Final Blog

Well, I just said my goodbyes to three very good friends that I've made here in Peru...oddly enough I will get to see them again in less than a month upon my return to Kearney. I can't believe that we are already coming to the end of this incredible journey. Before I came to Peru, I was most scared that I wouldn't learn Spanish as well as I wanted to, and that I would not be able to find my way around a city of 9 million. I fared pretty well in both areas of concern.

Never in a million years did I have "Study Abroad to Lima, Peru" on my bucket list of things to do in my life, but I am so incredibly glad that I get to put it on my bucket list and cross it right off! This trip has been the trip of a lifetime and I have been able to see so many amazing things in the short span of 5 months. Lanisa and I will be staying here an extra 20 days to really soak up the South American culture, and we will actually be joined by my dad tomorrow night!

I am so excited to have the opportunity to travel to Argentina and Chile with a very good friend...and my dad! I wish I could share the experience with my mom too, but it was unable to happen. Life is full of little surprises and I'm glad my little surprise from life this year was allowing me to come to Peru.

I have met so many people in my time here and I know that I am going to miss them so much when I leave, but I aspire to return to Peru in the future so I know it won't be goodbye forever :)

Other than that, I don't have too much else to describe to you, but just for a touch of humor I can tell you what I know none of us will "miss" from Lima (these little annoyances will always have a tiny fond spot in our hearts)

- Smooches / kisses/ whistles from grown men in passing vehicles or at construction sites
- Speed bumps
- Honking horns
- The sound of the ice cream man going up and down the street
- The walking speed of the average Peruvian...snail paced.
- PDA in the utmost grotesque way you can imagine
- 7am rush hour.......7pm rush hour
- Stares from anyone and everyone


Now some little things I will miss

- Walks from Haley's gate to the little store after a late night of dancing
- Walks to and from Sam's house on a weekly basis
- Oddly enough...classes at UPC
- The cute little old man from my apartment who buzzed me in every night
- Miguel, who buzzed me in every day and greeted me with a "Señorita, buenas tardes!"
- Eating SanGuchon because Luke wanted it
- Talking in a ridiculous group chat with my friends titles "Princesses"
- Snap chatting each other our feelings
- Mi princesa David
- DJ Agua (Kevin)
- Lanisa's dad Jaime
- Jockey Plaza

......last but certainly not least on this SMALL list of things I will miss is......
My incredible Peruvian family who took me into their house and have provided me everything I have needed throughout my stay here. They have been wonderful to me and I hope one day they can come visit me in Nebraska and I can show them around my territory :)

Espero que hayan disfrutado de mis blogs durante este semestre, pero ahora digo "adiós" al blog...hasta que quiero recordar mi tiempo de querido Perú! Un besito, cuidense mis amigos, y chau!

...it only took us until the last week of classes to ask how to spell "ciao"...it's chau.  :)

Winding down...

The school year is coming to a close and we are busy as ever with our school schedule. It isn´t that the assignments have all been equally as challenging, but they all take an excessive amount of time to complete. Such is dead week I suppose. Not only do we have dead week left, we also have finals week and I am not looking forward to it.

This weekend was a Peruvian friends birthday and he invited all of us to go out and go dancing. We all had a blast and were saddened to think it may be the last time we all get to go out dancing together while in Lima. It is weird that half of the group is preparing to leave for the United States in less than two weeks, but also exciting because that means Lanisa and I will get to start our 10 day vacation to Argentina and Chile.

My dad comes in 12 days and I am getting more excited as the days pass...not only does it mean that I will get to see my dad, but also that we are that much closer to going home to Nebraska. I am starting to miss Nebraska a lot more as the time comes closer...but I also am realizing how much I am going to miss Lima.

This past week the only real adventures I have had have been with Lanisa when her computer broke two days before our final project was due so she had to take it into the Apple store here to see if they could fix it. Of course none of our Spanish speaking friends or family were available to aid in this journey, so Lanisa and I set off to Jockey Plaza all alone.

When we got to Jockey, around 11am, the store had not yet opened yet we had to walk right in and ask if they were open yet to figure it out...odd custom. Then they told us they would be open in 10 minutes. In true Peruvian fashion, it took them an hour before they were actually open. So with the crowd of Peruvians, we stormed into the store and to the computer part to wait in line in possibly the hottest room on the planet. We were being chatted with by a Peruvian woman, whom I am positive was complaining about waiting in line for so long (we had been there for at LEAST 5 minutes...sarcasm on the *so long*) But we worked our way through tagging each other in when one of us didn't understand the question or word and it was overall a learning experience...not a fun one but now Lanisa has her computer back and all is well!

Only one week of school left, and it definitely feels like it. I can't believe some of the people in the group will  be home in 10 days! How crazy, I still have 29. But I am going to make the best of them because I know I will never get this time back! :)

I will have one more blog for you before the end of this trip...maybe two. But for now, cuídate y nos vemos pronto!