ohboy!

I am just so excited all the time. Probably because everything is all new here. I think I would make a good gypsy, and I am definitely wearing the correct pants. I do lots of heel clicks in my room because I can't sit down for very long(not even through a Colbert episode), and I know it looks cool in my gypsy pants.

Mama Gallinas, Miraflores, and Muchas Espanol!

At our orientation last Monday, our director explained to us some of the things we will have to get used to: throwing toilet paper in the trash, not being offended if people call you derogatory nicknames or stare at you, close calls with transportation in crazy traffic. Oh, and receiving the 'princesa treatment.' In Peru, mothers are what they call 'mama gallinas,' or mother hens. Our director tells us that it will be difficult at first, what with our normally having independence, to get used to our host families taking care of:

-our laundry

-cooking/putting out delicious home-cooked meals

-washing our dishes

-cleaning our rooms and bathrooms

-escorting us the first week on the buses/combis/taxis

-taking us to the beach

-taking us out, a little too regularly, for sushi, ceviche, and peruvian desserts

-informing us that all the students in our program are coming over for lunch and a lesson in making 'pisco sours,' the national (alcoholic) drink that is kind of like tequila

All of this, while singing and dancing to 'Ai Se Eu Te Pego' (youtube this stat if you don't know this song) and repeating things as many times as it takes for us to understand with our limited espanol. Oh, Carmela. But don't worry about me too much, somehow I'll get through it.

Everyone here is ridiculously friendly and patient as I try to learn spanish. Learning a language this way (immersion, not in a classroom yet) is loads of fun. I am such a toddler. My friend Luis, (who is peruvian but 'studying abroad' with our program anyway after spending 3 years studying in the states), asked me if I 'always have this much energy.' I did a demonstration of my toddler energy as we were walking, asking him if this was what he was referring to (it was). I had to explain to him that the 'toddler' in my level of spanish-speaking abilities is starting to transcend into everything else I do. But hey, it's really nice to get so much approval just for stringing together a sentence! Especially sentences that I probably couldn't have accomplished the day prior...I'm learning thaat much every day :) Almost everything happens in Spanish and 'poco a poco', I'm starting to know what's going on!

But other times, I don't. On Friday, our group volunteered at a soup kitchen in a 'pueblos jovenes' (the favelas, shantytowns, etc., of Lima). We helped with the cooking, painted the building, and loaded up passing-by kids with 'dulces.' My friend Kay, another girl in my program, and I were talking with some of the men eating there who talked really fast and quietly. I don't know how she was able to converse with them! But Kay, who is fluent is spanish, informed me later that they had asked us whether or not we were single (I didn't know what I was saying yes to) and if we wanted to marry peruvian men. Gracias Kay, for navigating that one :)

The rest of our group has been really wonderful to get to know. It is definitely an eclectic group of people, many of which I might not normally be friends with. But we are definitely becoming friends, and I am stoked. We've been hitting up the 'barras y discotecas' in Miraflores and Barranco this past week, which has been great. Oh, and I also won big at a casino in Miraflores while being served free sandwiches and drinks, no big deal. I won more than I've spent shopping so far, and with only one (my first) press of a button at a 'Sea Monkeys' (the amazing live!) machine.

Cobra, por favor! (Cash out, please)

Chau!

ALSO: Haley Kitchens, if you are reading this, or having someone read it to you...are you and your olhos bonitos ok? Please say yes.

BIenvenidos al Peru!

WHHAAAAAAAAT? This is too wonderful and absurd.

When I landed at 1AM in Lima last night, my plan was to meet up with another girl in my program whose flight came in before mine, and wait with her until we could get a ride with our program at 6AM. So when I saw a man with a whiteboard that read 'Elizabeth Fairweather,' I knew he was my kidnapper and if I went with him I would be lost forever in some freaky sex trafficking business until I died of a cocaine overdose. I wasn't about to have a 'Taken' experience, so I just averted my eyes and sat around in populated areas for almost an hour, before a woman comes up to me and says she's my host mom. My spanish was not only limited, but also mixed with a lot of portuguese (in less than 24 hours I'm back on track though, this family is super encouraging and I'm learning spanish pretty fast talking to them, wahoo!) But somehow I became convinced she was Carmela, my host mom, and not an innocent-looking decoy and we were off with the poor taxi driver who had to wait for me. And vamos! We're driving through Lima, trying to speak spanish, and then we're at the most AMAZING BEAUTIFUL HOME AND I GOT TO PICK MY ROOM WHICH WAS STOCKED WITH DOCES AND FLORES AND MY OWN BATHROOM AND WHY DO I GET TO BE SUCH A PRINCESS?!?

This morning, we walked into Centro de San Borja (San Borja is the district of Lima we live in) and bought crazy frutas, pan integral, and tamales. Carmela and I both like quinoa and todos verduras solo no pimientos (all vegetables except peppers), so basically we're best friends. Then, I met her son Renzo and his wife Carola, and her husband Pepe before going to the beach. Except first we went house-hunting for Renzo and Carola, which was insane and involved me swimming in a pool right by the beach and saltando en un trampolin (jumping on a trampoline, fuck yeah!) at a YACHT club while they looked at the propriedads. Then we bought some food (recommended were Ritz crackers, plantain chips and keke (cake), before going to the beach.

When we came back, Taylor, one of the other 2 girls that will be staying in this castle of a casa, had arrived. She's from LA, plays rugby, and dedicated one entire suitcase to zapatos. I'm excited about her! We went out to dinner at a 'chifa' restaurant, which is peruvian-chinese fusion. The food and INKA KOLA was deliciosa.

So far, my experience in Peru is confirming my suspicion that I am destined to always be in the best situation possible, surrounded by the best people. I guess I can't escape it, no matter how far I travel. Oh well!

Goal: Understand what these people are saying, soon, even though Brasil has made me quite used to never knowing what's going on.

Hasta luego!