The little things can bring smiles, too!

So up until about 8 p.m. tonight, I was worried about what I would include on my blog.  Usually, certain exciting things happen during the day and I write them down so that I remember to include them on my blog, but tonight I while I was sitting in my Ethnography class, I was trying to think of things that had happened and I couldn't think of anything!!

The only thing that was semi-exciting about today was the fact that Lima traffic is crazy and people turn right from the left lanes.  This morning this occurred and my micro slammed on it's breaks and I was greeted by a young woman who feel into my lap.  After this, during the day nothing happened until this evening, but we'll get to that later.  Right now, I am going to talk about my not-so-exciting day...

I had Peruvian Social Reality, where we discussed the different views that people have concerning the indigenous (I had to look up how to spell this word because I'm used to indígenas :)) people.  We then briefly started a lecture on the immigration from China, but, by that time, class was over so I am sure we'll continue talking about that on Wednesday.  I then had lunch which consisted of a papa rellena and rice.  The only reason that I am telling you this is because I don't think that I have talked about papa rellena yet and I feel like you should know what it is.  It is essentially mashed potatoes stuffed with meat and a few other things, then it is shaped back into the form of a potato and fried.  Sorry, no picture!  Maybe next time!  But, they are pretty good, and I bet they are fun to make because you pretty much get to play with your food.  After lunch, I had to go return some books because the library system here is odd, but that's a different story.  Luckily, I still have a month to read those books, so no worries.  Then, I had my Spanish writing class, which consisted of learning a bunch of prepositions, which we have been doing every Monday since it started.  There are soo many prepositions and so many different ways to say the same thing.  I feel like I will never have them all down!  And then for Ethnography, we had our class for three hours today, rather than two because were in the process of making up for the days he was sick.  So for the next couple Mondays class will be for three hours!  It actually wasn't so bad today, we continued learning about rubber production.  We got to watch a short video in class, too, rather than just looking at pictures so that helped us understand the process better.  I know it doesn't sound too exciting, but it's not so bad.

Anyway, now for the exciting part of the night!  When I got home, another letter was awaiting my arrival equipped with cute drawings of a cuy and a llama. :)  It was sooo cute and I loved it!!  Thank you to the best roommate ever for sending it!!  Also, since I was pretty late getting home, my dinner was heated up for me as soon as I walked into the door.  When I walked to the kitchen table, much to my surprise, it was lomo saltado!!!  And this delicious asparagus soup that I had never had before tonight!!  It's funny, I was just telling people earlier today that I hadn't had a really good soup since I've been here.  Well, apparently the universe heard and was like "Your wish is our command."  It was soo good and, of course, lomo saltado is just always delicious!!

Okay, what I'm getting at with this story from today is that even the smallest things can bring excitement or happiness to your life.  I'm sure many of you have had bad uneventful days before, but really..exactly how bad can one day be?  I bet during every "bad" day you've had at least one exciting or happy thing has happened.  For me, I really believe it's impossible to go a day without smiling.  Even a boring uneventful day, like today, can contain many smiles.  Smiles that come from friends/family, that come from seeing a drawing of a cuy in a letter, or from seeing your favorite meal sitting on the kitchen table!  I hope that all of your days contain smiles as well, whether the smiles are big or small, it doesn't matter.  Whenever you're having a bad day, I challenge you to find one thing that will make you smile.  I bet it will be easier than you think!

Lastly, I learned two new phrases thanks to my sister.  The phrases are "Sweet Dreams."  One is Que duermas bien (literally translated, I hope you sleep well) and the second is Que sueñes con los angelitos (literally translated, I hope you dream with the little angels).  ¡Entonces, que duermas bien!  ¡Buenas noches!