Pre-departure...

I am leaving for Peru on Saturday..I have spent a ton of time getting everything I need to go.  I am really excited/nervous and just ready to go at this point.

I am staying with a host family in Miraflores which from what I have read appears to be a pretty wealthy suburb of Lima about 40 min away from the university that I will be taking classes at.  The house has an apartment attached to it where I will be staying along with a girl named Anna who goes to San Diego State University.  The family consists of a mother named María who is a dance teacher.  She has 3 kids- Manuel who is 22, Andrea who is 12, and Esther who is 10 -and a small shitzu dog named Pinky.

I am taking 2 advanced Spanish classes- Introduction to Latin American Literature and the Socioeconomic and Political Realities of Peru- at la Universidad del Pacífico.  I am pretty nervous about taking classes there.  I am pretty good at reading and writing in Spanish but my speaking skills basically suck (but I guess that's why I am going there!).

My schedule is really packed..I am in classes Mondays-Thursdays about 5-6 hrs per day and then Fridays-Sundays we travel throughout Peru.  The first weekend is a Lima city tour and the Pachacamac Ruins, the 2nd weekend we see the Nazca Lines, the 3rd is Lomas de Lachay, the 4th is Cusco/Machu Picchu and the 5th is the Fiesta de Despedida and when I fly home.

Saturday afternoon I will fly from Denver to Memphis, then to Atlanta and then to Lima which is a 6.5 hour flight so I should arrive there about 5 AM.

A few thoughts/expectations before I go...

1.  The trip to Nazca is going to be insanely frightening for me..you fly over the desert in this teeny tiny airplane that holds like 3 people total and the pilot has to tilt the plane basically perpendicular to the ground so you can see the lines (aaaaaahh!)

2.   I can't WAIT to go sandboarding.

3.   I had to get a lot of shots for this trip- Typhoid, Tetnus, Yellow Fever and Hepatitis A- let's hope my immune system is ready for this.  I have 4 prescription meds to take and a HUGE bag of like 30 other meds to take (again, aaaaah!).

4.   I have to pack my own toilet paper!

5.   I probably didn't pack enough winter clothes.

6.   Lunch costs only $10 per week (and it's like a 3 course meal!)