I think one of the hardest parts of blogging is knowing where to start. Right now, for instance, there are so many thought floating around in my head that I'm just not sure what to say. And there's always this battle between telling the stories of what I've been doing or writing more reflectively as I think about my experiences. You might ask, "why not do both?" I always seem to run out of blogging steam before I manage to do both. We'll see where I get to tonight. Let's start with story telling.
We left off a week ago with my long excursion to Plaza San Miguel. The next day somehow went by fast even though I wasn't doing much. I ran/walked on my ovular street for about 40 minutes, ate lunch at home, and then showered and relaxed for a bit before heading to Miraflores. Basically, my only purpose in going there was to get bubble tea from the amazing bubble tea stand. When I say stand, I guess it is more like a little store, but it is so tiny and generally the line is out the door because it is very popular and only a couple people can stand at the counter to order at one time. It was exciting to be in Parque Kennedy again. I had forgotten about all the cats that roam about like squirrels. I also noticed a new sandwich place that looks amazing and Pinkberry, which is a frozen yogurt store. Who knew the frozen yogurt craze had hit Peru? This is one of the things that I find so interesting about Peru - that you can at the same time be in a third world country and have all the conveniences of modern life at your fingertips. This country is definitely diverse. Anyhow, after my bubble tea, I hopped a bus up Arequipa to my church, Alianza Cristiana y Misionera de Lince. When I was studying here, I more so attended the Saturday youth (20-something) services than the Sunday morning ones, but it's definitely the church I feel most connected to in Lima. And they have a new building! We used to meet in a school across the street from where they were reconstructing their "templo." The new building is huge and very nice. I imagine it is a huge blessing for the congregation to have this large space and to no longer share with a school. The reason I went there on Wednesday was for a prayer service - my friend Nadia from my small group invited me and we went for ice cream afterward. It is truly wonderful to worship and pray with Christians from another part of the world - to know that we are part of the same body.
Thursday was a good day. I had olluquito for lunch, which is my favorite, and then we went to my grandma's house to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 26th anniversary. From there I walked to the Starbucks on Sucre (about a half hour walk from grandma's). This Starbucks is new since I was last here and I was pretty excited about it because its close to my house (only a 15-20 minute walk). This is probably another moment where you say, "You are in Peru, why do you keep consuming things that you can get in the states?" To which I say, several things. One, my friend Lauren chose our meeting spot. Two, Starbucks Peru actually has some drinks that you can't get stateside. For example, I discovered that you can get an Algarrobina Frappuccino. If you know what algarrobina is, please tell me because I don't even know. I've had it before in juice and cocktails here, but I'm still not even sure what it tastes like. Three, Starbucks has air conditioning. Regardless, that is where I met up with Lauren and her boyfriend Richard and we sat around chatting for a couple hours before walking to la Marina for a short visit to the artisan market. Have I mentioned how much I love my friend Lauren. I may only see her once or twice per year, but she is a wonderful friend and I am thankful that I was able to spend time with her.
I don't recall what I did Friday for most of the day. I know that I went on a nice long trip to Metro to get some necessities for the weekend (to be explained in a moment). Then in the evening I met up with my friend Alix for dinner in Miraflores. We went to a Belgian restaurant that she had heard about through her work with an online newspaper of sorts called Peru This Week. Without even touching any food, I knew I liked the restaurant because the man who worked there (presumably the owner) was extremely charming and conversational. He was very proud of his food especially the french fried cooked a special temperature and the freshly prepared sausages. The food was indeed very delicious, and this coming from a girl who is generally very picky about her sausage. The name is the restaurant is Friterie Belga. I would recommend it. Spending time with Alix is always wonderful. Since she left Wheaton I have seen her more frequently in Peru than in the U.S. She always has something great to show me in Lima. And she's just cool. :-)
Now we come to the weekend. I apologize for my long-winded storytelling. I thought I would have arrived at the weekend long before now! My small group leader invited me to go camping with the jóvenes (young people) from the church for New Years. Did I want to go? Yesnoyesno. I figured that it would be a good adventure and more fun to be with people my age for New Years. I also thought time at the beach sounded rather pleasant because generally when you get outside of Lima it is sunnier and I like the sun. However, I was also rather nervous, especially because they told me I had to bring all my food and I definitely didn't have a cooler or anything so I had to be creative about taking non-perishable food. Thus, the excursion to Metro on Friday to buy bananas, avocados, granola bars, crackers, peanut butter, potato chips, gatorade, and water. Another reason I was nervous, is that I really knew nothing about the trip (they didn't even tell me which beach we were going to), except that I had to meet at the church at 8am with my stuff. And I didn't have a tent or a sleeping bag. I took a pillow, a towel, and a great deal of flexibility. Haha. Did I mention that upward of a hundred people were going on this trip and of them I knew about 3? At the beach we set up our tents, went swimming, played charades, grilled some food, rested, and when it got to be later we brought in the New Year in style! The youth pastor led a short devotional and prayer time and then we had our count down to midnight. They passed out yellow balloons and glow bracelets and 2012 glasses and whistles and hats and leis. Yellow is supposed to bring you luck, so everything was yellow. It was all very festive! And once midnight struck everyone went around and gave hugs and said Feliz Año and took pictures (in the dark - I have yet to see how they turned out). Oh, and just like Christmas, there were fireworks everywhere. They were sweet. Overall, a very unique and exciting way to spend the New Year. I'm glad I went. My favorite part was getting to know people from the church. Sometimes I can be shy, especially when there are a lot of people and they're not speaking my language. But I had the opportunity to chat a bunch with some girls while sitting around in the tents. And we had good conversation. And having good conversations is probably one of my favorite ways to spend time. God is good.
When I got back from the camping trip, I was extremely excited to shower! I had sand everywhere and it was rather dirty sand. Then I had to go buy some aloe because I got pretty burnt even though I used sunblock. I was completely exhausted at the end of the day, but Andres convinced me to go see a movie with him. Fittingly, we went to see Año Nuevo (NewYear's Eve). Nothing like watching a New Years movie on New Years Day. I definitely enjoyed the movie and was surprised to find myself still in Peru when it was over (silly, right? I got so caught up in the movie I forgot where I was). When we got home it was midnight and I was now past exhaustion, but I stayed up longer to talk to my mom on skype for awhile.
Yesterday was probably one of my favorite days so far on this trip. My friend Nadia invited me to her house for lunch. She was willing to meet me at Metro and take the bus with me, since had never been to her house and she lives far away. She lives more than an hour away from my house and church! That's dedication to attend a church so far away! I also know Nadia's brother Deny from church, so it was wonderful to have lunch with them. Plus, Deny's friend Roxana joined us and she was very friendly. After eating the four of us went out for a walk and ended up playing soccer on small patch of grass. Then we played on the playground equipment. I can't even remember how many years it's been since I did monkey bars, and my arms can't either. I woke up quite sore today. Then, we headed back to Nadia's house to watch a movie (Marley and Me, which I had never seen) and eat popcorn. Once the movie was over, Nadia and I took three buses to arrive at our friend Samuel's house for his cumpleaños (birthday). I arrived home around midnight, pleasantly tired and content. A relaxing day with good friends and good conversation. :-)
Today I went to the pool with Evelyn, Diego, Romina, Valentina, Grandma Nico, and cousin David. My family belongs to a club with a pool, tennis courts, soccer field, etc. The kids were so excited to go swimming! I had fun playing with them in the water, even though it only went up to my knees. We ate lunch at the club and then I headed off to meet my friend Jazmin nearby. The two of us walked around Jockey Plaza, which is probably the nicest mall in Lima - super modern with a lot of designer stores. I soon became rather tired, probably from the being outside at the pool, and took a taxi back to my house. I never take taxis in Lima, but I was so tired and it was rush hour and I would have had to change buses in order to get back to my house, so I decided that paying extra for a taxi would be totally worth it and it was. The driver and I chatted quite a bit and he was complimentary of my Spanish.
So there was all the storytelling. I think I need to learn to cut down on my commentaries because I'm definitely out of steam now. Reflection will have to wait for tomorrow or the next day because I am sleepy. If you actually made it to the end of this post, congratulations. Expect another post soon and some pictures eventually!
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