¡Qué chévere!

Yesterday we visited 5 sites of ruins, all of which were very different and uniquely fascinating.  I’ll spare you the details and post a few pictures.

Qorikancha

Q’enqo (“the labyrinth”)

Pura Pukara

Tambomachay – “Bath of the Inca” (where Mia, Allison, and I did our interview)

 Saqsaywaman (pronounced something like “sexy woman”)

Afterward we went to a store where they sold all kinds of sweatshirts, sweaters, gloves, hats, etc. made from alpaca or vicuña.  They were of all different textures, colors, and patterns, and look very Peruvian. I definitely plan on buying a sweatshirt, especially since I packed poorly… plus they are just really chévere! :)

Our group arrived in Cusco at possibly the best time of the year.  This entire week has been jam-packed full of festivals and parades, with masses of people at the center of the city to celebrate it all. Today was Corpus Christi (which means “the body of Christ” in Latin and always falls 60 days after Easter), which celebrates the reinvigoration of Catholic traditions and values that were compromised during the Reformation. This holiday in Cusco marks La Entrada de los Santos (“the entrance of the saints”) in La Plaza de Armas in which floats carrying saint figures pass through the plaza into the cathedral.  Half of the class had the assignment of interviewing people in the plaza about Corpus Christi and its significance in Cusco.  These interviews were very fun and extremely eye-opening to say the least.  We ended up talking to a few cusqueños for nearly half an hour, learning about all of the holiday’s traditions and its importance to the people here.  There were definitely some very heart-felt conversations, including one in which I had to explain the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism.  (Many of the people here have never heard of Protestantism because EVERYONE is Catholic.  In their eyes, you’re either Catholic or atheist.)  This video report project, in my opinion, was the epitome of what studying abroad should look like because we really are learning outside the classroom.  Tomorrow, the other half of the class will be doing the same project for Inti Raymi (which means “Party of the Sun” in Quechua), one of the largest celebrations in Perú.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”   -Romans 12:2

First Days in Cusco, Perú

NOTE: I do not have internet in my house and therefore my blog posts will be much more sporadic. There is internet at the school, but I'm not here enough to consistently update or respond to e-mails. I will try my best however to stay in touch! I'm having difficulties with uploading pictures... :(

We spent a LOT of time in the airport. I left Atlanta at 5:30pm and arrived in Lima at 12:00 (6 hour flight with a one-hour time change). I met up with Allison, Nicole, Leslie, Mia, and Mitch, and the 6 of us sat at a café for about 4 hours before checking in for our connecting flight. I left Lima at 6:00am and arrived in Cusco around 8:00am. Allison and Nicole arrived about the same time as me, and together we left the airport to meet up with our families. The airport lost my suitcase… the one that had ALL of my stuff in it. Mala suerte?

I was very excited to meet my host mom and the rest of my family. Señora Sonia picked me up and took me to their house, only to find that she had lost her keys. So we went across the street to a juguería (juice shop… with literally about 50 varieties of juice) where she ordered me papaya juice and a chicken sandwich while she went to find someone to open the door. Long story short, I ended up waiting there for over an hour feeling sick to my stomach and extreeeemely tired. 

We finally got in the house after basically breaking in through a glass window above the door frame. I immediately went to sleep and woke up 3 hours later around 1:30. Señora Sonia made me lunch (fried chicken, rice, and french fries) during which I met her two daughters (Chabeli, 15 and Lissa, 14) and husband (Juan) after they arrived home from school and work. I reallyyy like my Peruvian family. I already feel comfortable with them. After lunch we went back to the airport to retrieve my lost luggage, but the airline counter was closed when we got there. We went back the next morning at 6:00am and, thankfully, it was there! By the way, it's veryyy cold here...

When we returned I again fell asleep for a few hours. Traveling from Atlanta to Cusco is quite a process and very exhausting, so it took me a day or so to get back on schedule. I woke up and tried to find an internet connection with no luck. Apparently all internet in the entire city was down, which worried me because I couldn’t comunicate with anyone in the group or e-mail my mom to let her know I got here okay. I ended up going to a pay phone to call my parents, which was such a relief. It felt like it had been days since I’d seen or heard from them. I’m crossing my fingers that I can get skype to work here. If not, this could be a longgg 6 weeks.

June is apparently one of the most celebrated months in Perú, with various holidays and festivities throughout the month. Great time to arrive, right?! We had a delicious dinner and then went to La Plaza de Armas to see fireworks and a small concert. There were soo many people there! Thursday is the celebration of Corpus Cristi and Friday is a Peruvian holiday called Inti Raymi. Both involve various parades and parties that last throughout the whole night. I'll probably go to watch for a bit, but I definitely won't be losing any sleep, jaja.

Everything is going pretty well and I like it here so far. From what I can tell it’s very different from Mexico City, but the change is nice. It’s very colonial here and the mountaneous view from my window is spectacular. Pictures coming soon. Yesterday was our first day of class at El Centro Tinku with Juan Carlos, which went pretty well. Afterward we went walking around the center of the city taking pictures of the festivities going on. I took some videos which I'll TRY to post later. I’m excited for my roommate Casey to get here and experience all this with me! :) 

Today we're going to visit some Incan ruins. Should be quite an adventure! 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." - Proverbs 16:3

Home Sweet Home

I spent my last day in D.F. shopping with Emnet, Drew, and Jenny and doing a little grading. It was a good day overall, though somewhat sad at the thought of not returning to Mexico for a while. Doctora took us all out to a fabulous dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse later that night. We left feeling very stuffed, but happy. :) After dinner I went to Emnet's apartment to hang out with Alexi and Roxanne and say our goodbyes. I can't believe I won't see them for another 8 weeks! :( 


 I got into ATL today around noon. I was exhausted because I woke up at 5am and only got about 3 hours of sleep. Carrying my set of talavera plates through the airport wasn't super fun, but I was relieved to get them home still in one piece. :) Although I'm already missing my LBAT friends, I'm glad to be home, see a few old friends, and relax for a few days before leaving again. This is definitely a busy summer!


Things I missed about home:


- My mamaaa
- Air conditioning
- Flushing the toilet paper
- Ice cubes
- Clean feet
- Rainstorms
- My bed
- Roxyyy


Things I'll miss about Mexico:


- The markets
- JENNY
- Fruit off the street for about $1
- Riding the metro
- Rancho Los Amigos!
- Oaxaca cheese
- Watching movies on the roof
- Being called "Güera"
- Lime ice cream
- Mexican hospitality
- Gary, our taxi driver
- Morning chats with the guard at the school
- 40 cent pastries
- Shopping with Doctora
- Manzana Lift
- Coffee from OXXO
- Huevos a la mexicana... yum
- Elder's café... Coffee Land.
- Learning jokes from Mexican students
- Filled churros
- My awesome apartment
- Emphasis on family
- Sleepovers with Emnet
- Wandering around the city with no intentions

Interior of our apartment

Rooftop where we watched movies

Exterior of our apartment

Jenny, Me, Emnet, Doctora, and Drew on my last night 

"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." - 1 Timothy 4:4-5

SONTECOMAPAN

Great weekend to end my trip to Mexico. :) We spent 3 days in Sontecomapan (an island near Veracruz) at Rancho Los Amigos - one of the coolest and most enjoyable places I've ever been (www.losamigos.com.mx). Though it was SUPER hot and humid (yes, worse than Atlanta), I had a great time being adventurous and nature-y with my LBAT peeps. I'll explain further:


No technology. Our entertainment consisted of reading in hammocks, kayaking, hiking, swimming, etc. Though the heat was nearly unbearable for me, all these activites were still a blast. No computer or phone for a while was liberating.

Camp style. We stayed in little cabins and all shared a community bathroom. The occasional frog joined us... No air conditioning (obviously), no makeup, no complaints. We even woke up at 5:30am one morning to see the sunrise. Sadly, it was overcast and we couldn't really see anything...

Fresh food. Every meal we ate was made completely fresh, from mangos picked from the island's orchard to fish caught straight from the lagoon. It's always refreshing to know that your food has literally no perservatives.

Culture. We got to experience El Temazcal, an ancient Mexican ritual of natural cleansing by means of an outdoor sauna. We sat on the sand in what looks like an igloo made out of bamboo, surrounding a pit where burning volcanic rocks were placed and then covered with water to create a vapor. I'm sure you're thinking that sounds relaxing, but it was actually quite exhausting after 45 minutes inside. However, we distracted ourselves by singing numerous ancient Aztec songs and "shouting out" our anger. Quite the experience, I must say. Aside from the Temazcal, we were also presented with another Mexican ritual: dancing however you'd like... while blindfolded. I will admit that I peeked out from under my blindfold almost the entire time to avoid bumping into the other 15 people. (I'm a bad enough dancer as it is WITHOUT a blindfold...) It was pretty fun, though I still don't completely understand the concept. No inhibitions, maybe? We'll go with that.

Only 2 more days until I'm home again! I've had so much fun being here again this summer, but I'm so excited to see my family and unwind for a few days. Then it's off to Peru! :)


"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5

¿Qué es un cerro? ... ¡Un númerro!

Yesterday I went to a random birthday party of one of the Mexican students at La Universidad de la Comunicación with Emnet and Drew at Wings Factory (very Mexican, I know). I was a little skeptical at first because it usually takes me a while to warm up to Mexican students that are my age, but I was so glad I went once we got there. We basically just sat and talked to complete strangers for 2 hours, telling jokes and teaching each other slang phrases in the others' language. The Mexicans taught us some piropos and corny jokes, and we taught them some jokes of our own as well. Though I was quiet at first and glad to let Drew take over the conversation, I eventually loosened up and really enjoyed being able to speak Spanish with hispanohablantes. There really is no better way to learn. I also made a few new facebook friends, jaja. :)

Today in class the LBATers had a debate about the legalization of marijuana. The discussion quickly became very heated, making for a very entertaining argument to witness from the peanut gallery. It always amazes me to see how well English speakers can pull out their Spanish when put in this sort of situation. After the debate ended, Doctora let everyone out SUPER early to have a leisurely lunch before going to Grupo Modelo, the beer brewery (that also manufactures Corona). Since we had so much time to spare, a group of us shared two pizzas gigantescas and then had ice cream in a park near the metro station. We really appreciated being able to take our time and not feel rushed for once.

Upon arriving at Grupo Modelo (after an hour in transport), we were unfortunately informed that we (meaning las chicas) were improperly dressed and therefore were not allowed to enter la cervecería. It was quite a bummer since we could have used our time much differently had we known this would happen; but to make up for our disappointment, Roxanne, Rebecca, Summer, Kristina, and I decided to go to Mercado Insurgentes to do some shopping. Though the jewelry at this market was strikingly beautiful, it was a little too pricey for our taste. It was still nice to browse though and see a different part of the city. I'm pretty sure you could live here for 10 years and still not see everything...

Tomorrow we're leaving (after debate #2) for Sontecomapan - one of the coolest places I have ever been. It's a secluded (and I don't mean that lightly) island about 9 hours away from D.F. The ranch where we're staying dedicates itself to permaculture, which is actually a lot more interesting than it sounds: the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be self-sustainable. While there we'll enjoy relaxation at its finest with a private beach, hammocks, yoga, a natural sauna, etc. I'm dying of excitement... so I guess I'll just have to elaborate more later!

"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." - John 13:17

Cooking Lesson and PUEBLA

On Friday we went to La Fonda del Recuerdo, a fabulous restaurant quite a ways away from the school. This was by far the largest restaurant I have ever seen, with approximately 5 stories in total. We had our cooking lesson on the 5th floor which has a giant commercial kitchen. The chef of the restaurant, Leobardo, split us up into 5 groups to make each of the components of our very Mexican meal. The lunch we made consisted of chicken enchiladas, cactus salad (much better than it sounds when translated into English), ceviche, mushroom and squash soup, and a guava dessert to top it all off. The directions were in Spanish, so we all paid close attention to the details for fear of ruining the recipes. I was on the dessert team (with Roxanne - and we all know how great of a cook she is), and I must say the guava with whipped cream and homemade syrup was pretty awesome. ;) In a nutshell, we all stuffed ourselves to the point of extreme discomfort. But it was definitely worth it, jaja.


The next day we left for Puebla, a gorgeous state about 3 hours away from D.F. The town is pretty touristy and offers more shopping than my wallet can handle, but I allowed myself to spend quite a bit of money nonetheless. (I might not be able to come back to Mexico for a while, so I decided it was well worth it.) My mom encouraged me to buy a set of talavera plates, a style of pottery that Puebla is famous for. I'm not sure I've ever been so happy with any other purchase as I was after buying these plates. They are all a little different because they're hand painted, and absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to use them in my own house one day and tell stories about Mexico. :) I bought a few souvenir gifts as well for my family and friends, which again was very fun because it was so easy! With the amount of jewelry and antiques, I had no trouble finding reasons to keep buying more. We all had a blast searching through the markets, relaxing in the zócalo (where there was a car show!), and touring the rest of this very quaint city. I couldn't help but think my parents would love it there!

Pit stop on the way. Typical, right?

TALAVERA :)

Today we went to Amextra, a non-profit organization that focuses on providing job training, education, and nutrition to marginalized families within Mexico. I really loved the NGO's principles and would love to work for an organization like it one day. Spanish, teaching, service... that pretty much sums up what I want in a job. I guess we'll see!


"When times are good, be happy; 
but when times are bad, consider this:

God has made the one
   as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
   anything about their future."

             - Ecclesiastes 7:14

MASTRETTA

If you're even remotely interested in cars, you should definitely keep reading this post. Today we went to the Mastretta plant, Mexico's first sportcar manufacturer that opened only 2 or so years ago. It's so new that they only produce about 100 cars per year, making them a pretty hot commodity. We didn't get to go to the plant last year, so having the opportunity to visit was very exciting. The MXR that is featured in most of my pictures slightly resembles a Lamborghini, which makes sense considering this manufacturer stemmed from Italian carmaking. This zippy orange car runs at about $33,000, which is pretty insane considering how beautiful it is! I went a little crazy with the picture taking, but you would too if you had the chance! Sitting in it was pretty awesome, and it made me happy I know how to drive a stick shift. Jaja :) I might just have to get myself one of these hot rods some day!

Jealous yet? :)

Today I also got a hold of a book (thanks to Doctora) that I've heard nothing but great things about! Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude -- heard of it?) is one of Mexico's most famous novels. It's been translated into numerous languages, so I figure it's gotta be pretty good. I was super excited because I've been looking for a good book written in Spanish, so I'm hoping I can understand most of it... This particular copy is pretty old, but I like the fact that it has some wear and tear because it gives it an "antique" feel, which I like for some reason. Roxanne also mentioned buying an old Spanish Bible from this cute little librería near the school, an idea which I might have to steal, jaja. 

Que Dios les bendiga.

 "For in Him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28

La Reforma

Yesterday we went to La Reforma, the headquarters of a privately-owned Mexican newspaper. The building itself was beautiful, but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. We got to see the machines that actually print the newspapers - 13 pages per second! That's a lot of newspapers, but I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise considering the size of this country. The downside was that we had to dress business casual, which in turn left a handful of the chicas with some pretty bad blisters on our feet... not fun.

In class afterward we discussed la mercadotecnia, or advertising. This was one of my favorite topics last year because advertising and publicity have always fascinated me. Doctora showed us some Mexican commercials as well as some others produced by other countries about Mexico. It's really amazing how ignorant people can be in judging another country that they know absolutely nothing about. Mexican stereotypes have become a standard mode of thinking in the United States, and honestly it's really starting to get on my nerves. The term "Mexican" alone carries a negative connotation. Come to this country, experience this culture and these people, and THEN try to tell me that Mexicans are lazy and uneducated. The U.S. could learn so much from Mexico.

After a few hours of class, I headed back to my apartment with Doctora where she made us dinner. I went on an adventure in search of aluminum foil... that was interesting since I didn't know the word and had to resort to asking for "food aluminum." I got the point across though and learned something new, then rewarded myself with a Manzana Lift (carbonated apple juice, a Coke product that SHOULD be sold in the U.S.). Doctora and I lost track of time after dinner and ended up talking for literally 4 hours. That followed by an episode of The Bachelorette made for a good night. :)

Today Señor Gary (our taxi driver) picked me up an hour before the test started and dropped me off at a café across from the school where I ate breakfast by myself. It was kind of nice to be alone for an hour or so without having to think about too much. Plus good, well-priced food always makes me happy, jaja.

Huevos a la mexicana - Named for having the colors of the Mexican flag

Proctored the test for 4 hours (and read every word from a Mexican art magazine), then went to lunch with a large chunk of the group before heading back to the school where we reviewed for the test tomorrow. This program never slows down... I love being here and will miss Mexico dearly, but I'm still missing everyone at home. I can't believe I'll be home in 2 weeks! Even if it's only for 3 days...

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:7