Kindness can change the world

So this morning I took a little stroll before I got on the micro to head to school.  I went to the post office. :)  So some of you will be getting surprises soon.  I then went to the park because I wanted to take two more pictures for my Living and Learning assignment and then I walked to Suiza Lab.  Suiza Lab is a Swiss Lab and they have an International Vaccination clinic.  Before I came to Peru, I got all of the important vaccinations, but I didn't get the yellow fever one because I wasn't planning on going to the Amazon.  Well, now some of us want to go to the Amazon, therefore, I need the vaccination.  Actually, I'm kind of glad I waited because supposedly it's really cheap compared to the states.  I didn't end up getting the vaccination today because there were actually a lot of people there and I didn't know how long it would take, so I just left and jumped on a micro to PUCP.

I had ballet this morning and it was great of course.  Towards the end of class, we were working on turns and she actually included me in a group of people that she was saying good job to.  It felt great. :)  Compliments make me so cheerful and I'm sure they make all of you happy, too.  Make sure you give at least one person a compliment everyday!  After all, "Kindness can change the world."After ballet, I ate my delicious lunch (which of course I had for dinner last night, too).  It was actually my first time having it and it was like this pot roast/beef stew stuff.  It was really good!  I feel like I'm always talking about how good some of the food is here.  Well, you know me..I like to eat.  Plus, I am sure that Peruvians would be happy to know how much I talk about there food.  After devouring my lunch, in the sun might I add, I had to sit inside for a little bit and type a paper for my cine class. :(  With my motivation being the sun, I got it done fairly quickly and then I laid on a bench in the sun reading an article for a class.  It was beautiful.  I love that the sun comes out during the afternoons now.  It just puts a smile on my face everyday.

Then, in my cine class tonight we watched a English movie called Career Girls.  Funny story, so obviously it was in English, but I still ended up reading the Spanish subtitles because I couldn't understand the British accent or the lingo.  It was quite comical actually.  After the class was over, I found out that I wasn't the only one who had to read the subtitles.  We all wondered if we had watched the movie in the U.S. if we would have had to watch it with subtitles, too.  It was really that bad. :)  Anyway, the movie was about two women that met in college and they are reuniting after six years of not seeing each other.  During the visit, they come across other people from there past and there are many flashbacks that explain the people from their past.  Well, actually they are not "flashbacks," I learned that in class today.  They weren't "flashbacks" because it wasn't a "flash," it was more like an entire scene.  Anyway, the movie was good, but I think that about every movie.

Tonight, when I got home, my mom was in bed which was quite unusual.  Well, apparently she's not feeling well, I felt really bad for her.  She was talking about all the work she had to do. :( I told her to rest (like any mom would tell their child :)) and I told her that I hoped she would get better.  And she's wonderful, because despite not feeling well, she still helped me with my Living and Learning picture project and I'm glad she did because I learned some new things.  Like the people that scrub the sidewalks...  They do it because it doesn't rain here and, that's true, it really doesn't.  So yea, sidewalks are supposed to be dirty, they are dirty in the states, too, but it rains in the states.  Can you imagine all the crap (no pun intended) that would be on the sidewalks if it didn't rain in the U.S. or if people didn't wash the sidewalks here.  Interesting, huh?  That's just one of many things I learned tonight.  I'm sure I'll share more with you once we have our discussion in class tomorrow.  Also, my "cultural partner," Ccantu, was able to help answer my questions about the curious pictures as well.  I'm actually happy that I have those questions answered now.  I could have just let them be and never asked them, but now that I was forced to ask them, I'm glad I did.

Also, tonight, I watched Glee.  Yep, I like Glee, too.  I don't think I would consider myself a "Gleek," but I do enjoy watching the show. :)  Next on my list to try and find is Criminal Minds. :)  I'm sure some of you are thinking, why don't you watch Peruvian television.  I do occasionally watch the news (I haven't in a long time) and I often put on the music videos channel to listen to that (I really like doing that), but the actual telenovelas (soap operas) here don't interest me.  I don't even like soap operas in the states so I'm not going to like them here.  They are so cheesy.  Awhile ago, Tonisha and I turned on a soap opera and watched about ten minutes of it and then turned it off.  They are just so far-fetched.  Well, I guess so is every other TV show out there like Glee, Grey's, and Criminal Minds, but still, I just can't do it.

After watching Glee (yes, after) I read the rest of an article on stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination for Living and Learning.  You can see where my priorities lie:  Glee first, homework later. :)  Anyway, besides the fact that the article was kind of lengthy it was actually very interesting.  It discussed a ton of studies that have been done on a variety of different people concerning stereotypes and such.  And it addressed a variety of different types of stereotypes.  For example, one study dealt with a thing called "stereotype threats" among children and this is what it found:  "When Asian girls were made aware of their ethnicity (by coloring a picture of Asian children eating with chopsticks),
their math performance improved, but when they were made aware of their gender (by
coloring a picture of a girl with a doll), their math performance declined" (Ambady, Shih,
Kim, & Pittinsky, 2001).  This was because they were linked with the stereotypes that they have grown up knowing, like "Asians are good at math."  Again, interesting, right?

Anyway, now I am going to climb into my warm bed (yes, it's finally warming up here.woo!) and go to sleep.  I hope you all are having dulces sueños and I will talk to you tomorrow. :)  Buenas noches!

Okay, so I was going to go to bed, but I just checked my Stats and I HAD to edit this post to tell you all that I got a hit from India!  Haha, now I'm up to 9 from Russia, 4 from Germany, 1 from Brazil, 1 from Spain, and 1 from India! :)  Thank you all for sticking with my blog and thank you to those who are joining!  Don't forget to keep passing it on to your friends!