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