Actually from today...It was really nice to have a day with no real plans today. We woke up pretty early still because we're so used to it and we hiked up to Torre Torre, these awesome natural rock formations on the side of a mountain on the edge of town. The walk up to them through this really poor "neighborhood" was kind of sketchy as we had been told it was a dangerous neighborhood, but we had a big group and it was all fine. It was a really fun morning because we didn't really know how to get to Torre Torre, we just continued to ask our way around to find the paths. Once we got up there it was a really awesome view of the city in the valley and it was cool because we just made our own paths all around the formations and climbed all over them! We were all by ourselves until a few peruanos came up there and again we felt famous because they instantly wanted a picture with the gringos! It was quite the adventure, but we all made it back alive and well. Then we went out to eat lunch off the main square in Huancayo at a great little restaurant called Restaurante Detras de la Catedral. I had the best salad (here salads are not really lettuce but avocados!! my dream..) and an awesome lucuma (a famous fruit here) juice smoothie...We were pumped to have some really good food, plus this super nice european white looking man, Daniel (a limeno), who was the manager came out and started talking to us in english!! He gave us all kinds of advice about the area and history of Huancayo and Peru. He also gave us some tips about the glacier climb and which tour group to use, because apparently it's pretty intense and you need equipment. He told us that in like the late 1980's and early 90's Peru had all kinds of terrorism problems with the group called El Sendero (The Shining Path) especially around rural highland areas like Huancayo. Apparently, car bombs and other terrorist acts made it impossible to travel between the small village towns around here. He was explaining that this is what contributed to such poverty here because when this was happening the richer people fled the area but all the more impoverished people stayed here. It was very refreshing to be able to speak to a native who spoke English so well, and I think he was thrilled to talk to a bunch of white people because they don't come around here much!

This afternoon we went to a meeting thing that the KuraMe local EsSalud hospital volunteers invited us to today where we got to watch the girl who attempted to teach us Marinera actually perform the dance with a partner all in full costume. Sooo impressive! Tonight madre Elena cooked us trucha (trout) from a local river which was really good and then we are about to go to a movie at the mall here tonight. 

Torre Torre view of Huancayo (Lena from Chicago, goes to UC Berkeley)

haha goofing off trying some yoga on the rocks! tree pose, about to fall off!

Torre Torre from a distance, where we started

Marinera dancer friends

the path we had to walk up to Torre Torre through the rough neighborhood

from the festival on Friday at the school in Sicaya, Samaniego Vivas, sooo cute

the young class's little dance

other school in Sicaya that we taught lessons to on Friday, La Florida

i wanted to just take all these kids back with me in my suitcase!

the boys so into all the games we were making up