Have you ever seen a llama?

The summer I graduated high school marked a significant event in my life. The summer of 2008 I traveled out of the country to Peru for ten days. I traveled with my aunt and my sister, Olivia. It was the first time in my life I went to South America. I experienced a new culture, gained a sense of spirituality, and received a new appreciation for my life.

            The first place we traveled to in Peru was the capital, Lima. I was very anxious on the plane, for it was the longest flight I had ever been on. It took us eight hours to reach our destination. We stayed at Lima for a day. It was not much unlike the city in LA. It had tall buildings with billboards and large outlet malls to go shopping. We ventured out and went to some of the stores and ate at a restaurant on the beach. In the restaurant I experienced a new drink. It was a lemongrass drink that is a common soda. It was not very tasty to me. In the restaurant our server spoke English. He gave us a tip since we were three female tourists, and told us to not take any cabs by ourselves. They had a problem with human trafficking over there. We completed our first day in Lima and went to our hotel at the end of the night.

            The next day of our trip we took another plane to Cusco. Cusco was a very beautiful city, and I saw many new places and a different way of life. There were children in the streets selling small hand woven puppets. They would run away and hide from the police, for it was illegal for children to be selling items to tourists. Students that were artists sold their paintings on the streets. In every restaurant they served “cuy de horno” translating to “roasted guinea pig.” It shocked me they ate guinea pigs as a specialty item. We experienced the history of the Incas. We rode horses through the woods that led to caves women and children hid in. We visited a couple museums and saw real mummies that were preserved. We saw street performers dancing in traditional Inca clothing. Every place we went to had something new and exciting to behold. My aunt then told my sister and me that the place we were going to next was the main reason for the trip. We would be leaving to see the wonder of the world, Machu Picchu.

            We stayed in Cusco for most of our trip, but then we left on a train to Aguascalientes. When we got off the train, we were informed there was only one way to reach Machu Picchu, and that was by bus. We took the bus and made it to the city. The scene I witnessed was the most stunning site I have ever seen. It was literally a city on the top of a mountain. Our tour guide led us through the mountain. Its foundation was made out of stone. There were wild llamas running around everywhere. On the end of the city was another mountain you could climb to see the view of Machu Picchu from above. We got in line, but to our dismay we found out only a certain number of people were allowed to go at a time. We waited for a while to see if we would make the cut. Fortunately for us, we made the cut and we climbed our way to the top. The view was worth the brutal hike to the top. We could see Machu Picchu’s shape which looked almost like a bird. The mountains around Machu Picchu were covered in fog. It cleared away to a remarkable view. It was a sight that not even a picture could capture. As beautiful as all the pictures we took, none could compare to actually seeing the whole sight.  

            When we were led through the city our tour guide pointed out the wild cocoa leaves that grew spontaneously. He told us the Incas used the leaves in a spiritual sense with prayer. He showed us how to pray with the leaves the way they did. It was a moment in my life where I really got in touch with my spiritual side. We went to a room with a small window where they prayed. One by one we held the leaves and he chanted the prayer. After that we held the leaves up to the window and blew them out. We left soon to the train to go back to Cusco. We returned back to the hotel we were staying in. Our trip was coming to an end.

            The plane home was a straight shot from Peru to the United States. We made one land in San Salvador. It took us twelve grueling hours to get home. The plane ride was not smooth or fun. We were flying in the middle of the storm. I remember looking over out the window and seeing nothing but black clouds. Lightning was visibly striking and I could only envision it hitting the plane. I looked over to my aunt on the verge of tears. She just told me we would be okay and not to worry. I had to sleep to keep myself from hyperventilating. She was right, for I did have nothing to worry about. We made it back home safely. Looking back on the trip I was able to reflect on what I experienced. It opened my eyes to the way other people live and celebrate their culture. It made me appreciate how I live my life and appreciate what I have accomplished.

            In conclusion, my trip to Peru was a significant moment in my life that I will never forget. I saw how the people in Peru lived their daily lives. I learned about their culture and their history. I saw the wonder of the world Machu Picchu and got in touch with my spiritual side. I reflected back on my experienced and gained a new sense of appreciation for my life as it is. Hopefully, one day I will be able to travel there again

the interview with my fellow classmate

I had to interview a classmate, and the classmate I talked to was Andrew Nelinger. He told me some interesting facts about himself. He told me he grew up in Moorpark. He did move to Thousand Oaks for a little while but eventually moved back to Moorpark. He told me his motivation to go to college was to get a better job and make more money. He prefers to go to Oxnard College because it is right next to the beach. He is studying to become a firefighter. I learned his dad is his inspiration. His dad started his own business at the age of 20 and has ran it ever since. He has a little brother who looks up to him and copies everything he does. Overall, I would describe Andrew as hard working, independent, and very respectful.   

America's next top model is...

I love watching TV. particularly in the evenings when I come home after work. However, I do not indulge in reality TV when I watch my shows at night. I usually watch Adult Swim or sitcoms. Reality TV is something I watch when I have nothing else to watch when I am home during the daytime. A show I will admit to watching is Wife Swap during the evenings sometimes. However, I do not obsess over it or care for it that much. When I was in high school I was more addicted to reality TV. I used to follow America’s Next Top Model like a religion. I watched two seasons of Flavor of Love and I watched the spin-off show I love New York. I remember watching at least two seasons of Rock of Love, then the spin-off for that show Charm School, but just the season with Sharon Osbourne as the teacher.




What I liked about reality shows when I was younger was all the drama they put on. The first episodes are always shaky because there are a lot of people. Later, as the shows progress, you become familiar with the characters. It almost seems real. You become addicted because either you can relate to a character or you are just fully entertained by all the commotion. It always ends with somebody in tears going home, and soon they progress to a final winner. Sometimes the winner may get their own show, if they are popular enough. After a while though, you realize it is all the same and I guess I got over it and now can barely make myself watch another episode. I remember just the other week I watched America’s next top model and I was able to pretty much guess everything before it happened. They are that uninteresting to me anymore.



I believe these shows target certain age groups. For example, when I was 16 in high school I loved watching America’s Next Top Model because all the contestants are around the age group of 18 to 20’s. What little girl does not want to be a model? This can either be a good thing or a bad thing for society. The good thing is sometimes; the winners may get money, fame, whatever they are looking for. The bad side is sometimes they could just end up looking stupid in front of millions of people. Every show has a writer and a producer who make the show they want it to be. Society is targeted for every reality show and the writers try to bring that element into the show. It is for pure entertainment. It does not portray reality at all. Reality does have its drama and its entertainment which is why I do not need TV to have that. It makes ordinary people celebrities for pretty much no reason. The shows find their target audience and use random unknown people to act to get ratings. It is purely for the money.

YOU CANT TEXT MESSAGE BREAKUP!!!

Texting has become such a technological advancement that it is hard to think back and realize it used to not exist. I can remember my first cell phone I got was in high school. It was the cheapest phone I ever received. It had a 711 logo and could not even take pictures. I could however, text other people. This was the beginning of a revolution to me. I remember learning how to text people. It was annoying because 3 letters were on one number, but after a few practices I learned very quickly how many times to press a number to get a letter, and I became very quick at texting.


Then it became almost an addiction. It was better than talking on the phone. You could “talk” to multiple people at the same time. If you didn’t want to answer someone else, or had to think about an answer before sending you could do it. Then of course later, when I got a job and some money I updated my phone. The first feature I made sure my new phone had was a keypad that looked like a keyboard so I could text faster than I could ever text before. I am not the only one.

Texting has its downfalls along with its perks. As much as I love texting apparently so does the world, of course including my sister. I used to drive around in a Honda civic. After a while, my sister would drive it to work also. One night driving home she was reaching down to look at her phone because she received a text message. In the action of looking down she hit a curb lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. This completed annihilated my car. My sister was ok with some scrapes and brusies, and was a little shaken but fine. I never drove that car again all because of texting.