Nasca / Ica

Well we left Arequipa early Friday morning and headed out for Nasca. We spent the entire day on the bus. Literally. Needless to say we were excited to get to our hotel which was actually really nice. We got there had come dinner and went to bed.


They has peacocks.







Saturday we had all day to do whatever we wanted. Since it was colder in the morning we went into town and had some lunch. We came back in the afternoon after the sun was out and spent the afternoon around the pool.




Sunday morning we headed out of Nasca for another day on the bus. We stopped first at "las lineas de Nasca". They are a serious of straight lines, geometric designs and drawings in the desert. There are several theories as to where the lines come from. Some believe that it was done by aliens however most believe that they are designs that originally appeared on pottery and then was later transferred to large designs that can only be seen by plane and or by climbing the surrounding hillsides.


We however climbed up and very sketchy staircase tower alongside of the highway.


After several more hours on the bus we went to a museum that charged money to take pictures so i didnt take any. But it was basically more about the child sacrifices like I posted about when I went to see Juanita. But just 15 mins from the museum we got to an oasis.




It was surrounded by sand dunes. We had some lunch and then headed out on the bus again. We got here to Lima this evening. I have one last day left, tomorrow. Then I head out on tuesday morning.

The Bakery

Raul is from Argentina and has a business selling Argentinian deserts to restaurants in the area. But that also just recently opened a bakery. Its about half a block from the house. They sell a variety of things all Argentinian.





She is making Alfajores for me and Katie to bring home with us.

Cathedral of Arequipa

We also went to the museum in the cathedral of Arequipa. The cathedral is in the Plaza de Armas. It has several different rooms with different religious artifacts but we weren't allowed to take pictures of them. We could only take pictures of the chapel its self.







We were also allowed on the rough to see the bell towers and over look the plaza.





I just really like all the Iron gates and doors that they have here.

Juanita

So we went to a museum on saturday of the Mummy Juanita, otherwise known as the Ice Maiden. She was found in the volcanoes that surround Arequipa. We werent allowed to take pictures or anything so I have attached a link to a you tube video (you will just have to deal with the austrailian accent) and the link to wikipedia to read more about her. But it was really cool to see her in person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u782D1Q_2DY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita


Ps. If the links dont work just copy and paste them.

School

Here are a few pictures of where I go to school. Its called the Cultural. Its right in the central part of the town. It takes about 15 mins in taxi to get there from my house and its about 45 mins walking. Usually I go in taxi in the morning and then walk back in the afternoon.



This is the front entrance there is always a security guard there. But thats pretty normal here there are security guards everywhere.



This is kinda like a front little courtyard area. All the structures are made out of this white stone, which most of the original construction here is out of this stone. Thats why the city has the nickname of the white city.


Those are the stairs I have to climb everyday, they look worse than they are but are classrooms are on the third floor.


These are pictures of what the rooms look like. They are pretty basic. The chairs are SUPER uncomfortable. I have two classes both of which are two hours long.




This is the view from the school. Its not much.


This is the roof of a house right next to the school were there are always dogs sunbathing.

What I do when I should be doing my homework......

Carmel Beach, California

Monesterio Santa Catalina, Arequipa, Peru

Cañon de Colca, Peru

Valle de Urubamba, Peru

Machu Picchu , Peru

There are just way too many great editing programs out there. But I dont feel that bad spending hours editing Im still doing just fine in my classes.......

Cuy = Guinea Pig

Before

After

Yes I did eat it!

Guinea Pig is a delicacy here. I have been wanting to try it since I got here and today after we had eaten lunch we all went out to a nice restaurant so that I could try it. It has the same texture as chicken but it doesn't really have any flavor at all.





This is Raul, he started to play with it after we had eaten it. They say that the most delicious part is the head. There is a bone that they look for and when they find it they put it in their beer and drink it. (we didnt do that)