A Friend for a Day

On Sundays they shut down the main street and encourage the residents to ride bikes.  They have bikes for rent on the side of the road and everyone is out biking or roller blading!  Great public health campaigning at work right here in Lima! =)

...I felt like I had to give a shout out to public health! 

Anyway, I decided to go do some more touristy things today so I went to the local ruins.  Literally 2 blocks away from my hostel are ruins from AD 400.  The contrast between the new and the old is amazing.  The tour was in English and ended up being semi-private with just me and three other girls from the states.  It was really interesting to learn about the history of the ruins (basically, it was a ceremonial center for the city back in the day), and the view from the top was beautiful. 

I started talking with one of the girls and she too was traveling alone.  Actually, she had just finished the Peace Corp in Costa Rica and was on vacation in Peru for the next three weeks.  We got to talking and ended up spending the whole day together.  It was refreshing and such a blessing to spend the day in conversation with another person, a nice break from my solitude.  We spoke about life and about social justice, about our goals and dreams, we shared about our families and friends back home, our travel experiences, her time in Costa Rica.  I can't begin to explain how much of a blessing it was to have a friend for a day. 

And what a great way to start a new week.  Ok.  Deep breath, be strong, be brave, and stand firmly for what you believe in.  Let's go make a difference in the world...

Pictures!!

I finally got a chance to start exploring Miraflores today.  So here are a few pictures of my day in the city! I had a great time walking around (I walked for almost 6 hours!), seeing the sites, and enjoying my surroundings.  Hope you enjoy the pics!

This is a picture my home in Miraflores.  Home Peru is actually a very nice hostel.  They make me breakfast every morning, tidy my room for me every afternoon, and they have a cute dog!  The showers are hot and internet is free and good!! I can't complain!

 

My bedroom- I asked for a single bedroom and they gave me my own room with 3 bunk-beds! It works.  The beds are like sleeping on rock and there is only a sheet so it's freezing at night (good thing I brought my sleeping bag), and every morning I am woken up by the Combis (a bus/taxi), yelling, "Arequipas, Arequipas!!" But other than that, I have privacy and I am safe.  Can't complain too much!

This is Larcomar Mall in Miraflores.  It's literally built into the cliffs! It's a really upscale mall with nothing I can afford but it has beautiful (and free) views of the ocean! I spent a lot of my day by the ocean today, enjoying the sounds and people watching. 

The view from the mall.  Amazing!  It reminds me a lot of PCH in Dana Point.  There were even some people surfing!  It's overcast all winter, but the view is still enjoyable. 

Again, the view of the coast of Lima.  It's so peaceful.  I loved spending my day here!

Parque del Amor (The Park of Love).  This is a statue in the middle of the park and it's surrounded by mosaics of different expressions of love.  It was beautiful.  The park was filled with couples, young and old.  I even saw two couples who looked like they were just married (the brides were in their wedding gowns!).  Behind the statue is a guy parachuting.  For just $55 you too can jump off a cliff with a complete stranger and fly over the ocean!! I watched people jump with these parachutes for at least an hour.  It looks terrifying!!

And then there was lunch! I went to this amazing vegetarian restaurant and had a local dish called Lomo Saltado.  It is usually made with beef, but because this was a vegetarian restaurant this was made of veggie beef, bell peppers, tomato, onion, and spices over french fries and brown rice.  I got fresh pineapple juice to go with it.  It was so good!  I am drooling just thinking about it...not really, but it really was delicious.  The restaurant overlooked Kennedy Park in the middle of Miraflores.  I decided that I am going to splurge on lunch on the weekends since Lima is known for it's great food!

And then I found an older version of my car!!  They were having a car show in the middle of Miraflores and sure enough, they had a mini cooper!! I was so excited!  Nate suggested that I add four more headlights to my car so it can look like it's 1970's version!

 

And just in case I start missing home too much, I found the local Pinkberry and Starbucks!! Starbucks really is everywhere! 

So there you have it, an abbreviated picture version of my day exploring Miraflores!  I can't wait to explore more tomorrow! I think I will hit up the local museums and try cerviche!! More to come....

Pizza and Beer

My week is starting to get better as I have figured out the transportation system here (more like, I figured out how to take the Metropolitano to the University and back to my hostel, which feels like a huge accomplishment!).  I have met some people, both at the University and at the hostel, and I moved from a dorm room to a private room (such a great move!). 

I have spent the last three days observing people as they work on their projects in the lab (they call it LID).  Yesterday and today were more interesting than the first day just because I got to learn about MODS, which is a rapid detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and susceptibility testing (aka, is the TB germ susceptible or resistant to the best two drugs used to treat TB).  MODS can test for this as soon as 5 days or at the longest 21 days.  It's quite remarkable actually.  And was of great interest to me since I work in TB! 

Aside from LID, today was the first day that I ventured into Miraflores.  I went to the Pizza Street (no joke, it's called Calle de las Pizzas) and got a delicious pepperoni pizza and a beer.  So refreshing and it almost felt like I was at home, especially since it's next door to a Starbucks and a Pink Berry!!  I met some people on the bus and in my hostel who gave me advice on where to go, where to shop, and what to see, so I am pretty excited to explore more of Miraflores this weekend!! I will try to post some pictures by Sunday!!

Thanks for all your support and love!!

Miraflores

The adventure started as soon as I landed in Lima.  I found my ride (a very kind man named Amadeo), got in the car and was immediately told to place all of my things as flat as possible on the floor.  Apparently, it's very common for thieves to break into cars when they are at lights and to steal everything.  Then, in my very broken Spanish, I found out that the place I thought I was going to stay was full and that at 11:00 at night I was going to have to find another place for the night.  Bienvenido a Peru! Luckily the hostel that I planned to stay at later in my trip had an open bed, so I got to sleep in a warm, safe place the first night!!  I will probably actually stay in this hostel for the duration of my trip since the place where I was suppose to stay seems full through June.  But, seriously, you can't beat $8/night with breakfast included!

I went to Universidad Cayatano the next morning where I met with Bob (the doctor in charge of all the projects here) and got to meet a lot of the other students.  It was a very long day full of students sharing their research and ideas being bounced back and forth.

Today I went back to the University to the Lab (se llama LID).  I got to work with two people who are working on a Chagas research project mainly trying to find better treatment methods for Chagas.  Chagas is a parasitic disease in tropical countries, in case you were wondering!  My head is spinning with Spanish since I had to listen to Spanish and speak in Spanish from 7am to 1pm today!!  I really should have paid more attention in Spanish class!

For as busy as I have been since I arrived, I am so lonely.  I think it's probably a bit of culture shock, the fact that I really am alone, and not really understanding everything that is going on around me.  It's scary being in a foreign country alone.  I thought I was well-traveled and ready for this, but perhaps I am not quite cut out for traveling by myself.  Or maybe it really is just a bit of culture shock and maybe things will feel better once I get more acquainted with my surroundings.  I don't know.  In the meantime I am just counting down the days until Dr. Tran and Nate get here. 

Off to Peru!

It's been a crazy week of turning in my final project, making last minute trips to Target and Marshall's,  getting my haircut, freezing and transferring accounts, and saying my, "See you in 7 weeks!" to friends and family.  It feels like a whirlwind that is finally settling down as I prepare for my departure on Sunday morning. 

I am anxious, excited, and hopeful as I leave Orange County and head to Lima.  I have never gone anywhere completely alone, so I am nervous about things like: How do I contact someone if my flight is delayed? Where will I eat?  What will I do if _____?  I am sure everything will be fine and I am probably worrying way too much, but the anxiety is still present and persistent and will probably persist until I arrive safely in Lima and get settled into a routine. 

I am excited because I really need this break from life here in Orange County.  I want to spend time alone, reflecting and considering my next steps.  I am always around people, so I really want to make an effort to have some "me" time so I can make some sound decisions. 

I am hopeful that I will fall in love with Peru.  I am hopeful that Peru is a good fit for me and Nate, and I am hopeful that we will act wisely and faithfully in where we decide to go.  I want to go with an open mind and heart, ready for whatever is thrown my way. 

I am ready and I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now in my life.  I was reaffirmed last Sunday as we opened the paper and saw an article on Peru, and then again last night as we passed a Peruvian booth at the Farmer's Market.  Lately I have been surrounded by things that are of Peru!  It's exciting and reassuring! 

Pues, hasta luego mis amigos and mi familia! Nos vemos in 7 semanas! Thank you for all of your love and support!!