I made it, too!

Hey, this is Eloise here. I am the guest writer for this blog. I am 11 years old and two weeks ago I joined my mom in Peru. When I first came, I was really excited to see my mom which overshadowed what moving to Peru actually meant. I have felt a lot of mixed emotions in these last two weeks. 

At the start, I was really trying to take everything in and be in the moment because I was so happy. The first meal I had in Peru was at a fancy cafe. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t the norm for where we would be living. After that, we explored the malecon, which is a path by the ocean. Then I met my mom’s friend who is doing the same job as she is and her and her husband were really nice to me. We all went to the historic center where we saw catacombs in an old church, toured the oldest house in Latin America, ate a churro…you get the point.

After we were there for a couple of hot hours, we went our separate ways. For us, that meant going to the Airbnb and taking a shower (after all, we had been in airports and planes for a day or so). Later, we met up with the same couple at a restaurant overlooking ancient ruins. After eating some delicious causa and lomo saltado, we got a tour of the ruins. 

I know that was a very detailed first day. I wanted to give you all an idea of how touristy and fun the first day was for me. The next day, we headed to Chosica where I saw for the first time our apartment. I’m sorry I didn't say this before, but my uncle was with us this whole time and he stayed for a week. We needed him to come with me to Peru because it is illegal for a minor to go on an international plane alone. But we had a really fun time with him and I’m glad he came. Back to the point, the next day I would have school. 

I was very nervous. But when I got there a lot of kind faces met me at the door of my classroom. I know it must be fun and extravagant to have an American in their class, but I still appreciated their kindness and welcoming presence. 

So on and so forth my days went by. On Thursday, I actually didn’t have to go to school. Brace yourselves: this is a real journey you are about to hear of the treacherous ride up the mountain and the surprise that met us on top. So let me break it down for you. We were having a really hard time getting an Uber up the mountain so we decided to go down to a busier street to get a taxi. After we got one, it brought us all the way up to this restaurant. The view from the restaurant was beautiful but the food was not. Partially it's my fault because I kept dipping my food in this green sauce, not knowing that it wasn’t the meat that was spicy but the herby green paste I was dipping my meat into. That made it less enjoyable. 

After lunch, we went out to the street to find a taxi or whatever we could get to bring us the rest of the way up the mountain. A few minutes later, a nice guy came by and offered to bring us up. As soon as we got in, my mom and him recognized each other and realized that the first time she went up, he was her driver too. After passing the scary switchbacks up the steep mountain, we finally got to a small town named Calla Huanca. 

We decided to take a hike. We walked about a mile and then decided to turn back. On our way back I saw…the most…huge…hairy…big…TARANTULA EVER!!!! I screamed and then my mom screamed and then I screamed again and then my mom screamed again, etc. It lasted a while! As the brave one here, I step over it first. 

During the weekend, we went back to Lima so my uncle could go to the airport. My mom and I went to a beach with the couple I talked about earlier. That was probably one of my most memorable things I’ve done yet. The next day, we went to get bubble tea and to get our nails painted with my mom’s friend (the one we’ve been talking about a lot).

We went back to Chosica that day and got ready for school on Monday. I woke up feeling pretty sick as I had been feeling the past 3 days. I was tired and missing Minnesota, and surprisingly, my mom let me stay home from school. I video chatted with one of my best friends and had a pretty relaxing day. I was able to catch up on a lot of sleep and recovered better than if I would have gone to school.

I had normal school days the next two days. On Thursday, there was a bus strike so we had to have online school. Thankfully, my new school friends kept in touch with me throughout the day and sent me all of the zoom links so I wouldn’t be lost. Thank you school friends from Peru!

On Friday (today), I had school, went home and finished packing for Cusco. Oh! I almost forgot! Cusco! Stay tuned for our Cusco blog when we get back. No sneak peaks, I’m sorry.

Bonus picture of us eating picarones.