I Was a Peruvian for 4 Months :)

Hola!! ¿Cómo estás?.. Today is April 26th which means it is my last day here in Lima, Peru. Holy crap right?!? First, I just want to thank everyone that has kept up and read my blogs, and then of course thank my friends and family that have supported me on this crazy adventure! These past couple of weeks have been kinda crazy and I think due to the fact that they were my last weeks here. Our professor, Dr. Miller, said whenever you travel for a long period of time, you go through different phases and the last phase on the curve is you remember and think about all the things you haven't done yet, so you wanna do them all before you leave!! I think this is a good explanation of our last weeks here!! Here we go....

For the last 3-4 weeks, we were able to go and visit a school here in Lima. It was a private catholic school called PO12. I was obviously extremely excited to do this and see how a school system differs than the schools I've seen in NE. This school had all the grades from Kinder- all the way up to their last year, which I think if I remember right their "senior" year was called their Quinto año. The classroom we were able to work in was with the Quinto kiddos aka the seniors. These kids were the best. They were so welcoming to us and spoke very good English. We would come during their english hour so we would talk about the differences between Peru and NE, and other things. On our last day, they threw us a going away/thank you party. It was amazing. They made us all different kinds of Peruvian food and we of course loved it. So after spending the morning with them and eating some different food, we took some pictures and it was then time for our goodbyes. This experience was one of the best I've had in Lima, and I am going to miss this kids.

The going away/thank you party!!

These were my girls I worked with. 

The whole group.

Now to talk about school. I am so unbelievably happy and relieved we are done for school for the semester. Between having 4 finals in one week, a 10 page research paper due, and try to still have fun my last week here, I was stressing out! I have not studied so much in my entire life!! Okay that might be an exaggeration but I am glad my classes are done. Still, Peruvian literature and Conversation might have be the death of us but we got through it! Thank goodness. 

Another great happening this week, is we went over to Nikki's house because her dad (Jaime) kept telling us over and over again how good his lasagna is. He then went in to tell us the whole process of the sauce making!! He's too cute.So we head over to Nikki's after class, are sipping on some wine and hanging out and then DING! Lasagna is ready and Jaime is beaming from ear to ear! The lasagna was probably the best food I've had in Peru, so I will give it to Jaime, he's a good lasagna cook!! 

After our Psychology and Conversation finals, we decided as a group we wanted to take the Miller’s out to dinner for all that they have done for us. We went to Tanta in Larcomar which is strictly a Peruvian restaurant. The food was great, I had my favorite Aji de Gallina. We then treated ourselves to the wonderful La Bonbeirre cheesecake!! It was a great night. We are so lucky to have traveled and met Dr. Miller and Jeanie. They are such nice people and we had so much fun with them. 

Since Tuesday is our free day, we definitely took advantage of it and went to the chocolate museum in Miraflores. This was such a fun amazing experience. We learned all about the cacao beans, and trees and tried different things including some spicy hot chocolate and then some really good hot chocolate. We then got to make our own chocolate and take it home with us! It was so much fun! We all then kinda went a little shopping crazy in their souvenir shop :)

On my last full day in Lima (cannot believe I’m actually saying this), I spent my time packing, packing, and trying to figure out what I can leave behind to not make my bags overweight!! Finally after a couple hours of struggling and getting mostly packed, Missy and I treated ourselves to getting our nails done then some cheesecake. Later that night, Nikki’s wonderful family (I consider to be a part of their family) came and picked me up and we went for a drive/walk along the beach one last time. It was a great way to end the trip and it was absolutely beautiful. 

As time is coming to an end, literally hours before I leave Lima, I really cannot believe it. It has been one of the craziest, fun experiences of my life and as I have said many times, I could not have done it without the other UNKers here.  What do I love about my fellow travelers aka UNKers aka my family?? There’s nothing not to love about them. They are fun, exciting, hilarious, always down for a good time, adventurous, spontaneous, and so much more! That’s pretty hard to find in a person and I found it in all of them. They seriously are the best people I could have met and done this experience with. We are like a family, and we care about each other so much. It's almost scary how much we all know about each other!! We definitely have had the best times, and made every situation a good one even when we thought it wasn't possible. Not only that, we have some of the best stories and I cannot wait to reminisce about them in the future. We have all promised that we will have reunions and stay close, so I'm gonna hold us too that! 

Wow...today is my last day in Lima, Peru. I have lived, breathed, slept, eaten, rode in combis, studied, and survived as a Peruvian. As I woke up this morning, I saw all of my bags (trust me theres about 40 of them!) it became real. I am actually going home. In the past for months, this phrase, going home, meant my apartment with my Peruvian family. Now the phrase home, is my home in Ashton. I am so incredibly excited to see my family, and yes I will probably be one of those sobbing hot messes in the airport but at the same time I am sad and quite frankly a little nervous. I think this is because I have gotten accustomed to this life style here and it’s so weird for me to think I will go back and get accustomed to my lifestyle in NE. What am I going to miss?? I am going to miss my family of course, all of the UNKers, the weather, some of the food (cheesecake mostly), my cute little guards at my apartment, the overwhelming amount of things to do in Lima, the beach, and all in all.this crazy thing called life here in Lima. I leave tonight at 11:50 and cannot believe it. This experience has definitely been one for the books and has changed my life in so many ways!! So that's all I have, thanks for reading and doing this journey with me!! Adios!! Besos!

Of course more crazy Shenanigans I never want to forget!!:

At La Bonbierre for cheescake:
"Quisiera agua con gas."- Missy
"Whoooa she is getting crazy!"- Me
"Missy likes the gas."- Nikki

"Sorry I can't have a conversation right now... I'm pinning."- Missy
"Um...Yeah excuse me, I'm busy!"- Me

Sayings that never got old in our group:
Ya nasty!
That's beast.
This is real life.
Get it girl!
Tots awesome!

That is all!! Love & miss everyone! I'm gonna miss this crazy place where so many memories happened!