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!!