I love crepes!

Now that I wrote about Machu Picchu, it is time for an update of my week.  I don't think it was really that exciting actually due to midterms - I basically spent the majority of the time studying or avoiding studying.  Thursday I was soooo excited when I got done with my history exam!  It felt so good to be done and I was able to enjoy the sunny, warm afternoon.  I went to the campus "youth group" and two of my friends from my history class actually decided to come with which was pretty exciting.  Afterward I ate lunch and sat in the grass enjoying the sun!  I love the sun!  Spring is definitely on the way in because it has been sunny much more often as of late.  And when it is sunny it gets hot!  This is when I start to feel better about having left in July and missed part of summer because I'm missing the cold weather now and getting springtime instead!  Thursday evening four of my friend, Lauren, Sarah, Laura, and Megan, came over to my house and we made crepes together, which was spectacular!  I love crepes, especially ones involving nutella, ice cream, and fruit!  The first ones that I made were a little misshapen but I eventually got the hang of it and they started looking pretty good.  Fun times!  Also, I washed dishes for the first time since I have been here.  The empleada's (maid) job is to wash the dishes so I am always told to just leave my dishes in the sink but I figured it isn't really her job to clean up after my friends and I so I washed dishes and I actually was kinda excited about it, just because I've felt so spoiled not washing anything for so long.  I'm still thankful that my dishes generally get washed for me though :-)   Friday I had nothing to do so I decided to do absolutely nothing.  Well, I did do laundry and go running but it was a relaxing day and much needed after the stress of midterms.  Plus, in the evening I went out to dinner with Sydney, Laura, Megan, Kevin, Jenna, Sarah, and Sydney's dad.  We went to a lovely Italian restaurant in San Isidro (one of the upscale districts) called Antica and had some delicious pizza.  Yesterday I had a peruvian dance workshop through my program so I learned some basic dance steps of afroperuano, salsa and cumbia.  That was a great workout and super fun!  I always love dancing, although my body doesn't like it so much seeing as I am sore in some very odd places today!  In the afternoon/evening, I hung out with my friend Julio and Jazmin from my history class and we got bubble tea.

Julio y yo (Jazmin refused to be in any pics)

Today I went to a restaurant in Cieneguilla with my host family.  It was east of Lima through the mountains.  The restaurant was called Mesa de Piedra and literally had table that were just big flat rocks (mesa=table piedra=rock).  The food was pretty tasty and the sun came out for a little bit.  I didn't bring my camera so I couldn't snap any pics :-(  Here are some other pics though:

Ok so you are probably wondering why I am posting this picture because it is not really all that pleasant and you probably don't want to see it but I am putting it here as a warning to anyone who goes to Machu Picchu that you should most definitely put on some good bug spray because there are bugs and they do bite and they make you itch like crazy!!!!!  They are different than normal mosquitos and they are awful!

This is from the party that my family was having when I got home from Cusco.  I am not sure of the names of the two on the left, but the one in the pink shirt is my aunt Jesús, then Evelyn, Mayra (my host cousin's girlfriend), then Blanca

That's all for now!  I have been here for 11 weeks and three days and I can hardly believe it!!!  I am trying to decide what to do next semester, go to Jordan or spend another semester in Peru.  Going to Jordan would be amazing because it would be another new experience and a totally different culture.  On the other hand, I am feeling like one semester is not going to improve my spanish to the level that I want and I like the idea of continuing to build relationships with the Peruvians I have met here rather than just jumping into a whole new country.  Prayers for this decision would be greatly appreciated!  :-)  I miss everyone back in the states!  Let me know if I can be praying for you about anything!