Backtrack: April 12 ❤ Xel-Ha

We woke up early to go to Xel-Ha, which boasts that it's the world's largest natural aquarium.  We got on the tour bus and were off.  After a couple hours we were at the park and it was amazing.  The food and drinks were limitless so we ate some breakfast before we got into any activities.  I had some fresh watermelon juice with my breakfast.  SO yummy.

I have been nervous about snorkeling since I was a kid and had a bad experience in the ocean, so I was a little bit hesitant.  Juan was really patient with me and showed me how to try on the masks and how I should breathe, all before we even were near the water.  We lathered up with sunscreen and then made our way out to the natural pool.  Equipped with my life jacket and Juan's patient words, I had no trouble snorkeling.  Fear conquered!!!  :)  We swam all around, saw lots of fish, and took pictures with our underwater camera.  We were going to get out and there was a swarm of fish right around the stairs to get out.  Too bad we'd already finished up all the pictures on the camera.  

Some of the fishies we saw while snorkeling.

Snorkeling!!!

We sat on the side of the natural pool to dry off, enjoy the beautiful view, and also enjoy a piña colada and michelada.  That was the first I'd heard of a michelada...I had a taste of Juan's and it was yummy.  :)

Relaxing in my lounge chair.

Juan with his michelada.

After a bit of a rest, we went for a mini bike ride and came upon some iguanas and these funny-looking animals.  If anyone can tell me what these are, that would be amazing.  My best guess is some type of lemur.

Iguana and funny little animals.

After our bike ride, we jumped on a raft for two and started to paddle toward the ziplines.  The current was taking us the wrong way though and we had to come up with a good way to paddle ourselves against the current.  We finally managed with some teamwork.  :)  The ziplines took you straight into the water and you could either hold onto a bar or sit on a round wooden seat on your ride down.  We tried it both ways and it was a lot of fun.  After that we tried to walk a tightrope, where you walk across a rope and hold onto a rope on top.  I was doing fine until we were almost to the end and my arms were about to give out, so I hopped into the water.  Oh well.  When we were done, we paddled back on our double raft and then went to get food and margaritas before we hit the showers and headed back to the bus.  It was a beautiful day and we were exhausted.  We slept the whole way back.  :)

Backtrack: April 11 ❤ Playa Langosta

Juan and I at Playa Langosta.

Juan took me to Playa Langosta and we had a fun day there.  We had been reading Like Water for Chocolate together, and so we finished reading it as we lay on the beach.  We took a dip in the ocean, which was just the right temperature and then laid out again on the beach to dry off.  Unfortunately, Juan  missed a spot on my back when he put sunscreen on me, so I got a pretty bad burn in a funky looking shape on my back.  Ay, ay, ay, it hurt.

When we got back from the beach, I made dinner and luckily, the chef approved the dish that I made.  :) Whew!  We went to sleep early that night since we had to get up early to go to Xel-Ha.

Backtrack: April 10 ❤ Peruvian food, Sushi and Karaoke

I was so tired the day after Juan's birthday, I fell asleep again in the middle of the day while he was cooking us Peruvian chicken and rice for lunch.  I woke up and after we ate, Juan ended up falling asleep.

By the nighttime, we managed to wake up enough to go out to eat sushi at a nearby restaurant and then walk to a place that had karaoke.

Eating sushi!!!

There was hardly anyone at the karaoke bar, so I got to sing three song and Juan sang two.  There were some people who came later that sang really well, but Juan said she must have love troubles because she kept singing songs about how evil men are.  When we left, we took pictures with the wooden horse out in the front of the bar.  Someone nearby told us that we weren't allowed to climb up onto it.  Haha.  We told him we didn't plan to.

Together at the karaoke bar.

Juan singing salsa.

Pretending to mount the wooden horse outside the karaoke bar.

Backtrack: April 9 ❤ Juan's birthday

The morning of Juan's birthday we went to 100% Natural to eat breakfast.  I LOVE this place.  It is so yummy.  We got a bowl of fresh fruit, fresh juice, and eggs.  My tummy was very happy.

Birthday breakfast at 100% Natural.

Juan went to work and I talked to Blenda.  She asked me to get Juan a birthday present for her since she couldn't be there.  So I went to Plaza Las Americas to look for a shirt.  Ana came to meet me and we not only found a shirt for Juan, but she found the pieces she wanted to complete her outfit, I found sandals to complete mine, and we got a cake and a piñata for the party.  We got back just as Juan came home from work.

Let's get the party started!!!  Juan in his new shirt!!!

People were already starting to barbeque in the courtyard as we got ourselves ready for the party.  One of his friends was DJ'ing and before we made our way down, Juan made a batch of Pisco sours with the Pisco Josselyn had helped me pick out in Lima.  He served them to his friends and gave them a little history lesson on them as they drank.

Juan made Pisco sours for his friends with the Pisco I brought.

The sandwiches that they made on the grill were so delicious, but I guess what can you expect from a group of chefs?  :)

The food was AMAZING!!!

We lit the candles for Juan to make his birthday wish and then he got his face pushed into the cake after his "mordida" (bite), as the birthday ritual goes.  Later on we took it downstairs so everyone could sing to him and afterward, Juan's boss got ahold of the cake and dropped it in his drunkenness.  I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to try it out.  :(

The cake before Juan's boss dropped it on the ground.  :(

Ana and I had gotten a piñata for the party that she called "Spiderman con obesidad" or Fat Spiderman.  He had a bit of a belly so that there would be somewhere for the candy to go.  He didn't get broken apart at the party, but since then we've picked him clean of most of his treats.

Spiderman con obesidad!!!

I met a lot of Juan's friends and coworkers that night, but my favorites are still Bananita (as Juan calls Ana) and Charly.  It was a really fun night, but by the end, I was falling-down tired.

Juan, Ana, and me!!!

Juan and Charly!!!

Backtrack: April 5 - 8 ❤ My first days in Cancun

I should explain why I left Huancayo early to come to Cancun.  I came to celebrate Juan's (Blenda's brother) birthday.  We met each other in Lima when I first arrived in Peru and we spent about as much time if not more time together than Blenda and I did.  A month after he saw me off at the bus station in Lima, we started writing to each other every day and became very close, close enough that he asked me to be his girlfriend.

So when I arrived at the airport, I was expecting him to be there waiting for me after going through the luggage check.  As I exited the airport, people from taxi services were asking if I needed a ride and tour bus coordinators were asking which tour I was with.  I just kept shaking my head and looking for Juan.  I didn't see him, so I sat down on a cement planter with my luggage.  A taxi driver nearby asked me if I needed a ride and I told him no.  He asked if I was waiting for someone and I told him that I was.  He said that this wasn't the only international exit at the airport and that maybe I should check the other gate.  I started to walk towards the other exit, but I didn't know exactly where I was going, I was tired, and I thought that maybe Juan was making his way over to where I had been.  When I got back there, the same guy asked if I had gone over there.  I said no and he said that my ride would probably be coming this way at any moment anyway and just as he said that he said, "This must be him."  Juan was running toward me with a pot of roses.  He gave me the roses, grabbed my face and kissed me.  I was wondering why some people were taking pictures of us and it turned out his friends had come to document our first kiss.

The roses Juan brought for me.

Juan introduced me to his friends Charly and Ana, and then we got in Charly's car.  Not five minutes into our drive, the cops pulled us over.  We had to get out of the car and Juan and I were hugging on the curb and the police officer told us to get back in because we were drawing to much attention.  :)  Our next stop was to get something to eat.  I tried a bunch of different mexican dishes that I hadn't ever tried before and all of them were delicious.  We were planning to go to the beach later, but we ended up just relaxing instead.

Juan had only gotten five days off after his birthday on the 9th, so I had to keep myself busy while he was at work.  His friend Ana came over after she had finished working and we went to the supermarket to get some food.  When we got back to the house, she made me dinner and it was really yummy.  She's also a chef like Juan.

The next day, I went out with Ana after she got back from work.  She took me to The Island to go shopping for something to wear for Juan's birthday party that Saturday.

On Friday, I went to Plaza Las Americas to look for something to wear out to dinner that night.  Ana and I were going to the ME by Melia hotel to eat at Silk, the restaurant where Juan works at the sushi bar or at the teppanyaki table.  She came by to get me and we took a taxi to the hotel and sat at the teppanyaki table where Juan was performing, I mean, cooking.  We had a drink, some sushi, and enjoyed the show. Juan had me come up to help him break the egg and I made a mess of it.  If you want to see him in action you can look at this You Tube video of him: Juan Cerna ME by Melia teppanyaki

Juan making a heart made of fried rice.  :)  I'd like to think it was just for me.

After dinner, Ana and I went to the Rose bar where her boyfriend, Charly works.  It was ladies' night, so we got our drinks for free.  We chatted and people-watched while we waited for Juan to get off of work. When he was done, we met him outside and we all took a bus back downtown.  Ana told us when the clock hit midnight and it was officially his birthday.  Juan and I went to a restaurant to get him some birthday shots...

A second later, he accidentally knocked them over and he was covered in red sauce and tequila.  :-/

...and then we went home after a long day.

Backtrack: April 2 - 4 ❤ My last days in Huancayo & stopover in Lima

My last Saturday in Huancayo, Mabel wanted to take Doane and I to the Hot Springs, but it would have been a whole day ordeal and I wasn't feeling up for that.  Instead we decided everyone would go to the swimming pool.  I was supposed to teach Angela and Pilar how to swim, but once we got there, I started to feel ill.  I had started feeling under the weather before we left, but had thought I would pull through at the pool.  Leslie had been telling us about horror stories of how volunteers had gotten really sick at the pool.  My impending illness, Leslie's warning, and the fact that we would have had to wear swimcaps led me to take a cab home.  I ate a snack and then took a long nap.  When I woke up, everyone was back in the house.  Doane and I wanted to take the family out to dinner, but when we suggested the place that we had gone for Ylfa's birthday, Tino said we should go to Norky's instead because it was cheaper and tastier.  He was right about the cheaper bit, but not about the tastier bit.  I still wasn't feeling 100 percent, so that might have made me more picky as well, but I didn't like how the chicken was seasoned and the fries were undercooked.  Blah.  Mabel wanted to go to karaoke, but I just wanted to sleep.  Doane said he'd go with her, but they came right back out because there was a long wait for a table.  Karaoke's big in Huancayo, I tell you!!!

On Saturday, Doane and I took Mabel to Detras de la Catedral for lunch.  I got my usual: lomo saltado and lucuma juice.  Mabel's lomo saltado arrived later and so the owner of the restaurant told us he would serve us a mate (an infusion or tea) at no charge.  It was really yummy.  Mabel helped me eat panqueques for dessert, while Doane tried a chocolate cake.  Mabel parted ways with us after lunch since she had a singing exam later that she had to practice for, but also because she doesn't get along well with Leslie and Doane and I were planning to stop by Leslie's store to say "hola."  We spent a little bit of time talking to Leslie and poking around her shop before we left for the Sunday market.  We spent longer than I thought we would there and came back a bit late to the house.  We spent the rest of the afternoon packing.  Mari had made us pachamanca a la olla for our special last night's dinner.  It was so good and we were all laughing at Angela because she couldn't stop raving over the beef.  She stole Mari's piece of beef from her plate when she went back into the kitchen.  Mari just laughed because usually she has a hard time getting Angela to eat and she was eating everything up and then licking her fingers loudly.  She wanted to steal Pilar's meat from her plate since she was upstairs finishing some homework before she came down for dinner, but we managed to keep Angela away.  :)  After dinner, Mari came to see me in the living room and asked me to choose one of two blankets to take with me.  Her father had woven them.  She told me that many volunteers come and go from their house, but some are really special like me.  She said I had not only helped the children at the school, but that I had helped her family and that meant so much to her.  She really touched my heart.  I gave her a big hug.

The next morning as I was getting all my things together, Tino came to say goodbye early.  He had to go take care of some business for the school.  He thanked me for all the work I had done and gave me a hug.  That morning, I wrote a note to everyone I was close to in the house: Mari, Mabel, Lorenza, Angela, Pilar, Leslie, and Tino.  I gave Mabel her note as she was preparing breakfast and she didn't want to take it.  She knew it meant that I was leaving.  I gave Angela and Pilar theirs as they were eating breakfast before they left for school.  They both gave me a hug.  Pilar put it in her uniform and said she was going to read it at school.  I gave Mari her note as well as the notes for Tino and Leslie as Doane and I were eating breakfast.  The taxi came right away after Mari called, so Doane and I were forced to hurry out the door.  It was probably better that way.  I gave Lorenza her note and gave her a big hug as I made my way out.  She told me not to go.  I gave Mari and Mabel both hugs as the taxi driver was loading our suitcases in the back.  We were all trying hard not to cry.  Mabel didn't want to let go.  It was really emotional.  Doane asked if I was okay when I got in the cab as I wiped away my tears.

We made it with plenty of time to the bus station and while we were waiting to board the bus, Mari came into the bus station.  She was there to pick up a girl who was going to take weaving lessons.  We gave her another hug and told the girl that she was going to love it there.  On the bus we mostly just slept, ate, played bingo, and watched bad movies.  Doane was taping some of our ride with his video camera and was trying to get an instance when the bus driver passed another car or bus in a fashion that made you sit on the edge of your seat hoping we'd successfully pass without getting into an accident.

When we arrived at the bus station in Lima, Josselyn, Blenda's sister, was waiting for me with her baby, Micaela.  I introduced her to Doane, and then said goodbye to him as we went our separate ways.  After dropping my stuff off at their apartment, Josselyn, Estefenia, and Micaela accompanied me to the supermarket where we bought ingredients to make lomo saltado and also bought Pisco and Inka Cola.  We ate, talked, and I repacked some of my things.  I tried to sleep a bit before Daniel, Blenda's brother, came to pick me up at 1 AM to take me to the airport with Doris, Blenda's mother.  Next stop, Cancun...

Viernes, mi ultimo dia!!! Friday, my last day!!!

I knew that my last day would be emotional, but I didn't know exactly how emotional...

In the morning, we played musical chairs with the kids and I had to carry one little girl, Chris, around for her to play.  Her sister had been carrying her, but she wanted to run faster, so she put her down and Chris started to cry.  Unfortunately, I got her out pretty quickly since it's hard to run to find a chair with a little girl in your arms.  :)  After we had finished playing, no one wanted to play again.  Instead, we started to play soccer.  Kevin and Justi, two boys in my class said it would be them and Jaime against Doane and I and Margoth and Yesica, two of the girls in my class.  I don't think they thought I'd be any good and were a little bit shocked when I scored the first goal.  Doane and I were doing pretty well and were even ahead, but the other girls on our team let some goals go in that really shouldn't have.  Oh well, it was all in good fun.  I got another goal, kicking it between Jaime's legs.  :)  Near the end, I almost scored again, but Jaime got his head on it.  I thought he was hurt, but when I went to check on him, he was just dying with laughter.  They ended up winning in the end.  My energy was definitely running low, but I know I've gotten more used to the altitude.  If I had done that when I first got here, I definitely would have died.  I took pictures with my class and with each of my students individually.

The students in my morning class: Justi, Yesica, Kevin, Josselyn, and Margoth.  :)

I also got individual pictures with other students who I had gotten to know, like Jaime and Heidi.

Jaime, superstar soccer player.

Heidi...she would walk up to school with us a lot and she was the one who hurt her head on this week.

The boys didn't want to make it look like they wanted to take pictures with me, so the only boy who's not making faces or frowning is Justi.  I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but Josselyn, Justi, and Kevin were my favorites in the morning class.  Taking pictures of Doane with his class was pretty funny since his class is made up of all the littlest ones.  They were climbing all over each other and Doane, so I don't think there was one picture where everyone was looking and smiling at the camera.  I suppose that's too much to ask.

The best picture of Doane and his class.

When we left, I gave everyone big hugs and kisses.  They hung around a bit longer than usual, and we watched as they went their separate ways.  I don't know if I'll ever forget Justi looking backward and watching us go.  I'll really miss them!!!  It was so different from leaving the students at Concepcion.  I felt a much stronger bond with these kids.  I don't know if it was because we hugged and kissed them ever day, or because we played with them at recess all the time, or because we just got a better sense of knowing them.  It is a really special connection.

At lunch we had quite a feast, pollo a la brasa and the dish Mari had made before with potatoes, beets, boiled egg, and a tuna and vegetable topping.  After lunch Doane and I went to go get our bus tickets for Monday.  It made our leaving more official.

Lunch!!!

In the afternoon, some of my girls had brought their cameras to take pictures of me.  They had been asking where my handprint was on the wall was, and Mabel brought out the paint right away for me.  I put my blue handprint right next to Lauren's.  Doane and I carved out our names, our countries and the time we spent here.  I had given my camera to Ingrid, so she took pictures of me while I was doing all of that.  My hand was very sticky and blue after that.  I had wiped it in the grass to get most of the paint off, but I didn't want to use paint thinner on my hand.

My girls, Ingrid, Luna, and Jeraldine, were all asking me to take pictures with them in different places.  I got a picture with most of my class, but Yadira hadn't been coming until lately, so I forgot to get her into the picture.  Lisbeth and Diana weren't there, so Yannyna was the only one there out of their clique.

My afternoon class: Antonio, Luna, Yannyna (in the red), Ingrid, and Jeraldine.

Yadira, in the middle of a soccer game.

I spent most of the time taking pictures with kids and trying to wrestle my camera away from the kids who I didn't know.  A handful of students whose names I didn't know were asking me to take tons of pictures of them, but I wanted to get pictures with the kids in my class and some of the other children who I'd bonded with.  Olga and Patti were two of the little girls who I absolutely loved.  They would always run up and give me big hugs and ask me to walk them both home.  We also played ball together a lot on past Fridays.  I was trying to ask Olga for a picture and then she started crying, not because of the picture.  I carried her into my class room and quieted her down and she finally started talking about what happened.  I could hardly understand her though since she was sniffling and mumbling in Spanish something about rocks and her brother.  After a bit she wanted to go back out to play and I got a lot of pictures of her and Patti together.

Olga and me.

Patty and me.

Again, Doane's class pictures were a crazy mess of kids flying in front of the camera and jumping on each other.  They are entertaining pictures.

Doane and his afternoon class.

I went up to my classroom to check the clock in my jacket and my girls were writing me the sweetest message with the help of the English teacher who has been coming to the school in the afternoons to help out.  They wrote, "Miss Amy, We will always love you.  We never forget you."  Then they put their names in a heart and a star at the bottom of the whiteboard.  I took pictures with them in front of the message.

My kids with me and the note they wrote.

Luna was hugging me and telling me not to leave.  She was on the verge of tears and I was about to cry too but there were enough other distractions that it didn't leave me a chance for crying.  All my other girls were hugging me and telling me to have a safe trip and it started pouring down rain.  I figured the weather had just come to match the sadness of the situation.  Like Mabel had said before when it was raining, "It's raining because everyone is crying because you're leaving."  On our way home, Mabel and I saw Lisbeth.  I had Mabel take pictures of me with her.  Even though she had caused me grief in class with Diana, I still will miss her.

Yesterday, I taught my kids the story of Hercules and his labors.  They each drew a picture of one of the labors, although some took them home and some ripped theirs up (the girls who gave me grief in the afternoon.  ;)  )  The other drawings I hung on the wall because they are really good!

My students' drawings.  The morning class is on top and the afternoon is on the bottom.

After class, I had Lorenza show me the new pants I had gotten for her, since I hadn't seen them when she tried them on.  She came back with the jacket and the pants on and gave me a big hug and thanked me over and over for them.  They did really fit her well!  :)  Then she asked me if I would help her write the rest of the alphabet in her English notebook.  I was helping her and then Pilar came into the living room and was telling me about some books she had read.  I gave her some of the clothes I was planning to leave here, and while she was trying them on, I continued to answer some of Lorenza's other questions about English.  Mabel was coming in and out of the room too.  Lorenza left us after a bit and Pilar continued to tell me about the books she had read and even showed me some of them.  I'm impressed with myself for being able to understand Pilar because she talks at about a hundred words a minute.  :)  The other night when I took Mari and Lorenza out shopping, Mari was telling me that she wanted to visit me if she had an art exposition in California and that I should definitely come back to visit them at some point.  I would come back in a heartbeat and am so excited to see Pilar and Angela grow into young women.  And to see my students again would be just amazing.

Doane cooked dinner last night.  He wants to be a chef, so it was quite a treat.  Stuffed bell peppers, zucchini, asparagus and potatoes.  Mari liked the stuffed peppers so much that she ate two.  :)  After dinner, Mari was telling me stories about her childhood.  I'll have to remember them and put them into stories I write...  :)