Couch Surfing in Trujillo

Our time in Trujillo is quickly coming to an end. We have been here since Thursday morning and it has been quite an experience. After the ten hour bus ride, of which I slept the entire time, we met up with a friend of a friend who agreed to host us for five days while we explored the city. He has been a very gracious host recommending many great places to visit in the city. On our first day here we got settled in and took a little nap before deciding to go to Trujillo´s city center. The weather was pretty dreary, cloudy and kind of chilly, but we persevered and sought to find what the city had to offer...based on what we saw that first day, I assumed that it didn´t have very much. Although, I did get three very pretty hand-woven bracelets-one gold, one purple, and the other a mix of gold, purple, and black. I also got a trenza put into my hair which is when a piece of hair is taken and woven with any color string and beads you like, it looks really cool. The guy who did it for me says it will last a year and the best way to remove it is to cut the trenza off so that you will have the memory.

On this day, we also travelled to Huanchaco, the next town over, to find out prices for surfing lessons and relax on the beach for a few hours. On the way over, I had the most delicious pomagranite that I have ever tasted in my 21 years; it was so sweet and juicy, but the juciness of it made it very difficult to eat while in transit...let´s just say it got very messy. Once we arrived to Huanchaco, it was even colder than it had been in Trujillo. We did not want to relax on the beach in freezing temperatures, so we just decided to find out the price for surfing lessions and return to Trujillo. That night we made pisco sours with our host and his friend and played card games. It was a delightful evening and I got to work on my Spanish. I was a bit of a party pooper because I fell asleep while we were hanging out, but I put in at least two hours of quality hang out time, that counts for something, right?

On Friday, the weather was delightful: sunny with warm temperatures and a nice breeze. This change in weather gave the city an entirely different feel. I had restored faith in the offerings of Trujillo. We ventured to the ancient ruins of Chan Chan, about fifteen minutes outside of Trujillo. Chan Chan is the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America. It was constructed around AD 850 and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire in AD 1470. It was my first visit to any of the ancient ruins since I arrived in Peru. It was interesting to see the detail in the structures and the guide's explanation of the significance of these minor details, such as the inclusion of fish and pelican carvings in the walls, to the people and their society.

After the tour of the ruins, we returned to the center of Trujillo, but we stumbled upon a different part of the city center than we had visited previously. The taxi dropped us off at the most enchanting plaza called the Plaza de Armas. The buildings were painted in dazzling blues and yellows and dated back to the era of the Spanish conquistadores. We spent the rest of our evening in this area after visiting a large market that was basically a grocery store but in a roofed outdoor space. Once night fell upon the plaza, the cathedral and buildings were lit so beautifully and looked magnificent against the indigo sky, que bonita! While we were sitting there, a man came up to us and asked if he could speak to us about God and our religion. It was very interesting because he asked such explicit questions of us, but it was a good experience because he gave us his philosophy on love, what he calls the ´five truths´. According to this man, someone who truly loves you will: care for you, protect you, sustain you, understand you, respect you, and above all be faithful to you...while that is more than five I appreciate the point he was making and it made me ponder what I consider my own truths of love to be.

On Saturday, I decided to venture to the gym of Trujillo. The food here is very good and I like to eat a lot of it! The woman who ran the gym was very friendly and nice (like most of the people I have encountered since my arrival). She allowed me to use the gym even though she was technically closed for siesta. I was able to use the machines and work up a nice sweat. It felt good because I haven´t been able to do many physicaly activities other than walking since I have been here. Afterwards, I went to meet up with Caitlin in the Plaza de Armas once again. It was another sunny day in Trujillo and I was feeling very optimistic about the remainder of our day. We visited three places near the plaza that day- los casones , museo de jugetes, and another chifa restaurant. Los casones were really beautiful, but we were unable to go inside because it was a "private club". The museum of toys was really cute and I really enjoyed the way the owner had the toys seperated by categories and the way they were displayed. The Chifa restaurant on the other hand was not such a pleasant experience...let´s just say that will be our last encounter with Peruvian Chinese food for the remainder of our time here.

That night we had the pleasure of going to our first Peruvian birthday party. Once we got there, we were warmly welcomed by the birthday girl, then her mother served us a really delicious meal. I am not sure what it is called but it was a treat for my tastebuds. We also had yummy rum and cokes, they were muy fuerte. For a while everyone just sat around and looked at one another, mainly Caitlin and I because we were new people who obviously weren´t Peruvian. After a few rounds of rum and cokes everyone loosened up a bit and we began to dance to the mix of reggaeton and popular Peruvian music. Caitlin and I danced together the first dance, but I´m guessing this was improper because afterwards I noticed that the guys and girls danced together, standing across from each other in a line. We were each asked to dance by a male guest. The guy I danced with was named Jose Carlos and when we introduced ourselves, I told him my name followed by me encanta, he chuckled and replied thank you. I thought me encanta meant nice to meet you, but I found out later that it means I love you...or it, something to that effect. Oops! We ended up leaving early because we were tired, being quite the party poopers once again, but we enjoyed our time there nonetheless.

On Sunday we took it easy and went to the mall. It was huge! And had a movie theatre, Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonald´s. We stayed there all day exploring each of the stores. After going into about four or five stores we realized that 1) many of the stores carried the same items 2) they were items that we could buy in the United States and most important 3) they were too pricey for our budget. So we opted for going into the McDonald´s and getting tea and reading until the movie we were going to see, The Unborn, began. It was quite an experience to see a movie in a Peruvian theatre. Everyone in the thetre talked throughout the ENTIRE movie...including Caitlin and me. The movie was horrible and funny in places where it wasn´t supposed to be, but it was really fun to watch it with such an interactive audience.

So finally today! We came to Huacachina, a beach town about 30 minutes outside of Trujillo. We went surfing (my first time ever) and it was amazingly fun, difficult but very enjoyable. We got surfing lessons and tore up the waves...and vice versa (I wiped out at least five times during the first hour). When we first began our lessons the sun was out and it helped lessen the frigidness of the water, but soon after the sun went down and it was freezing (the body suit helped very minamally). After warming and resting our cold and tired bones we went out to this place called La Mamacha which had an "alternative" atmosphere-mainly floor seating, board games, karyoke, and ambient music- that was really chill. I had a very delicious soy buger that had fried plantains on it, it was heaven...so splendid in fact that I may dream about it tonight.

Tomorrow we will do more surfing and then off to Cusco and Macchu Picchu! I enjoyed my time in Trujillo and Huanchaco alot more than I did Lima. I am looking forward to Cusco and I hope that it is not too cold there. I will update again once I arrive.