Mmmmm... Chirimoya!

Classes have begun! Now it is really time to buckle down and learn. But honestly I wish I did not have to bother. I would really not mind at all spending my days in the various cafes that Miraflores has to offer, sipping strong peruvian espresso and reading leasurely. But instead I travel 45 minutes to an hour every day on a combi to arrive at PUCP the university in which I have enrolled. So glad to be paying for my stress and sleep deprivation. I'm only half joking... I really like my classes my favorite is called Etnografia Andina, an anthropology class where we study andean history and culture. The campus is okay. It feels smaller than I thought it was and I cannot figure out if it is really just a small campus or if there is still more that I have not yet discovered. There are deer there. Little deer wander freely throughout the campus. No one

bothers them and they don't bother anyone else. They do not leave the campus they just stay there all the time and graze. So strange.

Last weekend I went on an adventure with a couple of guys from the IFSA program. We decided we needed to get out of the city and find some sun! So we decided we would go about an hour north to a small town called Chosica. On our way there a passenger in our car pool as well as the driver told us that if we wanted to be out in nature a little we should not go to Chosica but continue on about 20 minutes farther to Santa Eulilia where there would be trails for hiking and lots to see and do. So we decided to continue on. When we got there we were very excited because we could almost touch the mountains on either side of the town. We just had to figure out how to get to them. So we asked some mountain bikers where the hiking trails were and they said we were definately in the wrong place. This was not the best place for hiking and we needed to continue on about 20 minutes farther. So back in the cab we went to find the PERFECT hiking trail... not even necessarily what we had set off to find in the first place. But regardless on we went on a winding, bumpy dirt road in a cab driven by a 15 year old I'm almost certain only to reach a dead end where the driver dropped us off. We asked him where we should go to hike and he mumbled something very quickly in spanish and pointed and we all acted as if we understood exactly what we were told to do and walked away in the direction in which he advised us to go.

So we walked along the dirt road which took us up along the side of a mountain. As we walked up the view go better and better. The best part was that the sky was blue and the sun was hot! I absolutely love Lima but it is almost always gray, chilly, and the air is thick with pollution. So this was a really wonderful break.

Just when we were about ot turn around we started to enter into a little town. It was called Callahuanca and it was absolutely precious! We all decided it was our favorite place in Peru thus far. There were dogs and chickens and donkeys roaming the streets. Small, narrow roads with no cars or honking horns. There was a little cookout going on in the town center where about 6 people were having lunch. People had their doors open and on the tables were piles of chirimoya ( a yummy fruit which is apparently very abundant in Callahuanca ). We had chirimoya ice cream and bought a chirimoya wine as well as some fresh chirimoya to take back home with us. What a great adventure! We were thoroughly satisfied by the time we returned home to Miraflores.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

The view from the road was gorgeous!

David holding hands with the chirimoya.

The guys being really creative for their photo op

There were these crosses all over the road leading up to Callahuanca. There was a head of Jesus in a box in every one of them. I'm not sure what the story is behind it but I would be very interested to find out!

Heaven! / Callahuanca!

The guys on the combi on the way down the mountain. It was really full so we had to stand. They were about as nervous as they look in the picture.

Off north again to Huancayo this weekend with some friends from the program. We will take a night bus and arrive there at about 6:00a.m. I feel like I am never sure what to expect but after last weekend I am ready for more adventure!

There have been requests for pictures of Dina and Klaus so here is my family!

Dina and Me.

Dina and Klaus. Klaus being silly with a scarf on his head.