Wonderful Weekend

I had a really great weekend, besides one thing. On Friday an ATM ate my debit card! As in, wouldn't give it back. But no worries, I called and canceled it and they're sending me a new one. Apart from that bump in the road, my weekend was fabulous!

On Friday we had a party at Kusi Wasi with all of the newcomers - so fun! We taught the non-Americans games from Wisconsin and had a really great time. 

Sandra (Peru), Laurie (Belgium), Sylvain (Belgium), Kris (UW), David (Mexico), me!

Saturday we woke up and went to Playa Silencio, a beach about an hour and a half south of Lima. Playa Silencio means "Silent Beach," but it wasn't very silent at all! The beach was crowded with tons of vendors walking around with various ice-cream treats and dresses and jewelry. However, it was still very fun. We met up with 2 girls from our program there who are living with host families - nice to see some familiar faces. 

huge waves at Playa Silencio

Pretty beach - just crowded!

Few things I find more beautiful than a sunset on the beach.

On Saturday night Jitka (Czech Republic) took a few of us to a club called Dream's House (pretty sure that's a mistake translation haha) for salsa dancing! We met some of her friends from Catolica (my university) and had lots of fun. Although everyone was staring at me and the other Sconnies for dancing American-style and not shaking our hips like Shakira, I didn't care at all. EVERYBODY stares at me all the time because of the blonde hair! And it's only getting blonder... but oh well! 

Sunday was my favorite of all days. We were going to carnaval, a sort of Mardi Gras type celebration, in Barranco, a nearby district. I didn't know what to expect, but I came downstairs ready to go in a sundress and with my purse and camera and such. When I was told to dress less fancy and not bring anything, I thought it was because Barranco was a dangerous neighborhood and I should look not as American/not bring anything so it doesn't get stolen. I was SO wrong!! The reason I had to wear crappy clothes and not bring any valuables was because at carnaval, everyone paints their whole bodies and throws pant and water and powder and glitter everywhere over everybody. We got there and instantly had a GREAT time. We got paint alll over all of our clothes and bodies and belongings and there was a big parade and a fake "battle" between 2 teams - the cyclops and the pirates. Imagine Mifflin - but with 5,000 Peruvians covered in paint, a parade by the ocean, loud music, drums, pisco jello shots, dancing, sunshine, the works. It was the most fun thing I've done since we got here!! It's Tuesday afternoon and I STILL have remnants of paint on my arms and legs. Here are some pictures from Kalli's camera:

All of us post-painting, before the festivities really started!

The parade 

I love this.

Pirata!

More of the parade

The family :)

Kalli, Kris, and I 

Yesterday (Monday) we woke up early and went to a different beach - Playa Leon Durmido (Sleeping Lion Beach). It's called that because there's a huge rock formation in the shape of a sleeping lion. This was byfar my favorite beach - big rocks, gold specks in the water that made it shine like crazy in the sun, a couple of caves, and weird waves that went sideways and in all directions. Oh, and the best part - there were probably only 20 people in total on the beach - and only ONE vendor! So relaxing and fun and beautiful. I had to wear my hat all day because my nose and forehead got burned at carnaval. I also had tan lines from where paint was the day before - very comical. One girl, Laurie, had a hand print of paint on her back that is now a hilarious tan line! The beach was further away - 2.5 hours by bus - but still well worth it. 

Can you see the "sleeping lion"?

Me and Kalli in the cave 

Last night we went to a concert at a charming bar called La Noche. It was a singer who starred in the movie called "La Teta Asustada"(The Milk of Sorrow). It's a Peruvian movie that I believe won an Oscar for best foreign film - or was at least nominated. She had a fabulous voice and we had a great time at her concert! 

Magaly Solier - the singer

Kris (UW), Kalli (Oklahoma), Nick, me, Drew - Nick and Drew are from my high school!

The cab ride home from the concert was super fun - our cab driver cranked American tunes for us all the way home. We're such gringos! 

Bicicletas!

What a fun day we had yesterday! In the morning 8 of us went to a bike store and rented bikes - 10 soles per bike for one day. (About 3 or 4 dollars). Great deal! Biking around Lima was nerve-wracking to say the least, but also very fun. Adrian led the way and we followed - it's unbelievable how many times I got whistled at! I'm pretty sure any Peruvian can spot me a mile away with my blonde hair and blue eyes. I must have "FOREIGNER" tattooed on my forehead to them. Oh well! 

All of our bikes lined up at the bike store!

There was a very beautiful sunset last night so a few of us went to the park across the street (the one with the ruins) to take some pictures! We also took some pictures from the rooftop of Kusi Wasi - you can see the mountains and our university from up there! We're actually planning on having a small fiesta up there tonight :)

park during sunset

That reddish brick building on the far right is Kusi Wasi

Keeley (UW), David (Mexico), me, Laurie (Belgium) - on the ruins!

rooftop view - love these colors!

Adrian (Peru), David, me, Keeley, Laurie

In the evening 11 of us biked to Miraflores for a "bike gala" - it was kind of a parade of a bunch of bikers (maybe 200? but actually no idea). We all dressed up in nice clothes - the idea of the event was to promote bicycling in Lima and show people you can still be "fancy" while riding a bike. With the bike ride to Miraflores, the actual event, and the bike ride home, we biked 40 kilometers or more! (Bonnie and Steve, you would be so proud!!) I am soo sore today but it was so fun. My smaller camera isn't the greatest at night pictures... so this is the best I could do for the bike gala!

look at all of these people!!

During the "gala"

After the gala we biked down to the ocean and rode on the bike bath that wraps around the ocean - so relaxing to hear the waves and smell the salt of the sea while biking! After hanging out by the ocean for a while we went to a pizzeria and had very delicious Peruvian pizza before returning back to the house around 1 am. I was sooo tired from all that biking! Very sore today!! But content of course :)

Lima Centro

"Centro Lima" or the "center of Lima" is a very old part of the city with big colorful buildings and fabulous architecture. Yesterday a few of us from the dorm took a cab to Iglesia de San Francisco (Church of Saint Francisco) and took a tour. Our tour guide spoke Spanish and although she spoke very slowly I barely understood anything. If that's any preview for how my classes are going to go this semester (all in Spanish)... UH OH! Oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it all very soon. The church was beautiful regardless - with catacombs! Underground we saw bones from 75,000 decomposed bodies, I think dating back to the 16th or 17th century. Very eerie but cool! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the church, but this is what the outside looked like:

cute Peruvian kids playing with all of the birds in front of the church

Some other cool historic building! Keeley (UW), me, Laurie (Belgium), Ina (Norway)

More buildings I loved in el centro:

Punta Hermosa

Yesterday we took a bus to Punta Hermosa, a nice beach about an hour and a half away from the dorm. By "bus" I'm referring to a combi, these micro vans that are reconstructed to have a bunch of seats for passengers. Not very comfortable! The bus system here is a little confusing - on the side of every combi there are 4 or 5 locations written in paint, so you have to know what's close to where you want to go! Luckily there has always been someone in our group who is more knowledgable of Lima travel than I am. The beach was great - so fun to swim in the ocean! Even though I put on SPF 30 at least 3 times, I got very burned... going through a lot of aloe! For lunch we went into a "cebecheria," a restaurant that specializes in cebiche (or ceviche) - the country's signature food dish. Of course I got a serving! After lunch we napped on the beach for a bit before heading back to Lima. I was soo tired when we got back to the dorm but at night we took a short bus ride to a Gelateria (gelato/icecream place) in a nearby district. It was the best gelato I've ever had!! None of us ate dinner besides the gelato because it was so filling. Mmmmm only in Lima. :)

Punta Hermosa

Restaurant 

An adorable homeless dog outside of the restaurant - kind of looked like a lion!

A little bit of Wisconsin in Peru!! But this snowman got melted away by a wave and not into slush on the streets of Madison!!

Futbol Game and Miraflores

On Monday we went to the futbol game (soccer) at my university... the Catolica (my university) is very nice! Super modern and big with lots of palm trees and grassy space :) Oh... and DEER. They have deer for pets that just roam around the university. Some even came onto the field during the futbol game!! They are very friendly and i even became friends with one of them.

After the futbol game Drew, Laurie, Keeley (a girl also on our program from Wisconsin), Guillermo, Michael, and I went to Miraflores, a really nice district of Lima. We went to Parque del Amor, "Love Park," which is right on the ocean and has a controversial statue in the middle of it of two people in an... embrace. Very pretty!!

View from Parque del Amor

Statue in the middle of the park...

Laurie and I at Parque

"Love is like light" :)

Another view of the ocean!

Kusi Wasi - my home for the next 5 months

Here are some pictures of my dormitorio!

view into my room/my desk

my own bathroom!

view out of my window - a very nice park!

other view out of my window... men selling icecream and other novelties always wake me up because they yell what they're selling to the whole neighborhood...

closet/dresser... pre-unpacking!

the second floor of Kusi Wasi (where my room is)

every floor has it's own small kitchen - this is mine!

stairs down to the first floor...

patio chairs and table outside :)

"living room" with a tv - and Juanito, one of Margarita's sons