"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles."
~ Audrey Hepburn

5.08.2011

TITTY + CACA = JAJAJA

We decided to go to Lake Titicaca (which lies between Peru & Bolivia) because, 
well, it is called "Lake Titicaca" hahaha. I know you think it is funny too!
A Peruvian guy we met joked that the "caca" side belongs to Bolivia. 
That was pretty amusing until we realized that the word "titi" had no meaning to him!! 
We quickly explained the word's significance in the U.S. and he got a pretty big kick out of that. 

IMG_4291

When we added the lake to our agenda, I didn't know there was actually anything special about it --
I thought it was just a large body of water with a funny name. As it turns out, the lake is filled 
with reed villages. The villagers constructed tiny floating islands, which are made out of one
 meter of hard dirt and one meter of dry reeds, and they live on them!  We went on a boat tour
 in the morning and it was definitely one of the most interesting, amazing things I have ever seen. 


IMG_4319
IMG_4327
IMG_4329
IMG_4339
IMG_4343

When we stopped at one of the islands, the chief explained to us how they make the islands
and a little bit about their way of life. EVERYTHING on their islands are made out of reeds --
their houses, the furniture, and even some of their food! We were all so fascinated, 
but it got pretty awkward toward the end because it turns out the only reason they invite 
tourists on the islands is they want us to buy a bunch of their homemade souvenirs... 


IMG_4355
IMG_4358

IMG_4365

IMG_4381
IMG_4384
IMG_4385
IMG_4392

This next picture is my favorite. It looks like she is daydreaming.

IMG_4396

After our tour, we had about 6 hours to kill in the city of Puno before our LONG, LONG
bus ride back to Santiago. As it turns out, Puno is a really ugly, nasty, boring city. Maybe
that sounds mean, but I am not offering my opinion -- this is an objective observation. 
We ended up finding some place to eat and then spent a few hours in an internet café. 

IMG_4401
IMG_4402

Although the food was really good (I still fantasize about my pasta from time to time. 
It is the second one pictured) the service was so bad it was laughable. For example, 
the waiters could not describe ANYTHING on the menu... not even the ingredients! 
I think the icing on the cake was when a waiter brought out two identical pastas and tried to 
convince us that one of the them was actually a salad hahahaha. 

And thaaaat, my friends, is the end of our unforgettable, amazing, incredible trip to Peru.
If you ever get the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it! 

Life in Santiago has been rough since my return. 
I have had a lot on my mind and school has been a complete nightmare. 
Not to mention, it is so hard to understand Chilean Spanish 
after being able to understand Peruvian Spanish so easily!! 
Sigghhh. 

Thank goodness Miley Cyrus came to Santiago last week to cheer me up :)

4 comments:

Michelle said...

WOOOWWWWW i love all those pics!! the reed boats are to die for! good luck with your hw cellababy!

<3 shell

Bryan Murray said...

Crazy lake villages. Hopefully it wasn't too gimmicky with the souveneirs tho.

Your boat looks like it's from Lord of The Rings or something.

Pastas look yummy :)

P.S. Were there any hand motions involved in explaining the significance of the word "titi"? Just curious...

Anonymous said...

Mmm... quiero probar ese pasta. Se mira tan deliciosa! Y buena suerte con tu tarea. No te preocupas... todo se va salir bien :)

<3
Lex

Marcella Alyssa said...

Thanks Mitch! I wish you could've seen this! You would have loved it!

Bryan - Surprisingly, it wasn't gimmicky. There are tons of islands there and many of them are not available for tourists but they all (and all the people) looked identical
And yes the pasta was amazing. It was a bechamel sauce with prosciutto and ham! And hand motions may have been used haha...

Lex - MMM stop reminding me! Sooo good.