travels, school, and wow my life is changing so fast

ok, this is gonna be quick cause i have a lot of work to do yet tonight, but i want to update this cause i havnt in so long

I have now traveled for three weekends in a row and am very busy cause of it. Next week is midterms so I have some major studying to do. I will start with a summary of each trip...

Cusco- I returned to Cusco and loved it, we left quickly for Machu Picchu and I did not get the opportunity to see my host family nor the school I worked with. I saw a lot more of the city than on my last trip though. I got to climp Huanyu Picchu, which is the mountain behind Machu Picchu in all of the perfect pictures. It was rough but I loved it. Returning to Cusco just made me really happy. It is my favorite place on Earth! I can't wait to go back and visit with my friends there.

Arequipa- I traveled alone cause I planned the trip weeks ago and did not want to wait for my friends in the program to figure out traveling. So the city is known for being "The White City" for two reasons. First, there are a lot of white stone buildings made from volcanic ash and second, the city is historically a city with European decent. It is a very arrogant place to say the least, but they have great chocolate. I went to the Canyon of Colca, which is the largest canyon in the world and saw my first condor which was awesome cause they have over a 15 foot wing span and are endangered. My hostal was great and full of French people which made the trip fun. I went to a reggae party and had a blast and got home just in time to bomb my first quiz in Peru.

Ica- My friend from LA and I were hanging out last Thursday and in 10min we bought a bus ticket 5 hours south to Ica. Very rash but that is what makes life great. We went on a wine and pisco (type of vodka special to Peru) tour and for 20 soles (bout $6) had tried nearly 100 soles worth of drinks. I saw a lot in Ica and had an action packed weekend. It was great to hang out by a pool, go sandboarding (just like snowboarding but on massive sand dunes), went on an ecological tour and saw penguins, dolphins, and sea lions, as well as part of the Nasca lines. Ica is kindof the Dells of Lima and it was a great getaway.

Now I am home in Lima, very busy and tired. I am behind in most of my classes and finding it very difficult to concentrate to get much done. But I am having a blast, for once in my life academics is taking a backseat to my life, I am growing personally in ways I cannot express in words. All I can say is that my life will never be the same after Peru. Now I have a quiz tomorrow morning and two essays to write tonight and it is already 9:30...11.5 hours left to get everything done.

My host family is great, I cannot understand how close I have become to them. I feel like if I stayed here they would just adopt me and that would be it. But dont worry (or worry whatever your opinions of my might be haha) I am still coming home on July 27th and not a second sooner.