a lot on my mind

I've had a lot on my mind this week and am feeling kind of overwhelmed with excitement and thankfulness :) all good things. I'm really starting to understand how much living abroad is going to change me, affect me and help me when I come home, and in future years.

I've been keeping really busy lately, and I like it. I had classes all week and welcomed the weekend thursday night by heading out to Sargento Pimienta for live music with Jessa, Molly and Ixtla, three other awesome girls in my IFSA group. First we stopped for sandwiches (they seemed similar to the ones we found in Parque Kennedy, which were the best sandwiches I have EVER eaten, other than labriola's maybe) and I have a funnyyyyyy spanish story about this. (Because there are moments, here in Perú, where I have brain farts and my Spanish fails me miserably). So, I ordered my sandwich and I'm waiting and the guy asks me which kind of sauce I wanted.. I don't know why but I responded, "alguien caliente," which means "someone hot".. I meant to say "algo picante," something spicy. All the workers started to laugh histarically and then another younger waiter walks out and they pointed to him and I, suggesting I want him, someone hot.. it was reallyyyy hilarious, I laughed at myself. Then I found 5 soles.

Continuing on, Sargento Pimienta has live music on Thursday nights.. which is why we went. We ended up waiting 2 hours longer for the band to start than it had been advertised. I'm starting to realize that Peruvian time means show up an hour and a half later than someone tells you to. It was still fun, and it was a cover band that covered hits from 2000, so they played a lot of american music.. well, all american music.

So then yesterday IFSA had an excursion to Huaca Pucllana, which is an archaeological (sp?) site in my town here in Lima, Miraflores. I thought the tour was surprisingly really interesting because our guide was really great and I understood practically everything. Huaca Pucllana are pre-incan ruins from a pyramid where a lot of religious activity took place, aka dancing and drinking chicha. Our guide taught us a lot about their burial procedures and how to enter the people would have to sacrifice something that meant they were giving away something dear to them, and often families would sacrifice their children and grandchildren.. this was normal. Walking through the pyramid ruins we got to see 3 stages of excavation, the recovered pyramid walls, the uncovered remains and the remaining sites to excavate. The people who has built this pyramid built the bricks upward vertically, and are the only people in history known to have done this, without anything in between them side to side. This style of construction is what allowed these ruins to stand hundreds of years through several seismic movements and weather conditions. It was an interesting tour...

The rest of the day I just went to Starbucks with Jessa to do some homework. Yeah, yeah yeah why am I in Starbucks in Lima?... Anyways, while we were sitting and studying one little boy kept passing us and begging for money. So did a mother and her baby. In a crowded city environment where I have been consistently warned about guarding my money and my valuables, I denied them any spare change and continued to ifnore the little boy, who was rather persistent. I didn't know what to do in this situation, I mean there was a glass wall seperating us anyways. If I give one person money and someone else sees, I can't deny the other person. Jessa and I were talking about how selfish we feel but how we also feel we've been preached to ignore the beggars here. But there I was, drinking Starbucks tea with my name brand backpack and all of my belongings and I couldn't even spare one coin... Imagine how selfish I seemed to that boy. I'm sure he needed money, I notice a lot more poverty here than in my experience in the States, or maybe just a different kind of poverty. And sometimes we gringos just walk around with out big frame backpacks and sports gear and luxeries and we still complain about what we don't have.. this is kind of heartbreaking to me. Another example of poverty among youth I noticed was the other day when I was riding a combi and a girl who looked like she couldn't have been older than 10 is walking around with a rag trying to clean windshields for tips. People continuously deny her, and she is 10, roaming really dangerous and traffic filled streets cleaning windshields alone, without a jacket on in winter here.. this is the kind of poverty that exists here in Lima. I know I can't make that big of a change, but it's just heartbreaking to imagine how these children view the world at such a young age, in contrast to how I grew up. I have a lot to be thankful for everyday, and I need to remember that and find little ways every day to give back. Later last night I ended up going out with a group of Peruvians, who I noticed tipped children who begged, and so now maybe I'm starting to understand that it's good to give to them, they need it. They're either begging because they don't have someone to support them or their parents and families are that desperate. I can afford to help a little bit, right? It's just really alarming to me the condition of living for sooooo many people in this city (I could go on...) and a little incomfortable to consistently be viewed as the gringa, la americana, with so much money and things and valuables.

Perú makes me understand how blessed I am to be from Middle Class America. I complain about the zillions of dollars of loans I'm collecting, but so many people in this world would give up anything and everything to do what just comes to me in life. Why me? This is the biggest struggle..

Anyways, the rest of yesterday was great. I met with my tutor for the independent project I am doing here for one of my classes and I couldn't be more excited about starting this project! My tutor is the owner of a really awesome and popular café here in lima, La Arabica, who has a lottt of experience and contacts to help me work through this project. He taught me a lot and explained a lot about what he does and how the fair trade process goes. I think my focus in this project is going to be to study the process of fair trade coffee, from the ground to international exports, and find out where the money goes and what being certified fair trade really means. one of the contacts that my tutor, David, was telling me about was a woman who works with transfering exports to USA.. this seems incredible to me and I really hope I am able to talk with her because I really feel like I can learn a lot that is relevant to my major and my degree at Temple. and I feel like I could return with a good story for interview purposes... :) and a lot more understanding on how to conduct independent research. My first step in this project starts next week.. I am preparing an interview to meet with a man named Wilson, who is the man who grows the coffee that La Arabica sells. His first language is Aymara, and his second is Spanish, just like me. I think this is an AWESOME opportunity!

Finally, last night... I've typed to much but here's the story in a nutshell. I went out with Jessa and her host sister and friends. For the first time yet, I have realized that there are some beautiful men here in Perú :) Anyways, we went to her apartment and everyone was sooo friendly and welcoming and nice and it was a lot of fun to go out with Peruvians and be able to speak with them and keep up and just have a good time.. which we did. we went to two clubs (private, so that was cool). I danced alllllllll night, laughed and sang a lot, was given a rose and a ride home and asked to see a movie with someone and get lunch with someone else. These could be fun ideas to make better friendships here, or even just hang out a few times. I came home at 5:30am, which is a record for me and my legs are sore today! Ay, but the night was really amazing.

Today is a day of resttttt, running and homework.

I couldn't be happier..