Many things happened today in Peru: I got a job at a hostel. I ate (a lot) of Chifa for the first time. And I met a Peruvian pop star.

Let’s start from the beginning:

Around noon (because that’s when we woke up), Maddie and I went to one of Lima’s many chifa restaurants. What’s chifa you ask? It’s Peruvian and chinese fusion cuisine. AND OH MY LORD IT IS SO DELICIOUS!!! Many Chinese immigrants filled Peru during the construction of the railroad, bringing their traditional recipes to the region. What resulted was chinese food, using the meats, seafoods, and grains of the Peruvian country.

When we got back to our hostel, I began talking to the receptionist about the hostel, Lima, and basically everything in between. She said they were searching for an activities director, and before I knew it, I was accepting the position! I had an “interview” (erhm, if you can call it that…) with the hostel owner, and she said that once I get back from Cusco, she’ll teach me the ropes. I AM NOW EMPLOYED AT THE PARIWANA IN LIMA!! {Side note: I am trying to see if I can stay in Cusco instead, but if not, I would love to work at Lima’s!}

Afterwards, Christian picked us up and we toured the downtown district accompanied by his artsy, fashion friends. There was Romel and Ronato, a couple who runs “out of the box”; Sara, from the day before, a prominent photographer who’s billboards can be seen around the city; and of course Christian, who has taken the lead as one of Peru’s top hair stylists (and I’m so proud of him for doing so!).

In the downtown district, we toured Iglesia de San Francisco, the government buildings, another church where a gorgeous wedding was happening, and the AMAZING Plaza de San Martín. We ended at a historic hotel, where Romel and Ronato treated us to pisco sours (way fancier/formal than the other night’s and hence a bit more disgusting) and picados de pescado (like tapas).

After Christian decided to open my personal life up to the entire group, Romel, Sara, and Ronalto all discussed with him whether I would enjoy working in Cusco or Lima better. Meanwhile, Maddie and I sat there as we let them decide my life. An hour later, we were off to Romel and Ronalto’s rooftop apartment!

There house was OHMYGAAAASSHHH AMAZING.

Ronalto showed me and Maddie some of out of the box’s latest work, including spreads in periodicals, magazine covers, and music videos. As we were watching Mia Mont’s latest music video, Ronalto got a phone call. I was only half listening to his conversation as he invited whoever was on the other end of the phone over to his apartment for the “kick back” he was having with some chicas from California. As the music video was still going, he hung up the phone, pointed to the TV screen, and said “she’s coming over in a few.”

Honestly, I don’t think Maddie and I processed what he was saying and we were just staring at him, and finally I was like, wait “Mia?!” to which Ronalto replied “ya.” And lo and behold a few minutes later, this cute, pretty 20-something year old in stiletto booties walks in the door with her perfectly-groomed boyfriend.  We exchanged cheek kisses, and then I spent the next hour hitting Maddie under the table to silently communicate my “oh my god this is crazy” sentiments.

She was a really cool girl actually, and her English was perfect (she even threw in some sassy slang here and there which made me crack up). Her boyfriend went in Ronalto and Romel’s room to nap so I didn’t get to talk to him that much, but from what I could tell, he was really sweet as well. Apparently, celebrities are real people too!

A few hours later, we cabbed back to our hostel, where Maddie and I said goodnight to Sara and Christian. We packed our belongings, and got into bed, prepping to wake up early the next morning to fly off to Cusco! We’re off the Machu Picchu in a few days, and until then will be enjoying our time in Cusco, so updates soon to come!

~Besos~