One year in Peru

I can't believe I've been in Peru for a year now! I have been rewriting my personal statement for my medical school application and I can't believe how much this past year has helped me gain far more experience than I could have ever hoped for. I'll post a copy of my final statement once I finish it.

I mentioned last post that I had a suit made just for me. I got a chance to wear it right away and got to see a traditional Peruvian wedding. In traditional Peruvian fashion - it started 20 minutes late because both the bride AND the groom were running on Peruvian time! The groom was an American and the bride was Peruvian - both are friends of Mari's from when she worked at a ski resort in Crested Butte, CO. 

It was interesting to see the differences in the wedding styles back home and here. Not only was the start time different, but the ceremony and reception each had their own unique styles. There as a Canadian priest (he spoke Spanish), a Peruvian chorus, and the reception had a cumbia band playing very loud the entire night. The bride and groom danced with everybody that attended the wedding, and didn't even get a chance to rest and eat until 2 hours after the reception started!

My new suit

Waiting for the bride to show up...

The two families together

Band playing right next to our table

Mari and me at the reception

After the wedding, I flew up to Cusco (again) to meet up with my cousin Tom, sister Anne, and two of her friends. They had just got done with a four-day hike to Machu Picchu and I met up with them at the hostal to spend one night there before flying to Puerto Maldonado (again) to do a four-day jungle adventure expedition. We got a chance to go kayaking and swimming in the river, hike through the jungle, climb a tree that is 120 feet tall (exhausting!), and go zip-lining and through a ropes course that was located over a piraña infested stream! Every night, we also had a chance to enjoy some cervezas while swatting away the swarms of mosquitos!

A family of Capibaras - the world's largest rodent

Another chance to enjoy a sunset in the Amazon Rainforest

A spider that would "make you bleed to death out of your butt and make your toes and fingers explode within four hours" - YIKES!

A very poisonous caterpillar that probably kills you in a similar way to that spider

A bird sleeping!

Ants making a bridge out of themselves to create a path for the other ants to continue working

Sunrise over the river

The five of us with a giant tree

Anne trying to climb up - it took us about 45 minutes each to get to the top!

The view from the top

Our guide caught a baby cayman and was having us play with it

The bigger cayman watching us from the water

Moonlight over the river

After the expedition, we headed back to Lima for one night to do some laundry and shower (Tom and the girls definitely needed it after 8 straight days of expeditions!) before heading up to a beach town on the coast near Ecuador. We rented a bungalow and the five of us along with Mari and Janella got to enjoy a few days taking in the sun and relaxing on the beach!

The view from the bungalow

Mari and me at sunset in Mancora

I didn't write too much here, but I'll have a big wrap-up entry that will be coming soon, as I'm heading back to Minnesota in eight days! In the meantime - everybody please keep my Uncle Tom in your thoughts and prayers as he is back in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant! I'm hoping that by the time I'm home he's recovering with a new heart!