lauantai 22. helmikuuta 2014

Back in Perú

I've never had much interest in Peru but because of my dear little sister I've been there many times and that's why after Ecuador  I headed to Peru again. However, this trip changed my whole idea about Peru. I arrived to Lima but headed straight to a little village called Chicama in the department of La Libertad. The busdrive was absolutely fascinating, the bus drove on a coastal road where there was a landscape of the beautiful sea and sunset on the left side, and on the right I could see huge sand-covered mountains, it was an extraordinary an beautiful contrast of different colours and different shapes on the landscape on each side of the windows. In addition of the excellent bus service with food and pillows included, the 9 hours drive passed by in a blink.

As soon as I got my dear little Andrea (who wasn't that little anymore) to my arms I realized how much I've missed her. Even though, I only get the chance to see her every two years, I love her the most. She is the smartest, cutes and sometimes the most annoying little girl I know, haha. The days we spent together I tried to make it the best for us. I turned to be a kid again with her. Andrea made me jump and play on trampolines, she made me giggle like a little girl before going to bed and I even found myself running around the house with my face painted and doing the indian dance, there's nothing I wouldn't do for my little sister! 

Andrea lives in a small very peruvian village, Chicama, in the middle of the big corn and sugarcane fields. I loved the place, it's funny that we live in places so different, but I'm happy that she can live in Chicama. It's a quiet place where children can play outside safely, where everyone is somehow related to one and other or at least knows each other, where the whole community works for the common well-being, and for example Andrea's grandparents have a farm and a vineyard where they take care of the animals and can live a very down-to-earth kind of life. It made me think a lot about my childhood and the places where I grew up. I've always been a city girl, but now I learned to love the countryside. I think the environment where Andrea is growing up is ideal for a small child like her. I wish I had the opportunity of playing on the streets with all my cousins when I was a child or for example having chickens or getting our own eggs from the backyard... I'm very thankful for the big family of Andrea's in Chicama for making me feel like home, for letting me into their lives and showing me places around. I'm thankful because I've found one place more, where I can feel like home.




sunnuntai 16. helmikuuta 2014

Living the Coastal Life

"I’m sitting in a bus on the coastal roads of Ecuador, going from Puerto Lopez back to Montañita. Latin music is playing on the bus, it's salsa. I feel so happy and loving. I love South America, I love traveling, I love being on the road and I love the people I’m surrounded by. I feel better than I’ve felt in weeks. We just went to an amazing fishing town called Puerto Lopez, I loved it. We ate some seafood, got to now a local family, we snorkeled in the pacific ocean and got burned under the sun. Now, we're heading back to Montañita, the ultimate party town on the beach, to spend our last night with Zac. It’s hard to explain this happiness, but I feel like I belong to the waves of the sea and the unknown roads that are taking me to places I never thought I would see.”
                                                                                                                                       Ecuador 2.2.2014
           

Ecuador was lovely. The sea and beach always brings a certain atmosphere and feeling to the environment. 
In Montañita , the ”Magaluf” of South America as Sara and Zac called it, I loved sleeping late, having fresh fruit juices for breakfast, laying on the beach, checking surfers with a cuba libre in hand, sharing experiences with other travelers and, of course, partying at nights! The coastal chilled life tought me to live day by day, enjoy the moment and it made me do exciting things like surfing or dance in the club like-nobody-is-watching.
A fishermen’s town called Puerto Lopez, where all the rush and stress is forgotten, got me enchanted. I loved the easy-living life of this place with it's calm and relaxed atmosphere where people make their living of fishing and spend afternoons laying on the hammocks. I don't know what else to say, as I wrote before, I felt happy and free, no more words.