Peru Post 1

Okay so this is the first of several of my Peru posts that I'm copying directly from the journal I kept while I was there.  I would post it all at once but it's late and I'm tired. :]

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5/16/09

So we arrived in Lima, Peru late last night.  Yesterday morning we went to bed at 12:30am and got up at 3:00am.  Left for the airport at 4am.  Flew to Newark at 6:45am and arrived at 8:45am.  We then proceeded to stay in the Newark airport until 3:50pm, when we flew out for Lima.  While in the airport, we all basically stretched out on the floor and slept for a bit.  We arrived in Lima around 10:30pm(Lima time...1 hour behind).  Hopped on a bus and rode for about an hour to where we were staying for the night.  Finally made it to bed around 2am-ish.   Had to get up at 5:30am.  Hopped on another bus to ride for 6.5 hours to Huancayo.  No sleep on the plane or bus.  Wow. 

Got here and decided to go eat Chinese food? Anyways.  So the Andes Mountains are the biggest mountains I have ever seen.  While on the bus we got up to I think more than 16,000 feet.  Needless to say, we all felt a little loopy.  The tops of some of the highest mountains were snow capped glaciers.  These glaciers make these awesome lakes when they melt!  It was the bluest water I've ever seen!  Not like Carribean blue...like legit royal blue water.  It was gorgeous!  One of the most breath-taking things I've ever seen. Oh and the bus...we were on the second floor in the very front at the windshield.  Best view on the bust but also the scariest!  Our driver was insane!  I only got really sick feeling once while we were at the high altitudes.  But now we're only at about 12,000 feet. (I think) which is still pretty high but not that bad.  Everything is high considering we're from Charleston which is below sea level. It's only 10:30 right now but I'm so exhausted.  I have no idea how I'm functioning.  

My Spanish is definitely getting a workout!  I love it!  Everything here is in Spanish! (Go figure right).  

So tonight we got together with our journeymen to discuss our plans for the trip.  We met at a local baptist church in Huancayo.  My first impression was that this is a pretty crappy little church, comparing it to the ones back home of course. ( I later found out that this church is definitely among the nicer ones we visited.)  Oh!  And taxis!  We had to take cabs there and back and it was LOCO!  It's like there are no road rules here at all!  People constantly cut others off and speed and don't ever stop and they're always ALWAYS laying on their horns!  It was madness!  But quite an experience. (We took tons of cabs throughout the trip all with the same experience)

While we had Chinese, we had this drink called Inka Cola?  It smelled and tasted just like bubble gum.  It was kinda gross. Some people loved it though.  Just not for me.  I haven't gotten to try guinea pig though. (Look forward to that post people. haha It's a good one.)  

I really want to write more but I can't.  Bedtime.  Nighty night.

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This ends post one!  More actual mission-trip related stuff to come later.  :]