LOTS OF DÍAS

This past week has been very hectic so this will be a condensed (but thorough!!) post about my last week in Lima.

During our last week at UNIFÉ, we took a series of culture and history classes. We learned about Peru’s extensive food menu, churches in Cusco, and the influence of Latin on both Spanish and English words. Although each class had its perks (e.g., free food), my favorite lesson was on the small churches in Cusco. It was fascinating to learn how architecture during this time tied so closely with the city’s colonization.  For example, when looking at one of the churches from the outside, you wouldn’t think it had any Spanish influence as they were built with traditional materials of the region (Adobe and wood). However, looking inside the church, you could clearly see a European approval stamp with each renaissance painting of  blindingly white Jesus and gold leafed statue.

Each church was also built with a balcony in order for the pasture to preach to the “uncooperative” indigenous communities who refused to enter the church. Those who did enter the church, found ways to pray to their own gods instead of to those forced upon them.

After our lectures each day, we continues with our presentations and translations.

LAST DAY AT EL SOL AND UNIFÉ

For our last day of school, our history and culture teacher, Rosa, moved our classroom down the street to a restaurant called Crepes and Waffles. I ordered a beautiful waffle con frutas de la selva and ice cream, it was amazing!! Over brunch, we had a brief lesson about the Incas. The lesson didn’t last very long so we spent the majority of the class asking Rosa questions about her personal life. I think Austin was disappointed to learn that Rosa has a novio L

Heading back to El Sol, we were greeted with free sweatshirts and a fancy banquet. Yay, more food! It was sad saying goodbye to all of our professors, but after 4 weeks of  early morning classes, it wasn’t really that sad. In all seriousness, I learned a lot from each of them. I am very thankful for the care they put into each lesson and the extra time they took out of their schedules to help us understand the history and culture of Peru.

After a semi emotional goodbye, we headed to UNIFÉ. The remaining groups, including mine, presented their chapters. We then went to our graduation ceremony in the main meeting room of the university. As part of our cultural exchange, we taught the UNIFÉ students “Soulja Boy.” We were all pretty proud of ourselves until they followed our dance with some sexy salsa and a performance of the song “Contigo Perú.” Womp. All in all, it was a very sweet ceremony and I will definitely miss talking with the girls everyday.

Because we had the next day (Friday) off, we decided to go to a club called the Help. Sounds promising, right? Well it was! Walking into the club was like stepping onto “Step Up” set. The whole first part of the night consisted of 2 minute dance offs between all kinds of people. The winner got to take home 500 soles! Unfortunately, none of us had the moves to take home the dough.

FREE FRIDAY

On the last day of school, some of us had been asking our grammar professor, Romeo, if he knew of any good hiking trails not too far out of the city. In the process of asking, we managed to convince him to come with us. So, for my free Friday I went hiking with my professor and a few other friends!

We met Romeo at 1:00pm to drive to Pachacamac. The park we wanted to go sneakily had two names! Therefore, whenever we asked someone for directions to Cerro Verde, they brushed us off as stupid tourists and went on their way. It took us a half hour to realize that we needed to be asking for directions to Lomos de Lucomo.

The driving back and forth was worth it! We spent over 2 hours exploring the different paths. At the top, we had a cloudy view of the ruins of Pachacamac, the ocean and the small village below. We also saw a lot of cool rock formations which is always a plus!!