This past weekend I went on a huge trip with some of my best friends! It started by taking a 16-hour bus from Lima to Arequipa, this big beautiful city in the south. Arequipa is called the White City because so much of it is made of this white volcanic rock from the nearby volcano, Misti. The city has a completely different feeling than any of the other cities I’ve been to in Peru. It is way more European with colonial-style buildings. The main plaza was absolutely spectacular. One of my friends we went with knew someone there (it was her [View Full Entry]

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Hello all! Two weekends ago I went on a great little trip to Nazca and Ica! They are to the South of Lima and in a more desert climate. We started by taking a bus down to Nazca, about 6 hours away. We woke up early to see the Nazca lines. We rode in this little tiny airplane that flew over some of the famous ones. It was so neat! My favorite was the Condor. No one is exactly sure who made the Nazca lines (some think aliens, others think the Nazca people) or how, which adds a little bit to [View Full Entry]

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Three weeks ago I went on one of the most amazing trips ever! My program had an organized trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. It was a really full, but really incredible weekend. We flew to Cuzco Thursday morning. Once we got to our hotel, we immediately took naps (to adjust to the altitude. I didn't mind one bit!) Then we had lunch and the craziness of the trip began. We went to what my friends and I like to call the Sexy Woman ruins. They are actually these Incan ruins called Sacsayhuamán, which happens to sounds exactly like Sexy Woman. [View Full Entry]

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Hola mis amigos! This weekend, five of my friends and I took our first big trip outside of Lima to Huancayo. It's a city in the Junin valley in the Andes. We left Thursday night and took a night bus (about 6 hours) from Lima to Huancayo. The night bus was...interesting. I got excited when I heard that they would play a movie, then I found out it was Free Willy 2. Not so exciting. I watched it anyway, though, because I had 6 hours to kill and I wasn't tired. I think it's safe to say that I never want [View Full Entry]

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Hello! Orientation in Lima lasts until classes being (August 17th), so I have been able to count on having pre-planned activities everyday. I have done some really fun things! Some of us had a picnic on these beautiful green cliffs overlooking the ocean one day for lunch. After we walked down the trail to the beach, which was rocky-not like in South Carolina! It was still beautiful though. We also visited these pre-Incan ruins called Huaca Pucllana. They are completely earthquake resistant. Our guide thoroughly described the human sacrifices of women, which was interesting, but made me lose my [View Full Entry]

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Hola from Peru! I arrived here late Saturday night. I was absolutely exhausted from a long day of flights, airports, and delays. We stayed in a hotel here in Lima. It was so good to finally sleep! On Sunday, we went to the IFSA-Butler office which is in a middle to upperclass neighborhood called Miraflores. Once there, we talked about what to expect from Study Abroad. We had a little free time and a few of us walked to the ocean, which was about 5 minutes away. That area was kind of tourist-y (there were American restaurants), but it was absolutely [View Full Entry]

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In exactly 10 days, I will leave for Lima, Peru to be studying at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. I can't believe it is so soon! I will be gone August 1st through December 15th, so just one semester. I am a little nervous, but definitely excited! One thing that has calmed my nerves a lot throughout the preparation process has been the great advice from my friend, Miriam. I know Miriam through my sorority at school. She went through the same program that I am going through (IFSA-Butler) so she has already been through everything and helped me out [View Full Entry]

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