Ooops.
They passed really really fast for me, and I hope likewise for everyone else.
So what’s happened to me? A
Here’s the Summary.
Vacation to Cuzco & Puno (Machu Picchu & Lake Titicaca)
From December 2nd- 7th, I went on a vacation to two of the most touristy places in South America- Machu Picchu and
School
Best part about school? It’s OVER! I am done with Santa Maria Eufrasia. We finished in December. Another great part, was that my class won a contest on the most popular radio station, Viva FM, and won a party :). To win that contest, just about everyone in the class would call at different times during the day, especially the school day. The last 4 weeks of school passed pretty quickly because everyone was so focused on this, rather than any of their classes.
Pre-Christmas
I got to participate in 2 present give aways in poor parts of Lima & Callao a couple weeks before Christmas- one with Rotary (and the other exchangees) and one with my host mom’s Prayer Group. The one with Rotary was a lot bigger, and pretty much a party. The other was a lot smaller, but still with a party atmosphere. I got to dress up as Mrs. Clause. It was really the perfect, because I could just say I was from “very far north” and that was why I had an accent.
Holidays As Rotary and all the prep books warned, the holidays were not the best time. It just did not feel like Christmas or New Years, mainly because of the lack of my own family, and of snow. In my mind, it can’t be Christmas without snow… Or at least really cold weather. I also missed my family parties, and especially buffet style food choice. I did love talking to everyone briefly on the phone though =D Christmas and New Years Traditions are a bit, but not very, different from home. Every stays up till midnight on Christmas Eve, and eat dinner together. There are usually a ton of fireworks going on in the street. TONS. The Catholic tones of the holiday are felt.
New Years consists of lots of fireworks and yellow. I suppose wearing yellow is a pretty traditional form of bring in a lucky New Year. A couple of other “lucky” things include: running around with a suit case [it foretells that you will travel this year] and eating 12 grapes, then making a wish. It is also common practice to burn a chair with several things that were important to you this year. I don’t quite understand this one… Huacho, Huaral & Caral On the 14th of January, we were informed of a weekend vacation planned. For that weekend. The 15th. Despite the last minuteness, the trip was a success. Only 7 of us went, which created a very laidback atmosphere. We camped one night in Huacho, and one night in Huaral on land belonging to local Rotarians. The biggest part of this trip was going to the runis of Caral, the oldest city in the The part most interesting to me was Eco Truly Park. It is an ecological community a bit outside of Huaral. They are a Hindu community with ideals of simple living, including vegetarianism, and non-violence. It was a really nice place, and I hope to return someday. RYLA This weekend (29-31 of January) was district 4450’s annual RYLA- Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. It is a conference that is held by many districts all over the world to promote teen leadership. There were a lot of speeches about how to get involved in your community (Rotaract), saving the environment and the like. There was also a lot of just chilling and, best of all for me, swimming (at 4 in the morning :). Goodbye That’s it. That’s been the last two months of my life. Albeit, there were plenty of days in there that consisted of mundane things as well, hanging out in the house all day, eating yummy food, getting a bit sick and a lot more. Chau, Jacqui
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