June 21st
Got off the bus at about 7am. Interesting experience to say the least. It was strange looking out of the big windows in the front of the bus and only seeing us travel on a dirt road for hours and hours. Then there was that weird moment where Andrew somehow opened the door of the bus and stepped off to go to the bathroom, which I still don’t understand but it’s still hilarious.
We stopped at a place where we had breakfast waiting for us. A tiny plate of watery scrambled eggs mixed with chopped hot dog. A vegetarian delight. We were excited to be in Arequipa because it looked like a cool place to hang. However, after breakfast we got back on a van that took us to a viewing place for volcanoes, one that was active and one that is inactive. But the active one hasn’t erupted since 1500. The view was definitely very beautiful. We didn’t stay that long until we were loaded up in the vans again. We were about 20 or so minutes into our drive when our guide decided to fill us in on the fact that we’d be in the van for the next three hours. Cool. Per usual, we passed the majority of that time playing Contact. We arrived at Chaviy to a buffet lunch and then went to the hostel. We had the option of going to hot springs. The boys went, and said it was awesome, but Brielle and I passed because we were too exhausted. I was a bit peeved when the man at the hostel asked me for my passport (and everyone else) so he could copy them. I fought him about it because I didn’t want to hand it over, but I ended up giving it to him like everyone else. I then proceeded to watch him stuff the passports in a duffel bag around his shoulder and ride his bicycle down to a copy shop in the plaza. But don’t worry mom! I was on him until I got it back! And I did, so don’t worry to hard when you read this J Before we went to dinner we walked down to the main plaza of the town, where there really wasn’t much of anything, only a few stores and small restaurants open.
For dinner we went to a place that was literally only a stone’s throw from the hostel we were staying at. Fitting, since the town was so tiny. It was a bar/restaurant/Pena type place with live traditional Peruvian music and dancing. This was so much fun! I was the first of us to get up and dance with the Peruvian dancers after a few of the other girls declined. I’m not much of a dancer but I laughed my way through it. It got pretty funny when Yianni and Monica got brought up to do a dance that involved them lying on the group and having the Peruvian dancers whip them. Tomas and Pricilla were dressed up as the opposite sex for the next dance and then we all got on the floor to finish the night. It was a very genuine and happy time.
A lot of people went to find a bar or disco in the small town, and I headed back to the hostel to decompress. After a while when they came back, I met back up with them and we went to the roof of the hostel to spend some time under the South American stars. I love stars. I’ve been mesmerized by the stars down here since I first saw them shining in the night. It’s completely different down here because in the Southern Hemisphere there are more stars, and entirely different ones. Its incredible. And there is so little light that there is nothing spoiling their sparkle. I swear I could have stared for hours. That night I saw three shooting stars.
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