Olympiadas

I should have posted these much earlier but better late than never.

My third week here we had Olympics at school. We had 2 hours of class in the mornings then Olympics the rest of the day. All ages were divided in three color teams and compete.

Mi Colegio

My school is named Sagrado Corazon Sophianum. It begins in Inicial and ends in Quinto de Secondaria, Pre-School through the end of high school. In total eleven years, all my classmates have attended SCS since they were four. The school is absolutely spectacular and situated behind a large brick wall right in Lima.

Dia De Mater

Last week was Mater's* feast day and we went to mass (just like every other sacred heart student)but things started getting interesting when the Preist whipped out his guitar and sung his homily- thats right, he sung a wrote and preformed a song about a saint. After mass there was a school wide celebration where the teachers but on a show for the students. There were teachers singing and dancing, my personal favorite was the PE teacher's rendition of "Let it Be".

After we has all stopped laughing there was cake for the entire school! This was cake for Cuinto, about 35 people



*Mater is the patron saint/icon of sacred heart schools (Forest Ridge and Sophianum included)

La Hora Peruana

In Peru everything starts after it's supposed to, if you were supossed to meet friends at 9 you show up at 10. This phenominon is called "La Hora Peruana" or Peruvian Hour. Here there is a lot more waiting around which was initially irritating but after being here longer I have learned to enjoy hanging around. Here time that Americans would be anxiously waiting wondering what is happening the Peruvians take the time to enjoy eachother's company and time, is irrelevant.

el sol y la playa

today I went shopping for polos (shirts) with my host sister in Magdelena which is a market. In Magdelena there is also a beautiful church! I had my first Empanada de Queso which I'm sure will give me heart disease, but was decicious. An Empanada de Queso is a pastery filled with salty melted cheese, delicious! Karina had classes to prepare for Med School this afternoon so I spent the afternoon hanging out on the beach with a good book and ice cream in 70 degree weather. I had a sucessful day :)

Como?... No Entiendo

This week my colegio (school) has vacation and no one seems to know why. Yesterday Karina and I went to school to practice la marca (the march) which is sort of like a flag ceremony. Then we went to Frida's house where we sat around talking until 9 when we went back to Karina's house then at 11 went to dinner then to see a movie called "la crueda verdad" in english: the ugly truth with Karina's mom and brother, Juan Carlos. We got home at 2, on a school night - I love Peru!

Today I went with Karina's friend Andrea to medical school today. In Peru medical school starts after high school and lasts 7 years, Andrea and Karina are both applying this year. I am having problems forming complete sentences in english but there are a few more thoughts:

thigs I take for granted in the US:
- buses that stop for you to get on and off
- warm showers
- not fearing for your life in traffic
- toilet seats

Things we really should have in the US:
- SIESTA!
- Inca Cola
- migros (the little buses here- they're a lot like mini-vans)
- big lunches and small dinners eaten at 9 or so

estoy en peru!

good news,
after a day of United related mishaps,
I am finally in Peru.

I sat between these two Japanese Ladies on the plane who were adorable!
The two of them managed to put more different products on and off their faces without messing up their make-up than I thought was humanly possible.
the conversation went something like this:
- where are you from
- Tokeyo, and Hokkaido
- You?
- Seattle
- Oh! San Diego
- no seattle
- San Diego?
- do you know Ichiro?
- Oh! Mariners, you are from Seattle!

I went to dinner with my host family at 1:30 their time (I love this place!) and tried my first Inca Cola (it tastes a lot like bad cream soda and is highlighter yellow).


Highlight of the Day: being mistaken for Peruvian by a Peruvian and being able to have a decient length conversation in Spanish before he realized that I'm not from Peru

Two Days!

I leave on saturday, two days from now and I still have SO much stuff to do!