Chiclayo

From Cajamarca we headed to the coastal city of Chiclayo.  I’ve heard so many people talk about how different the coast is from the mountains and I finally got to experience it.  I mean, even in the US there’s a difference between cultures and people of those two regions…but it was pretty different here.  When I heard “coastal city” and “beach” I automatically picture California beaches with skyscrapers lining the shore and amusement parks and shopping.  Not exactly the case here.

It’s pretty flat with a few mountains in the distance.  There aren’t many trees or green which I think is what threw me off the most.  It kind of reminded me of what I picture the middle east looking like….lots of brown and dirt and lots of small flat houses.  I’m sure the city has its own beauty, but it’s got nothing on Cajamarca.  

Well we got there Saturday morning at like 5:00 am.  We had a cab called for us to take us to Miguel’s sister’s home from the bus station.  We had the neighborhood she lives in but no exact address since Aleksi knew how to get there.  Sounds good until we get to the neighborhood and there’s construction blocking the main entryway and we get lost trying to find our way from the back.  It took a while, but we finally found the house and found a bunch of warm smiles greeting us.  Another blog post about the family coming soon.

We hopped in some beds and slept for a few hours before getting up and then heading to the BEACH.  I may have forgotten sunscreen on some parts of my body and therefore received some beautiful burns.  Oops.  It was fun to lay on the sand and play a little in the water.  It was my first time ever being in the Pacific Ocean too!!  

Our last day with Aleksi (Monday).

Chaco tan lines!!!!

Trying to show our nasty sunburns...

On Sunday we went to watch General Conference at one of the stake centers.  They set up some overflow in a tent in the parking lot which is where we went.  It was black on the inside with only one fan for the entire room.  Not only was it in Spanish, but we were tired and dying of heat.  It didn’t make it the easiest conference to pay attention to. 

The institute building.

 Later Sunday afternoon we went to an amazingly fantastic museum.  It is filled with all original Incan and pre-Incan ruins and artifacts.  I felt like I stepped into the prop shop for the movie “The Road to El Dorado!”  The artifacts were breathtaking!  They were so old and yet so well preserved.  Sadly, they take security VERY seriously there and absolutely no cameras were even allowed inside the museum (like they take a metal detector to you to make sure you aren’t bringing anything in…not even a cell phone).  They had huge headpieces made of metal, big necklaces, earrings, pots and even skeletons.  It was legit.

Our travel plans were a little chaotic but we finally just went and bought tickets to Lima for Monday night which meant we got one more day in Chiclayo than originally planned.  What do we do with an extra day?  Hit up the beach again!  This time we lathered up on sunscreen and wore our t-shirts over our swimsuits.  It was nice to have a relaxing day where we could just walk on the beach and take time to think and have peace listening to the waves and sounds of the ocean.

Lunch was a little sketch.  We just happened to pick the least clean restaurant on the beach and order raw fish.  Smart move chicas.  BUT we didn’t get sick, so all is well.  From now on we’ll try to be more careful.