Exactly 2 weeks left...time to make every moment count!

In exactly 2 weeks from today I will be on a plane somewhere heading back home. I truly cannot believe my time here has dwindled so quickly! It feels like it was just yesterday I was getting ready and avoiding the topic of Peru because I was so scared to come! Every time someone would mention Peru or the fact I'd be gone for 4 months my stomach dropped! I cannot believe it! This experience has most definitely exceeded my expectations! I knew it would be fun but I didn't know something could be this awesome! I am going to miss so much about Peru when I come back home! Now that my time is limited I am just trying to live in the moment and enjoy every little thing once again. My first week here I remember looking out my bedroom window and I was like "What in the world am I doing here?!?!" Now everything just seems so normal! All the car alarms and honking are just background noise to my everyday life!

This week is the last week of our classes so a lot of people will be leaving by Friday which means last weekend was the final weekend for many of my classmates. We tried our darndest to make it the best for them. On Friday we made reservations at a nice restaurant in Barranco and took our professors out to eat. After the supper we had plans to go to a club in Larcomar to celebrate one of our Peruvian friends birthday. Emily, Mary, and I decided to get ready together at my house before hand and we figured since the timing of both events were so close there was no way anyone would return to Surco before the disco. We also heard that for this particular disco you needed to be dressed for the best. We decide to get to my house at 4:30 and we would be able to meet the group at UPC at 6. No such luck. Everyone arrived to my house at about 5 and stress mode was put into play. Mary hopped in the shower, and afterwards Fabricio and Nela transformed into hair dressers. They dried her hair and then they used my straightener and Nela's and were on each side of her goin at the hair. Emily had brought a dress over that I could borrow but Nela deemed it unacceptable for the club we were going to. She said it was more for a beach then a club so out comes dresses. Remember the style here is a bit..uhhh...well.....less conservative! Every dress she had me in was like she thought I was going out to work on the corners!! Ahhh! All the while Emily is also running around like a chicken with her head cut off and make up, jewelry, and clothes are just flying. (5:45 p.m.) We have to leave NOW in order to get to UPC on time but still I don't have a dress figured out, Em's makeup still isn't done and Mary is still has a head of half curly half straight hair. So we make the executive decision to get our own taxi and meet everyone at the restaurant. Finally, we left my house at about 6:30 and got to the restaurant just a tad late but we figured everyone would be dressed up already as well. We walked in and uhhh nope...we were the only ones! Owell!!! After supper, other people headed home to get ready and we met back up at the disco and a had a blasty-blast.

With my host family before leaving in a frenzy Friday

Jesus, Dr. Aviles, Christian, Roberto

My professors this semester have been soo awesome! Dr. Aviles is from Nebraska and without him here I am not sure everything would have gone so smoothly! He claims he didn't really feel like his role here was important but he was constantly going to the International office and getting things organized and figured out for us. My Literature teacher, Christian, is great. He knows almost no English so the "charades" we got to play every week in that class was awesome. When we didn't understand a part of the story he would either act it out or draw his little stick figures on the board. Also, he was just so excited about what he was teaching! He got so into it and while I thought it was rather dry at times, it was hilarious to look up there and see his expressions as he talked about the stories. My Conversation teacher, Jesus, was by far my favorite professor here. He was sooo chill and made us all feel really comfortable with our Spanish. He also has a knack for knowing what words would be hard so as he would talk he would just write some of the more difficult words he used on the board so we could write them down if we wanted. Also, we played some of the best games in that class. It was an awesome way to learn a new language. And Roberto, my grammar teacher is a good guy! He really got stuck with a tough subject to teach so I give him props.

The next night one of the students had put us all on a list to get into a disco for free. So we got dressed up again, met at my house, headed to Miraflores and danced the night away yet again. Sunday I stayed around the house with my family and we ate lunch at a little market near my house with the best Causa ever! It is soo delicious! Its like a potatoes, chicken, vegetable casserole. Probably my favorite dish here! Later that night, Fabricio and I ordered chicken in and had some supper "pollo a la brasa" (its just rotisserie chicken but they say it is a typical dish of Peru haha...but again...another one of my favorites!)

Las chicas on Saturday!

This week, I only have 2 classes because we finished up 2 last week. I have Peruvian Literature tomorrow where I need to go in and write an essay about a theme from some of the stories we read. On Thursday I have grammar and I have to take a huge-honkin test about Spanish grammar.

Next week I leave on Monday to go to Iquitos and explore the Amazon with some friends so that should be a schweet! I can't wait! Once I get back on Thursday I will just have a few days left here in Peru so I will try to make the best out of them!

Semana Santa in Peru

Easter here is celebrated just a tad differently than in the United States. Thursday and Friday are days off due to the holiday and people do nothing but party. Many stores and businesses shut down on Thursday and Friday and it’s weird because on Sunday everyone goes back to their normal life and everything is open. The beaches and clubs are def. poppin’ that’s for sure! How rare though, because in the U.S. Easter is a wholesome family holiday!

Nela has been in Trujillo for a little over a week now because she is staying with her family but Fabricio left on Thursday morning at 2 a.m. with some friends and partied hardy all weekend. So I had the apartment to myself from Thursday to Monday morning. PARTY!! Just kidding. On Thursday my friends Mary, Laura, and Emily came over in the morning and we swam and soaked up some rays in the pool on the roof of my apartment building. We reunited at about 4 that afternoon and went to Miraflores to the Indian market to continue with our souvenir shopping. That night we thought it would be a blasty-blast to make some French Toast. We all know if it’s French toast it won’t be a letdown! So while Mary and Laura went to mass, Emily and I went shopping for the ingredients and met back up at Derek’s house to do some cooking. We ate our feast, played some charades, and telephone in Spanish. Before I had left my apartment, the door man told me that there would be no electricity from 1 a.m. until 10 a.m. on Friday morning. While I was at Derek’s I looked down at my watch and it was a little after midnight!! So I raced home so that I could have some light to get ready for bed, securely lock the 9 locks (not an exaggeration) on my apartment door, and get to sleep. The lights went out at exactly 1:08 a.m. J I know this because I laid down in bed at 1:02 and I couldn’t help my curiosity. Every so often I would lean up and flick the switch and boop the light would turn on. But finally at 1:08 when I flicked the switch nothing happened.

On Friday I got up, made some eggs with cheese and Emily came over and we worked on our tans once again! For lunch we walked to this chicken place called Norky’s and it was quite delicious! We then dispersed and I spent my afternoon sleeping, doing laundry, and I took my 5^th hot shower this semester. It was AWESOME! I’ve gotten used to cold showers and almost like them but still, nothing can beat a hot shower! That night Derek and I met at Vivanda’s (a grocery store about 10 min, walking, from my house). We took a cab to Miraflores and met up with Emily, her host sister, and her host sister’s boyfriend. We all walked around Parque Kennedy, got some churros, and some ice cream from Bembo’s.

The next morning, Saturday, Emily and Derek came over and we swam in my pool again. (Bring on the skin cancer) After we were done we decided to order a pizza for delivery from Papa John’s which is just up the street from me. I am so proud of myself for ordering that pizza in Spanish! Butttt I can’t say it was done perfectly! I have no idea what my cell number is or my home number so the first time I called he asked what my number was... I panicked and hung up on him. Hahaha Then I went to my room and got my little cheat sheet with all my phone numbers on it so I called back and it was a little more successful! That night Mary, Laura, Derek and I were invited by Hugo to go with him and some friends to a disco down South. We met up with Hugo in Miraflores at 10 p.m. and took a taxi. We were all a tad worried because “the south” is about 30 minutes in a taxi from our district and the last time we went there in January we did not have the best time getting home! But this time was way better and I didn’t feel my life was threatened…always a good thing!

On Sunday, I was still home alone so I slept in, made some Kraft mac n’ cheese, and cleaned the apartment. In the afternoon I became a skypin’ fool. I skyped my dad, Sam, and my whole family while they were all at my aunt’s house doin the usual Easter festivities. It made me a tad homesick but I just pretended it wasn’t really Easter and all was well!

This week is crazy busy with group projects because our semester is coming to an end. I had a group project for my class of Indigenous cultures, I have to act out a skit in conversation class with Derek, and I have to write a paper with a group for our grammar class.

Today, after class, Derek and I were talking to our friend Hugo. Hugo studies English at an institute of American English and often asks me to help him with his homework and correct his grammar. He does pretty good with English but there are a lot of phrases he doesn’t understand, which you can’t blame him…languages are tough to learn! Today as we were talking he said “how do you say aprovechar in English?” We replied “Take advantage of” So he said “Nicki, I am going to take advantage of you” Derek and I both burst out laughing and immediately Hugo knew he had said something inappropriate and was freaking out asking what it meant. All he really wanted to do was ask me to help him with his homework. Hahahaha 

The plate of bananas we used on our French Toast...DELICIOUS!!!!!

The whole feast

Playing charades

Playing charades

Randomness: English, Food, Laundry, Family

Not a lot has happened since I last posted because I was so late with my last one so I will just write about some things in general! First, "yes Fabricio, I understand English!" In January during one of my first weeks here I was sitting in my room while Fabricio was in his and he called me in. He was watching a t.v. show that was in English with Spanish subtitles and he was like "Entiendes?" (Do you understand?) I was like "Yes!" and I thought this was just the weirdest thing! During the next few months he kept doing that alllll the time...to TV shows, movies, radio, anything with English! When we went to Trujillo this last time we were sitting on the bus and the movie they were playing happened to be in Spanish with English subtitles so I asked him if he understood and at first he had the weirdest look on his face like "what in the heck?!" but then it clicked and he started laughing. Now this is just a joke and every time the TV is in English he always asks me if I can understand what it is saying!

The 6 Empanadas and juice

I still amaze myself at some of the things I have been able to eat here without completely vomiting and I think this story may just take the cake as one of the grossest. On Sunday I went with Fabricio to this new Empanada (like a runza) place in Miraflores for lunch. We got 6 Empanadas to share and some Maricuya juice. Each Empanada was a different kind like chicken, beef, lomo saltado, etc. Welll I was eating this one and it was a deep red, blackish, brownish color of goo with rice, and carrots and maybe beef I'm really not sure. And Fabio was like "It tastes weird huh?" And I said "yea, what is it" then he was like "first, you should eat it." UHOH. you know its bad news bears when someone won't tell you what you are eating till after its in the irretrievable zone! Soo I was like ooo gosh! But when I had about one bite left he was like "como se dice sangre en ingles?" (How do you say "sangre" in English) SANGRE=BLOOD!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was eating some freaking curdled blood mixed with rice in some bread. MMMMMMM. I still had about a bite left so I just smothered that thing in sauce and gulped it down while thinking about rainbows and butterflies.

Hmmm this blog really is just going to be a bunch of randomness! But, next on the list is laundry! I'm not sure I have ever blogged about my laundry yet. I have quite the process to get my clothes cleaned! However, I don't have it the worst...one of my friends has to do her laundry by hand! Anywhoo, we have a machine but its like one side is a big empty vat with a little motor on the bottom and the other side is a little container with holes on it that spins. Below are the steps I must follow:
1. Fill side 1 of machine with water, clothes, and soap then let the clothes churn for 15 minutes.
2. Take clothes out, drain water, and repeat step #1.
3. Take clothes out, drain water, fill water, put clothes back in and let churn in just water to rinse them for 10 minutes.
4. Take clothes out, drain water, refill water and put this liquidy soap stuff in and let clothes soak for 5 min.
5. Drain water and put clothes in side 2 of machine and let them spin for 2-3 cycles of 5 minutes
6. Hang clothes all over my room (On my closet doors, on hangers, on my drawers, etc.) and open my window and let my clothes dry.

I don't really have any other basic things to talk about so I guess I will just end with saying that I am soo happy I got placed with the family I did! Before I came here I sent Fabricio an e-mail and he had a picture of himself on his google account and so I was able to see what he looked like and while I shouldn't have judged by looks I really thought he looked like quite the creeper so I was a tad worried! Come to find out, it was just an "artsy" photo of him and for the record he really does NOT look like a creeper in real life! Anyway, as I'm sure I've mentioned before I live with Fabio (25) and Nela (25) and they are both just friends and they are both AWESOME! Nela is probably one of the funniest girls I have ever met! She knows absolutely no English but even when I couldn't communicate very well with my Spanish we were havin' a blast. Recently she has been asking me to teach her little phrases in English and we currently have a sticky note on the kitchen door that says "What do you want to eat?" She also acts like my little mom sometimes. When I travel she will call me like 4 times to make sure I'm okay, and one time after an earthquake she thought I was home alone so not even 20 seconds after it finished my phone was ringing. Fabricio is also awesome! He has been the one who has really helped me with my Spanish. When I'm talking and I say a verb wrong or a word isn't right or whatever he just says it to correct me and its awesome because he doesn't do it soo much or so over the top that I lose my train of thought. He also knows a little English which was really helpful in January and is nice now because if I don't know a word I usually say it in English to see if he knows it or not and sometimes he does! Its always nice when I can get the easy way out and not have to describe it! Also, he is really into showing me the ropes on this whole living in Peru thing. He always makes sure I try new foods (not every time is disgusting!) and is always informing me on the history and stuff like that. Overall he's pretty chillax. And I'd have to say I think I truly lucked out on my family because they are awesome!

Nela and Fabricio