Surfing in Huanchaco

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Today marked the last day of my Spanish classes after an entire month. I can´t believe how quickly the time went by! I do feel like I´ve learned A LOT of Spanish and am eager to be more or less completely immersed in it so that my speech improves (I´m a visual learner and as such am fine with the written language, but speaking and listening/understanding is a bit harder for me).

Last weekend the Ch(K)ristines and I went straight up the coast to an adorable little surfing town called Huanchaco. We didn´t do much there except eat a lot of cebiche (raw, marinated fish and other seafood) and take surf lessons. I am pleased to share that the surfing actually went quite well (especially when compared to my attempt in Hawaii). I was able to stand up on my (huge) surfboard many times and had a blast for our whole THREE HOUR lesson. We also were able to surf among the traditional fishermen who were checking their crab traps in these fantastic reed boats. It was great, though it involved two overnight bus rides and thus not a lot of sleep (that´s probably why we lounged around most of the time).

My voyage is about to get a whole lot more exciting! Tomorrow I´m leaving Lima FOR GOOD (or until I fly out in February) and heading to Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines and then I´m going to Arequipa to see the Colca Canyon (second deepest canyon in the world) and condors in the wild. From there I´m bussing up to Cusco and if all goes as planned on Wednesday I´ll be starting my first day volunteering in the Posta (rural medical clinic) in Ancahuasi where I´ll be communicating exclusively in Spanish. I´ll also be staying with a family in Cusco and really get to experience authentic Peruvian cuisine, culture and life. It should be great!

Here is the most recent batch of photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2225454&l=f593b&id=21003528

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Photos

Traditional Reed Boats
Here are a few of the reed boats in action!

Gorgeous Sunsets!
We witnessed two absolutely beautiful sunsets over the beach in Huanchaco.

Fire and Water
More pretty sun!

Post-Surfing!
Here we are after three hours of fantastic surfing!