an assignment from class.

So today in class we got an assignment and I wanted to share it with everyone because I think it will be helpful for you to know.

1. I know I have changed since my arrival here because.....
.....now I feel like I am able to make decisions more efficiently and instead of judging someone or something I step back and think about the situation before jumping to conclusions. ->which I know I definitely haven't done before. I usually just make judgment or stereotype right away without really thinking about it.

2. My friends at home understand ________, but they don't really know.....
.....how an experience like this could change me but I feel they don't really know how different I really am now. I am not saying all my friends fail at understanding me, I am just worried that it will be difficult for me to portray in words how this experience has affected me.

3. I would feel better about going home if I knew.....
.....I could continue to use, learn and hear Spanish every day. I know I will still have my Spanish classes next semester but I am going to miss being completely surrounded in the language and having to use it in everyday situations.

4. I wish I could bring these things home with me....
.....chifles, jugo de maracuya, the ocean, the flowers, ají, my friends (Peruvian and American), the bread from Vivanda and the kids I volunteer with (yep ALL of them) because I am going to miss them VERY much. Of course there is a long list of things I miss from home but these are the things I really don’t want to leave in Peru.

5. Since coming here I have learned....
.....that if I am able to support myself while being in a foreign country without my main comfort/support system I should be better at handling situations when I get home. Especially because this experience has been an emotional rollercoaster, an experience I am very thankful for but one that on some days was quite difficult.

Hope this helps to understand me a bit. More to come on what I have been up to soon. Maybe after finals at the end of next week. <3 aj

Center of Lima and Sea Lions.

Thursday night was Jordy’s Santo and her host family threw her quite the bash. We ate soo much food and drank and danced, it was definitely a Peruvian style birthday party. Also, Jordan’s mom was in Lima so we got to see her (and she brought homemade sugar cookies! =]) and it was fun to see how one of our parents actually thought of Peru and how we had been living for fourish months.

Friday I went to the Center of Lima to explore with Jonathan. It is always an adventure trying to find the right bus that will take you downtown but I'm a big fan of this experience. Jonathan pays more attention to the routes than I do so he got us there without any troubles (although getting home by myself is another story). Mostly we just walked around to see the area of the center, Plaza de Armas, Plaza San Martín and Jirón de la Unión. And of course, I bought some movies…too many probably but I just can’t help it. We did find the mighty Rímac River that Lima was founded around, although it doesn’t seem so mighty that day.

Then yesterday we went to swim with the sea lions. We rode a bus to the port in Callao to get on the boat for our ride out to the Islas Palomino. Along the way we were able to view some other islands and some of us even took a siesta (it was quite a long ride, a cold and windy one at that). Finally we reached los lobos marinos, and there were sooo many. It was ridiculous. And they smelled. Terribly. Seriously they were everywhere and I don’t even know how they function, or reproduce, or stand to be so close and/or laying on top of each other. It was quite a sight. So anyway after we got there I decided not to swim with them. It was just too smelly and cold for me. The students that got it (whom you can see in my foto) had a lot of fun, but in the end I was ok with not joining in.

Tonight a few of us girls went to see the Spanish version of RENT. It was amazing. I loved it. I’m really happy I went and I can’t stop smiling. I only know the songs in English so it was cool to experience how it was translated.

Alright well that’s all for tonight. Only 22 days left and a lot to do, so I’ll try to stay updated but y’all know how I am.

hasta pronto,
<3 aj

Taller de Cocina.

On Saturday we went to D'Gallia for a cooking workshop. It was really interesting and we learned how to cook quite a few Peruvian dishes. We broke up into groups of 4 and each took turns cooking. First we made one of my favorites, Ají de Gallina. It is chicken with garlic, onion, ají (a pepper that Peruvians use a lot), liquidized bread, and other minor ingredients. After that it was my turn and I made Lomo Saltado, another favorite. It was terrifying but it was fun. I didn’t write down how to make it since I was cooking but I know it is made of beef, slices of onion, tomato, and pepper, and then you cook it all up kind of like stir fry and at the end you had French fries…it’s super rico. Then we made the two main dishes of fish in Peru (:p) not going to lie I didn’t pay attention much but the presentation of them was very pretty. They all seemed kind of difficult to make so I don’t know if I’ll be cooking them when I get home but I hope I can experiment a little. After the cooking we took a tour of the building and the chef told us about the courses offered and about her life. It was really fun and I do honestly hope that I try the easier ones out.

Then Sunday was my host cousin’s 8th birthday. It was my first party I had gone to with my host family and it was an interesting experience meeting more of the family and trying to remember everyone's names and how they are all related. He had his birthday party at Kentucky (KFC in other words) and it was pretty much like every other child’s birthday party that I have been to. One of the other students in my program is living with my host mom’s brother so she was there too and that was helpful. I don’t think I would have liked to have been there without her there just because then I would have been the only American and I always feel awkward in those situations. Valentino, my sort of host brother, had fun and he was super cute all dressed up. His birthday is the 29th of this month and I am really excited to be here to celebrate his 3rd birthday.

Tonight I register for my last semester of undergrad. I can’t believe the time has finally come. I thought I might prolong it a little longer but I am kind of getting sick of school, well the work anyway. Hopefully I will get into all the classes I need and then be able to graduate in May. Weird. Alright well this next weekend our cultural event is swimming with sea lions so I’ll have more to share then.

hasta luego,
aj

We Run Lima 10k.

Not much happened this week besides doing homework, catching up with family and friends on skype and then getting ready for the run.

This was my first 10k run ever and it definitely won't be my last. It seriously was soooo much fun! Never thought I would say that about running but there you go. I ran with some of my closest friends Jordan, Claire and Bridget, the girls from left to right in the picture. There were more than 10,000 people who signed up and it was super crazy. Every 2-3k there was a band or music playing and that definitely kept us going. I ran the whole 10k with my friend Claire because we had trained together so it was just like we were running for fun. We thought we weren't going to be able to do it without walking but we did and were very proud of ourselves for it! At about 5k, our friend Jonathan was there to cheer us on, and we were very excited to see him. Afterwards we received free t-shirts, a medal and a gatorade for completing the race, it was pretty sweet.

Then we went to La Lucha for the best sandwiches in the world and then crashed. It was a great night :)

More to come later,
<3 aj

Arequipa and Colca Canyon.

This past weekend I went to Arequipa. It is the second largest city in Perú and is in the southern part of the country. I went with my friends Claire and Sam. We flew down after classes on Thursday and stayed until yesterday afternoon. Upon arrival we needed to find a tour group and a hostel. We ended up finding a hostel and then they found a tour group for us (win). The tour was for Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. After we were settled in we went to explore the city. We found a Mexican restaurant and also ended up running into a procession for Señor de los Milagros (for more information on this event click on this link -> http://www.livinginperu.com/blogs/features/181). It was a great experience to stumble upon it.

The tour agency picked us up at 3:30 am, yep 3:30 AM. The reason? Because it took 3 hours to drive to the canyon and then we stopped at some tourist places before we started our hike down the canyon. The picture is from the Cruz del condor in the Colca Valley. You may not be able to see it well but there is a condor flying, a little below center of the picture. Fun fact: the Andean condor has the largest wing span of any land bird. This time of year is supposed to be when they are a little sparse, because of breeding and what not, but we were able to see almost ten of them, and they were amazing!

After that stop, we headed to the top of the trail and waited for our guides, Sandro and Renzo, to show us the way. There were 12 of us in the trekking group: the 3 of us from the US, 1 girl from Argentina, 2 girls from Austria, 2 girls from Switzerland, 1 girl from England, and 1 guy and a couple from Germany. We were very lucky and had a really great group to spend 2 days trekking with. We spent 7 hours the first day trekking down the mountain to get to the Oasis where we spent the night. After 4 hours, we reached our stop for lunch and then rested a bit before heading out again. By the time we reached the Oasis my feet were covered in blisters and my body hated me, but there was a pool so we cleaned up and then rested until dinner. After dinner I slept because I was exhausted and we had to be up at 5 am to start the trek back up the canyon. Getting to the top was the best and we were able to meet up with 2 boys, Jonathan and Sean, from our program that were on a different tour. We ate breakfast and headed on our way back to Arequipa, with stops at some hot springs, a national park to see alpacas and vicuñas, and a lookout to see all the volcanoes in the area. It was quite an experience and an exhausting one at that. Oh and the food they served us during these 2 days is probably the best food I have ever had in my life, at least it felt that way at the time since we were so drained.

Once back at our hostel we showered and went out again for more Mexican food. Next day we lounged around chatting with other Americans we met and then flew back here to Lima. I wanted to walk around Arequipa and take pictures but that didn’t happen, good thing I’ll be stopping through there again at the end of the semester on my way to Puno and Lake Titicaca. Anyway that is all for now. Pretty busy week this week and then I have a 10k race on Saturday. I’ll let you know how it goes. <3 aj