once in this way, and never again

Sunday, November 20

Today was, for the lack of a better word, cool. Mostly because we all went hang gliding! Ryan talked me into it because I was really scared about how dangerous it is and knowing that people have died (as if people haven't also died from driving cars or walking along the street). Malia was skeptical also so I thought it would just be Karen and Ryan partaking, but Malia changed her mind and I didn't want to be the only one not participating... and I'm really glad I wasn't.

To ensure safety they only let pilots fo 4 flights per day (smart), and by the time we got to the spot of departure most were already booked, or had already completed their 4 flights. So our guide went to look for pilots while we sat on the grass enjoying the weather and watching people land from hang/para gliding. Finally our guide found 4 pilots, himself included, and we filled out some paperwork before being split up. Karen, Malia, and Ryan went up the mountain together while I was stuck waiting for my pilot, aka our guide, who was still talking to other customers. By the time we started up the mountain I was sure everyone had already left and I was getting really nervous. The second we parked I ran up the steps to the takeoff platform just in time to see Ryan before he took off para gliding. Holy crap! Para gliding and hang gliding takeoffs are terrifying looking! Moreso hang gliding but para gliding isn't that much fun either I imagine. For para gliding you're basically sitting on your instructor and you take off by letting the wind pick up your sail. It was super windy today so takeoffs looked slightly violent. For my takeoff I was about to pee myself. I had to run off of a wooden platform right over the edge of the cliff. My pilot prepped me on how to run and how to hold onto his suit (he holds onto the glider), and after waiting for the wind to be just right, I was running and up in the air before I could figure out what happened. Being in the air was awesome compared to the takeoff! Flying tha thigh was such a rush and deifnitely the coolest thing (and most daring thing) I've done to date. The entire flight lasted about 10 minutes and we landed on the beach right where Ryan, Karen, and Malia were waiting. I'm really glad that Ryan convinced me to step out of my comfort zone and experience something as crazy as hang gliding over Rio de Janeiro.

This post is archived under Brazil, Hang Gliding, Rio de Janeiro, Soccer

Our South America trip was everything I wanted it to be. Our group had an unbelievable time exploring 3 different countries over 9 days, starting with the beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Friday, November 18

We left DC and SF on Thursday, met up for our connecting flight in Dallas, and continued on together, arriving in Brazil Friday morning. Once we landed we took a taxi straight to our hostel (Hostel Harmonia) right off of Ipanema Beach. This was my first experience staying in a hostel, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I expected it to be a negative experience, but Hostel Harmonia was clean, cozy, and had extremely friendly staff. We wasted no time after arriving and booked a favela tour for the afternoon. I had no clue what a favela was and on the way there Ryan asked me if I knew where we were going. I told him I thought we were seeing a school and he laughed and said "No, we're going to the slums of Rio." Favelas are shacks alongside mountainsides where poor people live (shanty towns).

This post is archived under Brazil, Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Samba, South America

I am psyched! In 1 week I will be heading to South America with Ryan Knowles, Karen Cyb, and Malia Wycoff for 9 days. We are flying to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil first, then moving onto Montevideo, Uruguay for a short stay, then ending our trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The idea to travel there started because Ryan's cousin is currently studying abroad in Buenos Aires. He loves to take advantage of people he knows living in crazy locations and uses it as an excuse to travel (and it's a great excuse)! Our Buenos Aires trip quickly turned into a "more than one country" trip to try and see as much as possible.

I cannot wait to write about what we do and the incredible things we will inevitably see along the way.

This post is archived under Argentina, Brazil, South America, Uruguay

Or rather, the times I got sick. I told you never to eat egg salad sandwiches in Peru and I meant it. There was a small local restaurant called Otre Cosa near our house that had awesome cushions to sit on and an attached store with postcards and random Peruvian trinkets. A group of us went there one afternoon close to the end of our trip and I ordered egg salad because that is (was now) my favorite kind of sandwich. It came out looking all delicious on its grainy wheat bread and tasted just as it looked.

Fast forward to the following day when that sandwich decided to wreak havoc on my body. Long story short, I did not go into Ciudad de Dios for a few days. Instead I laid in my bed at the house while Robby brought me tea and crackers every few hours. We would have conversed more but seeing as how he only spoke Spanish and I only spoke English, communication was limited and probably ridiculous sounding when attempted. I did manage to get out of bed one of those days to go down the street and get chicken soup that Robby said would make me feel better. There were parts of chicken in that soup that I don't ever care to know where they came from. After a few days I went back to Ciudad to finish up my plaza mural and the town sign, but the very next day I was sick again. I stayed in bed and drank Cipro and some powder mixed with water that tastes like the ocean (DISGUSTING!).

I practically missed the entire last week of work in Ciudad, which was a bummer. All of my journal entires for those days sound something like this: "I hate being sick. I can't eat anything but I'm really hungry.... I can't sleep because it hurts too much."

Man, I was really whiny.

This post is archived under Egg Salad, Otre Cosa, Sick

July 4th finally came, and even though Peruvians weren't celebrating it, we certainly were! We got off of work, so instead of laying around the house all day we went to Chan Chan, capital of the Chimu empire. It was incredible! Walking around listening to a guide tell us about this culture was worth seeing/hearing. Some awesome pictures from our tour...











That night we had a cookout at Nourish International's Hospedaje. Professor Billman grilled hamburgers and we had guacamole, fresh vegetables, and french fries (I ate a TON of french fries while in Peru). It was all delicious, and afterwards we all went down to the beach and lit fireworks. They were mildly successful... as successful as on can imagine Peruvian fireworks are. The archaeology students had a bonfire going so we joined them in making smores and hanging out. We played a huge game of capture the flag... and if you've never played capture the flag on a wide, open beach, it's hard! It comes down to who is the fastest because there isn't anything you can hide behind. Not to mention running on sand slows you down quite a bit. Still, we had a good time and a fun day of honoring our country's independence.

 **Thinking back, I feel like we should have at least sang the national anthem or something...

This post is archived under Fourth of July, Huanchaco, Peru

View from our hotel

The first full day we were in Cajamarca, Magdalena, Justine, Ellie, and I didn't waste any time.. we went straight to the hot springs. It wasn't too expensive, and we were given a room with what was basically a huge bath. So we pretty much just took a bath together in our swim suits for 30 minutes in water that is apparently really great for your skin. After that experience, we went shopping around the town. Cajamarca is fairly large with many little shops to explore and alleys with craft stalls set up. I managed to pick up gifts for friends and family that day.

Hot springs!

Our room (we had to use large, heavy blankets because the temperature dropped at night.. unlike in Huanchaco where it was warm all day/night)

Or bus ride back after 3 days in Cajamarca was brutal because sickness decided to set in. Good thing we went on the trip when we did.

This post is archived under Cajamarca, Peru

This post is archived under Ciudad de Dios, Peru, Work