Peru

So after I finished up my two exams on Tuesday, I packed up my stuff to go to Peru on Thursday morning. The 25th of May was a holiday, and because I hadn't missed any classes up till that point, I figured missing my one class on Thursday would be okay.

So, at 4am I headed to EZE the international airport in Buenos Aires. We boarded the plane at like 7 and after 5 hours, we landed in Lima, Peru. From that airport, we headed onto another plane for Cusco, the biggest city near Machu Picchu. We got to Machu Picchu at about three in the afternoon and we knew that there were ruins around Cusco, and we wanted to see them before heading to Agua Calientes and Machu Picchu the next day. That afternoon, I saw the ruins at Sacsayhuaman, an Incan town almost five hundred years ago. Seeing the ruins were amazing and our tour guide explained about a lot of the symbolism that was involved with all of the ruins. That night, we headed to a restaurant and got pizza for the night.

The next day, after another early wake-up, we headed for the train to take us to Agua Calientes. Although it was cold and early, the train ride took us through the beautiful mountains of Peru in about three hours. That day, we focused on getting tickets for the bus and for Machu Picchu in the town of Agua Calientes. But that afteroon, as I was walking on a trail around the city, my camera broke. I thought it was done for good, so I ran out and grabbed a disposable one for the next day.

The next day, at 530am, we headed out to the bus station that took us up to the top of the mountain of Machu Picchu. After twenty minutes, we arrived at Machu Picchu. Getting there early was awesome and we were able to see the sunrise from Machu Picchu. Then we spent the day at Machu Picchu, learning all about the ruins, including the clock, Intihuatana, which is one of the great relics of the Incan civilization. A few years ago, the clock was damaged by a crane. There were also tons of terraces that were devoted to agriculture and cultivation of both animals and plants. The history of Machu Picchu is still much of a history as its location was perfect as a way to hide the town from the rest of the world. 

That afternoon, we climbed the Mountain Putucusi which was a ladder on the other side of Agua Calientes with a great view of Machu Picchu. The hike was pretty treacherous, as there were about ten vertical ladders that we needed to climb to reach the summit. The view was really worth it though and after four hours on the mountain to go up and down, I was pretty proud of what I had accomplished. 

The next day, we spent most of the day in the city, visiting the fairs and the local shops. We headed back on the train to Cusco at 500 that day. It was supposed to only be three hours, but it broke down, so it took us five hours to get back. Once we got to Cusco, we headed back to the hostel for the night, as our flight back was really early in the morning. We headed back and arrived in Buenos Aires with no problems at 8pm that night. It was a great weekend and I'm really glad I was able to get to Peru during my time here. 

This past week has been good too. I did really well on the midterm I got back. And last night, I went out for dinner and drinks with one of my friends from the university here. It was great to hang out with someone from Buenos Aires out of the classroom. 

Mendoza Part II

Hey Everyone,

I realize it's been a while since I've posted, and I still have some more hw to get to tonight, but I figure I'll start catching everyone up on the last two weeks.

The weekend before this last one, all the FLACSO students had another trip. This time, we headed to San Rafael in Mendoza. Although I had already visited Mendoza before, this trip took us to a different part of the province. We left Friday morning (at 4am!) and arrived on the first day to embark on a short hike through the hills near the Andes mountains. It was great to get to hang out with everyone from FLACSO. The next day, we headed to a few bodegas for wine-tasting. That night, the hotel we were staying at had some type of dance party which was fun as well.

The next day, we had a late start and went zip-lining and ropeling. Although I had never done either before it was pretty cool to try both of them. That night, we participated in some karaoke and made smores at a campfire. The next day we headed back to BUenos Aires. It was a really fun weekend, but I had two tests the day after we got back. Both of them seemed to go okay tho, so I'm just glad they're over now.

Gotta get back to doing some reading, I'll post again soon about last weekend- Trip to Machu Picchu!

Really short post (more like a tweet)

This isn´t meant to be a real post, but I wanted to give everyone a very quick update! today i climbed this ladder in order to climb Mt Putucusi. http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/rachel_john/roundtheworld/1146261420/100_0569.jpg/tpod.html (notice how high it goes, and there were like ten more of them to get to the top of the mountain!) I would have taken a picture myself but my camera broke, but more details to follow on that in the real post. Hope things are well, i should post again around tuesday/wednesday.

Two Months Left!

Hola,

This week was pretty long, but also more or less good. During the weekend, I went on a tour of the Casa Rosada which is like the White House of Argentina. Although the tour was short, my friend and I were surprised at how easy it was to enter the Casa and jump on a tour. It was a very beautiful building and I have some pictures to show later when I can upload more.

The week was pretty standard, although because I have two exams coming up, I'm pretty nervous about how they will go. However, my two econ exams that I've taken so far, I've done well on so I'm thinking that as long as I study I'll be okay. 

Today wasn't too much fun. After working for most of the afternoon, I was returning home from a study session. During the walk back, I was robbed by a group of men. Although they were able to steal my phone (that's two Argentine phones down, if you're counting), luckily, I was only carrying a few pesos so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. 

But in a few hours I'm heading to the airport to go to San Rafael. The trip is with half of the FLACSO students so it should be a lot of fun, but I have to finish packing, so I'll update later! 

South American Update

Hey everybody,

Classes have been pretty busy these past few weeks. I've taken about half of my midterms, but still have some more left. However, most of my subjects have been pretty interesting. Learning about Argentine Economics has been an eye-opening experience. 

Last Saturday, I hung out with my friend who lives in the city, Patricio. He's in my class of Economic History at UCA. We had a lunch of burgers and licuados - which are the Argentine version of smoothies- and then played ping pong and tennis. It was a lot of fun and a great way to relax and gain a new perspective of the city.

On Sunday I headed down to the fair in Recoleta, which is where artisans have tons of booths lining the two busiest streets in that part of the city. It's really popular with most portenos on Sundays and I enjoyed seeing all of the different types of art produced by the citizens of Buenos Aires.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing some sight-seeing in the city and should be taking a lot of pictures too!

Exams and Tandil

Hey,

So it's been a while since my last post. Hope everybody is doing well. Things here have gotten much busier during the past two weeks. 

Most of Friday I spent studying for my exam for World Economic History because on Saturday, our program, FLACSO, took us on a trip to Tandil, which is about a five hour drive from the city. We departed Saturday morning around 7, and after arriving, had a really great lunch. We were running a bit behind, so after we checked in at our hotel, we had a tour of the city. 

Following this tour, we headed over to a cheese factory, where for about 2 hours we enjoyed tasting different kinds of cheese and had tons of hot chocolate. 

That night, we had a dinner of Milanesa, salad and empanadas. 

The next day we headed to a ranch where I rode a horse. For lunch, we had a huge asado (barbeque). Then, we headed back to BA. It was a really relaxing weekend.

Then, we didn't have classes on Monday, so I spent most of the day again studying. Finally, yesterday I had my midterm- which was pretty hard, especially doing it in Spanish, but I'm glad it's over. After the test, I made plans with my Argentine friend, Patricio, to play tennis on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun. 

Not too much else going on here. Today is a feriado and I'm taking it really easy this weekend. My headphones broke, so I'll have to look for some new ones this afternoon.