There is no Nutella in Peru...

That is my lesson for the day. But I will get to how I learned that via the tales of my adventures as of late (I will skip Machu Picchu for now because if I try to catch up on everything, I will end up writing nothing at all bc there is just so much). So, I took my long-A ride to Arequipa last night. I was not a happy camper at the beginning of this viaje because I think I had my first true ¨the gringa got taken advantage of¨situation. Jose Luis called me a cab from outside our apartment. Jose Luis said it should cost 10 soles at the maximo, yet this guy said it would be 12. I didn't argue.. whatever. So he makes me pay halfway through the ride, which is odd, but again... whatever. So we exit for the Cruz del Sur Bus terminal, and we pass it. I notice this but didn't say anything beacuse I thought surely he'd drop me off around the back. Well about half a kilometer later he goes ¨here we are¨ at some other travel agency. I was like.. um NO señor, it is back there... and then he just pulled a bunch of BS about how he couldn't turn around (it was a one-way street, however that doesn`t mean he couldn`t have turned). I told him to give me 2 soles back then, and he got all offended and said he was a Taxista de confianza and blah balh and I just got really angry and told him off in Spanish (the best I could) and grabbed my crap and started walking. I was livid, and it really made me not want to take this trip. Fortunately things are much better now, but that damn taxi driver deserves to have his tires slashed.

So on a lighter note... :)

My bus ride to Arequipa ended up only being 15 hours instead of 19- a HUGE plus because it would've cut into my day to get here at 130pm considering the sun goes down at 6pm. Now, the bus ride itself... horrible. I got to choose my seat- so I was in the first row of the upstairs part, which was great because lots of leg room and windows (that I spent less than 60 sec looking out of the whole trip). BUT, my co-pilot at the front left of the bus was an 8 year old in a early 90's gansta jacket and who had to sit on the edge of his seat the whole trip to make sure he was blocking my view of the TV. Granted, it was much better to have a child next to me than ANY other form of human being (because I totally took advantage of the leg room he couldn't fill and he didn't scream or anything), but still- any excuse I had to be mad at him just for being a kid, I used (he started rolling towards me while we were ¨sleeping¨... not cool). We got served Peruvian dinner on a metal tray, watched Collateral, played Bingo (my 3rd time with this bus company, and my 3rd time to lose), and then lights out. Do you KNOW how loud a double decker bus can be?? I didn't. I swear we just made our own shortcut through the desert at some part, because the whole dang bus was shaking like crazy and the TVs rattled so loud it hurt my ears. It was a ridiculous amount of noise, but all together I got at least 6 hours of sleep, so whatever. They woke us up at 730am with Madagascar 2, which was entertaining (at least the parts when I could see through the kid were). Then we got to Arequipa. My hostel owner met me at the station, which was wonderful. We then arrived at the hostel, and I have my own room and bathroom for 30 soles (ten dollars). I put up all my stuff then went to the Monastery in town, which is kind of the main attraction. I surprisingly paid for a tour guide (looking at a bunch of empty rooms just doesn't make sense unless someone can tell you what they were), and I took a lot of pictures. It was really pretty. Arequipa is surrounded by 3 volcanoes, so I got some good pics of those. After the monastery I got lunch. I decided since I am lonely and this is the last hurrah before Peru is over, I'm going to enjoy myself as much as possible (within reason). So I got some typical Peruvian food on top of a building in the Plaza de Armas (main square). It was a stuffed Peruvian pepper with meat and raisins and cheese, and yellow pepper sauce and some potatoes. And some Cusqueña beer. Ohhh yeah it was good. I paid right as the Peruvian flute band started playing, and then just walked around town. Being Sunday, everything I wanted to see was either closed or closed at 3pm. I didn't finish lunch till about 230pm, so I had bad luck there. I at least got a good tour of the city by foot (which is BEAUTIFUL, all the buildings are made of volcanic stone and are white and it`s relatively clean here). I decided to spend the afternoon shopping (because I haven't yet, really), and that was fun. At 6pm I got to go inside the Cathedral and check it out. It has various parts from all over the world and was really pretty.

For dinner, I went all out. I don't care... I ate one PB sandwich and Gatorade all during my last trip- I'm tired of talking to myself in my hostel room... thus, I'll eat what I want! :) I went to a French-Peruvian restaurant called Zig Zag. It was nice enough that when I walked in they asked if I had reservations, and naturally... I did not. Had they asked "Have you showered in the last 24 hours?" or "Have you been wearing that t-shirt and jeans for the last week?" or "Can you afford to eat here??" the answers would've been no, yes, no... but they didn't ask, so booyah. The spiral staircase inside was designed by Gustave Eiffel, which I thought was really cool. I got a glass of "Trilogie" - a red wine from Argentina, and yep- ostrich with roquefort sauce and fried yucca. I wanted to get something French-ish (hence roquefort sauce), and the options were beef, ostrich, or alpaca. I've heard alpaca is like pork, and I've never tried ostrich, so there ya go. The yucca was my choice too- and it's delicious. The meal was great, I got my free olives and cheese and bread with anchovy butter and ohh free salad, and this delicious dinner. I sat in a corner by the window, so people tried to come sit at my table a few times ("don't mind me, eating alone... again!" ha) but I really didn't care. I just bring a book with me and talk to my waiters and enjoy my food and the view. It was truly wonderful, and actually, for everything I got (make that 2 glasses of Trilogie), it was only 22 bucks after tip. That is a STEAL, and definitely worth treating myself. I'll be at altitude again tomorrow, so probably won't be able to eat till Thursday... so I'm glad to go out with a bang :) Oh right, so they had a sister crepe-restaurant where I was REALLY going to splurge with a Nutella crepe, but alas- apparently Nutella is not yet in Peru and it is only on the menu for when it gets here. I think it's a sin to tease someone with that kind of advertisement.

Alright, I need to get packing. I leave my hostel at 7am tomorrow... yaaay :( Then just 5 hours later I will be in Puno and in the land of Titicaca. My hostel owner is picking me up there, too.. so that is good. The owner here is awesome and arranged it for me. She said if I don't like it I can just go to another place, but it's only ten bucks a night, so worth checking out.

Hope everyone is well, I miss you guys.. and only have 5 days left here!! aah :( I won't think about that for now. Hasta luego.