catching up

so let´s see, I arrived back in Bogota Monday night, and was invited to friend of a friend of a friend´s girls who were my age birthday party, so I went over to Valentina´s apartment and met her and Paula, who were both so so sweet, cute, and eager to show me around!
Tuesday, my friend from school in Chile had a layover in Bogota so we managed to meet up downtown. We spent several hours wandering around La Candelaria, met a man eager to practice his english by asking ´´What. Is. Your. Opinion. On. John. Wayne.... What. Is. Your. Opinion. On. Hollywood....´´umm. Then, we wanted to go up to the church overlooking Bogota called Monserrate, so we climbed up towards that way, flagged down a bus, and asked the driver if he was in fact going to Monserrate. He said yes, so we hopped on. 20 minutes later, we are in the middle of the industrial part of the city, obviously far from the hill, and with no idea where exactly we were. So I asked the driver again if he was going to Monserrate, and he said No, obviously. So we got off, and asked another driver if he was going to the downtown. He said yes, so we got on. Another 20 minutes later we realize that we are still no where near where we wanted to be, so we got off and finally got a cab. That night I met up with Paula, and she took me to go eat in the uber trendy Zona T, a t-shaped pedestrian street with tons of cute and different bars, restaurants, shops, very beautiful and filled with beautiful people. We ate at Wok, where I had tofu curry (and they even had raw options on the menu, surprisingly). Then had yogenfruz! And then I went home.
Wednesday, I moved all my stuff over to Paula´s house where her family graciously invited me to stay, and then she and her mom dropped me off at the neighborhood called Usaquen, which is a couple of streets of old houses filled with more trendy restaurants, art galleries, etc. I enjoyed wandering around there, eating a coconut popcicle, and just exploring.
Then, I went with Valentina and Simon (paula´s brother), out to Parque 93 which is yet another square filled with great places to hang out, and we watched some football game that was apparently important. They introduced me to Aguardiente, and I can safely say just the thought of it now makes me want to vomit. But we had a great night out, dancing, and when I told them I had to leave for the airport at 5am they said ´´Ok, we´ll be back by then!´´ So I had such a great time with them, they were all so sweet to welcome me, and make me feel at home. After I met them, I liked Bogota even more, and definitely could see myself there.
Then I was at the airport at 6am, miserable, and off to Lima! 3 Weeks was just enough to give me a taste of Colombia, and to know that I Definitely want to come back and get to know more!!!

Thursday I spent the day relaxing in Lima, Friday I got a much needed pedicure and watched in amusement as the pedicure lady was horrified at my dry scaly legs.. Then I took the overnight bus to Arequipa. My other suitcase that I left at the hostel in Arequipa was thankfully still there in one piece! I ate some middle eastern food (plentiful , cheap and delicious in that city), and went to the museum where the 500 year old inca mummy Juanita is on display... so cool!!! They had all the artifacts and tapestries that she was buried with, and she was in remarkable conditon. Then I restocked my book supply, and I thought I had enough for the whole month, but now I only have 1.5 left... ahh. Sunday morning I took the 6 hour bus to Puno, and arrived here in the city! Found my hotel, found the Pro Mujer office, and relaxed in order to adjust myself to the altitude.