Pura Vida, Sonrisas, y Pipas Frías- Costa Rica 2016

"Pura vida" is the thing to say for all occasions, as I learned quickly during my one week stay in Nosara, Costa Rica. I had heard previously from family members who had traveled to Costa Rica that "pura vida" was the preferred "hola" and the central focus extending out through all aspects of the Tican lifestyle, but...

Buses of Cusco

Sometimes you are the person sitting in a crowded bus. Alone. in the back. smooshed up against some guy's knees and the lady carrying a million things in her lap next to you. Picture this: headphones in, darkly lit bus, people's knees brushing up against your shoulders, crowded aisle, honks and rain, the lull of the...

Independent Research Season (YIKES!)

Hola! Sadly to say but my time here is coming to an end. Well, I'm very sad about it. I have three weeks left. This whole month of November has been a bit different than our usual routine. For one, we finished classes just before Halloween and entered into the independent study project season. This...

Halloween in Cusco (And Día de los Vivos y Muertos)

This Halloween fell on a Tuesday, and while in the US everyone was celebrating an entire Halloweekend, we just celebrated the one night. Halloween was recently adopted as a celebrated holiday here, with the notion of dressing up and the kids going out to trick or treat and everything. But the real festivities of Peruvians...

Madre de Diós stole my heart

Madre de Dios, La Amazonía, Perú   Our base town-Puerto Maldonado This was our last excursion all together as our SIT family. Such a beautiful, magical place that prompted me to adapt to changes, welcome whole-heartedly all that the amazon has to offer, and experience a new culture by spending time in a community and...

Taquile, Puno, and Arequipa

¡Hola! It's been a minute since I've written a post, and it's cause we've been so dang busy! But a great kind of busy! Two weeks ago, we went on a 7 day excursion to Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca, the floating reed islands of Uros, Puno, Colca Canyon, and finally Arequipa. Each place we...

Salsa Classes Anyone?

Hola! Just finished my third week here in Cusco. 🙂 I'm starting to settle into a routine, with classes for about 6 hours every day, a siesta in the afternoon, café study break after classes, and return for dinner with my family in the evening. The one thing I cannot get used to still are...

La Magia de Machu Picchu

This past weekend my group and I had the chance to visit one of the seven wonders of the world (and my first!). We started our four day journey by heading to Pisac from Cusco, where we started off on some smaller Incan ruins. I'm glad we did some hiking the two days prior to...

My home away from home

I present to you my host family... Michael (mi papá), Cármen (mi mamá), Ángela (mi hermanita), y Sofí (mi hermanitita). I love them all soooooooo much. I first met my host mom and dad on the first Friday we arrived in Cusco, and immediately they took me back to their house (my new home for...

Orientation Week!

¡Hola a todos! Well the time finally came. I and around 25 other US students from all different universities have arrived in Perú!!! As I'm writing this, it's only day three of orientation week and I couldn't have felt more loved and exactly where I need to be.   First off, my whole group is...

Bucket List of Food

Here is a list of must-try foods in Peru, as suggested by my dear friend Lydia: Ceviche Clásico Ceviche Criollo Cancha Papa a la Huancaína Ocopa Cuasa Rellena Limeña Papa Rellena Ensalada Ruso Yucas Frito Torrejas de Choclo o Atun Chicharrón y Camote Jalea Pastel de Choclo Anticucho Tamal Limeño Tamalito Verde Humita de Maíz...