¡Vamos a Acampar!

It's taken a week, but I finally found a beach! And like everything I do here, it turned into an adventure. Here it goes.
Part 1: Taxi-Taxi- Taxi-Bus-Taxi
Joey called me Thursday morning in a semi-panic saying I had about 2 seconds to decide whether or not I wanted to go camping with her and Raighne that day because her host mom had to buy the tickets asap. Since my brain wasn't fully functioning yet, I said "uhhh, okay?" At that point the plan was to take a 7 hour bus ride north to Trujillo so we could camp on the beach. About an hour later the plan changed to taking a 4 hour bus ride north to Huarmey to camp. I scrambled to the grocery store and made about 10 laps around the aisles trying to find "camping food." I then took a 10 minute taxi ride to Magdalena del Mar where Joey and Raighne live. By the time we got a taxi to the bus station it was 3:30. We had to be in downtown Lima at 4, during rush hour, um not happening. Traffic in Lima is basically a giant game of chicken. Cars are smashed together in every direction, stoplights are totally optional, and you can't even go 2 seconds without hearing a horn. We got to the bus station 10 minutes late and missed the bus. Devastated, we went back to Magdalena and formed plan C. This time we took a taxi to a different bus station and got a bus headed to Asia, an hour south of us. Note that by this time it's dark and we're still planning on finding a camping spot and setting up a tent. On the bus we watched a movie that was the most violent love story between the Norwegians and the Japanese. It was called Dragon Bridges? Unclear. After about 2 hours the bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere where we somehow flagged down a taxi to take us to the beach. 4 taxis and a bus later WE MADE IT!
Part 2: "Tell us all the swear words you know"
Joey set up the tent by herself. I documented. And who knows what Raighne was doing. Within 5 minutes everything and everyone was covered in sand. To celebrate the successful set-up of our new house, we busted out a loaf of bread, some weird red pepper sauce in a packet, mini bananas, and the Boris. Boris was a fine $4 vodka that after one sip each, it was decided he should go back in the tent. Post-feast we romped around in the water, discovered a giant beached jellyfish, and were given ice cream by the only other people camping on the beach. Three Peruvian girls (all around 18 years-old) beckoned us over and were nice enough to offer tequila and limes. Since it was already midnight we passed, but they managed to finish the bottle by themselves. After making small talk, 2 of the girls (one had fallen asleep at the table) asked us our signs and upon learning Raighne was a Virgo let Joey and I know he was a liar and obsessed with money. Good to know. Thanks. They also wanted to know all the bad words we knew in Spanish. Thanks to Kelly, I am the proud owner of a book called Dirty Spanish that provides me with all the naughty words anyone would ever need. Needless to say I impressed the girls with my extensive knowledge. They asked us if we knew Hannah Montana and if we live Finally around 2 we wandered back to our tent for quite possibly the worst night of sleep. None of us had pillows or blankets so we were literally just sleeping on the beach. Ugh.
Part 3: Good Morning Ocean!
Okay, so although the sleeping part was awful, the waking up to sun and ocean was fantastic. We lounged, we swam, we got even sandier. For lunch we wandered over to a tiny restaurant futher down the beach where we had a feast of fried rice and ceviche. Ceviche is fresh fish that's been cured in a lime/cilantro brine. It was the best meal so far. Also it was only $4.50 which made me love it more. After lunch we decided we were all beached out and couldn't make it another night on the sand so we set off in search of a taxi. An hour later we found some naughty/adorable children who helped us flag down a taxi that took us to the bus stop in, once again, the middle of nowhere. The bus brought us back to Lima where I took a taxi back to my house in Miraflores. I was gone maybe 24 hours, but I can't tell you how happy I was to be back home where Maria cooks me the BEST dinners.

Also my entire body is a really great shade of red. Thanks peruvian sunshine, looks like we're going to have one of those love-hate relationships.

Tonight I'll be going to my first discotheque with kids from my program. When Peruvians go out, they go to the clubs around midnight and stay until 5 or 6 in the morning. That's actually my favorite time to sleep, soooooo I'm not entirely sure how tonight is going to go. Wish me luck?