Go Walk About

So since we rang in the New Year I’ve been telling my host family that I am going to go see my friend Ellie in Conchan that is on the other side of my little mountain. Also that I would be walking there. I mean there are these little old ladies who walk it all the time. I mean they are tough old birds, who could probably walk circles around me! But I figure if someone my grandma’s age can do it so can I. So finally my host sister Leni and I looked at the calendar and figured out when we could go.

We picked Feb 12^th and said as long as it doesn’t rain we will go. It didn’t rain for two days before the set date so there was no backing out! Haha. Also, another girl from the community Laura showed up the night before to go with us. However one big problem neither of them knew the way and we didn’t even know if anyone was making the trip that next morning. The girls started calling all the Tia’s they knew who sometimes made the journey. Around 10:30pm they found someone. BUT the Tia wanted to leave at 5:00AM!!! I mean no way that is way to early still for me!

So they called her back and she compromised and said 5:30AM haha.

I wake up at the appointed hour 5:00AM because I’m packed and ready all I gotta do is get in my clothes and go. I find the girls in the kitchen cooking away. I mean there is no way we could go on this trip without RICE, I mean what was I thinkin. They also made tortillas (that basically are like funnel cake without the sugar) for breakfast….so nutritional! Anyways following in true Peruvian fashion we didn’t leave our house until 5:30AM. Thankfully the Tia waited for us but barely. We got to her house around 6 ish AM.She straight up told us if we hadn’t got there in the next 10 minutes she was gonna leave us. Man would I have been upset if I had woke up before the sun and walked the 30 minutes of uphill walking over rocks and dogs sneaking around barking/ charging at us in the dark for nothing!

 (This is the view from almost at her house…my house is way down there in that crevice)

Because we were late we immediately started the trek at a semi run because we had to get across a couple of fields before starting uphill for the rest of the journey. The Tia was a very sweet woman who thankfully took breaks (3 in total) haha! In the next 2 hours of uphill walking.

 We finally made it to the passageway at the top and thankfully began the descent.

Looking from the top at Conchan it didn’t look like we had walked that far up but man oh man I don’t think that town is equal distance from the top.

It took us an hour to get down and spent a lovely couple of hours with Ellie waiting for a car to take us the 30 minutes to Tacabamba.

 In Tacabamba we meet up with Diamond for a few minutes then began our second hike of the day to the Tacabamba waterfall.

Now this time we didn’t have a guide and our directions were dismal at best. After walking for 2 and ½ or more hours and still not arriving I had given up because most said it was a 2 hour hike. The girls were determined and we pushed on and found an old lady to ask. Thankfully we were only like 15 minutes away. We made it to the look out.

All I can say is you could tell it had been awhile since someone had been here and the girls wanted to go down farther to look at the waterfall. At this point my feet hurt quite a bit because blisters were forming in some strange places like my pinkie toe and the pad on my foot making every step one I didn’t want to take and we still had to walk back. So I waited up top and they went down below.

When we finally started back I don’t know how but we did it in like an hour and a half. Why I put that doubtfully is because the return journey was more uphill than going there. Any who…we made it to Tacabamba again

and found the town playing Carnival (which had happened most places the weekend before)!!! So at first we tried to avoid them but as we got closer to the bus stop there was no avoiding the water being thrown! I got at least 2 full buckets on my backside! Yeah for getting ready to sit for almost 2 hours, although refreshing about so much walkin in the sun!!

We wait in the combi awhile and finally get underway! At this point I’m beat but guess what we aren’t done walkin yet!!!! Oh no we still have to get off the combi and walk another hour to our house! Thank the Lord it was downhill but downhill has its own hurts. Also, getting off my feet for 2 ish hours let me know just how big those blisters were when we had to start walkin again!!!!!!

Finally finally as we started the day in darkness by the time we got home the last rays of sunshine were going down.

 I’m exhausted but can’t immediately go to sleep.

BUT I  do only to be woken up at 1:30AM because SHE IS GIVING BIRTH!!!! WAKE UP OR YOU ARE GOING TO MISS IT!!!! Who? Why the cow of course. She would choose this of all days to give birth! I mean we have had her near the house for the last week because she is due anytime. So I get up and go out the front door because of course she is gonna do it right in front of my window! Haha. We wait and finally see the feet starting to come out but nothin much else. So what does my host mom do…why grab the feet of course and start pulling. Not gently either but with all her strength. So the calf starts coming a little farther but she is hot, sweaty and losing strength so not one but 3 of my host siblings start helping. Now this is when I really wish my camera had flash because that is one of the funniest moments I have witnessed here in Peru.

Anyways meet our newest family member…..Martin!! (Mar-teen)

So this little guy less than a week later is almost as strong as me! I know how embarrassing but I do think his strength had a lot of help due to my high heels!

Marinera Festival

Now this is a bit overdue seeing as how this was in January we went on vacation to Trujillo! Now Trujillo is a special city for me! Not only was it the first real place outside of Lima that I visited the first time around (in study abroad), it was also were I got a hunky boyfriend, Sebastian! Haha. So of course it has some very fond memories me for. Now why we went hahahahaha…is the Marinera Festival. Marinera is a traditional Peruvian dance. Very beautiful to watch because the costumes are so elaborate BUT

We got there and spent the first day in Huanchaco the beach town about 10 minutes away. Although I don’t particularly like the beach it was fun to site in the sun and not worry about anything but skin cancer! Anyways we used day one as a recover and relax day because most of us arrived on overnight buses. For myself it was an economical bus that hardly reclined but was CHEAP! We had some good salad’s for lunch! Never in the States would I pay so much for mainly lettuce but when lettuce isn’t all that easy to find everyday….Gaston bring me the bill! That night at the hotel we meet a group of Peruvians who were just hanging out so we joined our two parties! Now that was a fun night…although was left out of some activities still had a great time staying up until almost 4 AM!!!!! Haven’t done that in a very very long time! Obviously we spent the next morning recovering. That day we went to Chile’s Restaurant and man did I think I had died and gone to food heaven with Chicken Tacos. Not only were they the special of the day so only S/15.00 they were oh so good! Other than friends and family I seriously think tasty food is the thing I miss the most from the States!!!! Because I can’t remember everything about where I go and who I meet but I can remember all the good food I’ve had. Then in the afternoon we went to the Festival. They said they were sold out of the tickets we wanted so we bought the higher up seats and then waited and waited to see the seats we wanted fill up and throughout the whole night not even half were used! I mean oh well we saved some money and it wasn’t like we were truly in the noise bleed section!

 The King and Queen from last year

 At the BEACH!!! haha

Me with a cool couple!

Thanksgiving and Chachapoyas!!!!

The dinner table and final products of our Thanksgiving Shenanigans

Thanksgiving away from home was as good as it could get. We went to Chiclayo to Julianne’s site Pitipo with Alison, Sonnet, Christina, and Elizabeth. We bought supplies to cook as traditional of a Thanksgiving dinner as possible in Peru. 

 Christi and sexy shopping face

 Julie is in grey and Christi

 Elizabeth in purple and Alison in blue...in deep conversation about sugar and the amount we need.

 Deciding on the wine selection...they all turned out great!!

 LOOK AT ALL THE GOODIES!!!! Two seconds after this photo a man from the store came by and told us we couldn't take photos inside...to bad we already took so many haha.

 Wedged into a taxi with all our bounty

 A delicious treat after some hard shopping.

After this and one good salad we were off to Julie's house. We played volleyball in the street and had fun watching a movie. Next morning we started cooking. Now cooking is only okay if it is fun...

 They trusted me with a knife!

 Julie with her host mom. She made some good turkey.

 Making Pisco Sours...my first attempt haha...they didn't turn out as they were suppose to but still very yummy!

Chachapoyas!!!!!! Is an Amazon City North of where I live. It is the beginning of the Highlands changing into the Jungle. so aka beautiful. I went with my friend Sonnet just the two of us. We went not stop fun. The first day we went to a place called Kulep which are some ruins up top (from the Incan Empire).

A view from within the ruins.

Next day we went to the waterfall (THE THIRD TALLEST IN THE WORLD)! Oh yeah. However this day we went without a guide to help us with two Colombians and a Peruvian. We got off the combi on the road and began walking up up up to this small town that most tour guides start from. In the hot sun we felt that we might never get there!! But we did and we filled up on water to start the real trek. A couple minutes in we see this horse walkin in circles. They are makin this drink from Sugar cane and the horse is pressing the stocks. Of course we tried it. I didn't like it because way way to sweet. So refreshed we continued on and made it to the changing way and walked to the bottom of the fall.
OF COURSE I got in! WOW cold cold cold but refreshing.
In all we walked around 8 hours that day and had to hitch hike home. I have to admit was pretty fun because the girls stood in front and got all of us a car! Very very trying day.
Next day we went to a cave and had some fun in the mud and still tried from the day before finally got on a bus to go home.