Made it to Ollanta!!

Well, my beach vacation went by too fast. It was heaven up there. We had so much fun. On Saturday night, there was a barbecue at the restaurant where Gian has his bar so there were tons of people eating and drinking. Gian and Jose Maria were hamming it up with the customers. They were a perfect tag team. It was hilarious to watch. After we closed the bar, we all went over to the local discoteca and danced the night away. It was such a great night. On Sunday, I slept in and then hit the beach for the last time. I had to leave to catch my bus in Mancora around 4:30pm. I was sad to say goodbye to Gian, Diego and Jose Maria. Gian and Diego are going to try to come and visit me in May. I really hope we can make that happen. They are great guys.

The bus to Lima took 19 hours. Normally it only takes 17. I was so ready to get off that bus when we finally reached Lima. My stomach has been reminding me that it doesn't like it when I shock it with new foods/bacterias. I don't mind really, I am so used to dealing with stomach issues when I travel. However, on these buses you are only supposed to use the bathroom to pee, not do anything else. You are supposed to ask the bus stewardess to have the drivers stop so you can use a bathroom. Who the heck wants to be the person who makes the bus stop so then everyone knows you have to go number two? Needless to say, I just didn't eat or drink hardly anything for the 19 hours so I didn't have to use the bathroom!

When I got back to my hotel in Lima, I saw an email from my mom telling me I got accepted to Vanderbilt!!! I am very happy to know that I got into at least one of the schools I applied to. Plus, I really like the faculty at Vanderbilt so I am pretty psyched. I still haven't heard from Yale yet. I did some emailing and skyping and then just walked around the Miraflores neighborhood in Lima. After relaxing, I headed back out to grab some dinner. Since I was heading to Ollanta, where the only seafood we have there is lake trout, I wanted to get one good last seafood meal. I found a cute sidewalk cafe/restaurant and had a great meal and a celebratory Chilcano to drink. Chilcano is pisco, lime juice and sprite. As I was eating, a threesome sat at the table next to me. We started talking and they invited me over to join them. 2 were Brits and 1 was a Swede. They all work on a luxury yacht. The Swede is the captain, the female Brit is the Service Manager and the male Brit is the Chief Engineer. They were nice and funny and I ended up staying out til 3 in the morning with Alan and Max. What was a good idea at the time, was not a good idea when I had to wake up at 7 for my taxi to the airport. Needless to say, I am tired.

But I made it to Ollanta with no problems and had a great reunion with Ana, Shura, Tatiana, Mauro and little Fabricio. Celestino is in Cusco all day so I haven't seen him yet. Fabricio is gigantic -- he weighs almost 25 pounds and is only 11 months old! He is so stinking cute. He is sick with a stomach virus so he is a little cranky. Poor little guy.

We had a good lunch and spent a long time talking. I went over to Awamaki and saw Jess and Will and Willa. It was like I had never left! I love Will and Jess. It is so nice to talk to them. There is a pub quiz tonight so I will have to go and see everyone else then.

Now that I have caught up in this, I am going to rest for a bit. The mountains are super green and covered in flowers since it is the rainy season right now. Actually, it is raining as I type this. It is about 60 degrees or so. I am looking at another 2 months of rainy days and by the end of April it should start drying up. It is really nice to be back in this beautiful little town. I am going to meet with Noah, Kaitlyn and Sunny tomorrow to talk about the health program and then will most likely head down to the posta (clinic). Yay -- it is great to be back!