Lima

Lima was a good time. It was completely different from any other part of Peru we have been to because it was a big city! As far as a hostel went, we hadn't really set anything up and when we started looking, everything was booked. Luckily I have a friend from BYU who is living with her family in Lima for the summer. I called her up and asked if we could drop our stuff at her place while we went to go find a hostel that was available. Literally everything was booked. She was nice enough to let us stay with her and her family for our whole stay in Lima! It was so fun to catch up with Evita and meet her family. They were so nice to us!

The first day we spent getting settled in and exploring. I broke my phone charger here (I'm assuming too much power burned it) and I found out that there was a store in Lima that sold Apple products. We went to check it out in the mall but they didn't have it so we got lunch instead. We got sandwiches and then found cinnamon rolls. Oh my gosh it hit the spot. We had just been talking about how much we wanted one too. Lima was the closest I will get to America the whole summer. It was the most diverse and had a ton of really good food that you could find anywhere in the US. It was a fun change, and we didn't stick out like sore thumbs anymore. We walked through El Centro and found another iStore that actually ended up having my charger but it was 120 soles which is around $50. I was NOT that desperate. We explored and I made an impulse buy...a cowboy hat. It's awesome. Im not sure where I will ever wear it but it was cheap and I loved it. We walked around Miraflores for an hour or so later on in the evening. We ate at La Lucha (the most amazing food ever), and there started our ongoing craving of Oreo milkshakes. They were so delicious. Oreo's are good but I've never craved them until I came here. Its funny what sounds good to you when you're in South American and don't have everything. We have all craved really random things here (Peru in general). Miraflores is kind of the hip part of the city where all the young adults/tourists stay in hostels and hang out each night. El Parque de Amor (Park of Love) is close by, theres a market, and a ton of other things. While eating dinner, a man on a bike came up and started talking to us. I kinda had to play translator for a bit which was pretty funny actually. The guy (probably 40 years old) told me how he loves it when other people come to his country because he loves Peru and thinks its the most beautiful country ever. He wants other people to love it as much as he does, so he was happy to be able to talk to us in Spanish. There is something so amazing about being able to speak a different language, but I don't know how to describe it. I think being able to talk with people here has made my experience so much better than it already is simply because there is so much for me to learn from these people. They are so humble and kind and I just want to talk to all of them! That night was actually Evita's moms birthday. We went back to the house to celebrate with them by  eating dessert and singing. We jokingly said we were going to show her a Peruvian birthday tradition we learned, which is smashing their face in the cake, but we didn't do it. 

The next day, we went and visited the LDS Temple in Lima. I was so sad because I forgot my temple recommend in Arizona and didn't think I was going to be able to do baptisms. Luckily, one of the temple workers was able to call my bishop and Utah and give me the OK to have a temporary recommend. We ended up doing over 100 names between 3 people. I've never done that many in my life all at one time. It was a lot, but goes to show how much work there is to be done in Peru and South America. It really made me appreciate missionary work in that moment. After the temple, we spent the rest of the day hanging out with Evita. She had never been on a combi before, so we gave her her first experience. We actually didn't go on a legitimate one, more of a bus, but still. Combi's are super ghetto, run down vans that people pile into for like 1 sol, sometimes a little more. You would never see something like this in the US and I often think about how hilarious it is that we do it here because you're trusting some random stranger in a different country to take you where you want. Its basically the only form of transportation though. So we took a combi/bus to Miraflores, went back to eat at La Lucha because it was so dang good, and spent the rest of the evening goofing off and walking along the cliff/beach. We walked through a park on the cliff where some people were slacklining, so naturally, we joined in. First time I ever slacklined was in Peru! Pretty cool to say, not gonna lie.

Our last day in Lima started off with an earthquake. My first earthquake! It was even crazier because I was sitting on the ground when it happened. I didn't really know what was happening because there have been plenty of times that I have been sitting in the Tanner Building on BYU's campus and the ground starts shaking. It was shaking because of construction (because something is always under construction there) and not an earthquake. So when I was actually in an earthquake here in Lima, I didn't really know what to do/ I didn't do anything. Schyler ran to the doorway which was smart, but I just sat there. It came and went and nothing bad happened but it was kind of a freaky feeling. What if something bad had happened! I wouldn't have known what to do! After the earthquake we left the house and went to the Church San Francisco (the picture below). Underneath the church are some catacombs which are underground tunnels of tombs. So crazy. We weren't allowed to take photos in there or else I would have. After that we took a bus to Barranco and stopped to get some Starbucks hot chocolate because it was freezing! We walked along the beach (its right below Miraflores at the bottom of the cliff) and shopped at the street vendors selling jewelry and other fun things. That night we went back to Miraflores and met up with the rest of our group who didn't do the first part of the trip with us. We went to a water park where they had about 20 different water fountain shows and enjoyed the evening together. We got a little wet running through the water like kids...not sorry.

Lima was a fun trip. Most of it was just eating really good food and I'm not mad about that one bit. From Lima we took a plane to Cusco (one of the top 10 most dangerous landings NBD). Stay tuned! By the way, I could have sworn I took more photos in Lima, I think I just haven't put them all on my computer yet, so Ill post more later.