So much to do...so little time!

These past two weeks have been absolutely crazy! I have had so much to do in terms of homework, studying for tests, online classes, and traveling that I had to actually had to write down a list of everything that I've done in the past week so I could remember what to write in my blog! I have seen and done so much in such a small amount of time.

Starting with last Saturday, I decided to stay home all day and work on homework, do my laundry, and pack for our trip to Ica. It was a LONG day and I had a lot of homework to do online so I could stay ahead while we were gone for the trip. Also, I was really looking forward to watching SNL that evening because Justin Timberlake was the host...but we had to be at the bus station at 6:45am Sunday morning so I decided I better get some sleep.

Sunday morning we all arrived bright and early to the bus station and boarded one of the most luxurious busses I've ever seen in my life. The seats were extremely comfy and included a foot/leg rest and a recliner. They played good movies, had air conditioning, and served us breakfast. I was a little disappointed to have to get off the bus after the 4-hour ride...but once we got to the resort I was excited for our trip to officially begin!


We dropped off our things in our room and then decided to go to the center of town to eat some lunch. Then, we all really couldn't wait to go sand boarding, so we made some reservations and headed for Las Dunas in Huacachina. It was an absolute blast! We rode in giant dune buggies up and down some steeeeep sand dunes and then we stopped at 3 different dunes to give sand-boarding a try. (Hopefully I should have a few videos up on Facebook soon once I figure that out!) Once we were finished, we all were covered head to toe in sand...seriously.

Since we were out, we decided to go to a local winery on our way back to the resort. Ica is supposed to be well known for producing some of the best pisco and wine in the entire country of Peru, so we were pretty excited to see how it is all done. (If you didn't know, pisco is a very traditional/popular liquor here that is a brandy made from grapes. Not my favorite drink....but I guess I can say I've tried it.) After the tour and the taste-testing, we got back to the resort for just enough time to have a four-on-four basketball tournament in the pool before it closed. It was the perfect ending to a day that was chalked-full of adventures.

Monday, we all were up bright and early at 6:30 to head to the coast for our tour of Las Islas Ballestas. Unfortunately, we were delayed almost an hour due to fog and weather, but two cups of coffee later (yes, black coffee...mom and Grandma Terri should be proud) we were finally in our boat and heading to the islands! There were literally HUNDREDS of sea lions and it was so cool to see all of them together. We also saw quite a bit of them swimming along the side of our boat. We also got to see other animals like thousands and thousands of birds that proved to be pretty dangerous when flying above our boat with full bowels. (haha) We saw some gigantic jellyfish next to our boat and we even saw penguins! Who knew that I'd get to see penguins in South America? It was so neat! After the tour, we spent the rest of the day swimming at the pool and going down the pretty awesome water slide. We played about every single children's game that you played in the local pool when you were 7 years old with your friends and we had a blast. Later in the evening, we had a few drinks and played cards and had fun telling stories and enjoying each others company.

Tuesday, we all woke up fairly late in the morning with just enough time to pack up our things and drink our free frozen limonadas from the bar by the pool. I was sad to leave Ica, and I knew that the entire bus ride home would include studying for the grammar test I had the next day and doing homework. It was a much longer/more miserable ride than before because the AC wasn't really working the greatest, either. But we finally made it home.

Wednesday, we had classes all day because we missed class on Tuesday due to our trip. So, we had grammar class at 9am-12pm and then literature from 2-5pm like normal. Unfortunately, I stayed up until 2am studying for the grammar test we were supposed to have, and I didn't even hear my alarm go off for class. Needless to say, I was a good 45 minutes late to class. Thankfully we didn't have to take our quiz, but I was a little bummed that I stayed up so late to prepare for something I didn't need to! After classes, a few of us went to the store to get items we needed for our trip, and then I worked on homework again until almost 2am. It has been really hard for me to take 12 credits here along with 6 credits of online classes. Thankfully it's almost Spring Break for UNK so that will be a good break from online classes for me!

Today, I am getting ready to go to class from 4-7pm and then I plan on coming straight home, packing, and going to bed! Our plane for Iquitos (the Amazon) leaves at 6:30am tomorrow, so we are leaving my house for the airport at 3:30am. That's in almost 12 hours! I am beyond excited for this trip, however. We get to tour floating islands, witness the many wildlife of the jungle, and even go fishing for pihranas. I can't wait to come back and share all of my adventures with you all. I better finish this novel up so I can do some last minute homework before I go to class. ¡Chao!