Monday, August 1, 2011

Venados!!

I had my first night in my homestay last night!  I did not hit my head at all so that's great!!  However, it does get rather cold at night so I proudly bundled up in my Carthage sweatshirt to sleep.  I got up this morning and was happy to have my own bathroom.  I had a request for a bathroom picture..so here is the shower and sink area..
I got to take another micro today!  However, I still haven't taken one on my own yet, but I feel like I would be able to navigate to and from my university pretty well.  I have also decided that if I happen to get stranded in Peru my new career path is going to be a cobrador.  For those of you who don't remember, the cobrador is the person in the micros that yells where the bus goes and he/she also takes your money.  Sounds like a fun job to me (being loud and getting money :)).  I also saw a cobrador get into an argument with a traffic cop today!  Pretty funny if you ask me!!  Finally, here's a picture as well.  You can see the cobrador with a sign of where the bus is going.  Also, just so you know, the micros literally stop for less than 10 seconds so the cobrador jumps on and off the bus very quickly!!  Or sometimes they stick their hands or arms out the window.  I wonder if anyone has ever lost a limb from the fact that micros drive extremely close to each other.  Maybe this wouldn't be a good profession...
It's weird, everyone keeps saying that Lima is usually chaotic so I'm just waiting for that to come.  This past weekend was Las Fiestas Patrias, the equivalent of 4th of July, and they also just swore in a new president.  Therefore, everyone had off of school and work so not as many people were out and about!  If the traffic isn't chaotic yet, according to the Peruvians, than I'm sure I will be in shock when the city gets back to normal.

I got to see and become a part of la Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru (PUCP) today.  The campus is very pretty.  There are lots of trees and places to relax outside (however, the weather is kind of cold right now to stay outside all the time).  There is also an old pre-columbian road and temple on the campus of PUCP!  It's pretty cool, but it's mostly just for looks you can't climb on it or anything because it will deteriorate, but I wish we could get a closer look..
El camino

El templo

Here's a few more pictures of the campus..

This is a common place for many students to hang out.  Right now all the students are on winter break so the campus isn't really filled with people yet!

This is the sports complex and apparently behind this building is where dance classes are held so hopefully I become acquainted with that area.

One last really really exciting thing about the campus!!  There are venados everywhere!  What are venados you ask?  Well, see for yourself!!

Yep! You guessed it! Venados son deer!!!  We definitely looked like dumb Americans taking pictures of the deer because it is obviously a normal thing for all the students there, but we were all very excited by it!  Although they are not large deer, there are still deer living smack dab in the middle of Lima, Peru!!  Again, I wonder if a micro has ever hit a deer?  The reason there are deer on campus (for those of you who are interested) is because there used to be a park on the lot, but when they tore down the trees to build the university the deer just stayed.  Also, there are many ardillas (squirrels) on campus, but they are kind of scary looking and they, in fact, are not native to Peru!

Class went very well today!!  It was pretty basic for the first class, but it will obviously get harder as the week goes on.  My professor's name is Pierre and he is originally from France.  He is very funny and he teaches Communications, Visual Arts, and Spanish at PUCP.  I'm excited for the next couple of days and I will keep you posted! :)


4 comments:

  1. By the looks of that bathroom, I hope you come home! Geesh I wish I had that!! :) Ps. Thanks for the stories and the pics. Looking forward to your next "call". Love, your seeesssttteerrr

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  2. Just so everyone knows the picture of el camino inca is not very good on the blog. The road is not the literal road made of asphalt but it is behind the trees and it runs alongside what would be considered a road today. You can see it better in the picture of the temple on the right hand side. It is pretty much made of dirt. Kayla, don't worry, I will come home!

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  3. You WOULD be afraid of squirrels.

    I hope you find a good dance class for yourself :-)

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  4. thanks for the bathroom picture lol...it looks super nice!!! and campus doesn't look too bad either!

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