School and Such

I have never had less of an idea about what is going on around me than the past two weeks of my life, but things are beginning to smooth out and fall into place. School has been a complete blur of me trying to comprehend classes like Advanced Physics 2... in SPANISH. dios mio.

However, starting monday I will be helping out in the pre-school and kindergarten classes with teaching english during the classes where I don't even have a remote idea of what's going on. San Jorge (my school) is grades k-12 all in one building, so I get to see the younger kids alot. They are so cute in their uniforms with little rolling Barbie and Ninja Turtle backpacks. I am so excited!

San Jorge is a British school, so it is set up a bit like... Hogwarts. Minus the castle and mail by owl. But there are 4 houses, prefects, head boys and girls, demerits and all that good stuff. The actual school building is intiresting because there is a center basketball court and all of the classrooms are built around it, forming a wall. After 8 when school starts the gates get locked and nobody can go in or out except through the front desk area - making it impossible for anyone to cut class. Oh! the most different thing from Ashland High School is that there are guards who stand around San Jorge in uniform with multiple guns and bats with metal spikes strapped to their belt. That was a bit intimidating on my first day.

On friday my class went on a field trip to a club in La Molina and we spent the day playing volleyball, swimming in a gorgeous pool and sun tanning. My kind of field trip :) Definitely beats the fourth time in one year of walking to Science Works or North Mountain Park...

I have been anticipating that I would begin to get really homesick by now, but to be honest I haven't even cried once since I arrived in Lima. But I do miss my family and friends in the states very much. I would give anything to be able to bring you all to Lima and show all of you how wonderful it is! But for now emails and blogs will have to do.

Finally...

I am blogging again! Now that I actually have to get up in the morning and do more than lie on the beach, my motivation has been lacking. However, right now I am sitting in a computer class that is very boring - especially because I don't have even a remote idea about what is going on (as usual).

School is not exactly what I had hope it would be so far. I am attending a bilingual school but I have come to find that this doesn't necessarily mean anything. Two of my twelve teachers speak english and so all of my classes are in Spanish. In addition, students in Peru have a much more rigorous educational path, so even if my classes were in English, I would still be sitting in the back trying to put on a facial expression that looks like I am not completely lost.

Life in general, though, has been great. I went to Argentina to visit Chad last week which was so much fun! There is so much to tell, so i will try and sum it up... I spent one day in Buenos Aires with Chad's parents and we took a tour around the city before leaving for Cincos Saltos (a small town about the size of Ashland, in central Argentina). I spent the week re-connecting with Chad and his parents, and meeting his 3 host families and many friends. It was great to get to see what his life is like, because it has seemed so far away for so long.

The first night I went to a Quinceañera. It started around 10 at night and didnt end until 4 in morning. Then Chad, his host siblings, friends and I went to a small club called Missa until 8 in the morning. People in Argentina seem to regard sleep as a plus, not a necessity. But it was really fun to go out dancing for the entire night :) Other things that we did included going to the lake, making pizza and empanadas, walking to the ice cream store a couple of times, eating lots of dulce de leche (I am in love) and drinking lots of Mate.

My last day in Cincos Saltos was hard because I was so happy to have spent a week with Chad, but also really sad to leave again. I couldn't feel down for too long though because my last night Chad's host mothers threw a going away party for Dave, Marge and I. They gave us various different Argentinian gifts, one of which was a flag with notes that everyone had written to me. we also had a bubble fight with spray espuma as the grand finale to the night.

Argentina was wonderful and I would love to go back to see Chad's families, more of the country, and of course to eat Dulce de leche again...

Loving Lima

Yesterday was both the most fun, disturbing and beautiful day of my recent life.

The fun part: I went to a beach with my host sister Margarita and a couple of her friends, about 30 minutes from my house called Playa Silencio (the name is a very inaccurate description of the place). It was streaming with people and I spent a very enjoyable 4 or 5 hours lying on the beach while eating ceviche and swimming in the ocean. This is the life...

The disturbing part: Something that I have only heard vaguely about so far on my trip I finally saw for myself: on the outside edge of Lima is, literally, a sea of cardboard boxes as far as the eye can see. It is a sea of the houses. They are placed up on huge dirt hills around a petroleum refinery. Everything is the same color of gray dust except for the clotheslines where bright red shirts and blue jeans hang to dry in the blistering air. The whole place looks dead, and there is not one movement. Garbage is in piles taller than I am and the dust seems to be suffocating everything. This is not exactly the Peru I had imagined or wanted to believe in. And even though everything in me wanted to do something to help these thousands of people, I must keep reminding myself that I am an exchange student and I am not out to save the world just yet.

The beautiful part: After Playa Silencio, Margarita and her friends decided to show me some other beaches as well. Each beach seems to have it's own interesting characteristics. We first went to Punta Hermosa, which is geared more twords tourists, but it was very pretty. The second stop, however, was my favorite. Playa Pucusana is a little fishing village full of colorful little fishing boats floating in the middle of a cove. Along the edge of the water there are children swimming and many stands where people are selling fruit or cooking meat. It was so post-card perfect that I couldn't help but jump up and down I was so happy. This is my favorite beach because it was so cultural and it gave an accurate view of average Peruvian life. I forgot my camera yesterday which made me want to scream, but I will be going back soon.

Anyways, we girls walked around for a bit and then payed a local fisherman to take us out on his boat. It was bright blue and orange and had little mussels stuck all over the sides. We putted around for about a half an hour and saw sea lions bobbing up and fish jumping all around. When we got out of the cove... I almost died. It was so beautiful that I wanted to cry. There were birds flying in every direction and pelicans flew so close to the boat I could have touched one. They skimmed over the aqua water so gracefully and every once in a while one would land on the tip of our boat for a rest. On horizon the sun was setting behind a couple of sail boats coming back to the harbor for the night. I have never seen anything so perfect in my life.

Sorry about the incredibly long description - I am so frustrated because I don't have any pictures and words just aren't enough. I suppose it will just have to stay in my memory.

Right now I feel completely in love with anything and everything Peruvian.

I am alive.

I am writing this post to let all of you know that I am alive, though I have been without internet for the past couple days. To be honest, I am not in much of a writing mood but I am keeping to my goal of not forgetting that I have a blog to upkeep. It seems to help me clear out my brain because the days have begun to blur together in a huge smear of traffic and rapidly spoken Spanish. Homesickness is beginning to settle in, and trust me, you do not want to know what I would give for a slice of Giseppi's pizza right now.

But enough about that. I have too many wonderful things happening right now to be able to complain, so I will allow myself only two sentences to focus on the negative.

Now back to the fun stuff. Over the past 3 days I have been to Wong a total of 12 times. I am literally keeping track, because it is getting a bit comical. I spent about 2 hours in there today figuring out how to buy an internet chip, so now my connection should be much more solid! Other than trips to the grocery store I have been doing so many amazing things I can't even remember them all. On Saturday night I went to dinner with my host mother and tried a popular Peruvian drink, called a Pisco Sour. People in this country are also obsessed with Chicha Morada and Inca Cola (soft drinks). During my past couple dinners out, I have realized that Peruvians are a hoot to be around at meals because they are so passionate about what they eat - and they eat with style.

On Sunday I watched the Super Bowl with our family friends, the Gretzingers, at an American pub called The Corner. I think that every white male in Lima was crammed into this place, and I found myself completely forgetting that I was in South America instead of a small Texas town for the big football game. Also during the past few days, I went to my first movie in Peru and took my exams for my school (which I admit, I have been avoiding talking about until now). To say the least, they did not go well. This is mostly because the entire exam was in Spanish. I was allowed a spanish-english dictionary, but that wasn't much help with my 200 + questions to answer in Math, Spanish, and History, etc.

But, I am very proud to say, I most definitely aced the English section.

Yo soy un tomate...

After a wonderful 45 minutes in the sun today, I had the sad realization that I now closely resemble a tomato.

Despite the fact that I am very sunburned, I had a wonderful and relaxing day at the beach - about a 5 minute drive from my house. I didn't swim much because the current was too strong, but I enjoyed lying of the shore with my host mother, Maria. After today, I have finally gotten over the fact that I do not need to talk to every street vendor yelling, "Helado, helado, helados..." over and over again. At first I felt guilty not to acknowledge them, but after a while it became a bit annoying. I am also getting used to the constant noise and chaos of Lima and am starting not to feel quite so overwhelmed all the time.

Other little blips about my past few days in Lima:
- Last night I unknowingly ate cow heart (anicuchos). It is actually very delicious.
-On wednesday night I went to my first Peruvian get together in La Molina - the nicest distrcit in Lima. I was at a house which has a huge glass tube for walls, with a pool half in and half out of the house. The people had 2 maids which were constantly running around filling up drinks and bringing more food. I don't think that I will ever really get used to this.
-Nobody in Peru has air conditioning or clothes dryers, but somehow the house always stays cool enough and clothes dry in less that two hours in the baking sun.
-Many people in Peru don't eat dinner, only a big breakfast and a HUGE lunch.
-I am being fed all the time. This is great, because the food is amazing, but I may be signing up at a gym in the near future.
-Everybody that I have met in Lima is very friendly, except when they are driving. It seems like everyone turns completely crazy behind the wheel, but most of the time they are always willing to help you out.
-Lima is perfect! It has taken me a while to be able to see past it's size. Now I am able to appreciate all of the colors and sounds of the city. It is practically overflowing with energy!

Tomorrow I will be off to Wong (the Safeway of Peru - there are atleast 30 in Lima alone) to buy some SPF 70 sunscreen...
much love, Sierra

My first day in Lima

Right now I am sitting in my cozy little bedroom on the third floor of my new house in Lima. So far, everything has gone perfectly. My family picked me up from the airport last night, and after a quick tour of the neighborhood and a midnight snack of some ice cream I finally got to bed at about 3 in the morning.

My family is wonderful! I have a host grandpa and grandma, mother, aunt, and sister (who is about 30 years old). They have all been very kind and welcoming to me. My grandpa is very sweet and loves to tell stories and work in the garden. So far I am closest with my host mother and grandma who took me around Miraflores this morning. We went to the beach which is the most beautiful aqua color, despite the fact that it is so close to a city of 10 million people. We also walked around the main shopping center, Larcomar, where we sat and ate lunch while looking overhead at the para-sailers gliding on the wind above the ocean.

Everything still seems a bit surreal, but I am already beginning to get used to the constant noise of the city. I have never seen so many people in my life! The roads are completely crazy because nobody pays attention to stop signs, lights, or street lanes. There is honking from every direction and yelling from car window to window. It is both overwhelming and very exciting!

Today I forgot my camera when i went out, but pictures are soon to come!

p.s. for those of you who know me well, you will be proud: for breakfast today I ate a bowl of fruit! chau :D

Getting Ready

After months of preparation and a last minute problem with the people that I was going to stay with, I am OFFICIALLY going to Peru!!! I am driving down to San Francisco in exactly a week, and will fly out the next morning, on January 30th.

It has been a challenge not to know whether or not I would be going for sure up until a week before I am supposed to leave, but it has definitely taught me that nothing is ever permanent and all you can do is try your best. In the end I also realized that wherever I am, I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

My new host family lives only two blocks from my school (San Jorge de Miraflores) and also just a 10 minute walk from the market and main shopping center in Lima. They seem like absolutely wonderful people, and are excited to have me in their home despite the fact that it was so last minute. I feel so lucky to be able to stay with them!

Well, I am off to go pack... I am planning to update my blog when I arrive in Lima and then once or twice a week, but we'll see how well I keep up that :)

Thank you to everyone who has helped me to put my exchange trip together during all the chaos and confusion. I am very grateful to you all, and will miss you!