Peru - Lima (1)

First off, let me say that my summer vacation (although now coming to a close) was AMAZING...mainly because I spent the first three weeks of summer in Peru! The first week, I spent in Lima, the second in Trujillo/small villages around Trujillo, and then one week in Cusco/Salkantay Mountain!  So, here is a peak at my wonderful trip to Peru! 

Day 1: 

I took my last final exam of summer semester on Friday, June 28th and our plane took off from Detroit on Saturday at 6:50 AM. So, that morning, we had to wake up really early to get to the airport on time. Our first flight was uneventful, and when we landed in Fort Lauderdale, FL for our layover, we had a crazy long layover (8 hours). So, instead of just sitting around the airport for hours, we decided to go in and explore Fort Lauderdale. We decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe/casino. We had a great meal, walked around and explored, and then went back to the airport. A few hours later (more than expected because of a delay) we were in the plane and on our way to Lima! We got into Peru at 11:00 PM and had to go straight to customs. This brings me to my first of many funny stories that involve me speaking Spanglish. We got to customs and the officer started asking me questions about our visit to Peru. With his thick Spanish accent and my tired self, when he asked me "how many days are you staying" I could not understand what he was saying for the life of me...Even after he repeated the question, I still just stared blankly at him without a response. So, he let me through without asking anymore questions. Apparently foreigners can enter the country easily if you don't understand or answer any of their customs questions. 

After my inability to speak Spanish time #1, We got picked up by some of the employees of the hostel we were staying at. (One of the thousands of reasons that Casa Rodas in Mera Flores is the best hostel in the world!) We got to the hostel at midnight, picked rooms, set up some of our stuff, and decided to head out on the town and explore...that first night was nothing crazy... just going to the grocery store/walking around to see the nightlife, but it was a great way to start the trip. 

Day 2: 

We decided to go to an archeology site and museum right next to our hostel called Huaca Pacllana.

Re-creation of the Incan people building the site

I decided to join them! 

The museum also had guinea pigs (or "cuy") and llamas

We climbed up to the top of the site. 

After the museum, we decided to walk down to the Mera Flores city center and get some lunch. After a suggestion from one of the employees at the Casa Rodas hostel, we decided to eat at a restaurant called "Cafe Z". When we first walked up to it, we could not tell why in the world he would suggest this restaurant. It had dark lighting, neon lights, and randomly placed couches as many of the seating arrangements...it was weird. BUT, after we decided to stick it out and try it, it become one of our FAVORITE restaurants in Lima! We actually ate there 3 times during our week in Lima haha. I ordered a pan pizza and this amazing sugar cane drink called a Caipirinha. Both of these items were delicious and hecka cheap... hence why we came back multiple times.

The main road we had to walk down to
get to the city center.

Our yummy Caipirinhas (and bottled water)

After lunch, we headed back to the hostel to meet Dr. Marchino, the Peruvian doctor we would be coordinating everything for us for the two weeks! When we first met her, we went through introductions and then she gave us the bad news that we would not be doing the service projects we originally thought we would be doing. We had thought we would be observing cleft palate surgeries in Chota, a little mountain town in Northern Michigan. However, because of some current political upreset in Peru, it was not safe for us to go. (If interested, you can read about the unrest here). So, instead we would be staying in Lima for the first week to watch lots of different types of surgeries and then we would continue on to smaller villages the second week to do service projects, more on both of those things in future blogs!

Later that night, we decided to head back to the city center. First, we went to go check out the art fair displays that they set up around the park in Mera Flores. Its basically just a bunch of local painters, but they were all so beautiful. I actually ended up buying an oil painting that I talked the guy down from 80 soles to 60 (which is about $24). Then, we decided to check out the local la discotecas and a Kareoke bar. We didn't stay out too long, we just wanted to get a feel for the nightlife, but it was fun none the less.

Art Fair!

A picture of my picture... terrible quality,
but y'all get the point! 

After we were done downtown, we headed back to our hostel and I started reading a book series that I am sure everyone is aware of, Fifety Shades of Grey. While I loved the whole series,  I will not be discussing it further, because I want to keep this blog PG-13. :) 

Day 3: 

Today, our main responsibility was to go to the store and buy supplies that we would be bringing to the small villages during the second week. These objects included soap, baggies, toothbrushes, napkins, and LOTS of other supplies. So, we went out and bought everything with all of the donation money that we earned. Once we got back to the hostel, we started packing up medicines into smaller individual bags for easy dispersement and the baggies of tooth-care products. While that took a long time, we also had a lot of free time! So, we went back into town to do some shopping at local markets like pictured below and to get dinner at this amazing restaurant called "Roky's". Today was a very mellow day because we would be starting our surgeries the next day, so we spent the night practicing Spanish and watching the only English TV channel, which just happened to be playing a Grey's Anatomy marathon...pretty amazing coincidence! 

So that was my first few days in Lima, but there is MUCH more to tell about my trip. So, make sure you keep reading later posts! :)