I’ve been in Peru for over nine months. NINE months. And for those nine months I have missed every single person in my life. I’ve called, skyped, texted, emailed, facebooked, and even written letters to my loved ones back home. I’ve dreamt about what it would be like to be able to hug you all or even see you face to face. And finally, nine months later, one of my dreams came true. My best friend, Kristen, and her mom landed on Peruvian soil on March 18th to visit yours truly. Let me repeat: MY BEST FRIEND WAS IN PERU!! Kristen and Edna stayed in Peru for a week, and I was able to spend every single minute with them. I’ll give you a brief synopsis of their time here.
Day 1, Sunday March 18th: Kristen and Edna arrived at the Piura airport early in the morning. I got to the airport right at the time they were supposed to land, so I figured I’d have plenty of time to scout them out and welcome them to Piura. Wrong. As my moto-taxi pulled into the airport parking lot I see a white person waving frantically at me. Kristen and Edna had gotten in early and were waiting for me outside the airport! As soon as my moto slowed down enough for me to jump out, I immediately ran to Kristen and gave her the biggest hug. I can’t tell you how great it felt to be able to give my best friend a hug after over 9 months apart. We both started crying tears of joy and of course made a scene in front of all the Peruvians. I didn’t care though, because I was finally reunited with my best friend! Nine months of waiting (I just realized that this sounds like I’ve been awaiting a pregnancy… nine months) and finally the moment had arrived when I got to see someone I love very much. No words can describe how I felt at that moment, and all week.
After a much-needed rest in our AIR- CONDITIONED room we headed with fellow Volunteers Brielle and Lucas to Catacaos, a town about 15 minutes away. There we enjoyed the food of my favorite ceviche restaurant, Gonzo Azul. Edna and Kristen tried ceviche, chicharron, and tacu tacu for the first time. I, of course, love all of these foods, but you should ask them what their take on them was.
Ceviche!
Edna enjoying her first taste of Peruvian food.
Kristen chowing down on some chicharron.
Chicharron, the equivalent of fried fish.
Tacu Tacu, my favorite Peruvian dish.
Day 2, Monday, March 19th: We woke up in our AIR-CONDITIONED room and got ourselves ready to head to the beach town of Yacila, about an hour and a half from Piura. We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading on the beach. Kristen and I attempted the water, but only long enough to cool ourselves down from the hot sun. Speaking of the sun, it was hot, hot, hot, as evidenced by Kristen and mine’s legs the rest of the week!
Boats at Yacila Beach.
Beautiful view of the ocean.
Edna, me, and Kristen enjoying the rays
Look at Kristen's awesome sunburn lines.
Day 3, Tuesday, March 20th: Site day!! We packed our bags with tie-dye and white shirts with the ambition of tie-dying shirts with some of my kids. We arrived to my site just in time for the kids at the elementary school to meet Edna and Kristen before they had to head back to class. The kids were soooo excited to see other gringas, especially since they were my friends! Just today I had a group of them ask me about my “amigas gringitas” and if they were going to come back. It’s amazing how quickly they fall in love.
After showing them the school, we headed to my house so they could see my living arrangements and meet my host parents. The look on their faces when they saw my bathroom was quite comical, but the looks they gave when they felt the heat of my room were even better! Kristen talked the rest of the week about how she wanted to buy me a fan! Kristen and Edna were also able to meet my socias at the health post and talk to them for almost an hour. And by talk to them, I mean I translated what I could, and they figured out the rest with hand gestures! The ladies at the health post told me today how incredibly lucky I was to be able to share my life here with my best friend, and I couldn’t agree more. After the health post visit and a quick introduction to one of my favorite ladies in town, the heat began to get the best of us and we headed back to Piura for the night.
Kristen and I chillin' in my room at site.
Kristen in my bathroom. She didn't use it...
Day 4, Wednesday March 21st: We arrived at the Piura airport at 6:30am to prepare for our flights to Cusco! After two short, comfortable flights, and a quick layover in Lima where I was able to indulge in my first McDonald’s meal in nine months (!), we landed in Cusco around noon. There we were met by a PeruForLess representative who took us to the hotel and briefed us on the next few days. Twenty minutes after arriving at the hotel, we were off on our first tour of the day! We started at the temple Coricancha near the plaza,” the former Incan headquarters that was later converted into the Convento de Santo Domingo de Cuzco or the Monastery of Santa Catalina, whose 13 remaining nuns may be outnumbered by the mannequins on display.” From there we headed up into the sierra of Cusco to visit the ruins of the hilltop fortress Sacsayhuaman. After the amazing views of Sacasyhuaman we headed to the Incan site of Puka Pukara. We soon headed back into the city to take a tour of the Cathedral in the center of the Plaza.
That night we had some free time to explore the city and walk around a bit. We decided to eat dinner at the world’s highest altitude Irish pub. I ate a REAL hamburger and washed it down with the coldest beer I’ve had in nine months! We may not have taken advantage of the abundance of Peruvian food in Cusco, but I can say with 100% certainty that I don’t regret Paddy’s Pub at all!
Inside the temple of Coricancha.
Giant rock at Sacsayhuaman.
GRASS! I'm laying on GRASS!
Overlooking the mountains at the Incan city of Puka Pukara.
Kristen's first and only Peruvian beer!
The most delicious hamburger I have had in over nine months! Thanks, Paddy's Pub!
Day 5, Thursday, March 22nd: Another early morning (for me) with breakfast under our belt before 8am. We met our tour guide outside our hotel at 8:30am and hopped in the van with our fellow travelers whom we’d met the day before who just happen to be from St. Louis, Missouri. Small world. This day was filled with lots of travel in the van looking out the windows at beautiful countryside and incredible mountains. Our first stop was at a little market just outside the city. Here Edna, Kristen, and I bartered with the locals to what seemed to us an incredibly low price for what we were getting, but was probably an entire day’s salary to the Peruvians. We walked away with a lot more colorful wardrobe and a smile on our faces.
From that mini market we ventured off to Pisac, which is famous for its Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday market full of hand-made artisan products. The vendors have everything from dye made from herbs, to pure silver, to scarves, to shoes, to woodcarvings, and paintings. The variety of products was incredible, and it was especially fun to watch the vendors create some of their merchandise. We had about an hour to browse the different tables, but I probably could have stayed there all day long.
After the famous Pisac market we traveled about 30 minutes to Urubamba where we ate a delicious Peruvian buffet lunch. That was the first buffet I’d seen in Peru, so it kind of blew my mind to have all of that food in front of us! After sufficiently stuffing ourselves full of fried bananas and delicious fruit, we hopped back in the van and headed to Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo is an incredible set of ruins that I thought could rival Machu Picchu (the following day I soon found out that I was very wrong). Nevertheless, the view from the top of the ancient empire was magnificent. Ollantaytambo is the beginning of the famous Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu. We could see the trail from where we were, and I decided right then and there that I will probably never make that hike! Once we were satisfied with our pictures of the beautiful view, we headed back down to the center of town. We stayed the night in a quaint little hotel in the Ollantaytambo train station with beautiful gardens and a breathtaking view of the mountains in the distance.
At the market in Pisac, with a Sierra woman and her child in traditional clothing.
The view from the temple of Ollantaytambo.
Me and Smells overlooking the city in Ollantaytambo.
The view from our hotel room in Ollantaytambo.
Day 5, Friday, March 23rd: Machu Picchu!!! Machu Picchu has been on my list of places to visit ever since I heard about it years ago. You can imagine my excitement when I learned that my service would be in Peru. The fact that I got to experience this wonder for the first time with my best friend is such a special treasure. We started the day early, waking up around 4:45am. I think it’s safe to say that that’s the earliest I’ve been up since I played club volleyball in high school! We packed our things, ate a quick breakfast, and boarded the train to Aguas Calientes. The train ride was about an hour and a half, and we spent it watching the sun rise and looking at the rushing river just below us. The train was full of travelers from all over the world, just a small preview of what we would see when we actually made it to Machu Picchu! The train arrived in Aguas Calientes around 8:00am and we were met by another Peru For Less representative who introduced us to our tour guide. The four of us (tour guide included) loaded the bus that dropped us off right at the entrance of Machu Picchu. Walking in to Machu Picchu, the view isn’t magnificent; it’s pretty, but nothing like I had seen in pictures. Then I learned that we had to climb what seemed like a million stairs to make it to the “mirador,” or “look-out point.” After the strenuous hike up the stairs, with numerous breaks for us sea-level inhabitants, we made it to the mirador. My goodness, I can’t explain to you the view. It was early so the sky was still foggy, which made for an incredibly breath-taking view of Machu Picchu in its entirety. We spent the next two hours hiking around, learning different facts about the ancient ruins. Hearing all the details about this village and how it was created was unbelievable. I could write an entire blog post about Machu Picchu and its history, but I’ll save that to the professionals.
After our guided tour was over, we took a quick lunch break to rest up and re-fuel, and headed back into the ruins. We decided to make a short hike to the Incan bridge, which ended up taking twice as long as we expected. However, the view was, once again, incredible, and the hike was fun, so we weren’t upset when it took longer. To get to the bridge we had to walk along a very narrow path that was slippery and wet, and I was literally too scared to move. Kristen had to talk me though it, and as soon as I could move my feet, everything turned out fine. Once we headed back from the bridge we were pretty tuckered out from a long day of hiking, and it started to rain, so we did another quick little tour, then headed back down to the town of Aguas Calientes. There we treated ourselves to less-than sub-par “Mexican food” and waited for our train back to Ollantaytambo. At Ollantaytambo our driver met us and drove us the hour and a half back to our hotel in Cusco.
Not happy to be up at 5 am
My first picture at Machu Picchu. Foggy, but still beautiful.
Mother and daughter enjoying the view.
Edna and I on our second trek around the ruins.
No big deal, just hanging out with my best friend at one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.
Chillin' with my other best friend, the llama.
Pretty incredibly, huh?
This is after she talked me into moving my feet on the ledge. If it weren't for her, I'd probably still be there.
Beautiful look-out point by the Incan bridge.
The parade/demonstration that we watched on our last morning in Cusco. Thousands of people gathered in the Plaza.
Day 6, Saturday, March 24th: Last day with Kristen :( We woke up, had a leisurely breakfast, and ventured to the center of town to kill a few hours before we headed to the airport. As we were sitting on the balcony at Starbucks we were greeted with a GIANT parade consisting of thousands of people who were marching for the rights of unborn children. Essentially, it was a Pro-Life campaign right in the middle of Cusco. It was a cool thing to watch and experience, and we kept telling ourselves that it was a going-away party for the three of us! Soon it was time to head to the airport. Once there Edna and Kristen were lucky enough to get an earlier flight to Lima so we could all hang out in the Lima airport before parting ways. I had yet another McDonald’s meal, and then came the time for goodbyes. It was such a tease to have Kristen with me for a week, and saying goodbye was harder than I expected. I know I’ll be seeing her in October, but that seems like a million years from now. As Kristen said, the worst part about her being in Peru was saying goodbye to my best friend :(
Now I’m back in Piura, getting some last-minute things planned before I head to Ancash tomorrow with my socio for a week of training. After that I’m heading to Arequipa with my friend Amanda to visit Richard, another youth Volunteer. Then I’ll finally be back in site and ready to start some new projects! I gave my community diagnostic presentation this morning and it went well- I feel like my socios and I have a good platform on which to start building future projects. Also, I’ve had a few opportunities presented to me for potential host families, so things are looking up in that area, as well. Slowly but surely, things are coming together.
Until next time, missing you all and thinking about you daily.
“Stay strong. Do amazing things. Keep it real.”
-- Kristen Hanzlicek (in a letter she sent me months ago)
-- Kristen Hanzlicek (in a letter she sent me months ago)
