Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Thankful.


So it’s been a little while since my last blog but nothing too crazy exciting has happened, at least not compared to the Amazon and Machu Picchu. It’s still kind of crazy to me that I have been to one of the 7 wonders of the world and the greatest river in South America and in a week no less!  So obviously I’m extremely thankful for those opportunities and the fact that I think my body is FINALLY recovering and assimilating to Peru…crossing my fingers and knocking on wood.

But here are a few of the things I am most thankful for over the last almost 6 weeks:

·      My wonderful Peruvian family. They have opened up their home to me and really make me feel like I’m part of the family. They always include me in things (like going to the beach, my fave), they worry about me when I’ve been sick and take me to the doctor, bring me medicine, call me to check up on me even when I go out of town (reminds me of my own mom, which makes me less homesick) and are always making sure I’ve had enough to eat which as you all know might be the most important thing haha
·      Dr. Miller and his wife, also Dr. Miller. I feel so luck that they were able to come and for Dr. Miller to be our UNK professor this semester.  They have been so wonderful especially when I was sick in the Amazon, I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t been there.
·      The guys in our group. Whenever we go out at night they always make sure to split up in cabs, walk the girls home and always make sure none of us are alone.
·      And of course all the lovely ladies of the group. I already feel so close to some of them in this short amount of time and most of them share my love of food and wine so really what’s not to love? Haha


So here’s a little picture summary of the last week and a half or so…

My family had a baby shower for one of their cousins so that was fun to see a few of the Peruvian traditions which are actually pretty much the same as in the US. 
Mama Aída, Marylinda and Aída

Jorge's family had a BBQ for us last Thursday and well... When in Perú, do as Peruvians do.

The next day my fam took me to a beach I hadn't been too... Playa Santa Maria

& then that night we went to a concert at a discoteca and finally met Dan's host sister Helen and her friend. Operation make Peruvian friends has commenced.

And last night we went to El Parque de los Aguas :)




Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sorry Tarzan I'm more of an Inca girl

***Warning this will be my longest post so hopefully I don't bore you too much, I never was much of a writer***

Is this real life??

Since I last posted I have gone boating on the Amazon, fished for piranhas, seen two of the amazing pink dolphins of the Amazon, seen multiple tarantulas in their natural habitat (that was more scary than exciting), hiked through the jungle, held a sloth, monkey, turtle and woodpecker, seen one of the 7 wonders of the world Machu Picchu and other Incan cities, ate lunch with a bunch of llamas and took a picture with an Incan king! Okay that last one might not have been a real Incan king ;)

I still can't believe I have done all that and I did it all in one week! It's nuts but it is safe to say my body hates me for it so here's a recap of my two trips...

February 2-4 = AMAZON/JUNGLE

So Sunday morning at 3:30am Fin, Nikki, Adam and I left for the airport to start our adventure on roughly two hours of sleep. We ended up having an almost two hour delay on our flight to Iquitos (the city bordered by the Amazon) because Peruvian Airlines was on the big time struggle bus. Let me tell you I was one unhappy camper, we had a combination of hangry and super sleepy Missy so for those who really know me... It wasn't a good time. Eventually we made it to Iquitos where our tour guide Neil was there to greet us and take us around the city before we took our two hour boat ride across the Amazon to our Hotel/Lodge. This was where most of our group tried one of the local delicacies...
This should have been my first clue that I was NOT cut out for the jungle life because I could not eat it. Ew. After this we hopped on our boat to go to the Heliconia Lodge where I must say, was actually a really wonderful place to stay, the staff was amazing, food was great and rooms were nice. Once we arrived our schedule was jammed packed and literally planned out to the minute by Neil who would would explain our plans like this.. "Okay you will have 45 minutes to eat lunch and then you will have 15 minutes to rest and then we will meet to go on a 7 minute boat ride and we will spend approximately 27 minutes there... etc." Also, when he said 7 minutes it would be exactly 7 minutes. 

Day 1 included:
Piranha Fishing, Pink Dolphin watching and a night walk through the jungle (probably the scariest 45 minutes of my life).
Day 2 included:
A 6:00am wake up call to go birdwatching (did I mention I had only two hours of sleep the night before? yikes), a 2 1/2 hour hike through the jungle (probably lost 10 pounds in sweat) and then FINALLY after lunch my dream of hold a sloth came true!!!! We went to a little Amazon village and as soon as the boat pulled up a group of little kids came running up to us each holding a different animal. They were so sweet and made everything that happened after this moment (like 20 minutes later) 100% worth it.

So back to that 20 minutes later... On our tour of the village I became extremely sick. I'm still not sure exactly what caused it but it was probably a mixture of the food, extremely hot/humid climate and not drinking enough water but to put it lightly... I puked my guts out the rest of the day.

Day 3:
Because of the whole puking my guts out thing, I was extremely dehydrated and I feinted that morning. Luckily, Dr. Miller was there to catch me and I didn't hurt myself and our tour guide Neil took me to a clinic to get I forgot the name but basically salt water (the stuff used for people who are extremely dehydrated) and after I was able to actually eat and get some fluids in me I was much much much better and I was unbelievably happy to be leaving the jungle haha

Basically, sorry Tarzan I am not cut out the be Jane. 

I arrived back home in Lima around 11:00pm Tuesday night and left the following day at 6:00am for Cusco. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it.

February 5-8 CUSCO

Day 1:
The thing about Cusco is that it sits around 11,200 feet above sea level (which is a little more than twice the altitude of Denver for a reference point). High altitude plus being not best shape from the Amazon meant a day of rest for this girl.

Day 2: MACHU PICCHU
Woke up at 3:00am to take a bus to the train station, then took the train, then took two more buses and then hiked a little ways to finally make it to one of the 7 wonders of the world! I can't even begin to explain how unbelievable this place is. It is thought to be the most sacred of the Incan cities and that is the reason it was abandoned so that the Spanish would not be able to find and destroy it during the Spanish/Incan wars. It was rediscovered in 1911 and, according to our guide is thought to be a place of magical powers (hence the perfect opportunity to wear my Harry Potter shirt). Here are a few of my pictures from this incredible place...



This last picture is cool because it shows the 3 views of Machu Picchu: the far right with all the trees is what it looked like when it was discovered, covered in vegetation. The closer rocks that are broken is one of the only places in the city where there is any destruction, it is thought to have happened while removing the vegetation when it was rediscovered. Finally, in the back is part of the completely intact city.

Day 3:
We went on a little tour around different areas of Cusco, we got to see how some silver jewelry was made, different markets, the Sacred Valley of the Incas where they grew most of their food for surrounding cities, went to Ollantaytambo another one of the Inca cities where the last battle between the Incas and the Spanish took place (also took a picture with an Inca king here) and went to a small village where some women showed us the the very long and intricate process of cleaning, dying, weaving and making different clothes and things using llama, alpaca and sheep wool which was amazing. 

Sacred Valley ->

Ollantaytambo


Drinking with a king 


 all the different things used to dye and make all the types of yarn used for their clothing, blankets, etc.


So to wrap it up... I had the most amazing whirlwind of a week. I'm definitely not cut out for jungle life and even though I'm so glad I went and had the experience I'm more than okay with never going back haha. Cusco however, I hope I see you again someday. My body may have hated/still hates me but it was a week of once in a life time experiences that I will never forget.

Sorry for the novel ya'll, Besos :)