It is crazy how much time has gone by here! I have now completed my first three weeks of my life in Lima and it has been pretty amazing! Not that there haven't been moments of frustration or low spirits, but for the most part I have thoroughly been enjoying my time here. This week was my first week of actual semester classes at la Católica with other Peruvian students. I am taking 5 classes, two of which are required by my program and three of which I chose according to the credits that I need. This is what I am taking: Peruvian Social Reality, Advanced Spanish Grammar and Syntax (these two are with other students from my program only), Geography, Music Appreciation, and History of the Ancient and Medieval World (these three are part of the general education faculty of the university, which means that most of the students are younger than me, 17-19). I am still not sure about my geography and history classes . . . I think they will be okay but they seem a bit challenging due to the language barrier. I love my music appreciation class. On Wednesday we listened to a work by Henry Purcell and variations on his work by Benjamin Britten. The prof is great and I love music, so I think I am really going to enjoy the class. Plus I already made a friend in the class and he invited me to have tea after class, which was fun! My teacher in Peruvian Social Reality is super energetic, which makes for an interesting class.
Since I do not have classes on Fridays, my weekend began yesterday evening but I didn't really have anything to do because most of my friends left on a trip to Huaraz for some hiking. I would have gone with them except that I was originally supposed to go to Huancayo with my family this weekend which is not happening anymore due to Abraham's surgery. My host sister, Blanca invited me to go to the store with her and Mari (the 27-year-old who lives in the house whose name I did not know until yesterday). I gladly agreed to go with them, since I did not want to just sit in the house with nothing to do. We went to the Metro, which is one of the supermarket chains in Lima and then we walked around in Jesús Maria which is the neighboring district (I live on the very edge of Pueblo Libre). While we were out, I got really hungry because all I'd had for dinner was cereal which usually is fine, but not last night. The three of us went to a restaurant called Roky's, which specializes in "pollo a la brasa," a typical Peruvian dish that is basically rotisserie chicken (roasted on a spit). It was sooooo good; very tender and juicy. I enjoyed spending time with Blanca and Mari, even though I had difficulty understanding their conversation while we were eating. Today I met up with my friend Lauren and Kevin at the university (Kevin actually has class Friday mornings, sadly) and from there we walked to Plaza San Miguel to catch a micro to Miraflores. It was my first time taking a combi, which is a type of micro that is really just a 15-passenger van instead of a bus. . . it was quite squished. I think I prefer the larger micros, although the combis get places faster. Anyhow, we walked around for a bit in Miraflores looking for a restaurant to eat at and eventually ended up a one called El Tigre in Parque Kennedy. Restaurants in Peru have a daily special that is called the menú and it is the best thing to order because you get a lot of food at a much lower price. The menú at the Tigre today was some sort of breaded beef with french fries and rice. It also included an "appetizer," which was some sort of soup, a drink, and a dessert, all for 16 soles (about$5). At a less fancy restaurant, the menú generally only costs 6 soles, which is amazing. The rest of the day I just hung out with my host family. I can't think of any other exciting stories to tell. Hopefully I will have more fun stories to share at the end of the weekend!
My buddy Diego!
He is so incredibly cute when he laughs! I think I may have to steal him and bring him back to the states with me!
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