La paz este contigo

I got to meet my host family (mom) today!  Que divertido!  It was so funny meeting our host families, it was straight out of a reality tv/game show.  We (the other students and I) piled out of an elevator on the 11th floor of the Maria Angola hotel to find a room full of families eager to meet their new students.  We lined up at the front of the room and our Resident Director went one by one introducing the families before announcing who their student would be.  It was similar to the announcer on 'Price is Right' when he says "Come on Down!!"  When I was announced as the next contestant, I met my host mom, Kitty, which is short for Katrina.  She has three children; however, all three of them are older and don't live at home so it is just me and her in our apartment.  Her two sons live in Europe (one in France, the other in Germany), but her daughter lives here in Miraflores, Lima.  Her daughter also happens to be the CIEE Resident Director's wife.  She has two grandchild, so I can't wait to meet them!!  Our apartment is pretty cool.  My room is spacious and I have a lofted bed, which seems cool, but I've already hit my head several times on both the loft and the ceiling!!  Although that's not a cultural thing, it's still something I am going to have to get used to (remembering not to sit up in bed in the morning). :)  I also have my own bathroom, which is AMAZING!! I've never had my own bathroom so I'm pretty excited for that!  Also, my host mom paints as a hobby and she was an art major in school so there's a lot of artwork around the house (you'll see some pictures later).  Also, many Peruvians have empleadas (maids).  Although this may make the Peruvians sound rich, they aren't always.  Maids are pretty normal to have here, but some empleadas are not paid well depending on the family they serve.  Also, some empleadas live in the house and some live outside the house.  I have yet to meet our empleada, Lydia, but from what I understand she lives in the house during the week and has weekends off.  I can't think of too much more to say about my house so here are some pictures of my room!

These are the stairs leading to my room with paintings done by my host mom.

You can see the ocean vaguely through the buildings!

I was able to get all settled into my apartment and to end the evening I joined my host mom for misa (mass).  I've never been to a mass so to attend mass for the first time in Spanish was quite interesting.  I understood a lot of what was going on, but obviously I had no idea what all the little sayings and songs were.  However, I was able to shake peoples' hands and say La paz este contigo to them, which means "Peace be with you."  Also, the church was gorgeous!!  I hope at some point, when it's not in the middle of mass, I can take a picture of it!!  Also, the music was pretty!!  Rather than a piano or organ the music was played by a guitarist and joined by a choir!  It was interesting and I hope by the end of the semester I am able to understand more of the misa.

Hmm..what else can I tell you from today..

I tried lucuma yogurt tonight, which is a fruit native to Peru (it was good, tasted like regular yogurt to me :)  Also, I tried Peruvian style chicken and yellow potato fries (yellow potatoes are apparently native to Peru, also).  The only thing that makes the chicken Peruvian is that it is broiled rather than fried.  Lastly on the food list, I tried Chicha!!  Chicha is a purple beverage made with cinnamon, purple corn (yes, purple corn!), and some other fruits.  It's very sweet, so it's best when you dilute it with water!  Also, another thing about my host mom, she's allergic to shell fish.  This may not seem like a big deal to you, but guess what?!  It means no ceviche in mi casa! :)  One last thing about my apartment building, we have a portero (doorman).  His name is Jose and having a doorman makes me feel like a celebrity.

I start my Spanish intensive classes tomorrow and I am surprisingly excited for them and I am in definite need of them!  Although, by the end of the week I might hate Spanish, but it will be good for me!  Also, I get to take the micros again tomorrow and it should be about an hour ride (yay!...).  Definitely should be a good cultural experience!  I am sure once I conquer the micro system I am going to feel invincible!!

Also, please, remember, I, am, here, to, improve, on, Spanish, not, English, so, please, ignore, my, frequent, incorrect, uses, of, commas.  I, hope, that, my, errors, don't, keep, you, from, reading, my, blog. :)

Cargador

Today was filled with more orientation.  For those of you who are worried about my safety, don't worry I learned sooo much about safety and precautions.  Along with more types of food, transportation, and we learned more about living with a host family.  Between all the orientations we again went to a buffet styled restaurant for lunch called Jose Antonio.  I decided not to try the ceviche again today, however I did try many other Peruvian dishes and drinks including lomo saltado, algarrobina, Inca Kola, choritos a la chalaca, flan, and chirimoya.  Let's just say that I've been extremely experimental with my food, especially at the buffets, which also means that I will probably end up eating guinea pig here at some point (for those of you who don't know guinea pig or cuy is a delicacy in Peru).  For dinner tonight though I played it pretty safe with some pizza americano and frozen lemonade. :)  Also, I took my first trip to the store today, unfortunately it wasn't a usual grocery store or anything, but it was a computer store.  I learned a new word though, which is always exciting!!  The word is cargador..guess what it means?!  If you guessed charger, you are right!!  Now for a fun little story..

Once upon a time there was a girl who was trying to write a blog on her computer to tell the world about her fun new experiences.  With her outlet adapter and converter in hand, she plugged in her computer so that she could charge it.  Suddenly, she heard a weird buzzing noise and realized it was coming from her charger..she unplugged her computer and decided that she would write her blog and charge her computer at a later time.  Several hours later, after a meal, she decides to give it another shot.  She plugs in everything and the charger is still making the noise. :(  She unplugs and plugs it back in when unexpectedly the outlet sparks and glows and she rapidly unplugs it once more!  Now scared of being electrically shocked, the poor girl takes about 10 minutes to regain courage to try once more.  She very cautiously plugs everything in once more and thankfully nothing happens, but she realizes her charger is dead.

Now although this story is tragic (and by tragic I mean not tragic at all) there are actually a couple benefits that come from it!  1. I learned the word cargador 2. Another student and I got to get to know the streets a little more by walking to the computer store together 3. I now have a new cargador that does not need an adapter or converter!

Let's see what else can I tell you that I have recognized..Peru has a volleyball team and there was a pretty exciting girls game tonight between Peru and Belgium! Peru won!!  There are many stray cats and they congregate in parks and people feed them.  Guys seem very protective of their women while walking down the street.

Oh and finally the most exciting news!!  I get to meet and move in with my host family tomorrow so watch for a post so you can meet my host family too!!

Micros y ceviche

I started out my day at 9 a.m. with a short introduction of the program and introductions of the rest of the students in the program.  The 13 other students and I started our morning with a Spanish placement exam.  It's not exactly the thing you want to be doing the morning after a long day of traveling, but it had to be done.  We will be placed in different levels of Spanish and we will start our 2-week intensive language course on Monday!  We took our first micro (aka a microbus) ride, which is equivalent to a city bus but it is smaller and they have no specific route.  You pay as you get on and tell them where you're going, but they might not always remember so it's your job to say (and by say I mean yell) "Baja" and they will stop for you.  I'm definitely not ready to take those alone yet in fears that I will become lost and won't know when to yell.  The crazy micro took us to a restaurant for lunch.  We ate a buffet styled lunch so I was able to try some new things without commiting to only ordering one thing on a menu.  Of course I got to try ceviche which is one of Peru's main dishes here.  It's a mixture of seafoods with like a sort of marinade of lime and limon on top.  To be honest I didn't like it.  I'm not a big fan of seafood anyway, but surprisingly it wasn't the seafood that turned me off as much as the interesting flavor of the marinade.  But don't worry, I didn't starve.  I had the usually rice and potatoes and of course the desserts didn't steer me wrong!  We were also able to watch a dance performance in the middle of the restaurant performed by two men and women.  It was entertaining!  After lunch, we took a bus tour of different parts of Lima.  Lima has different districts and today we toured four southern districts.  Lima is right on a bay so the coast is in a horseshoe shape.  Also another interesting thing is that Lima actually sits on a cliff.  There's a lower road that travels along the beaches, but on the other side of the road there is literally a cliff!  See....

So that's pretty cool, right?  After the tour we had a bit more of orienting then we were let free.  One thing (out of many) that is different from the United States is that Peruvians eat later and longer!  We ate lunch at 2 p.m. and I didn't eat dinner until 9 p.m.  Also, at lunch we sat at the restaurant for almost 2 hours and at first I didn't know why, I just thought maybe we were waiting for our tour bus or something.  Well I was wrong.  Lo and behold at dinner we sat at the restaurant again for 2 hours.  It's weird coming from the states where at restaurants you usually have your bill before you get your food, where they turn the air conditioner on so you leave sooner, and where they practically kick you out to a place where you just sit there for so long after you're done eating.  That is definitely going to take some getting used to!!  It really shows how much more relaxed Peruvians are about time and how busy Americns really are.  It was so hard to just sit there for so long after eating because obviously that's not what I'm used to.  In the U.S., everyone is always on the go and people never stop.  So I guess what I challenge you guys to do is to just have a nice meal with your family and/or friends and relax.  I don't recommend doing it at a restaurant because it might irritate them, but still, take the time to stop moving once in awhile and don't miss out on the people right in front of you.

Hola Peru!!

So I'm pretty tired after today, but I feel like I owe you guys an entry so you know how my day was.  Well first and foremost I'll say that I am safe in Lima at the La Paz Apart Hotel.  It's actually pretty nice.  I can't wait to crash in bed.  I will have a roommate, but she has not arrived yet so I might not meet her until morning.  I will be at this hotel doing orientation-like things and then I move in with my host family on Sunday.

Okay so let's start from 6ish this morning...
I got on a plane flew to Fort Lauderdale then to Lima.  The End.

Just kidding I guess I'll write more than that.  My first flight to Fort Lauderdale was delayed by like an hour, but it was okay, it didn't affect my connecting flight at all.. which is good!  Flying to Florida I pretty much slept the entire way and then once I got there I realized that I was so excited for Lima that I didn't even realize that that was my first time ever in Florida!  Who cares though right? I was on my way to Peru! :)  My connecting flight was also delayed by an hour because a guy wasn't feeling well so he didn't get on the plane.  Therefore, for safety reasons and customer service they had to find his luggage under the plane.  Luckily for me, the guy was most likely supposed to sit right next to me because I ended up with an empty seat next to me on a nearly full plane.  It was pretty nice to have the extra space on a 5 hour flight.  Also, I want to give props to anybody that is in the air traffic control business.  That has got to be stressful!!!  As I sat on the plane, we were waiting in line to take off.  I saw two planes take off and one plane land in the matter of what felt like 2 minutes and then we took off on that exact same runway.  It was crazy.

As we started our descent into Lima, I got kind of anxious.  I am not a big fan of landing in the first place and then add the night time...let's just say I was a little nervous.  I couldn't tell if we were over land or ocean.  Turns out when we got past all the clouds we were over the Pacific Ocean and it actually turned out to be a pretty landing.  I could see many boats with their lights on on the ocean and the lights of Lima were awesome as well.  At the airport obviously I made it through immigration and customs all right or else I wouldn't be here typing this blog.

I met 3 other students from my same program at the airport and we got in a van (a mercedes van :)) to this hotel.  So what can I tell you about Lima so far...the weather is nice.  It's about 17 degrees (Celcius that is), which is about 63.  The drivers are crazy just like any other city.  There's a lot of speed bumps randomly in the road and when you're in the back of a van it's not the most fun.  There are many casinos here.  Ironically the first American song I heard here was "American Woman," followed by love songs like "You Can't Hurry Love" and you know the one from the movie "Ghost." :)  Peruvians have to boil their water before they drink it.

I think that's all I have for you as of now.  I'm really sorry if this is boring for you to read.  This blog might turn into more of a journal for myself rather than entertainment for you, but try to stick with me.  I'm sure it will get more exciting!  I mean it IS only my first night here!! Buenas noches!

Almost there!

So, today has been completely hectic (or at least it feels like it has been)...  Last minute packing was done, as well as, checking, double-checking, and then checking again to make sure I had all of the essentials for my upcoming trip.  I was then forced to say good-bye to my dad and boyfriend as my mom, sister, and I left for Chicago.  Obviously, like the good student I am, as we drove to Chicago, in between talking to my mom and sister, I went through my entire Spanish textbook brushing up on vocabulary and grammar.  Okay, maybe I didn't do this because I am a good student.  I think I did it for the simple fact that I am slightly nervous to be complete submerged in the Spanish language in less than 24 hours.  I've had 6 years of Spanish, but still it's not the same and I knew going back to the basics wouldn't do any harm.

When we arrived to Chicago, we ate at P.F. Chang's China Bistro!!  If you've never been there, it is delicious.  I'd say it was a good last dinner in the U.S. for awhile.  I mean of course it doesn't beat a home-cooked meal, but it'll do.  We then drove around looking for a hotel to stay at for the night and we landed at a Holiday Inn that is very close to O'Hare.  And luckily we got inside just in time for it to start pouring!  Now I am sitting here in disbelief that I will soon be in a foreign country.  The next time you hear from me I will be in Lima, Peru with 9 other American students.  I am excited, nervous, sad, and excited for tomorrow! :)  But right now I need to "Relax, it's Holiday Inn."

And the adventure begins...

Hello everyone!!

I'd like to thank you for being a part of this incredible adventure I am about to go on.  For those of you who don't know I am going to Peru for about 4 and a half months to study at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru (PUCP).  If you are interested in learning more information about my program here is the link:   http://www.ciee.org/study/programOverview.aspx?pID=1773#1rightForYou.

This is my first blog ever so we'll see where this takes me.  I don't know how often I will post but hopefully it is often so that I can keep you all updated on my new experiences and adventures.  I'd also like to take the time to explain the title of my blog.  I chose this title based on a quote I heard from a motivational speaker at the Illinois Leadership Seminar.  "Don't miss out on other people and do not let other people miss out on you" -Ryan 'Superman' Moran.  This quote stays with me on a daily basis and I hope it stays with me while I am in Peru.  I hope that I allow myself to open up to people and I hope that I take the time to get to know my host family, other university students, etc.  Not only is it important that I stay open to people, but I need to remember to stay open to new ideas, methods, experiences, etc.  Now I know all of you reading this may not be going on a crazy adventure like I am, but I hope that you begin to live by this quote as well.  You are all amazing people so get out there and show people who you are and let others show who they are to you too!

Now, back to my trip to Peru...I am slowly but surely packing.  If I do say so myself I am usually good at packing, but usually when a person packs, they pack for a couple of days, a week, or maybe a month..but I am packing for a WHOLE semester in one suitcase and I am finding it a little difficult.  It's hard to know what to leave behind and what to take with.  Plus you always have to keep in mind the room needed for souvenirs. :)  It is currently Monday night and I leave for Peru on Thursday morning.  Tonight I am going shopping for last minute items and I guess if I forget something I will buy it there, which is okay by me.  The next couple days should be interesting.  Saying goodbyes, finishing packing, and just lining up my ducks before I leave.  I am very anxious for the adventure that I am going on and I hope that you enjoy reading about it!  Goodbye for now.