Off the Coast of Lima

This last week, I got the opportunity to go with Jason and his host family on a island cruise off the coast of Callao, the port city of Lima.  Jason had mentioned it to me the week before, and two days before my host dad (who happens to be really good friends with Jason's host dad)  asked me if I was interested in going.  I didn't have anything else going on and thought that it would be a cool opportunity to explore a new part of the city that I hadn't seen, so I said yes.  I had no idea how much of a highlight that trip would turn out to be.  I was supposed to meet up with Jason and his family at their house after church and then we would drive to Callao - about a 30 minute drive from where we live.  During church I then get a text message from Jason telling me that I needed to give him my passport number so that I could go on the excursion.  Giving out passport numbers is a common occurrence here as Peruvian law requires vendors of tourism and housing accommodations to have that information on file for foreigners. Although it meant I would have to make a detour and go back to my house before I met up with the others, I thought no problem.  Then just as church ended, I received a phone call from my host dad who told me that I had to get them my passport number right then or otherwise I might not be able to go!  Talk about stressful. I made a quick stop to take out some money from the ATM, and booked it back to my house to grab my passport.  It turned out that it wasn't as big of a deal as we thought, and I made it in plenty of time to Jason's house, but it was interesting snag for reasons you will find out later.

When we finally made it to Callao we boarded the boat that would take us around the Palomino Islands and headed to our first destination.  Although I live next to the beach, I don't normally go down the cliffs to get to it very often (mostly because I don't want to climb up the cliffs again and the water is cold this time of year).  When we disembarked from the dock, I remembered how much I love the ocean.  There is something about the salt air, majestic swell of waves, and sound of sea that just makes me love it!
On our way I was staring into the water when I suddenly saw a red mass whisk past our boat, followed by an orange and a white one.  They were huge, ranging from the size of a duffel bag to a full grown man.  I quickly realized that they were jelly fish.  I had to agree with the assessment of the Spanish name "malagua" as it means "bad water" and I certainly lost all desire to go swimming when I saw them.  I mean, they were cool, but just from the boat. I think they would lose their "coolness" up close in the water.


The first island that we stopped at was a preserve for sea lions.  It was incredible.  We were told by our guide that there were over 9000 sea lions on the island.  They covered it like ants.  Another interesting fact I learned was that the Spanish name for sea lion is "lobo del mar" or wolf of the sea.  Its really interesting to learn the names of animals in other languages because it gives you a sense of how they view them.  After we left the island we made our way to our next stop which was an island with penguins.  It was cool to get to see this as penguins only exist in a few select habitats of the world.  To top of the day, we got see a beautiful Lima sunset.  It was a rare treat and absolutely stunning.  All in all the to trip the ocean that day was definite highlight of my time in Lima.

So earlier in the post I mentioned that my passport issues turned out to be a snag for me later, and now as promised I will tell you why.  The following day, I was coming home from school and decided to stop to buy some groceries. I didn't have any cash on me so I decided that I would just pay for it with my bank card.  That's when I realized that I didn't have the card and that I had left it in the ATM in the rush to get my passport!  Luckily I was able to use my credit card, but my heart sank at the thought of my lost bank card.  It was too late to do anything that day, so I just went home slightly depressed and hoping that someone wasn't having the time of their lives on my tab.  The next day I went to a local branch to cancel my card and get a new one, but they told me that I could only have my card replaced at the branch it was issued (45 min. away).  I was not excited about that, so I decided to go talk to the bank where I originally lost the card.  When I got there, I explained my situation and asked the watchman at the door who I needed to see.  He directed me to sit in front of an empty desk and told me to wait.  I was there for about ten minutes and was beginning to think that I had been forgotten, when finally one of the clerks saw me and called me over.  To my surprise he opened up a drawer in his desk, and pulled out my card; the card I had lost two days before!  I was so excited that he had it and that it wasn't stolen.  That was a huge blessing from God and it made my day.

So that is what I have for y'all for now.  Hopefully I will be posting on here again soon as I have a  trip to El Carmen this weekend.  ¡Hasta luego!

Lima Life Top 10

Over the past two weeks, I haven't been very active about posting on my blog, and most of my previous posts have been about the trips I have gone or insights I have had, so this post I decided to dedicate to telling you all about some of my favorite things about Lima.  A sort of top ten, but this one doesn't have any particular order.  So here we go...

1.  The Malecon.  It is this breathtaking set of cliffs, covered by ivy, overlooking the ocean here in Miraflores, perfect for walking, running, or just hanging out with friends.  I can't believe how blessed I am to be able to live in just a short walking distance of this gem.

 2.  My host family.  I love that I have gotten the chance to live with and get to know these guys.  Whether it is long talks in the kitchen with my host dad or talking about sports games with my host brothers, I love having a family to come back to at the end of the day.  Also a special shout out to Neri, she is the women who works as a house keeper at our condo.  Although she is not pictured below, she has been a great source of encouragement and I have been lucky to have her around.

3.  The combis.  This is a love/ hate relationship at its finest.  Hate because I am always too big for the seats and my knees will forever feel scrunched with the seat in front of me.  Love because although the system is chaotic, it makes it super affordable and easy to get from place to another.

 4. Lali, Mama Laura, and Maria Elena.  These are the women that make the IFSA study abroad program run.  No matter what you know that they are there for you, whether it is help with figuring out school stuff, adjusting to Peruvian life, or just simply cookies and a chat.  Whenever you see one of these awesome people, you always leave smiling.  In the photo, Lali is getting into the spirit of Halloween and helping us "gringos" feel a little more home.

5.  The parks.  Featured below is Parque Kennedy, but I really love how many parks we have in Lima. They are a great place to meet up with friends, and experience the cultural side of Lima.  Whenever I get the chance I try to make sure my route includes a park because you never know what you will find. One time, I found a mime group, another it was group of elderly couples dancing to classic Limeña songs; life is full of surprises.

6.  La Lucha. This sandwich shop is amazing and delicious, but I choose this to represent food here in Peru in general.  It is delicious and cheap.  I mean,  I certainly couldn't get a three course meal and drink for $2.80 in the US!

7.  The coffee shops.  I have been able to explore the numerous cafes, like Arabica shown below, and have developed a love for the great study atmosphere and good cup of americano.  They have given me just another way to explore the city.

 8.  Chifa (aka Peruvian Chinese food).  It is a staple here with Chifa restaurants practically everywhere, you will soon fall in love with it too, after living here for a while.  It is its own unique blend of two very different cultures that always makes my taste buds thank me.

 9.  The mixture of the ancient with the modern.  Many cities can boast about having a cool mixture of the new and the old.  Their version of old is 100 to maybe a 1000 years old, but in Lima it dates back to before Christ.  This is a picture on the street just outside my house, and at the end of the street is Huaca Pucllana, the ruins of an ancient temple.  How cool is that?

 10.  Friends.  God has blessed me with some pretty cool friends here.  They each have their own distinct, cool personalities that makes me love hanging out with them so much.  I am glad to have them here on study abroad and it has been awesome to go through all of the ups, downs, and everything in between during our time here in Peru!

Anyway,  I hope that gives a little bit of the flavor of what Lima life is like that maybe my other posts haven't covered.  I just wanted to take this chance to share with you some of those "everyday thing" highlights.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
"Pray without ceasing, in everything gives thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."