Week 2: I'm Learning Some Things

Hi everyone! It's me again. I am now into week three of the semester and the number of days I have left in Peru is into double digits. I'm starting to develop a bit of a routine, which has been nice. Almost every morning my host mom brings me breakfast in bed, which might be one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. She is the best. As far as activities go since my last post, the main one was hiking in Matucana to a waterfall called Catarata de Antankallo. It was beautiful, but I'll always be a little biased toward my hometown's waterfalls. :) The main takeaway from this experience is that I need to put a little more emphasis on exercise in my daily life because hiking is HARD and I thought on at least three separate occasions that I was going to have a heart attack right there on the trail.

This is a photo of me during the hike, pre-sunburn, pretending I wasn't having trouble breathing.

Which brings me to my next experience. With an increase in temperature comes an increase in responsibility, and I failed myself miserably this day. The back of my neck and shoulders got fried to the point of blisters and has now reached the "snake shedding its skin" phase. It was a bummer, but I'm sure everyone back home battling cold temperatures and snow aren't feeling much sympathy for me right now. :) BUT YOU SHOULD!

Probably the most...humbling...experience that I have had thus far is the process of doing laundry. My host family's washing machine is currently not working, so I have to wash each item of clothing by hand. The first week was a bit of a doozy when somewhere in translation between Spanish and English I missed that I needed to rinse my clothes after I washed them and before I hung them on the line. I know, probably common sense, but then again have you ever washed your clothes by hand?! Once I went to get my dried clothes off the line, they were a little crusty and I was afraid if I sweat bubbles might start coming off my clothes, but it all worked out and I now have some confidence in my laundry abilities. I will also never take a washing machine for granted ever again. Another fun fact is that most homes in Peru have their laundry room outdoors and on their rooftop, which makes it a fairly scenic experience (see photo).

A view of the clothing line on our rooftop.

A few other awesome experiences that I've had over the past week: We visited the district in Lima called "Barannco" and I touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life (!!!), then watched the sunset while eating dinner oceanside. I went to my host mom's brother's house and we cooked tequeños with guacamole, which has become one of my favorite foods in Peru, drank coffee, and chatted. I made a dish with my host mom called ceviche which is chunks of raw fish, lime juice, onions, peppers, and garlic. Apparently the lime juice "cooks" the raw fish, but let's just say you would never know. I've learned that when it comes to food here, you just have to go for it and try it and to my surprise, I loved it. I honestly haven't had anything here yet that I didn't like. At some point I am going to write an entire post about the food so stay tuned. Other than that, it was a fairly laid back week before the next two weeks which will be a whirlwind of classes, traveling, and spring break (yes, already). Until next time!