Nature and Real Life

Nature has always had a special place in my life.  Ever since I was a kid, my dad would take me and each of my siblings on our own back packing trip.  For me, being up in the mountains is calming and exhilarating at the same time.  I look out at a vast ravine, or serene mountain lake and am in awe of God's creation and how much He loves me.  Yesterday,  I got the chance to go out and explore the mountains around Surco, a town that is around 3 hours east of downtown Lima.  Our destination: Palakala cascades.  I met up at 6:30 AM in Kennedy Park with a small group of other study abroad students and we started the journey to the mountains.  There are no direct buses to get to Surco from Miraflores, so we had to hop from combi to combi to taxi to another combi to get there.  It was an adventure to say the least, and by far worth it.  As we travelled farther from the city, the sky gradually transformed from the ever present Lima gray, to a breathe-taking deep blue.
We arrived in Surco around 11:00 AM and after getting our ticket to enter the trail, we started up, and the trail was literally uphill the entire way.  These were not little hills that I am talking about, but full scale mountains.  Bailey, one of the girls on the trip, and I tried to figure out how tall they were.  After a rough estimation converting meters to feet, we decided that they were about 13,000 to 14,000 feet tall!  The trail led us through a series of mountain side subsistence living farms. It was a very cool way to see how people in the country side lived.   What a contrast from the very urban Lima!  We decided that if we ever lived in Peru permanently that Surco would be a great choice because of the mountains, blue sky, and how clean the town was.  On the return trip back to Lima, we made amazing time.  The day was a blast, but we were all pretty ready for showers and dinner.  What a day!

After a day like that, you don't want to have to do work, but the reality of school is starting to hit and the honeymoon season of the semester is over.  I have been assigned my first essays, and been given a mountain of readings to do.  It is a lot, but I enjoy the subjects and what I am learning.  I also finally have my NGO figured out for the semester.  As a part of the program I am with, I have work with a NGO to help give me a broader perspective of Peruvian culture.  I am going to be working with a small, Catholic medical clinic called "La Parroquia." I start my first official day next Thursday.  I met with the doctor who runs the clinic this last Thursday who gave me a few details and helped me figure out my work schedule.  I am not sure what to expect, but I guess I will see what comes.