so relieved and happy to see her! Then her little daughter Raquel and my Tia Mimi came running behind her. It was so good to see them again and also just to see them period! My other cousin Lucho finally showed up to. He drives a taxi and was actually in charge of coming to get me, but noone had told him what time I was getting there until the last minute. I thought the whole situation was pretty funny in the end.

So we walked through the parking lot to his car. Just being there, the smell of the air, all the loud noise, hearing the taxi drivers harrassing the people coming out, it is just such an amazing feeling to see and hear and feel it all, it just makes me so happy for some reason. I just love this craziness! I love being surrounded by everything here. The ride to my tia Mimi´s house was pretty heart stopping as well. My cousin drives like a maniac, but you kinda have to if you drive here. We got to her little apartment and had some Inca Cola which is a bright yellow soda that is from here that is so delicious! We all just talked and talked and laughed and laughed. Then we were all hungry so we went to Becky´s house (because my tia doesn´t have an oven) which is right down the road and made 2 pizzas and drank some wine and talked some more. Lucho went home after a while but me, Becky, and my tia Mimi stayed up talking until about 3:30 in the morning! My feet were so swollen from sitting down for so long and my back was killing me. But i didntcare. I just propped my feet up on the sink and carried on! I was just so happy to be here I didnt even care. We finally went back to my tia´s house and went to bed. What a great night it was.