this weekend, as far as spectacular vs. horrible, was a giant mix. but it was still the best i have had so far. and i shall now embelish...
so my parents told me thursday night that i would be going to a wedding friday night and that i could bring one friend along. it ended up that everyone was busy, so i went alone, but it turned out well. it was the wedding of my father's sobrina (neice), so i guess that makes it my cousin's wedding? i had never met her before though.
to begin with, peruvian weddings are the same, yet extremely different, from our typical wedding in the states. for one thing, everyone here wears prom dresses to weddings! i had on a homecoming-ish dress that my mom bought for me on sale at von maur, and i felt extremely underdressed. it was so strange. i also wish i had a pair of heals, because i'm pretty sure i was the only woman there in flats, minus the 80+ year olds. second, they don't have a wedding party. it's just the bride and groom. thrid, they go on forever... much more festivities than what we have (i wish ours were that way). so here is the night:
the wedding was scheduled to begin at 7 in the evening, but we didn't get there until 7:45, and it didn't even matter because it didn't even actually start until about 8:00! so apparently time doesn't matter even for weddings! my parents went to the front because they were family, and 4 of us plus daniela squeezed into an extremely small space. i was very tired, didn't feel the best (still the whole diahrea thing going on), i was thirsty, hungry (they rarely eat dinner here), hot, and i hoenstly thought i was going to pass out. i was practically sitting on my parents laps we were so squished together. i couldn't understand much of what was going on, nor did i have the concentration to attempt to understand what was going on, and all i wanted to do was cry. i was on the edge of tears. it may sound strange to you that i would be like that, but i seriosly nearing a panic attack. i kept thinking, "oh my god, i'm going to ruin my "cousins" wedding by fainting in the middle of it! won't that be great? i'll be the gringa girl who ruined the wedding." so anyway, there was a lot of singing, then the fathers of the bride and groom actually did the whole ceremony part, vows and everything (which i thought was awesome.. why shouldn't family members do the whole wedding? why does some pastor, who you probably don't even have that great of a relationship with, have to do it?) anyway, finally the wedding was over. it was probbaly only 45 min. long, but it felt like eternaty.
so then i really had no idea what we were doing. i got introduced to about 58 different members of the family, and my mom always told everyone that i was a member of the family, too. which was nice... but kind of comical at the same time, because i'm obviously so not part of that family. i mean, i can't even communicate with them! then we went into this big gym type room in the church (fellowship hall?), and the bride and groom sat at the front and their wedding pictures were taken. but it's kind of funny, since they don't have a wedding party, they just take pictures of anyone ever thought of as important. they had a photo with their college professors, a photo with the alva side of the family (that is mine.. and they even wanted to put me in their photo, but i said no because if it was my wedding, idk if i would want someone i had never met in my family photo. i guess it wouldn't matter to me, but still, i felt really weird about it), and they took a ton of pictures with anyone you could think of. and people walked around with all sorts of food on plates (mini sandwiches, chicken on skewers, plus many other items which i was all scared to eat because of my stomach). i still felt pretty horrible at this point. my head was killing me, i was still very light headed, and i just did not even want to attempt to communicate with people. it was pretty hot as well. so, i was thinking, "this must be the reception. they must be mennonite style and not dance or something." because it was really reception-like, with people just standing around and chatting.
but no. about 2 hours later, i was told to get into a taxi. i asked where we were going and my mom said, "the reception. our family likes to dance!" so, we end up in miraflores, and ahead of me i see the most beautiful wedding reception tent i have ever seen in my life (no exaggeration.. it was beautiful). i think i may just have a wedding here. and have my dad do it. and then have an awesome reception. anyway, it was pink and white, but i still thought it was goregous, and they had all these pretty lights, and a giant dance floor, yet it was all outside. and i wish i could describe this in a bit more detail, but i have far too many other things to write about at this point...
so we get to this reception and sit down at a table with some of my dad's brothers and their wives. i ask someone what time it is and they said midnight!!! i was extremely tired, but i thought that was just because i was sick, and i'm always tired here. but no, it was because it was far past my bedtime. and i would think far past everyone else's bedtime, too! i mean, my dad is in his 70s (i think... or at least far upper 60s), and his brothers look even older than him. i know for a fact that MY parents (in the states) couldn't handle a wedding that late! the thing i thought was crazy was that the tables were set for dinner, and i thought, "dinner? at this time?"
the night kept continuing. i was first given some alcoholic fruit drink. then a pisco sour. and then a glass of champagne that was topped up quite a few times. appetizers and such were handed out. and then the first course came, consisting of some pancakey thing, and then a second course, plus red wine, came! i thought my family was pretty straight-edge, being an evangelical pastor and all, but no... apparently they aren't opposed to the alcohol for special events! so it's about 1:15 am, and the dancing begins. all these adorable 60 and 70 year old couples get up and start dancing (latin dancing, of course), shaking their things at 1:30 in the morning! then my sister comes and insists that i go out to the disco tecca with her friends and cousins. at this point i thought it was going to fall over with exhaustion, but i decided i could get my second wind and try out a discotecca after all. it was great to be with young people, especially a few who speak english. my parents said i couldn't go because they knew i was tired, but my sister flipped out on the them and assured them that i would be safe, so they let me go after all.
anyway, the night went on, i was introduced to many family members, some of which were young and we could communicate in spanglish, which was nice. also, i met my 19 year old cousin who moved to the u.s. when he was 12 with his mom. this was the first time he had been back in peru since he had moved, so he was incredibly interesting to talk to, seeing as everything was so changed from his 11 year old mind to now. he also spoke both spanish and english which was quite helpful in communicating and understanding, particularily at the disco tecca.
i'm not sure what to all tell of the whole disco tecca experience. it was really fun, but really strange at the same time. the music was entertaining, and fun to dance to, although i had no idea what i was doing. around 4 in the morning they announced, "it's a happy birthday to everyone!" or something strange like that, and all this confetti and a massive amount of balloons fell from the ceiling. everyone went crazy, yelling and such. it was quite loco, but enjoyable. finally around 4:30 we headed home, and i crashed into my empty bed around 5:00 am.
then at about 11:00, i woke up and headed off to miraflores to meet sara, dan, hannah miller, and michael for the beach! quite a fun experience as well. we spent about 3 hours at the beach in miraflores and then went to bembos, a peruvian version of fast food where we actually got hamburgers! they were quite delish. i arrived home, took a nice cold shower, and attempted to sleep. i felt quite horrible at this point in the whole sickness scheme of things, but i had promised my dad i would go to a youth thing at his church that night, so around 8:00 pm we headed off for that. the wholetime i was dreading it, and even considering telling him i needed to turn around and walk home. i felt so terrible with stomach pains, i was exhausted, and i was not in the state to attempt to speak to people. but it somehow turned out okay...
i first rode with my dad, another youth pastor, and this other 20 year old who i could actually understand and we had a semi-decent conversation. or at least as decent as they can get. then i had a pretty great time at the actual event, even though i felt pretty lowsy.
sunday morning i woke up feeling horrible, with quite the cramping stomach. my mother asked me if i wanted to rest or go to church, and i told her i felt extremely sick and would rather stay at home. so that was pretty nice. i had the house to myself for about 4 hours, until 2 in the afternoon, but which time i had stopped running to the bathroom every 20 min. and could actually manage to sit up in my bed. my dad came home from church and asked if i wanted to go out to eat with his family, and i could get some soup for my stomach, so i agreed and went and was with all my fun cousins once again! they're great because they talk slow and actually want to understand me, and i want to understand them. it works for all. and my cousin carlos' mother, who lives in the states as well, talked to me in both english and spanish, and helped me out with a few sentence structure things which came in handy for the rest of the weekend. after the lunch bit, we came back to the house and watched american gangsta which i enjoyed, but it's a bit sad and pretty graphic. good, none-the-less. i thought it was kind of humorous that i can understand everything said, and my cousins and aunts could read everything that was written. we could comprehend the movie in two different forms.
anyway, after that, about 8 of us went out to barranco, a really beautiful part of lima. we went a restaurant on the ocean, which was on a roofed deck with little lights all about - quite cute, and slightly romantic. we ordered anticuchos, which is cow heart, and these little deserts that were quite delicious. i was so excited i was going to be able to try cow's heart, one of peru's typical foods. and it was delicious, too! we were then served pisco sours and my cousin and i bought a beer because since we can't in the states, we thought we should do it here. after the meal we took a little stroll by the beach, and then looked at all the old buildings around. barranco is one of the oldest settlements. and finally, we went back home. it was quite the great ending to a fantastic weekend.
other than that, the past 2 days have been pretty laid back. today i went to the san fransico catatombs which were pretty awesome. i got to see all sorts of bones of dead people burried quite deep under the church. the whole experience was neat.
i must say though, i've been getting cranky for the first time. i think the heat and sickness is getting to me. on top of that, the people are driving me nuts. i'm tired of being told i'm pretty. i'm tired of rubbing up against people everywhere i go. i'm tired of getting up so early in the morning. i'm tried of going everywhere in groups. i'm tired of not understanding. yeah... for the first time, i'm pretty grumpy.
but i'm hoping that will change. i just need to relax a bit, perhaps hang out with a different crowd. go to the beach? and i'll get over this grumpfest in no time.
anyway, i of course have more to write about, but i hear my sister talking and she always wants the internet when she comes home. and since i live in her room (i think) and she pays for the internet, i feel like i should get off. and i have been writing this entry for 3 days now (i always get interrupted before i can finish it), so i feel i should finally just put it out there and move on.
i will say one last thing. i have discovered my favorite spot: our roof. i love it and i can see all of lima. and it is so relaxing. i just sit up there and do my homework. so that is where i am headed off to at this moment.
i hope you are all keeping warm in the bitterly cold weather and i shall make an entry again most likely on sunday. so until then!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
pedestrian crossings, bowel movements, and a loco 3 year old.
monday, tuesday, wednesday... life here is a blur. it's hard to keep up... with everything. the traffic, the people, the parents, the teachers, the homework, the knowledge, the history, the politics, and especially, my own mind. things seem to be more of a routine now, but occasionally it will just hit me: i'll be walking to school, or perhaps be riding a micro (mini-bus), and all of a sudden i feel like i've been slapped and i get one of those "ah-ha" moments where i realize i truly am standing in the middle of lima, peru. a city of 9 million plus. a city full of spanish speakers. a city where i am definitely a (very white) outcast. and a city that is miles away from what i know. but i still love it all, and i honestly haven't had any moments of dispair or sadness. i just have moments of an extreme desire to communicate in situations that i can't. moments in which i could actually express my gratitude instead of just saying "gracias." and moments where i wish, for once, i wouldn't be looked at as a "gringa," but as a normal, everyday person. but i am what i am, and i can never change my gringa status, no matter how tan i become. and i suppose that is alright. i'll just be a gringa with a rockin tan, and (hopefully) decent spanish.
so, even though i just said i'm not homesick or anything of the sort, i still have composed a small list of the top 10 things i miss:
1) being able to drink water out of the faucet. here i must either buy or boil it. i've always taken water for granted. i must say i appreciate the states easy access to water about 32487328947 times more than i ever have before.
2) pedestrian crossings. here, the vehicles have right away, always. if you get ran over, it's completely your fault. they also don't have many stop lights, so you never know if i car will come barreling through or not. it's quite the game.
3) being able to throw toilet paper into the toilet. here, the sewer systems aren't good, so you must put toilet paper in a little trash can beside the toilet. it gets smelly after awhile.
4) washing and dryer machienes. i honestly don't mind the whole hand washing ordeal. it's kind of relaxing after a hectic day in the city. but i do mind how stretched out my clothes will be by the end of these 3ish months. my pants are already falling off.
5) adjustable shower temperature. i either have very cold, or very hot. it's a tough decision to decide if you want to scald your body with boiling water in the morning, or if you want to have icecicles on your air. i usually choose depending on how sweaty i am when i wake up.
6) i have already talked about this quite a bit, but i miss being able to contribute to conversations. after all the girls left last friday night, my mom said, "you talked so much! i thought you were just a quiet person... but you really aren't." and i was like, "yeah... i'm quiet here because i can't speak spanish."
7) perhaps this is gross, but i really miss solid poops. when will i finally become regular again? no one knows. but i'm really hoping soon because i've become quite tired of this...
8) i miss a great variety of food. not to say the food here isn't good, because it is! quite wonderful, actually. and they have so many different amazing (and a few not so amazing) dishes. but the dishes are somehow always comprised of papas (potatoes), arroz (rice), and pollo (chicken) or some other kind of carne (meat). there are vegetable salad things, and also tons of fruit which is AMAZING. but i miss my hamburgers and pizza. not a lot, but a little.
9) independence. i actually have a lot of it here... but i feel like i've been reverted back to junior high again, where i had to check in with the padres all the time, let them know where i would be, what time i would be home, who i would be with, how i would be getting home... the whole 20 questions game. i haven't had to do this for quite sometime, but all in all, i don't mind too terribly much.
10) i miss not having a three year old around. this girl is a headache. not to mention a complete brat. i have so many stories, i don't even think i can go into them because i would never stop. but to sum it up, she steals my stuff, scribbles on all my stuff, and absolutely loves to fake cry, with tears and everything. i have started yelling at her in english, which makes her listen, but makes her scream with tears. i have come to the point where i don't care. she'll be laying at my feet kicking and crying and i pay her no attention. i feel so mean... but someone has to show her she can't be a brat her whole life. plus, she doesn't understand anything i say, and i don't understand anything she says. so it works out. i must say, we have our moments though. yesterday when i was doing homework she came into my room and sat on my bed and was pretty tame. i even let her listen to my ipod, which she thought was the greatest thing in the world. but it was when i tried to take it away that all hell broke lose... she decided to take revenge by dumping an entire bowl of nuts and dried fruit on my bed. i picked her up and took her to my mother and told her "daniela molesta me!" (which probably isn't correct espanol, but i wanted to say she is bothering me, and my mom got the point and took her away). really, all she wants is attention. and she loves being around me. and sometimes i really love her. but sometimes, i wouldn't mind locking her in a closet.
so yeah. that's my top ten. everything i can survive without, but it is what i miss.
i've found out where i'm going for service. duane has been patiently working with our group. they've been really awesome and have been lining up everyone with exactly what they want, which i find amazing! i thought it was more they just put you somewhere... but no, they've been sitting down with us and even finding new locations for people. it's been great. but anyway, last wednesday we filled out sheets where we indicated places we wanted to go. i decided on chimbote as my first choice. chimbote is a very poor city/town 7 hours north of lima. it is smack on the coast (you can see the ocean from downtown), and it seems to have great opportunities for me. there is a parish there, that isn't hardcore churchy. instead, the parish has a lot of programs set up for all sorts of things needed in the city. you can basically do whatever you want there - if you have a vision, they'll help you carry it out. what i was attracted to was a program they have for gang members wives. i wanted to work with women or children, or perhaps young/teen girls, and i can basically do all those things here. the program for gang members wives is basically to listen to them, hang out with them, show them attention and love... because they really have never receieved it in their lives. and to protect them, because apparently it's a pretty dangerous place. i don't exactly know what i'll do for sure, but i was excited about the parish, as well as the location (right on the ocean? can't get much better than that!).
my second choice was cusco, working at a daycare. i chose that because come on, who wouldn't want to live in cusco for 6 weeks? the only negatives about that was 1) it wasn't exactly what i wanted to do. and 2) right now is the mountains rainy season... and i didn't know if i could stand 6 weeks of rain. i mean, i could tolerate it, but when i know i could be in sunshine, i would prefer that. and 3) cusco is still a city. and not exactly poor. there are a lot of tourists. and i really wanted the whole living in a very poor place experience, which chimbote offered and cusco didn't quite as much. also, as a group we stay in cusco for 5 days on a mini-vacation, so it's not like i won't have an opportunity to explore cusco anyway.
so, those were my first two choices. my third choice was the jungle, and that was soley for the location. i would have been working in kitchens in the jungle, and i don't think i really wanted to cook for 6 weeks... but living in a jungle would make up for it. monday, duane and i were talking, and he said i was the only person who signed up for chimbote, and he didn't want to send me there alone because that location needs two people. so he asked if i would be okay with cusco, and i said i would be okay but i would prefer chimbote if it were possible. then duane said that scott wilkinson was interested in being by the coast, and chimbote was his third choice, so we brought scott over and discussed it with him. scott said he didn't really care what he did, as long as he was by the ocean, so he agreed to go to chimbote, and that was that! so, there we have it. i'm going to be in chimbote with scott, which i'm excited about because he's a nice guy and will be interesting to get to know, in about... 4ish weeks.
on to other things: i really need to stop buying stuff here. it's just so cheap! on tuesday, allison, hannah, amy, sarah, and i went shopping. i ended up buying 2 tank tops and 2 shirts for the equivalent of 15 dollars! we found a store that has tons and tons of imported american clothes (american eagle, alternative vintage, abercrombie and fitch, etc), just sitting in huge piles that you have to dig through. they have clothes with holes or stains for 2.50 soles (about 1 dollar.. in fact a little less), and new clothes for 10 soles (about $3.50). i'm not sure how one could expect me NOT to spend some money in there. then today i went to dubbed movie markets with some girls and i ended up buying juno, little miss sunshine, atonement, and across the universe. i haven't seen atonement or across the universe, but when you're paying 1 dollar for movies, it's pretty hard to pass any up. and then i bought a pair of nice, dressy, flip flop type of shoes. that were actually kind of expensive (7 or 8 dollars), or at least expensive for peru. the woman was being a stubborn bargainer... and i know i could have gotten her to go down, but i was overwhelmed and just ended up buying them for 18 soles. but whatever... i'm supporting peruvian economy.
then on my walk home today, i was minding my own business, and as i passed a man he said, "excuse me, are you an english speaker?" he was obviously purivian, and i was a bit taken aback, and said, "si, yo hablo ingles." we ended up having about a 45 minute conversation right there on the street. he was probably in his 50s, maybe 60?, and he's a selftaught english teacher... if that makes sense. he took some english classes at the peruvian university, and then just studied it on his own, and talked to as many native english speakers as he could find. it was amazing because he spoke incredibly well, especially with annuciation. one of his first questions was, "are you from the u.s., or are you european, or australian?" and when i said i was from the u.s. he became very excited and exclaimed that he rarely gets the chance to speak to northerns, and he was so happy he could speak with me because i apparently know the real english with the best pronunciation. we then talked about quite a variety of things, in both english and really crappy spanish (on my part obviously). he's writing a book, and i was a bit confused, but he was saying how his book is about how women really rule the world. idk, it was kind of weird. but he told me that his philosphy is that god first made man, and then god realized he kind of messed up on man, making them stubborn, and not quite as attractive as they could be, and not as kind hearted as they should be. therefore, he decided to make women without the imperfections of men. therefore, women are more beautiful on the outside and inside. he said the whole god business is a joke, but he's serious about his philosophy that women are better then men. he's hoping that his book makes the best seller list so he can then either obtain a visa because he will be rich, or he will be invited to go somewhere in the world by someone, and he could then travel, because he was never left sourth america (or perhaps peru even ?), because it is so impossible to obtain a visa here.
i then explained to him what im doing here, and the kind of school i go to, and he kept saying i was a lucky woman (mujere con suerte, or something like that). then he asked what i was studying, and i attempted to explain, but it's hard to do when people have no context of a liberal arts school. then he asked what i was passionate about, and i said this point in my life, women's rights and politics. so then we had a huge conversation about american politics, and at the end of it, he said he was excited that he had met the future woman president of the united states, and he would tell all his friends he met me on the streets of lima when i become president. and i said that day would never come because i have no desire to become involved in politics, or at least not like that, and he said i should have the desire because most 20 years old only care about discoteccas, but i'm quite different. and i explained that that is true, yet there are so many others like me... so i'm not that out of norm.
anyway, it was quite a fascinating conversation. he then gave me his card, for his teaching english business or whatever, and told me his name was cesar, and told me i could call him if i wanted and we could have free traded lessons - spanish for me, english for him. idk about calling a man to have free lessons with... although he did seem quite harmless. and is probably 50, 60 years old? and never said any kind of coming on comments, other then mentioning that i must have peruvian boys falling all over me because i am "such a pretty gringa." but in peruvian talk, that's not coming on. but anyway, i would never call him alone. i would first check it out with our peruvian leader, and then i would take cj or some other male figure with me. but it would be quite ineresting to talk to him, because he was extremely fascinating character. and i do think talking one on one with someone who knows both spanish and english, and has a teaching background anyway, would help my spanish tremendously because i've realized that i'm just not cut out for spanish classes - i need one on one learning attention. oh the random moments you find yourself in...
err... backtracking a bit. monday we all went to the beach in callao after spanish class. that was quite the fun time and we requested we do more beach afternoons. then we went to an old spanish fort that is still up and operating. and that was quite amazing to see. you could probably check the goshen blog for more info. on that at some later date. then, monday was joe's 21st birthday, so about 12 of us went out in miraflores for that, which was fun, and i had my first pisco sour (peru's national drink, which yes, is alcohol, and yes, extremely tasty. they have a right to brag).
anyway, i know i have more to say, but i feel like i should stop. i've been typing away at this computer for quite sometime now and i'm getting anxious to watch some of those movies i bought! so, for now, ciao.
(and feel free to write me. i love hearing what is going on at home. and any goshen gossip is always appreciated.)
so, even though i just said i'm not homesick or anything of the sort, i still have composed a small list of the top 10 things i miss:
1) being able to drink water out of the faucet. here i must either buy or boil it. i've always taken water for granted. i must say i appreciate the states easy access to water about 32487328947 times more than i ever have before.
2) pedestrian crossings. here, the vehicles have right away, always. if you get ran over, it's completely your fault. they also don't have many stop lights, so you never know if i car will come barreling through or not. it's quite the game.
3) being able to throw toilet paper into the toilet. here, the sewer systems aren't good, so you must put toilet paper in a little trash can beside the toilet. it gets smelly after awhile.
4) washing and dryer machienes. i honestly don't mind the whole hand washing ordeal. it's kind of relaxing after a hectic day in the city. but i do mind how stretched out my clothes will be by the end of these 3ish months. my pants are already falling off.
5) adjustable shower temperature. i either have very cold, or very hot. it's a tough decision to decide if you want to scald your body with boiling water in the morning, or if you want to have icecicles on your air. i usually choose depending on how sweaty i am when i wake up.
6) i have already talked about this quite a bit, but i miss being able to contribute to conversations. after all the girls left last friday night, my mom said, "you talked so much! i thought you were just a quiet person... but you really aren't." and i was like, "yeah... i'm quiet here because i can't speak spanish."
7) perhaps this is gross, but i really miss solid poops. when will i finally become regular again? no one knows. but i'm really hoping soon because i've become quite tired of this...
8) i miss a great variety of food. not to say the food here isn't good, because it is! quite wonderful, actually. and they have so many different amazing (and a few not so amazing) dishes. but the dishes are somehow always comprised of papas (potatoes), arroz (rice), and pollo (chicken) or some other kind of carne (meat). there are vegetable salad things, and also tons of fruit which is AMAZING. but i miss my hamburgers and pizza. not a lot, but a little.
9) independence. i actually have a lot of it here... but i feel like i've been reverted back to junior high again, where i had to check in with the padres all the time, let them know where i would be, what time i would be home, who i would be with, how i would be getting home... the whole 20 questions game. i haven't had to do this for quite sometime, but all in all, i don't mind too terribly much.
10) i miss not having a three year old around. this girl is a headache. not to mention a complete brat. i have so many stories, i don't even think i can go into them because i would never stop. but to sum it up, she steals my stuff, scribbles on all my stuff, and absolutely loves to fake cry, with tears and everything. i have started yelling at her in english, which makes her listen, but makes her scream with tears. i have come to the point where i don't care. she'll be laying at my feet kicking and crying and i pay her no attention. i feel so mean... but someone has to show her she can't be a brat her whole life. plus, she doesn't understand anything i say, and i don't understand anything she says. so it works out. i must say, we have our moments though. yesterday when i was doing homework she came into my room and sat on my bed and was pretty tame. i even let her listen to my ipod, which she thought was the greatest thing in the world. but it was when i tried to take it away that all hell broke lose... she decided to take revenge by dumping an entire bowl of nuts and dried fruit on my bed. i picked her up and took her to my mother and told her "daniela molesta me!" (which probably isn't correct espanol, but i wanted to say she is bothering me, and my mom got the point and took her away). really, all she wants is attention. and she loves being around me. and sometimes i really love her. but sometimes, i wouldn't mind locking her in a closet.
so yeah. that's my top ten. everything i can survive without, but it is what i miss.
i've found out where i'm going for service. duane has been patiently working with our group. they've been really awesome and have been lining up everyone with exactly what they want, which i find amazing! i thought it was more they just put you somewhere... but no, they've been sitting down with us and even finding new locations for people. it's been great. but anyway, last wednesday we filled out sheets where we indicated places we wanted to go. i decided on chimbote as my first choice. chimbote is a very poor city/town 7 hours north of lima. it is smack on the coast (you can see the ocean from downtown), and it seems to have great opportunities for me. there is a parish there, that isn't hardcore churchy. instead, the parish has a lot of programs set up for all sorts of things needed in the city. you can basically do whatever you want there - if you have a vision, they'll help you carry it out. what i was attracted to was a program they have for gang members wives. i wanted to work with women or children, or perhaps young/teen girls, and i can basically do all those things here. the program for gang members wives is basically to listen to them, hang out with them, show them attention and love... because they really have never receieved it in their lives. and to protect them, because apparently it's a pretty dangerous place. i don't exactly know what i'll do for sure, but i was excited about the parish, as well as the location (right on the ocean? can't get much better than that!).
my second choice was cusco, working at a daycare. i chose that because come on, who wouldn't want to live in cusco for 6 weeks? the only negatives about that was 1) it wasn't exactly what i wanted to do. and 2) right now is the mountains rainy season... and i didn't know if i could stand 6 weeks of rain. i mean, i could tolerate it, but when i know i could be in sunshine, i would prefer that. and 3) cusco is still a city. and not exactly poor. there are a lot of tourists. and i really wanted the whole living in a very poor place experience, which chimbote offered and cusco didn't quite as much. also, as a group we stay in cusco for 5 days on a mini-vacation, so it's not like i won't have an opportunity to explore cusco anyway.
so, those were my first two choices. my third choice was the jungle, and that was soley for the location. i would have been working in kitchens in the jungle, and i don't think i really wanted to cook for 6 weeks... but living in a jungle would make up for it. monday, duane and i were talking, and he said i was the only person who signed up for chimbote, and he didn't want to send me there alone because that location needs two people. so he asked if i would be okay with cusco, and i said i would be okay but i would prefer chimbote if it were possible. then duane said that scott wilkinson was interested in being by the coast, and chimbote was his third choice, so we brought scott over and discussed it with him. scott said he didn't really care what he did, as long as he was by the ocean, so he agreed to go to chimbote, and that was that! so, there we have it. i'm going to be in chimbote with scott, which i'm excited about because he's a nice guy and will be interesting to get to know, in about... 4ish weeks.
on to other things: i really need to stop buying stuff here. it's just so cheap! on tuesday, allison, hannah, amy, sarah, and i went shopping. i ended up buying 2 tank tops and 2 shirts for the equivalent of 15 dollars! we found a store that has tons and tons of imported american clothes (american eagle, alternative vintage, abercrombie and fitch, etc), just sitting in huge piles that you have to dig through. they have clothes with holes or stains for 2.50 soles (about 1 dollar.. in fact a little less), and new clothes for 10 soles (about $3.50). i'm not sure how one could expect me NOT to spend some money in there. then today i went to dubbed movie markets with some girls and i ended up buying juno, little miss sunshine, atonement, and across the universe. i haven't seen atonement or across the universe, but when you're paying 1 dollar for movies, it's pretty hard to pass any up. and then i bought a pair of nice, dressy, flip flop type of shoes. that were actually kind of expensive (7 or 8 dollars), or at least expensive for peru. the woman was being a stubborn bargainer... and i know i could have gotten her to go down, but i was overwhelmed and just ended up buying them for 18 soles. but whatever... i'm supporting peruvian economy.
then on my walk home today, i was minding my own business, and as i passed a man he said, "excuse me, are you an english speaker?" he was obviously purivian, and i was a bit taken aback, and said, "si, yo hablo ingles." we ended up having about a 45 minute conversation right there on the street. he was probably in his 50s, maybe 60?, and he's a selftaught english teacher... if that makes sense. he took some english classes at the peruvian university, and then just studied it on his own, and talked to as many native english speakers as he could find. it was amazing because he spoke incredibly well, especially with annuciation. one of his first questions was, "are you from the u.s., or are you european, or australian?" and when i said i was from the u.s. he became very excited and exclaimed that he rarely gets the chance to speak to northerns, and he was so happy he could speak with me because i apparently know the real english with the best pronunciation. we then talked about quite a variety of things, in both english and really crappy spanish (on my part obviously). he's writing a book, and i was a bit confused, but he was saying how his book is about how women really rule the world. idk, it was kind of weird. but he told me that his philosphy is that god first made man, and then god realized he kind of messed up on man, making them stubborn, and not quite as attractive as they could be, and not as kind hearted as they should be. therefore, he decided to make women without the imperfections of men. therefore, women are more beautiful on the outside and inside. he said the whole god business is a joke, but he's serious about his philosophy that women are better then men. he's hoping that his book makes the best seller list so he can then either obtain a visa because he will be rich, or he will be invited to go somewhere in the world by someone, and he could then travel, because he was never left sourth america (or perhaps peru even ?), because it is so impossible to obtain a visa here.
i then explained to him what im doing here, and the kind of school i go to, and he kept saying i was a lucky woman (mujere con suerte, or something like that). then he asked what i was studying, and i attempted to explain, but it's hard to do when people have no context of a liberal arts school. then he asked what i was passionate about, and i said this point in my life, women's rights and politics. so then we had a huge conversation about american politics, and at the end of it, he said he was excited that he had met the future woman president of the united states, and he would tell all his friends he met me on the streets of lima when i become president. and i said that day would never come because i have no desire to become involved in politics, or at least not like that, and he said i should have the desire because most 20 years old only care about discoteccas, but i'm quite different. and i explained that that is true, yet there are so many others like me... so i'm not that out of norm.
anyway, it was quite a fascinating conversation. he then gave me his card, for his teaching english business or whatever, and told me his name was cesar, and told me i could call him if i wanted and we could have free traded lessons - spanish for me, english for him. idk about calling a man to have free lessons with... although he did seem quite harmless. and is probably 50, 60 years old? and never said any kind of coming on comments, other then mentioning that i must have peruvian boys falling all over me because i am "such a pretty gringa." but in peruvian talk, that's not coming on. but anyway, i would never call him alone. i would first check it out with our peruvian leader, and then i would take cj or some other male figure with me. but it would be quite ineresting to talk to him, because he was extremely fascinating character. and i do think talking one on one with someone who knows both spanish and english, and has a teaching background anyway, would help my spanish tremendously because i've realized that i'm just not cut out for spanish classes - i need one on one learning attention. oh the random moments you find yourself in...
err... backtracking a bit. monday we all went to the beach in callao after spanish class. that was quite the fun time and we requested we do more beach afternoons. then we went to an old spanish fort that is still up and operating. and that was quite amazing to see. you could probably check the goshen blog for more info. on that at some later date. then, monday was joe's 21st birthday, so about 12 of us went out in miraflores for that, which was fun, and i had my first pisco sour (peru's national drink, which yes, is alcohol, and yes, extremely tasty. they have a right to brag).
anyway, i know i have more to say, but i feel like i should stop. i've been typing away at this computer for quite sometime now and i'm getting anxious to watch some of those movies i bought! so, for now, ciao.
(and feel free to write me. i love hearing what is going on at home. and any goshen gossip is always appreciated.)
Sunday, January 20, 2008
a woman in a machismo society.
so i'm still a feminist, but... i honestly kind of like it when a man gives me up his seat on a bus for me. if it were to happen in the states, i would be like, "no thanks. i'm capable of standing." but here, it is completely different. transportation is absolutely packed, you risk getting all your pocessions stollen everytime you ride, particularily if you have to stand up instead of sit down. and basically, you can count on getting groped, accidently or not, while riding these small, packed vehicles. therefore, when a man offers me his seat, i graciously take it and don't even think twice about it.
with that said, that's probably the only thing i enjoy about a machismo culture. can i just say how incredibly sick i am of having to go everywhere with a man? and how, if you're going anywhere, the adult in your presence will say, "you can only go if there is a man." and if you do happen to go anywhere alone, even walking the two blocks to your house, you can definitely count on quite a few stares, a couple whistles, and perhaps some hissing.
last night hannah groff's family had a pretty smashing party for all the sst'ers, plus any peruvian siblings that wanted to come. it was quite the ball. first off, let's just say hannah's family is a little more than well off. i think their house was nicer than mine in the states! they had this large and beautiful courtyard/patio thing, where the dancing and drinking (yes, i must say it was kind of odd having someone's mom busy making sangria in the kitchen for us all) took place. this was just such a relaxing and fun atmosphere. it was the first time all of us got together without it being for school, which was nice, because although we see each other everyday, it's still focused around "learning" and not definitely not relaxing.
on the way to the party, we squeezed in 6 of us, plus the taxi driver, making it 7 all in our car. four in the back, three in the front. it was quite the experience and definitely quite illegal in the states, but here, you can have as many people as you can fit in a taxi. then on the way home, dan, scott, and i took a taxi back. i ended up just getting dropped off at Arequipa so i could then just walk the 2 blocks home. i figured all would be well, even though it was late (about 12:45) i thought 2 blocks would be a quick, safe jaunt. but it was amazing how un-safe i felt, and how i just wished i made on the guys go with me. first off all, there is a bar/discotecca at the corner on arequipa that i go to. so... there were quite a few drunk people out and about. the minute i stepped out of the taxi, i had about 3 different comments made toward me (saying who knows what... i can't understand anything). then as i kept walking, people would just stare at me, and their eyes would follow me everywhere i would go. and if i a man passed me on the sidewalk, he would make it quite obvious what he thought of me walking alone on the streets of lima, and possibly what he would like to do to me? i don't really know... and i don't want to know. i just know that i dislike the fact that this has to happen and that the minute the sun goes down, being alone is out of the question.
i don't want to make lima sound like a scary place though, because really it is not. during the daytime, i hear almost nothing from people. occasionally i'll have the rude person stare at me for quite sometime. or i'll get the occasional "que bonita!" but most of that is harmless. at night... i don't feel it's quite as harmless. but none-the-less, peru is much tamer in the cat-call culture than other south american countries.
onto another subject: it seems my sundays are going to have a rather consistent pattern. today, as i was getting ready for church, the phone rang and it was apparently for me. i answered, and it was my friend gisela who i met last sunday. she wanted to make sure i was going to church and she said carol wanted to have me over for lunch again. i agreed to, and was excited to have plans. so i got to church and gisela rushed up to me, eager to speak in spanglish. then after church, i again went to carols for lunch, which was quite tasty. i found out that carol is from the jungle and her family moved because they wanted her to receive a better education and so she could work as well. anyway, she had cousins visiting from the jungle, and they wanted to go to the beach. so gisela, carol, carol's three cousins, an aunt, a cab driver, and myself all piled into one taxi, and headed to miraflores where there are incredible beaches. i wish i could describe the beauty of these cliffs and beaches, but i really can not. just imagine being on top of a cliff, looking straight down, and seeing endless beaches spreading for miles, with surfers galore (the waves here are insane, so insane i am actually semi-scared to get in the water in fear of being sucked out to the ocean, and so amazing that the world's best female surfer, sofia, is from peru, surfs in peru, and kathryn even saw her in the mall (her family told her who she was). anyway, i'm not the best at describing beauty, but i've seen quite a few beautiful beaches, and these top them all.
so i spend the day at the beach, and came back home completely exhausted. but it is quite fun to have some peruvian friends who can take me out and about and who actually know where they are going, and can do all the talking for me. i definitely feel safe with them, whereas going out with other goshenites is quite fun, it's also complicated because we have to figure everything out in a language we aren't the best at, and we're all obviously white and out of place. and not necessarily always safe. so having sunday outings with my peruvian friends is almost a blessing.
minus the fact that my peruvian lover was at it again. this time, instead of standing outside the window while i ate lunch, he actually came inside, pulled a chair close the table, and played me songs on the guitar the entire time. it was ridiculous. then he somehow found us at the beach (what a coincidence, eh?), and he was talking to me so much i finally said in bad spanish, "i don't want to talk to you. you talk too fast. i can't understand. and i'm tired." he then left me alone... for about 10 minutes. oy.
friday night all the sst girls, minus kathryn who went to the mall, came over to my house. we went out for dinner and walked about a bit. it was in our plans to go to the park with trampolines, but we all ended up very exhausted and everyone departed around 9:30/10:00. it's amazing how no matter how much sleep you get here, you're still ready to sleep some more.
then saturday morning, about 10 of us from the sst group went to pamplona, an xtremely poor shanty town, to play with kids at this "daycare" of a sorts. there will be a goshen blog entry about this eventually, which will explain our purpose and the daycare a bit more extensivly, so i'm not going to go into those details. instead i will tell of my experience:
to begin with, i have honestly never been in such a place in my life. these shanty towns have been built on these mountains surrouding lima (they're actually still in the city limits and count as a part of lima). these mountains are basically all sound, and they are not hilly by any means, they're definitely steep mountains. yet thousands of people have built these tin shacks on this sand, almost piled right on top of each other. there are children walking about everywhere, dogs roaming, it's hot, there are absolutely no trees - definitely pure desert, the sand burns your feet and the sun burns your skin, and everywhere you look, all you see are shacks... for miles and miles and miles, all piled on top of these mountains. it made me cry.
we opened up one of the shacks which apparently the first goshen grout to go down with dean rhodes during a may term actually built. the shack was made for these children who just roam these sand mountains because their parents work and there is obviously no means of childcare. in the shack we set up tables for coloring, making bracelets, making paper objects, balloon blowing. we also had water and crackers to hand out, because there is no water in these places. we were told about 30 children would come. and then they started coming, one by one. some shy, some not shy at all. anywhere from the age of 1-10. i think word spread like wildfire though, because instead of having 30 children, we had around 50. this room was tiny... i have no idea how we all packed in there. it was the most chaotic 2 hours of my life, but probably the most rewarding at the same time. these kids were adorable. completely dirty, pretty smelly, but adorable none the less. all i wanted to do was hug them all. and the cutest part? they called us all sister or brother.
i seemed to work my way into their hearts with my camera. these kid have obviously never seen digital cameras, and perhaps have never even seen themselves in a mirror? anyway, i brought out my camera about 45 min. before we were going to leave, and the kids just lined up. the first time i would take their picture, they wouldn't really smile. they would just look at me. i would then show them the picture and their faces would just completely light up and they'd start grinning from ear to ear. one particularily adorable 2 year would scream, " me me me me me!!!" everytime i would show him a picture of himself. after the first photo, most would ask for a second, and this time they would grin quite large for me. it seems such a simple thing... yet it was incredible. all i wanted to do was keep taking pictures of these kids just for their reactions when they could see them.
it was a very challening thing though. for one, it was so hard to communicate. i was laughed at my children multiple times. and they would become so frustrated when they would keep asking me questions and i wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about. i would try to find someone to interrupt it, but with 50 kids swarming around, it was rather challening. as i was leaving, a girl named ingrid handed me a card. i had gisela translate it today and it said,
"thanks for everything and for all the sisters and brothers, for their hearts and for giving up their time."
and i think that is all i have. i need to do tarea (homework), and i am muy cansada (very tired).
i love and miss you all.
ps. i wanted to include my two new-found loves.
one) liquid yogurt. here... all yogurt is in liquid form. and it is brilliant. i could eat it for days on ends. but my mom doesn't buy in. in fact, i don't eat any dairy at all unless one would count condensed milk, which i have with coffee every morning, which is awesome by the way. and i realized i truly am lactose intollerant, because not eating any dairy has made me never fart. and if you know me, you know i'm a pretty gasy person. so fancy that, eh? but i'm getting way off track here... all i wanted to say, was this yogurt pretty much rocks, but the only way i get it is if i sneak off to some store and buy it. which i have done occasionally. such as tonight. and it was yummy.
two) bread. okay, so that is not a new found love. but i live right beside a panderia/pastel shop (bakery and desert shop) and honestly, i've never had stuff that tastes like what comes out of this place. and my mom goes out and buys me fresh bread every single morning from this place. it is heavenly. and i did walk in by myself for the first time this evening (after the yogurt adventure). i never had enough nerve to go in and get what i want, because usually i just have what my mom gives me. but tonight i did it. and i defintely couldn't speak, and the ladies weren't very nice to me, and i didn't get that i had to pay for whatever i wanted, get the receipt, and then give the receipt to one of the bakers behind the counter and then THEY would give me my bread... but beside all that embarresment and confusement, i had a pretty awesome bread-something that was cinaminnish.
the end.
with that said, that's probably the only thing i enjoy about a machismo culture. can i just say how incredibly sick i am of having to go everywhere with a man? and how, if you're going anywhere, the adult in your presence will say, "you can only go if there is a man." and if you do happen to go anywhere alone, even walking the two blocks to your house, you can definitely count on quite a few stares, a couple whistles, and perhaps some hissing.
last night hannah groff's family had a pretty smashing party for all the sst'ers, plus any peruvian siblings that wanted to come. it was quite the ball. first off, let's just say hannah's family is a little more than well off. i think their house was nicer than mine in the states! they had this large and beautiful courtyard/patio thing, where the dancing and drinking (yes, i must say it was kind of odd having someone's mom busy making sangria in the kitchen for us all) took place. this was just such a relaxing and fun atmosphere. it was the first time all of us got together without it being for school, which was nice, because although we see each other everyday, it's still focused around "learning" and not definitely not relaxing.
on the way to the party, we squeezed in 6 of us, plus the taxi driver, making it 7 all in our car. four in the back, three in the front. it was quite the experience and definitely quite illegal in the states, but here, you can have as many people as you can fit in a taxi. then on the way home, dan, scott, and i took a taxi back. i ended up just getting dropped off at Arequipa so i could then just walk the 2 blocks home. i figured all would be well, even though it was late (about 12:45) i thought 2 blocks would be a quick, safe jaunt. but it was amazing how un-safe i felt, and how i just wished i made on the guys go with me. first off all, there is a bar/discotecca at the corner on arequipa that i go to. so... there were quite a few drunk people out and about. the minute i stepped out of the taxi, i had about 3 different comments made toward me (saying who knows what... i can't understand anything). then as i kept walking, people would just stare at me, and their eyes would follow me everywhere i would go. and if i a man passed me on the sidewalk, he would make it quite obvious what he thought of me walking alone on the streets of lima, and possibly what he would like to do to me? i don't really know... and i don't want to know. i just know that i dislike the fact that this has to happen and that the minute the sun goes down, being alone is out of the question.
i don't want to make lima sound like a scary place though, because really it is not. during the daytime, i hear almost nothing from people. occasionally i'll have the rude person stare at me for quite sometime. or i'll get the occasional "que bonita!" but most of that is harmless. at night... i don't feel it's quite as harmless. but none-the-less, peru is much tamer in the cat-call culture than other south american countries.
onto another subject: it seems my sundays are going to have a rather consistent pattern. today, as i was getting ready for church, the phone rang and it was apparently for me. i answered, and it was my friend gisela who i met last sunday. she wanted to make sure i was going to church and she said carol wanted to have me over for lunch again. i agreed to, and was excited to have plans. so i got to church and gisela rushed up to me, eager to speak in spanglish. then after church, i again went to carols for lunch, which was quite tasty. i found out that carol is from the jungle and her family moved because they wanted her to receive a better education and so she could work as well. anyway, she had cousins visiting from the jungle, and they wanted to go to the beach. so gisela, carol, carol's three cousins, an aunt, a cab driver, and myself all piled into one taxi, and headed to miraflores where there are incredible beaches. i wish i could describe the beauty of these cliffs and beaches, but i really can not. just imagine being on top of a cliff, looking straight down, and seeing endless beaches spreading for miles, with surfers galore (the waves here are insane, so insane i am actually semi-scared to get in the water in fear of being sucked out to the ocean, and so amazing that the world's best female surfer, sofia, is from peru, surfs in peru, and kathryn even saw her in the mall (her family told her who she was). anyway, i'm not the best at describing beauty, but i've seen quite a few beautiful beaches, and these top them all.
so i spend the day at the beach, and came back home completely exhausted. but it is quite fun to have some peruvian friends who can take me out and about and who actually know where they are going, and can do all the talking for me. i definitely feel safe with them, whereas going out with other goshenites is quite fun, it's also complicated because we have to figure everything out in a language we aren't the best at, and we're all obviously white and out of place. and not necessarily always safe. so having sunday outings with my peruvian friends is almost a blessing.
minus the fact that my peruvian lover was at it again. this time, instead of standing outside the window while i ate lunch, he actually came inside, pulled a chair close the table, and played me songs on the guitar the entire time. it was ridiculous. then he somehow found us at the beach (what a coincidence, eh?), and he was talking to me so much i finally said in bad spanish, "i don't want to talk to you. you talk too fast. i can't understand. and i'm tired." he then left me alone... for about 10 minutes. oy.
friday night all the sst girls, minus kathryn who went to the mall, came over to my house. we went out for dinner and walked about a bit. it was in our plans to go to the park with trampolines, but we all ended up very exhausted and everyone departed around 9:30/10:00. it's amazing how no matter how much sleep you get here, you're still ready to sleep some more.
then saturday morning, about 10 of us from the sst group went to pamplona, an xtremely poor shanty town, to play with kids at this "daycare" of a sorts. there will be a goshen blog entry about this eventually, which will explain our purpose and the daycare a bit more extensivly, so i'm not going to go into those details. instead i will tell of my experience:
to begin with, i have honestly never been in such a place in my life. these shanty towns have been built on these mountains surrouding lima (they're actually still in the city limits and count as a part of lima). these mountains are basically all sound, and they are not hilly by any means, they're definitely steep mountains. yet thousands of people have built these tin shacks on this sand, almost piled right on top of each other. there are children walking about everywhere, dogs roaming, it's hot, there are absolutely no trees - definitely pure desert, the sand burns your feet and the sun burns your skin, and everywhere you look, all you see are shacks... for miles and miles and miles, all piled on top of these mountains. it made me cry.
we opened up one of the shacks which apparently the first goshen grout to go down with dean rhodes during a may term actually built. the shack was made for these children who just roam these sand mountains because their parents work and there is obviously no means of childcare. in the shack we set up tables for coloring, making bracelets, making paper objects, balloon blowing. we also had water and crackers to hand out, because there is no water in these places. we were told about 30 children would come. and then they started coming, one by one. some shy, some not shy at all. anywhere from the age of 1-10. i think word spread like wildfire though, because instead of having 30 children, we had around 50. this room was tiny... i have no idea how we all packed in there. it was the most chaotic 2 hours of my life, but probably the most rewarding at the same time. these kids were adorable. completely dirty, pretty smelly, but adorable none the less. all i wanted to do was hug them all. and the cutest part? they called us all sister or brother.
i seemed to work my way into their hearts with my camera. these kid have obviously never seen digital cameras, and perhaps have never even seen themselves in a mirror? anyway, i brought out my camera about 45 min. before we were going to leave, and the kids just lined up. the first time i would take their picture, they wouldn't really smile. they would just look at me. i would then show them the picture and their faces would just completely light up and they'd start grinning from ear to ear. one particularily adorable 2 year would scream, " me me me me me!!!" everytime i would show him a picture of himself. after the first photo, most would ask for a second, and this time they would grin quite large for me. it seems such a simple thing... yet it was incredible. all i wanted to do was keep taking pictures of these kids just for their reactions when they could see them.
it was a very challening thing though. for one, it was so hard to communicate. i was laughed at my children multiple times. and they would become so frustrated when they would keep asking me questions and i wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about. i would try to find someone to interrupt it, but with 50 kids swarming around, it was rather challening. as i was leaving, a girl named ingrid handed me a card. i had gisela translate it today and it said,
"thanks for everything and for all the sisters and brothers, for their hearts and for giving up their time."
and i think that is all i have. i need to do tarea (homework), and i am muy cansada (very tired).
i love and miss you all.
ps. i wanted to include my two new-found loves.
one) liquid yogurt. here... all yogurt is in liquid form. and it is brilliant. i could eat it for days on ends. but my mom doesn't buy in. in fact, i don't eat any dairy at all unless one would count condensed milk, which i have with coffee every morning, which is awesome by the way. and i realized i truly am lactose intollerant, because not eating any dairy has made me never fart. and if you know me, you know i'm a pretty gasy person. so fancy that, eh? but i'm getting way off track here... all i wanted to say, was this yogurt pretty much rocks, but the only way i get it is if i sneak off to some store and buy it. which i have done occasionally. such as tonight. and it was yummy.
two) bread. okay, so that is not a new found love. but i live right beside a panderia/pastel shop (bakery and desert shop) and honestly, i've never had stuff that tastes like what comes out of this place. and my mom goes out and buys me fresh bread every single morning from this place. it is heavenly. and i did walk in by myself for the first time this evening (after the yogurt adventure). i never had enough nerve to go in and get what i want, because usually i just have what my mom gives me. but tonight i did it. and i defintely couldn't speak, and the ladies weren't very nice to me, and i didn't get that i had to pay for whatever i wanted, get the receipt, and then give the receipt to one of the bakers behind the counter and then THEY would give me my bread... but beside all that embarresment and confusement, i had a pretty awesome bread-something that was cinaminnish.
the end.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
me amo amor en perú.
the spanish in this title could be incredibley wrong, but what i'm attempting to say is "i love the love in peru." for there is so much love here... or at least in lima, because that is basically all i have experienced so far.
so how is this love shown? in oh so many ways...
1) the fact that i have been extremely overfed is an obvious.
2) the snuggly couples all over. i usually dont like pda, but for some reason i think it is kind of "lindo" (cute) here.
3) kisses for greeting, and leaving, and perhaps in between times, too.
4) the fact that every person in a room is acknowledged before conversation, or perhaps mid conversation, or even after conversation. people are not left out.
5) if your lost, people are more then willing to help, even if they have no idea what you are looking for. which isn't always very good. but at least they want to help...
6) my parents attempting to make conversation with me, even though i can tell it's an exhausting, and slightly painful process for them. they want me to learn. so they just keep trying. they don't give up even if i say "no intiendo" (i don't understand) 7 times in a row.
7) every person i meet is excited to do something with me, show me something, take me somewhere... anything.
8) other host parents are so welcoming in their houses and want to meet all these crazy north american kids who, as one mother put it when one student was calling home to their host mother, "speak like 8 year olds on the phone."
9) even the bus and kambi drivers are gracious, and if you get on the wrong bus, they'll give you back your money and point you in the right direction.
10) and maybe because it is their summer vacation here, but it is so romantic. in my area where i live, there are people walking about everywhere, holding hands, kissing. people stroll the parks at night. it really is beautiful, and romantic. (and if you know me well, then you know i usually don't dig the romantic stuff. but i do here).
alright, so i could go on with those numbers for a while, but i have better stories to tell, that explain those numbers a bit better. so where to begin is the question...?
well. the neighborhood i live in is Lince. my house is 2 blocks from the main road, Arequipa. so, what that basically means is i have a pretty prime location. i'm right beside the neighborhood Miraflores, which is the "rich" neighborhood in Lima, and is where Tambo Goshen, our meeting place, is located. i have figured out that lince is a pretty nice neighborhood, and as my mother put it one morning, it is as nice as miraflores but a lot cheaper. go figure.
but i do absolutely love my neighborhood. there are so many adorable stores and corner markets, hair "salons", ice cream shops, panerias (bread shops... which smell incredible!), and so much more. i went on a walk this evening because i decided i should really explore a bit more, and i needed some fresh air. my mother asked me if i was going to the park, and i said i did not know where the park was, so she told me it was only a few blocks up the street. i walked there and it was the best park i have ever been to! for one, it was absolutely beautiful (or at least at night it is). there were people walking about everywhere. there were volleyball courts, basketball, and many palm trees and cactus (lima is a desert and it never rains. thought i would throw that one out there in case you didn't know). then there was an entire area for children which was far better than any park i have ever seen in the states. in addition to the usual play ground equipment, there were 6 different trampolines for kids to jump on. also bumber cars, motor boats in a rather large pool, blow up jumping things, climbing things... endless amounts of objects that would be in every kid's heaven. or at least they're all in my heaven, so i would imagine they're in kids heavens, too!
but anyway, i can stop going on about the park, because there is so much more to talk about. i just wanted to say a bit about my neighborhood since i hadn't mentioned much.
so, in my last blog i had mentioned the transportation and said i would mention a bit more on that. well, i have discovered that my friend cj wrote an extensive blog entry on the lima transportation system whcih i think would be very valuable for you to read, especially when considering what i'm going to tell you next. here is cjs blog: http://cjinperu.blogspot.com/. i also have his site on my sidebar titled "links."
anyway, story time. so, today i got lost for the first time. to begin with, i always meet my friends, scott and dan, for school because they also live in lince, pretty close to where i live. well, we meet at 8, but today i was about 5 min. late. i waited, and waited, and waited. no one showed up, and it was 8:20 (school begins at 8:30 and it takes 20 min. to a half hour to get there), and i decided i should just go. i was nervous because i had never done the journey alone and i honestly forgot the name where i needed to get off the bus (i just rely on sites, which isn't probably the smartest way to do things). so anyway, i actually ended up making it to school, taking the right bus and getting off at the right stop and everything! dan was apparently sick (everyone is sick. i am sick in the bathroom area... if you catch my drift), and scott just went ahead because he thought dan and i had left without him. ANYWAY. after school, i realized i needed to go home by myself because scott had gone with someone else to a market and dan was still sick. i had never done the journey home, even with other people, because i always went somewhere else after school. and as you read cj's blog, you may come to realize that just beacuse you know how to get somewhere, you may have absolutely no idea how to get home beacuse there aren't consistent routes or buses. so, i knew which direction i needed to go so i just went to a rather large bus stop and waited there. i needed a bus that said "Arequipa" on the side, and i remember dan had told me on the way home we take bus 18 or 29, most likely.
so i waited. and i waited. and i waited... and waited. about a half hour had gone by. there were no buses number 18. or 29. and definitely no arequipas. so finally i turned to a woman beside me, and in my pretty horrible spanish said, "i want a bus to arequipa. will the bus have arequipa on the side, or do i need a different bus?" and the first thing i caught that she said was, "no buses here go to arequipa." and then she rattled off a bunch of spanish which i basically understood none of. then a kambi pulled up (which are basically transportation VANS which you usually have no idea where they are going), and she pulled me on it with her! so here i was, riding a cambi, having no idea where i was heading ina city of 9 million people. for some reason, i actually wasn't panicking too much. then all of a sudden she shouts "baja baja arequipa!" which means, "stop stop for arequipa!" the kambi man who collects money basically threw me off the bus onto a street i had never been on. lima is full of these giant round-abouts where about 8 streets meet and go in different directions (all the roads here are a one way system), and i had been thrown off on this roundabout. so i figured out one of these streets must be arequipa, i just had no idea which. so i walked around a bit and ran into a bus that said "arequipa" on the side. i got on the bus, and as we were riding along the money collector asked me for my sol and asked where i was going. i said, "cuadra veinte dos de arequipa" (block 22 of arequipa). and he said, while giving me back my money, "you're going the wrong way. you need the other road on the other side."
at this point, it had been about an hour and a half since i left school. this whole getting home from school thing should take me a half hour at the most. let's just say i was pretty frustrated and exhausted. so... i crossed about 5 extremely busy high ways where vehicles DO NOT stop for pedestrians, and finally made it to the other side, onto a bus that finally took me home.
and that is my getting lost on public transportation story.
and now, if you can keep reading and haven't grown completely tired of this blog entry yet, i will tell you a few more details of my life.
monday my parents were ever so loving and took me to downtown lima, which is old lima, which means it is where the spainards first built when creating lima as their capital, therefore the buildings are all hundreds of years old and quite beautiful. we had already toured this area one afternoon for school, but going at night was quite different. it was, for one thing, gorgeous. it reminded me a bit of my favotire city Krakow in poland, only not polish, and actually not much like krakow, minus a square in the middle and tons of pedestrians. i suppose it just gave me the same feelings as krakow. everything was very lit up and grand. there were horse carriage rides and many vendors, as well as quite a few ice cream shops, discoteccas, bars, restaurants, etc. we got dinner and walked around quite a lot while my mother pointed out buildings and explained to me what they all were, and said, "very old" about every single one, because that's practically the only thing i would understand from her explanations.
i was so greatful for my parents for taking me down there. they did it all for me! i wish i knew more spanish to express my greatfulness, but it basically consists of me saying "i like it", "how pretty", "how beautiful", "thank you", or "it is good." anyway, we did not get home until quite late, about 11:30, so i was completely exhausted the next day, but it was worth it.
in school we have taken tours of many different things, which is all quite interesting. and it is helpful to go to different parts of lima on the public transportation, because i feel like if i do with a bunch of people, i can later figure it out on my own.
now, back to school, i have spanish class in the mornings from 8:30 to 11:00. then we usually go into the city for our history lesson, or have a lecturer come in and talk to us. wednesday's we go to Tambo Goshen and have worship, take quizes, eat food, discuss things, and hang out together. i really enjoy that time and it's a needed, relaxing afternoon. this wednesday it was scott's birthday so we got cake and ice cream which was QUITE exciting, i must say. his mom sent money to buy ice cream, and we had famous helado imported from the jungle, which i thought was pretty nifty. later that day i went to a bunch of the indian markets on a side street in miraflores. i could not contain myself from already buying a few items! everything is so cheap, and such wonderful quality, and so unique... and it's near impossible to turn something down when the owner is constantly dropping the price for you. (just a side note, about 3 soles = 1 dollar. an example: a bottle of water is 1 sol, aka 33 cents. a ride on the bus is 1 sol, aka 33 cents. a pair of shoes is 10 soles, aka about $3.50). i got a pair of earrings for about $1.50, a money pouch for 2 dollars (everyone here carries their money in these teeny tiny money pouches. it's basically a must if you take public transportation), already a gift for my sister en los estados unidos which i could not resist, and a finger puppet that cost 1 sol for my daniela here in the house (the 3 year old).
i have done so many other things. i have gone out a few times with friends, explored a bit, figured out new things, learned new words...
there is just so much i can't write about it all.
but i will finish with one last thing: my mother said that i am talking so much more and have improved my spanish since last thursday. so, there is hope for me after all!!!!
anyway, if you want to know more, which you probably don't because i truly have written an excessive amount, then you can email me. i do have an embarresing story about, uhhh, it is a "going to the bathroom" story. so, if curious, let me know and i will tell. only by email though.
i hope all are doing well whereever you may be. and next time i will try to update sooner so i don't have such a sporatic blog entry for you.
much love.
so how is this love shown? in oh so many ways...
1) the fact that i have been extremely overfed is an obvious.
2) the snuggly couples all over. i usually dont like pda, but for some reason i think it is kind of "lindo" (cute) here.
3) kisses for greeting, and leaving, and perhaps in between times, too.
4) the fact that every person in a room is acknowledged before conversation, or perhaps mid conversation, or even after conversation. people are not left out.
5) if your lost, people are more then willing to help, even if they have no idea what you are looking for. which isn't always very good. but at least they want to help...
6) my parents attempting to make conversation with me, even though i can tell it's an exhausting, and slightly painful process for them. they want me to learn. so they just keep trying. they don't give up even if i say "no intiendo" (i don't understand) 7 times in a row.
7) every person i meet is excited to do something with me, show me something, take me somewhere... anything.
8) other host parents are so welcoming in their houses and want to meet all these crazy north american kids who, as one mother put it when one student was calling home to their host mother, "speak like 8 year olds on the phone."
9) even the bus and kambi drivers are gracious, and if you get on the wrong bus, they'll give you back your money and point you in the right direction.
10) and maybe because it is their summer vacation here, but it is so romantic. in my area where i live, there are people walking about everywhere, holding hands, kissing. people stroll the parks at night. it really is beautiful, and romantic. (and if you know me well, then you know i usually don't dig the romantic stuff. but i do here).
alright, so i could go on with those numbers for a while, but i have better stories to tell, that explain those numbers a bit better. so where to begin is the question...?
well. the neighborhood i live in is Lince. my house is 2 blocks from the main road, Arequipa. so, what that basically means is i have a pretty prime location. i'm right beside the neighborhood Miraflores, which is the "rich" neighborhood in Lima, and is where Tambo Goshen, our meeting place, is located. i have figured out that lince is a pretty nice neighborhood, and as my mother put it one morning, it is as nice as miraflores but a lot cheaper. go figure.
but i do absolutely love my neighborhood. there are so many adorable stores and corner markets, hair "salons", ice cream shops, panerias (bread shops... which smell incredible!), and so much more. i went on a walk this evening because i decided i should really explore a bit more, and i needed some fresh air. my mother asked me if i was going to the park, and i said i did not know where the park was, so she told me it was only a few blocks up the street. i walked there and it was the best park i have ever been to! for one, it was absolutely beautiful (or at least at night it is). there were people walking about everywhere. there were volleyball courts, basketball, and many palm trees and cactus (lima is a desert and it never rains. thought i would throw that one out there in case you didn't know). then there was an entire area for children which was far better than any park i have ever seen in the states. in addition to the usual play ground equipment, there were 6 different trampolines for kids to jump on. also bumber cars, motor boats in a rather large pool, blow up jumping things, climbing things... endless amounts of objects that would be in every kid's heaven. or at least they're all in my heaven, so i would imagine they're in kids heavens, too!
but anyway, i can stop going on about the park, because there is so much more to talk about. i just wanted to say a bit about my neighborhood since i hadn't mentioned much.
so, in my last blog i had mentioned the transportation and said i would mention a bit more on that. well, i have discovered that my friend cj wrote an extensive blog entry on the lima transportation system whcih i think would be very valuable for you to read, especially when considering what i'm going to tell you next. here is cjs blog: http://cjinperu.blogspot.com/. i also have his site on my sidebar titled "links."
anyway, story time. so, today i got lost for the first time. to begin with, i always meet my friends, scott and dan, for school because they also live in lince, pretty close to where i live. well, we meet at 8, but today i was about 5 min. late. i waited, and waited, and waited. no one showed up, and it was 8:20 (school begins at 8:30 and it takes 20 min. to a half hour to get there), and i decided i should just go. i was nervous because i had never done the journey alone and i honestly forgot the name where i needed to get off the bus (i just rely on sites, which isn't probably the smartest way to do things). so anyway, i actually ended up making it to school, taking the right bus and getting off at the right stop and everything! dan was apparently sick (everyone is sick. i am sick in the bathroom area... if you catch my drift), and scott just went ahead because he thought dan and i had left without him. ANYWAY. after school, i realized i needed to go home by myself because scott had gone with someone else to a market and dan was still sick. i had never done the journey home, even with other people, because i always went somewhere else after school. and as you read cj's blog, you may come to realize that just beacuse you know how to get somewhere, you may have absolutely no idea how to get home beacuse there aren't consistent routes or buses. so, i knew which direction i needed to go so i just went to a rather large bus stop and waited there. i needed a bus that said "Arequipa" on the side, and i remember dan had told me on the way home we take bus 18 or 29, most likely.
so i waited. and i waited. and i waited... and waited. about a half hour had gone by. there were no buses number 18. or 29. and definitely no arequipas. so finally i turned to a woman beside me, and in my pretty horrible spanish said, "i want a bus to arequipa. will the bus have arequipa on the side, or do i need a different bus?" and the first thing i caught that she said was, "no buses here go to arequipa." and then she rattled off a bunch of spanish which i basically understood none of. then a kambi pulled up (which are basically transportation VANS which you usually have no idea where they are going), and she pulled me on it with her! so here i was, riding a cambi, having no idea where i was heading ina city of 9 million people. for some reason, i actually wasn't panicking too much. then all of a sudden she shouts "baja baja arequipa!" which means, "stop stop for arequipa!" the kambi man who collects money basically threw me off the bus onto a street i had never been on. lima is full of these giant round-abouts where about 8 streets meet and go in different directions (all the roads here are a one way system), and i had been thrown off on this roundabout. so i figured out one of these streets must be arequipa, i just had no idea which. so i walked around a bit and ran into a bus that said "arequipa" on the side. i got on the bus, and as we were riding along the money collector asked me for my sol and asked where i was going. i said, "cuadra veinte dos de arequipa" (block 22 of arequipa). and he said, while giving me back my money, "you're going the wrong way. you need the other road on the other side."
at this point, it had been about an hour and a half since i left school. this whole getting home from school thing should take me a half hour at the most. let's just say i was pretty frustrated and exhausted. so... i crossed about 5 extremely busy high ways where vehicles DO NOT stop for pedestrians, and finally made it to the other side, onto a bus that finally took me home.
and that is my getting lost on public transportation story.
and now, if you can keep reading and haven't grown completely tired of this blog entry yet, i will tell you a few more details of my life.
monday my parents were ever so loving and took me to downtown lima, which is old lima, which means it is where the spainards first built when creating lima as their capital, therefore the buildings are all hundreds of years old and quite beautiful. we had already toured this area one afternoon for school, but going at night was quite different. it was, for one thing, gorgeous. it reminded me a bit of my favotire city Krakow in poland, only not polish, and actually not much like krakow, minus a square in the middle and tons of pedestrians. i suppose it just gave me the same feelings as krakow. everything was very lit up and grand. there were horse carriage rides and many vendors, as well as quite a few ice cream shops, discoteccas, bars, restaurants, etc. we got dinner and walked around quite a lot while my mother pointed out buildings and explained to me what they all were, and said, "very old" about every single one, because that's practically the only thing i would understand from her explanations.
i was so greatful for my parents for taking me down there. they did it all for me! i wish i knew more spanish to express my greatfulness, but it basically consists of me saying "i like it", "how pretty", "how beautiful", "thank you", or "it is good." anyway, we did not get home until quite late, about 11:30, so i was completely exhausted the next day, but it was worth it.
in school we have taken tours of many different things, which is all quite interesting. and it is helpful to go to different parts of lima on the public transportation, because i feel like if i do with a bunch of people, i can later figure it out on my own.
now, back to school, i have spanish class in the mornings from 8:30 to 11:00. then we usually go into the city for our history lesson, or have a lecturer come in and talk to us. wednesday's we go to Tambo Goshen and have worship, take quizes, eat food, discuss things, and hang out together. i really enjoy that time and it's a needed, relaxing afternoon. this wednesday it was scott's birthday so we got cake and ice cream which was QUITE exciting, i must say. his mom sent money to buy ice cream, and we had famous helado imported from the jungle, which i thought was pretty nifty. later that day i went to a bunch of the indian markets on a side street in miraflores. i could not contain myself from already buying a few items! everything is so cheap, and such wonderful quality, and so unique... and it's near impossible to turn something down when the owner is constantly dropping the price for you. (just a side note, about 3 soles = 1 dollar. an example: a bottle of water is 1 sol, aka 33 cents. a ride on the bus is 1 sol, aka 33 cents. a pair of shoes is 10 soles, aka about $3.50). i got a pair of earrings for about $1.50, a money pouch for 2 dollars (everyone here carries their money in these teeny tiny money pouches. it's basically a must if you take public transportation), already a gift for my sister en los estados unidos which i could not resist, and a finger puppet that cost 1 sol for my daniela here in the house (the 3 year old).
i have done so many other things. i have gone out a few times with friends, explored a bit, figured out new things, learned new words...
there is just so much i can't write about it all.
but i will finish with one last thing: my mother said that i am talking so much more and have improved my spanish since last thursday. so, there is hope for me after all!!!!
anyway, if you want to know more, which you probably don't because i truly have written an excessive amount, then you can email me. i do have an embarresing story about, uhhh, it is a "going to the bathroom" story. so, if curious, let me know and i will tell. only by email though.
i hope all are doing well whereever you may be. and next time i will try to update sooner so i don't have such a sporatic blog entry for you.
much love.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
an abercrombie in peru?... lame.
today, i went to the mall. it was exactly like the united states. in fact, the majority of the stores were even north american stores (abercrombie and fitch but called something extremely stupid like "all the places in the world", roxy, calvin klien, nautica, etc.). the music they played was north american (i heard coldplay and dido), and i even ran into one of my fellow sst mates, melissa, who of course is north american. the only thing different were a bunch of (well off)peruvians walking around, speaking spanish at too rapid of a pace for me to even attempt to keep up.
but now i must start with the beginning of the day...
first, i live with a pastor and his wife, and basically their granddaughter who is three. they have a daughter or son (i still cant quite figure this one out) studying in san antonia, texas at a seminary. they also have another daughter, who i mentioned, who is 25, works at a botox office, has fake boobs and nose job, and as the parents explained to me (or at least what i think they were saying to me) was something of, "our child in texas is good. our child here is out of control. daniela is her baby. and there is no father." then they shook their heads and went on eating. i just said, "oh." and this daughter works a lot. and i think i live in her room, which i feel a bit bad for, but in peru it is customary for them to kick children out of their own rooms for guests, so there is nothing you can do about it. the child, daniela, who is three, loves me and calls me "mia" which i believe is a combination of "mi" and "tia" which here would mean my aunt. but she just smooshes it together and calls me "mia." she is spoiled to death and gets her way about everything. her grandparents love her so much, and since she isnt their actual child i think they treat her differently then they would their own, and since the girls mother is never around and she has no father, she basically is just extremely babied and can do whatever she wants. for instance, she loves to burst into my room at unexpected times and steal things such as my clock, flashlight, photos, medicine... basically anything. in fact, my flashlight is already broken because she dropped it and ill have to go buy a new one.
but anyway, i am getting really far off track. what i meant to begin with was, my father here is a pastor and therefore we went to church today. its quite interesting because i believe my family is well off. they have a very spacious apartment and live in a very nice neighborhood. they go out to eat a lot and have a tv, internet, hot water in the shower (sometimes), and even a washing machiene... although i have seen the daughter wash by hand so i dont know if the washing machiene is used or not. but anyway, my father is a pastor of an evangelical church in one of the lima shanty towns, which is actually pretty cool because i dont think i would be able to see much of the shanty towns if this werent the case. it takes about 45 min to an hour to get to the church. and then you must walk up a mountain a bit. apparently he started the church 3 years ago and it´s absolutely full of young people, which is awesome for me.
so anyway, im in this crazy evangelical church where they sing north american praise songs in spanish, and its in a shanty town, and this woman comes up to me and starts speaking to me in english! i almost peed my pants i was so excited. her name is gisela and she is a 2nd grade school teacher, therefore she is off from school for the summer. she is 23 and studied english for 3 years at the university of lima. she isnt quite fluent but we definitely made due, especially with the spanish/english dictionary at hand. anyway, after the long service, all the young people gathered around me and started firing questions. it was quite overwhelming, but she was able to translate a lot. and then of course all the young men came up to me and, as customary, kissed me on the cheek, and then as not customary, began to exclaim how "bonita" i am. (this is a side note, but if anyone needs a self-esteem booster, just come to peru. the men are actually very tame on the streets, in fact i dont hear much at all, as opposed to what i hear they are like in the domincan republic, but when you meet people they tell you how pretty you are about 40 times. and they actually refer to me as "the pretty gringa." and everyday i wake up and my family tells me that i am "muy guapa" and "muy bonita." it fact, today at breakfast my mother told me she had a gift for me, and brought out 2 necklaces and 2 braclets, and told me they matched my dress and i should pick my favorites and wear them. they look old, as if they were hers once, but i thought it wouldn't be appropriate for me to object. so i wore them!). but anyway, gisela asked me if i wanted to go to her friend carol's house for lunch (carol was there at church, too) and so i agreed because i would never pass up an opportunity to hang out in the shanty towns a bit longer. so anyway, we go to her house for lunch! and it was very fun. except there was a boy, i completely forget his name, but he sat outside at the window the entire time we were eating inside, and spoke to me in spanish and tried to get me to go on a walk with him. the girls i was with kept telling him to go away and that i didn't like him, etc. i thought it was all very funny. they said he was like that with all girls, peruvian or not, and that i should just ignore him. which i attempted to do, but it was kind of hard, and he kept asking me if i liked all these american bands, so i wanted to respond since i actually understand what he was saying to me, even though it was in spanish. but anyway, these girls, gisela and carol (who is 20 and can't speak english, but loved to ask me english words), asked me if i wanted to go shopping, which i of course did not turn town. and it turns out we went to the mall i mentioned above, which was just an experience all in one. i bought a tweezers (pinzas) because i left mine at home, but that was it.
and then we came back home. and for the first time, i actually kind of understand the whole bus system and knew where my apartment was (which i will need to explain the transportation in a different entry for this one is getting cluttered with far too much information). we came back to the apartment, went and bought pepsi at a our store on our block (every block has a general store), and then we sat in the apartment and i showed them photos of my friends and family. they are very funny. and they were all "good girls" because they were sitting in the pastors house, which i thought was hilarious. like they whispered they liked beer to me and then told me not to say it outloud in spanish because the pastor would understand. and i said, in spanish, "you are crazy church girls" and they were like, "shhshhshh! dont say that in the pastors home!" quite humorous.
but anyway, yesterday. i woke up and they told me at breakfast that today was my day to study and tomorrow we would go out. then about a half hour later they told me we were going out at 12:30, so i was very confused. and basically all i knew was we were going to a party and it had something to do with church. it turned out we went to a shanty house up in the mountains of lima, and it was a birthday party for one of the women in the church, and they kept saying sisters and i couldn't figure out if they were real sisters with my mother, or church sisters. but whatever. i do know i had the best food i have eaten so far, which is quite amazing because peru has GREAT food, and quite a variety, too! i believe the food was civeche? but i forget, and i cant find my mom to ask right now. so maybe ill have to inform you that later...
the birthday party was pretty overwhelming. and too much spanish. but it was great seeing a shanty town house (little did i know i would see them every sunday), and i enjoyed it greatly. we came home then, and i did a bit of studying. then my mother, daniela (3 year old), and i watched beethoven! my mother thought it was hilarious, and would laugh and laugh, and then attempt to explain to me what was going on. i hadn't seen it since i was probably 7, so her explanations were actually helpful. and i kind of enjoyed watching an american movie in spanish. then my mother and i ate bread and drank coffee (which is the best coffee i have ever tasted in my life). i don't know if that's a usual thing to do at 9:30 pm or not, but we did it.
anyway, i told them i would eat in 30 min. and i feel like im taking over their internet, so i should stop writing. i don't know how much they pay for this, but i would feel bad if i was costing them a lot of money. on a side note though, i had a tour of lima on friday as well as my first beach visit. lima is huge, over 8 million people, and its extremely overwhelming. but ill get used to it. on another side note, the church girls told me they would hang out with me so that should be fun. and i told them to take me to the beach if they ever go. and they said on sunday we will go to the beach... but aparently in peru people tell you they'll do something and then they definitely won't do it. it's not because they're rude, it's just party of the culture. so i'm not going assume we will go to the beach, but if we don't go i will find some sst'ers who will want to go. it's only a 15 min. ride for me to get there! and tambo goshen (our home base where our leaders live) is only a walk away from the beach, so i will have plenty of opporutnities!
anyway, must go. until next time... ciao!!
ps. i cant spell check here. so im sorry for all the mistakes.
but now i must start with the beginning of the day...
first, i live with a pastor and his wife, and basically their granddaughter who is three. they have a daughter or son (i still cant quite figure this one out) studying in san antonia, texas at a seminary. they also have another daughter, who i mentioned, who is 25, works at a botox office, has fake boobs and nose job, and as the parents explained to me (or at least what i think they were saying to me) was something of, "our child in texas is good. our child here is out of control. daniela is her baby. and there is no father." then they shook their heads and went on eating. i just said, "oh." and this daughter works a lot. and i think i live in her room, which i feel a bit bad for, but in peru it is customary for them to kick children out of their own rooms for guests, so there is nothing you can do about it. the child, daniela, who is three, loves me and calls me "mia" which i believe is a combination of "mi" and "tia" which here would mean my aunt. but she just smooshes it together and calls me "mia." she is spoiled to death and gets her way about everything. her grandparents love her so much, and since she isnt their actual child i think they treat her differently then they would their own, and since the girls mother is never around and she has no father, she basically is just extremely babied and can do whatever she wants. for instance, she loves to burst into my room at unexpected times and steal things such as my clock, flashlight, photos, medicine... basically anything. in fact, my flashlight is already broken because she dropped it and ill have to go buy a new one.
but anyway, i am getting really far off track. what i meant to begin with was, my father here is a pastor and therefore we went to church today. its quite interesting because i believe my family is well off. they have a very spacious apartment and live in a very nice neighborhood. they go out to eat a lot and have a tv, internet, hot water in the shower (sometimes), and even a washing machiene... although i have seen the daughter wash by hand so i dont know if the washing machiene is used or not. but anyway, my father is a pastor of an evangelical church in one of the lima shanty towns, which is actually pretty cool because i dont think i would be able to see much of the shanty towns if this werent the case. it takes about 45 min to an hour to get to the church. and then you must walk up a mountain a bit. apparently he started the church 3 years ago and it´s absolutely full of young people, which is awesome for me.
so anyway, im in this crazy evangelical church where they sing north american praise songs in spanish, and its in a shanty town, and this woman comes up to me and starts speaking to me in english! i almost peed my pants i was so excited. her name is gisela and she is a 2nd grade school teacher, therefore she is off from school for the summer. she is 23 and studied english for 3 years at the university of lima. she isnt quite fluent but we definitely made due, especially with the spanish/english dictionary at hand. anyway, after the long service, all the young people gathered around me and started firing questions. it was quite overwhelming, but she was able to translate a lot. and then of course all the young men came up to me and, as customary, kissed me on the cheek, and then as not customary, began to exclaim how "bonita" i am. (this is a side note, but if anyone needs a self-esteem booster, just come to peru. the men are actually very tame on the streets, in fact i dont hear much at all, as opposed to what i hear they are like in the domincan republic, but when you meet people they tell you how pretty you are about 40 times. and they actually refer to me as "the pretty gringa." and everyday i wake up and my family tells me that i am "muy guapa" and "muy bonita." it fact, today at breakfast my mother told me she had a gift for me, and brought out 2 necklaces and 2 braclets, and told me they matched my dress and i should pick my favorites and wear them. they look old, as if they were hers once, but i thought it wouldn't be appropriate for me to object. so i wore them!). but anyway, gisela asked me if i wanted to go to her friend carol's house for lunch (carol was there at church, too) and so i agreed because i would never pass up an opportunity to hang out in the shanty towns a bit longer. so anyway, we go to her house for lunch! and it was very fun. except there was a boy, i completely forget his name, but he sat outside at the window the entire time we were eating inside, and spoke to me in spanish and tried to get me to go on a walk with him. the girls i was with kept telling him to go away and that i didn't like him, etc. i thought it was all very funny. they said he was like that with all girls, peruvian or not, and that i should just ignore him. which i attempted to do, but it was kind of hard, and he kept asking me if i liked all these american bands, so i wanted to respond since i actually understand what he was saying to me, even though it was in spanish. but anyway, these girls, gisela and carol (who is 20 and can't speak english, but loved to ask me english words), asked me if i wanted to go shopping, which i of course did not turn town. and it turns out we went to the mall i mentioned above, which was just an experience all in one. i bought a tweezers (pinzas) because i left mine at home, but that was it.
and then we came back home. and for the first time, i actually kind of understand the whole bus system and knew where my apartment was (which i will need to explain the transportation in a different entry for this one is getting cluttered with far too much information). we came back to the apartment, went and bought pepsi at a our store on our block (every block has a general store), and then we sat in the apartment and i showed them photos of my friends and family. they are very funny. and they were all "good girls" because they were sitting in the pastors house, which i thought was hilarious. like they whispered they liked beer to me and then told me not to say it outloud in spanish because the pastor would understand. and i said, in spanish, "you are crazy church girls" and they were like, "shhshhshh! dont say that in the pastors home!" quite humorous.
but anyway, yesterday. i woke up and they told me at breakfast that today was my day to study and tomorrow we would go out. then about a half hour later they told me we were going out at 12:30, so i was very confused. and basically all i knew was we were going to a party and it had something to do with church. it turned out we went to a shanty house up in the mountains of lima, and it was a birthday party for one of the women in the church, and they kept saying sisters and i couldn't figure out if they were real sisters with my mother, or church sisters. but whatever. i do know i had the best food i have eaten so far, which is quite amazing because peru has GREAT food, and quite a variety, too! i believe the food was civeche? but i forget, and i cant find my mom to ask right now. so maybe ill have to inform you that later...
the birthday party was pretty overwhelming. and too much spanish. but it was great seeing a shanty town house (little did i know i would see them every sunday), and i enjoyed it greatly. we came home then, and i did a bit of studying. then my mother, daniela (3 year old), and i watched beethoven! my mother thought it was hilarious, and would laugh and laugh, and then attempt to explain to me what was going on. i hadn't seen it since i was probably 7, so her explanations were actually helpful. and i kind of enjoyed watching an american movie in spanish. then my mother and i ate bread and drank coffee (which is the best coffee i have ever tasted in my life). i don't know if that's a usual thing to do at 9:30 pm or not, but we did it.
anyway, i told them i would eat in 30 min. and i feel like im taking over their internet, so i should stop writing. i don't know how much they pay for this, but i would feel bad if i was costing them a lot of money. on a side note though, i had a tour of lima on friday as well as my first beach visit. lima is huge, over 8 million people, and its extremely overwhelming. but ill get used to it. on another side note, the church girls told me they would hang out with me so that should be fun. and i told them to take me to the beach if they ever go. and they said on sunday we will go to the beach... but aparently in peru people tell you they'll do something and then they definitely won't do it. it's not because they're rude, it's just party of the culture. so i'm not going assume we will go to the beach, but if we don't go i will find some sst'ers who will want to go. it's only a 15 min. ride for me to get there! and tambo goshen (our home base where our leaders live) is only a walk away from the beach, so i will have plenty of opporutnities!
anyway, must go. until next time... ciao!!
ps. i cant spell check here. so im sorry for all the mistakes.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
do not worry... i am alive.
so this keyboard is a bit strange. therefore, i may make plenty of mistakes. but i just wanted to let everyone know that i am alive. i have so much to write about, but i was told by my family that we are going out at 12:30, therefore i will need to head out soon. although here, when they say 12:30, they may actually mean 1:00 or so... but you just never know, so i try to be a bit ready at the time given to me. i have no idea where we are going, and i don´t even think they attempted to explain it to me beacuse they knew i would have no idea what they were saying. that is a common theme around here... me having absolutely no idea what is going on. i hope to get better. at dinner last night i said in my really horrible spanish, "i speak really bad spanish, but i want you to help me learn." so then they went around at the room, pointing at objects, letting me know the spanish word for them. the issue though is that i basically knew all those words. i know vocabulary. i just can´t put sentences together worth a darn. oh well, i´m told one gets over this phase quite soon.
anyway, i best be heading out soon so i am not late. but i wanted you to all know that i am doing fine, and i will in fact update you on my actual life quite soon. the problem was that i didn´t have a computer. and i was told i couldn´t go out on my own because i don´t know our area yet. my padre said, "uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco days... sales." which basically means in 5 days, i can go out. apparently until then i have to stay in. which i don´t know how staying is teaching me anything about the area i live in, but i suppose they have their reasoning. and we are going out today, so perhaps this will be my lesson in going out? anyway, i have a computer in my room, and i asked if it had internet and they told me it was broken. then today their 25 year old daugher came home (who honestly looks... and acts... like an 18 year old), freaked out because her parents hadn´t gotten me on the internet. and they said it was broken. and she exclaimed it wasn´t and then proceeded to show me how to get online. so fancy that - here i am in my room, writing online. but just because i have internet access in my room does not mean i´m going to use it all the time. i want to experience life here, and not be immersed in life at home.
but do expect an update from me QUITE soon (perhaps even later today) because i know this is not adequate at all.
...until then.
anyway, i best be heading out soon so i am not late. but i wanted you to all know that i am doing fine, and i will in fact update you on my actual life quite soon. the problem was that i didn´t have a computer. and i was told i couldn´t go out on my own because i don´t know our area yet. my padre said, "uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco days... sales." which basically means in 5 days, i can go out. apparently until then i have to stay in. which i don´t know how staying is teaching me anything about the area i live in, but i suppose they have their reasoning. and we are going out today, so perhaps this will be my lesson in going out? anyway, i have a computer in my room, and i asked if it had internet and they told me it was broken. then today their 25 year old daugher came home (who honestly looks... and acts... like an 18 year old), freaked out because her parents hadn´t gotten me on the internet. and they said it was broken. and she exclaimed it wasn´t and then proceeded to show me how to get online. so fancy that - here i am in my room, writing online. but just because i have internet access in my room does not mean i´m going to use it all the time. i want to experience life here, and not be immersed in life at home.
but do expect an update from me QUITE soon (perhaps even later today) because i know this is not adequate at all.
...until then.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
preparations
"To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change." Charles Horton Cooley
i'm busy attempting to pack light, while trying to not leave anything too important out. it's a pain. on top of that... i'm a distracted person. therefore, i have begun this blog for all to use at their pleasure.
wednesday morning at 7:30 am our Peru group will be leaving at the union building on campus. all should come and see us off.
and then, in the following days, you should check back here to see how my life is evolving.
...until then.
i'm busy attempting to pack light, while trying to not leave anything too important out. it's a pain. on top of that... i'm a distracted person. therefore, i have begun this blog for all to use at their pleasure.
wednesday morning at 7:30 am our Peru group will be leaving at the union building on campus. all should come and see us off.
and then, in the following days, you should check back here to see how my life is evolving.
...until then.
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