san diego

I took a trip down to San Diego and it was the world's quickest trip. I went with 4 other sisters from my mission and I just love roadtrippin so much! We had a lot of fun in the car so that makes everything worth it. Here are my friend Jessie and me so happy to be there!!!

 We went to down to hear this fella's despedida. I served in his parents' branch when I was a missionary. He has the biggest testimony and I am so excited for him to be able to share that!!!!

 He will be missed. Of course we stopped by the battalion and I almost cried because of this Sister. She is Sister Johnson and why yes she is wearing my dress! Crazy huh! I wish we could have served together because I think we would have been great friends =]

 I decided to take a trip south of the border for a couple of hours. I took the trolley from Old Town (something I had never done on the mission) and just walked across. Weird. They didn't ask for my passaporte o nada.

 I met up with a long lost friend! Well kind of. This is Ginny. She is Helaman's (the boy I lived with this summer) girlfriend. I had skyped with her and knew everything about her so it was really fun to meet her!!!!

 Although TJ is very americanized, it was still so great to be speaking spanish and it's just the small differences of being in a different country that I love.

 Like these colored houses so close together. Oh how I miss Peru for this reason!

 We waited in line for 3 hours to get back across but it was worth it, for me atleast!!! That's one more country down!

otoño en utah

One of the things I miss most about New Hampshire is the foliage in the autumn. It is so remarkably beautiful and I don't know how I have survived without it for so many years. I always say that the Utah mountains are ugly because they don't have trees on them. I still feel that way, but I went on a hike in the canyon and finally found some beauty. 

I tried to find an area that was all color. I think I did it. Hiking in Utah is different because there are no trees, so it's always hot; you never get shade. So to find an area with all trees was an accomplishment!

I went with my friend Sarah and her sister. It was so nice being outside in the fresh air enjoying God's creation with such good company. 

I did this hike a few years back, and unknowingly did the same exact pose. At least I am consistent!?

We went at the perfect time!

I loved how this tree was all by itself. It adds to the beauty, I think. 

I just love the many colors of fall. Six different sections of color in one picture. I should go fall hiking more often!

Las personas que extraño

These are some of the people I miss. I don't have pictures of everyone and I don't know how that happened. But here are some!

Eymi. She is so sweet and so involved with the JAS. She always got me going to dances and parties. She also helped me with my spanish a ton. 

Melanie! She is Eymi's sister. She was being me that night jaja. We went on many outings together and would laugh so much. She always said my weird english words that I would teach her. 

Helaman y Gianella! Helaman was who I lived with. He is like the younger brother I never had. We had so much fun together always. He has seen me at my best and worst. Words cannot express my love for him. 

Gianella Gianella. I love her. She is the sweetest person I have ever met. She is also such a teenager. She had a big crush on Helaman so if I was talking to him too much she would get mad at me and not talk to me. But she always told me "que bonito tu cabello!" Which made me feel good because everyone else wished my hair was longer in Peru, including myself. 

Gabriela! She was my mom for the summer. She made sure I was always OK. She stayed home with me the many times I was sick with a cold or food poisoning. She gave me opportunities to perform with her (as seen above) and aumentar my piano skills. She is always so happy and wants the best for everyone. 

OK I admit, I only knew these girls for a short time, but I had so much fun with them! They are so silly and make me laugh! I wish I had had more time with them =]

Luisa y David. THey are actually students at BYU but were doing a study abroad. It was so nice having friends to talk to in english! They were life savers at church jeje. 

Fiorella y Iris! I actually knew these girls in the MTC!! It was so good seeing familiar faces again in a land so far away. We did not spend nearly enough time together, but it's neat to know that I have life long friends wherever I go

TODOS ESTOS NINOS. This is the first grade class. They gave me so much stress but on the last day they behaved so well. I spent the most time with them out of any of the primaria and I really do miss them. Nicola, the one boy not waving, is one who I miss the most. 

Maria Jose! The four year olds were also very challenging, but I always made sure to sit next to her. She always asked me words in English, which made me feel worth while! 

Luchiii. She is the sweetest. I mean, look at that smile! When all the other five year olds were off task, she was working. Good girl. 

Ah mis 3 añitos! I was in this class the most. Every one of them has my heart. Antonella, Micaela, Maricielo, y Kiera. I just really love them.

ETHAN! He loved me. Therefore I loved him. He was always talking to me and asking me words in english and using his english. 

Luciano. Obviously my favorite because he's wearing a mario shirt. He was one of the students that just wandered around the classroom all day. He always made goofy faces which I know do. 

Mateo Valera. I don't know why, but his name was always followed by his last name. He is going to break a lot of girls' hearts one day. The first day I was there he ran up to me and gave me a big hug and told me he loved me. 

Las 5 años. I was also in their class a lot. Melanie, Delia, Flavia, y Jazmin. Only some of my favorites. 

6th grade. Just a great great class. They were all so nice and friendly with everyone. I could joke around with them and they filled me in on who was dating who and everything. I love that age. 

3 of the teachers of the kinder. Incredible people with incredible patience. 

I don't actually know these children, but that is the point. I loved the kids that would come up and just talk to me. Some just wanted a picture of the blonde girl. Others wanted to just talk to me. I miss that. A lot. 

Silvana! I love this girl with all of my heart. She knows all of my secrets. She taught me spanish songs and I taught her english songs. Not enough can be said about her. So much love. 

Like I said, I don't have pictures of others like Juan Carlos (the dad I stayed with), all of the Ballardo Family, the ward, more children at the school, etc! I MISS YOU ALL!

las cosas que extraño

I have been back from Peru for two months, and I still miss it a ridiculous amount. I miss those kids and their cute phrases and how they say my name. I miss my friends so much. After I go on adventures, I always vow to never do anything fun again because I always end up missing the people and the places. The world is just too big! I made a list of things that I miss. They are all the artificial things, aka not the people and things that are deep in my heart. But here are some!

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 Los parques. One night my friend and I walked around, found a park, and just sat and talked. It was so lovely. There are parques everywhere. Many are religious and have religious statues in the middle.

I didn't have a good picture of the food, but of the food that I ate, I miss the potatoes the most. Peru really has the best potatoes in the world. A popular potato dish is papas a la huancaina. It's a cheesy sauce. Ahhh I have been craving it! They also eat fries allll the time and I miss that too. In the picture above, I ate a straight up fish, head attached and all!

 LOS TAXIS. I rode in a taxi at least twice a day. Once going to school and once going home. I went with the maid in the morning and one of the teachers in the afternoon. I was never by myself. If I was with my friends, we piled four in the back seat often. I miss how cheap they are. I had a dream the other night where I was going into a taxi and they asked for like 100 soles and of course I knew better and was like "uhh 5 soles?" Silly dreams. I also miss the driving there. They don't really follow the rules. Weaving is a must in downtown. Honking of horns is constant. I miss the sounds the buses make. Their weird horn songs. Of course it drove me crazy at night when I was trying to sleep! But I long to be awake by those noises now. I also miss crossing the street. They don't stop for pedestrians so you are on your own. I learned how to guage how fast they were going so I would start walking and have them just barely pass when I crossed. It's weird crossing the street now and doing that same thing, but the cars stopping for me. I always feel bad, and a little silly.

I don't have a picture to represent this one, but I miss the fact that no one has keys to the house. We always rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. One time the keys got left in the house by both the parents I was staying with, so we had to go to the grandma's house late at night to get a key. And we were starving. Rough times. 

So that's what I miss right now. Obviously so much more. But it's the little things right?

El Centro

El Centro is what it sounds like, the center of Lima. As I was writing the title, I realized it was one of the areas in my mission! That El Centro, however, is in the middle of the desert, not a big city.
Well! Yesterday we went to El Centro and did some exploring! We started at the catacombs but weren't allowed to take pictures. I really loved being in there and being the music major that I am, loved the choir seats and the music book they read from. It was really cool going under the church and seeing the catacombs and the secret hallways.

 These birds randomly all started flying in circles. It was slightly scary.

 These balconies are all over Lima. They are in the Spanish section of Lima (when Spain was in charge) dating back to the late 17th century.

 Cathedral.

 What's a day in Lima without a jumping picture!

 Cute Incan dolls!

The best part of the day? It was SUNNY! Por fin! It was a really really fun day. We also went to Chinatown, but I didn't take pictures there.