La Última Gran Aventura Peruana de Whitney

I feel like I can finally stop and breathe again! These last three weeks have been absolutely CRAZY! First we traveled to Ica, then Iquitos, and the grand finale (drumroll) ............ Machu Picchu! I seriously can't believe that I have been traveling, literally, at least 12 out of the last 21 days. I am exhausted and extremely behind on online class homework, but I am excited to share my pictures and my stories!

As if we all weren't exhausted enough when we returned from Iquitos on Monday, we crammed in homework, studying for tests, and doing laundry so we could pack up again and head for Cusco at 3am Thursday morning. We knew that we would get a small nap in before activities started later that day, so we weren't too worried about the altitude sickness or exhaustion. But, I had no idea how high the elevation was in this historical town. There were some places we went to that had an altitude of over 13,000 feet, including our hotel! Lets just say this, walking up two flights of stairs to get to my room was the only physical activity I was up for on our first day in Cusco. It was a very hard adjustment, even after taking medicine. Even on the last night in Cusco, I rolled over in bed during the middle of the night and thought I was going to pass out...it took my breath away.

After a much needed nap and bowl of chicken noodle soup, we headed out to visit some very historical sights around Cusco. We visited Qorikancha--a convent near our hotel, Basílica Cathedral, Saqsayhuamán--Incan ruins pronounced somewhat like "sexy woman", Tambomachay, Pukapukara, and many other places and names that you have no idea what I'm talking about. Needless to say, after finding a nice cafe with American food and taking a nice hot shower, we were all ready for bed. (Which was a good thing because our journey to Machu Picchu began at 6am the next morning!

Bright and early, we loaded our mini bus to get to the bus station. Once at the bus station, we loaded a larger bus with a few other passengers and took an hour and a half ride to the train station. Once we were at the train station, we boarded our train and took a two hour ride to a little area called "Aguas Calientes". After this, we boarded our final bus and waited 30 more minutes before we finally got to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World! If you were doing the math and calculating bathroom breaks, train stops, and other issues, you would see that it took us from 6am to  about 11:30am to finally get to our destination! I don't really have much to say about this trip other than...wow. The pictures I took are beautiful, but they will never do it justice. The view was by far the best few in the whole country! The long travels, homesickness, and exhaustion were all worth it. After spending the afternoon there and the rest of the evening to get back home, we were all ready to get some shut eye and prepare for Saturday's events.

On Saturday we got to wake up a little bit later and we headed to an animal refugee area about 20 minutes from where we were staying in Cusco. This place was so cool! We were able to see many different llamas, alpacas, birds, condors, and even a puma! All of these animals were rescued and are being nursed back to health in hopes of being returned to the wild. Later during the day, we visited other ancient ruins and had many kodak moments. Now I can also say I've visited the Sacred Valley! After getting back around 6pm, we all decided to rest for a while before going out to eat and finding a cool bar to hang out at. It was a very relaxing night, and we were all happy to go back to the cafe with the American food and eat some comfort food.  Unfortunately, later that night we found out that we had to check out of our hotel the next morning at 9:30am. So, we headed home and tried to get some sleep before leaving early the next morning to do some shopping.

After a few hours of shopping the next morning, it was time to head to the airport and get ready to fly back home. Of course our flight was delayed for over an hour. (We have not had ONE flight from Peruvian Airlines leave or arrive on time. I've flown 6 times with this airline. So Peruvian Airlines is not recommended for any of you travelers out there.) We finally got home later that night and I was so happy to be somewhere where I could walk up a flight of stairs and not get winded. My family was waiting for me to get home with supper and I had a good time talking with them about my trip and showing them pictures.

So what happens now? I am getting ready to finish my last few weeks left at UPC. It is so bittersweet. I am more than excited to go home and see my family and friends, but I am going to miss the liveliness and sense of adventure in the atmosphere of Perú. I'm sad to say that this is my last blog post that will have details about a big trip, but I am happy to be "home" and spending time in the good ole' city of Lima. So thankful for this opportunity and the amount of love and support I have gotten from everyone back home. I'm counting down the days until I go home as well as counting my blessings.

Never-ending Adventure

WOW. I can't believe how much I have experienced in these last two weeks. They went by so fast! First Ica, then Iquitos and the Amazon, now............(Drumroll).........Machu Picchu! I am so excited to announce that in 2 very short days I will be boarding a plane and heading for Cusco! The good news was announced last Thursday when we were getting ready to leave for Iquitos. Can you believe it? 3 trips in 3 weeks? I am running pretty low on sleep, but the excitement and adventure that I am experiencing are keeping me alive! Now, let me tell  you about my unexpected, crazy, natural, buggy adventure in the Amazon.

I don't think anyone had any idea what we were getting into when we booked this tour of the Amazon. It included 2 nights and 3 days packed full of adventures and we were so excited, but we didn't know what to expect at all. Turns out, we got to Iquitos and took a long boat ride to our camp....literally IN the Amazon rainforest. It was a beautiful place that even had a room full of hammocks to hang out in. (See what I did there?) Haha. The biggest issue we had with our camp, no electricity. We did have it from 7-9 at night but that was usually when we were busy doing something or eating supper. Yes, this means no light, no phone charging, and cold water. We truly got to experience the nature of the jungle...bugs, wildlife, lots of rain, and the constant hum of noises they make. It was CRAZY hot and extremely humid, so we were definitely miserable during many points of the trip. But the adventures we had during our stay made it all worth it.



The first day, we made it to our camp and went on a 2-hour walk through the jungle. We saw lots of different bugs and frogs, along with a tarantula! Eeek! Afterwards, we all went back to camp to rest and eat supper. After we ate, we even went on a night walk through the jungle! We saw gigantic spiders, frogs, bats, tree rats, and even a snake! It was terrifying....but I am so glad that I survived. 

The next day, we were supposed to go pihrana fishing but it was raining very hard, so we decided to travel to "Monkey Island" where we were really in for a treat. We got off the boat and everyone was hurrying under the building on the island because it was raining. On our way in, we saw this adorable little monkey who didn't seem to be too scared of us at all. Sam said, "I wonder if this little guy will get on my arm" and before he could finish his sentence the monkey jumped up and started climbing to his shoulder! We found out that lots of the monkeys on the island were pretty used to seeing and interacting with humans. Once we got inside the building, we were blessed to experience the company of many different monkeys, a turtle, sloth, parrots, a tucan, caiman, and a gigantic snake! This was by far one of our favorite parts of our Amazonian adventure. Once we got back, we rested for a while and then boarded the boat to go looking for pink dolphins. We did somewhat see a few gray dolphins but we didn't have very much luck. However, we did get a chance to swim in the river for a while before we went back to camp and I thought that was pretty cool. How many people can say they've swam in the Amazon River? Now I can!

On our last day, we went pihrana fishing in the morning. Unfortunately, the pihranas that we were fishing for were mostly smaller than any goldfish I've ever had...but it is cool that I can say I tried. Nobody had luck in catching one, but Haley did catch a small catfish! While in this tree-covered cove, we saw a few iguanas and also a few snakes in the trees. This was my nightmare! I was afraid that the snakes would jump on our boat from the trees, but thankfully we survived!  After our fishing excursion, we went back to camp and walked about 10 minutes through the jungle to visit a native indian tribe called the Yahua. Here, they gave us a short presentation of their culture and even showed us a few of their traditional dances, in which we had to participate. After this, we went back to camp and ate lunch before heading back to Iquitos.

This is where another adventure truly begins. First of all, the boat ride was over twice as long as before  to get back because we were traveling upstream. So, 2.5 hours later, we finally arrived at Iquitos and got in taxis to head for the airport. We got to the airport, got our tickets, waited as they were delayed for over an hour, finally boarded the plane, waited another 30 minutes, and then we were told to exit the plane as they were having technical difficulties. Soooooo, we got off the plane, later to realize that we wouldn't be getting back on it that night. In fact, we wouldn't be leaving that night. A very long story short, we waited in line from 9pm to 1am in order to book a new flight for the next day and get hotel/transportation arrangements made. We finally got to our hotel, showered, and got some sleep in the AC before heading back to the airport at 11am the next morning.


After getting checked in and through security, eating lunch, and waiting another hour due to delays, we finally boarded the plane and began our much awaited journey home to Lima. To make matters even worse, we had a stop in another airport to drop off/pick up other passengers before we got to Lima. We were never made aware of this so we were pretty upset that we got delayed on our trip home even more. To make matters even more worse, my taxi ride home from the airport took 2 hours! Usually if there isn't traffic it is a 35-40 minute drive. It was crazy rush hour times a million and I don't want to get in another taxi for a long long long long time.

But now, here I am at home in my room in Lima. I made it! I am so happy that I can say I survived a weekend in the Amazon with no electricity in the ridiculous heat/humidity. (Although I do have a ridiculous amount of mosquito bites all over my body.) It was a once in a lifetime trip and I will never forget it. Now, I am back home to do some laundry and pack up again to leave for Machu Picchu early Thursday morning. Hopefully we have some better luck with this trip and not too many complications. I can't wait to get back and share even more pictures with everyone! I have class in an hour, so I better get going. Thanks for checking in, as always. ¡Hasta luego!

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!

There's no place like home...

Well I've officially been at my new home for a week now. It has been an absolute blessing and I can't express how thankful I am for the Patrucco's for taking me in when I needed them. Not only have I been blessed with their love, support, and company, but I have also been fed some Peru's finest dishes in the short time span of one week. The food has been absolutely incredible and I haven't had anything I didn't like. I've had all sorts of different dishes from cow hearts and pork to sheep and yuca...and I am not complaining! I've never been a picky eater, and I am so thankful for that. It has been really fun to have something different to eat every day. Each day is a new experience and I'm loving it.

Last week was one of the most stressful weeks I've had as a student at UPC. As if my online classes don't add enough work as it is, I had a test every single day of the week...Monday through Thursday. It was especially hard for me because I was also trying to adapt to my new life in the Patrucco household. But, I survived. :)

On Thursday evening, we went out with some of our Peruvian friends to a disco and had a great time dancing to great music. Needless to say I was very tired when I woke up on Friday morning. That evening, we decided to take it easy and go see Here Comes the Boom in theaters. It was a pretty funny movie, but our heads hurt after it was over because the movie was entirely in Spanish! I was definitely ready for bed after that. On Saturday, a few of my friends and I went to this well-known shopping market called Polvo Azules that was supposed to have really cheap goods. We went around 3pm and it was absolutely CRAZY. There were people everywhere and it was pretty miserable for me. I am hoping to return during a week day sometime to see if I can actually get some shopping done. That evening, we decided to go to Miraflores and walk around to some of the different bars/discos that were in the area. We had a great time together and it was nice to take a break from the stress of studying and homework that was so excessive during the week.

And here is the part of my blog where y'all get to listen to me whine and be all mooshy-gooshy and cliché. First of all, I know I say that homesickness has started to kick in before....but I think I've reached an even higher level. I Skyped my parents on Sunday and had them meet my Peruvian family, and I bawled my eyes out for the first 20 minutes I talked to them. Sometimes I wish I could slip on some red sparkly slippers and click my heels 3 times like Dorothy so I could go home just to hug and kiss everyone, but I've had to pinch myself a couple of times and remind myself that it isn't reality.  I get to talk to my mom and sister quite a bit considering we all have iPhones, but communication with my dad isn't so frequent. This daddy's girl is having a rough time with that. I am not ready to leave Peru, but I am more than ready to go home and see my family and my puppies.




Secondly, I want to reflect on the friendships I've been blessed with during this adventure in Peru. I came here kind-of knowing a few people from Spanish classes at UNK, and I am leaving with 11 people I can call friends. I especially want to mention the friendship I've gained with these 3 hooligans.

Through troubles with host families, being homesick, and the stresses of being a student in a Spanish-speaking country, Sam, Luke & Haley have always been there. It is nice to have someone to lean on when things just aren't going right. It's also nice to know that I have friends I can be comfortable with and be myself around. Don't think I would've made it this far without them!

And last, but certainly not least, I have to stop and say something about missing this guy.
As summer is quickly approaching back home in the US, I am reminded that in July I will have spent the last 5 years of my life with this crazy dude. Time has flown by so fast! Seems like just yesterday I was just the high school band nerd/cheerleader dating the homecoming king. Now My boyfriend is graduating and I am studying in a different country. Crazy! These last few months have most definitely not been easy, and I can't thank him enough for baring with me. I am having the time of my life here in Peru, but it kills me not being there for him during his last semester student teaching in Grand Island. It is exciting for me to hear about all of the wonderful experience he is getting out of this semester, and I can't wait to get back in April and watch him graduate from UNK! I am one proud girlfriend, and I hope he knows that. :)




And....that concludes the lovey-dovey posts of the week. Thanks for checking in and keeping up with my crazy adventure. On Sunday, we leave for Ica so hopefully I will have some fun pictures and stories to share. ¡Hasta luego!