Hola Chiclayo!!!

Buenos Nochas Amigos!!
We landed in Chiclayo at 7:30 after a short plane ride from Lima. We were really sad to have left the Oscar Romero Retreat Center, but we are very excited to move on with the next part of our journey! After we had gotten unpacked and settled in a bit, we headed up to the roof for some good old wine and dine in the La Saranga Restaraunt! It was a chore and a half trying to decypher the menus and trying to decide what we wanted to eat. Some people decided to be adventurous and tried the Ceviche (Raw fish and other seafood cooked by the juices of lemon and lime). On the other hand, some people chose to stick with the more basic food such as fettucini alfredo or fries. We were also able to wet our whistle with Peru´s infamous Pisco Sour (pisco is the national liquor of Peru, then mixed with limade to make a delicious drink). After our late dinner, we all hit the hay to wake up for an 9am continental breakfast. We left the hotel at 10am to meet up with Victor and Isabelle, the founders of CICAP for a presentation about Cafe Feminino and their organization which is set up to aid coffee farmers throughout the region. Isabelle will be accompanying us on our three day journey into the mountains to visit the local farmers. Their presentation covered a little bit of the history of CICAP as well as the economic and social statuses of the farmers and their markets in the global perspective. After our meeting we headed out to exchange some money into soles. After the exchange Glen and Becca took us to a local restaurant where we had lunch and were able to sit back, relax, and mingle between ourselves for a little while. After lunch we had stopped off at the grocery store to pick up the necessities and some snacks for our hike into the mountains. Now that we are back at the hotel we are able to have some time to ourselves, but we are soon headed to bed since we have to leave by 5:30am to head into the mountains! This is somewhat the focal point of our trip that we have all been looking forward to. However this will also be the most difficult portion as well having to confront many different issues that will take it´s toll both physically and mentally.

I can already say and hopefully prove when I get back home that this trip has been life altering. With the four days that we had spent in Lima, Carmen and Brother Rego were able to transform and alter my whole perception that I have had of the world and third world countries. I still have another week and a half to take in all that I can about this country and it´s people. I am not a well travelled individual by any means as proven in previous blogs (my first airplane ride which I have now been in a plane 3 times!, my first time out of North America, and so on), but this country is so beautiful and inspiring because the people make it that way. From our Western or North American ideology we believe or perceive that these people have next to nothing, but I can tell you they have much more than what most of us have. They have kept in mind what we have lost sight of. They are so full of life and are genuinely interested in being your friend, or at least talking to you about who you are and what you are doing in Peru. It´s heart warming to open a conversation with someone in Spanish and have them try their best to reply in English. I have to say, a lot of their English is much better than my Spanish will ever be! This election that we were fortunate enough to be part of proved how the people bond together and have their voices heard to get what they want. It is a completely different end of the spectrum on so many levels, and I do not mean this in a bad way. Sometime´s it is beneficial to be reduced to your grass roots so that you stay honest and humble, and not take the things we have for granted (which I am most definitely guilty of). There is still lots more to take in and I am sure as I go many questions will be answered, but I am certainly looking forward to it and to be able to come home and share this experience! We won´t have internet access in the remote location of the mountain that we will be travelling to tomorrow, but we will make sure to update you on our adventure as soon as we can! Hasta luego amigos!

Sean