HI! Ok. First I have to catch you up on some cool things that have happened/are happening!
-Yesterday for our Ethics class we had a round table discussion with Carlos Ferrero, who is a Peruvian congressman. He has been involved in the government for a really really long time and he used to be the Prime Minister of Peru. He worked under President Fujimori, but left when he found out about the corruption that was going on. Now he is part of Toledo's party. (Toledo was a president that followed Fujimori..I think. The political system here is quite confusing and we've only learned about it in Spanish so I THINK I have all these details correct...) He was a really charismatic guy and it was fun to talk to him. It was just really interesting to hear the perspective of someone who has been very close to a lot of the corruption that has happened in the government. He definitely didn't approve of the things that were being done, but he also said that he thought there were more important things that needed to be addressed before corruption, like unemployment. I was really happy that we had the chance to hear his opinions and ask him questions. It was kind of scary, though! We were speaking with a really important government official! In Spanish! I was really nervous that he wouldn't be able to understand me or vice versa. But I thought that everyone asked really good questions and the language thing wasn't really a problem. He was very understanding and didn't mind that we sometimes didn't have any clue what was going on. :) I think we are going to be having more discussions with him in the coming weeks.
-Slightly less intellectual event...:) Tonight I am going to the Backstreet Boys concert!!! Hahaha. I never would have gone in the US (I was more of an N'Sync fan, actually...) but the ticket was only about 25 dollars and a lot of my friends wanted to go. It'll definitely be a fun experience.
-Last night I went to dinner at Bethany's house with my whole family. It was really fun because Bethany's real parents from the US are visiting this week, so they were meeting everyone and getting to see where Bethany lives, etc. Seeing them here was weird (even though they aren't my parents!) because it was like two different worlds merging together. It was really cool, though. Luckily both of our Peruvian moms speak English pretty well, but Bethany's host dad doesn't really, so she had to translate a bit. Ok. Now for my Big Realization. I've been feeling a lot lately like I have no idea what is going on and I just have been kind of hard on myself for not being as good at Spanish as I think I should be. But being around people who couldn't communicate with one another more than with just a few words made me realize how much progress I've made since I've been here. It just made me remember that I really DO understand a lot and I know the general idea of what is going on in a conversation.
Anyways, it was lovely to have dinner with all those lovely people. It made me really really excited for when my parents come to visit me, which is going to be on March 29th!!!
Another thing about last night was that I just felt really thankful to have been placed with my host family. They are really great people and I just love them. I really feel like I am a part of the family!! :) And I'm extra lucky because Bethany's host family and mine do lots and lots of things together. I feel like I have two wonderful Peruvian families!!! :) :) Its just really amazing that these people have been brought into my life.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Regarding cars and the traffic of Lima.
I was riding home from the beach today with my sister, Bethany and Bethany's host mom and thinking about how crazy the driving is here. I would never ever in a million years attempt to drive here. There are no rules and people are just running red lights all over the place and doing all kinds of really crazy things. I try not to sit in the front seat of any vehicle I ride in because it scares me too much to watch what is going on. Anyways, I was just thinking about how amazing it is that people are really insane on the road, but I hadn't seen any accidents AT ALL. Weird, huh? You'd think there would be crashes all over the place. But no, not a single one!
Five minutes after I was thinking about this, we went past a line of four cars that were all smashed together. It wasn 't a terrible accident but it was the first one I'd seen here.
Sorry I've kind of been neglecting my blogging. The last few days have been quite busy. More tomorrow. That day in the sun's worn me out...I need to sleep!
Five minutes after I was thinking about this, we went past a line of four cars that were all smashed together. It wasn 't a terrible accident but it was the first one I'd seen here.
Sorry I've kind of been neglecting my blogging. The last few days have been quite busy. More tomorrow. That day in the sun's worn me out...I need to sleep!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Things that make me laugh. 2
This morning, Bethany and I were walking in this park that is close to her house. (We have been going for power walks every morning! Its so nice to get out and get some exercise and to get to know the neighborhood a little better!) Anyways, we were walking along and kind of got stuck behind these two old ladies who were also walking. When they realized we were behind them they said something along the lines of "Girls!! Pass us! Go ahead! You're younger and much faster!" It was really cute and funny and we kept passing them as we went around the park. So now Bethany and I have walking buddies. :)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Things that make me laugh.
One of the things that makes me laugh: My host brother. Ok, so tonight, I had to stay after classes and work on a group project for tomorrow and I was kind of in a cranky mood because it takes about an hour of driving through scary traffic (Today it was especially scary. I literally thought I was going to die about three or four times.) in a kind of sketchy van (called a combi...I think I described them before?) and I was really really hungry and just ready to be at home. Finally I got home, glad to be alive (!), and I went into the kitchen to have something to eat and in the garden were about 10 of Marcos' friends, all playing poker. So I was just sitting there eating and talking to my host mom and he came in to show us how much money he had won from his friends. Which was actually a lot! And he had sunglasses on, so I asked him why he was wearing them in the dark. And his response was to do this suave James Bond-y gesture and say, "That way....they can't see my expressions! That's how I win all this money." :)
We all burst out laughing. It was really funny.
Sunset in the desert!
Our dunebuggy. It looks hardcore, doesn't it? Flames and everything...
We all burst out laughing. It was really funny.
In other news...(gosh! There are so many things I wanted to write about here...hopefully I'll remember them all....)
We got back yesterday from a really really fun weekend trip! We left last Fri. morning and took a bus to Ica. That is a town about 2 or 3 hours south of Lima. It was just the ten Luther students, our professor and Wendy, our ISA go-to girl. (She is really wonderful. She's 26, from California but her parents are both Peruvian, and her job is basically to help us out when we need it and to plan all the trips that we take together on weekends. Its a lot of work but SO COOL! She gets to travel around and meet tons of people. She is just really fun and I think I would like to have her life in a few years....:)
So..we arrived at our hotel in the afternoon sometime on Fri. The hotel was actually in a place a little further along than Ica, called Oasis de Huacachina. Its this tiny little town that is built around a lake in the middle of the desert. When we got there, we had some time to just hang out, so some of us climbed a sand dune that was right behind the hotel. It was one of those things where we thought we could just run up really quickly but it turned out to be REALLY hard to get up there! (Duh, Kia...its a hill of sand!) My calves were dying and we all had to take lots of breaks but we finally made it up and it was so worth it. We had a gorgeous view of Ica and of the rest of the dunes surrounding the oasis. It was indescribable. Sand dunes are just so...I don't know...there's something very compelling about the desert. After taking lots of pictures, we ran down the dune back to the hotel. That was so much fun. It felt like I was flying down the hill.
When we got back, we went on a dunebuggy ride. Which was AMAZING. Luckily I didn''t read this until after I went but my Peru guidebook says to go at your own risk because the drivers "are notoriously unsafe"...
Our drivers seemed to know what they were doing, though, and it was a blast. It felt like a rollercoaster because they just drive right up and then down the other side of the sand dunes. As we were driving I just keep looking around and marvelling that places like that exist on Earth!!! Its just so incredible! We stopped once in awhile to take pictures and to sandboard, which is exactly like snowboarding but on...SAND! Haha. It was kind of scary at first but when I finally worked up the courage to just go down the hill, it was amazingly fun! I went laying down on my stomach because I didn't think I could go down standing up. It freaks me out to have both of my feet attached to one board...
We kept working up to bigger and bigger dunes and by the end, we were going down some pretty huge ones. It was so so so much fun...probably one of the coolest things I've ever done.
That night we just relaxed by the pool, had dinner, and hung out some more. It was really fun because I feel like we are really getting to know one another better. When you travel with people, I feel like you get closer so much more quickly.
We got back yesterday from a really really fun weekend trip! We left last Fri. morning and took a bus to Ica. That is a town about 2 or 3 hours south of Lima. It was just the ten Luther students, our professor and Wendy, our ISA go-to girl. (She is really wonderful. She's 26, from California but her parents are both Peruvian, and her job is basically to help us out when we need it and to plan all the trips that we take together on weekends. Its a lot of work but SO COOL! She gets to travel around and meet tons of people. She is just really fun and I think I would like to have her life in a few years....:)
So..we arrived at our hotel in the afternoon sometime on Fri. The hotel was actually in a place a little further along than Ica, called Oasis de Huacachina. Its this tiny little town that is built around a lake in the middle of the desert. When we got there, we had some time to just hang out, so some of us climbed a sand dune that was right behind the hotel. It was one of those things where we thought we could just run up really quickly but it turned out to be REALLY hard to get up there! (Duh, Kia...its a hill of sand!) My calves were dying and we all had to take lots of breaks but we finally made it up and it was so worth it. We had a gorgeous view of Ica and of the rest of the dunes surrounding the oasis. It was indescribable. Sand dunes are just so...I don't know...there's something very compelling about the desert. After taking lots of pictures, we ran down the dune back to the hotel. That was so much fun. It felt like I was flying down the hill.
When we got back, we went on a dunebuggy ride. Which was AMAZING. Luckily I didn''t read this until after I went but my Peru guidebook says to go at your own risk because the drivers "are notoriously unsafe"...
Our drivers seemed to know what they were doing, though, and it was a blast. It felt like a rollercoaster because they just drive right up and then down the other side of the sand dunes. As we were driving I just keep looking around and marvelling that places like that exist on Earth!!! Its just so incredible! We stopped once in awhile to take pictures and to sandboard, which is exactly like snowboarding but on...SAND! Haha. It was kind of scary at first but when I finally worked up the courage to just go down the hill, it was amazingly fun! I went laying down on my stomach because I didn't think I could go down standing up. It freaks me out to have both of my feet attached to one board...
We kept working up to bigger and bigger dunes and by the end, we were going down some pretty huge ones. It was so so so much fun...probably one of the coolest things I've ever done.
That night we just relaxed by the pool, had dinner, and hung out some more. It was really fun because I feel like we are really getting to know one another better. When you travel with people, I feel like you get closer so much more quickly.
Sunset in the desert!Our dunebuggy. It looks hardcore, doesn't it? Flames and everything...Me! Awkwardly standing in the desert.
This kind of shows the mix of species on the islands! All the different kinds of birds (penguins in the front!) and a sea lion and that is the guardian's house in the background. 
On the way back to shore, our boat ran out of gas. It was kind of funny because we were so close to the shore but we just couldn't make it, so another boat had to come out and replenish our gas tank....the people in the "rescue" boat were video taping and taking pictures of us and it was just kind of a ridiculous situation. :) When we finally got back to shore, we had a delicious lunch of fish and shopped a little bit in the market they had there. It was my FIRST time ever ordering fish in a restaurant...it was all they had. But I'm really glad I did because I liked it a lot. So..that was my big adventurous thing....
After we were all done in Paracas, we drove to Nazca and checked into our hotel there...more hanging out by the pool that afternoon. The next morning (sun.) we had to get up super early to catch our flights over the Nazca lines. The plane was a tiny little four-person one and it was an...interesting plane ride. It was really swervy and there was lots of dipping and sudden turning going on so I felt pretty sick but I still managed to enjoy seeing the lines. It just amazes me that people so long ago could create these shapes that can only be seen from the air. They are so intricate and its pretty incredible. There are lots of theories about why they are there...from being indicators of where water could be found to being linked somehow to the Nazca people's astronomical knowledge/beliefs. It was super interesting and I still can't fathom how these lines even can into existence!
The next morning, we got up kind of early and went to Paracas, which is a coastal town about an hour and a half away from Ica. From there, we took a boat to the Islas Ballestas (which are sometimes referred to as a Mini Galapagos). It took about 30 min. to get out there and it was really cool once we did. Except for the smell. That was not cool. These islands are absolutely COVERED in birds...pelicans, penguins, tons of different species that all live together there. Which means a lot of bird poop. They call it guano and it actually used to be one of the area's main exports...it was sold as fertilizer. They still collect it and sell it, but now that only happens every 10 years or so. We also got to see an incredible amount of sea lions. There was one beach where all the mothers and their babies were hanging out. It was so cute! They were all rambunctious and noisy. We also went past this kind of run-down looking building that was built on one of the islands and a guy came out and waved to us! The guide explained that he was the guardian of the islands and he lives there alone for months at a time. I think the guardian can go home to see his family once in awhile but other than that he is totally isolated on these islands. I can't even imagine what that would be like....the guide said that the guardian always comes out to wave to the tour boats because its the only human interaction he gets for such long periods of time....Yikes. I don't think I could handle that much isolation.
A view of some of caves in the islands....
Sea Lions!!!! This was the beach with moms and babies!
Sea Lions!!!! This was the beach with moms and babies! This kind of shows the mix of species on the islands! All the different kinds of birds (penguins in the front!) and a sea lion and that is the guardian's house in the background. On the way back to shore, our boat ran out of gas. It was kind of funny because we were so close to the shore but we just couldn't make it, so another boat had to come out and replenish our gas tank....the people in the "rescue" boat were video taping and taking pictures of us and it was just kind of a ridiculous situation. :) When we finally got back to shore, we had a delicious lunch of fish and shopped a little bit in the market they had there. It was my FIRST time ever ordering fish in a restaurant...it was all they had. But I'm really glad I did because I liked it a lot. So..that was my big adventurous thing....
After we were all done in Paracas, we drove to Nazca and checked into our hotel there...more hanging out by the pool that afternoon. The next morning (sun.) we had to get up super early to catch our flights over the Nazca lines. The plane was a tiny little four-person one and it was an...interesting plane ride. It was really swervy and there was lots of dipping and sudden turning going on so I felt pretty sick but I still managed to enjoy seeing the lines. It just amazes me that people so long ago could create these shapes that can only be seen from the air. They are so intricate and its pretty incredible. There are lots of theories about why they are there...from being indicators of where water could be found to being linked somehow to the Nazca people's astronomical knowledge/beliefs. It was super interesting and I still can't fathom how these lines even can into existence!
The hummingbird...it was kind of hard to take pictures in the plane...so I apologize if they are cut off, etc.
The Spider
After our flight we had breakfast (we were advised not to eat before the flight...GOOD ADVICE!) and then we had a 7 hour drive back to Lima. It was good to get "home" again and see my family.
This was just a really great first trip! It reminded me how much I love travelling and seeing all of these really amazing things. It just makes me feel excited and happy to be alive and I absolutely love the feeling of falling in love with a new place. The only thing that was not good was getting back into the Spanish groove when I came home...we spoke a lot of English on the trip...its really hard to speak Spanish when we are all together.When I came back I could definitely tell that I'd already lost some ground on my Spanish skills. ...I hope that next time we can all make more of an effort to keep speaking Spanish throughout the weekend...I don't want to keep taking steps backward when we do trips like that.
The SpiderAfter our flight we had breakfast (we were advised not to eat before the flight...GOOD ADVICE!) and then we had a 7 hour drive back to Lima. It was good to get "home" again and see my family.
This was just a really great first trip! It reminded me how much I love travelling and seeing all of these really amazing things. It just makes me feel excited and happy to be alive and I absolutely love the feeling of falling in love with a new place. The only thing that was not good was getting back into the Spanish groove when I came home...we spoke a lot of English on the trip...its really hard to speak Spanish when we are all together.When I came back I could definitely tell that I'd already lost some ground on my Spanish skills. ...I hope that next time we can all make more of an effort to keep speaking Spanish throughout the weekend...I don't want to keep taking steps backward when we do trips like that.
Our next organized trip isn't for awhile but I'm hoping to be able to travel with some friends a few weekends from now...there is so much I want to see here in Peru and I am HERE so I really need to take advantage!
Well, now that its the week again, I've got to go do some homework...
Ciao!
Well, now that its the week again, I've got to go do some homework...
Ciao!
P.S. I had a new kind of potato today!!! It was kind of hard to taste it because it was all mixed in with a sauce and meat and other things, but it was good from what I tasted! So far I've probably had about 7 or 8 types...so I've got to get working on that...haha.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Happy Birthday....
I just got back from a really interesting day!
This morning was just normal...I had breakfast, did some homework, hung out with my sister....the usual. (AH! Its kind of exciting that I actually HAVE a usual routine now!)
Then I went to school a little early because we were having individual meetings with the ISA directors just to make sure everything is going ok with our families and school, etc. So we did that and then went to Ethics class. Our prof was kind of explaining that we were each going to do something experiencial that kind of pertained to our majors. He was speaking in Spanish so I was kind of half-understanding. And then he asked me if I was busy tonight and he said that MY experience was going to be going to his grandmother's 80th birthday dinner! I was kind of taken aback! I didn't really know how that would pertain to Ethics class, but I went to meet him after class and we went to the dinner. (Bethany came along too because it was in the neighborhood where we both live.) He is a second generation Chinese-Peruvian (I don't know how else to say that...:) His grandparents immigrated here from China and they had 12 children and all of those children have married people from all over the place. It was such an incredibly varied group of people. The point of me going was to see the racial diversity in his family because that is the next topic we are discussing in class. It was really incredible because about half of the family looks Chinese but there were also lots of people who look Hispanic and White. It was just really interesting to see and a lot of the people I met were really really nice. They are all just so welcoming and everyone kisses everyone else on the cheek to greet them. I was so surprised because they all acted like it was so natural that there were two random girls at their family gathering. Nobody seemed to wonder where we came from....it was just kind of a "more-the-merrier" attitude. Which seems to be really common here and is something I really love! :)
Anyways, it was a really fun time and I'm glad I got to go!
Tomorrow we are leaving for a weekend trip to Ica, Paracas and Nazca. I'll tell you all about it when I get back!
This morning was just normal...I had breakfast, did some homework, hung out with my sister....the usual. (AH! Its kind of exciting that I actually HAVE a usual routine now!)
Then I went to school a little early because we were having individual meetings with the ISA directors just to make sure everything is going ok with our families and school, etc. So we did that and then went to Ethics class. Our prof was kind of explaining that we were each going to do something experiencial that kind of pertained to our majors. He was speaking in Spanish so I was kind of half-understanding. And then he asked me if I was busy tonight and he said that MY experience was going to be going to his grandmother's 80th birthday dinner! I was kind of taken aback! I didn't really know how that would pertain to Ethics class, but I went to meet him after class and we went to the dinner. (Bethany came along too because it was in the neighborhood where we both live.) He is a second generation Chinese-Peruvian (I don't know how else to say that...:) His grandparents immigrated here from China and they had 12 children and all of those children have married people from all over the place. It was such an incredibly varied group of people. The point of me going was to see the racial diversity in his family because that is the next topic we are discussing in class. It was really incredible because about half of the family looks Chinese but there were also lots of people who look Hispanic and White. It was just really interesting to see and a lot of the people I met were really really nice. They are all just so welcoming and everyone kisses everyone else on the cheek to greet them. I was so surprised because they all acted like it was so natural that there were two random girls at their family gathering. Nobody seemed to wonder where we came from....it was just kind of a "more-the-merrier" attitude. Which seems to be really common here and is something I really love! :)
Anyways, it was a really fun time and I'm glad I got to go!
Tomorrow we are leaving for a weekend trip to Ica, Paracas and Nazca. I'll tell you all about it when I get back!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
WAHOOOOO!
Today=A GREAT DAY.
I don't really know why. It just felt good to be here and I understood a lot more and I did some really fun things! :)
This morning, my family's parrot, Camila, was making SO much noise! She can talk but really only says "Hola". Its cute at first and really funny but when you hear it 20 billion times at 6 in the morning, it gets old. Fast. But that was ok because I got up and just kind of lazed around for awhile. I am definitely enjoying the slower pace... :)
Breakfast was really good today too! I had this cereal that is made in Peru called Kwincha Pop (or something similar...I can't exactly remember...) but it was delicious!
After breakfast, I went with Bethany to Parque Kennedy (which is named after JFK!). Its pretty close to our houses (only a 5 min. bus ride away) and around it are lots of shops and restaurants. We went shopping a bit and bought a book that we needed for our history class. I loved looking around the bookstores. Its kind of different because each individual book is wrapped in plastic...it makes me kind of sad because I can't just go and read parts of different books. That is probably my favorite thing about bookstores...but I guess they don't want you doing that here! (David-If you're reading this, I found The Book Thief in SPANISH (El Ladron de los Libros)!!! I think I'm going to buy a copy!!! )
After shopping, we went to a cute little cafe and sat on a table on the sidewalk. It turns out that we both like Hawaiian pizza which made us both very happy since not many people do. :) We had coffee too and just relaxed there for awhile. Its hard to speak Spanish with each other because its so much easier sometimes to just explain something in English...but we're trying to speak only Spanish. More often it ends up being a mix of the two...Spanglish!
It was great to just hang out and talk about what we're thinking/feeling about everything here.
After lunch, we walked around Parque Kennedy for a little while and discovered La Calle de Pizza!! There are TONS of pizza restaurants all in the same street. They are all cute and look very picturesque and Italian. I really want to go there to eat sometime...but how to choose which of the 20 restaurants?!?!
We had to get to school from the park and we couldn't really figure out the bus thing from there because we only really know how to take it from our houses, so Bethany and I took a taxi to school which was really fast! We got to school in about 1/2 the time it normally takes which was kind of nice.
Classes were much better today. I understood so much more and I just felt better about the rest of the semester. Its pretty tiring still to have three hours of class in Spanish, but after class today, I feel like I can do this! Today we had history and ethics classes.
Here's the schedule:
Mon.-Latin American Literature and Culture
Tues.-Latin American History/Contemporary Ethical Issues in Latin America
Weds.-Advanced Oral Communication
Thurs.-Same as Tues.
So. Those are the classes I'm taking. So far, I really like the literature class....I just love analyzing things and finding symbols, etc. :) :) And doing it in Spanish is pretty hard, but twice as rewarding.
The Ethics class is interesting as well. Right now we are taking about corruption in Peruvian government.
After class we had a meeting with the ISA program directors to talk about our weekend trip!! I am super excited for it! We are headed to Ica, Paracas and Nazca!!! I don't know how many people know what the Nazca lines are but they are these shapes (animals, etc.) that are kind of carved into the desert near the town of Nazca. They've been there for a really long time and its kind of a mystery how they got there. There are theories about them being a signal for aliens...but also some more plausible theories as well! ;) You have to fly in a plane to really see them because they are so big.
Paracas is really close to the Ballestas Islands, which is supposed to be like a mini Galapagos and we are taking a boat ride out to them.
In Ica, we are going to a place where we can sandboard, which is basically like snowboarding but on sand dunes!!!
I'm super pumped for this trip. All of the things we're doing seem like so much fun and I'm excited to see a bit more of Peru.
Well, that's about it for today.
Besos!
I don't really know why. It just felt good to be here and I understood a lot more and I did some really fun things! :)
This morning, my family's parrot, Camila, was making SO much noise! She can talk but really only says "Hola". Its cute at first and really funny but when you hear it 20 billion times at 6 in the morning, it gets old. Fast. But that was ok because I got up and just kind of lazed around for awhile. I am definitely enjoying the slower pace... :)
Breakfast was really good today too! I had this cereal that is made in Peru called Kwincha Pop (or something similar...I can't exactly remember...) but it was delicious!
After breakfast, I went with Bethany to Parque Kennedy (which is named after JFK!). Its pretty close to our houses (only a 5 min. bus ride away) and around it are lots of shops and restaurants. We went shopping a bit and bought a book that we needed for our history class. I loved looking around the bookstores. Its kind of different because each individual book is wrapped in plastic...it makes me kind of sad because I can't just go and read parts of different books. That is probably my favorite thing about bookstores...but I guess they don't want you doing that here! (David-If you're reading this, I found The Book Thief in SPANISH (El Ladron de los Libros)!!! I think I'm going to buy a copy!!! )
After shopping, we went to a cute little cafe and sat on a table on the sidewalk. It turns out that we both like Hawaiian pizza which made us both very happy since not many people do. :) We had coffee too and just relaxed there for awhile. Its hard to speak Spanish with each other because its so much easier sometimes to just explain something in English...but we're trying to speak only Spanish. More often it ends up being a mix of the two...Spanglish!
It was great to just hang out and talk about what we're thinking/feeling about everything here.
After lunch, we walked around Parque Kennedy for a little while and discovered La Calle de Pizza!! There are TONS of pizza restaurants all in the same street. They are all cute and look very picturesque and Italian. I really want to go there to eat sometime...but how to choose which of the 20 restaurants?!?!
We had to get to school from the park and we couldn't really figure out the bus thing from there because we only really know how to take it from our houses, so Bethany and I took a taxi to school which was really fast! We got to school in about 1/2 the time it normally takes which was kind of nice.
Classes were much better today. I understood so much more and I just felt better about the rest of the semester. Its pretty tiring still to have three hours of class in Spanish, but after class today, I feel like I can do this! Today we had history and ethics classes.
Here's the schedule:
Mon.-Latin American Literature and Culture
Tues.-Latin American History/Contemporary Ethical Issues in Latin America
Weds.-Advanced Oral Communication
Thurs.-Same as Tues.
So. Those are the classes I'm taking. So far, I really like the literature class....I just love analyzing things and finding symbols, etc. :) :) And doing it in Spanish is pretty hard, but twice as rewarding.
The Ethics class is interesting as well. Right now we are taking about corruption in Peruvian government.
After class we had a meeting with the ISA program directors to talk about our weekend trip!! I am super excited for it! We are headed to Ica, Paracas and Nazca!!! I don't know how many people know what the Nazca lines are but they are these shapes (animals, etc.) that are kind of carved into the desert near the town of Nazca. They've been there for a really long time and its kind of a mystery how they got there. There are theories about them being a signal for aliens...but also some more plausible theories as well! ;) You have to fly in a plane to really see them because they are so big.
Paracas is really close to the Ballestas Islands, which is supposed to be like a mini Galapagos and we are taking a boat ride out to them.
In Ica, we are going to a place where we can sandboard, which is basically like snowboarding but on sand dunes!!!
I'm super pumped for this trip. All of the things we're doing seem like so much fun and I'm excited to see a bit more of Peru.
Well, that's about it for today.
Besos!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Pictures!
Bethany and I at the beach house!
Punta Hermosa-the beach we went to. There were SO many people there!
The church we visited. The catacombs are beneath the square in front of the church.
My Peruvian friend, Claudia, and I in the Plaza San Martin
The concert we went to in the Plaza de Armas
Poco a poco
Whew!!! So, I've neglected to post for a few days and now I have tons of things to tell you!
Last Friday in the afternoon I went to a place called Larcomar to meet up with everyone from our group. Larcomar is kind of a mall, but it is outside and overlooks the ocean. Its a gorgeous view! There are all kinds of things there, from clothes stores to restaurants to discotecas! I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, but I will soon! :)
Anyways, we hung out there for a while and got some ice cream. We were all kind of feeling overwhelmed after the first day of class, so it was nice to just relax and be able to talk about all of the things we are experiencing. A lot of people are having trouble getting used to the attitudes towards food here!
First of all, the food is great. There is, of course, lots of seafood! Rice is eaten with every single meal and most of the time there is some type of potato as well. Chicken is also one of the main things to eat. So far, my favorite dish is Lomo Saltado. But I've had some other really good things too! I've been very adventurous...yesterday I tried squid!! And I also tried the national dish, ceviche, which is fish marinated in lime juice. They were both pretty good. The other day I was really surprised because I came down to breakfast and we were having grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. It was kind of bizarre to eat that at 8 in the morning! But its pretty common here, I guess.
The thing with food here is that they feed us SO MUCH of it! Its delicious but sometimes I cannot physically eat everything on my plate! Our program directors told us that giving people food is a way to show love and caring but sometimes its just way too much. I feel bad because I end up wasting quite a bit of food, but they won't let me serve myself...My host mom keeps saying that I don't eat very much and that she thinks I will get "more hungry" the longer I am here. :)
Two other things that are strange to adjust to:
1) Having a maid/housekeeper. Its very common for middle class families here to have empleadas (maids). They often live in the house with the family and a lot of times they are just considered part of the family. The empleada in our house is named Sofia. She is really really nice and I love talking to her. She has a few kids and grandkids who also live in Lima, but she is from a small town somewhere northeast of here. (At least I THINK that is right....sometimes its kind of hard to know if I've understood things correctly.) She lives on the top floor of the house and does all of the cooking and cleaning. I feel kind of guilty sometimes because I'm pretty used to doing most things for myself. At every meal I try to clear my place at the table, just out of habit, but they won't let me! She also comes and makes my bed and straightens up the things in my room every morning, which is really bizarre. I know its pretty normal here, but its something that makes me feel a little weird sometimes.
2) People being very blunt. In the US it seems like we are always trying to be politically correct and not hurt anyone's feelings. Here, people call it like it is. Which I actually really like, but sometimes it seems a little strange. The other night, my friend Bethany and I were talking to my host mom and her brother and they both kept saying that he was very fat and needed to lose weight. Both Bethany and I said that losing weight would be good but that we didn't think he was fat and that he was fine just the way he is. Afterwards, I realized how programmed I am to try not to offend anyone! Its just really interesting to see all of these differences in the way people think and behave. Its like a continuous anthropology class and I LOVE IT!
Back to the events of the weekend:
On Friday night, we went to a concert in the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square in the center of Lima. The concert was right in front of a cathedral and it was gorgeous! It was a national youth orchestra, with kids from ages 8 and up who are from all over Peru. I was so happy to see the kids who were cellists! It made me miss being able to play! (I thought it was really funny because when I do have my cello, practicing can sometimes be more like a chore, but now that I don't have it with me, I want to play so badly!!!) The orchestra was really good and it was fun to hear a few songs that I've played before in orchestra! The other part of the concert was a well-known Peruvian singer, Ruben Flores, who is the host dad of one of the students in our group. It was fun because when he was singing, they had some traditional dancers on stage as well. The president of Peru was supposed to be there to say a few words, but he didn't show up....I never really figured out why.
After the concert, we went to a salsa restaurant/bar with the whole group which was really fun.
On Saturday, we had an intercambio activity. ISA puts them on and they are really fun because they invite Peruvian university students along. Its great practice to talk to them and really fun to be making some friends who are from Peru and are our age! We went to a church near the center of Lima which was really beautiful. The library was absolutely incredible. It had these really cool spiral staircases inside of it and tons of ancient books and...AH! I could have spent hours just looking at that room. There were also tons of huge paintings and the architecture was really pretty. The coolest part, though, was the catacombs which we got to go down in. There were salas de tortura (torture rooms) and loads of compartments with human bones in them. There must have been thousands of people's bones down there. It was a little creepy but also fascinating. Afterwards, we went to el Barrio Chino (Chinatown) and had chifa, which is the Peruvian version of chinese food. Its pretty similar to American chinese food but a little less greasy. I liked it a lot.
After the intercambio thing, Bethany, our friend Kelly and I took a taxi back to our houses because our three families were going to THE BEACH! Kelly's host mom rents a house at Punta Hermosa, which is about 30 min. away from Lima. My host mom's brother also has a friend who lets him use a house there. We all loaded our stuff into the car and were off!
I've seen this so many times before but it struck me again as we were driving through the outskirts of Lima...there is a lot of poverty here. Its so weird that one minute you can be in a really nice, really safe neighborhood and then 10 minutes later, you are driving past these run-down shacks that people live in. Its kind of hard to see. I know that there is this kind of poverty in a lot of places in the world, but its especially visible here and such an extreme opposite of the houses and neighborhoods where our host families live.
On the highway on the way to the beach, there are tons of stands that are selling swimsuits, beach balls, and lots of other beach-y things. You can just pull over to one and buy what you need and then continue on to the beach! It seemed really strange but its probably quite convenient if you realize you've forgotten something!
The beach was really fun. We arrived in the late afternoon on Sat. and changed into our suits. I went swimming for a long time with Ale and it was a blast. The waves were really big although the water was a bit chilly...we got used to it after a few minutes. That night we watched the sunset, which was absolutely magnificent. We kind of just hung out and relaxed that night at Maruja's (my host mom) brother's friends house. :)
On Sun. we spent the morning on the beach and I got pretty sunburned! My shoulders and back are pretty sensitive today. I thought I was pretty good about sunscreen too! I put it on at least 4 or 5 times in about 3 hours so I thought I would be ok, but the sun is SO strong here. We didn't swim as much yesterday because the waves were even bigger and a bit more dangerous.
The whole day was just super relaxing and lovely. I love spending time at the beach.
It was a really great weekend.
Today, I have just been calling people..my parents and some friends. Its so good to talk to people and hear their voices! I haven't been as homesick in the last few days, but I still miss everyone and I miss MN/IA a lot. Even though I don't miss the cold weather. I have my second day of classes later today, which I am a little nervous for, but not too bad...things will get better poco a poco. (Little by little).
I'm going to try and post a few pictures now...we'll see if I can figure out how!
Love you all lots!!!
Kia
Last Friday in the afternoon I went to a place called Larcomar to meet up with everyone from our group. Larcomar is kind of a mall, but it is outside and overlooks the ocean. Its a gorgeous view! There are all kinds of things there, from clothes stores to restaurants to discotecas! I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, but I will soon! :)
Anyways, we hung out there for a while and got some ice cream. We were all kind of feeling overwhelmed after the first day of class, so it was nice to just relax and be able to talk about all of the things we are experiencing. A lot of people are having trouble getting used to the attitudes towards food here!
First of all, the food is great. There is, of course, lots of seafood! Rice is eaten with every single meal and most of the time there is some type of potato as well. Chicken is also one of the main things to eat. So far, my favorite dish is Lomo Saltado. But I've had some other really good things too! I've been very adventurous...yesterday I tried squid!! And I also tried the national dish, ceviche, which is fish marinated in lime juice. They were both pretty good. The other day I was really surprised because I came down to breakfast and we were having grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. It was kind of bizarre to eat that at 8 in the morning! But its pretty common here, I guess.
The thing with food here is that they feed us SO MUCH of it! Its delicious but sometimes I cannot physically eat everything on my plate! Our program directors told us that giving people food is a way to show love and caring but sometimes its just way too much. I feel bad because I end up wasting quite a bit of food, but they won't let me serve myself...My host mom keeps saying that I don't eat very much and that she thinks I will get "more hungry" the longer I am here. :)
Two other things that are strange to adjust to:
1) Having a maid/housekeeper. Its very common for middle class families here to have empleadas (maids). They often live in the house with the family and a lot of times they are just considered part of the family. The empleada in our house is named Sofia. She is really really nice and I love talking to her. She has a few kids and grandkids who also live in Lima, but she is from a small town somewhere northeast of here. (At least I THINK that is right....sometimes its kind of hard to know if I've understood things correctly.) She lives on the top floor of the house and does all of the cooking and cleaning. I feel kind of guilty sometimes because I'm pretty used to doing most things for myself. At every meal I try to clear my place at the table, just out of habit, but they won't let me! She also comes and makes my bed and straightens up the things in my room every morning, which is really bizarre. I know its pretty normal here, but its something that makes me feel a little weird sometimes.
2) People being very blunt. In the US it seems like we are always trying to be politically correct and not hurt anyone's feelings. Here, people call it like it is. Which I actually really like, but sometimes it seems a little strange. The other night, my friend Bethany and I were talking to my host mom and her brother and they both kept saying that he was very fat and needed to lose weight. Both Bethany and I said that losing weight would be good but that we didn't think he was fat and that he was fine just the way he is. Afterwards, I realized how programmed I am to try not to offend anyone! Its just really interesting to see all of these differences in the way people think and behave. Its like a continuous anthropology class and I LOVE IT!
Back to the events of the weekend:
On Friday night, we went to a concert in the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square in the center of Lima. The concert was right in front of a cathedral and it was gorgeous! It was a national youth orchestra, with kids from ages 8 and up who are from all over Peru. I was so happy to see the kids who were cellists! It made me miss being able to play! (I thought it was really funny because when I do have my cello, practicing can sometimes be more like a chore, but now that I don't have it with me, I want to play so badly!!!) The orchestra was really good and it was fun to hear a few songs that I've played before in orchestra! The other part of the concert was a well-known Peruvian singer, Ruben Flores, who is the host dad of one of the students in our group. It was fun because when he was singing, they had some traditional dancers on stage as well. The president of Peru was supposed to be there to say a few words, but he didn't show up....I never really figured out why.
After the concert, we went to a salsa restaurant/bar with the whole group which was really fun.
On Saturday, we had an intercambio activity. ISA puts them on and they are really fun because they invite Peruvian university students along. Its great practice to talk to them and really fun to be making some friends who are from Peru and are our age! We went to a church near the center of Lima which was really beautiful. The library was absolutely incredible. It had these really cool spiral staircases inside of it and tons of ancient books and...AH! I could have spent hours just looking at that room. There were also tons of huge paintings and the architecture was really pretty. The coolest part, though, was the catacombs which we got to go down in. There were salas de tortura (torture rooms) and loads of compartments with human bones in them. There must have been thousands of people's bones down there. It was a little creepy but also fascinating. Afterwards, we went to el Barrio Chino (Chinatown) and had chifa, which is the Peruvian version of chinese food. Its pretty similar to American chinese food but a little less greasy. I liked it a lot.
After the intercambio thing, Bethany, our friend Kelly and I took a taxi back to our houses because our three families were going to THE BEACH! Kelly's host mom rents a house at Punta Hermosa, which is about 30 min. away from Lima. My host mom's brother also has a friend who lets him use a house there. We all loaded our stuff into the car and were off!
I've seen this so many times before but it struck me again as we were driving through the outskirts of Lima...there is a lot of poverty here. Its so weird that one minute you can be in a really nice, really safe neighborhood and then 10 minutes later, you are driving past these run-down shacks that people live in. Its kind of hard to see. I know that there is this kind of poverty in a lot of places in the world, but its especially visible here and such an extreme opposite of the houses and neighborhoods where our host families live.
On the highway on the way to the beach, there are tons of stands that are selling swimsuits, beach balls, and lots of other beach-y things. You can just pull over to one and buy what you need and then continue on to the beach! It seemed really strange but its probably quite convenient if you realize you've forgotten something!
The beach was really fun. We arrived in the late afternoon on Sat. and changed into our suits. I went swimming for a long time with Ale and it was a blast. The waves were really big although the water was a bit chilly...we got used to it after a few minutes. That night we watched the sunset, which was absolutely magnificent. We kind of just hung out and relaxed that night at Maruja's (my host mom) brother's friends house. :)
On Sun. we spent the morning on the beach and I got pretty sunburned! My shoulders and back are pretty sensitive today. I thought I was pretty good about sunscreen too! I put it on at least 4 or 5 times in about 3 hours so I thought I would be ok, but the sun is SO strong here. We didn't swim as much yesterday because the waves were even bigger and a bit more dangerous.
The whole day was just super relaxing and lovely. I love spending time at the beach.
It was a really great weekend.
Today, I have just been calling people..my parents and some friends. Its so good to talk to people and hear their voices! I haven't been as homesick in the last few days, but I still miss everyone and I miss MN/IA a lot. Even though I don't miss the cold weather. I have my second day of classes later today, which I am a little nervous for, but not too bad...things will get better poco a poco. (Little by little).
I'm going to try and post a few pictures now...we'll see if I can figure out how!
Love you all lots!!!
Kia
Friday, February 6, 2009
Confusion.
Yesterday was our first day of classes here. We had an Ethics class for one hour. (Its the equivalent of Paideia capstone at Luther...for those of you who know what that is!) After that we had a history class for two hours. It was pretty overwhelming and we all came out of there feeling really tired and a bit confused. Its a really hard to focus for three hours in general...but three hours PLUS having to do it all in Spanish was intense. It will get better little by little but yikes! That was a really really hard day.
I'm kind of glad though that our group is all taking classes together. I think it would be even more overwhelming if I was the only one who didn't know what was going on! :) At least we are all in the same boat.
After classes we went to Metro (which is a kind of Wal-Mart-like store that has pretty much everything you can think of) and we all bought cell phones!! They are pretty cheap here They were about 23$ US. (Which is 69 Nuevo Soles. The exchange rate is about 1$ to 3 Soles right now.) Most of the phones here are the pre-pay kind, so we have to buy minutes as we go. Its going to be nice to have them so we can call our families and call one another.
After getting the whole cell phone thing figured out, we took our the combis to our houses. It was out first time riding them alone and a little scary but a lot of us ride the same one, so it wasn't a huge deal. Combis are these tiny little vans that go pretty much everywhere in the city. They are really cheap to ride (only 1.5o soles...which is about 50 cents!) but they're a little crazy! A guy hangs out of the side of the van, yelling to people where they are headed. They cram a lot of people in and its kind of hard to know when you need to get off or how to tell them you need to get off. The first few times I rode them, I could not figure out what was going on because I had no idea where I was! Now I'm starting to be a bit more familiar with things and I know which block and the street I need to get off and on at. So that is good! :)
Last night, I was so exhausted from classes, etc. and I was feeling pretty homesick, so my host sister and I just watched a movie and then I went to bed kind of early. Its kind of surprising how tired you get just having to concentrate so hard...I have been getting a lot of headaches!!! :)
Anyways, today, I'm not really sure what I am doing but I think my host mom is just going to show me around the neighborhood a bit more.
I'm kind of glad though that our group is all taking classes together. I think it would be even more overwhelming if I was the only one who didn't know what was going on! :) At least we are all in the same boat.
After classes we went to Metro (which is a kind of Wal-Mart-like store that has pretty much everything you can think of) and we all bought cell phones!! They are pretty cheap here They were about 23$ US. (Which is 69 Nuevo Soles. The exchange rate is about 1$ to 3 Soles right now.) Most of the phones here are the pre-pay kind, so we have to buy minutes as we go. Its going to be nice to have them so we can call our families and call one another.
After getting the whole cell phone thing figured out, we took our the combis to our houses. It was out first time riding them alone and a little scary but a lot of us ride the same one, so it wasn't a huge deal. Combis are these tiny little vans that go pretty much everywhere in the city. They are really cheap to ride (only 1.5o soles...which is about 50 cents!) but they're a little crazy! A guy hangs out of the side of the van, yelling to people where they are headed. They cram a lot of people in and its kind of hard to know when you need to get off or how to tell them you need to get off. The first few times I rode them, I could not figure out what was going on because I had no idea where I was! Now I'm starting to be a bit more familiar with things and I know which block and the street I need to get off and on at. So that is good! :)
Last night, I was so exhausted from classes, etc. and I was feeling pretty homesick, so my host sister and I just watched a movie and then I went to bed kind of early. Its kind of surprising how tired you get just having to concentrate so hard...I have been getting a lot of headaches!!! :)
Anyways, today, I'm not really sure what I am doing but I think my host mom is just going to show me around the neighborhood a bit more.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Rompemuelles
Hola!!!
I finally have time to post something!! It has been such a whirlwind since the moment we stepped off of the plane!! We arrived pretty late on Monday night and then had to wait a long long time in the lines to get our passports stamped and go through customs. We finally got everyone through (there are eleven of us-one professor and 10 students) and Wendy, who is one of the directors of our program, was waiting for us.
It was really really surreal to finally be here. It didn't really hit me until the next morning that I AM IN LIMA, PERU!!! :)
Anyways, we were driven to our host families' houses. I was the first one to be dropped off and I was REALLY nervous to meet them, but it was so late that my family just came out to say hi, showed me my room and the bathroom and said "Buenas noches!" I was kind of relieved, to be honest....after spending the entire day in the airport, I didn't feel prepared to converse in Spanish!
The next morning, I got to talk to my family and get to know them a bit more. I have a host mother, Maria (but people call her Maruja), a host sister, Alejandra, and a host brother, Marcos. Ale is 12 and Marcos is 17. For the first couple days he wouldn't talk to me. Ale and Maria said that he is just very shy...tonight, though I talked to him for a really long time. It made me laugh because he was so quiet before but now that I've got him talking to me, he won't stop!!! Which is great. He speaks very fast and uses lots of slang so I am learning a lot from talking to him.
So. I don't really know where to start describing all the things we've done in the past two days. We had two orientation sessions, one for ISA (International Studies Abroad) which is the organization that planned our program and one for USIL (Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola-our university). It was good to finally know more details about what classes we are taking and when they are, etc. We start classes at 2 every afternoon and end at 6. Its really different because we have each class only once a week. So every day is a different class, but it lasts three hours. AND we only have classes Mon.-Thurs. WAHOO!!! :) Fridays are free so that we can travel, etc.
Yesterday evening, we went to a restaurant that had a buffet of many traditional Peruvian foods....I was feeling a little sick so I didn't eat much, but I did try some of the dishes with chicken and a dish called lomo saltado, which is beef with onions and peppers and some other vegetables and it has a really good spice. Also I had something called La Causa, which is a very very yellow type of potato that is mashed into a ball and topped with kind of a tuna salad. (Potato #1-CHECK! Only 3999 left!) Lots of people also ate pulpo (which is octopus) and we all tried the national drink, Pisco Sour. It was good but REALLY strong, so I couldn't drink the whole thing. Overall, the food is really really good. After eating, the restaurant puts on a show of different Peruvian dances. It was really fun to see the variety of styles there are here and all of the different dresses and costumes they wear for the traditional dances.
Today, after the USIL orentation, we went to a place called Larcomar, which is really close to my house (and my friend Bethany's house! We only live about 2 blocks from one another!!!). Its sort of a mall/park thing. We met with some Peruvian students and got ice cream with them and then walked to a place where we took a salsa class. It was really fun but REALLY hot in the room we were in. It made me want to really learn how to salsa well. Its so much fun and the people who were teaching us gave a demonstration at the end that made me want to learn really badly. Wendy (one of the directors of the program) said that every Weds. night, they have free dance classes and afterwards they open up to the public and you can practice what you've learned. I think I might go sometime!
After the dance class, we went on a bus tour of downtown Lima. It was a blast because we sat on the top level of a double decker bus and we could take lots of pictures and see everything! (I will upload some pictures tomorrow.) There are lots of really beautiful buildings and parks (plazas) in the city. We went to a park that had a bunch of different fountains in it and one of them was kind of a show with music, etc. (It was like the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas)
Bethany and I were trying to remember all of the new vocabulary we've learned on the bus ride. Every time we went over a speed bump we would say the word for it, which is rompemuelle. It literally means something that breaks the car's suspension (or something like that.) When we were doing that I had a very philosophical moment. :) I was thinking that the last few days have been a lot like that bus ride. I've been moving so fast and having such a great time, but there are times when I hit a rompemuelle and I just feel like if I don't slow down, I'll fall apart. I love it here and things are exciting and fun, but I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. Lima is aboslutely enormous (8 million people!!!) and having to communicate only in Spanish is really challenging. I talked to Maria and Marcos for about 2 hours tonight and I probably only understood about a third (actually probably less!) of what they said. Its frustrating and scary but I do feel like my Spanish has already improved a bit. Its so incredible to me that our brains can so easily make the transition from one language to another. Already I am starting to think in Spanish! I was looking for something in my room today and I found myself saying out loud, "Donde lo puse????" (Where did I put it?) It took me a minute to realize it, but I was really excited because its already starting to become a habit and somewhat natural.
Well, I think I need to go to bed. I'm really really tired....today's been a long day! A good one, though.
I'll try and post more pictures and give details about my family and my house tomorrow. :)
I love you all and miss you lots!! Besos!! (Kisses)
I finally have time to post something!! It has been such a whirlwind since the moment we stepped off of the plane!! We arrived pretty late on Monday night and then had to wait a long long time in the lines to get our passports stamped and go through customs. We finally got everyone through (there are eleven of us-one professor and 10 students) and Wendy, who is one of the directors of our program, was waiting for us.
It was really really surreal to finally be here. It didn't really hit me until the next morning that I AM IN LIMA, PERU!!! :)
Anyways, we were driven to our host families' houses. I was the first one to be dropped off and I was REALLY nervous to meet them, but it was so late that my family just came out to say hi, showed me my room and the bathroom and said "Buenas noches!" I was kind of relieved, to be honest....after spending the entire day in the airport, I didn't feel prepared to converse in Spanish!
The next morning, I got to talk to my family and get to know them a bit more. I have a host mother, Maria (but people call her Maruja), a host sister, Alejandra, and a host brother, Marcos. Ale is 12 and Marcos is 17. For the first couple days he wouldn't talk to me. Ale and Maria said that he is just very shy...tonight, though I talked to him for a really long time. It made me laugh because he was so quiet before but now that I've got him talking to me, he won't stop!!! Which is great. He speaks very fast and uses lots of slang so I am learning a lot from talking to him.
So. I don't really know where to start describing all the things we've done in the past two days. We had two orientation sessions, one for ISA (International Studies Abroad) which is the organization that planned our program and one for USIL (Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola-our university). It was good to finally know more details about what classes we are taking and when they are, etc. We start classes at 2 every afternoon and end at 6. Its really different because we have each class only once a week. So every day is a different class, but it lasts three hours. AND we only have classes Mon.-Thurs. WAHOO!!! :) Fridays are free so that we can travel, etc.
Yesterday evening, we went to a restaurant that had a buffet of many traditional Peruvian foods....I was feeling a little sick so I didn't eat much, but I did try some of the dishes with chicken and a dish called lomo saltado, which is beef with onions and peppers and some other vegetables and it has a really good spice. Also I had something called La Causa, which is a very very yellow type of potato that is mashed into a ball and topped with kind of a tuna salad. (Potato #1-CHECK! Only 3999 left!) Lots of people also ate pulpo (which is octopus) and we all tried the national drink, Pisco Sour. It was good but REALLY strong, so I couldn't drink the whole thing. Overall, the food is really really good. After eating, the restaurant puts on a show of different Peruvian dances. It was really fun to see the variety of styles there are here and all of the different dresses and costumes they wear for the traditional dances.
Today, after the USIL orentation, we went to a place called Larcomar, which is really close to my house (and my friend Bethany's house! We only live about 2 blocks from one another!!!). Its sort of a mall/park thing. We met with some Peruvian students and got ice cream with them and then walked to a place where we took a salsa class. It was really fun but REALLY hot in the room we were in. It made me want to really learn how to salsa well. Its so much fun and the people who were teaching us gave a demonstration at the end that made me want to learn really badly. Wendy (one of the directors of the program) said that every Weds. night, they have free dance classes and afterwards they open up to the public and you can practice what you've learned. I think I might go sometime!
After the dance class, we went on a bus tour of downtown Lima. It was a blast because we sat on the top level of a double decker bus and we could take lots of pictures and see everything! (I will upload some pictures tomorrow.) There are lots of really beautiful buildings and parks (plazas) in the city. We went to a park that had a bunch of different fountains in it and one of them was kind of a show with music, etc. (It was like the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas)
Bethany and I were trying to remember all of the new vocabulary we've learned on the bus ride. Every time we went over a speed bump we would say the word for it, which is rompemuelle. It literally means something that breaks the car's suspension (or something like that.) When we were doing that I had a very philosophical moment. :) I was thinking that the last few days have been a lot like that bus ride. I've been moving so fast and having such a great time, but there are times when I hit a rompemuelle and I just feel like if I don't slow down, I'll fall apart. I love it here and things are exciting and fun, but I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. Lima is aboslutely enormous (8 million people!!!) and having to communicate only in Spanish is really challenging. I talked to Maria and Marcos for about 2 hours tonight and I probably only understood about a third (actually probably less!) of what they said. Its frustrating and scary but I do feel like my Spanish has already improved a bit. Its so incredible to me that our brains can so easily make the transition from one language to another. Already I am starting to think in Spanish! I was looking for something in my room today and I found myself saying out loud, "Donde lo puse????" (Where did I put it?) It took me a minute to realize it, but I was really excited because its already starting to become a habit and somewhat natural.
Well, I think I need to go to bed. I'm really really tired....today's been a long day! A good one, though.
I'll try and post more pictures and give details about my family and my house tomorrow. :)
I love you all and miss you lots!! Besos!! (Kisses)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
My Mission For The Next Four Months
You are probably thinking that I've gone crazy. Why in the world would Kia title her blog "4000 Potatoes" when she says it is going to be about her time in Peru? Well, let me tell you. Its because I was reading about Peru the other day and apparently there are 4000 different varieties of potatoes in Peru. They are really crazy looking too! There are some that are purple, some that are really curved and some that have lots of bumps all over them. So. I promised my dad that I would try every single type of potato in Peru. Which averages to roughly 40 per day. Think I can't do it? HA! Watch me. (Actually I feel like it would be pretty much impossible and I would become very very very sick of potatoes, which I don't want to be because they are a staple food in Peru.)
Anyways...enough about potatoes....I leave tomorrow early early in the morning!!! I cannot believe that its already here. I am so very excited, but I'm also nervous! Its odd to think that I'll be gone for about four months, but I know that its going to be absolutely amazing.
So, I should probably go to bed since we have to be at the airport at 4 am tomorrow!!!
I hope you have fun reading about my experiences in Peru! :) :)
Anyways...enough about potatoes....I leave tomorrow early early in the morning!!! I cannot believe that its already here. I am so very excited, but I'm also nervous! Its odd to think that I'll be gone for about four months, but I know that its going to be absolutely amazing.
So, I should probably go to bed since we have to be at the airport at 4 am tomorrow!!!
I hope you have fun reading about my experiences in Peru! :) :)
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