Family time in Sarapampa

 

My brothers sleeping

Last week fuimos a la playa!! We drove south to a beach area called Asia to the beach Sarapampa. It was a long 2 hours in the car. We stayed at a resort type area with two pools and a bunch of bungalows. Here it is. All 9 of us slept in the 4 person bungalow and cooked all our own meals in the room, something that isn't very common in the US. Of course, the beach was one of the main areas of interest. We hung out there almost all day the second day, with the kids swimming and dodging jellyfish (I'm terrified of the things so I didn't swim.) We also got to see some really cool washed up rays and jellyfish. I liked the pools though. They were the perfect temperature and were very nicely kept.

The cousins making sandcastles\

  The first night we had a barbecue with chicken and chorizo. Very delicious! The boys felt proud that they got to cook the dinner, especially after a few beers! 

Papa y tio grilling!

  We all left the beach tired and sunburned, but it was a fun couple of days with the family. I enjoyed getting to know them all a little better. 

L

La Granja Villa

  Today, we went to the Granja Villa in Chorrillos. It's a small ride park, with animals and games. It was mainly for my brothers and cousins (ages 11-14), but I also enjoyed myself. We hit the huge swinging boat ride first of course, however, my host uncle was too scared. Very funny!! Bumper cars were a good source of entertainment for the kids, but I bowed out to take some sweet pictures. 

Bruno and Paulo in the carros chocones

   My favorite part of the park, was the animals. There was an aquarium, an aviary, baby monkeys, and a farm section. I liked the baby monkeys because they were in a cage where they could pull up a string with a bucket and feed themselves. It was a very smart system. And they were SOOO cute!!

Angel fish!

Baby monkeys!! 

   

Milking cows in the farm section

  In general, the rides were smooth and kiddy, but the Vagadisco was crazy! It bucked and spun, and there are no seatbelts or harnesses! We also went on a huge water slide, the Black Hole, that it's really scary, but it's super dark inside so you don't know what's coming next!

The kids flying on the dis

Papa, Mama, Bruno and Paulo waiting for the black hole

Mama and Papa at the exit

What a great day!!

L

Fun day!

I had a great, long day. I had to wake up 'early' to leave the house at 11. After a long combi adventure, I met my friend Alessandro at Jockey Plaza at 12 to hang out and talk. We ended up hanging around Starbucks for a while (Chai tea latte) and talking about how much I want him to come visit me in the US! Then we went to Ripley to return some shorts and find new ones. Finding shorts in tiny Peruvian boy size is apparently really hard. We had to search though all the shorts in the whole store, but it was so fun! I got on my micro on the way home thinking that I would be taking a nap as soon as I arrived. I bought some cold jello in a bag from a boy selling it on the micro and enjoyed it's refreshing qualities on a hot day. I love the vendors here because for 50 cents (17 dollar cents) I got a delicious snack delivered to me on my mode of transportation.

Rodrigo, me and Alessandro

   When I did get home, expecting a nap, I got something better. We were going bowling!! So we piled in the car and went to Larcomar. The alley was really nice and we bowled for about an hour. I bowled dismally of course, but everyone had lots of fun!

My game face

Paulo winning    

Messing around in Larcomar, Mama y Paulo

Adrianna

Bembo's for dinner with Fanta! Riquisimo!

L

Need I explain

This photo pretty much sums my life up...

L

Familia Nueva

I officially moved on Monday. I now live in an area called El Sol de La Molina. I really thought that it would be super far from everything and that I would never be able to do anything, but it's not that bad. I now have two new host brothers, Bruno, 13 and Paulo, 11. They are really nice kids. My dad has a business that owns corporations that sell Hondas, and home appliances (I'm still not exactly clear about what he does.) My mom is una ama de casa (stay at home mom.) We also have a little poodle, Princesa, who owns the house. The house is huge for Lima, and I get my own room and bathroom, which is really nice.
   Since the boys have activities in the days (and a bedtime,) I actually get up in the morning here. It's nice to have so much day! However, I spend most of it lazing around, reading (weird right??) and napping. In the last two days however, I've read 150 pages of a book about the discoverer of Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham. Next, I will tackle my spanish novel, but that one takes a lot more determination.
   Yesterday, my host dad left for Pucallpa on business, but before he left, we got a motorcycle demo. He has a motocross type dirt bike, so we went to a sand course in San Bartolo and watch him run the track. My uncle did it too, but not as fast. Fun stuff!
   One thing that is super different here for me is Otilia. She's the maid of the house. She does all the cooking, cleaning, ironing, everything. She has a room here in the house too and is always around to talk to. She's a great cook, and we eat like kings. Her chicha morada is to die for. It's been a good few days here. I will miss my first family too, but I'm trying to enjoy my time here too!
I'll try to get some photos soon, but I want to include my host dad too.
L

Moving day

Today, I move to my new host family. I'm excited to learn and do new things, but also very nervous to leave Valeria especially. I'm all packed and ready to go at 8, but until then I'm going to hang out with my family.
L

India

Yesterday, we lost one of our own. India Rauchle from Australia went home yesterday after a great year here in Peru. We will all miss her very much, but I'm sure we'll see her soon enough. We never really did much together, but we hung out a bit on the Inca Trail. Here are some pics to say goodbye: 

The highest point on the Inca Trail, with our guide and a British couple.

Tacna, dinner

On Lake Titicaca, India and Luke showing Peruvian pride!!

India's last night here!

We miss you!
L

Mercado de Frutas

As requested I shall write about the fruit market.
   Usually when I think about the market here, I think about a bunch of vendors, outdoors, selling all sorts of different things. I knew about specific markets, but my first trip to the fruit market was a crazy shock. We walked up to a huge building surrounded by a ton of people.

The building

But when you go inside is when it gets really crazy! As a girl from the Midwest, fresh fruit is hard to find, and fresh, exotic fruit doesn't exist. That means when I walk into a freaking warehouse filled with ripe, juicy, crazy fruit; it's shocking. There are fruits there that I didn't even know existed, mostly from the rain forest. Cactus fruit is one of my favorites, and I think it's about 4 soles per kilo. About 34 cents a pound!! Crazy cheap! I also love the kiwi, 9 soles per kilo or 1.60 dollars a pound! All the fruit is pretty much perfectly ripe and delicious!

All of these boxes are filled with beautiful mangos!

Even with the variety that comes with the fruit market, I think the sheer quantity is what really amazes me. There are aisles filled with mangos and huge stalls of watermelon and banana. Name a fruit, and you can probably find it in huge amounts in this market. 

Watermelon stall. They were making space to put even more in.

Huge stall of bananas!!

In the end, we maybe, MAYBE spent 70 soles or 26 dollars on a butt-load of fruit! We are still eating our ways through it!

Our spread!!

L

New visitor

Everyone is changing houses at this time. Elan moved out of the house I'm going to, so technically I could move now. But I don't really want to at this moment. Next Sunday I think will be the day. In the meantime, Martine had to leave her house when her family went on vacation, so she moved all her things here already. She goes to the forest on Tuesday and will be there for a while, so I can stay until she gets back, but I think I'm leaving sooner. Until then though, we are all one big happy family in this house. It's nice to have two sisters here I guess.
That's all that is going on!
L

Casa Nueva...

When I left the US, I was so sure that I wouldn't miss my parents while I was here. Boy, was I WRONG! Of course, I had missed my parents before the holidays, but when those days hit, it got HARD. There were tears and stressful moments, but my family here helped me out. It was nice to hear that they were here for me, but I wanted less, "Don't be sad, we're your family too," and a bit more, "It's ok to feel that way." I finally got to hear that today at Rotary when I talked to my next host mom. She told me that my family here will always support me, but it's still nothing like that support from you real family. Also, she told me that I can feel sad for a while, but I need to push past it and make my experience great!
   When I first found out that I was going to be living with her family, I was not happy about it. They live about an hour away from where I live now, which means I have to give up my classes here in Salamanca. It's also pretty far from everything else to do in Lima, which means I won't be going out very often. However talking to my new mom made me feel much better. There is a equitation center close where I'll be able to work and ride. Also, there is a dance academy only a few minutes away to continue my Marinera. I think it'll all work out fine.
L

Feliz 2012!!!

Holy cow! I can't believe it's 2012 already! Wasn't is just 2005? or 07, I definitely remember writing that on school papers. Time is flying like crazy!! The festivities here in Lima help take my mind off how much time is passing though! Yellow is the color of choice for good luck, so we all have on yellow underpants and other yellow accessories! Also we put lentils in our pockets for prosperity in the new year. 

I thought it fitting to also burn a paper with negative things that I want to rid myself of in 2012. Things that include negativity, fear, and doubt. Then we got to enjoy the fireworks. My family didn't do any, but there are so many others, that we didn't really need to! Right now it's 1:40 in the morning and they are still going off!

We also ate a delicious dinner before midnight and after we did dessert. This looks like a cake, but it's actually a big alfajore, or cookie filled with manjar blanca. It was yummy!!

That's all I have! Happy New Year and I hope it's a lovely and prosperous one for all!

L