All the Joy You'll Find

Think of all the joy you'll find, when you leave the world behind, and bid all your cares goodbye.

You can fly! You can fly! -- Peter Pan 

My last two weeks in Lima have flown by (pun intended) and they have been full of presentations, tests, papers, and, of course, some amazing experiences! And, although Lima, with its constant noise, its air pollution, its crime, its concrete, and its constant cloudiness, is not by any means my favorite place in this incredible country, these last two weeks have definitely helped me to find some joy here as well! 

 First, the one truly negative thing that has happened during my whole four months in Peru: I got robbed. I was in Villa El Salvador by myself walking to the bus stop and pulled my camera out of my backpack really quick to take a photo of a soccer game for my fútbol-obsessed friend Ava, when all of a sudden a guy ran up and snatched it out of my hand. I grabbed onto his shirt and held on for dear life-- yelling like a bilingual maniac, hitting him, and trying to get it back. He got loose and took off, with me in pursuit until a "get-away moto" came along yelling "Sube! Sube! Sube!" (Get on! Get on! Get on!) and they disappeared. Definitely unfortunate. Definitely could have been a lot worse. And, although there are uncool people like my thief in Villa, I also met a couple of really nice people that same day: Earlier in the day, a moto driver gave me an extra long and completely free ride when he found out I was a volunteer and, after being robbed and looking like a very sad gringa standing in the street, another driver gave me a free lift to the bus stop. Just a little more proof for my strong belief that there are good and bad people everywhere. 

Besides that one sad incident, the last two weeks have been pretty awesome! I love finals and term papers! Hahaha I kid, I kid. But, so far at least, I have survived them and had some very fun times in between. Last Friday evening we had a "despedida" or goodbye party in the IFSA office with all of our professors, host families, and patas. Then on Saturday night, our group headed to the Brisas del Titicaca restaurant for a delicious dinner and show. We got to watch lots of tradition Peruvian dances, listen to music, and even do a little dancing ourselves! Although it was a late night-- we left the restaurant sometime around 2 a.m.-- it was a great time with all the friends I've made this semester and a good chance to keep practicing that salsa dancing! 

Sunday, Kaylie and I headed back to Pachacamac, the ruins south of Lima, for the celebration of the summer solstice called Inti Raymi. The celebration was beautiful! Participants were dressed in elaborate and colorful costumes and performed acrobatic tricks, dances, and music. Meanwhile, offerings were being made to Pachamama, Mother Earth, and towards the end of the ceremony we all hugged and wished each other a happy new year-- there's nothing like being squeezed tight by a four foot something woman in a bowler hat and multicolored shawl to make you feel happy! 

The week consisted of a zillion presentations and tests as well as my last two trips to Villa El Salvador. On Wednesday evening I went out for my last visit to the Mujer Emprende program and public hours. I was able to become the first customer for the Mujer Emprende program when I bought one of the dolls they have been working to make for my doll-collecting grandmother! The goal of the program is to teach the women handicraft and business skills so that they can eventually raise enough money to start their own small business together. It's an amazing program and I was happy to help start it off! 

After two finals and a paper due Thursday, I came home and went to bed before 6 p.m. Yes, I am 97 years old. It was fantastic. 

On Friday morning, Martha and I taught our last computer class! We taught the kids internet research and note-taking skills this week and it was awesome to see how much some of them have learned. It was a holiday so we didn't get to teach English this week, but received some wonderful (and gigantic!) thank-you notes from the kids we have been working with at Buena Esperanza! I was sad to say goodbye to Villa El Salvador-- it's been such a good experience working with Building Dignity and learning about the people of this amazing sand dune city. 

Friday afternoon my host aunt decided to take me to La Punta-- a historic neighborhood in Callao that is basically the furthest tip of Lima into the ocean. My two aunts came with and we walked around the area, seeing the ocean from both sides! It was pretty and so nice to spend a little more time with the people who have become my second family. 

In the evening, Ava and her visiting Guatemalan boyfriend were kind enough to host a bbq at their hostel! I have not eaten a burger in ages, but it tasted strangely delicious last night! Sitting out on the rooftop laughing with friends and listening to a guitar-- this is what I'm going to miss. I have made some of the most amazing friends here and I can only hope our mutual wanderlust will help us cross paths in the near future! 

And today... today I jumped off a cliff and learned to fly. I had planned a studious day and was diligently working when Ava called to let me know that it was not entirely cloudy and that the paragliders were active! I had almost given up on this Peruvian goal thanks to uncooperative winds, but as soon as she called I hopped in a taxi and headed to the cliffs! I thought I would be at least a teensy bit scared as I jumped off 150 foot cliffs with only a parachute and an instructor to keep me from plummeting to the ground, but instead I felt weightless. Peaceful. Joyful. The view was to die for-- the city stretching out in one direction, the sea in another-- but what was most amazing about this experience was just the pure joy of it! It was a wonderful, wonderful way to say goodbye to my temporary home, to conquer a fear, and to fulfill a childhood dream. So yes, Peter Pan, I can fly :) 

How Lucky

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. -- Winne the Pooh 

Done with classes. Done with finals. Done with volunteering in Villa El Salvador. Done with group outings. Done with the lavanderia and the fotocopiadora (no tears there!) Done with Lima. 

Wow.

I am so sad to go, and so happy to return home. Such conflicting emotions, but overall I am just so GRATEFUL that I have had this wonderful, amazing, big, fat experience. So grateful that I've gotten to know some of the most amazing people ever and some of the most beautiful places in the world. So grateful to be reminded what adventuring feels like and why I'm here. So grateful that I have a loving family to return to and a loving family to leave behind. 

And, of course, so grateful I have a chance to see these wonderful girls before I go! 

To Want, To Need, To Hunger For Adventure

"It is in all of us to defy expectations, to go into the world and be brave, and to want, to need, to hunger for adventure, to embrace change and chance and risk so that we may breathe and know what it is to be free." -- Mae Chevrette 


First of all, sorry I am such a terribly unfaithful blogger. I've been having a bit of a love affair with real life. And, as usual, it's been fabulous! 

As mentioned, we headed to Ayacucho last weekend for Semana Santa celebrations! We stayed in the home of a local family, which was nice in comparison to a hotel or hostel because they gave us lots of good tips on things to do and foods to eat! (And this time we were bedbug free!) We stayed in the city of Huamanga, the capital of the district of Ayacucho famous for its 33 colonial churches (one for each year of Christ's life.) We wandered the city and got to see several of these beautiful churches! The oldest we saw was built in 1552! 

Four of the TEN churches we visited over the weekend.

What did we do besides visit all of these churches? So many things! We arrived Friday morning at about 8 a.m. and spent most of the day wandering through town exploring. We took a taxi up to the mirador, a high point overlooking the town, and got a beautiful view of the city, mountains, and incoming storm clouds! We tried various restaurants throughout Huamanga, discovering our favorite was a place that served up a huge plate of French fries for about $1! I guess we're true Americans after all! In the evening, we admired beautiful flower carpets covering the streets near the Plaza de Armas. They were absolutely spectacular! Once it got dark, a Good Friday procession began through the Plaza with the body of Christ and the Virgin Mary accompanied by nuns, priests, members of the army, and many others. It was a beautiful procession, especially when the parade stopped and a group of women began to sing a song in Quechua.

The view from the mirador.

The Plaza de Armas.

Completely made from flowers! 

Kaylie, Victoria, and I posing with one of the beautiful drawings! 

Christ being carried through the procession.

Whoo! The first of four days and already so many amazing experiences! Saturday was no different! We began the day with a delicious breakfast of chocolate-covered pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast, fresh pineapple juice, and mate de coca for the altitude! Next up: the Jala Toro-- literally "Bull Pull." This was a bit like the running of the bulls only the bulls were on leashes for safety reasons, so it amounted to a couple of cowboys riding through the crowd every half hour with a bull on a leash. There was a huge crowd and, while waiting for each bull, they got up to some crazy stunts-- human pyramids, throwing people in the air, playing guitars while standing on people's shoulders, stripping while standing on people's shoulders... I opted to participate in the first two! 

The Pascuatoro

Me gracefully (haha I joke) flying through the air. 

Once the Bull Pull was over and the huge crowds were finally beginning to diminish, we headed back up to the mirador for a fair/large market. The crowds were insane here too and I was almost robbed! I was holding my purse fairly carefully and felt something unusual. I looked down and a young woman had her hand inside my purse! My instant reaction was to slap her hand away and, fortunately, she simply walked away without taking anything! I was torn because I felt completely indignant that anyone would try to do that, but, at the same time, can't imagine how desperate you must be to turn to stealing. Either way, I'm glad I managed to avoid having my camera or wallet swiped! The fair experience was fairly so-so and we left just in time to miss all but the beginning of a big rainstorm! We hid out from the rain and ate cookies till it ended! We took an afternoon nap, knowing that we wouldn't be getting much sleep Saturday night...

The ferris wheel at the fair. 

Saturday night was an all-nighter for a good portion of Ayacucho. There was drinking and dancing and fireworks galore! It was a lot of fun to see the city celebrating so much! At about 3:00 a.m., we lined up outside the main Cathedral to wait for the doors to open and then all crammed into the church when it opened for 4:00 a.m. mass! In the middle of the church was a giant float, covered in candles and topped by Jesus, which was carried out by hundreds of men at the end of the mass! People were so eager to be a part of the procession that, as we crowded into the church and tried to find an empty pew to sit, many people leapt under the float and stayed there for the whole mass so that they could help carry it! It was an amazing experience to see such a dazzling procession so early in the morning! Unfortunately, my camera is not a fan of nighttime, so my only decent pictures are of the float while it was still inside the church! 

With Kaylie, Veronica, and Megan in front of the float pre-mass.

Fireworks being set off from tall wooden structures built that evening.

All lit up! 

We returned "home" at about 6:00 a.m. and crashed until noon! We spent a very relaxed Easter Sunday doing a bit more exploring. We went back to one of the markets in Huamanga, watched some very talented street artists, and bought a few souvenirs! Kaylie, Megan, and I settled into bed around 7:00 and the other girls were nice enough to pick us up some of those previously mentioned French fries for a very unhealthy dinner! 

This building wasn't anything special-- I just loved the colors! 

Monday was our last day in Ayacucho and it was a very full one! We headed out on a tour in the morning with Wari, the Pampa de Ayacucho, and Quinua on the list. Each was unique, interesting, and lovely! The beautiful drive was worth the price of the tour! We first went to some Wari ruins, the former capital of the empire! We got to see examples of Wari pottery, mummies, and manipulated skulls as well as a couple of council meeting sites, a jail, and a burial ground! The Wari lived before the Inca and were powerful for about 700 years! They were some of the first people to have planned city structures. We also learned that in a cave on a nearby hill the first evidence of humans in Peru was discovered-- and it dates back about 20,000 years before Christ! Also, I was completely in love with all of the beautiful flowers and cactus at this site and we lucked out with a tour guide who seemed to know everything about everything, even showing us the parasitic bugs on the cactus that are used to make lipstick! 

Look at that sky! 

A cactus with unripe fruit. We sampled some of the ripened fruit-- it was surprisingly sweet! 

A circle with 18 seats for representatives from the 18 Wari districts.

We left Wari and drove on to the Pampa de Ayacucho. The Pampa was the site of the Battle of Ayacucho, the last battle for Latin American independence from Spain. There are a couple of monuments here, a more modern-looking one built in the 1970s and a ceramic one built by local artisans, which, unfortunately, is falling apart a bit. While we were at the Pampa, Veronica, Martha, and I also snuck in a (very brief) horseback ride! 

I never can resist a good horseback ride.

The two monuments at the Pampa de Ayacucho.

Our last stop on the tour was the small town of Quinua, known for its beautiful ceramics. We visited several small shops in the village and were able to find some fun gifts for family and friends! Each of the buildings in the village, and in many other parts of the district, have small ceramic houses and churches cemented atop their roofs to bring good luck! 

An example of the many different ceramics! 

Note the little ceramic building on the roof! 

One last time-- in love with the sky! 

We squeezed in one more activity before calling an end to our trip to Ayacucho: a visit to La Universidad San Cristobal de Huamanga. Although the Easter celebrations in Ayacucho, the local ruins, and the art were beautiful and fun, we thought it was important to acknowledge a darker side to Ayacucho's past as well. Ayacucho was the birthplace of the Sendero Luminoso terrorist movement which wreaked havoc in Peru throughout the 1980s and 1990s and killed tens of thousands of people. It was all started by Abimael Guzmán, a professor at this university. Although we couldn't go inside, it was pretty powerful to stand looking at this impressive university, the second oldest in Peru, and realize that something so terrible was born on that very ground.

The university where it all began.

Phew! A very long post to summarize a very amazing trip! The rest of the week has been relatively calm: classes, running, another presentation, a flood in my bathroom, and my designation as the official dog trainer of the house! This weekend will be calm as well and then, on Wednesday, I'm headed to Cusco! I'm so excited for all the adventures to come (and there are going to be a lot of them!) and so ready to just embrace everything that comes my way! 

I also want to give a quick shout-out to my amazing younger siblings: Ethan, congratulations on your soloist award at State Jazz Band and Ellie, you are doing so amazingly well at track! Keep it up! I'm so proud of both of you & wish I could be there cheering you on!! You rock! 

The Gringa Returns from Gringoland

After a long overnight flight, a very busy few days, a cancelled return flight, and, at last, another long flight, I am back in Peru! Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, well wishes, and phone calls!


The end of last week was busy (of course!) Thursday included a trip to the Museo Metropolitano-- an interactive museum about the history of Lima! It was a very cool experience with photographs, 3D videos, models, and even 4D experiences with shaking chairs during an earthquake! I would definitely recommend it if you decide to visit Lima and have a little knowledge of Spanish! In the evening, a couple of friends and I visited the local supermarket and then I took a long walk with my aunt Frida to see various important spots in the neighborhood (the laundromat, church, parks, etc.)

Surco, a little park right next to my house in Miraflores

Friday was another full day. We took our first ever combi (crazy, teeny tiny buses) to La Catolica-- the university I'll be attending. The campus is beautiful! It's very green and spacious and there are small deer that roam around freely! We also stumbled across some pre-Incan ruins-- very cool! We toured the campus, got our ID cards, and ate a very nice lunch in a cafeteria. In the afternoon, we took Spanish placement tests for our Spanish class... ugh. Last but not least, we had a lesson about "surviving Lima"-- all the scary things that could possibly happen to us and how to avoid them! We rode the combis home, I ate a super fast dinner, and then I took a taxi to the airport!

The huaca, ruins, at La Católica

I was hoping I would be able to get a lot of sleep on the overnight flight, but unfortunately Delta decided it would be a good idea to serve dinner at 2:30 a.m., drinks throughout the night, and breakfast around 5:30! All in all, not the most restful night. When I finally got into my hotel in Kansas City around 2:00, I slept and relaxed most of the day!


Sunday, my family arrived! It was so nice to see them. It's funny: no matter how long I'm gone, it feels like forever, but whenever I am back with them, it's like no time has passed. I guess that's the great thing about family. We had a nice day together, walking around and exploring the area. In the evening, I went to dinner with the other Truman finalists at a local Thai restaurant. Afterwards, my mom helped me prep for my interview and I tried to get some sleep!

Awkward picture of me by myself pre interview

I got to the District Courthouse a little before 8:30 on Monday morning. The other finalists and I spent the day together in one room while we were called out for interviews in another room. My interview wasn't until 2:00 so I spent most of the day just trying to stay relaxed and getting to know the other finalists. It was really awesome to meet so many passionate, interesting, and intelligent people! I feel like my interview went pretty well, too, so now we'll just have to wait until March 30 to hear the results!


Monday evening, my family and I headed to Johnny's Barbeque. The food was really good and I loved spending the evening with my family! I was really sad when I had to say goodbye to them Tuesday morning in the airport. 

I l-o-v-e my family! 

Then my flight was cancelled due to electrical problems! I got put up in a local hotel overnight and, at last, left on Wednesday afternoon, a full day late! The return was fairly uneventful and I met my nice taxi driver at the airport, got to my host family's home, and slept! I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to make it to the Truman finalist interview and see my family a bit more. Now on to more Peruvian adventures...