Carnaval is water wars in the streets, traditional folklore music and dancing, talco (baby powder), creepy out of towners, and pretty much the Peruvian version of Marti Gras. It all started on Saturday morning with the day of the competition. We got to FINCA at 9:30am to get braided and painted with makeup like a clown/doll. We looked ridiculous! We ate this “puca picante” meal (that was not going to keep me going for the next 8 hours until we danced at the plaza), and left FINCA at around 11:30am. We got to the Magdalena park (?) at 12pm and waited until 1pm to head to the plaza. This journey dancing down streets to the plaza (and number 46 out of over 100 groups) took over 7 hours. We finally arrived at the plaza to dance ... read more

One week into volunteering in Ayacucho I know that I have 7 more weeks left of volunteering, but so far I absolutely love it! I get to interview women who have received FINCA loans and write about how their lives have been affected and their businesses improved from these loans. I think that Microfinancing is definitely something I want to learn more about and possibly do long-term someday. Another aspect about volunteering that I know I would never get sick of is living here in Ayacucho. I love the mountains and the culture here. The people are so nice, the men don’t harass us gringas, and the quechua/Andean culture is fascinating. I love the cute little quechua women walking around carrying their kids on their backs with their blankets. Yesterday at work, a woman brought her ... read more

Hi all! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but the past month has been a little hectic. So I finished classes December 9th, my roommate Val and I moved out of our old house and then went off on a 12 day trip to Ecuador—motivation for this trip came from my lack of a legal status in Peru. My visa was expired and I was paying $1/day to be in Peru. Right when we got off the plane in Ecuador we could tell that we were in another country—everything was more developed and the people were a lot more respectful to us gringas. We spent a couple days in the capital Quito then went south to a national reserve for a two day horseback riding adventure. It was awesome riding around this park that was ... read more

Hi all! So I have officially survived midterms, and just realized that I only have 4 more weeks of school left. Crazy how fast this semester has gone! Somehow, and mostly because of how pathetic and elementary the “extranjeros” (exchange students) are, I have managed to pull out AB’s in all my classes…..I only brag about this because I can’t remember the last time I was an AB student (because it was in high school). I’ve been hanging in there even though waves of homesickness are starting to get to me. The funny thing is that besides my amazing friends and family, the things I miss the most are my moped (and driving….its been torture), working ellipticals, and (never thought I would be saying this) but men who leave me alone. A couple weeks ago I ... read more

Hola, This has been one of the best trips I have ever had. I had almost forgotten what real Peru was like. Outside of Lima is a very different Peru. I have come back with 360 pictures, a slight tan, quite a few mosquito bites, some Inca power, and quite a high from the trip. Everything started Tuesday (9/15) with my flight to Cusco. I went on this trip with a fellow exchange student from my school, Thea. We ended up being great traveling buddies. When I got off the plane, I could immediately feel the change in altitude. It got harder to breathe, I had a slight headache, and I was huffing and puffing up every staircase. We found a nice hostel in Cusco that night that had a great view of the entire city. ... read more