Classes and more

So I realize that it has been two weeks since I have updated my blog. I promise this is only a testament to me being a little busy. I started classes. The first week we got to go to bunch of classes and "shop." Meaning that I went to a lot of classes and only have to pick a couple. I ended up with The History of Motion Pictures I, which is all about silent films (lovin it), Economics, Spanish conversation and writing, and Peruvian Social Reality. My service portion of my study abroad is incorporated into my Peruvian Social Reality class. My service portion has changed a lot. I started with an orphanage, moved to a class, then families, then family's health, and now will be working with an organization called Ciudad Saludable (Healthy City). They work with the Department of Public Health and I will be working in public health for 6 hours a week until I leave.

Classes are a little bit different here in a way that is difficult for me. The students do not share the American self-centered education. It is a group effort to get through the class. They work in groups, study in groups, share notes, and see the class as a community. I am used to having my own notes, studying alone unless it calls for a friend to help, competing against my peers, almost never sharing notes except for close friends cause otherwise you are helping others not do their work. This is different, but not all that bad considering that once students graduate, the world works in groups and Peruvians are very prepared for this. I do not believe that College is more difficult here, but I know for a fact that they are much much more educated when entering college than our failed High School system sends us off to college. The only thing that I really do not like about classes is rather small. In the US, when the teacher has handouts for you. They either email it to everyone, it is availiable online, or they give everyone a copy. Here, they give one copy to one student and everyone else needs to find that student to go make copies for themself. This is difficult for exchange students to get copies...but I will get through it. haha

Some security snuff. I am watching a soccer game between Peru and Chile right now. Peru and Chile have fought wars in the past and pretty much hate each other. I cant leave my house cause the streets could erupt in mad violence. The other concern is that the terrorist group "The Shinning Light" is growing fast once again. They were strong in the 80s and early 90s and almost put the country in anarchy. They fought as nationalists with rich people's money. This time, they are funded by drug money, and have more potential. The good news is that I am not a target for them, grendos mean nothing to them. They are more concerned with the government of Peru and are fighting in the sierra. I am on the coast rather far away.

Consumerism is an idea that Peru seems to struggle with. They do not understand the concept of a tip. This is nice cause you do not tip when you go out to eat, or get a cab (although you negotiate the price), or anywhere else. However, its tips that create good service. When you are at a restraunt, ordering is kind of a formality. You are going to get whatever they decide you want. If you want ice, you will not get it. If you wanted Coke, your gonna get Sprite. If you order a hamburger, your getting a chicken sandwich. When you go to the store, you usually have to buy an item in one place and pick it up in another...if your lucky there is only one step to buying that item. I recently bought a plane ticket online. I had to "buy" it online. Go to the store and pay for it at one register, then go to another register to pick up my receipt, and then go back to the original register to get my debit card. Yep its frustrating to buy things here. The only thing that is efficient is the bus system. It is all private companies competing for your business yelling at you their destinations and times and prices to attract you into their bus. I put a video a couple blog posts down if you want to get a look.

I am loving that no one here has a concept of time. That hole "Miller family time" is standard here. One class ends at 10Am and the next starts at 10Am...but not really. One class can run long and no classes really start until 15mins after they are supposed to. This means I can be late for class and that is considered normal :) There are no clocks in any rooms here. The only clocks are on cell phones, and I have found that asking people for the time is a converstion starter for older people. Cause they usually have no clue what time it is, and they see I am a grengo which sterotypically knows the time and they want to talk with me. This is fine cause it is good for my Spanish and in all honesty I usually know what time it is. Think about this...if anyone asks you the time in the US, can you usually be within 30min of being correct without acually looking at a clock...that means your a grengo haha.

I have learned that my salsa is never gonna be very good. I have accepted that, however, I like the club scene that blends salsa with a faster beat that is easier to dance to. I can do that :-) I am starting to plan my vacations more as well. In two weeks (the 9th-12th) I will be returning to Cusco where I left a piece of my heart back in December. The following weekend, I am going to Arequipa. It is in the south rather close to Chile. I plan on traveling more, but simply need to plan it.

I got sick. A great lesson to always watch not to drink the water, make sure my fruit is washed, not drink ice, not salads at restraunts, ect. It was terrible! I was vomitting for a day and my stomach did not take food for several more days. I have lost weight though. Nearly 5 pounds in one week which is scary cause I basically did not eat for a couple days. I have bounced back, I feel rather good right now. I have determined that I need to avoid hospitals after learning about a procedure where they inject a guinea pig with some of your blood, let it walk all over you, then they dissect it cause it is supposed to mimick your anatomy so they can see what is wrong with you...no hospitals for me.

This week is bound to be busy, so I will email when I update my blog again. Hasta luego todo.

After 3 weeks...

Hola!

So, I is Saturday night, and I am exhausted. I am done with all orientation and submersion classes. Thank god. I have figured out the bus system and life is going rather smothly. I begin real classes on Monday and look forward to seeing how that goes. Last weekend was very busy. The group went out to Barranco (different part of Lima) on Friday night and Saturday night my family took me to their beach house where I went to a soccer game. The soccer game proved to be quiet a cultural experience. This week, we watched two Peruvian movies, the first was rather good about the struggles of an Incan woman. It was called Madeinusa (Made in USA...get it?). The second was terrible and I will never speak of it again cause the premise of it was that a woman was growing a potato in her vagina. We have visited two ruins sites. One was Pre-Incan Limans and the other was Incan. I am enjoying going out to dicsotecas and have found social life here to be great :) Tonight, I am resting cause it was a long night/day/evening. So far I prefer many things here opposed to the States including the food. However, I miss customer service at restraunts, and I hate it that people are rather racist against my skin color here. However, it is a great life lesson for how many people are treated back home. I have many a couple Peruvian friends and hope to expand that so that I can blend better. Never in my life could I have dreamed that I would be able to speak Spanish as well as I do now and it is only going to get better with more time. Today, however, on the bus home, I had my first real scare for my life. Ahead of the bus was a fight between people with a Chilean flag and the policia. There was a bomb that went off and shaked the bus and a significant amount of gunfire, we all ducked on the bus, closed the windows, and the clouds cleared in seconds. Scary, but I am safe and overall that is not normal. Hope all is well in the States. I hope to update you all soon on my classes next week.

La Combi

So here is a video about a Lima bus stop. The "buses" are called combis and they dominate the culture of Lima with its hustle and bustle and constant hurry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcWasneziKM&feature=related

Peru thus far...

Hey everyone,

So the day after my last post, I sat at a café wondering what to do for the day (tough life I know). So I made up my mind to try the beach. I loved the beach enough to go back the next day. I have quite a tan (and somewhat of a burn from it all). The beaches here in Miraflores are rock beaches. By rock I mean that these are big smooth rocks that crash with the waves that easily get over 15 feet high. It is very much a surfer's place. Needless to say, I had fun. I spent most of Saturday taking it easy as if my life was so rough for the week and really late that night the other people from the US arrived. Today, we spent the morning in orientation where the Spanish was understandable but tiring. Then, with my head ready for a nap. I met my host family at a buffet lunch. Needless to say I love my host family so far. My Senora is so helpful, she does not forget even the smallest of detail in explaining everything and makes sure that I know exactly what is going on at all times. My hermano (brother) is 28 years old, and is a civil engineer. He has a college student personality that would easily fit into my group of friends back home. And my favorite, my new dog named Wayco (it's Incan, you have to say it with food in your mouth to get it right). He is a golden retriever and thinks that I am his best friend. Dont tell Hoover, he would be so jealous. Now, I have two weeks of submersion classes that come to 2 credits in two weeks. Needless to say, I will be speaking a lot of Spanish the next two weeks. However, I feel that I will be fine. Senora says I know more Spanish than anyone else she has hosted, I hope that works for me :)