Well, I know this is the most late any of my posts have been, but a lot has happened during February and March. During February I continued playing tennis until I got a call on the 25th to go to Tumbes which is a city in the far north of Peru that is scorching hot. There was a trip to the north for any AFS student who wanted to visit the north, but had to pay a lot to go for 14 days to places like Trujillo, Chiclayo, and Tumbes. The few students who did not want to pay for this trip were able to go for the last 2 days in Tumbes for free. AFS paid for everything. It was a really awesome trip, and the greatest part was that I was able to see the 60 some kids in all of Peru. There were some from Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Thailand, and many others.
The other students from Huancayo were already on the trip to the north, so Claudius and I were the only ones going for just Tumbes. We first took a bus to Lima and then stayed the night in Lima. When we arrived in Lima, a girl from Belgium, who was living in Puno, was there. She could speak French, Flemish, English, and Spanish. I was so jealous. We walked around all of the center of Lima and went to this famous big water and light show that was awesome. Afterwards we went to eat chicken and then went back to the hostal. The three of us stayed in this giant room with 6 beds, which was pretty nice, but if you know how Lima is during this season, the temperature was a little uncomfortable to sleep in. Around 3 in the morning, a dude from Virginia came in. He had just returned from Cuzco and missed his flight, so he had to stay the night. He had lived in China for 2 years, and could speak perfect Mandarin. That was pretty cool. On the other hand, his Spanish was horrid. The next morning, the three of us, minus the Virginian, got up and ate our breakfast, that consisted of bread, eggs, and a glass of orange juice, and I mean precisely one glass of orange juice. Believe me, I asked! After playing ping pong with Claudi, we all went to the bus station. The Belgian was going with another bus company, so Claudi and I went to Oltursa where we met a French girl, a German girl, German dude and a Belgian dude, who were all from Iquitos.
The bus ride to Tumbes from Lima is 23 hours, and luckily we did not have any problems on the road. The food on the bus was nice, but it was not a lot, so I was starving when we all arrived. The 6 of us were the last ones to arrive in Tumbes, and we had to rush to get to the hostal and then eat lunch. The hostal was awesome because there were about 30 gringos in one building. The strangest part is that because the Americans are not part of the opening reunion in Peru, I did not know anybody else who was there, and nobody else knew me. I did know Madeleine, Laura, and Ayana, who kindly greeted me when I arrived. Sam and Kate got kicked out of the program for breaking the drugs rule. Claudi and I went up to our room who we were sharing with two other Germans, which is really upsetting because the three of them talk in German the whole time, but they are really cool, which is great. We went down stairs and walked across the street to the restaurant where everyone eats every day. The food is good some days, but not a lot. The rice and lemonade are great though. After eating, we all got into like 4 combis and went to our first reunion. It is kind of interesting being stuffed in a combis with about 20 other students in a 18 passenger combis.
At the first reunion, we all talked and socialized while the volunteers were getting ready. Before the reunion, we all had the choice to send in photos of our experiences and write a paper about one of the 6 given topics. Sadly, out of the 65 kids, only 6 wrote an essay and only 4 sent in pictures (out of which Laura, Madeleine, and I did the both). Out of the people that wrote the essays, we were all put in groups that pertained to each essay topic, then the rest of the students could write their names on one of the papers according to what topic they wanted to be part of. I was part of the transportation group, seeing as I wrote an essay about the transportation.
In our groups we all discussed issues about our topic and presented it on a big sheet of paper in front of everyone. Laura and I ended up presenting as we were the two willing americans in our group. After the reunion, we all went back to the hostal and hung out the rest of the night. We played wolverine later on which was really fun. I ended up going to bed around 11 which was pretty good for me.
The next day we had another reunion early after breakfast. This time we had to put on a skit about our topic, and our topic was so fun and easy to put together a skit about. We started with a combis and acted out all of our funny experiences, and then did the same with a taxi. It was quite hilarious and we got many compliments afterwards.
After the reunion, we all piled into combis again and went to the beach. This was the first time that I would be swimming in Peru, so I was pumped. The beach was beautiful, and only about 30 minutes away. At the beach we all swam around and then played beach soccer with a bunch of the Germans and Belgian dudes, which was awesome. Out of the 65 students, 29 are from Germany, 18 are from Belgium, and the rest are minorities less than 5 each. Also, about 45 are girls and the rest are boys. After the beach we all took a group photo and then after eating about 3 snow cones, we all went back to the hostal and hung out for the rest of the afternoon.
That night, because it was the last night of the trip, everyone was partying and smoking and drinking on the roof. There was only about 20 of us not on the roof or smoking, and only about 10 of us not drinking. In those 10 included Laura, Madeleine and I, three of us from the US which just shows that we Americans are awesome. Most of the kids then went to a disco, but the 20 of us who were downstairs stayed, even though about 10 were sleeping at this point. The rest of us were all in one room talking, playing chess, telling stories, and different things like this. Then around two in the morning, the kids got back from the disco and everyone started scattering off to their own rooms except about 8 of us who stayed back and ended up sleeping on the same room. It was really uncomfortable for me, basically because I was sleeping dead on the cold hard floor without any type of blanket or pillow, but it was really fun.
The next morning we woke up late and there was a small reunion on the roof at which they gave out the rewards for the photo competition, which because there was only 4 of us, was a gift to each person. I got a box of mini King Kongs, which is a little cookie type thing with chocolate and manjar blanco. Some of the kids were scheduled to return home at 12:30, some at around 3, and some at 7 that night. I was scheduled for 3, with mostly everyone else. After saying bye to everyone, like the 30 of us went to the bus terminal where we all got on the bus to go back to Lima. I was lucky and was able to sit on the first floor which had a bigger TV, colder air, and had better seats. There was only about 6 of us on the first floor, so it was really cool. This trip back was not such a success in terms of speed. We ended up having 2 long stops which brought the trip up to 26 hours. and this only included two meals, so we were all starving by the time we arrived.
When we arrived in Lima, some of the kids left, but 10 of us stayed at the same hostal as before. We all went out to Hockey's, which is a giant mall. At this mall, we kind of got separated, and Gilfi, Calvin, and I were walking around alone which was cool because we did not have to be with the girls and go in every store, but was bad because none of us had any of the cell numbers of the others and could not find them in the whole store after walking around for two hours. We did find a Subway, which was amazing, but was definitely not the same quality as those in the US. Later we went back to the hostal, which was a little difficult because we did not have the address, but after finding an AFS card in my wallet found a neat little way of getting home.
The next day, the kids going to Huancayo left at 7 in the morning, and again we were on the first floor which was awesome. I was able to sleep more and we finally arrived in Huancayo which was a beautiful change in weather. This was the 2nd of March, and school started the 4th which was really upsetting that vacation was coming to a close.
The other students from Huancayo were already on the trip to the north, so Claudius and I were the only ones going for just Tumbes. We first took a bus to Lima and then stayed the night in Lima. When we arrived in Lima, a girl from Belgium, who was living in Puno, was there. She could speak French, Flemish, English, and Spanish. I was so jealous. We walked around all of the center of Lima and went to this famous big water and light show that was awesome. Afterwards we went to eat chicken and then went back to the hostal. The three of us stayed in this giant room with 6 beds, which was pretty nice, but if you know how Lima is during this season, the temperature was a little uncomfortable to sleep in. Around 3 in the morning, a dude from Virginia came in. He had just returned from Cuzco and missed his flight, so he had to stay the night. He had lived in China for 2 years, and could speak perfect Mandarin. That was pretty cool. On the other hand, his Spanish was horrid. The next morning, the three of us, minus the Virginian, got up and ate our breakfast, that consisted of bread, eggs, and a glass of orange juice, and I mean precisely one glass of orange juice. Believe me, I asked! After playing ping pong with Claudi, we all went to the bus station. The Belgian was going with another bus company, so Claudi and I went to Oltursa where we met a French girl, a German girl, German dude and a Belgian dude, who were all from Iquitos.
The bus ride to Tumbes from Lima is 23 hours, and luckily we did not have any problems on the road. The food on the bus was nice, but it was not a lot, so I was starving when we all arrived. The 6 of us were the last ones to arrive in Tumbes, and we had to rush to get to the hostal and then eat lunch. The hostal was awesome because there were about 30 gringos in one building. The strangest part is that because the Americans are not part of the opening reunion in Peru, I did not know anybody else who was there, and nobody else knew me. I did know Madeleine, Laura, and Ayana, who kindly greeted me when I arrived. Sam and Kate got kicked out of the program for breaking the drugs rule. Claudi and I went up to our room who we were sharing with two other Germans, which is really upsetting because the three of them talk in German the whole time, but they are really cool, which is great. We went down stairs and walked across the street to the restaurant where everyone eats every day. The food is good some days, but not a lot. The rice and lemonade are great though. After eating, we all got into like 4 combis and went to our first reunion. It is kind of interesting being stuffed in a combis with about 20 other students in a 18 passenger combis.
At the first reunion, we all talked and socialized while the volunteers were getting ready. Before the reunion, we all had the choice to send in photos of our experiences and write a paper about one of the 6 given topics. Sadly, out of the 65 kids, only 6 wrote an essay and only 4 sent in pictures (out of which Laura, Madeleine, and I did the both). Out of the people that wrote the essays, we were all put in groups that pertained to each essay topic, then the rest of the students could write their names on one of the papers according to what topic they wanted to be part of. I was part of the transportation group, seeing as I wrote an essay about the transportation.
In our groups we all discussed issues about our topic and presented it on a big sheet of paper in front of everyone. Laura and I ended up presenting as we were the two willing americans in our group. After the reunion, we all went back to the hostal and hung out the rest of the night. We played wolverine later on which was really fun. I ended up going to bed around 11 which was pretty good for me.
The next day we had another reunion early after breakfast. This time we had to put on a skit about our topic, and our topic was so fun and easy to put together a skit about. We started with a combis and acted out all of our funny experiences, and then did the same with a taxi. It was quite hilarious and we got many compliments afterwards.
When we arrived in Lima, some of the kids left, but 10 of us stayed at the same hostal as before. We all went out to Hockey's, which is a giant mall. At this mall, we kind of got separated, and Gilfi, Calvin, and I were walking around alone which was cool because we did not have to be with the girls and go in every store, but was bad because none of us had any of the cell numbers of the others and could not find them in the whole store after walking around for two hours. We did find a Subway, which was amazing, but was definitely not the same quality as those in the US. Later we went back to the hostal, which was a little difficult because we did not have the address, but after finding an AFS card in my wallet found a neat little way of getting home.
The next day, the kids going to Huancayo left at 7 in the morning, and again we were on the first floor which was awesome. I was able to sleep more and we finally arrived in Huancayo which was a beautiful change in weather. This was the 2nd of March, and school started the 4th which was really upsetting that vacation was coming to a close.
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