La Playa

   After passing back into Peru very early in the morning and through a flooded border control, we headed down the coast to a beach area called Zorritos, or little foxes. I had been to an area near there with my family, Mancora. We got two days to relax on the beach without any tours, buses, or city air. We stayed in a little house all together. 

The house owners little puppy!!

Luke trying to catch my kite!

   I used my relaxing beach days to fly my kite and read my eyes out. I finished two books on the beach! It was nice to get a full night's sleep after the few nights on buses. 

"Fly dang it!"

   After two relaxing days, we left the beautiful Zorritos in search of knowledge at our next stop. It was really nice to spend some time with the other exchange students, cooking, cleaning, and living together. We did have a great time!

Sunset on a lovely, relaxing day!

L

Guayaquil, Ecuador

   After leaving at an ungodly hour of the morning, we arrived at the borders of Peru and Ecuador at about 4:30 and didn't even enter Ecuador until 6ish in the morning. We got out of Peru easily, but when we had to enter Ecuador, there was some trouble. They told us that the ones of us less than 18 years old couldn't pass into the country without signatures from our parents. We had never had that problem before, so it was very stressful, especially after a sleepless night. After some time debating with the border police, they finally decided to call their superior and surprise, surprise, he said it was no problem! We arrived in Guayaquil at 10:30 and were ready to get touring. We centered out day at a park and mall area on the river. From there we took a tour on a double decker bus. I really liked Guayaquil and it seemed so clean compared to Lima. 

Flags of the world!

Upper deck of the bus with Luke

The lovely upper housing and a big monkey

Bank wall

  As the sun went down, we had to find something to do before our 11:30 bus back to Peru. We decided to go to the IMAX a few blocks away. When we got there we found that it only cost $4.50!!!!! for IMAX that is soo cheap! We saw Mission Impossible: 3. It was fun and great to see the movie on the HUGE screen. We had a great day in Ecuador.

L

Crazy Exchange Students

  As I sit in my room, hiding from 7 screaming pre-pubescent children, I almost wish I was back in the north of Peru with all the other awesome exchangers. The trip was focused around passing the Ecuadorian border and renewing our visas on the way back so that they last until the end. This trip was the calmest and easiest trip so far. When we got off the bus after the 19 hour trip, we headed straight to a boat tour of Crocodile Island. We started out at the Port Pizarro and worked our way through the bay to the very cool tourist area. It was just a crocodile breeding facility to help out the species, which is nearing extinction in Peru. On the way back, we saw the huge bird nesting island. The birds stay on only the one island because it's the only one that is totally protect on low tide. 

On our way out the Island. Luke and Aurelie in front!

The breeding area entrance 

Happy croc!

On our way to the next island with Mattieu and Addie

La Gringa jaja

   The rest of the day consisted of resting and eating! We did get to see the Plaza de Armas and we all went out to eat. The poor waiter had to deal with 12 hungry, but mostly poor, foreigners. It was hilarious! 

Emoliente. It's a warm, herb drink with honey and lime and other stuff I'm sure. Great after the rain. 

Worshiping Inca Kola

   We spent quite a bit of time in the hotel after dinner waiting for our bus to Ecuador. Most of us slept of played cards. I read Ricky Martin's book in Spanish until we finally left for the bus station at 2am. The bus didn't come until about 3:30am though. It was a fun day and night!

L

Note: All the pictures are provided by Luke from Washington because my memory card was left at home... Thanks Luke! Check out his blog at http://thepassengersseat.blogspot.com/! 

Cienguilla Family Day

  As you might know, Sunday is family day in the Vargas household. This Sunday we got off to a slow start and decided to have a simple day in the neighboring pueblo of Cienguilla. We went out at lunch time and ate at La Mesa de Piedra, a very overpriced, tourist restaurant. They really know how to screw over tourists by withholding prices until it's too late. That always really ticks me off. I got over it pretty fast though because the area also had pretty horses and the boys rode four wheelers. There was a big grassy area with a soccer field and a great jungle gym for the boys. I played goalie against the padres and I think the boys and I won! I got eaten alive by bugs though. We were worn out by the end of the day, so we headed home and relaxed once more. 

Paulo being a monkey!

Mama impressed me with her mad Volleyball skills 

Obviously, a very painful slide!

I love family days!

L

JUMPING!!

  Just a little update on equitation. I jumped today!! I've been having trouble keeping my feet in the stirrups during lessons with tennis shoes, but I did a ton better today! I feel like I'm learning and getting back in shape finally and that feels good. I'll continue jumping and improving!
L

Honda Fiesta

   Last night, the family took me to the grand opening of Papa's newest Honda dealership in Lima. It's was a fat cat party with a ton of Honda officials and rich backers. I was pretty nervous not knowing anyone when I arrived, but when I finally relaxed I was very social. I talked with a family friend that lives in Canada and some 'uncles' of the family mostly. The food was fun and small bites, but was very original. It lasted for a while and I headed home with the boys at 10ish. We were all pooped by the time we got home!

The boys and I got all dressed up!

L

8 Days on a Peruvian Beach!

   For an end of summer vacation, my host family, two cousins, and I drove to a beach in Northern Peru called Mancora. Mancora is one of the nicest beaches in Peru and is a big tourist spot as well.

It's a long way from Lima to Mancora!

  We spent 8 days directly on the beach plus 2 travel days. We drove about 10 hours the first day and stayed in a hotel that night. Let me tell you that 16 hours in a car with 4 preteens is not always very fun, but when it is, it's soooo fun! I must have laughed for hours in the car just from the kids being themselves. We stopped a ton along the way to use the bathroom and buy snacks. It really was a great time! When we finally did arrive on the second day of travel, we arrived to a beautiful beach house that was just wonderful! 

Chilling with Paulo and Luz in the car.

Waking up early in the hotel to drive 7 more hours. Hair courtesy of Paulo.

Sleepy boys. Mariano, a cousin, and Bruno

My first view of the beach. 

Beautiful sunset!

We had a little crab adventure on night!

   One of my favorite things on the beach was horse-back riding. We went two times and it was so fun! There are also a ton of vendors that walk up and down the beach trying to find some sucker gringo. They are wildly successful! I bought some necklaces and earrings, but mostly a ton of ice cream! To ride the horses cost 30 soles an hour, which is a pretty good price for tourism here. 

Riding in shorts with no shoes!

Luz and Paulo riding too!

   The best thing was how much I just got to laze around and do nothing! I read a ton of books and slept wonderfully. I even got a good tan!  

Relaxing on the beach with fresh coconut!

   One thing that was very different for me, was that we only ate out once while we were staying in the house. The rest of the time, Mama cooked in for us. That's something that we don't do in the US. When we are on vacation, we eat out at every meal and we eat richly! We had some fun adventures cooking though. The pans in the house were horrible and frying an egg was a huge challenge! We did end up having lobster cooked by Mama on one of the last days.

Papa having a war with the pan. He was trying to cook an egg.

On the way to eat ceviche with Mariano, Paulo, Luz and Bruno.

The kids kept busy fishing with cups in the tidal pools.

   After the wonderful beach, we headed back to Lima for two days. We all had a great time on the beach and all learned how to be a bit more patient with each other. It was a great trip!

The kids in the hotel pool in Trujillo

L