T-minus 82 days :(

Well, my time here in Pru is coming to a halt and eventually I will be made to board that dreaded plane and return to what was once the only thing I knew as life, the only way I knew how to live. Over the course of this year, I have discovered another way to live, a different life style. And, I don't know how I will be able to handle going back to my old life, just acting like this year had never happened. This year will follow me throughout my whole life; I will carry it with me wherever I go.

Before I came here, I only knew how to live like I was. I didn't know how to do my own laundry. I didn't know how to clean my room without my parents yelling at me to do it first. I didn't know how I would ever be able to navigate a city, coming from a small town. I didn't know how to learn a new language. I didn't know how to be the new kid at school. I didn't know how to budget money. I didn't know how to live without my parents. I was very dependent before I arrived in Peru. But now, as I am reflecting back on what my life was like before, I understand now just how independent I really have become.

Throughout this year, I have gained lots of things. I have gained a new family. I have gained best friends. I have gained best friends from all over the world. I have gained a new language. I have gained a new home. I have gained a new city. I have gained a new country. I have gained new knowledge. Most importantly, I have gained an unforgettable experience.

I do not want to go back home. I do not like hearing how much time I have left to live my new life. I simply get angry and upset whenever people mention it to me. The best philosophy for me is to ignore that fact, or ignore the people that mention it. (okay, not ignore them, but I tell them to not talk about it.) Yes, I know my time is dwindling. I would be the first one to know that I have little time left. Please, do NOT mention it.

I know people may not quite understand what I say when I say, I do not want to go back home. To simply put it, I am home. This is my home. Lima is my city, Peru is my country. My friends live here and I have a family that lives here. I know, I have a home, family, and friends back in the states as well. But here is my second home. You cannot tell a person to leave everything she knows and move to a new country, let her start up a new life, and tell her to move away after a year. She will not want to go home that early. Give me another couple of years, and I will probably willingly go home. But at this moment, I will have to be dragged onto the plane (or, rolled with all of the extra weight I have gained). You might not be able to quite comprehend my reasons, but believe me. It's hard to come to reason with the fact that I must leave all of this.

I haven't updated my blog since January, while I was in Pucallpa. So, I will inform of what I have been doing since then.

In Pucallpa, I went out with the other exchange students everyday. We would go to the lake, to my friends house, to the Plaza Mayor (main plaza), or the the movie theaters. One day, we went to a Rotarian's lake house and all the students with their host siblings swam in the lake all day. We went Kayaking and just enjoyed a nice day of relaxing. I was there for 6 days in total. Pucallpa is my favorite city in Peru, and I am not afraid to admit it.

Once i returned to my house in Iquitos after my week in Pucallpa, I was to there for 2 more weeks until I went back to Lima. Within my last two weeks in Iquitos, I walked around the city with the other exchange student that was also in Iquitos, Laura. Her and I took a boat to the floating houses of Belen. Belen is a district in Iquitos. It is also one of the poorest areas in all of the world. The living conditions are dreadfully awful. The houses are either on stilts or floating on the water. Durring the dry season, the houses are in deep, thick mud and the health condition of the area is worse than normal. It was an interesting boat ride. Laura and I also went to the markets of Belen. It is one of the biggest and weirdest markets I have ever seen. It is very easy to get lost in the markets, and I have once or twice. Because it is in Belen, it is very dangerous. Every time I went, I took only my phone and a little bit of money. People rob so often there, without shame. Also, the markets are always packed. So, add the thousands of people with the market in the poorest area in Peru, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. I, myself, did not get robbed. But, Laura had her backpack with her when we went. Someone had used a knife and cut a slit into her backpack to steal her phone. We did not realize it was missing until we had left the market with all of the items we had bought. Luckily, it was an old phone that she bought for $10. But, it was still equally as frustrating and aggravating. A little bit about the Markets of Belen, they sell normal things, like any other market here in Peru. The main difference? One alley. One alley sells potions and hallucinogens. I did not but the hallucinogens, but I did buy the potions for luck, love, smart, and prosperity. I also bought a powder that you add to food to clean your energy. I do not believe in this stuff, far from. But, while in Iquitos, right?
I also went to many animal reserves in Iquitos with my host mom and Laura. First we went to a Butterfly farm, but it also had other animals there as well. A sloth, a jaguar, monkeys, the smallest monkeys in the world, rodents, and birds. It was very pretty.

During Laura's last few days in Iquitos (she went back to Lima a week before me), we went to a lodge in the middle of the rainforest. Her host dad was the owner, so it was free for us. We went early in the morning to the docks. From there, we went to a local tribe and witnessed dances. After, we had the opportunity to buy from the tribe some things they had made. The tribe had their own language, only the chief of the tribe had extensive knowledge of Spanish, and even that was broken. The other tribal members had the basic, hola, cinco soles, diez, veinte, no gratis. Just enough to sell their items. After the tribe, we went to the actual lodge. It was an hour and a half speed boat ride from Iquitos. So, pretty far. We saw a sign at one point, and it was 50 miles away from Iquitos. The only civilization around us were the tribes. Also, there are little villages that are located along the river. The people speak Spanish and there are schools available to them. While the schooling and living conditions are not the best, these people are living pretty good. Once we were at the lodge, we took a total of 3 tours around the jungle. The first was a fishing trip and river dolphin watching. What were we fishing for? Piranhas, of course! I ended up catching two. The first one I caught, was a little small.

But, after a while, I managed to catch another one, a little bigger.

This one, the tour guide kept for me, and I ate it at dinner that night. The meet on a piranha is very lean and not very abundant. After the fishing trip, we went back to the hotel and ate dinner. After we ate, we took a night walk around the jungle. I saw so many tarantulas, I would be fine not seeing anymore for the rest of my life. The next morning, at 5, we went on a morning river tour. It was to see the sights and sounds of the jungle. The monkeys and all the other animals wake up around 5. So, to see them, you have to get up with them. The tour was really cool, we saw so many animals. But, my favorite was seeing a sloth out in the wild. It was up in a tree and in the process of climbing down. It moved so slow, it was super adorable. After the tour, we ate breakfast. After breakfast, we went on out last tour. We went on an expedition to find the giant lily pads. We had to go to a swampy area of the river to find them. They are really massive.

After that tour, we went back to Iquitos. Laura left the next morning to go back to Lima, and I still had a week left. What I did in that week was just go out with my host mom a lot, and at night i would go to the club with my host family. They all played tennis, and I cannot. So, I would watch or retrieve the balls. My host mom, host brother, and I went to a petting zoo (at least, that's what it pretty much was). There, I was able to hold a tortoise, a turtle, a sloth (!), a parrot, a snake, and a baby crocodile. After the whole tour, I asked the guide if we could return to the sloths, and I was able to hold the sloth again, but this time for longer.

On my last night in Iquitos, my host family took me to the nicest restaurant in Iquitos. It is out floating in the middle of the river. you must take a boat to the restaurant, and back again. But, the food was divine and the whole place was very elegant. I must say, I was impressed and very grateful for everything. The next day, I left Iquitos and went back to Lima.

I was in Lima for a total of 2 days before I packed up again and went on the North Trip with all of the exchange students. We went to Trujillo, Chiclayo, Tumbes, Guayaquil (Ecuador), and Las Salinas (Ecuador). The whole trip was just of beaches. Whether it was rainy or sunny, we went to the beach everyday. This trip, there weren't as many tours as the others, but mostly beaches. And we were all fine with it. We crossed into Ecuador to renew our visas, but we stayed for 3 days instead of only 8 hours like we did for Chile.

Trujillo is a very small town city. It is also a stereotypical beach town. The waves were good for surfing, the water was cold, the sun was hot, and the beach was perfect. Next we went to Chiclayo. There, we went to many different beaches. It was a rainy day, so we didn't do much on the beaches besides walk and lay there. Some did take a dip in the water involuntarily (thrown in). One of the beaches we went to had a fish market, and it drew a mountain of people. After lunch, we were so bored that some of the guys started wrestling. They drew a circle in the sand and challenged each other. I wrestled against my best friend, Alexis. She won, 2-1. We had to stop the wrestling and go back to the hotel once a fight started out on the beach. What I gathered from the tour guide is a man stole something from someone and the lady that the man stole from chased him. We hit him with a fish and another guy hit him with a board. The were running around the beach and the police were there in a flash restraining people. But they continued to yell after.

In Tumbes, we had city tours all day. We finished on an island that had a beach on one side to the river, and the other side to the ocean. The water was really warm and the beach was super soft. It was also shallow until about 100ft out. So, we all swam all day. That night, we took a bus to cross the Ecuadorian boarder (20 mins). From there, we took a 6hr bus ride until Guayaquil. The next 2 days, we toured the city, then we went to Las Salinas around noon of the second day. After a 2 hour bus ride of beautiful landscape, we arived at Las Salinas. It is a very popular beach town. The ocean was perfect temperature, clear, and just amazing. The whole time in Las Salinas, we had free time. So, we just went to the beach all day and swam in the pool at our hotel all night. After 2 days of that, we drove back to Guayaquil, then back to the boarder, then to our hotel in Zorritos. We arrived in Zorritos, Peru around 6 am. The hotel in Zorritos was a beach resort. The hotel was right on the beach, had a privet beach, and was amazing. We had 3 days there to just relax and soak up the beach before we went back to Lima. The trip in total was 13 days.

After I cam back from the trip, I changed host families. I started University the next day. My classes are: Basic Cooking, Baking 1, Advanced Cooking, Bar and Restaurant, and Baking 2. I have classes from Tuesday until Friday. The University is pretty far from my house, about an hour in a bus. I am in the University with 4 other exchange students. We are really learning things and having a good time while doing it.

I changed host families again about 2 weeks ago due to some problems. I am back in my first family again. I love them to death. I changed rooms and am now sharing a room with my host sister. We really enjoy each others company.

I am planning on going to Ecuador to visit Ghimel, the girl from Ecuador that was in Petersburg last year on Exchange, for 2 weeks in May. I have yet to buy my plane tickets, but it will be done soon.

My parents are coming in 2 days! Update will be posted after they are gone.

PS. Alexis is here with me.