Ica!!!!

Karaoke!!!

Sand Dooney!!!

Water Polo!!!

The Lagoon

The Nazca Lines!

Wow!!! Time has flown by! I returned home from a little vacation in which we stayed at a resort in Ica this past Tuesday. However, this is the first time I have actually been able to sit down and blog!!! Ica was a blast (Sorry about the picture overload but I just couldn’t choose which ones to upload!!!)

Derek salsaling down the aisle!

Let me start from the beginning. We woke up nice and early Sunday morning in order to catch our 4 hour or so bus ride to Ica. We finally got to the resort, received our free drinks and decided we were starving. It cost 50 soles to eat at the restaurant and we are all cheap college students so we hit the town to find somewhere to chow down! There were about 15 or so of us and we decided to take taxis to the main square. In that moment it was a little bit hectic because we were all standing on the street trying to find safe taxis and making sure there would be at least one male in each taxi. In the end, four other UNK students and myself decided to hop in a taxi. I guess all of us just assumed the other one knew where we were going. Unfortunately for us, when the taxi driver said “La Plaza del Sol” we all just looked at each other and said “Si!!!!” We got to the town square and could not spot the others. Right away I knew we were in trouble because trust me, gringos are easy to spot!!! We then called one of the others and discovered we were in the wrong plaza! We decided just to cut our losses, find a place to eat in the square we were already at, and then meet up with the others later. We ended up going to what we thought was a nice Chinese restaurant. It was pretty crowded and we figured that was a good sign so we went ahead and gave it a shot. We sat down and all of us ordered our dishes. Then, literally 45 seconds later (and I am not exaggerating) our food came. I am already quite a picky eater, and when that food got laid in front of me less than a minute later I was a little more than skeptical. Let’s just say, I left the restaurant hungrier than when I entered.

That's me at the top before I fell!

After our little dining experience we decided to stock up on food so we didn’t always have to go out to eat. While we were at the market, we decided it was time to have a little fun. We started salsaling down the aisles and ended up having a mini soccer game with a plastic ball! After we arrived back at the hotel all the UNK students enjoyed a fun game of water polo. Then, at 5 o’clock it was time to sand board!!!!!! Sand boarding is exactly like snowboarding except with sand rather than snow. For some odd reason, I was actually the first one to try my luck at it. I was a little nervous so I actually sat down on my board, then the hotel worker gave me a little push and all you could hear was me screaming as I zoomed down the mountain!!! It actually ended up being super fun! After about an hour I knew my little sand boarding adventure was coming to an end and it was going to be my last run down the mountain. I had seen people try their luck at standing down the mountain and I had also seen some pretty rough wipe-outs. In my mind I kept going back and forth about whether or not I should try it standing. Then, I thought of my brothers and knew what I had to do. My attitude this entire trip has been “You only live once.” I figured I might never get the chance to sand board again so I might as well “go for the gold.” I received a little push and I was off. Unfortunately, about half-way down the mountain I wiped out! But I am still sooooooooo glad I went standing up regardless of the soreness I felt the next day.

Monday morning we all headed to Paracas to receive a nice little water tour of sea lions, birds, and penguins. We also got a little peak at one of the Nazca lines. After returning back to our hotel we decided to go Sand Dooning. I got in the car and was a little skeptical when I saw the tools and fire extinguisher in front of me. However, it was blast zooming up and down the sand dunes! I love that feeling in your stomach you get when you are at the top of a mountain and know what’s to come! After our sand dooning we went out for dinner. After dinner, Laura, Derek, and I climbed in a mototaxi!!! That’s right, all three of us fit into the back seat of that thing! Once we got back to the hotel we had tons of fun just sitting outside and talking.

         Tuesday was our last day in Ica and we decided to go to this famous lagoon. After soaking in the view we each climbed into three separate boats. Each had a themed name and I ended up in the titanic. I felt like I was a slave in Egypt as I paddled our boat for Princess Laura and Nicki. After our little excursion we hit up the shops to buy some souvenirs and then climbed back on the bus to return home. 

         Even though this trip wasn’t filled with as many touristy places, I still loved it. It just makes me realize that life is all about the little things. How many times am I going to be salsaling down an aisle in a Peruvian grocery store??? Or when am I ever going to have the opportunity to sit outside and chill at a resort with all the other UNK students again??? I had a blast this past week in Ica and I can’t wait for what is to come during the rest of my time in Peru!

Just chilling outside!!! :)

                                                                         Mary