last post from Perú

I'm leaving to come home today.. and this isn't going to be a very long, in-depth post, but I want to blog after I am home for however long too and talk about what that's like.

spent my last weekend partying with good friends on friday night, running along the shore, going for walks, eating at my favorite sandwich place (going there again today, too), hanging out with my family, having a goodbye breakfast with the IFSA group, going to La Punta, a beautifuuullllllll district outside of Lima near the big port, baking pumpkin flavored things for my host family, shopping for last minute Perú stuff, packing & enjoying everything!

I'm ready to come home, especially because I know I have such a great family & holiday to look forward too, but sometimes I wish I could come back to South America next semester!!! I see myself spending a lot more time in Latin America in the future.. I hope so..

This has been a WONDERFULLLLLLLLLLL semester, mostly because of how much I feel like I've grown and learned. I wouldn't take back choosing Lima over Europe, because I learned things here that cannot be found or understood in a country like Spain, and for that I feel reallyyyy blessed.

There were a lotttttt of frustrations and still many things that I wonder if I'll miss about life in Lima, but I survived & conquered :) and even though it doesn't feel like a big deal to me now, I feel like when I'm back in the States for a few months I'll realize how great of an impact that has.

all is well, here I come snowy PA.


p.s. everyone should wish me luck on my flight because I had a dream about me being the only survivor in a plane crash the other day.

I've noticed that on my new digital camera about 70% of my photos are of all of the flowers I love in Miraflores (my town). I'll miss them on a blizzardy, icy, grey-ugly-now january day. I just know it...

Everything's been pretty good for my last week! Nothing special, just overall content. I've officially completed a 15 page research paper in Spanish, recieved a 17 on my International Relations final (best grade I've gotten in that class everrr on the hardest exam) AND turned in my preproposal thesis statement/research plan to temple for Junior Research Scholars.. I feel confident with my thesis topic and look forward to getting back to classes at Temple & working with a professor in this research that I only hear great things about! Anyways, ACCOMPLISHING week. Those are always confidence-boosters.

I am officiallyyyyyy on vaca :)

Yesterday and today I had two GREAT long coast runs.. the weather was PERFECT! not too hot and a good breeze to keep me energized. after running a few miles I stopped to sit along the cliffs in my town that look out into the ocean and just relax and enjoy some zen moments :) I realize that even though Lima is a chaotic city, it's definitely gone one thing on Philly.. the ocean. Even when I am stressed or anxious here or just caught up in frustration or whatever I can find a nice park to enjoy the ocean in and forget about whatever it is! I loveee living on the coast.

Today I also spent some time just lounging in the park and reading and enjoying the little bit of sun there was today because I know I need to soak it in while I can.

Tonight I went to go see a friend's dance recital but overall the event was planned horribly and they wouldn't let us enter.. about 100 people. they completely underestimated attendence. I was beyonddddd disappointed. So we went out to dinner instead.

Tonight I spent some time hanging out with my mom.. it was really cool because we talked a lot about religion because in Perú they're trying to pass a law to make all religious bodies have equal rights (right now the Catholic Church has a lot of power here, too much if you ask me..) anyways the conversation was cool because we have similar beliefs about the catholic church and about our own beliefs and it was cool to realize that she understands my beliefs because not many people do and her thoughts and conversation was really comforting to me. and i pretty much thought the majority of peruvians were catholic... i wondered if people had seperate beliefs about the status of religion in general in the country. I'm going to miss my host family soooooo much! It was also funny today because Zaira, Oriana my grandma and me were having photo shoots in front of christmas decorations in our house! It was just fun.. they're all so amazingggg!!!!

hey, last week.

yesterday was good.. i got a lott done on my project, got a new digital camera, proved that i can argue to get my way in spanish at a department store where they didn't wanna let me return something, went for a decent run, ran into my host uncle and walked home with him and had interesting conversation, enjoyed the sunset at the park, saw fireworks in miraflores & was serenaded by a man playing the guitar and pan flute at the same time.

today.. doing more WORK! I have a 15 page research paper in progress (all i have left now is the conclusion and major editing).

wish i didn't have sooo much to do my last week!

started packing.. going to be an adventure fitting everything to come home and i havent even gone souvenir shopping for anyone yet.. hmm..


host mom & me!

:( :( :( :( :( :( :(

not ready to come home.

okay i know, you're thinking my emotions/feelings about coming home to USA are all over the place. and THEY ARE!!! i'm jealous of AFS students who get to live abroad for a YEAR... because right now i'm starting to feel that this has been too short.

we had a re-entry talk about reverse culture shock from Perú to USA. Now that i'm thinking about it.. I think it may be harder to readjust to the states. this makes me nervous, I hope everything transitions smoothly. Major problems that previous study abroaders have identified that we talked about are boredom in not having adventure in daily life everyday (yes, EVERY day is an adventure, it's true) and that it's lonely because no one truly understands or wants to listen to what you want to tell them.

then we had a going away get together among students and families (and our salsa teacher!).. my host mom & sister and her friend, kamila, came. it was a nice night :) but it also made me realize how much i love them and am going to miss them because i don't know when i'll visit them again, this makes me soooo sad. after the get-together the 4 of us gals went out for ice cream and then i came home and just relaxed and talked to my mom and sister instead of going out... it was a great evening with them, i'm glad we got to spend it together!

i envision myself missing perú a lot next semester...

at least i know i'm coming home to a supportive family and big hugs at the airport to keep me happy in returning.


ah, emotions all over the place. damn study abroad.

mi casa es tu casa ♥

I feel soooo at home here with my host-family lately. As I'm excited for Christmastime with my family at home, when I think about saying goodbye to my host-family, it makes me sad :( Not only are Christmas decorations, the tree and the rainforest indigenous nativity scene on display (mom, you would love it), but I feel so comfortable and at home here. Today was my host-grandma's birthday and I spent the day relaxing with her, her son and his wife who joined us for lunch! Zaira made a delicious lunch and my granma's fried had a HUGE CAKE delivered to our house for her birthday... coconut & manjar blaco!! SOOOO GOOD, something else to bring back to the states... Manjar Blanco. to. die. for. We talk for some hours, ate cake and coffee and it was really fun! I'd never met my would-be host uncle's (??) wife before, but she is sooo sweet. She was telling me how she did an AFS program in Iowa when she was younger, which is what my family & I do at home, so it was cool to talk about the experience and the great experience of living abroad with a host family. My host-uncle (?? not really sure what he is lol) talked to me for awhile about marraige which was funny.. like a typical older man he told me a lottt of stories and gave me a lot of advice, the staple being that communication is key in relationships and to always have values and its best to raise your children than to send them off to a nanny all the time. It was quite funny how much it reminded me of spending a Sunday afternoon with my family, parents and grandparents, enjoying a big meal and lots of conversation.

♥

I read a cool story about studying abroad today that our director emailed to all of us.. in the end it was about how they were able to make a life for themself anywhere they went after their experience living in London. and it's true... I've made a life here, even if only temporary, and that's a reallyyyy cool accomplishment/realization.

So yesterday in my RSP program class we had to deliver presentations about our semester long research or volunteer work. I think my presentation went well. But what I really wanted to share are a few situations I didn't understand previously within Perú. The first one is the issue of sexual rights and marraige. The legal age to get married is 16 and to have sexual relationships, 18. If you're under 18 and pregnant, you cannot seek appropriate medical care as doctors are obligated to report the pregnancy, illegal under the age of 18. Therefore, even in a marraige situation, a pregnant wife of 17 couldn't seek proper medical treatment. As of now, there are no acceptions to the rule. There is also a lack in adecuate sex education in prevention of STDS and pregnancy(mostly due to the connection between the catholic church (GRR) and the government). Some girls in my group volunteer at an NGO designed to promote awareness and education to house maids that are underage (12-16 years old and working as house maids full time). Most of the students in the class (girls and guys) from 12-19 don't even know about their sexual reproductive parts or how prescription medicine isn't all the same. And most of the NGOs that exist for these types of reasons are underorganized or lack sufficient funds and thus not as progressive as they potentially could be. The other presentation that kind of surprised me was about the education system (or lack of a system) in rural Perú (the majority of the country). One girl travelled to different schools to teach and observe throughout Perú and I had known the illiteracy rate was terribly high before, but I'd never thought about how poor the education that is avaiable in those areas is. For example, one teacher in her encounter at a HIGH SCHOOL didn't even know the differnce between China and Japan as 2 seperate countries and that there was a difference in the language. The teacher had asked the girl about her uncertainty because she said she didn't have access to a map. NO access to a map means limited or no access to internet or educative books. Many of the school children in these areas only speak their native tongue, Quechua, when the only small library collections that exist in those areas are in Spanish. The government does not acknowledge or work to progress these education situations because Perú is very centralized in Lima. As I was listening to these 2 presentations in particular it made me realized how Lima is worlds apart from the rets of the country and how blessed I am to have my easily available and reliable american education and rights. There are also many NGOs and commercials that I see promoted human rights awareness, because many of the people here are unaware of what rights exist for them and thus their rights are being abused and they're not doing anything about it.

Not that the university education here is bad, my classes are academically good. But one thing that surprised me most was the university libraries. This may have just been my experience, but most of the books are older (30s-80s I'd say) and information doesn't seem to be very updated in libraries with the exception of professor recommended articles. But every books I've had to find in the library has been very old and I haven't noticed much update. Very different in comparison to the Temple (american) University system where nearly anything is available at your fingertips. I also haven't searched as much here nor have I gone to other libraries beyond the university, but I was definitely a little surprised by the library at PUCP. This is something I think could be an advantageous investment on part of the university.

The first part about the presentations really struck me. There are so many norms in my life as an American that some people in this country would never dream of. For example, today I was studying in the kitchen with our empleada (house maid) who lives and works in the house. We spend a lot of time together because we are both kind of like additions to the family and we're both home during the day and we are a year apart, to the date. Anyways, today she told me about how she hadn't seen her mom in 6 years since she's been working in Lima. She left her home and family in Iquitos (rainforest city) to come to Lima when she was 15... I couldn't imagine leaving my mom when I was 15 and still not having seen her to date! They still maintain contact, but with the economic and social situations in this country and metropolitan concentration in Lima, she's been here for all of that time. It's still hard to understand some things in this country that are "normal".

The other night my grandma came into my room right before I left to go running and told me what sexy legs I have and how I should keep up with running to maintain my youth when I am older lololol and tonight, like many nights, she came to knock on my door to give me a manderine. She is soooo darn adorable! I love her :)


The rest of the week will be working on some papers and research, sleeping in, studying, squeezing in runs, an IFSA student-family goodbye dinner and a meeting to talk about re-entry into the United States, which is supposedly a lot more difficult to do than coming into Perú.. that should be interesting to see.

Hope you learned a lot!

El Perú es lo máximo pues...

I'm definitely in a more reflective stage of my study abroad experience with only a little bit of time left here... and I'm starting to realize, understand and appreciate a lot more choosing Perú... despite hard feelings I've felt along the way, there have been many positives. If I wouldn't have chosen such an underdeveloped country in such contrast to my own I never would have been as aware as I am of other global realities. Living and adapting to a new country has been an interesting challenge, and I can take what I've learned and how I've grown here to adapt it to my future goals in my own country and it's international relations (something I plan & strive to work with in my future)... This experience has taught me more not only about the political situation in Perú, but also more about the political situation in my own country. In any situation, big or small, it's easier to understand when you step outside and see things from a new perspective as I have with the United States. Even if I may have said I would have chosen a different country a few times before, I wouldn't take back my peruvian semester! Everything is soaking in still and I cannot wait to continue to understand and discover new things as a result of what I've learned, seen and experienced in Perú.

Living here and from the better understanding of the world that I've gained, I've only become more and more inspired in how I want to progress my future, my studies, my actions, my interests and my goals. I look forward to spending a lot more time studying at Temple when I return because I understand how blessed I am to be in such a great position in the world to have that kind of education. I need to apply what I've learned here and work hard to understand better where I want to go, but I am definitely more confident in that I am on the right path and going to make great strides along the way. I look forward to spending more time learning about and working with Latin America and I couldn't be more thankful for the support from everyone at school and home in choosing to take this semester in Perú to give me such a boost of confidence and awareness.

Now, back to studying for finals. I NEED to do well today!

finals & presentations galore.

Okay, so yesterday wasn't the greatest day. But I'm pretty excited about things going on this week. Today I have a lott of studying to do, and tomorrow because my International Relations final is tomorrow and I need to do really well. Tonight I'm giving a presentation about the research I did on fair trade coffee in Perú and I'm really liking how it's coming together, I'm proud of my work and so I'm excited.

Wednesday I'll finally be able to pick up the pumpkin puree my mom sent down here for me and this Sunday I am planning on preparing a big lunch for my family!! I'm excited to do something to feel like I'm giving back to them for all they've done for me in being a GREAT family and a great place to spend my semester.

Wish me luck on finals!! I'll need it, since I mostly lack motivation.

For all of you Spanish speakers.. here is a news clip about the cooperative/farmer I focused on for my paper... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=931kXbkZjEU&feature=related

Starting to make my to-do list before I leave Perú. It's mostly filled with finals and papers, but there are a few fun things.

I need to eat Chifa (Chinese-Peruvian restaurants) again before I leave.
I need to cook for my family and make them a pumpkin pie before I leave.
Souveniere (sp?) shopping for some people at home.
...Pack??

I'd like to do atleast one more day trip, sandboarding would be cool to do.

I'm realllyyyyyyyyy excited to come home. Although in the end I don't love Lima, I enjoy Perú and can't wait to see my next Latin American adventure/experience after understanding better everything I learned here once I come back home.

Today my mom is decorating the house for Christmas she said. All of this Christmas music & decorations make me more excited to get home! Maybe I wouldn't be as eager if I weren't coming home to Christmas :):)

¿¡Ya despedida!?

With only a little over two weeks left in our stay in Perú with IFSA, we had our first of 2 going away dinners last night. We went to a restaurant called Las Brisas de Titicaca. There we had delicious Peruvian food and were enertained by beautifullll costume and dance. They presented dances & music from all of the different regions in Perú, my favorite being the afroperuvian zapatillas and cajones (box drums typical in Perú). The dancers would perform one song and the next song would be for the audience to dance to on the dance floor. It was a lot of fun and I put my salsa lessons into practice!! It was great :) And a great event at the end of this experience.



The weirdest dance were a group of men who danced and did gymnastics while clanging 2 big pairs of scissors in one hand.. Los hermanos tijeras... the scissor brothers?! It was reallyyyyyy cool, nonetheless!

Feliz día de acción de gracias :)

I was a little nervous about Thanksgiving dinner in Perú, but it turned out to be amazing!! My profesor let me leave from class early to make it to dinner (almost in time) and everyone brought a dish to our feast. I prepared a salad with walnuts, roasted pears, blue cheese, baby greens & pear vinagarette... it was a definite hit. Our director ordered a turkey and apple pie and other people brought pumpkin pie (someone shipping puree), casseroles, vegetables and other desserts. Dinner was DELICIOUS! And I definitely stuffed my face.. it was a true American meal, and I am very THANKFUL to have been able to have such a wonderful dinner and celebrate even in Perú :) My favorite was Claire's sweet potatoes and nuts dish, yummm.



Tonight the IFSA group is going to have a "cena de despedida", a going away dinner. We are going to a nice place where they have traditional peruvian cuisin and folkloric dance shows to entertain you. I'm really excited!! I've been wanting to see a peruvian dance performance, it should be a lot of fun.

The rest of my weekend is full of studying and paper writing and presentation preparing as finals week is coming up starting Monday. But all this just means it's almost time to come home, and with all of the christmas hype here, I cannot wait to see my family & friends again and share everything I learned and be reacquainted with my favorite country.

Perú es lo máximo, pues.

Turkey day in Perú

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm sad to miss family, my favorite meal of the year, napping by the fire & football but yet I have a lotttt to be thankful for!!

While tomorrow will most likely consist of pounding out some work (hoping I don't get too distracted) and going to an extended class (joy), our program director has organized for us to have a pot luck thanksgiving dinner. It's a cool gesture but no turkey or meal will ever be as delicious as my dad's cooking. no lie. But I'm excited nonetheless, mostly just because I know I'll get to eat vegetables (something peruvians don't seem to value) and pumpkin pie! I'm preparing a pear & pecan salad with blue cheese and balsamic vinagarette (YUMMM!!!!).

Anyways.. today I ate for lunch potatoes, hard boiledd egg, rice, and some kind of puree. a plate of all WHITE unbalanced food. it's good food, but meals are soo unbalanced and soooo heavy I am so looking forward to being reacuainted with my own diet again.

I'm thankful for a lot everyday but I'll talk about it now for being Thanksgiving. I am thankful to have an awesome family who supports me being abroad and always inspire me to follow my own path and work hard. I'm thankful for a GREAT host family and a lot of love away from home. I am thankful that I've been able to travel to some really cool places while I've been here. I am thankful for all of the people and friends I've met while I've been here. I am thankful that I'm healthy enough to enjoy beautiful runs while I am abroad. I'm thankful to be coming home soon having gained a lotttttt. I'm thankful for everyone that helped me do this.

3 weeks and counting

first full day back from a mini vacation and i'd like to get on the next flight back to Máncora.. horrible day. it's official, someone robbed my camera (which also had money in the case.. cool). So now I either go camera-less for the rest of my time in South America or invest in a new one. :(

Then I go to class... to find out my group FAILED our group paper. I did a lot of work for it (researching and organizing information) but didn't write because I wasn't the native speaker... So I almost feel like the grade is out of my control. I NEED TO PASS THE FINAL, the hardest exam of the class, with like almost a perfect grade to PASS THE CLASS. this sucks. i'm used to being an honors student with all good grades and working my butt off.. and I worked my butt off to study for the tests in this class and failed 2 out of 3. I feel 100% discouraged and stupid and it sucks.

my program classes are stupid and i'm not thrilled with any of my classes/university aspect of studying abroad. I have a lot of work left to do, and I'll chug through it, unenthusiastically. The only thing that interests me is really my independent research paper on fair trade for one of my classes. The rest of it... blah.

I've learned wayyyy more outside of campus than I have in class.

I'm trying hard not to blame a bad day on Perú, but it's hard. After a rough day I have to take the damn combi home with limited personal space, no personal space and a woman coughing on me the whole ride and annoying cumbia music. I kinda wanted to cry.

It's bad days when I realize what I should appreciate more about my country. enough complaining, I need to start thinking positively!

I only have 3 weeks left to make the most of this experience. I'm going to enjoy my host family and the rest of the things I want to do and running along the beach as much as I can (despite school) in that time.

That being said, I cannot waittttt to come home to my family and house and food and dog.

sunshine, beach & coming to an end

I travelled north of Lima to a beach called Máncora near the border with Ecuador this weekend from Thursday to Monday. We stayed in a hostel with a lot of tourists and I made friends with peruvians, australians and canadians for the weekend. It was greattttt relaxing and partying at the hostel and walking along the beautiful beach! I reallyyyyy enjoyed this weekend.

This is the last week of classes minus one ridiculous class next Monday just because this prof is ridiculous, and it's a program course, blah.

But finals are around the corner and the weather is warming up and I don't wanna do much of anything related to school here. But I must chug through it..

I'll be home 3 weeks from today. I'm mostly excited but I know I'll be homesick from Perú after some time in the states, so I'm enjoying it while I can... doing a lot of last minute things!


I MISS MY FAMILY & FOOD THIS THANKSGIVING buttt I am thankful for a LOT!

An afro-peruvian weekend

Definitely one of my favorite weekends of the semester!!!!

Friday night was great because I went to a volleyball game between two Peru teams!! So much fun to be around volleyball again. Then I went to eat at a GREAT mediterranean food place, YUM, my favorite.. and it was not a let down.

Saturday my IFSA group went to Chincha.. a town about 3 hours from Lima known for it's afro-peruvian culture. Saturday morning we spent around the pool getting nice and toasted (literally). Then we had 3 workshops, two on afro-peruvian dancing and one on playing the cajón, a box drum instrument. It was awesome!



Saturday night we were told by one of our instructors that day about a dance celebration at someone's home in town. So we went and it was one of the coolest things I've ever witnessed. Parents promise their children will dance when they are born and once they do the children are obligated to practice this kind of afro/irish-step/folk dancing until they are 18, when they get to choose if they want to continue with it or not. the dancing we saw was beautiful because there was one man playing the fiddle and the rest were keeping the beat with their feet and dancing with bells and ribbons.. the men were allll ages, probably from 4 years old to 60 years old.. it was reallyy AWESOME to witness. one of my awe moments in Perú.. I loveddd our one dance teacher, I got to meet great new people, and I went for a run as the sun was setting in the countryside.. perfect.



Today we layed around all day again and ate a LOTTTT.. we tried typical foods of Chincha and my favorite was a spicy/peanuty/potatoe criollo soup thing called carapuca.. so delicious. and I ate a lottttt, too many, tejas (like turtle candies) and sublime chocolate bars.... BLAH.



p.s. I'll be back in the states one month from today!

slightly irrelevent to my study abroad experience but i'd like to talk about it anyways.

so I completed my first 10k and while to some, 6.2 miles seems like nothing, I remember when 2 used to be a struggle for me.. and considering I don't run long distances very often, rather short runs for boosts of energy and enlightenment, running that race felt like a great accomplishment. and after 4 miles of just going going going... i feel like I want to challenge myself more to become a better runner, a better athlete, a better body, better health, better condition all around.

so i've come up with a new dream, because i'm always dreaming of new things to do or try. how cool would it be and how great would it feel to be able to say i ran a full marathon in my early 20s? So this is my new dream. I've come to the conclusion I will need to take baby steps, as I am not a natural born runner. And I will need a lot of encouragement if I'm going to go through with this..

and here is where I will find my inspiration. I'd like to register for a full marathon in fall 2011.. PLENTY OF TRAINING TIME, NO?? I want to connect with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Pittsburgh about how to raise $$ and awareness about the illness and their foundation. I want to run this race in honor of Brennan, my older brother who passed away when I was 8 with Cystic Fibrosis. My thoughts right now are to find friends, family & organizations that would be willing to pledge a certain amount of support$$ to the CFF for every mile I run in training and on the big day. This could be something to keep me going, and strangely make me feel closer to my brother.

I am healthy and young.. what better time to attempt this?

if ANYONE has any experience in marathon training or raising $$ or awareness, please feel free to offer advice..

so i guess this is relevant to study abroad because my short runs and 10k have seeded this inspiration..

I don't know if I will actually commit, I want to think longer about this before I do.. but it is a thought.


Back to study abroad, it's been SUNNY AND BEAUTIFUL in Perú. And I've been sick with flu-ish symptoms the past 2 days. Rare for me to feel under the weather, but tomorrow is a new day and I've been resting a lot!

I just realized how crappy the pictures show up on my blog and I'm cut out of half of half of them!!! But they're all on facebook, of course.

Loving South America

I don't remember what my last post said but my weekend was GREAT! Friday night Molly & I went out with Luis and Oscar, two peruvian friends, to a really cool bar where they had all of the tragos (drinks) from the rainforest.. So they were really fruity and delicious- I had a lotttt of fun.

Saturday.. RACE DAY! Finally, I ran the We Run Lima 10k. It was my first 10k. Since I've been here, I've become a running adict... probably because I have gorgeous paths to run on and a lot more free time to work out than I do at home. Anyways I ran the 6.2 miles with ease and by the end of it I felt like I could have gone at least 2 more.. this makes me happy because I feel like I am becoming a better runner... I think my next goal will be the Pittsburgh half marathon (13.1 miles) or the Broad Street Run (10 miles). Anyways I ran the entire race with Kamila, my host-sister's best friend. I was so happpyyyy to have a running buddy to encourage eachother. It was a lot of fun! I also met a lot of new people and runners that night! It was soooo awesome to run in a crowd of 10,000 runners and listen to all the footsteps beating the pavement.. it was a weird kind of silence, and then they'd have afro-peruvian bands and brazilian music set up at everyother kilometer. so much fun!

Here I am with the other American girls I went with, including Anna the 2nd one, who is one of my best friends here...


Here I am with my host mom & sister and Kamila my running buddy.. I was so happy that my family came to watch and cheer us on!!



Julia finally put pictures up from our weekend trip to Lunahuaná.. Here we are white-water rafting!!!! Lovinnggg it.


Anddddd one more picture, because a few of my friends travelled to Puno this past weekend (which is were Wilson, the coffee farmer I am studying, lives... they found a news article about him), Here he is:



Sunday I went running in the morning because I had so much energy from the night before!! The rest of the day I got some work done and last night I went to see another movie in the European film festival with Luis.. This time it was a German movie.

This week is pretty full of getting work done!! Today I have to give a 30min presentation about chinese immigration to Perú.. (BOO). Kinda nervous. I have a lot of papers and assignments building up this week that I'd like to get through before I go to Chincha this weekend!!!

Hugs to everyone at home, I'll be home in a little over a month!

rambling thoughts

molly & I walked a new way to Barranco the other day.. BEAUTIFUL! flowers, blue ocean, sunshine.. weather is looking up and making everything a lot brighter :) loving itttt.

Salsa class is chévere :)

I booked a flight to Máncora, Perú.. a surf haven near the boarder to Ecuador. REALLY EXCITED for the beach!!!

This weekend.. well, a week from now, we're going to Chincha for an afro-peruvian weekend with the group!

Tonight is the 10k Nike race. We Run Lima. CAN'T WAIT :)

Last night I went to Barranco, really glad I'm finally making really great peruvian friends because it was such a good time :)

Today... gotta get a lot of work done before I run... This week needs to be more productive than last.


I love this country..

T minus 40 days.

so I have 40 days left until I come home.. and that time is going to fly!!! I basically have my entire November mapped out and I'm working on planning my final trip in December to Iquitos or Máncora.. leaning towards Máncora because it's cheaper, sunnier and an international hotspot for surfing competitions.. and it'll be summer here when I go.. perfect! Right by the northern border to Ecuador. maybe I'll try to go to Ecuador for a day??

Being here is amazing. I loveeeeeeee this semester. I love Perú, despite frustrating times, which are normal for any study abroader and this experience is only making my desire to work in Latin America grow!!! SO EXCITED ABOUT LIFE RIGHT NOW and all of the possibilities I have with Spanish and this experience :) I'm going to be reallyyyyy sad to say goodbye to South America. I've pretty much decided I'm going to set a long(ish) term goal to go to grad school in Miami.. perfecctttttt. University of Miami.. really excited because I love Temple and I know I'm going to enjoy the rest of my years in Philadelphia with a long term goal of moving south to be closer to the network of Latin American companies and a hub for foreign trade and service..

I've also decided I want to pick up another language.. French.. this opens doors to a few European countries, Quebec, Africa and some middle eastern and carribean countries..... YES. new goal!!

Anyways, Perú... It clicked how much I love some of the food here. and what I'm going to be missing once I get back to the states. This weekend my host mom and grandma bought lunch to bring home new foods from Perú for me to try.. Papa Rellena which is sort of like a baked potatoe with some seasoning on the outside and beef, eggs and olives on the inside. DELICIOUS! and another potatoe that I don't remember the name of, spicy and yellow. delicious. lots of papas in Perú! They also brought home a dessert for me to try called Turron de Doña Pepa. It's a dessert only made in October to celebrate Día de los Milagros which is on December 18th, a catholic holiday. The dessert is really dry and sweet with thick honey in the layers. It was delicious, but reallyyyyy sweet, so I couldn't eat too much at a time.


Other foods I'm going to miss are pan con pollo con papas y ahí.. which is a common chicken sandwhich with potato chips and pepper sauce.. i love the ahí here (the spicy sauce.. my dad would love it, too... souvenier?) I'm going to miss choclo con queso (big corn on the cob, not as sweet as what we have, with fresh cheese), yuca frita (friend yuca potatoes), maracuya (a type of tropical fruit) fresh fruit juice for breakfast every morning and alfajores de manjar blanco (which is a cakey cookie with caramel filling).. hellooooooo new christmas cookie. Maybe I'll attempt to bake some for christmas for my friends and family to try at home!!! I'm sure they'd be a hit, too.

SALSA DANCING IS GOING GREAT! I loveeee my salsa classes and my instructor is so much fun! I think I'm improving and right now I need to work on being able to follow a man's lead better without losing step. But this is new and I'm white, so I'm proud of my progress. We have a dinner at the end of November in a Peruvian restaurant where I guess we can dance too? Because our director mentioned something about trying out what we have learned. I want to bring my salsa back to Philly too and start scoping out salsa scenes. Latin dance is soooo beautiful, soo much fun and so sexy! We are starting salsa classes twice a week, yay!

As for school.. tough going from a long 5 day weekend to getting back into the work load. But this week(end) I am determined to get stuff done so it doesn't all pile up as all the fun things that I'm looking forward to come closer!!

I went for a 2 hour beach trek this morning before salsa, GREAT IDEA.. it was beautiful and I found new things to appreciate because I walked though places I'd never gone.. love Miraflores :)


ALSO I came home from class to a package from Josh!!!! Love mail, this made me smile big. Now I'm waiting on my pumpkin puree to arrive :) geeked!


Also, I loveeeee my host family. I am going to miss them so much. Today my grandma, zaira and I enjoyed a delicious lunch followed by fruit salad and caramel and wine, lovely. And we were laughing a lot at my grandma trying to speak English. She's the best :)



all is wellllll

Brechell Qulilt - Extranjero

Interesting weekend so far...

Friday I hung out with my friend from Germany, Julia, to make plans to go on a weekend getaway for a night... always good to escape Lima. Then I went to see a french movie with a peruvian friend here, Luis. The movie was actually reallyyyyy hilarious, I laughed a lotttttttt. They played it in Spanish subtitles so everyone could understand. There's a European film festival going on in Lima right now and most of the movies are free so I'm definitely going to try to go to another one for some free fun. To follow up the french movie we went to eat crepes! After a month of no sweets it was sooo delicious.

Saturday morning I left early with Molly & Julia to go to Lunahuana. We'd read in guidebooks it was an easy trip to make, only 3 hours outside of Lima by bus. So we didn't make any plans and just did it and everything worked out well. I wouldn't be surprised if I contracted a disease just by stepping foot in our disgusttingngggggg hostel, but I made it home, so atleast I'm alive. Anyways, we went white water rafting yesterday, which was fun... learned boating directions in spanish "¡Adelante, adelante, adelante!.... ¡ALTO!" and the desert mountains and river was beautiful. The town was small, we were pretty much the only tourists. We tasted a little bit of pisco and wine at night and then just relaxed, not much to do there at all..

On the way home today I was looking out of the bus window... I think Lima is kind of a depressing country. EVERYTHING is centralized in Lima, where it's overcrowded, overpolluted and chaotic. The countryside is just a lot of desert and shanty towns. At this point, I'm not sure how Peru will every decentralize.. Not sure if it's possible. Sometimes just travelling in this country isn't vale la pena (worth it) to me... I don't know. I have good and bad days with this country and today I just am really frustrated with it.

When we bought our bus tickets I spelled my name like 346436763 times for the woman at the desk and she couldn't get it right! and i KNOW i was saying it right... so my name on the ticket ended up being "Brechell Qulilt". While the first name sounds a little like something that would come out of Penn Hills, I just had to laughhhhh. Molly got Bolly O'Chea instead of Molly O'Shea... another one of our MANYYYYYY "Oh, Perú" moments. Laughing about things keeps me sane here.

We also made friends with our new peruvian grandmother.. She was sweet but a little overly motherly holding Molly's hand to cross the street. It was also a little weird, but friendly.

The bus ride was a miserable 3 hours sitting next to a stinky many and no leg room in peruvian transportation. story of my life.

When we got off at the bus stop, again we were bombarded with creepy taxi drivers. I HATE THE TAXI DRIVERS here. ughhh.


But I am home now.. finally. and now I don't feel like doing much else this halloween. Molly and I may end up going to the Dyland & Lenny concert, but just a day trip yesterday was exhausting and costly enough.


I miss pretty much everything about the United States right now.

The other day I met a man from Detroit who lived in Portugal. I went on a run and saw the Jonas Brothers, a Canadian band (or so I've heard). I went to make travel plans with my German friend today. Then I went to see a French movie with a Peruvian friend. I love the whole globalization thing.

Peace out LIMAAAA going to Lunahuana to enjoy some sun, wine and rafting for the weekend.

sometimes I miss America...

47 days until I come home, which is 6 and a half weeks.. which is going to fly by. Sometimes I feel guilty I'm not itching to travel more, I'm so bad at planning. But then sometimes I think it's fine, because I like my routine here and I have seen a lot already and I'm not racing to see everything. So before I come home I'll squeeze in Iquitos, a beach trip and I'd like to go to Lunahuana, maybe this weekend, but I'm kinda slacking on planning and making reservations...

So I left school after my first class today because I'm feeling kind of tired and depressed because today I MISS AMERICA.. and I just couldn't sit around at the university wasting 3 hours before a class I don't care about just to wait to hunt a combi down during rush hour.. I'm calling it a skip for mental health.

AND IT PAID OFF!!!!! I got on a combi with ease this afternoon, sat next to a friendly old man who kept talking to me and smiling and laughing which boosted my mood. I get to Larcomar (where I came to do some work).. I order a coffee and the man in line behind me starts talking to me. Turns out he's from Miami, here on business, but he also has family in Lima. He speaks 5 languages and offered to buy me coffee. Since I'd already had one, I declined. We talked for like an hour about how important it is to learn languages and how it opens doors and how we've both backpacked Europe and what I'm doing with my life and what he does etc. Anyways he offered to take me to this nice restaurant on the ocean here (you may have seen it in my facebook albums)... It's not a creepy situation, I promise.. although I don't think I'm going to go. Then he told me he had to go buy saldo (money for your cell phone)... he asked if I have saldo and coincidentally I don't. He ended up putting 20 soles on my cell for me... coooool. I love random encounters with random people who enjoy seeing the world and learning languages as much as I do.

So yeah, good day.

other than I reallyyyyyyyy miss America today.

COMBI CULTURE... this is worth reading.

This is my second post for the day, so make sure you check out the last one too with pictures of cooked guinea pig!

This is pasted out of wikipedia... to try to give you all a better grasp of the "combi culture" here in peru... my thoughts follow at the end.

Combi culture

Micro and especially combi drivers are known for being irrespectful of traffic rules, and are extremely aggressive in soliciting for new passengers. They will stop at any part of the streets to pick up passengers and will race other micro drivers to be able to get more passengers. This, combined with the lack of vehicle maintenance, the low prices, salsa, cumbia and reggaeton music on the radio and the overall relaxed feeling in the micros, has created the so-called "combi culture", which today is a synonym of the quasi-clandestinity in which they operate (route registration by Lima Province City Hall is generally lax, and many routes overlap). Few ads are provided by these stickers, although some humorous stickers parody known commercial logos.

The "Micro" is an inexpensive way to travel. A short trip costs only one Sol (in dollars, One Sol is equivalent at ~0.28). The most famous combi route in Lima is the S route. It goes from Callao or Ventanilla to Ate or Chorrillos".

Micros race from one street corner to another along all the major arterial city roads. Stickers saying, for example, "Todo Arequipa" or "Todo Benavides" can be seen on their windscreens, which indicates that the micro runs the whole length of Avenida Arequipa or Avenida Benavides. These microbuses dash dangerously fast, frequently crashing and speeding off before their passengers have got both feet into the vehicle. There being few bus stops, micros and combis pick and drop passengers anywhere along their route (although it is not allowed).

......... and i figured out something new about combis today. So there are men (sometimes women) that are cobradores and collect fares when you get on. They hang out of the windows and yell at people to get on or off and where the combi is going. Then there are these people who we always pass on the streets.. the cobradores will pay them like 50 sol cents and they tell the cobradores how many combis with the same route have passed recently in front of them... THEN THE RACE IS ON!!!!! because once they have this information the drivers race eachother to get more passengers.. and more money. this is ONE part of the explanation as to why traffic in this crazy city is SO hectic and dangerous...


and here, i googled and found an excerpt from someone else's blog worth sharing..

2. It is less safe. Lima's transportation system basically has three elements: taxi cabs, private buses, and private cars. Most people in Lima can only afford to take the private buses known as combis.

Since combis are basically private businesses, it is in their interest to move down the streets as quickly as possible. They race with other combis in hopes of being the first to arrive where a group of people is standing. In short, they want to pick up the bulk of the passengers.

Each combi has a driver and a person who stands in the door. The person standing in the door rushes people in and out of the combi, and knocks on the side of the combi when everyone is inside the bus, regardless of whether or not they are safely standing or seated. He or she then walks through the bus (if there's time), collecting the fare and distributing small insurance tickets. These little slips of paper are important if the combi crashes.

There are even individuals who work as informal statisticians, tracking in real-time how many combis have recently passed by certain stops. They sell their information to combis in quick 10 second transactions. I've started to wonder if these people could be employed to improve Lima's transportation system, but I've yet to figure out how.

As a passenger, once you are on the combi, you must be vigilant with your belongings. Obviously, the nicer dressed you are the more of a target you might become for thieves.

So this is the context for why Lima's buses are less safe. Alicia needs to dress nicely for work, and feels like she is more of a target in this context, and I agree. While it certainly doesn't happen all the time, on Monday when my wife traveled home she said that the combi nearly crashed, throwing everyone against the wall of the bus.

When you are on a combi, you are more or less forced to suck in the fumes as you travel. This is needless to say given the context, a big health hazard. (to go along with this... 3. Lima has some of the worst air pollution in the world. The World Health Organization claims that Lima has an average level of air pollution nine times higher than what is considered to be acceptable for healthy living. Lima has even recently required traffic officers to wear gas masks. Used cars are thought to be responsible for 86% of the air pollution in Lima and the average car is about 18 years old.)




i found an older blog from a student in my same program.. she sums up combis pretty well:

Combis are one of the most distinctive aspects of life in Lima, and I’ve put off writing about them because I wasn´t sure how to explain them. I think the closest analogy I can come up with is they are like a very small subway car that barrels along on a winding track. The feeling of being thrown against a window or a fellow rider is best conveyed by that…but it still doesn´t capture the combi experience. First of all, a combi is above ground, running on regular city streets among cars, bikes, pedestrians, and other forms of public transportation. That means two things: 1. You can see exactly how close you come to hitting people, curbs, and various giant trucks, and 2. the swerving is not guided by a track; instead it is dictated by all the other traffic and by people standing out on the side of the road waving their arms to get a combi to pick them up.

A combi looks like a small van, but one that´s been painted outside with stripes, street names, and occasionally religious slogans, and decorated inside with stickers, ornaments, and occasionally lights. It´s sometimes sort of rounded on the sides, so the tall rider sitting near a window has to tilt her neck away from the wall to avoid hitting it at every small bump. It generally looks like it originally could fit twelve or so people, but has been modified to fit about 20 by adding extra seats, and even a bench behind the driver where people sit/balance facing backward. There are also coasters, which are bigger than combis, and then there are micros, which are the size of school buses and have different rules about paying and stopping. I usually take combis because they´re convenient for getting to the university, and generally wherever I want to go.

When you want to take a combi somewhere you just go stand by the side of the road. If you see one you want passing by, you stick out your arm and it slams on the breaks so you can get on, and then jumps forward the second you´re mostly off the sidewalk. Apparently the police are cracking down on the combi drivers for stopping to pick up and drop off people at random places, so sometimes if you´re not at a designated stop the combis will just speed on by until you get the idea and move to a stop.

After you´ve gotten on the combi, at some point the cobrador will shake some coins at you and ask you to pay. He (or she) is the person on the combi who opens and closes the door, tells the driver when people want to get off, yells out the window where the combi is going, and is in charge of collecting money. I generally overhear, per combi-ride, 1-2 arguments with the cobrador about fares or routes, occasionally pretty intense ones. I´ve only argued twice, and was super-proud to win one of them! (I saved a whole 30 soles–about 10 cents. But it was the principle of the thing!)

When you want to get off of the combi you tell the cobrador, (¡baja!) he relays the info to the driver, and when the combi swerves toward the curb (or just stops in the middle of the road) you squeeze your way over knees and under elbows and half-jump half-fall down to the street.


this is what combis look like when they pick you up.. the cobrador greets you shouting out where he's going..




this is more like how they look during rush hour on my way home from school...




and this is what the front of MY combi that i have to take everyday looks like.. tell me this doesn't look like a creeper van...






MY THOUGHTS... this has been one of the biggest adjustments in my study abroad experience... public transportation. i've been told people leave Lima loving them or hating them and i have to admit i may miss the combis come my return home. i feel so proud every time i manage a successful combi ride!! i've learned to love the micro S compared to the bigger busses... crammed in there with all kinds of people, sometimes arguing with cobradors who try to rip me off (despite its only a few cents, its the principal of the matter) standing in a crowd on the side of a street trying to tag down an S combi with an open seat, the mix of reggaeton music, gaudy catholic decor and religious slogans, mix of classes of people, hitting my head and jamming my knees with every turn and pot hole... yeah, gonna miss it. i think some of the best stories my friends and i here could tell would start with "so one time i was on the combi..." SO TRUE.

_____________. my current emotion.

today our group went to caral for the day.. the oldest civilization in the western hemisphere. it was cool.. but just like after europe i didn't care about going into anymore catholic churches, i'm starting not to care about walking around rocks and sand and hearing about how people used to cook the same things and religious governments and sacrifices. we ate at a cute outdoor restaurant on the way home but truth be told I AM SO SICK OF THE FOOD HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! really, i miss American food. a lotttttttt. a lot of people tried cuy (guinea pig) but after trying octopus and that not going so well I was a little nervous. it came out on the plate with fur, eyelashes, claws and eyes. ehhhh i think i'd rather maintain guinea pigs at pet status. but i do wanna try it once before I leave.



a few of us had a conversation today that made me feel kinda better.. because i love this study abroad experience, but it's definitely not the time of my life. likeee I LOVEEEE living here, i love my family and im benefitting a LOT from doing this.. really glad I didnt go to Spain/Europe.. too generic for study abroaders. and i wonder sometimes what those experiences are really like compared to South America. we were just talking about how we're all glad we are here but we think it'll really set it how much it's impacted us once we get home. yeah, it's definitely going to have more of an impact once i'm at Temple comparing everything next semester, it will put things into a whole new perspective. and I swear I will appreciate EVERYTHING so much more....

also... I REGISTERED FOR THE 10K WE RUN LIMA :) This I am excited for. I am the only one in my group to sign up for it but I think I'm going with a friend from Iowa... either way I'm in.... and really stoked for it. and i'm going to get an awesome nike running shirt souvenier out of it sweet deal.

"Yo no se mañana..." stuck in my head today.

Perú is better than ever.. :)

An alright week of classes. We got group projects in International Relations and I'm working with 3 other Peruvians... I got my first paper back from Amazonian Ethnography and I got a 15/20.. for a 6 page paper, not bad.

TODAY WE STARTED SALSA/MERENGUE CLASSES AT THE OFFICE!!!! So much funnnnn. And our instructer played 2 of my favorite songs, so I had extra fun. But I must say being a white irish girl made it a little more challenging since I don't have natural rythm.. for latin dancing at least ;) But I'm going to keep going to all the classes and hopefully find a place to go salsa dancing in Philadelphia. (If I feel confident enough at that point..)

Afterwards I went to register for the 10k We Run Lima race on November 6!!! SOOOO EXCITED. It's a night race and I can't wait to go run in a crowd of other peruvian runners at night when the temperature is perfect and everything is lit up and end along the coast where I usually run.

After I registered I went and bought a book I've been wanted to read by a Peruvian Author, Isabel Allende.. the book is called "La Isla Bajo el Mar".. going to take my time and make sure I understand it.

Then, another evening run to Parque del Amor. Tonight I'm taking it easy because tomorrow our group is leaving at 6:30am to go to Caral, oldest city in South America.

more to come...

besitos.

update: there are birds chirping around the city now!!!!!!

Wrapped up midterms week with a free massage, a pedicure and a night at the Wine Expo with some Peruvian friends.. not bad. The rest of the weekend included a lottttt of sleeping, a lot of running along the beach and a lot more peanut butter :) My grandma thinks I'm a little crazy when she sees me putting it on my banana, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and spooning it out of the can, but I'm temporarily obsessed.

This week it's back to classes and trying to stay somewhat focused. I've been putting off work on my project lately, which I need to catch up on, and I've got a few more pages to write for my Amazonian Etnography paper (ew).

This week I may be going to volunteer at the UN in Perú with young people who have grown up in the cocaine industry... could be interesting but I'm still not sure if and when I can do this. So we'll see.

This weekend my group is taking a trip to Caral, the most ancient city in the Americas and Sunday one girl from my program and I are planning on running a breast cancer race in the morning... Should be a great weekend.

Another trip coming up is to Carmen for an afroperuano weekend as described to us :) Sounds fun... and I think I'm going to start planning a end of the program trip in December to Iquitos... THE AMAZON RAINFOREST! :) I've seen pictures from other students' trips and it looks amazing. I was trying to decide between Puno (and Lake Titicaca) and Iquitos.. and I think I'm going with Iquitos because it's a region and culture of the city very different from everything else I've seen. Since Greg and I never actually got to see a sloth when we went to Costa Rica, I'm kind of hoping I see one in Iquitos :)

alsoooo the WAILERS are coming to Lima! Jessa & I talked about going to see them and maybe some other people will join us, would be an awesome concert!

56 days or 8 weeks left until I come home.. just a little under 2 months. Skype with a lot of friends and family this weekend. I love to see everyone from home doing so well and so happy :)


Some pictures....


Part of the mosaic wall at Parque del Amor... where I usually run to.




Jessa & I with some Peruvian friends at the Wine Expo... we got to learn a lot about wine from all over south america and try them all for free all night :) Goood times.

66 and sunny :)

Is it Spring in Lima? It's looking like it more and more everyday.. :)

I'm greeting this weekend with open arms after midterms week and all the work I'm trying to catch up on for here and Temple.. still have a lot to do, but am going to have a fun weekend. Tonight I'm going wine tasting with Jessa and two peruvians, should be interesting.. and then to a club at Larcomar on the coast..

Yesterday Molly & I met up to run together.. we ended up doing a lot.. walking along the beach in the sand and to love park and the lighthouse. it was great :)

so this week I was doing my readings for Peruvian Social Reality and a lot of them connected to what we're learning about in International Relations specific to Perú so they're already more interesting to read this half of the semester than last. I'm learning a lot about how centralized Perú is and how much it's kind of destroyed internal relations and foreign relations.. Also, the mayor of Lima STILL HAS NOT BEEN ANNOUNCED.. which is ridiculous to me, i think it's been about 2 weeks now. Anyways, one of the articles that I read took focus on how, despite the huge gaps between rich and poor and their living conditions in this country, the majority despite statistics have cable and cell phones... almost as a priority over a dirt vs. hard floor as the author describes... strange to think of how blessed we are in comparison. Also we are learning a lot about how mining companies come into Perú, destroy social structures and cause conflicts and pollution that kill agricultural income and political relations and how those companies don't help the people in the regions they take over at all with jobs, because theyre "undereducated" or with programs to help give back. instead they come in, set up their missions and damage peru´s natural resources. sad.

two favorite foods at home in Perú... fried Yuca and Choclo (big corn).

Ay, ¡Qué rica la crema de mani!

3 finals down. one paper to write.
not horrible.

i found it interesting that 2/3 of my international relations midterms was relative to september 11. of course, that's got a big impact literally on international relations.. but seeing this being so talked about in Perú 9 years later kind of surprises me.

i went to the supermarket and bought peanut butter tonight.. way expensive here, but worth every penny to be reacquainted. forgot to grab a bottle of honey though, to make my favorite banana + peanut butter + honey toasted sandwhich.. going for that tomorrow. my gma and zaira tried it and had good reactions.. so i think i'm turning them on to peanut butter.

discovering sooo much latin music here that i loveeeeee :) happy for this!

today was warm and sunny and although i was studying all day, i was thankful for it on my walk to the combi and on campus!

also, 3 different people, peruvians, said "HI" to me today.. did my appearance shout gringa today or something?!

not sure if i'm travelling out of Lima this month or not because I think I'd rather put that $$ to go to Iquitos. It was down to Lake Titicaca, which I'd loveeee to see, or Iquitos and I think I'd rather go to Iquitos in December before I leave because it's a culture here I have yet to experience.

Tomorrow I'm spending some time at La Arábica to survey customers about fair trade for my project. Also, it's fair trade month and my tutor and I may host some kind of event in Lima to promote awareness about fair trade in Perú.. could be neat.

That's pretty much it for now.


:)

felizzisssiimmmaaa :)

noticing more and more how much spanish is starting to click for me. i feel like i understand the news almost completely now, reading for class is much easier and i'm starting to speak faster (says my family).. so i'm hoping my speaking especially continues to progress this next half of the semester.

walked to larcomar (mall on the beach kinda thing) tonight and the walk was beautiful.. perfect temperature, blue skies, blue ocean, palm trees... :) i could get used to living on the shore.

i feel like i'm also starting to get a lot more comfortable with my family, too.. i feel like i lucked out with the BEST host family, i am sooo happy to be living here. and grateful, because i know how much a lack of chemistry could impact an experience abroad.. but my family and living with a host family is probably my #1 favorite thing about being here. my grandma, mom, sister and zaira are all such beautiful people! :) and living in a house full of 5 women is lots of fun.

i see the rest of my experience only getting increasingly better with the spring weather starting to replace the winter weather, more comfort and confidence in this country, and more understanding and tolerance of everything.

sometimes i try to figure out why i am so blessed with this wonderful life. why me? what brought me to be living in Perú, South America, at 20 years old?! How lucky I am to explore these lifestyles before I enter a chapter of life where I won't be as free to just get up and go and do cool things like this. Not everyone has this chance, not everyone even wants this.. and I'm blessed with every bit of it. even when it's frustrating to be here, a gringa, and away from so many familiar things, I try to hold on to these thoughts :)

went out for indian food last night... GREAT IDEA! IT WAS DELICIOUS! and so close to my house, i'll definitely being going again sometime. A fancy, delicious restaurant with an entree and a side of naan (YUM) for only $13. love it.

tomorrow = STUDY STUDY STUDY midterm
tuesday = STUDY STUDY STUDY midterm
wednesday = breather.
thursday = WRITE A PAPER, ewwwww.
friday = free massage :)
this weekend.. i need to have a lot of fun!

mom & oriana are going to argentina for the week.. in the meantime i'm going to find recipes and hunt for ingredients in Perú to make pumpkin flavored things.. like pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, baked pumpkin seeds and cinnamon.. i wanna surprise them!


SMILE
:)
hope everyones enjoying my favorite season.

Soy más peruana que Inka Kola

today was a peruvian military-dedicated holiday, so my host mom and oriana were home today, which i enjoyed. our schedules are often opposite since i'm home all day and have class more in the evenings. so i definitely enjoy spending time with them this morning. we had breakfast and coffee together and ended up having a 2 hour conversation about lots of stuff like peruvian history and sendero luminoso and how my mom remembers Lima during that time (fairly recent!), about the american stereotype, about differences between our countries and lots more..

anyways, something my mom told me that really surprised me is that while Sendero Luminoso was still existent in Lima, they used to surround her university to spy on everyone and so did the government officials to find suspected terrorists. she explained to me how the police and the military were violent forces even against citizens during this time as a means to eliminate the reds.. and how today the right-wing political parties in Perú still accuse the leftists of being senderists. (ironic...) and while the elections for the city mayor were recent, they're being recalculated and carefully re-examined by lawyers for the possibility of having been rigged.. in favor of Lourdes, the right-wing candidate. Anyways, they've estimated 12 more days (as of about 2 days ago) until the winner is announced.. Susana Villarde (i think thats her last name) is the left-wing candidate, more of a socialist... the major difference between Lourdes & Susana is that Lourdes has a focus of more economic development (metro system and improved train systems throughout the country for the most part) while Susana's approach is more in the direction of social development being as important as economic development.. so probably less technological advancement, but more of a social advance. from my perspective, and maybe somewhat biased, i hope Susana wins. If Lourdes does, I think the social gaps that exist here and are terribly evident will only increase.. How can you only think of economic advancement when your country is still constantly impacted by extremist social tensions?

good news, passed my 2nd international relations control (by a hair), but i passed nonetheless.

midterms are coming up, ive got another 6 page paper to write on 2 books im never gonna have time to read in time and of course, more work with my fair trade research.

i met with my tutor today and next week i'll be surveying a sample of customers at the café where we meet and he owns (http://arabicaespressobar.blogspot.com/). it's a quantitative approach to figure out what the general population that go to a fair trade café actually know and think about fair trade.. i like it, and am really excited to see the results.

i also have an interview to schedule next week the the liaison officer of FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organization International). Pretty awesome the contacts my tutor is helping me get in touch with.

After the survey and my 3rd interview, I'll be working on designing flyers to raise awareness about the fair trade processes and successes that exist in Perú.

what else...

the rest of this weekend is STUDYING.
but there is a seemingly wonderful indian restaurant near my house that i'll be going to tomorrow night with my intercambio group :) very exciteddddd!

next week my host mom and oriana (sister) are going to be in argentina all week to visit my host brother who studies there.. I think while they're gone I want to make a pumpkin pie from scratch to surprise them with for when they come home.. they celebrate halloween here and import pumpkins (despite it's spring here).. but they don't have pumpkin foods here and you don't get much more american than pumpkin pie. unless of course, it's apple pie.

wish me sanity this coming week.. i'll need it.

PS... today is the 1/2way point of my program here... I'll be home in 68 days. (I think it's 68 off hand?)

feeling muchhh more energized and enthusiastic about Perú going into this blog post.. :)

on the plus side, my castellaño mid-term went well, i'd say. that class is one of my favorites because we always get really good readings (bits from literature) to read and they're interesting.

last night was definitelyyyy a great break from the "study" aspect of being here.. Pisco Sour, Bembos, showing up late on Peruvian time for the first time, Latino music, dancing and really good conversations & laughs with my favorite gringas. :):)

and I'm on a confident streak with my Spanish this week.. sometimes I have fail moments and sometimes I feel good about my progres.. This morning I was reading different papers I have to read for my International Relations class and I'm realizing that it's good that I notice myself getting to a point where I don't want to put something down that I'm reading in Spanish because it grabs my attention, and the fact that I'm starting to grasp an understanding of the difficult readings and whatnot is a confidence booster.

the rest of the day.. and weekend.. and next week as official midterm week will be full of studying and working on stuff.. but next friday our director hired a masseuse (sp?) for us all to enjoy! How nice!

I think I'm going to plan a trip to Huancayo at the end of October with my friend that I met here from Germany.. it's another andean mountain trip, but the mountains always give me a breath of fresh air after spending time in Lima.

And I'm reallyyyyyyyy excited about hopefully planning a trip to the Amazon, Iquitos!!!!! (which would also be cool because it's where our house-maid is from). It's a completely different culture than the others I've seen in Perú, and I'd love to experience it before heading back to the States, so that may be my one last trip to go out with a bang.

i didn't pass my first test for international relations.
i'm almost POSITIVE i didn't pass my test last night for Peruvian Social Reality.
i'll find out about my second test for international relations this afternoon. (fingers crossed?)
and midterms for these classes are next week.

this week has been rough, feeling kind of homesick. but i don't wish i was at home because i know it's rainy and busy there and i'm happy to be here, just getting frustrated with how much more difficult it is to do ANYTHING here.. everything is a process. the cool thing about US colleges is living in a campus community, i really appreciate a lot more about Temple than I ever realized. like the library. here, there is no where to lounge and study except for a few cafes near my house, and they're all american so sometimes i get frustrated that i frequent them because i feel guilty going into gloria jeans, where they play american music etc. oh well.

it's just been an off week, but i have tomorrow night to look forward, too. A friend's mom gave her 4 free tickets for a club in our town and there's a band from Panama playing tomorrow night. cannottt waiittt to have some fun! :)

once midterms are over i'm going to try and take a short trip somewhere again, maybe Oxampampa.. for a music festival... ANYWHERE that gets me out of LIMA for some fresh air!

The one thing I love most about living where I live is definitely the great paths I have for running, along the coast and parks and palm trees :) that's a big plus.. keeps me grounded. Sometimes I get antsy being in a City for too long, and I'm definitely feeling that here, too.

I'm also going into center Lima this weekend to hit up some markets with some friends, time to explore some more.

last night after leaving an exam i feel horrible about i got onto the wrong combi, had to jump off of it while it was moving with everyone staring at me and la cobradora yelling at me to be careful, hikeeee to where i could catch the right combi. i waited for like 20 minutes because during rush hour it's killer to find an open combi.. especially for me, because there are bigger bus-like combis and there are little minivan combis.. the ones that travel by my house are the little rickity creeper van combis.. so yeah, i have to hunt down an open seat in those. i finally found one, rode backwards for an hour with my feet planted to the ground to hold me in place, legs intertwined with a bigger, older man sitting across from me, practically in his lap, and a broken seat that flew forward everytime the driver slammed on the brakes, because they ALLWAYYSSS slam the brakes.

love, Perú.

elections, coffee, studying..

Today is election day in Perú for about 195 province mayors, 1838 district mayors and 25 regional presidents. About 19 million peruvians will vote today, as it is obligatory once you turn 18 years old. Since I've been here I've noticed the campaigning.. in Lima this has meant posters and road side billboards with candidates smiling and catch phrases, a few commercials (but they don't seem to be the opponent-bashing ones like we have, then again, maybe they are?) and in the country side a lottt of painted buildings with party symbols and names. I'm not sure of the exact year Americans were aloud to start coming here in programs like mine, for Study Abroad, but I've heard it's relatively recent. That being said, the 20 year terrorist war in Perú (which we NEVER learn about in U.S. textbooks) is also historically recent. I feel like these elections hold a lot of emotion for a lot of Peruvians and so I'm really hoping for the best candidates to win to help this country progress. There are many underdevelloped areas and projects (urban and country) in this country and a lot of racial/political tension still exists, and is rather evident. My hostmom is working for a leftist political party on behalf of a woman named Susana Villarán making sure votes are not altered and that all votes in her school are counted accurately. Here, everything is a paper vote. To me, it seems like that could make it easier for corruption in counting votes... hence, jobs like that of my host mom. Anyways, I'm not sure when winners will be announced but my hostmom told me to look out for parades and celebrations. She also asked if we had political parades and big celebrations in the United States (i think that's what she was asking) and i just thought.. DUHHHHHH, we are the USA. best country in the world. okayy, i'm just kidding, but yeah of course.

For me the elections mostly just mean no going out. They stopped selling alcohol in stores on Friday night and bars and restaurants aren't serving all weekend until elections are through to prevent fights and rowdyness.

So anyways, back to the recent history of Perú. I still don't understand a lot of it, but that could partially be because I've never had prior education about it.. and I think that's something U.S. textbooks need to include more of, Latino history.



Sooo last night I met with my tutor again to keep working on my project. We went through interview translations and have kind of discovered some weak areas in the fair trade cooperative I am working with mostly. Such as... farmers not really being able to identify what FAIR TRADE means, they're undereducated about their own certificates and daily regulations which are only supposed to be helping them. So this is interesting and in my next interview, with FLO (the organization that acredits cooperatives with the certificate) I'm going to be asking things along the lines of how they make sure they're farmers are aware.... because it seems like theyre not. Wilson, the most successful farmer for my coop at an international AND national level started talking about organics when I asked what fair trade signifies to him. The two are worlds apart and while most coffees that have one label have both, they're completely different and he seems completely unaware. So where DO the extra premiums go? and why doesn't he understand? this project is reallyy fascinating. Next week I'll be collecting quantitative surveys from a lot of customers at La Arábica café to find out what consumers know about it.. I like where this project is going, still, and I think I've found a climax to it. Starting to identify some of the behind-the-scenes issues that exist in the industry.

Today = lots of more studying for Peruvian Social Reality. hmmm...

last night in Peruvian Social Reality we watched the documentary "State of Fear".. i loved it because I learned sooooo much from it that I missed in all the readings. I vaguely remember hearing about it when it came out in the US, but not really. Anyways it helps me understand a lot about why Lima is the way it is today, and it makes it easier to appreciate this city that I kind of despise more than enjoy lately.

I feel overwhelmed right now, especially after the Cuzco trip. In part, becuase I didn't sleep very much during it, in part because it was filled with frustrations and in part because I have sooo much homework and essays and tests this week. I was productive today and I have my 2nd interview for the fair trade project tonight and fingers crossed I'm going to see a movie tonight to just unwinnddddd.

I am not homesick where I wanna come home, I'm just homesick where a day of comfort things from home would motivate me to keep going with a better attitude. The weather here has been grey again since I got back from Cuzco and I'm reallyyyyy sick of peruvian food. I've eaten enough rice, potatoes, creepy chicken, lentils and chicha to last me a lifetime. I seriously don't think I'll want rice or potatoes for a year after I get home.

What I miss right now is...

Cozy couch and TV and my bedroom, fall weather, pumpkin flavors, movie theaters, FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD, and like everything.

Today's a low day in the "study abroad" U-curve.

I definitely lucked out with an awesome host family that makes everything MUCH MUCH better when I feel like this, though. They rock :)

On a positive note... my spanish is improving a lot. I had to write 2 more spanish essays today and my structure is definitely improving. I also felt like last night i could describe my cuzco trip without any difficulty to my mom.. it felt great.


also, i miss Temple and my friends.



anywaysss next week is the halfway point for being here (so I guess in a U-shape this is perfect timing for homesickness). I'll be fine, just letting it go.

Viaje a Cuzco

Thursday.. woke up bright and early to get to the airport and find out we had a 3 hour delay, aka.. 3 more hours of sleep lost. not cool. we arrived to Cuzco late and instead of the scheduled nap & lunch we were rushed through tours of Sagsaywaman (SexyWoman is how you pronounce it) which was really disappointing because we didn't get everything out of it that I thought we could have. and I really would have loved to spend more time there relaxing and absorbing it rather than following a guide and being in a big touristy rushed group of exchange students. Regardless, it was beautiful. And there were big natural rock slides that were fun to go down. After that we did some more touristy rushed guides through more ruins that I totally would have enjoyed had it been done differently. That night was GREAT, though.. because across from our hotel there was the coolest little pizza place ever. It only had a few tiny picnic tables and an oven in it and we watched the cook bake our delicious pizzas and a Cusqueña was definitely enjoyable after a long day of trying to stay on schedule.

Friday.. woke up really early (again) to drive 3 hours in a bus outside of Cuzco to go to an orphanage. This was both a really good and a really hard experience. We went for the day and brought gifts for children we had decided to "adopt" and spent some time with them playing and hanging out. But it was not really well planned and here is why I believe this..

These girls live a completely different reality than we do as middle-class kids in America. Most of the girls come from families who have abandoned them, have alcoholic parents or abusive parents or come from backgrounds of rape. The most recently arrived girl had just came because her older brother raped her and she didn't have another caregiver. She is 10. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these girls were incest babies, either. These girls do not have the nutrition they need and so they are smaller than they should be, look younger than they should be and their features are rough. Most of them have weathered leathery skin with blotches all over their cheeks and chapped arms and lips and skin and rotting teeth. They don't have access to proper hygiene or medical attention. They never get visitors other than my study abroad group every semester and the most of their education is catholic nuns in school rooms where they don't even have enough pencils for everyone to have their own.

When we arrived we played with them a little bit but they mostly entertained us with a recital they had prepared. They dressed in costume and told us that every dance was prepared with love for us. In return, we decided we should provide some entertainment, too. 2 girls juggled and we all danced the electric slide for them. There we were, a bus of gringos, dancing the electric slide in a high remote orphanage in the mountains. It was funny.

Then we gave them our gifts. We were told to bring them a stuffed animal/toy, clothes and a tootbrush & toothpaste. We should have brought a lot more things like lotion, school supplies and outdoor games. I almost felt like we gave a weak effort. I gave my 2 girls, 2 sisters named Maria, stuffed bears and wrote them letters. Watching their smiles when they read the letters I wrote was my favorite part. They both put them in the backs of their teddys to keep, and named them Lucy and Annika.

But they appreciated everything. it was amazing to see how much these young children appreciated our visit. because they're so far from Cuzco and so remote from any other town, they never receive visitors. It must be strange to see older Americans just come.. I also think our group shouldn't have had to rush away from the orphanage right away. A lot was observed and experienced there that I wish we had more time to talk about as a group and reflect on.. seriously.

Another thing I struggled with is CAMERAS... we hopped off the bus, hang out with these girls and took sooooo many pictures. Maybe we shouldve all just soaked it in and focused all of our attention on them rather than snapping pictures. Jessa and I talked about it that night and had the conversation that we wonder if we were so anxious to take these pictures because it always seems cool to see "white" people going to other countries to "help" people.. so cliche. So there are some pictures on my facebook and I just want to make everyone aware how much this experience meant to me. In my research project I found out that the poverty level is about $700 a year salary and some of us where there with $700 cameras!!!!!!!!!! This makes me feel really uncomfortable.

Another thing that really shocked me about this experience was when I asked one girl how old she is, she didn't know. Imagine.. when I was their age I was getting scrapes on my knees and playing outside and going to birthday parties and these girls don't know how old they are, some of them.

The nuns that run the orphanage and some of the older girls prepared us a HUGE meal, unexpectedly, which probably took a lot of food away from them. None of us were hungry after a big breakfast but I managed to finish mine. Someone asked our director if she had to finish and she said no because here at the orphanage they would never let food go to waste. Someone was going to be eating out leftovers. I felt incredibly undeserving.

Before we left they sang us a beautiful song (they sounded so good) and played instruments. The girls were all sooooo sweet and thankful and sad to see us go. The one nun thanked us and began to cry.. when she did so did many of the girls. It was really touching to see how much a group of strangers visiting them could mean to them.. and so amazing to see how appreciative they were.

And then we didn't talk about it again.

This kind of bothered me...


After the orphanage we ran through a tour of an organic farm, too tightly scheduled and spent 3 hours driving back to the city never really getting the chance to walk around and SEE Cuzco on the only night we could. This was disappointing... because we were in Cuzco without ever getting to see it.. but I'm over it by just accepting that the day in the orphanage is one I will keep close to my heart.

Saturday... Alpaca farm and Sacred Valley!!! The Alpaca farm was awesome... we got to feed them, hug them and play around with them. Then we got to see how they make the yarns and how they use natural dyes and how they weave all of their products. This may have been one of the hightlights of my trip. It was really interesting and awesome. AND I GOT TO HUG A LLAMA! :):)

After that we rushed through some more sights on our gringo filled tour bus making stops to take pictures at popular spots that we didn't learn enough about. We took a train to Aguas Calientes, the town by machu picchu to go there the next day.

SUNDAYYYYYYYYYYYY :) got to the hotel around 11pm. woke up at 330am. in line for a bus to Machu Picchu by 4am.. thats because if you want to hike the big mountain, Huaynu Picchu, you have to arrive early because only 400 people are able to enter every day. MACHU PICCHU WAS AMAZINGGGGGG. One of the world wonders, and there I was! I even got to nap on one of the terraces and walk around the ruins. We all did the hike to the big mountain, which is the one in the postcard pictures and photographs you see of it. The hike was STRAIGHT UP but not as hard as I was expecting, which makes me think all of my running has been paying off. The top was amazinnngggggggggg.

I LOVED MACHU PICCHU. everyone who has the chance to go, should. IT IS WONDERFUL!!!!! I don't know what else to say.

Lunch that day was great after such an exhausting hike, the town was adorable and the markets were great!

Today = back to Lima.. I realize more and more everytime I have to come home from an excursion how much I don't like Lima. I like my district but in general, Lima is definitely one of my least favorite cities ever. I try to find little things and history to appreciate about it, and I do, but the taxi drivers, combis, grey skies and dirty streets and completely CHAOTIC city make me disssslikkeeee it.

Over all, Cuzco was cool. or maybe I should say the surrounding areas. Lesson learned = I am not a fan of tightly scheduled group outings and I value sleep.

But I'm not complaining, just stating how I feel.

pictures will be up soon.

(back to classssssssssssssssssssssss....)