today was really successful. today at orientation (which will last for two weeks), we went to buy cell phones. I bought the absolute most basic cell phone possible.. it kind of looks like something a child would get in a happy meal, but it works and it only costs $20! then during our free time we all went to eat at a sandwich place called La Lucha.. we were eating outside and a little boy who was begging for money came to our table to talk to us and get money. our "patas"- "amigos".. theyre like orientation helpers who go to the university i'll be going to.. PUCP.. anyways they had the boy convinced that we were all actually peruano (peruvian). even crysta in our group who has blonde hair and the bluest eyes imaginable. soo funny! later we had a big spanish exam, oral and written, like a placement test. we met with the PUCP spanish professor.. should be challenging but fun!

we were given homework tonight to learn the slang and popular phrases in peru.. i attempted to do it with my abuelita (grandmother) but eventually she told me she was too old to know the slang anymore. still, it was funny to try and figure out slang in my broken spanish. she is absolutely the sweetest woman everrrr, so adorable. abuelita :) eventually i finished the homework with isabel (mom) and oriana (sister) and gonzalo (brother). i definitely learned a lot today!!! beyond the slang too..

everyday i'm learning new words and figuring more out about the city.. already i know i'm extremely happy to have chosen a program outside of temple because the experience with a host family is incredible! i'm learning more because of it and also it's like a family away from home, and i lucked out with an AWESOME host family :)

i'm reallyyyyyy excited to see what this semester brings, i can't even imagine.

tomorrow i think i'll be able to see greg for dinner.. and this weekend i think i'm meeting two friends (and hopefully bringing some from IFSA) to go out. i met these two friends on the flight to peru! theyre both american, from maine and umass. it'll be fun to get to know them even though theyre from a different program here than i am. i like hanging out with all the americans so far because we're in the same situations with everything and it's good to go through this culture change with other people, but i really hope i can make peruvian friends when classes start too!

these days are LONG and i am very very exhausted.

buenas noches (hablamos.. in peru means good night too- weird?!)