Host Family

As much as it pains me to say this, we had to leave Cuzco yesterday :( Although I was so sad to leave beloved Cuzco, sunshine, and Rafo...I was semi-excited to come to Lima to meet my host family and start a new experience here.

We arrived to Lima yesterday afternoon after dipping below the clouds and into the humid salty air which is about as opposite from Cuzco as you can get. All of us were in a bad mood because we barely ate anything all day and we were all missing our Cuzco adventures. At about 5pm Carlos told us that we would be meeting our families very shortly. Chrissy and I were so nervous! What if the family is mean, what if they don't like us? We were all like little puppy dogs in a pound just waiting to get chosen! Any time a woman would walk by, we would all think "are you my mommy?!"...some of us louder than others.  All of these crazy things were running through our heads until our host mom finally called out our names. "Elizabeth and Christin!" and we were so excited. I was totally embarrassed because I had 2 HUGE suitcases, a big hiking pack, and a duffle bag...the mom asked me if I were staying for a year...jokingly of course. We got to the house...or should I say mansion...and got the grand tour by our host mom. She was SUPER nice and talked to us for a while before she told us that she had 20 friends from her childhood coming over for a dinner party. We were kind of taken by surprise, considering it was our first night and all. We went upstairs to change and organize our stuff when Marcos, her 20 year old son, and his 3 friends came up to say hello. They were pretty nice, but made Chrissy and I feel super awkward...like we were not part of the group. We soon realized that one of the girls (an American) was studying abroad here and decided to stay a few more weeks after her program ended....soooo yeah she is also living with us too. The night went downhill from there. We came downstairs to a house full of drunk 40-50 year olds offering us Pisco Sour and speaking in rapid Spanish. I could basically understand what they were saying, but it was overwhelming...I can't imagine how Chrissy felt! We started drinking with them to be polite, even though all we wanted to do was have a nice sit down dinner with the family and settle in for our first night. Our host mom came up and told us we should go out with Marcos and his friends who were going to drink at a friend's house. We were very hesitant and did not want to go, but after we refused three times but they still instisted, we started to go. We then realized that neither of us had eaten since noon and it was about 10pm, so we told the group of kids we were gonna stay at the house. They gave us weird looks and were on their way.

After that we felt very uncomforatable, like they did not really want us there. The mom saw us sitting in the living room and instead of asking what was wrong, she kind of got annoyed that we did not go. She kept saying that there were snacks and we should eat snacks, but never anything to make us feel more comforatable. I thought I was going to CRYYY. We decided to go drink with the adults and get the night over with...free wine couldnt be so bad! So we went downstairs and drank a lot of wine while talking in Spanish to some 50 year olds. Our host mom kept ignoring us, not even eating dinner at the same table as us! We finally had enough and decided to go to bed. We emailed Rafo who helped us out a lot with the situation. The adults were up partying until 3am! It was ridiculous.

Today was a lot better though. We had a nice breakfast with the mom and sister, until the other American girl came down and dominated the conversation from then on. It makes it very hard to make a relationship when there is some other exchange student living here with us. We spent the morning with the mom while she showed us around town, that was nice. Lunch was the best because we got to know the mom and sister a lot better. After lunch we came to our room and got on our computer forever! The mom and sister went to the aunts house without even inviting us...again we found this odd, but whatever...and we went to chilis with two of our friends to do homework. Since Chili's we have been back here, but no mom in sight. I am not sure if she is here or not? Chrissy and I get pretty delerious at night, so we have been cracking up in here because 1-we have not seen our host mom since like 4pm 2-She never offered us dinner (she didnt know we went to Chilis. And even so, we only got appetizers) 3- we are not completely positive who all lives in this house....new people show up every day. and 4- we are pretty sure a ghost lives in the kitchen.

I know Lima will get better, especially when we can see our NCSU friends again (tomorrow thank God), but as of right now...I am homesick for home and for Cuzco! Pray for us, this family is a little bizzare.

Whatchamacallit

Haha, so this is a random blog post...if you have not read the Inca Trail post yet, do ittt :) I just thought this was worthy of a blog post.

Soooo, you all know how Chrissy and I love Rafo and Carlos. They are SOO funny and SOOO kind, so we hang out with them a lot. The other day we had the best time teaching them English phrases. On the hike I taught Rafo what "beasting" was and what "in the zone" meant, he loves learning about these new words! Anyway, so the other day we were chillin with Rafo and Carlos and Chrissy's ipod auto-corrected a word to make it "whatchamacallit" She said it outloud and right after she said the word, Carlos and Rafo started trying to understand what the word was. This was the legit conversation:

Chrissy: "OMG I hate autocorrect, it changed 'whatcha' to 'whatchamacallit'
Carlos and Rafo: "What is dat?!"
Rafo: "What are you calling?"
Carlos: "What you are calling me?"
Rafo: "What call to me"
Carlos: "Watch me in college?"
Libby and Chrissy die laughing.....still laughing....laughing...ok: "Whatchamacallit!"

And then we taught them what it meant. They were so pumped about that word. One of the best moments of this trip, omggg so funny. We went on to teach them "homie" "bro" "pound it" and they taught us some Spanish phrases and words like "causa" and some word that means cool, but I can't remember.

Tonight is our last night in Cuzco// also our last day with Rafo was today :( Chrissy and I cry whenever we think about it! We love him, he is our best friend! So is Carlos! I wish everyone could meet them, they are two of the nicest people that I have ever met.

I will update with anymore funny stories like this :)

El Camino Inca

Hola todos! I survived!! Yes, I did hike 29 miles up and down steep mountains for 4 straight days....and I loved every second of it. For those of you who don't know...the Incan Trail is a 29 mile long trail with huge stairs up and down steep hills that leads from Kilometer 82 in Ollaytantambo (I think) all the way to Machu Pichu. We left for the hike on Saturday and made it to Machu Pichu on Tuesday! On Wednesday we walked around Machu Pichu...aka one of the seven wonders of the world. Pretty awesome. So here is how it went down.

DAY 1

We began the hike at kilometer 82 and judging by the first hill, we thought the rest would be pretty tough. We hiked for about 5 hours that day and finally made it to our campsite. On the way we stopped a few times, but Chrissy and I were jamming out to our Ipods and were beasting. Speaking of "beasting", we taught Rafo some English phrases (beasting being one of them) and it was so funny. We saw so many amazing mountains and cool views on the way! The most amazing thing about this day was the stars...the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my lifeeeee! Well one of them...the other one comes later in the trip! We all stared at the stars and then had dinner and went to bed...overall it was a great day :) 

DAY 2

Today there was the option of paying the porters to carry our packs. I wanted to save money and also wanted to prove to myself that I could carry my own bag on the day most notorious for being the hardest, so I did not buy a porter! We started the hike and after the first 6 minutes everyone was huffing and puffing. I somehow got in beast mode and was killing the uphills. We took a few breaks and then we were in the second hardest part of the day....hiking uphill through the forest. It was like a jungle and the stairs were so steep! We had been hiking up literally since 6:45am and it SUCKED, but for some reason I was in XC mode and was killing the trail. We took a break for about 45 mins after the forest and then hiked the last bit of the hill to "Dead Woman's Pass." Dead Womans Pass is the highest point on the Incan trail. After our break, we hiked up the hardest part of the mountain. It was about an hour and a half of straight uphill on dirt and rock with no shade....and GUESS WHAT....I came in first of anyone in the whole 40 person group who had on a pack. I was first with a pack and second overall. I even beat all of the guys....it was so fiunny. Making it to Dead Woman's pass gave me such a feeling of accomplishment. I have never done anything so physically challenging in my LIFE. We hiked uphill for 7 straight hours and we made it. After that we went back down hill for 1.5 hours and we were at camp! This day was the most difficult, but also the most rewarding.

DAY 3

Hmmm.... so there is not much to say about this day..other than the most beautiful view that I have ever seen (remember, I told you the other beautiful view came later in the hike). The actual hiking was not that bad, some uphilll, but mostly downhill and flat ground. The most important thing about this day was the campsite! We were literally on top of the world. There was a wall of fluffy white clouds underneath of us, barely covering the huge mountains across. We took pictures and then played some soccer against the porters. I was playing soccer in a cloud...pretty much the coolest thing ever. I was beasting all of the guys in soccer too, it was great :) Anyway, so after soccer we watched the sunset then looked at the stars....this time we were even closer to them...so close you could almost reach out and touch them it felt like. We could see the milky way and in the distance there was a storm cloud with lightning. SO AMAZING. I will never forget the view of that place...unebelievable.

DAY 4

Last day...YESSS. Ok so, I was not this happy on the actual last day of the hike. I was actually pretty grumpy and annoyed. For one thing, people were starting to get on my nerves, I didnt sleep much because of the cold, and I had not gone to the bathroom in 4 days because the toilets were literally a small hole in the ground. Needless to say you did not want to mess with me. That morning though, we woke up and saw the sunrise over the mountains....so cool :) We hiked downhill all day long and did riddles which made the time pass faster. When we finally got to Machu Pichu we were SOOOO HAPPYYY! We did it! We finally made it there. The last uphill was literally like an 85 degree angle....I was pretty much rock climbing. We took pictures and then went back to the hotel in Aguas Calientes! 

WE MADE IT! :)

So that is the basic summary of my hike! It was wonderful :) It was literally the best experience EVER. I reccommend that everyone does this at some point in their life. Some more random things that happened...THe cooks made me meals "sin leche" (without milk) and one time forgot and I almost ate something with cheese in it...SCARY! The guides, David and Mario were awesomeeeee! Every time we left Mario said "vamos a la playa!" which was so funny. We played games and sang songs and all bonded on this hike...I love everyone here and I am so in love with PERUUUU! :)

Some pictures instead of words :)

Nommin on some lunch

RAFO!! Our favorite!

At the salt mines!

so beautiful. Pisac

A house at Ollaytantambo

Ollaytantambo

Vew from hotel in Urubamba

I RODE A HORSE!

Ok so to most of you riding a horse might not seem that exciting, but I have never ever been on a horse in my entire life! Today the group split in half and our half went to Saxiouiman (spelling is so wrong there) and took a tour by horse back through the mountains. It was awesome except for I was terrified of the horse!! I was so scared to ride it because no one explained how to do it!! I told Rafo I was really scared and he made sure I got on the calmest horse and then this Peruvian dude like walked with me the whole way! The terrain was extremely rough and there were tons of holes and rocks on steep hills....everything here is about 10 times more dangerous than I would expect it to be..I am sure my parents will love to hear that one. Even though it was dangerous, I was careful and it was still fun. I was the only one in the group with a guide, but everyone was cheering for me it was pretty funny. I love our group of people on this trip! Everyone is so supportive of one another and there are barely any groups, we all just hang out and it is great.

We finished the horse ride and had lunch at this trout farm....but I had chicken haha yuckkkkk trout! I actually tried the trout and it was pretty good. We went to downtown Cuzco to go to the bank after lunch and let me tell you we met the NICEST guy ever!!! He was a Peruvian guy who had great English and wanted to go to Utah for college and an education in International Trade. He helped us find the bank and was so nice. I have never had such a great first impression of someone in my entire life. The people here are so nice!

 Now we are just chillin for the rest of the day! I am about to go shopping at the Cuzco markets with some of the chicas and then tonight we have dinner on our own and might hit a Peruvian Irish Pub called Paddy's! I am excited to have a chill night with some good people :) I love it here in Peru! :)

Words cannot describe...

Words cannot describe, pictures cannot describe, nothing I do can describe the beauty of this place. I will attempt to do so, but everything here is so surreal and incredible that I do not even know the words to describe it. I will start off with Pisac. Just so you know, this will be long...the best part is about Ollantaytambo, so read that if you must skip the rest haha

On Saturday we FINALLY arrived in Cuzco after the hellish flight from Atlanta and were taken by bus through the streets to a nice little hotel called Hotel Garcilasco. All of the hotels are BEAUTIFUL here! We came into the garden courtyard and had a lunch packed by Monica---Rafo's wife---and started packing for our 4 day trip around to the different ruins! Before I describe the adventures that we have been having, I have to tell you about our group leaders, Rafo and Carlos. THEY ARE AWESOME. They are both the man. Rafo is probably about 50 or something and is married to Monica. They live in Cuzco and they host students studying abroad from all around the world! They are two of the nicest people I have every met. Rafo's job is to go around with university students to Cuzco and different places like we have been doing and pretty much just show us around Peru. He is so nice and funny! Hahaha--this seriously cracks me up every time I think of it...but when we take the bus anywhere he like narrates the surroundings over the microphone and says the funniest things in his spanish accent! He will be like "Ok...sooo....dis is where dey do da Inca stuff....Ok." hahah or "And if you look to da right you see da biiiigggg moooooon coming over da mountain...it is bery beautiful....ehh....ok." Gosh, it is so funny. Carlos is also so awesome. He is probably about 50 something and has been working with the NC State study abroad group since 2000 I believe. He is so helpful, they both are! They speak to us in spanish, ask about our families and our friends/ boyfriends or girlfriends, they actually care about what they do! I love them!

Ok so anyway, now that you know about the two guys pretty much leading our trip, I will talk about the trip!

So on Saturday we took a bus from Cuzco to Pisac and saw so many cool things along the way. We were all freaking out at the sight of the mountains, which now is still beautiful, but less exciting by bus. Actually that’s a lie, its still exciting. Anyway, the most amazing thing we saw that day was these three mountains—the one in the middle had snow caps on it and there was a rainbow above it. There was also a cute little village underneath them! We stayed at this hotel called “Hotel Royal Inca”…I think that was what it was called…but it was even more beautiful than the first! Gardens everywhere, a hot tub/ sauna which looked like a rainforest, and mountains all around. I was pretty much in heaven. We had dinner at this place called Ulrikes and they served pizza, but Carlos made sure I had something to eat! I had chicken and rice and it was pretty good. The Diamox medicine that we were using for the altitude made things taste kind of weird though. After dinner Chrissy and I went to bed because we basically go 2 hours of sleep on the plane.

The next day we woke up super early and had breakfast at the hotel. OH MY GOSH…I am sorry, but I am so obsessed, the watermelon here is soooo AMAZING! It is so fresh and juicy yummmm...Matt and Matt do not say thats what she said...jerks. ;) Ok so then after breakfast we went to the ruins of Pisac. We hiked this huge mountain and saw the terraces where the Incans would farm...it was mind blowing! We got to the very top of the mountain and took some pictures. I was DYING! Oh my goodness, I should have done more stair workouts before this trip! We then went to these like temple things that the Incans used for the God of the Sun....I honestly dont really remember exactly what it was haha...but it was beautiful. I think the part that blows my mind is the mountains around everything and how the Incans actually built this stuff. After seeing all of that we hiked down the mountain. Ok when I say that, I am being serious....we legitimately hiked down this huge mountain on narrow paths with sometimes not a lot to hold on to! I took a picture of the mountain that we hiked down...it was pretty hard to do, but I was proud once we finished. We got to the bottom and walked to lunch at the same place we had dinner the night before. Tim and I were stopped by these two little kids who had on crazy outfits and had a goat, so we took a picture. They started to ask us for money, but we did not know we had to pay! Whoops. After lunch we went to the market. AHHH THE MARKET. I am legit obsessed. Not even kidding. My teacher called me the "compradora" (shopper) of the group! haha it is true though. I bought so much and it was very fun :) We went to the town of Otallanaytambo after this and got our hotel rooms then chilled in the courtyard. The hotel, once again, was amazing. We all started playing this game called Ninja for like 30 minutes and it was hillariouss!!! I won..no big deal.. :) We went to dinner at this all you can eat place and Chrissy, Eliza, Kaitlin and I spoke in Spanish with Carlos and Rafo. I love practicing Spanish :)

I told you this would be long!

READ THIS, BEST DAY! The next day we went to the ruins of Ollanaytambo, this was by far the best day. We hiked up these HUGEEEE stairs to get to the top of the ruins. It was pretty hillarious because we were all out of breath and taking breaks. It is pretty hard to climb those mountains dude, I was dying. We got to this random spot and a group of us decided to go up to the top of the mountain. I would just like to start out by saying that this was not my choice! I was scared to climb up, but most of all I was being lazy because it was hot and the trail was steep and not part of the normal touristy stuff. I decided to go anyway...peer pressure. We started to climb....and climb.....and climb...then I made the mistake of looking down. I instantly got terrified at the height and made myself get up the rest to the top. We took some pictures then we realized that we had to climb BACK DOWN THE SAME WAY! I was almost in tears and I put my camera in Ryan's backpack and we made our way down. Guys I am telling you I have never been so exhilarated from something ever! We found our group and finished up the tour with a trip to another market...yes...then went to the most beautiful hotel/restaurant for lunch. When I say beautiful, I cannot even describe this place. Pretty much paradise. There was music, flowers, beatiful tiki hut things, llamas, parrots, a huge field to lay in the shade...ahhh gorgeous. And lay around is what we did. We left there and went to Urubamba to this really fancy hotel! We went to a ceramics shop and saw how they make it! Then we went to dinner and I had chicken/fries at this place called Tonis....EW EW E WEW EW E W W EW KSHGKASJHG;A'....uhhh yeahhh it made me very sick last night. I had to mention it, but thinking about it makes me so sick! We then toured a church and went to the hotel. Although the ending of the day was a bit rough, the things that I experienced were unreal.

This morning we woke up and got breakfast at the hotel. Chrissy and I were still pretty sick from last night and overall just exhausted. We got on the bus feeling like crap, but then we realized that we were driving by the most beartiful mountains ever! I wish the pictures were working so I could show you how wonderful it was! Rafo was talking to us the whole way, he cracks me up! Our bus driver, Elvis, is pretty much a baller. He drove on the side of the mountain about one inch from the edge! We were headed to the salt mines! When we got above the salt mines we went out and took pictures. What an amazing view. You need to see a picture. We were so high up and there were mountains and blue skies all around!!! The salt mines were underneath of us, I want to be there right now again! We then went to the salt mines and walked all over them and learned about how the water goes down from the spring and then after three days the water evaporates and then they just have salt. The best way I can describe it is hundreds of quadrants on the side of a mountain with a stream of water waterfalling onto each one! After this we went to the ruins where there were just circles upon circles all of the way down a different mountain! We went to the bottom and layed in a circle for 2 straight minutes of silence! Haha, kind of weird, but whatever it was an experience. Stupid bugs were flying all around me though, so I was kind of breaking the silence. Apparently the silence cirlce thing is supposed to channel energy??? haha I dont know. We then had to hike ALLLL THE WAYYYY BACKKKK UPPPP to the top. Oh my gosh, this never gets any easier. I could literally hear my heart pounding in my head. We left the ruins to head to lunch with some of the natives. When we got there they had us do this ritual thing with the Coca leaves where they honor mother earth, aka "la mama pancha", and then they made us lunch! These people were the nicest and sweetest people I have every met. They literally made everything from lunch by hand from the stuff that they grow. We had some kind of soup that tasted like earth...not being mean it really tasted like earth...then we had chicken, potato things, straight up potato, and vegetables/ fruit. I was so happy after this meal. The people were just always smiling and hugging us...what a great time :) After this we went to the textile market in ...I forget the town!...and watched how they legit make things from scratch. The lady had alpaca wool and washed it with some shampoo she made from a root and water mixed. Then they dyed the wool with natural things like mushrooms, and then spun the wool. I didnt buy anything at this market...first time the whole trip....but the stuff was awesome. On our hour long bus ride to Cuzco I talked to Rafo in Spanish the whole time! We went to dinner at this place called Jacks afterwards in Cuzco, but I had trouble finding food I could eat. I got salad meh.

And that brings me to here. I hope you actually read all of that...but if not I understand. I will try to add pictures when I am able!! :) I miss everyone from home! As you can see these days are insane, I feel like we have been here for 2 weeks! I love you all :)

Vanilla Twilight

Sooooo....I'm FINALLY in Peru! We arrived in Lima at 7am this morning. We were supposed to arrive last night at 11pm, but our plane had some landing problems which were not realized until 30 mins into the flight! We had to fly in a LEGIT CIRCLE around the Atlanta airport for 2 straight hours so that we could land with a light enough weight. Basically wating fuel and wasting time. We were all delerious in the airport, Eliza rolled on her skateboard down the hallway....oh yeah she was on her back. We dealt with a mean waitress and then we were back on the plane at 11:45pm to HERE in Lima! And that is how I got here :)

Right now we are sitll at the airport waiting to board the plane that is coming at 11:45! (We are one hour behind NC). I randomly found this free internet access and have never been more excited about something in my whole life!

Yesterday saying my goodbyes were so rough. I was pretty much the only one in our group bawling my eyes out. I said goodbye to Dan for six weeks and it sucked/still sucks really bad! I wish he was here with me :( I am making tons of friends though and having a good time, once we finally leave airports I think it will get a lot better :)

The best thing that has happened so far is that this morning around 5am we were flying over Ecuador and I watched the sunrise all the way to Peru. It was at its best moment when we were flying over Peru and it was rising right above the Andes mountains. SOOOO PRETTYYY!! I took tons of pics....which are still on my camera since I have not left the airport...but it was amazing.

Also, this song pretty much sums up my life right now with seeing amazing things and also missing Dan back at home, sooooo I decided to put a link on here. Also, it came on my shuffle while I was watching the amazing sunrise, so I thought it would be appropriate!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIz2K3ArrWk


I miss you all so much and I can't wait to see you in 6 weeks!!! :) I will update again as soon as I can! Everyone add me on skype! :):):)

3 days!!

Oh my goooooddnneeesssss. I am FINALLY finished with exams and have one last small paper to write before I am officially a senior and officially have PERU as the only thing on my mind :) I walked into my room about 10 minutes ago after coming back from the exam from hell and automatically went to open my backpack to pull out materials for studying--then I realized-- NO MORE STUDYING! yesss.
.....................................................................................................................................................................


...seriously.



aaaand then I turned the corner and saw this massive pile sitting on my floor, just waiting for me to organize, pack, and make weigh less than 50 lbs each before Friday. Looking at this pile of random stuff is equally exciting as it is intimidating. First of all, HOW am I going to pack all that I need in 3 bags that are each less than 50lbs when I am going to Lima then to Cuzco then to the Incan Trails then to Lima then to Nazca then to Lima?! (Sounds confusing, but you will understand when I actually do it). Whatever, right now I am just going to lay in my bed with my window open and my music blaring, celebrating the fact that I just had 4 awful exams in 4 days and they are over :)

So, back to Peru. Enough of me complaining about my exams, more of me talking about getting ready for Peru...that is why you are reading this after all. My dad called me today to tell me that in about 72 hours I will be in ANOTHER COUNTRY! How is this even real! Tonight I am having a dinner date with my roomies Christine and Ravelle (Chilis of course), tomorrow I am getting lunch with Dan and Carey, hanging out with Amanda, dinner with the older Lipetzky siblings and visiting the rest of Dan's family afterwards, and on Thursday I am finishing up packing and then going home for my last night with the fam! So many goodbyes, so little time.

For the Incan Trails hehe :)

I have most of my hiking gear, as you can see I am well equipt with a sleeping bag for the hike! Pretty much any time I wanted to procrastinate from studying I would go through my Peru pile (thats what I call it now) and start packing things. Apparently Dan wanted to procrastinate too and packed me into the sleeping bag. Other than a few minor things, I am all ready and have spent as little money as possible! :) I wish all of you could come with me! *shout out to Nick Graham* and to all of my friends and family! Thanks for all of your support and I am going to miss you all this summer!!!

 

5 days

So I am not very good at this blog thing. I read some other blogs and mine pretty much sucks, so all of you bloggers out there help me out! But anyway...

5 more days left in the US until I step on a plane and leave the country for 6 weeks. To some of you that may seem insane and to some of you it may seem like nothing, but to me it is HUGE. I went shopping the other day with my Peru roommate, Chrissy, and we spent $90 on random stuff for our trip...not the kind of money I was trying to spend on travel sized shampoo bottles, hand wipes, and socks. I am so excited to go on this trip, but this week is going to be a rough one...especially after my exams are over. Ha--that is a strange concept...a rough week after you finish the tests that you have been dreading for over 15 weeks. I am just pretty horrible at goodbyes, and since I will be saying goodbye to the most important person in my life for pretty much the whole summer I would have to say this would constitute as a rough week in my book. Other than that, everything else is AMAZING! On Friday night I had a bunch of friends over for one last goodbye before the summer and I have been visiting with other close friends as well :) Diane wrote me a letter to open on the plane with the words "Porque esto es Africa" all over the front. Even though I am not going to Africa, this letter means a lot to me considering I will probably be homesick the second I step on that plane! Love my friends :)

Seeing my family tonight made me even more excited/nervous to be in Peru! It doesn't even feel like I am about to leave, but I know I will be crying non-stop next Thursday when I go home for my goodbye dinner with the family (and Dan/Jonah of course). My grandmother wrote me a letter telling me good luck for the trip and it really meant a lot. It is great to know that I have people all over the country thinking about me for this summer!  Just have to get over that hump of saying goodbye and I will be in Peru having the time of my life in no time :)

Ok, so you all probably don't want to hear my pre-trip rambling, but then again you followed my blog...I swear it will be good once I am in Peru doing things that are amazing! So I guess I can be done procrastinating the studying I have to do for my two exams this week, but I will be back all of this week in preparation for lift off! (and hopefully improving my blogging skillzz)