Areqipa-Tacna-Arica, Chile-Tacna-Arequipa
We took a plane to Ariquipa, Peru and then a bus that afternoon to Tacna, Peru. On the trip from Arequipa we went on a bus with huge windows. We had a great view of the terrain the entire time, a terrain without any water I should mention. there were absolutely breathtaking parts. I'd never seen anything like it. I don't know how there were little shacks out in the dessert that people lived in. I would die of heat. I was also wondering how they got water. Everyone needs water to live. Once in Tacna we got picked up by our host families at the bus station. Caroline and I went to a super nice family. They had a 13 year old girl. Every time I meet 12 and 13 year old I ask them if they are love with one direction. They usually are. She is. I guess it's universal. The host family liked to make sure we are stuffed full every time we eat. The little girl, Valeska, and Caroline and I played some phase ten and have had fun together. One night in their house I did Caroline and another exchange student, Meagan, make up and hair. I love doing hair and makeup. It's so fun. In Tacna we went to a museum and to the city square. It was so nice waking up in Tacna everyday. The air is so fresh and the sun is so warm and the sky is so blue. The night after the square and museum we went back to our host family. They had prepared Caroline and I guinea pig. I was so excited. Peru is kind of known for eating Guinea pig and I had never tried it. It wad do good. It was deep fried and really tasty. The next day we went to Arica Chile. We went to some breathtaking caves by the ocean and another museum about the war between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. We at lunch at a restaurant that had a pool, good music, and a game room with ping pon and a pool table. I slept on the floor while everyone else swam. We went to the beach in Chile. The water in Chile is much prettier than in Peru. It is much clearer. We went to Chilean markets in the evening and then returned to the border at 7:30. We almost didn't make it over the border in time before it closed and would have had to spent the night in Chile. We are always always always running late.
In Tacna we went to a train museum. The museum itself was boring, but with the exchange students its was fun. We an on top of train cars and took random pictures together. We also visited a school. We played games with the kids. I played on the exchange student volleyball team. We lost to the school team so bad. It was embarrassing. (Me, Kaylee-Australia, Sydney-USA, Paige-USA)
Me,Soren-USA, Megahn-USA
We went to an awesome Ice cream shop in Tacna. Tacna is pretty small and doesn't have much to do, but it is the border city of Peru and Chile. The Ice Cream was so good and so cheap. Everything is cheap in Tacna. The highest price taxi you'll ever find, even if you go from one end of the city to the other is 4 soles.
Guinea Pig with Caroline-Germany
The view from the front door of my house in Tacna. It is always nice to have the church wherever I go.
Keasler(USA) and I sitting by the caves by the ocean.
I dont have pictures, but the caves that we went to in Chile were beautiful and majestic.
In Chile. Beautiful caves and went to the beach where the water was freezing and I just ran in to say I had swam in Chile.
Kaylee-Australia and I drinking a popular soda in Chile
Me sleeping on the ground in the restaurant while everyone else swam in the cold water. My Texas blood hates swimming when it is cold.
Exchange student tradition when it is someones birthday.
Valentine-France
Exchange students with the Chilean flag which just happens to look like the Texas flag.
Arica Chile town square and then shopping in the Chilean craft markets.
On the bus from Arica, Chile back to Tacna. From Tacna we go to Arequipa again to meet the rest of the group.
Arequipa
While in Arequipa we went to a llama and alpaca exhibit and saw a lot of animals. We also went to a touristy place where a guy talked about stuff that I didn't listen to. Arequipa was kind of boring to me. I am not even going to upload pictures of the museums and shopping areas that we went. Arequipa does have pretty weather though. There is actually sun. I haven't seen sun in Lima in a long long time.
In Arequipa we were on local TV.
We always have to eat somewhere with tons of space. We had 3 huge long tables set up for us. There are 64 exchange students, tour guilds, bus drivers, and 3 Rotarians.
Morgan-France birthday.
Arequipa square is super pretty. A man was being funny with a puppet one night. I was dying. A lot of he exchange students don't understand a lot of Spanish since they just came in July. I always understand though, so it is nice. I spent the night exploring the town square and shops with my friends.
I love the street artwork in Peru all the time. It is always so pretty. Here is a man doing artwork in the street.
Colca Canyon
On the bus trip from Arequipa to Colca Canyon we stopped at a sight were they made wishing rocks in front of 3 volcanoes. I made my own pile of wishing rocks. On the trip I saw an active volcano with smoke coming out of it. In front of the wishing rocks was a man who had 3 llamas and we all took pictures with them. There were bathrooms in this placein huts. All there was was a hole in the ground with other peoples pee around it. I really had to pee though. So I did it. For some reason in that moment I decided I was alive. I had never felt so alive. Maybe just because I never imagined I would be peeing in a hole in the ground in the Andes mountains, or maybe it was because the mountain air was so cold on my bare butt. Whatever the reason, I liked the feeling.
I am with Katy, my best exchange student friend from Minnesota.
We also stopped along the way to watch some wildlife drink from a pond. They weren't alpacas or llamas though. I don't remember what they are called. We came around a corner in the mountain and could see our lodge where we would be staying. It was a 5 star hotel with hot springs. It had a beautiful river running beside it. We were all so excited. When we pulled up and went inside to get our room assignments we saw people walking around in white bathrobes. That was literally so cool to us all. We all got our own bathrobe to where. We felt so luxurious. Every night a man came around and brought us all chocolate and told us good night too. It was so cute and another great part of the hotel. We spent a lot of time exploring the river, hiking, playing in the hot springs, and eating good hotel food.
The view when we came around the corner in the mountain
Campfire and music in the canyon
Swimming in the hot springs
Joey(USA) and I on a swing in the mountains by the llamas and alpacas. This place was so green. Maybe you don't think it was green. I was dying though. It was so beautiful. I haven't seen a lot of green grass in a while though I guess. I was also dying when I see the stars. I didn't realize how bad I missed them. Lima has been so dry and cloudy for the past 6 months. It is finally just starting to get sunny every now and then.
I guess I should mention I got accepted to BYU!!!!!!!! This is my support group with me as I opened my acceptance email. I was scared I wouldn't get in. They were there to assure me it doesn't matter anyways because I could just travel longer if I didn't get accepted right now. Exchange students know how to encourage each other. I told Charo the next day at breakfast that I had been accepted. She said "CONGRATULATIONS" and snapped a picture right then. Here is the picture. PS. That orange juice was heavenly.
One of the days while in the canyon we went to go look for Condors, which are huge birds with 6 foot wing spans. We never saw any. We spent 2 hours in the canyon looking. It was beautiful.
Lucia's-Germany birthday.
Puno-Lake Titicaca-Taquile, Amantani, and Uros Islands
The first night in Puno we went to the town square and did some shopping. All of my efforts on the trip went into finding my sister, Rachel, and pretty dream catcher. I did end up buying her a pretty one. They aren't as pretty as the ones I had seen in Iquitos, but they were still pretty. In Puno I also bought a hat made out of Alpaca. I had to do it. I knew I was going to Utah and wanted to be warm. It was a good enough excuse for me. I wore the hat every chance I could for the rest of the trip. It is so soft and I love it. Every time Katy or I would get upset, or have any emotion other than normal we would say "just pet the hat". In the square we joined a parade that was going on and stared dancing with them. The pictures of that did not turn out very good, but it was fun.
Hadley-USA.Eloise-Austrailia, Me
Katy-USA, Me, Pin Fan (Sally)-Taiwan, Kaylee-Australia, Hadley-USA
We call ourselves the "Soul Sisters". We had a lot of fun together. Hadley has the same last name as me, so we also say that we are cousins.
Dressed up as the natives and dancing away the night.
On the way down the mountain to go swimming in the morning we came across a native woman carrying a huge bundle of this plant on her back. The only way to get items to their house is to carry them all the way up the hill from the boat port. The hill is very steep and exhausting even when you walk without carrying anything. I watched the old woman fall over and the bundle fall off her back. I ran down to help her. No one else saw, but I told them what happened. We carried her load for her up to her house as she struggled to even walk without the load. It would have taken her all day without us helping her. When we found her she had barely started up the hill. It was hard work, but felt good.
When we finally got done carrying the loads we walked down to the lake. The lake is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe that isn't cold to some people. For my Texas blood it is very cold. Sally was sick and did not want to swim. The rest of us did water to swim. Naked. We took off our clothes really fast and jumped off the dock butt naked into the freezing lake. It was so cold it actually hurt me. I will use it as an excuse so my mother doesn't kill me that I did not have a swimsuit with me. Or a towel for that matter.. So I ended up having to dry off with a t-shirt. Later all the rest of the exchange students came down and we told them what we had down and why we were still so cold and wet. Almost every girl then found her way into the lake butt naked too. I was so cold my bones hurt. I ended up laying on the roof of the boat on our way to the next island. I now know that is a horrible idea. Never lay out in a boat in the highest lake in the world. You will fry. My skin was so burned it eventually turned purple. The whole back side of my body completely peeled off and now has a new layer of skin. I have never been so burned.
On to the next Island we go!
