Blizzard Home

So I set up this blog for people to see what I'm up to when I'm traveling abroad. However, I think driving through some interesting weather for hours with a lovely Indian sitting shotgun constitutes as travel adventures. Since both of us have random tastes in music we ended up rocking out to all sorts of songs in Spanish, from Glee, 90s classics, and Bollywood movies. Due to my awesome driving skills the roads were no problem minus the fact that one could only see about 9 meters in front. A pinnacle milestone was completed by the lovely 2002 Camry that got Sudhir and me home safely. It reached 111,111 miles! Thanks to Sudhir we managed to document the glorious occasion.



Being back in Minneapolis means one thing . . . CHIPOTLE!! We weren't back more than 5 minutes before we were off. It was heavenly. Plus a few of my friends were working so it was nice to brush up on some Spanish. Finally home safe and fed we could veg out for a while before having to travel again tomorrow. At least I'm not the one who has to fly on Thanksgiving (sorry Sudhir!!).

when a door shuts, a window opens

I've been back in Minnesota for a few days now but I thought I should formally wrap up my blog. It was tough saying goodbye to the friends that I had made as well as the family I already had. The trip to the airport was quite eventful since the secure taxi I had arranged didn't show. Luckily Rossi was able to flag down another and we were off. After sitting on the plane in Lima for 3 hours, it became apparent that I was not going to make my connection in Miami. The Doubletree that I got put up in was nice and I had the whole city at my fingertips! I finally arrived in Minneapolis Friday afternoon, 15 hours after my original flight had landed. It was nice to be home, except for the immediate trip to renew my drivers license. Three hours later I was back at the airport to eat supper with my brother who had a 2 hour layover. I think I've spent enough time there to last for awhile.

I was able to see a couple of friends from high school in between re-packing sessions. After 3 days I headed up to Portuguese camp here in Callaway. I'm still not used to speaking English all the time yet, but Portuguese is even more confusing. At the same time, I can't think of a better job right now than one that requires me to be at the beach all afternoon :) Even though I miss my friends and family in Peru, I am glad to see my camp family and to get back to some of my usual summer adventures. Not to mention my Portuguese is starting to come back to me!

Designated Family Day

Sunday used to be the day where the entire family would get together, eat a home cooked lunch and enjoy the company. While the tradition may have changed a little, I still see my families on Sundays. Weekly softball games mean that Sunday mornings are spent singing duets, begging for pizza, and occasionally tossing around a leather bound sphere of yarn. Today was our last game and it was no exception. It was also Gaby's birthday so we celebrated afterwards with Inka Kola, cake, chips, candy, and more chips. I could think of nothing better to do in Lima at 9am every morning than spending three hours with my crazy team.

Sundays also mean lunch with Mama Olga, my adopted Peruvian grandma. Her daughter and grandson were visiting from Florida. Colin is obsessed with soccer so we watched the double overtime between Spain and Holland followed by a ball game that I'm still not sure whether or not he invented . . . It was nice to get to see Mama Olga one more time before I head back.

The combi only took half an hour to get me back to San Miguel so I had some time to finally skype home for an hour. A mini family reunion via the computer was a nice way to end the day, although I wish it hadn't ended with them telling me to start packing . . . I'm beginning to realize that packing is a lot harder without a mom there to help :/

Softball = PIZZA!

We had a softball game at 10am this morning in Jesus Maria. It was my second game with my new team, but at a different field than the first. One of the girls from my team, Angelica, who lives close to Plaza San Miguel as well, offered to meet me there to take a combi together at 8:30. I ended up calling her at 8:45 just to make sure she didn't forget me, but not to worry, she was just operating on Peruvian time while I wasn't. A couple practices ago I got the coach to agree that if we won, he would take the whole team out for pizza. After the 2nd inning we were ahead 7-0 but the game got interesting as it went on. I guess classless teams are international because the team we were playing against decided not to cheer for their own team. Instead they thought it would be perfect to try and beat down our pitcher, and catcher, and anyone from our team that was up to bat. I was at third base, right by their dugout and almost charged it a couple of times. I guess I got my revenge when a girl tried to steal 3rd and I tagged her out (I don't think she's ever been taught the art of sliding). She tried to knock the ball out of my glove so I took a page from hockey and inconspicuously elbowed her as I turned to throw the ball back to the pitcher. :) We did end up winning 8-7!! So that means pizza for everyone!!



Afterwards I went to Nini's house to celebrate my birthday. She's been so busy getting ready to open her store that this was the first chance to see her. Doraliz made Torta de Manzana, kind of like apple pie.



It was muy rica and just what I needed to get me jump started and ready to study, study, study for my final exams that start tomorrow. Even though Doraliz had to leave early to go to work, she was there in spirit. Nini, Max, Belen, and and I watched the film from the store opening the night before. After the tape ended, it rewound back to the beginning and we got to see Doraliz in a school pageant from when she was 14 or 15! Tomorrow we're having a girls night out (Nini, Belen, Doraliz, and me). Doraliz told me that Monday's special at Chili's is the honey-chipotle chicken crispers, and it will be the perfect way to start our day off on Tuesday :)

Estamos perdidas ... Donde estan? ... Los Olivos

So after months of hard work Nini and her business partner were finally able to open their store, PECOS=PERU, tonight at 5pm. It's an art store and each piece is made out of glass. She invited Sarah and Adela as well to the opening but Adela had a meeting so it was just Sarah and me. The store is in the district called Los Olivos, not too far from our depto. Adela warned us that it could be a little dangerous of a neighborhood but she tends to say that about anywhere we go that isn't school . . . Luckily we live in a part of Lima that is a huge public transportation hub, there are micros and combis that go everywhere. We hopped on a micro that said "Tdo. Universitaria" meaning that it covered that entire street. We got off in Los Olivos about a mile from the store. In hindsight Sarah and I actually walked right past Nini's store while trying to find it.



Nini had told me that the store was close to the intersection of Mayolo, inbetween blocks 8 and 9. What I didn't expect was that block 9 is 4 blocks long!! I'm wondering if the same people who planned the roads in St. Paul took a little trip to Lima way back when . . . I called Maxi, Nini's husband and he told me to go back to Plaza Vea (which is on the 2nd block of block 9). We found it after half an hour of meandering and asking in bodegas. Ariving fashionably late, the opening didn't start until close to 6:30 (Peruvian time can be a bit tricky!), we still got there with plenty of time to spare. All of Nini's friends and family had shown up so there were plenty of people to meet and talk too. There was a little ceremony, with a ribbon tied across the doorway.



The store and the pieces are beautiful, I can't wait to go back to shop (mom I promise anything I buy I'll wrap in my clothes and put in the middle of my suitcase). Eventually Nini hopes that they can start making and selling jewelry pieces as well. It was a lot easier to get home since Sarah and I knew where we were going this time, but I'm glad I got to see a different part of the city (perdoname Fransisco si te asuste cuando te dije que estaba perdida en Los Olivos!!)

Cuban Baseball

So today is Friday which means that most of the girls on my softball team don't come to practice. That's exactly why I like Fridays. I love the girls on my team but when more guys show up than girls it means that when we scrimmage, we play baseball instead of softball. I took infield practice at 3rd and managed to throw a few guys out as well as hit a double with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs! The not so fun part is that many of the guys on the team think that if they try to throw me the ball normally, a hole will magically appear in my glove and the ball will go right through it and hit me in the face. At least the coach always hits me the ball just as hard as he does for the guys. The only down side is that with his Cuban accent and slang, I have a hard time understanding him. Normally he tells me the play, then hits me the ball, then I field it but have no idea where to throw it . . . then he explains the play again (which doesn't help me any) and repeat. Good thing the practices each day are 3 hours long so we have enough time for dialect barriers.

We have our next softball game on Sunday. I convinced the coach that if we win he should take the whole team out for pizza! Plus he told me that the field we're playing on has a very shallow right field so I'm aiming for a homerun this weekend :)

The Big 2-1! wait, I've been legal here for 4 months

Well today's the day. The day that I can go out, drivers license in hand, march up to any local bar, and (wait for it) get let in!!! One minor detail, Peru's drinking age is 18, making me legal to drink alcohol for about 4 months now, and effectively making the fact that I am 21 not all that different from any other birthday. Which is why at midnight last night I toasted the occasion with Inca Kola instead of the stereotypical 21 shots in an hour. It was a good decision since I had softball practice at 9am this morning. I was bombarded with hugs and singing and cake and more Inca Kola. :) I learned that the Cuban version of Happy Birthday uses the same melody as the version we sing at Spanish Camp (with different words).

Lunch was great. Rossy was busy in the kitchen getting everything ready and Sarah and Fransisco were there to celebrate with me. There were pisco sours with maracuya, papa a la huancaina, and of course lasagna!






It was a nice day and I've been promised that the real celebrating will take place this weekend. We all know what that means! SALSA DANCING!!!

Noche Cultural

I don't think I've ever made the connection before that the word "cult" is in culture . . . oh, sorry, off topic. So yesterday was the huge Noche Cultural! That's where each of the 12 colleges that make up PUCP present a Peruvian cultural dance. Fransisco was in the presentation for la facultad de ciencias sociales (social sciences). I don't remember the name of the dance but it's from the Andes area of Peru and the guys all wear these big red masks that represent the devil.



Fransisco didn't think I would know which one was him. Afterward I told him it was easy, I just picked out the tallest one. Plus they took their masks off halfway through the dance, which was unbelievable. Everyone was cheering. The fans really get into it. There were balloons, war paint, flags, cheers and chants.



I thought Sociales had an amazing dance and were going to win but they ended up tying for second. Everyone was a little bummed. Even though it started about an hour late and lasted 3 hours, I had a lot of fun. The other dances were interesting, especially since I've never seen dancing like that before. Many of the teams, including Sociales, had an authentic band come in to play. At the end they tallied the points for each college based on all of the competitions held all semester long: sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball; chess; and the baileton. The system is similar to that at Hogwarts where the 4 houses work all year long to gain the most points.

Bailetón!

Thursdays from 12 to 3, there are no classes. Instead PUCP organizes (often the students) activities and competitions for everyone to participate. Today was the epic bailetón, a mix between a dance-a-thon and a dance-off. Basically think of the dance competition from the movie Grease but it lasts for 2 hours straight. It was pretty intense, I think over 2,000 people came to watch.



The students really get in the school spirit. Each department comes with its own mascot as well.



Of course I had to root for the social sciences department.



During the 2 hours of dancing, the DJ played various types of music including Cumbia,



cultural music,



and some classics including the YMCA!



The winning pair was the same as last year. They were really excited when they announced the winner.



It was interesting to see the mix of culture with modern music and styles of dancing. I was really surprised to see how many people came out to watch. I had to fight to save a spot for Rachel! And I even managed to get a slight sunburn (of course!). Next Thursday there is a cultural dance competition. I know a couple of people performing so it should be exciting.

Dear members of the Heidi's Garage Society, please come to Peru.

It's that time of year again; classes have finished, friends have graduated and now many of the wonderful people who continually inhabit the vehicular living space on Scheffer Ave have returned for yet another fun filled summer of late nights at Bakers Square, extended games of Apples to Apples, and throwing about skittles and peanut butter M&Ms. To combat the knowledge that I am not one of those currently engaging in such adventurous activities I have decided to take the afternoon to simulate a day in the life of the HGS.

Step 1: Find a garage. Adela does have a parking spot, but it's not quite the same.




Step 2: Look the part. Gracias Caitlin!! Of course I have to go with the lovely tie dye T-shirt that she made for me with love :)

Step 3: Food. I've already checked and there isn't a Bakers Square but a slice of Nini's apple pie beats the regular waitress (what was her name? September??) any time. And while peanut butter M&Ms seem to be lost on Peruvian society, regular M&Ms make a fine substitute, but I don't think Adela or Rossi would be too happy if I started chucking them around the apartment. . .



Step 4: Companions. Since the HGS is a very exclusive group, I could never dream of coming up with a substitute. Instead I met up with the only other member who just also happens to be in Peru, Dr. Wembly.



All in all, I think the day was fabulous. Now if I could only find Walker Texas Ranger dubbed over in Spanish . . .

Cake Day!

It would seem that I happen to have a talent for making special occasions out of ordinary days since I've come to Lima. In this case, today the 24th of May has officially become known as cake day. I promise there is a very scientific and logical approach to choosing such a date. First of all, it was Sarah's birthday on May 2nd. Adela and Rossi were very cute and prepared a huge lunch for the occasion but there was no birthday cake. One of the cultural differences I learned about as a camper at Spanish camp was that most fruits are considered deserts so it's not uncommon to have a banana or a granadia instead of say anything with chocolate. Both Sarah and I are fine with the desert selection but sometimes a girl just needs her chocolate. Today is the exact middle between Sarah's birthday and mine that is coming up is a couple of weeks. For this reason it has been dubbed Cake Day.



We must have been too excited to wait until today to indulge in the chocolaty goodness because yesterday we attempted an experiment in which we were hoping that yummy brownies would emerge. The brownie mix was simple enough, just add two eggs and a cup of melted butter. First challenge: no measuring tools. After our best guess, we got the batter mixed.



Second challenge: the oven is gas operated. We had no idea how to light it and we didn't want to let gas just pour into the kitchen. Solution: microwave!!



3rd challenge: there weren't time instructions for the microwave. We did end up overcooking the brownies (my bad) and the attempt to make a frosting bombed too due to the lack of powdered sugar. We did have plenty of fun trying though.


To officially celebrate Cake day and to not have a repeat of the brownies, we went to Wong's and bought a chocolate cake to commemorate the completion of another year of life. Rachel, a friend from class came over to help us eat the cake.



We still have about half of it left so Sarah and I are trying to get more people over to help us eat it. If you are in Lima, give me a call and you can come get some cake!!

Oh, let's go subir un arbol!!

The past couple weeks have been filled with readings, tests, papers, outlines, and lots of fun surprises such as the water being turned off two days in a row, demonstrations blocking my route home, and mistaken identities. For these reasons as well as many others, I have been unable to update my blog and for that I apologize. Don't worry, I passed all of my tests, and got my paper in on time. I will never again take a shower for granted. The demonstration was finally broken up by the police so I was able to walk home. I'm not entirely sure the bouncer at the club finally believed that I was not in fact an undercover DEA agent but at least he was cordial.

Today was a turning point from how things have been going lately. For the past couple weeks, a tree in a park that is on my route home has caught my attention. Its trunk twists in strange directions. Although not particularly tall, I have wanted to climb the tree for some time. Today I decided that climbing a tree was just the simple, relaxing pastime I needed to unwind after a crazy stretch. Sarah came with so of course I brought my camera.



I'm pretty sure I received some weird looks for this. According to Luis, Peruvian kids don't climb trees (sad day!).



I'm not sure how to say "treehugger" in Spanish . . .

Movies in Peru

The other day I was over at a friend's house and he offered to let me borrow a DVD. Now down here movies are cheap, about 3 soles for a DVD ($1). Add to the fact that one of the movies that he recently bought is Robin Hood, with Russell Crowe (You know, the one that doesn't even hit theaters for another 5 days!), and I think Peru has a lovely system when it comes to movies. Talk about service. This is an example of why I love Peru! :)



DVD sleeve for Robin Hood (proof!!)

Rossi, is it siesta time yet?

It's midterm week which means no classes, just nerve wracking essay tests, oh yea, in Spanish! I've been reading and studying all weekend. Yesterday was Sarah's birthday so we both took about a 3 hour break for her birthday lunch (weekend lunches are a big deal here, add in a special occasion and you might be at lunch all night!). Rossi came in to help Adela cook the meal. Adela's cousin, Berta, and Rossi's husband also stopped by. Then of course back to studying.



Adela and Rossi hard at work getting ready for the birthday lunch.

My first midterm was at 8am (Historia de las Americas) so I got back around 11 to start studying for my poli sci midterm that was at 2. Rossi was such a sweetheart. She made her lasagna recipe (she knows it's my favorite one of her recipes) to make my day a little less stressful.



Peruvian lasagna!!

My other class doesn't have a midterm so I basically have a week off. I'm sure I will find some mischief to keep me occupied.

Over the paradero and through Wongs, back to the depto we go!

My Friday class gets over around 6pm, the perfect time to walk back to the apartment (departamento or depto for short in Spanish). The sun is in the process of setting, the air has cooled off, and rush hour traffic is horrible, making the journey much more enjoyable by foot rather than bus. I decided to try and be as observant as humanly possible during my walk so as to best describe it for those of you who have never had the privilege of visiting Lima:

To start off with, it is a 17 block journey
I heard 347 horn honks,
3 car alarms,
saw 4 different colors of jeans: neon blue, purple, yellow, and hot pink,
was on the receiving end of 7 catcalls (in English and Spanish),
as well as numerous weird looks for being tall and blond.

8 taxis stopped or slowed down to see if I needed a ride,
3 buses from the line that I use passed by,
I was almost run over by one dump truck while trying to cross the street
as well as 2 mototaxis (I will try to take and put up a photo of one later but it's basically a 3 wheeled golf cart) who were driving on the sidewalks.

The total time taken was 38 minutes including the time I took to stop at Wongs (basically a Peruvian version of Cub) and the minute or so that I had to wait while trying to get the attention of the security guard to open the gate so I could get to my apartment building.

With all the craziness, walking still beats waiting at the paradero and standing in a packed (and I mean packed!!) bus while stuck in rush hour, and it saved me half of a sol :)

Almuerzo with Mama Olga

Today was a pretty lazy Sunday (to round out the weekend). Mama Olga invited me to lunch so I had to be there at 1pm. I didn't have a problem finding the right combi, but apparently gas prices went up overnight (confirmed by Mama Olga when I asked) so the trip that is normally 1.40 soles turned into a 2 soles ride. While I didn't have an issue with the pay jump, many of my fellow commuters did. I tried not to let their constant screaming at the cobrador detract from my favorite bus ride pastime of watching out the window. I arrived at Mama Olga's door with 4 minutes to spare. It was so nice to be able to see her after 2 years.



Mama Olga on my last trip to Peru in '08 (I didn't bring my camera with today).

We went to a Chifa (a type of Chinese meets Peruvian rice) restaurant and talked for awhile. Back in her home she confessed her weakness for ice cream so the conversation continued over a bowl of helado de Lucuma. Mama Olga always treats me like one of her granddaughters, and today was no exception. Even though we can't visit again for a couple of weeks (her schedule is crazier than mine!) I'm excited to go back. Oh, and thanks for the vote of confidence Juls, for your information I got to her house in 40 minutes and didn't get lost!

On a compete side note: Nini has found a space for her glass store and is busily working to get it ready to open for Mother's Day.




This is just a sample of her work (it's actually the piece she gave to me!).

Miraflores

Today was a pretty chill day. Sarah and I wanted to go to Miraflores to see Marianna's showroom. While our time in Miraflores was quite relaxing, that leading up to it was definitely not. We couldn't even leave the condo complex without me first wiping out (I guess running in flip flops isn't the brightest idea ever) and skinning my entire shin. Luckily I am fulling qualified and certified to take care of such an injury. About 20 minutes later, Sarah, my skillfully bandaged leg, and I set out once again. I would include a photo of my lovely leg but I have a feeling my mom would not approve . . .

The taxi is the next eventful step to arriving in Miraflores. I specifically asked the drivers if they knew where the address was that we were trying to get to. The first one said no, but the second taxi driver said he knew the street. I think he must have been having a very bad day because he kept ranting about how he should be studying instead of working right then. It also turned out that he didn't know where the street was so I had to call Marianna for directions, not the easiest thing to do over the phone and in Spanish.

We finally found the apartment and all of the pieces were so colorful. There were a couple of other students who were also showing their work, mostly hair pins, bags, and clothes. I bought a few clips, 2 from Marianna.



The student showroom.

Sarah had yet to see the ocean from Peru so I wanted to take her to Larcomar, a shopping center that is built into the cliff that overlooks the sea. After getting some really good ice cream (it was easier to realize that they use the same system as the movie theater), we walked around a bit and enjoyed the ocean air. It was nice to be able to just relax instead of running all over the city which is what we end up doing most weekends. I found the micro that goes down Benavides in Miraflores as well as La Marina, which is 5 blocks from my apartment. That will come in handy since I am going to Mama Olga's house tomorrow for lunch!



Sarah and me at Larcomar.

Tonight will be as equally chill as the day. A couple of friends are coming over to hang out, and hopefully help me with my chronicle written in Old Spanish that I have to read for Tuesday (gracias Luis!!). There might even be a full cultural exchange taking place since it is my turn to pick the movie and I have a feeling I'm going with "Miracle" (if only I had "The Mighty Ducks" on DVD).

Vamos al cine!

Last night Sarah and I decided to trade in our normal Friday night routine of going out for a quieter one at the movies. The Plaza has a huge movie theater. While the process of going to see a movie might seem simple . . . it was anything but. Before we could even look at the movie times to see what we wanted to watch, a transvestite clown approached us, wanting to sell us candy. We finally decided on "Dear John" with subtitles in Spanish. Movie tickets were 13 soles (about $5). Then it was on to get some popcorn (we had already hit up the grocery store for candy and drinks). We ended up getting in the wrong line. Apparently you first order your food from one line, then are handed a receipt with your order on it to give to the worker in charge of the second line, duh! Doesn't everyone know that's how it works? Um, nope. We then walked up to the 3rd floor, sala 13, for the show. I gathered that even though they ask you to turn off your cellphones, in Peru it's optional? There were phones ringing and being answered throughout the entire movie. It was fun, and it was nice to go out and relax a little, especially since midterms are coming up in a week.

Just another example of how the simplest things can turnout to be very different (and complicated) gracias a cultural exchange.

tarea . . .

I guess the semester is finally getting well underway. On Tuesday, my professor for History of Peru: Prehispanic, gave us an assignment to read a chronicle by Thursday (today). Minor detail: The book is written in 16th century Old Spanish! Wow, this should be fun. After about 3 hours in, I was beginning to get the hang of it.

u can be u,v, or b . . . y, i, e and g, j are interchangeable . . .h may or may not exist . . . v is sometimes u . . . and z, c, and s are all messed up!

Not to mention it is Spain Spanish, so that adds an entire new set of vocabulary to the mix. Oh, did I forget to mention . . . I have to present on the book today in class. That should be interesting. Apart from being difficult to read, the book is actually quite interesting. Reading about the Incas from someone who was there, witnessing their day to day lives first hand is exciting.

On a plus side, there is a birthday party tomorrow night for Chad, one of the international students from Madison, so at least there is the weekend to look forward too.

Mobile

Last Saturday my compañera, from the buddy program at PUCP, Mariana, took me and Sarah around Lima. Here's the very Minnesota meets Lima photo:



The view is of the entire city of Lima from the Cerro San Cristóbol.



Here we have Gabi( Mariana's sister), me, Sarah, Mariana, and Silvana (Mariana's other sister) at the base of the cruz de San Cristóbol. The weekends here have proven to be just as crazy as the week. One thing that was confirmed for me that day is that I cannot go to the changing of the guards at the Presidential palace without getting sunburnt (I was wearing sunblock I swear!). Maybe if it wasn't at noon everyday, it would be a different story but as of now it is Sun: 2, Sara: 0

Leading to yesterday . . .

Gold star for me, I have finally figured out the public transportation enough so that I can get around most parts of the city on my own. Yesterday I met up with Mariana, her sister Silvana, and a friend from school. We went to see her boyfriend, Gabriel, perform in a version of The Lord of the Flies (El Señor de las Moscas) at the Biblioteca Nacional. The library is right on Javier Prado, the main street in Lima so I had no problem finding a micro. I did have a problem with the fact that my cellphone subscription decided to choose that night to end so I couldn't call Mariana but I found my way. (it was also an interesting journey since I was wearing a dress, which gave me even more weird looks than normal) The play was very good, and I understood most of what was said. Afterward we all went to the casa of Mariana's grandma for a birthday party for her other sister, Gabi. I didn't know anyone besides the family and a couple of friends but it was lots of fun. Mariana was on a mission to get everyone dancing so there were about 5 of us that were required to dance so that more people would start.



Me, Gabriel, and Mariana.

Of course with so much going on yesterday, I wasn't able to get a ton of homework done . . . meaning that most of the 200 pages I need to read for my control (test) tomorrow, have been left for today. At least this reading is in English! Como se dice "procrastination" en español?

dance dance!

Saturday Adela took Sarah and me to visit her niece, Laura, in San Isidrio for lunch. Of course lunch didn't happen until about 4pm but it was worth the wait. I had lomo saltado since I'm not a big fan of ceviche. Afterward Laura showed Sarah and me her music collection. It was almost completely in English. She has the lyrics memorized but she doesn't know what they mean. She asked us to listen to the song she had as her wedding song. It was Diana King "Do you really want to hurt me." I think she had thought the lyrics were more romantic since the music is pretty upbeat. As we listened to more of her CDs the 3 of us ended up dancing while the others talked about "adult" things. We didn't get back to the apartment until almost 10pm. That is one intense lunch outing.

Of course one key advantage to living in Latin America is that the guys here know how to dance . . . well! I was feeling bummed about not being able to go to the hockey banquet. A couple of friends from Peru offered to take Sarah and me out dancing. I guess I didn't get enough dancing at Laura's place. This is Latin America where supper is served at 10pm so we didn't head out until almost 1am. Luis and Sergio took us to a salsa club and I got to practice my salsa and merengue. I think the guys were a little surprised that I knew the words to the songs that were playing (gracias ELDB!). It was a ton of fun even if I wasn't one of the greatest dancers ever. It's hard to compete with those who have grown up learning these dances, I started when I was 15. At least I have a entire semester to practice!

La comida: breakfast

Since this week has been pretty uneventful I thought I would take this opportunity to do a little segment on the ridiculously yummy Peruvian food. The kinds of food as well as how they are eaten are so different from that of the U.S. that I can't do it all in one entry. No better place to start than from the top. On to breakfast!



This is a typical Peruvian breakfast. I don't think I've had anything else in the morning since I got here. There is also a specific order to eating said breakfast which I found out can be slightly complicated if you show up to breakfast still half asleep. First step is to drink the fresh squeezed juice. I've never had so many different flavors of juice in my life. Apparently boxed juices don't exist in Peru, and I'm okay with that. Once done with the juice, you can tackle the hot milk. You're supposed to put sugar in it. At Nini's they have brown sugar and mixed with the milk it tasted really good. Here it's plain sugar but its still good, just very different from what I'm used to. Coffee or tea can be substituted for the milk. But there is always something warm to drink. There is always bread, with meat and cheese or Nutella. It's a very filling breakfast, much different from the chewy bar or poptarts that I'm used to grabbing as I rush out to my first class.

PIJAMADA!

Yesterday was Saturday which meant I got to hang out with Nini and her family. Even though Nini had a cold, she still wanted to go forward with the sleepover. I don't think anything can stop her :) Sarah came with as well to meet Nini's daughters and husband. We first tried to find this cafe that sells alfajores in Miraflores that Celeste told us about. The adventure part came in at the fact that she couldn't remember the name of the cafe. One minor detail . . . we were saving the alfajores for Sunday morning, after the sleepover . . . and completely forgot about them! Oops, maybe next weekend :) Doraliz, Nini's daughter, had to work until 11pm so the pijamada started without her, but Anabelen and her friend Maria Pia were there so the 4 of us were able to do enough damage early on. It was really nice to be able to hang out with other girls my age for the night and still be able to practice Spanish. Around 2am I broke out a little culture lesson and made Smores in the microwave for everyone. Peru apparently doesn't have graham crackers (I looked everywhere!!) so I settled for these vanilla flavored ones. Chocolate bars are also hard to come by so a bag of Hershey kisses stood in. Max, Nini's husband, as well as all the girls had never heard of Smores before. They all loves the makeshift version and were quite astounded when I explained how they are normally made, over a campfire. And I must say, I didn't blow up a single marshmallow, talent, I know.

Of course we all slept maybe 4 hours so by morning we were very tired. After breakfast we were trying to figure out what to do. Somehow our boredom turned into a full fledged pillow and blanket war. I wouldn't call it a pillow fight because we weren't just hitting each other with them, we were launching them across the room, and diving behind couches. Even managed to break a glass (Maria Pia!!), not to name names. :) All in all, it was a night full of movies, sugar coated snacks, laughter, Nini taking a ton of photos, and of course no boys allowed!!

Campus

I finally took some photos on campus. There are lots of tagged deer running around campus. They've gotten so used to the students that you can actually pet them. That's Sarah, my roommate.

sexist gyms

My class today wasn't until 3pm so I went to the gym in the morning. After arguing with the guy at the front desk for 5 minutes about how I didn't need a trainer to help me, I lost. Not my native language okay! Anyways, so Paulo was to help me out. First it's 15 minutes in the treadmill. He set it at 4.5 km per hour which he said was standard walking speed. I was not about to walk for 15 minutes so I asked if I could run, you know, actually get some exercise in. I think I took him by surprise that a girl would actually not care about ruining her hair and makeup but at least he said yes. So as I'm running I get a little bored. People watching seems like a fine way to pass the time. I'm noticing that most of the women there (meaning everyone but me) has on very tight spandex shorts and tops, many of which are just shy of being long enough to reach the top of the spandex. To each their own so I didn't really think much of it. What I did find amusing were a couple of them had their hair down, make up on, and were talking on their cell phones while "working out".

So after my 15 minutes I'm told we're doing upper body lifting. Bypass all the free weights and head straight to the machines. For the first one Paulo put 5 Kg (11 lbs) on for each arm. Um . . . I know I don't have the strongest arms in the world but really?? A couple machines later I made a comment that I wasn't used to using the machines, I use free weights at home. Paulo responded "No, las mujeres no les gustan las pesas" meaning, "No, the women don't like the free weights". EXCUSE ME! Wow, not like you're not talking to a woman right now or anything. Maybe this trainer thing wasn't such a good idea.

Some of the lifts were ones I've never done before so when I didn't get the form correct the first time Paulo kept wanting to take wight off. What weight? You've got me doing maybe 20 lbs. oh, and let's not forget the ab workout he had planned. 30 crunches. Okay Paulo and then what?? "no, es todo" Yea right, at least I was able to add in some other abs when he wasn't looking. Back to 15 more minutes on the treadmill, not before asking me if I was up to it, heaven forbid the workout makes you tired!! That is the last 5 minute argument I ever lose in Spanish.

First day of school!

So today was the first day of classes and I was very fortunate to have one at 8am. I left early and walked the mile and a half to school to make sure I had plenty of time to find the "aula" so as to not be late. First was History of America: precolonial and colonial. In Spanish the word "America" refers to all the countries in North, Central, and South America so that is a lot of history to cover. The professor is from Peru but has studied in Miami so after class he called over the international students to let us know that if we want to take the tests or write the papers in English we can. The 3 of us declined the offer politely which he understood so he went on to say that we won't take points off for mistakes at the fault of Spanish nto being our native language. In other words I'm greatly looking forward to the class, even if it is as 8am.

When class got over at 10am, I had 4 hours before my next class. I was too much of a floja to walk back to the apartment only to have to go back for another class so I mostly walked around campus and sat under a tree to read my book. At one point there were 3 guys sitting on the bench next to me. I was engrossed in my book but I overheard the word "gringa" more than once from them. HEY GUYS, GUESS WHAT? IF I'M HERE STUDYING IT MEANS THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ME! I decided to let it go but we'll see how long that lasts. I did run into Maggie, another international student. She showed me this little place just outside of campus where one can get a 3 course meal for 6.5 soles, under $3! Getting off campus was it's own adventure. Dad and Eric, you never said that engineers get special treatment! I might have stuck with my physics major if I would have known :P Apparently the entrance farthest south (the direction we needed to go to get to the restaurant) is only for engineering students. We couldn't even leave from it!

The second class was at 2pm, the state and politics of Peru. We started with an overview of 19th century Peruvian history which I'm not very strong on. I was able to put in my two cents when the professor wanted to put the important dates in context. "And what was going on in France at the time?" . . . silence, the guy from the Czech Republic and I were waiting for someone else to answer. "Napoleon was ruling most of Europe" Score 1 for the exchange students! A little while later: "And what country was the second country in the Americas, after the U.S., to break off from colonial rule?" . . . more silence . . . "Haiti" Score 2! The lecture was hard to pay attention to but the professor is only filling in for 2 weeks until the actual one returns.

After all that, I waited the hour until Sarah was done with her last class and we headed for the plaza. There's a Lifetime Fitness look-a-like there and I wanted to check out prices so I can work out while I'm here. The trainers (all wearing muscle shirts) had a hard time understanding that I would not be needed a trainer here. I have one in Minnesota and I'm getting a workout plan from him. All I need is access to the weight room and such.

el sabado con Nini

Today is Saturday which means hanging out with Nini! Mi mama peruana :) One of our coworkers from Spanish camp had a friend coming to Peru for a teachers' seminar, Mariam. So today we went to a couple museums so that she could take photos for her students. Before we got going though we had to stop by Movistar and now I finally have a working cell phone! But I only have 19 minutes left so no one call me :) I saw way more that I could possibly take in and remember but I did learn quite a bit about the Shinning Path era. It was even more interesting because afterward at supper Nini and her husband Max told us about it from their perspectives. It was so hot out that we stopped by Larcomar, which is a lot like la plaza de San Miguel but it's right on the ocean. The breeze was marvelous! We also went to la Plaza Mayor where the cathedral and the president's house are.

Of course we had to go shopping. First we stopped by a small jewelry store to get necklaces and earrings for Spanish camp. The guy who was helping us seemed nice but I couldn't understand him what so ever. I don't think he thought I spoke Spanish because he would try to speak in English but that was even harder to understand. We got all the Spanish interns gifts. Nini said we should get Mateo and Javier the same shirt so that they don't fight over them, los ninos! y no te preocupes Adry, ya tenemos una camiseta de Inca Kola para ti! At one point a woman came over the loud speaker to say that a child had been found wandering and would Brian's mom please come to the Pisco bar to claim him!! I'm not sure, but I might have been the only one who found that entertaining. :) Supper was comprised of empanadas and Inca Kola. It was amazing, especially after a full day of tromping all throughout the city! Next Saturday will be the second pijamada at Nini's house. Only this one will be planned . . . not that the first sleepover wasn't fun, just a bit unexpected. And there are plans to hunt down Lima's best made alfajor which apparently lies in Miraflores next to the Casa Andina. Don't worry Celeste, Nini and I are on it!

discotecas!

So yesterday's hang out was actually organized by APU, a series of houses that international students can rent out and live with people from all over the world. They basically rented out an entire bar in Miraflores for us. Getting there was quite the adventure. We called a cab (you don't want to take one off of the street) and told him to take us to calle Berlin and Libertad. Apparently he heard calle Belen. My bargaining skills got a chance to practice. Eventually we got there and there were over 100 people at the bar! This is not a big place. Take my hockey lockerroom, and you throw in a bar, tables and chairs and a dance floor, it was packed. Chad, a guy from Madison had stayed in the hostel that was right next door before moving in to his APU house. There was a bar on the roof with cheap drinks so a bunch of us went over there. I think I've found the best (and decently cheap) pisco sour in Lima! 10 soles (about $3.50) and it was much better than the ones I tried when I was here a couple of years ago. While I didn't take them up on it, there are entire streets that give away free 1st drinks just to get you into their discoteca. After people started going off in their different groups I ended up hanging out with my roommate Sarah, Chad, a girl from Germany, Julian from Colombia, and Peter and Jesus from Lima. The discotecas have pretty good music, Spanish music! And I held my own during the salsa and merengue songs. Sarah and I left early so that we wouldn't be completely dead today but the rest stayed out. I think it helps that most of them live in Miraflores so they could walk home. We had to make sure to head out before the taxis stopped running (at least the safe ones) I think today we are going back to the university to figure out where all our class rooms are, and then hanging out at la Plaza San Miguel which is on the way home. Think Mall of America only half the size and everything is outdoors. They even have a Camp Snoopy! but it's called el Parque Coney, like the Island :)

Vete a . . .

I officially have the route from my apartment to the university down. Now if only I could figure out this whole combi thing. Sarah and I took our first combi ride without our host mom and survived!! I'm pretty proud of us. Today we had the seminar on safety in Lima. A lot of the information was good, but it was mostly on blending in so that we don't look like gringos . . . not sure how I'm supposed to pull that one off. Maybe cut my legs off at the knees? But I do know how to not get pick pocketed and she told all the women to make sure we know how to say a few choice words in Spanish to guys who are a little too forward on the streets. Gracias Sra. Cutter!! I've known quite a few since Honors 4/5 Spanish junior year in high school. :) There was an entire class period dedicated to swear words. The Colombian sitting next to me also offered to improve my vocabulary so I should be set.

I went to see the sports pavilion today too. Apparently chess is a sport because it has it's own room in the center. The other lucky hobbies that have their own rooms are karate, dance, and ping pong. When I went into the main part of the gym, they had students target practicing with air soft rifles, and volleyball practice and a ping pong tournament. I couldn't find a weight room or locker rooms. But there are like 100 soccer fields!

I'm not sure if Lima also celebrates thirsty Thursdays or if it is something we gringos have brought down with us but tonight Sarah and I are venturing out to Miraflores to met up with a group of international students. It will be my first time back in Miraflores since I went to visit Mama Olga 2 years ago. But I'm prepared, I know where to sit in the taxi, and to leave the window open. I also know that if the driver wants more than 12 soles for the ride, he thinks I'm stupid gringa who won't know that I would be paying too much. Yay for knowing how to barter :) Hasta luego!

Orientación

Today was the first day of orientation. I knew it was going to be fun since all the international students would be there. Of course as soon as I sit down I find out I'm sitting with a group of Badgers. (mom and dad, you should be proud) Apparently there are 15 of them here so there's no escape!! The first thing one of them said to me when I said hello was "Pura vida mae!" Just imagine the most pale Irish American you know, with natural bleach blond hair, and I'm thinking . . . there's no way you're from Costa Rica. Of course it was one of the people from Madison. After the introduction session we had about an hour and a half before the next one so I met up with the Costa Rican Badger, a girl from the Netherlands, a guy from Colombia, and another from Peru. I was cool to hear the different accents. Sarah joined us at one point and we all went to the next orientation thing. We went into an auditorium so that one of the organizers could tell us to go back outside so we could meet our "compañeros PUCP", students that are supposed to help us out during our time here. I guess we were supposed to be telepathic and instantly know who our buddy was because there was no system after that. There was free Inca Kola!! Always a plus. I finally found my compañera. Her name is Manuela and she's really nice. She's studying law so we had something to talk about. For some reason I have a hard time understanding her. I'm not sure why since I really haven't had that problem since I've gotten here.

Ok, so a recap of what I learned:
1. We will pick our classes tomorrow.
2. We will have a seminar on safety in Lima tomorrow.
3. Classes start Monday.
4. The international student houses throw the best parties, starting Thursday nights (many of them are from Madison so go figure).
5. Have an Inca kola!

1, 2, and 3 were on the calender we got in the mail but hey I'd do it all over again for an Inca Kola :) A side note, on the walk back home, apparently tall blonde girls shouldn't wear dresses, must be too much for the locals to handle.

oh the simple things

So I've been in Lima for almost a week now but I'm just getting around to setting up this blog, sorry guys. I'm so glad I've got a Peruvian mama, Nini! We already had our first pijamada and I actually helped her cook arroz con pollo and it was edible! Today proved interesting if a bit frustrating. The other student whose living in the apartment with me (Sarah) and I went to la Plaza de San Miguel. I was trying to call another student who was going to meet us there only to find out I couldn't make calls. There's a Movistar store in the plaza so I went with Sarah and we got our number (140) to wait for someone to help us. Every time the next number was called and someone didn't immediately get up, the worker would always look over at us. "136 . . . 136!" "No tengo 136, tengo 140, puedo contar" I was very tempted to tape my ticket to my forehead so that they would realize it wasn't my turn yet just to show them that there are gringas who can speak Spanish. I found out that my Movistar phone was never activated so I have to wait until the weekend to go back to the store and have them activate it. I never realized simple things like making a phone call would be so complicated.

I also realized just how many people have never seen a 6 ft, pale, blond girl before. Especially when I'm walking around with Rossy, the woman who cleans and cooks for us. I swear she is the shortest, full grown person I've ever seen. Her head comes up to the bottom of my ribcage so walking around San Miguel with her makes me look even more out of place. The staring and whistling started to get quite annoying, especially when the guys are 5 ft tall. I don't mind when the kids point or say something because I now have three friends who have invited me to play soccer with them in one of the parking lots around the complex. I'm getting lots of practice with Spanish, although a couple people have commented that I use too many Mexican words! At least orientation starts tomorrow so I can't get into too much trouble since I won't have as much free time. My other huge accomplishment is that I have yet to get lost!! We'll see how well that goes.