CRAZY weekend escape...

Okay, I have to offer you the play-by-play of this weekend. Seriously, it was ridiculous.

The plan: Go to Arequipa to see Gonzalo Cerati, a famous Argentine rock musican, perform. The original idea was to get on the bus at 4am on Saturday morning, go to the concert, and return to Puno on the Sunday bus at 4am. Here's how it went down:

Friday
8:30pm- begin celebrating the weekend at Mojsa by sharing a bottle of Argentine wine (in honor of our beloved Cerati, of coures)
8:45- three separate tour groups, totaling 35 people show up for dinner ALL AT ONCE! The head chef had already left and the restaurant was short one waitress. We quickly put aside our half full glasses of wine and start working. Yup, I played waitress for two tables of Dutch tourists that night.
10:15- plates are empty and the tired tourists head off to their hotels. The restaurant door is locked and, after running around like maniacs for the past hour, we return to our wine and conversation
11:00pm- cuban salsa lesson with our Swiss professor. We had to warm up a bit for our first exam...at the discoteca.

Saturday
12:00am- off to Domino, the discoteca to dance for a few hours. Always a blast.
3:00- we leave the club to gather our stuff, jump in a cab, and arrive at the bus terminal
4:00am- of course the bus is late! As we are waiting, Yerson suddenly decides he doesn't want to go!!! An intense conversation ensues as we try to convince him...but the decision is made just as the bus starts to depart. We go RUNNING after the bus and make it just in time as it leaves the terminal. Oops....we all make it except Gabo!!! He jumps in a cab and chases the bus down about 2 miles later. All on the bus, minus Yerson, we sleep after a long evening of dancing.
9:00- arrive in Arequipa practically sweating...it was soooooooo hot on the bus. We jump in a cab and head over to Giorgio's house to freshen up.
12:00pm-everyone is starving and we decide to hunt down lunch. Chifa (Chinese food) is the choice of the crowd...mmmmmmmm fried wontons and white rice. A few other friends show up (the group I was traveling with all are friends from high school. Half of the group still live in Puno while the other half have migrated to Arequipa). We are now joined by Gonzalo and Martin. Only one word is need to describe these guys: HILARIOUS.
1:00- content with our full stomachs, the boys decide to go to a picateria to have a beer. Basically, this is a typical little patio restaurant. Here's the interesting part. There are 8 of us and they order 3L of beer. The beers arrive with two cups- one glass and another plastic. The beer is served in the round and after each person drinks their glass cup they "clean" it by pouring the remaining fizz into the plastic cup. Girls never serve themselves in the round. The male preceeding the female offers her a cup and then serves himself.
4:00pm- After a total of 9L of beer (I passed after I had probably consumed a total of one 12oz. beer), we decide to head out to prepare for the night. Giorgio asks everyone to be at his house AT SIX ON THE DOT. Ursula and I head to the main square of Arequipa to walk around and have a cup of coffee.
6:00..on the dot- Ursula and I return to Giorgio's house. We are the first ones there.
7:30- everyone finally arrives at the house and we pass out our tickets and jump in cabs to head off to the concert.
9:00pm-the line moved through quickly, and we are inside the Beer Garden of Arequipa (beautiful stadium). I have my first bag of popcorn in MONTHS! mmmmmmmmm. lights suddenly dim and the concert begins! The tickets cost 15 soles (less than $5) and we are within 20 yards of the singer. The light effects are awesome, the music is spectacular, and the crowd is completely tranquile. All in all, probably one of the most enjoyable concerts I have ever attended.

Sunday
12:00am- Cerati finally takes his last bow. He played for two hours straight and the crowd kept begging him for more. We are a little cold and tired and decide to look for cabs to head off to Gonzalo's house.
2:00am- After walking roughly 2 miles trying to hail cabs we FINALLY make it to the house. The guys get pisco and sprite but Ursula and I are exhausted. We go to sleep upstairs in the guestroom.
(NOTE-we have missed our original time to return to Puno...but sleeping seemed like a MUCH better option)
5:00am- We are rudely awakened by the boys. They want us to help them finish the bottle, but I put up a good fight of refusing to open my eyes and sit up. I win and go back to sleep. Everyone finally calls it quits and sleeps on couches throughout the house.
7:00am- Ana wakes me up for breakfast. Not a problem! I jump out of bed and the three girls head to the center of Arequipa for a nice breakfast of bread, coffee, and fruit. We are completely "despeinada" (messy hair, overly tired), so luckily the plaza was empty!
9:00am- Back to Giorgio's house and freshen up. We're waiting for the boys to wake up and meet us at the house. I promptly sit on the couch and fall asleep.
11:00am- The boys show up and we start flipping channels on the t.v. Giorgio has cable!!! ESPN!!!!!!!!!! I got to watch a bit of football!!!!!!!!!!!!! My weekend was complete.
12:00pm- We say goodbye and the original Puno crew finally heads out to the bus terminal. The most comfortable bus leaves at 2pm. We grab lunch and blow sighs of relief as we watch the much less appealing 1pm bus leave the station.
2:00pm- On the road again
7:00pm- Back in Puno. I run home for my meeting with the Proyect Community Amantani team. I will share more about that in the future.
9:00pm- In Mojsa to grab a bite to eat and chat with my travel companions. The University of Puno is still celebrating it's annivesary in the streets and we decide to run around and take pictures.

It was a crazy, fun weekend. I will not forget this one and all the friends I made.