Sunday Funday

Church was early on Sunday. Well, I’ve been waking up a quarter to 7 for the past week or two, so it was early for most of us. The church sits right behind our hotel, so we walked over and were among some of the first to arrive. Doug and Dallin, the interns, attend the same ward, so they were there greeting and getting everything set up. Dallin plays the piano, so I got to sing instead of play. We sat in the back because we planned on leaving a little early so we could attend mass. When we did, we tried the front doors, and they were locked. We tried other doors, and they were locked. To our relief, a boy came and showed us they way out so we didn’t have to embarrassingly wait until the meeting was over to be rescued. The cathedral is kiddy corner to our hotel, so we walked a short block to meet everybody else for mass. Personally, I do not mind sitting and listening to other meetings, but I do not like to join in. The cathedral was very beautiful though. For some reason, they had decided to paint over everything. The walls were a hue of yellow with the ceilings painted with detailed replicas of famous works of art. The building was still gothic, but there was not any stone showing except for the tiled floor. We left mass a little early as well so we could catch our bus to go on our expeditions.

We started by traveling south to Huacas de la Luna y del Sol, which translates to Temples of the Moon and Sun. They are huge mud edifaces, eroded by the wind and ocean water from the coast, which marked an indigenous community that existed before the time of the Incans. We started our tour in the museum, which was only built three years ago. They displayed many artifacts and showcased the strange culture of the Moche people. Our tour guide tried to lecture us at every corner, but most of us got bored and wandered at our own pace. He probably didn’t like it very much. We then made a short trek to Huaca de la Luna where we hiked up the adjacent mountain a short way, then was able to enter the ruins. They are protected by roofs and glass walls to keep the rain water from eroding the ruins, but there has still been extensive damage done to it. The damage comes from erosion as well as grave robbers before it was excavated. Anyway, the walls of the temple are lined with intricate designs of red, white, black, blue, and yellow. The outside layer of the temple was lined with colorful drawings and murals. The view of Trujillo is spectacular from the top, as well as the view of the excavation of the ancient city, which lies in between the two temples. We didn’t get to see the other temple or the city, but with the tour guide getting impatient, one temple was enough.

We then drove an hour north to visit Huanchaco, the city with the best surfing in Peru. We had lunch at a restaurant almost on the beach, and I had the best fish ever. It was covered in various fried seafood and leche de tigre, which is the juice from ceviche. Down the road a little ways was a little market, and I found the Peru jacket for Rhett I had been looking for.

The beach was calling our names, so we took off our shoes and played on the playa until we had to go. I wore shorts, but not shorts I would want to go swimming in. Brennon and Cooper purchased cheap Peru swim trunks from the market, and they went full out into the cold ocean. The pool water at the hotel was much colder though.

After an hour-ish of beach time, we piled back into our cramped bus and shuttled to the Chan Chan ruins, which was between Huanchaco and Trujillo. These, too, are made of mud, so erosion has left the city in ruins. There has been some restoration, but it mostly blends in with the real ruins. It was fascinating, but mostly it was the same thing in different shapes. What was left of the designs was really cool; there were fish and fishnets and squirrels, but mostly, it looked like melted crayons. I may just be a Debbie-downer because our tour guide was getting ornery, but we just meandered at our own pace.  Late in the afternoon sun, our tour was finally over, and we made it back to our hotel and got some rest.

We had a semi-late lunch, so I was not hungry for dinner. We walked to the closest bodega, and I got a Coke and a candy bar. This bodega owner is starting to recognize us because we are the Americans who buy out all of his Snickers. The other guys went out later for chicken, but I was not feeling that kind of meal, and my snack was just right.

The funniest part of the day was in Chan Chan when we were deciding who of us would win if we had a Hunger Game. Everybody was throwing out ideas and laughing because mostly it was just fun (and a little button pressing), but to top it all off, we watched The Hunger Games before we went to bed. And when I say we watched it, I mean we watched the first 20 minutes of it then fell asleep on Susana’s queen-sized bed. Susana kicked us all out so she could get to sleep, and I gladly crawled into my bed.