Olas (Waves)

I have officially been home for the same time I was in Peru. It felt great to land on U.S. soil, but I also sad at the same time. I was sad to leave behind: the country that kept me for 4 months, the culture (not the taxis), and most of all my host family. I actually cried on all three planes back because I was so sad. I have grown so much from my experience and have changed in so many ways because of it.

Olas = waves = waves of change. The title of my blog is Olas because I am going through a lot of waves of change and also because my host brother, Martin, wanted this to be a title. Many things stayed the same while I was gone: my friendships, how I interact with my family (even though my brother said everybody forgot about me), my room, my guitar was still in tune (that was crazy), and my car (I was so excited to drive again!!!). But there were also many things that had changed and continue to change: my sister’s feet are huge and she got so tall, my brother graduated high school, the kitchen cabinets were painted…again, summer has come and gone, but MY BROTHER GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!! I don’t think he’s old enough to do that yet! I don’t think I’m old enough to have graduated high school. I’m a Junior in college now. I AM GETTING OLD.

Another “ola” I felt was a wave of reverse homesickness. One morning I woke up and didn’t want to be here because I wanted to be eating breakfast with Carmen and looking at Alejandro doing his crossword. Don’t get me wrong, I love being back and being with my family and friends, but I miss some things about Peru so much. It is weird having to check the weather here all the time because it is constantly changing. In Peru, I knew the weather was going to be above 75 degrees and sunny every single day. I also just wanted to speak Spanish all the time again! I needed a challenge and it was weird speaking English again. When we flew into Houston I ran into a lady and said, “disculpa”, she looked at me like I was crazy for not saying sorry in English.

Reverse culture shock is real and I felt an “ola” of that too. While I was in Peru I noticed that my host family never really talked about drama (maybe I just wasn’t catching it because of the whole language barrier thing) and none of the girls in my group were really about drama either. It was a nice change from hearing about some people talk about stupid, material stuff. For example: “Oh my gosh did you hear about that girl that’s dating that guy?” or “I couldn’t believe a mom would even say that to me.” In the first week I was here, I heard more drama than I had heard in the 4 months I was gone and it was overwhelming to say the least. From time to time we can all be guilty of it, but being aware is what also brings about change. 

I have an “ola” of regret. I regret not making even more friends in Peru, I regret not speaking Spanish as much as I should have this summer, and I regret not taking more pictures even though I took close to 700 while I was there.

But most of all, and I know this sounds cheesy, I felt an “ola” of love. I got to surprise some of my friends and family when I came back early and I wouldn’t change that for anything, I have given several presentations on Peru which made me feel more love for Peru and the USA, and I have spent some much needed time with some amazing people in my life. I video chatted with Martin, Jenny, Fabrizio, and Rafaela this summer and I hope I get to do it again because I was so overjoyed talking with them that when we got off the phone, I burst into tears because I miss them so much.

What I have taken away most from the time I spent in Peru and the time that I have been back in the good ol’ USA is this: ALWAYS STAY POSITIVE AND PRACTICE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. I saw some people in some conditions that were not favorable, but they were still some of the happiest and most appreciative people I have ever met. I have heard many people before tell me how appreciative some of the Latin American cultures are and WOW... I got to know that for myself. We have so many wonderful opportunities to do great things to help each other, and when we can, we should. I have a deeper understanding now of what it means to serve others. Our money really isn’t our money. It is God’s money. He gave us the opportunity to obtain that money so we can better help others. We were all put here for a reason and maybe sometimes we don't recognize the reason, but I know that we were all put here for the purpose to love ourselves and others. I seem to know something...something...something... that I didn't know before. 

Con amor,
Mariah

Mi Ultima Semana

This is technically the last blog I have to write because classes are over, but I’m going to write one on my upcoming travels. On Friday the 100^th day in Peru was met!! I spent it laying in my bed and drinking tea all day because I decided to get a cold. All weekend while everyone was in Iquitos enjoying the Amazon, I was trying not to die of a cold. My host mom had me gargling lime juice and it actually helped! I didn’t do anything too interesting over the weekend so I’ll skip ahead to Sunday and the rest of the week.

The best group of girls I had the honor of spending 4 months in a foreign country with. 

Sunday was spent at my host dad’s brother’s house. We ate chicken and pork out of this cylinder thing. I’m pretty sure it was basically a smoker. I got to meet more family and practice my Spanish some more. Because of the traveling I have coming up, I had to say good bye to Martin, Jenny, Fabrizio, and Rafaela. I wasn’t expecting it and almost burst into tears in the middle of the nice family gathering. Somehow I held it together and we said our good bye’s.  

On Tuesday we got a taste of what it was like to be famous for a little bit. We thought we were just going to visit a school and observe in the classroom. We were totally wrong. All of the students were gathered in the courtyard of the school in front of a stage. They had a flag ceremony, sang us their national anthem, people danced, we introduced ourselves and sang "The Star Spangled Banner". Then we were bombarded with kids trying to take our pictures and get our autographs. I am not kidding. True story. We went into different classrooms and answered their questions. Some of the students even stood up to ask us a question. We were trying to walk back to the teacher lounge for some food they had prepared for us and the teachers had to body guard the students off of us so we didn’t have to sign as many autographs. It was absolutely crazy and I decided to give up on my dreams of becoming famous. I would not want to deal with that every day. Even though it was kinda fun for one day.

I had to talk in front of all these kids and I my heart was racing
so fast that I probably burned major calories.

These wonderful girls decided to pull me out and make a fool
of myself trying to salsa. Worth it. 

I told Rob he would feel powerful if he did this,
he enjoyed it way more than he let on. 

Last night we celebrated the end of our finals with our professors and our foreign exchange coordinator. We had so much fun... shed some tears, told great stories, taught our teachers how to Wop, and our teachers taught us one more lesson: how to salsa. The night was a legen-wait for it-dary. Legendary.

Monica: our exchange coordinator
and Rob: our grammar and conversation
professor, repping their new UNK gear

Since we celebrated 100 days in Peru, here are 100 things I love about Peru! Just kidding but I have been here 15 weeks so here are 15 things I love about Peru.

15. Something new to experience every day.

14. THE BEACH

13. The guys that ride around on bikes selling bread in the mornings.

12. Fruit. I know this goes with food, but the fruit is unbelievably amazing.

11. The food. Oh the food.

10. How cheap almost everything is!

9. Inca Kola. That yellow drink that tastes like bubble gum really grew on me.

8. Hanging my clothes to dry.

7. The laid back attitudes.

6. Of course I love the culture.

5. Dancing!

4. Greeting people with a kiss on the cheek.

3. The language.

2. The people that are usually very kind.

1. My host family. I would not have been able to make it this far without my amazing host family. From them taking me to the beach, visiting ruins, and talking with me, to welcoming me into their family. Ustedes nunca sabrán cuánto impactaron en mi vida. En inglés no puedo explicar o dar suficiente gracias por todo.

I will only post one more blog I promise! I’m so excited to do some traveling this weekend and tell you all about it!

Classes are over and summer has arrived. Enjoy your weekend,

Mariah

Peru, Nebraska

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." – IBN Battuta

That quote could not be truer. I have been speechless on countless occasions while in Peru and now I have so many stories to tell. I can’t fit them all into my blog, otherwise you would be reading a novel every Thursday. All of those speechless occasions have either shown me a different way to look at the world or brought me closer to God. Or both.

Ministry of Education - Look at the architecture!

I don’t have very many crazy stories for you this week. Last weekend I was given the opportunity to go to the Ministry of Education building and I took it. The building was shaped like books stacked on top of each other and we were able to see many different parts of the building. We were joking a lot that it could have been like the Ministry of Magic from Harry Potter and I’m not going to lie, there were different things in there that could have been Ministry of Magic material (like a hall of elevators that could have been fireplaces). I also met some more Peruvian people my age and one of them taught me how to salsa! Finally! My last month in Peru and somebody finally taught me how to salsa! It is surprisingly close to swing dancing.

I'm so fortunate this girl talked me
into coming to Peru! 

The guy on the far right taught me how to salsa!
Gracias Angelo!

There is a sushi place here close to campus called Makimono’s that we love SOOO much. The owners even know who we are and when we walk by. And they make a point to wave and say hello. Other than eating sushi, watching Netflix, studying for some hard tests next week, and hanging out with my friends, I have not done anything too wild.

I forgot to mention that elections were on Sunday for the new president of Peru. They were not allowed to buy or drink alcohol from 8 a.m. on Saturday until 8 a.m. on Monday. Everybody is required to vote here, otherwise they get fined. All of the voting happens on Sunday and they use computers on different Universities or facilities. They voted for 13 candidates, I think, and there was not a clear winner so they have to vote again for the top 3 in June. 

Of all the places I have been in Peru, there is always a conversation that goes like this (in Spanish of course):

Peruvian: “Where are you from?”

Mariah: “Nebraska in the United States. It is right in the middle.”

Peruvian: “Nebraska Peru? Like the commercial?”

Mariah: “Yes except I have never been to Peru, Nebraska.”

Here is the link to a commercial made in Peru, Nebraska. Several famous Peruvians heard about Peru, Nebraska and went there to teach them how to really be Peruvian. Please enjoy! It was a very clever and hilarious idea! I also put the subtitles in English so you can understand the Spanish parts!

Wish me luck on my studying! I hope I can find the motivation to study!

Mariah

4 seconds left, down by 2

Last quarter, 4 seconds left, down by 2, DaMoude shoots from the 3 and… I don’t know what happens next. I still have 3 tests to take, homework to complete, and a 14 hour trip back to the United States to know if I made it or not! I have less than 4 weeks left, and just like in a basketball game, those 4 seconds can go so fast and so slow at the same time. That’s what it feels like right now. If I score that 3 I will have improved my Spanish so much! I think I’ve already scored a few 3 pointers in the game, but it’s the last one that wins or loses it for me! I need to take full advantage of the rest of the time I have here and try to push the limits of my Spanish abilities.

There have been a few injuries along the way (slicing my heel open), times where we were losing (homesickness), times where we were up (Machu Picchu), and a few time outs when we just needed a break (no class on Friday’s and Netflix).

Our group was split up into small groups based on our interests and majors. In these groups we have been attending Peruvian classes on campus. For us education majors, we have to go to another campus that takes about 45 minutes to get there because of traffic (it should really only be about a 15 minute car ride). We have the opportunity to sit in on a bilingual education class. It’s really interesting and I won’t go all teacher geeky on you and bore you with the details, but the professor is awesome and I’m actually learning some cool stuff in there!

A few of us ventured to a place called Polvos Azules to look for some cheap movies last weekend. We were not expecting to find a huge mall full of anything you could imagine. The competition is really intense there too so everything is really cheap. I took full advantage of the movie wing of the building and got 15 movies for $10 (about 75 cents a movie). Some of them are movies that just got out of theaters like a month ago. People pirate movies like crazy in Peru, so they make them really cheap so people don’t do that. We also got lost in the shoe part of the store. There had to have been at least 30 different shoe stores, if not more. I also took full advantage of the souvenir part.

On Sunday, Jenny and Martín took me to Pachacamac. They were ruins of the Incas that lived near Lima. The view of the ocean was absolutely incredible when we got to the highest peak in the ruins. Their niece, Leslie, came with us and she reminded me so much of my cousin Morgan. They are the same age and have the same personality! It actually made me kind of homesick because Morgan has been my best friend since the day she was born and I miss her so much! I got to meet some of Martín’s family after visiting Pachacamac (another niece, his dad, sister, and brother-in-law) and his dad took a picture with me and told me I was his American girlfriend.

One of the girls in our group recently lost her best friend in an accident. It has really been on my mind and I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to any of you. Please buckle up, no texting or snapchatting while driving, tell somebody you love what they mean to you, but most of all enjoy every second of this amazing life we have been given. God has blessed us to have met each other and to whoever is reading this, thank you so much for being in my life and supporting me on this journey I’ve had over here. Only a few more seconds left and we’ll see if the shot was made.

Con amor,

Mariah

Random Things

• I saw a Herbie car the other day and I laughed so hard when I saw it.

• There have been a few pump trucks driving through town here and every time I see one, I think of my awesome dad!

• They pronounce Google, Googlie, here. It’s so cute!
• Nike is also pronounced differently. Basically they say it like “Mike” but with the N in front. Probably like it should be pronounced according to the rules of the English language. 

My host mom taught me how to make causa
yesterday and I'm so excited to make it in the USA

Explosions, Easter, and a Gorilla Attack

Happy Easter!! Easter in Peru is a little different from Easter in the United States. They call the week of Easter, Holy Week. They start celebrating on Thursday and celebrate until Sunday evening. Most work places are closed, there aren’t any classes, and everybody seems to travel. My host dad told me that traffic is horrible going out of Lima because most families tend to travel to the North, South, or East. Basically any direction opposite of Lima.

Thursday my host family was gone other than my host sister. Ahnika and I had ice cream for lunch that day and we were so happy to make an adult decision to not eat real food. We went to mass together and it was different from any church I had ever been to (probably because I’m not Catholic). There was a huge procession with way more people than the priest, amazing live music, and people lined up on the sides of the church to get in on the mass. I felt bad for them because mass was 2 hours long and I felt like my butt was going to fall off. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been to stand the whole time. There was also this cute pregnant lady sitting next to us that helped us follow along and know what to sing.

On Friday my extended host family (my host mom’s daughter and family) invited me to go to their pool with them. The pool was not too far away from my house and I was actually very surprised that the place was called a country club! There were different team events and tents set up for the next weekend, tennis courts, restaurants, ice cream stands, conference rooms, two pools, and probably more that I didn’t see. We relaxed, swam, and I ate the best sea food and rice that I have ever had. (The restaurant we ate in was air conditioned. I almost cried because it made me so happy.)

Chaufa con mariscos = sea food rice

Saturday was definitely my most interesting day. It takes me 10 minutes to get to campus from my house and I walked to campus that morning to meet Abby for the day. On my walk way too many things happened to me in 10 minutes. As soon as I stepped out of the apartment complex, a creepy van drove by and the guys stopped in the middle of the road to yell about how great I was looking (I had just rolled out of bed). Then I was walking by a car that was revving it’s engine for a long time, some guy was pounding on the door, and then all of a sudden the car engine exploded!!! There was smoke everywhere and the hood had kind of popped off the front of the car. I just kept walking because I didn’t know what to do and some lady kept looking at me like I did it. When I finally got to campus, I was waiting outside for Abby and two guys walked really close and fast towards me and I thought they were going to rob me, I guess they were just in a hurry (not something you see with people walking around here).

Please excuse the broken egg in the front.

Eventually we made it to the grocery store to get some eggs and food dye. Dying eggs is not a thing here and neither are white eggs. All of them are brown. We decided we needed to color them anyway and got red jello powder and chicha powder (traditional Peruvian drink that doesn’t taste like anything I can describe) to color the eggs. It worked. The eggs all ended up a red color, but it worked! We also made brownies in the microwave. I suggest separating the batter into small coffee cups and not trying to cook the whole bowl.

Side Note: My host parents just made me run into their bedroom because the news was showing a gorilla attack at the Henry Doorly Zoo! I just caught the end of it but he was jumping towards the glass with an evil look in his eye. I don’t think anybody was hurt.

On Easter we went over to Patty and Juan Pedro’s house. A lot of other family showed up and we were also celebrating my host dad’s birthday. We ate some amazing sea food paella for lunch which is a traditional dish that comes from Spain. I got to FaceTime with most of my family at my Grammy and Poppo’s house. All the kids were in one room, all the adults in the other, and my Uncle Brad was sleeping on the couch. It was all a very familiar scene! Easter egg hunts are not a thing here, but chocolate eggs with prizes in the middle are. These are illegal in the USA because kids could try to eat the whole egg and choke on the prize in the middle. My prize was a temporary sea horse tattoo that I had to put on right away.

Most of the family is in this picture from Easter,
excluding 3 of the younger kids. 

Sea food Paella

This weekend we are planning on going white water rafting so stay tuned to see if I capsize our raft!

Con todo mi amor,

Mariah

Random Things

• It is normal for movies here to be in English with Spanish subtitles.
• I have drank cantaloupe juice for breakfast all week and it is surprisingly delicious!
• There was hardly any traffic here this weekend and that was scary.
• We talked about a newspaper ad in class. The ad wanted a woman to be a receptionist that had good people skills, previous experience in sales, a clear complexion, 18-23 years old, and a minimum height of 1.60 meters. This was an ad from that week in the newspaper. I was absolutely appalled and I cannot believe it is okay to put an ad like that in the newspaper here. 

Spring Fever

Homesickness. I have had a lull in my traveling and experiences here in Peru and that has allowed enough time for homesickness to set in. Throughout my time in Peru I have felt many different things and I have felt homesickness before, but it never hit me as hard as it did this last week. When I am speaking English with my friends from UNK, I do not feel homesick because it feels familiar talking with them. As soon as I am on my own, I start to think and thinking is not good. Usually I am thinking about verb conjugations or what tense I need to be using in Spanish, but recently I have been thinking about spring because it just turned to “fall” here. Fall means the weather will not be above 85 (apparently). Ever since coming back from Machu Picchu I have just been ready to go home. The weather there felt like Nebraska in spring. Even though there was a weird thunderstorm with lightning, snow, hail, and rain I still want to be home! I am diagnosing myself with homesickness and Spring Fever.

Last Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day.. We had class in downtown Lima to watch the changing of the guard at the government palace. There was so much traffic and our taxi driver took the sketchiest route to get us downtown. A couple times throughout our ride I thought she (first woman taxi driver I have seen) was taking us to the slums to sell us. Finally we got close enough to walk downtown. Lots of roads were closed off and we had to find a different way to the main square. On our walk we went down a street that was lined with about 100 men ranging from 25-85 years old. As soon as we started walking down the street the whistles started which turned into cat calls and yelling. That was probably the most scared I have ever been in Peru and I road on a bus, down a mountain, without guard rails, at night. We finally made it to the main square, but the changing of the guard had just finished. Everything in Peru starts late and the changing of the guard is the only exception. It started and finished on time. We ended up going to China Town and ate some awesome Chifa that we couldn’t even finish for under $4. After that we went to an Irish Pub called Houlihan’s to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We got our faces painted and even met some American’s from Mississippi State University. Their professor was dressed up like a Leprechaun. He was getting some weird looks from Peruvians because they don't celebrate St. Patrick's day. The owner of Houlihan's was from England which was the only reason it was being celebrated! 

I went to the beach last weekend and this is when the homesickness kicked in. After we got back from the beach on Saturday afternoon, I sat in a room and played Solitaire on my phone for 5 hours because I knew if I tried to think or talk in Spanish I would just break down and cry. There was even a surf competition going on and even that did not interest me. That was when I decided I was homesick. When we got home from the beach on Sunday I watched Up, Tangled, and Shrek the Third all in one night. Everybody is going on Spring Break in Nebraska and I watched Netflix like my life depended on it. I got to Skype my mom, Aunt Ann, and Demi so that made me feel a lot better!

This weekend I am staying in Lima while my family goes to the beach. Abby and Ahnika will be here this weekend and I think we are going to color some Easter eggs. It’s not a tradition or custom to do that in Peru so we might have to dye them with Kool-Aid! Peruvians celebrate Semana Santa (Holy Week), so starting today until Sunday most of the stores close up and most people leave Lima to go to the North, South, or jungle to celebrate with their families.

Have a safe and happy Easter everyone! Drive safe on the roads and eat some jelly beans for me!

Mariah

Random Things

• Peruvians know their way around a chicken wing. I have never seen a bone so clean before I came here.
• I ate chicken foot soup the other day. My host mom was eating the feet and told me doctors recommend chicken foot soup for cancer patients because they have something in them that’s good for your bones. She was just eating it because she liked it.
• Traffic has gotten worse because of school starting.
• Our campus is filled with people, and I about have an anxiety attack walking to class every day. 

I don't have any pictures from this last week so here are some that never made it to my blog! 

The Kearney group at the awesome restaurant outside of Cusco.

My little friend Fabrizio from the Shipibo school.
He broke my heart because he didn't know how old
he was or when his birthday was. 

Most of the churches here are this intricate. 

On the side with the stoplights it says
"respect the red light". People tend to run red lights here. 

Little Bit of Everything

I have recently started counting down the days until I get to be back in Nebraska. One day I was so homesick that I counted the days on my calendar 4 different times. The day never changed so I have no idea why I thought the days would be less if I counted just one more time. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here! But I just really miss my family and different familiar things (driving, Walmart, fishing, thunderstorms, my dogs, my room, and most of all water from a well that does not have to be boiled). Even though I have been a little (a lot) homesick, I have done a lot of things this past week to keep my mind off of it.

Last weekend I went over to Claire’s house so we could sit by the pool and play some guitar. Yes, you read that right, she has a pool. On her roof. On the top floor of their apartment. Private to them. Why was that my first time there? I have no idea. We enjoyed the pool on a very hot day and then sat around for a couple hours playing my guitar. We got in a much needed country music jam session. We also thought that we sounded so good together that we might need to start a band. Stay tuned.

Side note: I had a very weird day over the weekend. On Friday morning I laid on my bed face down and listened to a Jimmy Buffet album on repeat for 4 hours until it was lunch time. I have no idea what was happening to me, but I felt better after I did that. It was the first time I had even heard some of the songs on the CD.

One of the traditional Peruvian dances. 

On Saturday, we had class at a place called Brisas de Titicaca. It was a cultural dinner dance thing. We saw many different dances that come from all over Peru and ate traditional Peruvian food. I loved it so much and took some great video! The show lasted about 3 hours with some salsa dancing for the audience in between dress changes. There was one family that was celebrating their grandma’s birthday and at the end I watched as they all danced in a circle around her and took turns going into the middle to dance with her. It was so cute and I am going to initiate that at my grandma’s birthday (Dad and Uncle Brad, please don’t think it is stupid, you WILL participate. Love you guys).

After the show, I went with Danielle, her real momma from the United States, and her host parents to downtown Lima. Having Danielle's mom here made me wish my mom could have come because I know she would have loved it all so much! We went through the catacombs again and saw some different rooms that we had not seen the first time. Then we walked around the center of Lima and bought different Peruvian desserts from vendors that were set up on both sides of the street. When it got dark, we headed to Parque de las Aguas. This time I got to watch the water and light show that they put on instead of just watching the water and lights change. I was very impressed with what they were able to do with the lights and put videos up with the water. It was absolutely amazing! 

While trying out different desserts, we also
saw lots of different Peruvian food. This is the
delicacy, cuy-cuy (guinea pig).

Mama Carmen took me to mass with her on Sunday. I am not Catholic so everything that was going on there was new to me and it was in a different language so I felt very out of place. It was a great experience for me because I was able to hear more Spanish and I can say that I have been to mass.

Today we went to a school in a lower income neighborhood to read with the kids and play some games. We played Simon Says with our group and then it was recess time. It was absolutely crazy. There were kids running everywhere, soccer balls flying around, and kids jumping all over us! Our group wanted to play water and cement which is basically freeze tag. I had so much fun playing with all of them and I was really sad when it was time for them to go back to class and for us to leave. These kids had classrooms with horrible lighting, concrete to play on for recess, and a small swing set/jungle gym for the littler kids to play on. They did not complain about one thing. They were some of the sweetest and most grateful children I have ever met and I only knew them for one hour. One of the little boys in my group gave me a bracelet that says suerte (luck) on it for a present. We all got so many hugs, smiles, and thank you’s when we were leaving that I don’t think any of us ever wanted to leave. Those little kids have my heart overflowing with absolute joy.

Our group from the Shipibo school. 

One of the other girls posted in her blog that we have less and less to talk about because we are becoming so used to taking taxis, the food, and traffic that it just doesn’t sound as interesting anymore. We are really becoming like Peruvians. Lima is becoming our home and I couldn’t agree more. This place will forever have a special part in my heart. Other than the constant honking from the taxis of course.

Chao chao for now,

Mariah

Random Things

• I have never seen regular coffee beans here. The coffee is a powder that you just stir into hot water.
• They cut their piece of bread in half and then take out some of the middle and throw it away. The middle is the best part!
• A pineapple here costs about 75 cents. All fruit is really cheap here which explains why I get fresh fruit and juice every single morning. I absolutely love it.
• Today I found food that I do not like in Peru. Hígado, better known to us English speakers as cow liver. 

This is a picture from our University of the
bathrooms. I thought it was pretty funny. 

Just some guys scooping trash on the roadside.

How cute is this little banana?