una rápida update!

it has been awhile since i have updated you on the details of my life. honestly, i don't really know what has all happened since the last information i have relayed to you. but i'll attempt to do a quick sum-up right about... now.

so, to being with, yesterday was my birthday. and thank you all for the many birthday wishes, emails, cards, etc. i would love to reply back to all, but it's just impossible. but it still meant a lot and it made me think of you all fondly!

an incredble amount has happened, but i'm going to tell you about the biggest and most fantastic.

last saturday we all swam with sea lions!! if you check the goshen blog than you would have seen that there. we piled into a boat at calloa, which then took us to a yacht. we traveled out into the ocean, and in about an hour we arrived to an island COVERED in sea lions. we all just jumped right into the ocean and swam about with them! besides the fact that the water was so cold it took me 2 minutes to regulate my breathing, it was fantastic.

that night we all went to a discotecca, producto peruana, for matt's sister's birthday. now that was quite an experience. it only cost 25 soles to get in (about 8 dollars), and once in, all alcohol was free. loco? si. i'm not sure where else you could find such a thing, but here they've got it and it's quite the fun time. i would go more into this, but due to my lack of time and the want to update you on everything, i won't. i'll just say this - i think the men in our group experienced peruvian women quite pleasurably that evening.

i've mentioned my cousin carlos a few times. he moved to the united states when he was 12, not knowing any english. now he is 19, quite fluent in both english and spanish, and he, his mom, and another aunt all moved into our teeny little apartment here in lima! so these past 2 weeks have been very crowded, but tons of fun. them moving in has actually been a blessing. there are so many family members here, i'm never bored and always have someone to talk to, or someone to take me to some new place. it's been great - minus the fact that i feel like i have NO free time! but i wouldn't trade the love of my family for anything.

so anyway, carlos and i spend a lot of time together, mainly conversing in english, but occasionally spanish. it helps to have him take my friends and i places... and all my friends enjoy him a lot, so all works out well. his mother, batchi, is WONDERFUL. i absolutely adore her. she's always looking after me, making sure i'm safe and comfortable. it's cute - she's more worried about my safety than my own mother ever was! and she made my birthday quite special.

unfortunately, my mother's mother has gotten quite ill. therefore, around midnight of the 13th, or 14th, whichever way you want to look at it, my mother got up and left and won't be back for quite sometime, apparently. therefore, batchi took over the whole mothering routine, more so than she was. we had tons of family over because an aunt who was visitng here, but who lives in germany, was going back on the 14th, so they were all having a farewell get together. anyway, my family made me stay up until midnight so they could all toast to my birthday and sing. so i stayed up.. and then we ended up having a two hour conversation, almost all in spanish! minus the fact that i stayed up until 2 am and i had my spanish final exam the next day, it was one of my favorite nights thus far. it was just so great to finally be able to communicate to my family members in spanish, and to understand what they were saying to me. and just to feel their love for me, and how much they wanted to make my birthday special.

on to more birthday celebrations. the 13th all the students celebrated my bithday because we have goshen tambo on wednesdays. we ended up all going to my favorite ice cream shop in miraflores. the ice cream there is delicious - almost like gellato, but honestly, BETTER. they have a mango flavor that is identical to mangos. no lie... it is identical. they also have a pisco sour flavor that is actually made with pisco sour. alcoholic ice cream? who would have ever known?

after the ice cream party, small cake, and "happy birthday" singing, a group of us went to centro de lima to go to some markets and buy a few things. then we headed off to the circuito magico del agua, which i have talked about before. it's basically these massive fountains that have lights and are incredible. someday you will see photos, and you will finally understand the enchantment of these things. i actually got in this time, and got a little wet (i have a photo here of me wet!), but it was great fun. in fact, we ended up staying there for 2 hours!

then yesterday, thursday, the day of my actual birthday, i had a final spanish exam in the morning. then we all went to the playa (beach) for the afternoon. i relished at the fact that i have never once been able to spend my birthday in hot weather, let alone on the beach. it was magnificent though, and it gave me all the more incentive to live somewhere hot when i can move on and have my own life! a birthday on a beach is the best way one can have it, i do believe.

then last night a group of about 16 of us dressed up in some formal wear and went to an EXTREMELY fancy restaurant in miraflores. it was about 40 soles per person, the equivalent of 13ish dollars, but if this restaurant was the in states it would have cost about 40 dollars per person! they had all sorts of courses. first, it was some sort of shrimp, with a kind of bread or pastry, and a delicious sauce. then we were of course given delicious, pricy wine. the main course consisted of steak, peruvian style of course, vegetables, rice (or course), with a delicious sauce. and the desert, oh the desert! it was a delicious chocolate cake with mangos and strawberries and pinapple inbetween the layers, along with a kind of whipped icing. delicious. (on a side note: peru has incredible deserts and pastries and cakes. just delicious and amazing... and cheap!).

so yes, that about sums up my birthday. this evening we are having a despidida (farewell party) for our parents. unfortunately, my mom will miss it, but i believe my dad and daniela will be attending. then after that, i'm planning on going out to a discotecca for mark's and my birthday (mark is having his birthday on monday). so yes, i'm pretty excited for my third discotecca experience! they always seem to be interesting.

i should go and attempt to take a nap. or at least a shower - it is so hot here in february! i hope this gave a better assessment of what has been happening and i really am sorry for not updating sooner. and also for this being such a rapid update because it isn't one of my best.

i love you and continue to miss you all.