Walking tours are probably the best free things you could possibly participate in when looking to do something new in a foreign country.
On my third day in Lima, my friend and I went on a walking tour which took us around downtown Lima. We experienced riding a metro (not a train, not a subway…I’m not exactly sure what it is called) to downtown Lima. For sure, downtown Lima is vastly different from Miraflores. There were historical cathedrals and buildings, the popular Plaza de Armas (town square), and the City Hall. We witnessed the city hall guard (band?) performing. As touristy as that sounds, it was pretty cool.
We walked all around downtown Lima and by the end of the walking tour, I felt as if I could get around the area myself! We tipped our great tour guide and left the group to do some independent activities. I couldn’t take pictures inside, but we went to the San Francisco Monastery where we saw A LOT of bones. We walked through the catacombs and for a split second, I imagined myself alone and almost cried. It was intense because I absolutely detest catacombs (but I still went because duh- I was there for the experience).
Afterwards, we headed back to our hostel to relax and pack our things up. Our flight back to Arequipa was at 5 a.m. so we went to the airport at 9 p.m. (because we had a roundtrip airport express bus ticket), and slept at the airport. Before going to Lima, it was nice to think we could handle all the airport craziness that happens when boarding and getting off a flight, but when we got to the airport, we were actually sick and tired of the Lima airport. We slept through the night and got on our Avianca plane to Arequipa.
Less than two hours later, we arrived in Arequipa where the weather was FREEZING. The worst part about going back and forth to the airport was the fact that we needed rides to get to the airport. It was a big struggle because my host dad worked and couldn’t take me home. I was freaking out because I was supposed to be leaving for the US that same night. However, my friend’s host uncle took me back home and all was well. I got home, showered, and packed my things. My host sister was at school until night so when she returned, we exchanged our final goodbyes. She paid for my Uber, which I’m so grateful for because by the end of my trip, I barely had any money left.
It’s hard to even think back at the fact that I lived with a host family who did so much for me. They cared for me when they really did not have to, and I’m so grateful that I was able to meet them in my life. Referring back to my last post about there being so many great people in the world, I’m here to say it is still true. My host family was not paid for me to live with them. They did it out of their own free will and curiosity. And I can only hope that they learned as much about me and my life as I learned about theirs. My host sister cried and made me a farewell party before I left for Lima. There was a weird feeling in my chest because I’ve never felt so cared for from someone I’ve only known for six weeks.
When you hear that you grow as a person when you study or travel abroad, I can say it is totally true. You might not exactly know how you grew, just because it isn’t a physical thing, but you did grow. It’s all about learning that it’s not you and the world. It’s much more than that. It’s you, everyone else, and the world. People affect the way you think and live every day, but if you remember who you are and how you got to where you are now, living, gets easier.
I’m in the US now (obviously) and I miss going abroad and living to see the world for myself. Even with the struggles of having to communicate and get around in a foreign country, I would rather do that than stay in the same place forever. I think the most important thing about traveling through those hard times is to remember that no one ever lives the same way as another person. We are each different, but that’s what makes people so interesting and stories so great.
This is the end to my Peruvian journey. It was a long time coming- sorry I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been caught up in so many school things that I forget I need to calm down and take time for myself to do the things that make me happy.
And I hope you all take time to do the same for yourselves. If you’re like me, we have a lot of life to live. I know we all want to do things and make our dreams a reality now, but there really is only so much that we can do. Just try your best and everything will be okay.
This might be the end of my travel diary for now, but very soon I’ll be back touring and writing about a different country of the world. So, until then…
Thanks for reading
<3 Roseann
