El Ultimo Dia/Noche en Lima

I woke up around 10:30am to shower and go to the award ceremony at El Sol. I hurried and got dressed, had some breakfast (mostly to go) that James had made and rushed out the door with Rosana. We were already a little late since we left the house at 11:55am and the ceremony was set to start at 11:45am. When we got there we were surprised to find only about half of our group present and a man that I had never seen before at the front of the room, giving a PowerPoint presentation.  I was a little upset because the presentation lasted about 2 ½ hours while we were told we had a free day.  Toward the end of his presentation, however, the man talked about Keiko and Ollanta, the two candidates running for President. He gave us a little historical background on each of them and left us to decide who the better candidate would be for Peru. It was very interesting and I was glad to hear about the current political situation, but at the same time it was my last day in Lima and I really wanted to spend as much time as I could with my family. I told my mom that I would be home around 3pm for lunch and by the end of the ceremony, it was already 1:50pm.

Karlayne, Rachel, and I left the school and ran some errands. They had to go shopping and stop by their houses to drop and pick things up while I had to go get some flowers for our host family and buy the altitude pills so that I wouldn’t get sick/dizzy in Cuzco. I finally got everything done and made it home in time around 3. I placed the flowers on the table with a card that said Rosana and I were thankful for everything they had done for us. I rushed to the lavenderia to drop off my laundry and paid double the amount to have it rushed and done by 5:30pm, before dinner. I absolutely hate packing dirty clothes so that errand was a must. When I got back home Nicole greeted me with hugs and kisses because she had seen the flowers and loved them. She prepared my lunch for me and we talked a lot about my group’s plan for Cuzco and a little more on the culture of Lima. She hugged me especially hard and told me that she was going to miss me which was really emotional since she, too, had really come to be like a mom. She took care of me and forced medicine down my throat when my throat started hurting, she recommended all these cool places for me to visit, she cleaned my room, and she offered to loan me money when I was pickpocketed on the bus. As for James, he played the very masculine father who I was still intimidated and designed my tattoo with a care and creativeness that he would give for his closest friends or daughter. Overall, I loved these people and was sad to leave them behind.

After lunch, I showered and got ready for dinner. We were supposed to meet at a fancy restaurant, La Rosa Nautica, by 6pm and it was already around 4:50pm. I showered, rushed to pick up my laundry, and put on one of my nicer dresses and did my hair differently. It was the last night in Lima and I wanted to look and feel good, and go out with a smile on my face. I went downstairs where my mom and dad wanted to take family pictures since they knew they probably weren’t going to have much time to spend with me after dinner. They had friends over, I believe a play date for baby William and so they asked their friends to take the pictures. I asked to take a picture with my dad and my tattoo so I can have a souvenir of the artist that designed my first tattoo, my Peruvian dad. After the pictures I rushed to pick up Tess and we got to the restaurant a little late, but on Peruvian time.

The restaurant was gorgeous, built right on the ocean with lots of flowers and expensive looking décor. We took a lot of pictures outside since everyone was all dressed up which was nice because in a way, we all shared the same feeling of having to leave our home of 2 weeks. Dinner was great, our appetizers were 2 different kinds of ceviche, one with squid and one with fish, calamari, and muscles with cheese. I sat and shared with Karlayne, Tess, and Vinny whose company I loved. We shared jokes and stupid stories about school and the trip, all lively conversation. For dinner we had kind of a small portion of chicken which did not fill a lot of people up. And for desert, we had an ice cream crepe which was delicious. 

After dinner some of us went to Parque de Agua since a lot of people didn’t get to go the first time. I was the only one who went again, partly because I wanted to see the light show a second time and partly because I didn’t want the night to end yet. The park and light show was just as gorgeous and fascinating as the first time, but a little sadder because I knew it was our last night and I was hoping my parents were still up. 

I got home around 10:30pm and my parents were asleep. I was kind of disappointed but knew I had to pack my entire life since we were all meeting at the hostel the next morning at 7am. I spent the entire night packing my stuff and listening to music, trying to gather my thoughts and prepare for my next host family and adventure in Cuzco. I didn’t get to bed until about 4am because of my last minute packing. It’s funny how procrastination follows you anywhere in the world, even in South America.