Water parks in the winter

This weekend we went on a Mirabus (one of those double decker buses with a loud lady talking about everything that you pass by) and we were the funny people on top taking pictures of everything from the Cathedral to adorable small dogs. Or wait, maybe that was just me taking those pictures.... ANYWAY. It was quite fun, but pretty darn cold up on that bus zooming around Lima at night. We saw Central Lima in the night time and it was very pretty and there were lots of people. I am looking forward to going back sometime soon in the daylight and to walk around and see more things and take more pictures. We saw about 5 different weddings/wedding pictures take place that night, so obviously, its a great place for pictures!

Our final arrival destination on the bus before we headed back was this water park called Parque de la Reserva and it was so much fun! There are fountains all over the place! Some you can run through, some are colored, some move with music! It was like Disneyland in fountain form. All I kept thinking was how much fun this would be on a hot summer evening! A few people went through a fountain and got themselves wet, I decided against that but they looked like they had fun!

After we finished the Mirabus and got dropped off at Parque Kennedy, a group of us grabbed some Pinkberry (naturally) and then stayed out for the evening dancing and hanging out! It was quite a fun time!

On Sunday, our family lunch was at a Chifa restaurant! Now, these Peruvians are very proud of their Chifa. They tell us all the time, it is like your Chinese food, but with a Peruvian twist! Now, it was delicious and i enjoyed it very much, however...it pretty much just tasted like Chinese food... In my opinion. Its possible that the dishes we ordered were not some of the more Peruvian influenced, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless! We had wontons, chicken dumplings, fried rice and more! Then, after, we went to a tea/gelato place and i had some AMAZZZZING ice cream and hot tea. It was fabulous. And of course, always a good time to hang out with the three brothers, mom and dad, because there is never a dull moment... This Sunday, Jessa and I "learned" that there is some sort of phrase that Pochy translated to us as "being a finger" that means "being annoying". We cannot quite figure out how she came about this translation, but we are big fans of the phrase. Now, whenever any of the boys are being dumb, we just say "Stop being a finger!!"

Also, just today, I learned in my History of Contemporary Peru class that the name "chifa" comes from the Chinese words "Chi fan" which mean to eat! I hope that's right or else I look dumb... but that's what my teacher said!

That is all for now folks!

Dear Blog World:

My parents are the most wonderful people in the world for making this trip possible. I am so lucky.

Thank you.

Back to school!

Depending on the time of day (heavy traffic around 8am and 6pm) it takes 40-80 minutes on the bus to get to my school a couple towns over. Upon leaving the house, I walk just about a block and around the corner to Benevides, the large street, maybe 3 lanes each way and cross the street to catch the bus going the correct direction. The bus I want is one of the larger ones, not the smaller, minivan sized combis, which are very squishy and small, and in my opinion, better for trips a little shorter than my daily commute to school. The bus is brown and yellow and says “La Molina” on the front somewhere usually. But the color is the way to catch it. There is always a bus driver (usually male) and a cobradora (male, female and maybe even kid/teen).

The cobradora is like the circus ring man. as the bus drives, he is hanging from the bus door, waving his hands and appears to yell “come one come all, the greatest bus on earth right here, get on!!” and the funny thing is, I don’t know why they need to sell the bus. It’s a bus, people either need to take that bus, or not. I don’t really believe it’s much of an option. But, at the same time, they are directing people in a sense, yelling where they are going in the middle of some whistles and ‘get on!’s. Once I am on, maybe sitting, or maybe standing, gripping the yellow handrails for dear life, the cobradora eventually comes through with their handful of coins, ‘shake shake shake’ all down the aisle till they get to you. “Where are you going?” “La Molina” I answer, and sometimes I add “Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola” but they tend to not care about that. I give them my 2 soles, wait for my 50 centimos change and try to get comfy in my seat or wedged between whomever I happen to be standing next to. The ride isn’t too bad already; I think I got used to it fast, although I will never be 100% secure with the insanity that is driving in Lima. When the bus driver is going to stop at a bus stop, he honks. When he wants to leave the bus stop, he honks, when he wants to change lanes, he honks, when the light turns green, he honks. Basically, all means of communication is through honking. I sure hope all the other drivers on the road know the difference between the “I’m stopping” honk and the “I’m changing 5 lines” honk. Ha…..ha…..

When it’s time to get off, you make your way to a door, front or back, and say “baja” until the door is opened. Once I am off it’s a short walk across the street and then I am at school! Yay!

Taxis are also a pretty convenient way to get around and cheap if you have a car full of people, which we usually do. Taxis here are not set prices if you get them off the street. You bargain your price before you get in. for most of the trips we take, we are able to bargain it from 10 to 8, or from 8 to 6. I think we always aim at least one sol less than they originally propose. Once we agree, we pile in, and split the pay when we arrive at our destination. It’s quite nice for going to dinner or going out on in the evenings because it’s easier and more convenient than the buses, and sometimes just as cheap.

The traffic and transportation is just another part of the culture that I am slowly learning! There are a lot more interesting things that happen and have happened on these trips and I will write as funny things happen but for now, this is a good glimpse at what my daily commute is like.

Ciao : )

Junín

This weekend we went on our first group trip. It started with a train ride on “The Ferrocarril Central Andino joining Lima to Huancayo (The capital city of the department of Junín). This is the second highest railway in the world and the highest passenger train in the world. Thejourney through the heart of Peru is simply breathtaking. It is an 11 hour experience where the train reaches an altitude of 15,681ft and goes through 69 tunnels, 58 bridges and makes 6 zigzags.” It was a pretty cool experience to look back on, but in all honesty, painfully long, and the altitude was pretty difficult as well. A few people got really sick, and I just felt pretty crappy for a majority of the trip… Some people were fine, and I do envy them, because I just did not enjoy the day much. After the train ride we stayed at a hotel in Huancayo.

The next day we took a bus into the jungle, hiked a beautiful trail, swam in a waterfall, danced with a native tribe, toured and taste tested coffee, jams and fruits at a coffee plantation and after a long day of amazingness, ended up at a beautiful hotel. The view from our room was spectacular. We were all in bungalows up a mountain side overlooking a valley with a river and mountains across from us. I did not wake up to see the sun rise, but luckily my friend Zach has some pictures and it was beautiful! When I got up at 7 I sat out on the balcony with the sun pouring in and just stared at the blue sky and the nature that I will not get again for a while. There was a pool and sunshine to be enjoyed, what more could we ask for in the middle of winter!? I wish we could have stayed there for a week. It was so beautiful and warm and sunny. I should elaborate more on every single aspect of what I saw during the day, but this entry would be pages long. Hopefully the pictures will be enough! There is so much to this country and it is so beautiful!

Pictures will be posted in my Picasa Album soon!!

Pizza and Pinkberry!

Arriving to the hospital on Tuesday morning I was really excited to see the girls because I had spent some time thinking about what other stuff I could bring to their room for us to play with but was extremely sad/happy to see that Estefani had left to go home.  She, like the other girls in the unit I was working in had some type of lower body trauma injury. In the time I was working there, she did not have on a cast or anything but from the looks of it is was a problem with her leg. I am glad she was doing well enough to go home but so sad to see her go because I found a puzzle about different countries and I was so excited to teach her! But it was a great day with the three girls nonetheless. The oldest girl is starting rehab for her leg and is up and about on a walker sometimes. One of the other girls, Britany, has a cast all the way around her hip/waist area and cannot really sit up very well. They all progress at different rates and starting next week I think I will be working with different rooms and different units.

We decided to eat dinner at La Calle de Las Pizzas (Pizza Street) in Miraflores and we had a great time. This is a touristy spot in my opinion and when we arrived out of the taxi, and met up with a few other friends making us about 8 American students, we were immediately followed by waiters and waitresses from every restaurant promising us free drinks! Two free drinks! You like wine? We have beer! And it was very entertaining. We finally picked a place, and got our free pisco sours. They were quite…sour… But it was quite exciting to have my first pisco sour! We ordered a few pizzas to share and just had a really fun dinner. Afterwards we walked around, got some frozen yogurt at Pinkberry (yay globalization!) and perused a flea market in Parque Kennedy.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was orientation for all international students at USIL (my university) and there is quite a group. I think the number was around 90 or 95. There are students from all over the place, France, Germany, Colombia, Spain and we will be mixed in with the rest of the population of Peruvian students at the school. I will be taking classes on Tuesdays (Intro to Gastronomy 11-1, Spanish 3-5), Wednesdays (History of Contemporary Peru 9-12, Spanish 3-5) and Thursdays (Bar workshop/management 8-11, Gastronomy 11-1 and Spanish 3-5). I will be working at the hospital on Mondays and Fridays and some Saturdays as well. I am excited to start school in the sense that I am looking forward to meeting new people and practicing my Spanish with Peruvian students, and I hope to not stress about it and just have a fun time learning.

At the orientation we also got to see one of the schools dance clubs and a music club perform and it was really fun. I am going to look into taking a dance class or something at the school if I have time, although I doubt I will…

Late Saturday Nights=Slow Sundays

“On Sunday, we sleep sleep sleep” is what Pochy told us, sounded good to Jessa and I who were still in bed at 1pm this morning after our first shot at the Peruvian nightlife. In my opinion, we did well. The group was a ton of fun and the club we went to was fun, but not too crazy.

Sunday when all the brothers were finally up and showered around 3:30, we went to lunch at a place that specializes in northern Peruvian cuisine. We had a few typical plates: ceviche, causa (shrimp and chicken), seco de cabrito, langostinos reventados and per usual, everything was tasty and I ate a ton! Then after a while of eating and talking we went to a little Italian café for dessert and coffee. There appear to be a lot of cafés around, and a pretty popular place for people of all ages. It was really nice to have some family time because during the week everyone (including Jessa and I) are running around doing our own thing, and I only see everyone for a few minutes here and there when we sit on Diego’s bed after he gets home from work at the hospital, or when we bug Alvaro by stealing his computer and writing on his white board. (yes, we are excellent sisters). In the evening we went over to Leah’s house and bugged her brother! It was quite the family filled day.

Monday started with another morning at the hospital. They sent me alone this time but they sent me to the same room with the chicas so I would hopefully have an easier time. Although, this time there was also a boy in the room and I didn’t have any planned activity for them (like the masks last week), only the games, books and art supplies that I brought from the volunteer room and it was definitely an overwhelming day. Let me tell you about some of the great highlights though. The 16 year old loves listening to the radio and she is constantly calling me over to ask what a song is about. Some were easy (Shania Twain-you’re still the one) and some are a little more difficult to explain (Love the way you lie-Eminem and Rihanna…seriously, that song is twisted.) But she loves asking me how to say things in English and she is always very helpful when I am struggling to understand the younger girls. Now, the younger girls are not able to grasp the concept that I can’t speak Spanish. When I ask them to repeat something, or hand them a marker when they asked for a paint brush, they think I am quizzing them or playing a game. Which is in some ways cute, but in some ways just plain embarrassing. Today, Estefani asked me “porque no hablas como nosotros?” (why don’t you talk like us) and when I told her that I was from the US, and that I spoke English, she had no clue what that meant. I asked her if she knew other countries, and I named some of the countries that border Peru, but she did not understand the concept and could not understand what it meant. She definitely warmed up to me the fastest and wanted the most attention from me while I was there. When I was packing up to leave, she hugged me so tight, I almost stayed just to keep hugging this tiny little girl with the most beautiful smile. She asked if I was coming back tomorrow. When I told her yes, she made me promise, about six times. I promised her, and that hug made the stress of trying to keep them all happy so so so worth the bit of stress.

After I got home from the hospital, I ate lunch and then a few of us took a taxi to larcomar to walk around for a few hours. Larcomar is a mostly outside mall that is basically on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The mall has shops, movie theatres, restaurants and two major discotecas. After walking around for a while we walked along the coast through various parks along the way, including Parque del Amor and a really pretty lighthouse. OH and I forgot. I was wearing sandals! Because the sun came out! And I was so excited that I just had to put on sandals! Unfortunately, the sun was only out for about 45 minutes, and by the time we got to the coast, with that cold breeze going, I was pretty darn cold. But oh well! It was exciting nonetheless.

Palabrites! (La playa)

Leah’s family has a beach house about an hour or so south of where we live and they invited us for Friday and Saturday. The drive was so interesting because we got to see a very different Peru than where we have been living. In Miraflores and Central Lima, there is traffic, nice cars, McDonalds, and high end housing, just like any gigantic city in the world. But on this drive, we saw the slums, a lot of dirt, a lot of empty space, a lot of empty walls and a lot of political graffiti. There was not a lot of green, it was mostly dirt mountains and dirt holes, and what looked like miles and miles of land that was under construction. We tried to take pictures of the drive but it will be hard to get a sense of what it really was.

When we arrived, it was sort of a gated community with lots of beach condos, rows and rows, and we were maybe the only ones there. Keep in mind, it is the dead of winter right now, but that did not make this any less exciting for us! We dropped of our stuff and put on our sweatshirts and walked along the beach. It was wonderful to feel that fresh costal air in place of the downtown air we have been in so far. The sound of the waves gave me a slight twinge of homesickness as I realized I am missing San Diego early fall, the best beach time, but it left as quick as it came when I remembered how incredible it was that I was walking in the same pacific ocean as my teammates and having the experience of a lifetime.

We ate an amazing lunch as usual and then Jessa and I ran on the boardwalk and I inhaled as much clean air as a possible to take home with me. We stayed up late hanging out on the patio with Marcos (Leahs ‘brother’) and Yayo, his friend and finally went to bed around 2 am,  the three of us gals snuggled up under our blankets.

After a slow start this afternoon with car troubles, and lots of pushing Marcos’s car along the road, we finally got back to Miraflores just in time for dinner and a nap before we head out for the evening. What’s a weekend beach adventure without a little car trouble?

Thursday!

Thursday was quite a day. In 100% a good way. I woke up early to go to the hospital for my first shift at the hospital. I really feel as though my volunteer experience is going to need a whole other blog for itself, but I will try to not gush about it too much, but please forgive me if I do. The other people working there were fantastic people. Peruvian students, Peruvian adults, and I met three other American girls, two from Virginia and one from Saratoga who is currently attending Stanford. So of course, we clicked right away and they had me go with her so we could do my first day in pairs. I worked in a ‘trauma unit’ more or less and worked in a room with 4 girls, ages 6, 7, 7 and 15. These girls were incredible cute, incredible sweet and so excited to be hanging out with us. We decorated masks, leaving me with glue, magic marker and paint all over my arms, and they were quite the artists. Or at least, compared to what I could have done with some glitter, feathers and a paper cut out mask. I was with them from 9-12 and it was wonderful. I wish I could work there every day. However, hay problemas. It is a 40 minute bus ride the other direction from my school. (which is also a 40 minute bus ride) and they only have morning shifts and I have classes in the mornings three days a week D: It is a shame but I am going to be there as much as possible.

After that we took our Spanish placement test which wasn’t too bad and we got to mingle with a lot of the other international students from all over the place who are also studying at USIL. We also got to spend a little more time on the campus and of course got more practice with taking the bus back and forth.

It was a very busy day with a very rushed lunch in between work and school but I enjoyed it because it felt like how a regular week day should feel like! I think I am going to get the hang of this pretty fast.

*from one Wong to another...

Today was in some ways a more low key kind of day. We only had to sign up for classes but we had our first transporation communication failure. It wasn’t an adventure or even a funny story, it was just us being kinda stupid. But we ended up only being a bit late and it was fine because we ended up having more time to talk and think about classes and learn things from Kelly, the director of USIL, about Peru. Since we finished earlier today, (home by 2) we had a more normal time lunch, I had some sort of sliced pork with rice and a creamy lentil kind of side.

After we finished, Jessa and I walked to meet the other girls at Wong: a grocery store with a little extra stuff, but easiest to compare to a grocery store. A bit of an interesting adventure because there are two Wongs in walking distance and we didn’t all meet together right away but thank goodness for our new cellphones!! We fidured it out, spent a long time exploring the store and (here comes a bit of scandalous information…) A couple of us bought alcohol! How exciting! Although, I am not sure if you can call the mostly juice/sugar “wine” we got alchohol, but it was an experience none the less. ( I think the proof was 4%) We then went home and sat on the floor and ate Inca Chips, drank wine and played banana grams! I am really liking this group of girls we have going and I am so glad we all live so close to be able to hang out all the time!

After they left Jessa and I had dinner, which was a more typical dinner, we had an omlete (mine with ham and Jessa’s with vegetables because she is a seafood but not meat eater) strawberries and some bread. We also had some nice warm tea.

I don’t think I mentioned the weather yet but let me tell you-It is cold. It is 60-65 degrees but when the sun is never out (never, ever, ever out) it doesn’t really feel like 65 does at home. We are in pants, long sleeves and a jacket every day. It is not unbearable and I am doing fine but it is definitely colder than I expected because of the lack of sun. 65 is not pants and sweatshirt and scarf and boots weather in San Jose or in San Diego…

Tomorrow I am going to the hospital that I am going to work at to check things out with Maria Elena, the elap (which is the volunteer program I will be doing) director and then after we are taking a Spanish placement test to see which Spanish class we will take during the year. While I was planning to go study for said test now, Alvaro’s friends are here and they have challenged me to a game of poker so, how can I refuse?? I must go play!

CIAO <3

rice and starch, arroz y choclo

On Tuesday, the five of us chicas took a taxi together again, but this time to USIL, the university that we will be studying at starting in about two weeks. The taxi took about 20 minutes (without traffic) although once school starts it may take closer to 30 with rush hour and people being back from their vacations. So far, our host moms, who all seem to be amigas, are herding us like little sheep, together, into Taxis that they chose and call for us. They seem to think we are not ready to attempt transportation via combi (small buses) or micros (slightly bugger buses) but they will warm up soon (we are hoping). It has been really fun so far to get close with these 4 other girls. We are an interesting group, from Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Maryland and California, all with different levels of Spanish which is a ton of fun because we have all been teaching and helping each other. We arrived to USIL and did a sort of orientation with Michelle again, only this time is was for USIL only. (The group is split between 3 universities) We walked around the campus a little bit and I posted a few pictures but I am sure there will be many more to come. It is a very modern and pretty campus. It is fairly new campus in Lima and is very well known for its cooking school and its international program because it offers a wide variety of classes in English. They have lots of extracurricular activities like dance classes, music lessons, and teams which in reality I will probably not have any time for… But that is okay! I have lots of other things to do, places to go and people to see!

We then had lunch at the little shopping center right next to our school where we all had lunch together. I had a DELICIOUS pretty typical ‘lunch’ in Peru (which is their biggest meal of the day) with causa con pollo (chicken) for an appetizer, lomo saltado (delicious meat, onions, tomatoes, rice and fried potatoes) for my entrée and chicha morada for drink. IT WAS SO GOOD. I also tried some friend’s foods, including crema de rocoto and a soup of some sort and a fish of some sort. Delicious.

After we finished touring the school, the 25 of us (more or less) went with our three directors by combi to Jocky Plaza, a kind of upscale mall with a lot of American stores and brands (including iStore, Guess, Nike etc) In the parking lot there is also a Tottus, which is a Target type of store. We walked around the mall a bit and I purchased a cell phone for about $25 dollars with some prepaid minutes and texts so now I can communicate with my friends and host family and it has been pretty helpful so far! I got to know some more of the group during this time as well because we split up in the mall and so it was easier to talk to people one on one more. We walked past a movie theatre which had a million show times of harry potter and tickets (GET THIS) were the most expensive ones around and they were only 12 soles (which is around $5!) however on Tuesdays it is 2 for 1 tickets (in most cinemas in the city) and there are places much cheaper where it only costs 7 soles for a movie ticket! What a deal! How am I ever going to be able to go to a 3D movie in California again!?! We took the combi back to school then got picked up by Leah’s mom and arrived home around 6:30, with tired brains and were very hungry. As usual, upon our entrance into the house, Maria Christina and her magical self began cooking and I had some DELICIOUS chicken and rice and potatoes. No, she did not know that we technically already had our “lunch” since she did not cook for us SO we were fed a full meal again. Yes, rice and potatoes. Again. Yes, two carbs in every meal. Yes I am going to get fat. No, I do not care-EVERYTHING I have eaten is delicious!! Apparently you eat rice with near every meal here and you rarely have a side salad or vegetable, but usually another starch. 

I love it, I am going to run on Thursday. I SWEAR :D

el primer dia

I have arrived safe and sound in Peru! After a long day of flying and a 30 minute bus drive to La Universidad del Pacifico (UP) I met my host mom (Pochy), dad (Raul) and my new 'twin sister' Jessa who is also in the program with me and is from Maryland. Raul, drove us to our house in Miraflores, about a 30 minute drive in his 'pickup' (pronounced 'peekup') which he told us proudly is an American car. When we arrived home close to 1:00 am I met the youngest of my three new brothers, Alvaro, who is 16, but like all younger brothers is way taller than me... There is also Diego (29) and Alonso (26) but they are full time students and are not around too often. Then Pochy showed us to our room, which is really more of an apartment actually separate from the rest of the very beautiful three story house. We have a downstairs living room with a 'sofa-cama' (pull out couch) a giant LG TV, a desk, a mini fridge and a bathroom. Then, up a metal spiral staircase is our room with two beds and a bathroom. It is quite nice and I will post pictures of the house and the yard soon.
After staying up way too late talking about everything from A-Z, Jessa and I have concluded that we are freakishly similar, although different enough to get along well. We finally fell asleep around 3 and slept this morning until 11. We woke up, showered and finished unpacking then went to have breakfast/lunch (or whatever you want to call cereal and orange juice past noon) Pochy took us to Wong, a supermarket/target kind of place where we picked up a few things for dinner and changed some dollar into soles.
After that Jessa and I walked over to Leah's house, another girl in the program who lives about 4 blocks from us where we met up with Sara and Shelby, two other girls that live close by so we could all share a taxi to UP for orientation with the program. The orientation was great, and our resident director is really nice and just seems happy with what she does. She is an american who married a Peruvian and has been living here for about 3 years and just had a baby 2 months ago. Her energy and how she talked reminds me of Aunt Beth. At orientation we met more students, more ISA staff and learned a lot about Peru culture, safety, money, transporation etc. After we finished we all took a taxi home together and Maria Christina, our live in helper/ totally awesome woman second mom of the family cooked dinner for Jessa and I. Pochy told us right off the bat that Maria Christina was the 'madre' of the house. She is great.
Things have been so great so far. Just enjoying getting to know people, the city and the culture little by little. I will learn more every day that I am here. I have such a great feeling about this trip.