Different Country, Different Language, Different Culture

I apologize in advance for the length this blog post is about to be. I promise they will not all be like this. There are just so many things at first!

I can't believe I've already been in Peru for 1 whole week! It has gone fast and slow at the same time and I don't even know how that works. Part of me feels like I've only been here 2 days while the other part of me feels like I've been here 2 months. When I left home, I didn't really know if this is what I should be doing. I thought maybe I should wait another year just to get some more Spanish classes in. But now that I'm here I know it's exactly where I am supposed to be at this point in my life. I was freaking out a little bit when the plane flew into Lima, but my host mom, Carmen, and her son-in-law, Martín, were there to pick me up and were so welcoming. They did not know how to say my name so they were holding out Martín's phone with my picture on it asking everyone that walked by, "Marian? Marian?" I did not understand at first, but when I saw my picture I knew what they were trying to say. When we got to their apartment my host sister, Carla, was there to greet me at 1:30 in the morning! They showed me to my room and I got right to sleep because I had been up for 21 hours! 

In the car ride to the apartment I only understood about 30% of what they were asking and telling me. I hoped it was because I was tired, but I found out the next day it was just because I only understood 30%. Naturally I was scared for my life and started debating my major right away. The first morning I woke up I was so scared to leave my room and have to speak Spanish, so I stayed in my room for about an hour and a half before I got the courage to go brush my teeth in the bathroom right across the hall. Carmen made me breakfast: pineapple on a cabob, fresh bread, and chocolatada. It was the best pineapple I've ever had and I still don't know what chocolatada is, but I will be making it in the United States if I ever figure it out!

My first breakfast in Peru. That pineapple is the
most delicious fruit I have ever tasted. 

After breakfast we went to one of the daughter's house, Patty, so Carmen could make everyone lunch. I went upstairs and watched cartoons in Spanish so I could maybe get a little better ear for it. I don't think it helped. When it was time to eat I met Patty and her husband, their kids Fatima (10 years old) and Joaquin (6 years old), and my host dad Alejandro. They started talking and when they would ask me a question, I had no idea they were talking to me. Everybody talks so fast here! The words I use most in conversation are "Huh? Como? Oh sí" one time I actually said "What?" in English... whoops. 

This is with Carmen after my first day in Lima. She and Carla
took me to the mall near their house, El Polo. The Christmas tree
looked a little weird without snow around it! 

The second day I was here I woke up to the sound of my host mom and dad practicing my name. Marian is as close as they are getting to Mariah. I think it's kind of funny and I told them they could call me Riah, Ry Ry, or Ry but I think those might be hard too. Alejandro eventually gave up and started calling me Ma. I had orientation at the college of UPC where I found out Peruvian time is a real thing. We were supposed to start at 9:30 and we did not start until 10:15. I like to be at least 5 minutes early to things so I think I might be waiting around a lot here for things to start on Peruvian time. When we toured the campus I was surprised at how beautiful it is. There is a "river" that runs right through the middle of campus, turf everywhere because grass doesn't really grow here, one building completely covered in plants, and an outdoor lounge of beanbag chairs. Yes, you read that right: beanbag chairs. 

One of the buildings at UPC. 

After orientation Carmen picked up my friend Abby and me to go to their house on the beach at San Bartolo for the weekend. As soon as we got there we took a nap because thinking in Spanish all the time just wears me down. When I woke up I met another daughter of my host parents. Her name is Jenny and her husband Martín was the one that picked me up at the airport. I also met their two kids, Fabrizio (8 years old) and Rafaela (3 years old). All 4 grandkids are so cute!

Throughout the weekend at the beach we tried many different foods like ceviche, fish that marinates in lime juice and that's what cooks it. I don't know how that works and I still don't know if I like it. Martín and Jenny took us back into town, after the kids were asleep, to eat anticucho. They wouldn't tell us what it was until we ate a few bites. Cow heart. We ate cow heart. I’m from Nebraska and I have never eaten cow heart before. It was interesting and I can't say it's the best thing I've had here. I had to wash it down with some Inca Kola which is a pop that tastes like bubble gum. Martín and Jenny took us around San Bartolo the next night. They wanted us to see a Discoteca, but it wasn't open yet or something (I didn’t understand…nothing new) so they wouldn't let us in. We got some ice cream instead and sat in a restaurant to listen to some live music. So far, they are some of the easiest people for me to understand. 

The first time we tried ceviche. 

The days spent at the beach were great! I learned a cangrejo is a crab, erizo is a sea urchin, and SPF 50 is the minimum sunscreen you should use. One day for lunch Carmen fed us real real real good. I thought all we were eating was potatoes with cheese, but that was just the appetizer. We then got a huge plate (bigger than San Pedros) of rice, beans, and beef.

Sunday at San Bartolo I woke up and played catch with Fabrizio, my new little best friend. Then I went to the market with Martín to get groceries for the day. He bought about 30 limes, several potatoes, peppers, and a few other fruits and veggies for a grand total of 3 American dollars! When I told him it probably would cost about 20-30 dollars in the United States he could not believe it. He told me the market we went to was even a little more expensive for Peru! 

One of the lookout points at San Bartolo

I started class on Monday at 4 p.m. All day Monday I kind of got my things organized, I went to El Polo mall with UNK people/English speakers, ate some lunch, and went to class. Our teacher for our conversation and grammar class is by far the easiest person to understand here. I probably understand about 80-90% of what he says because he talks slow, articulates his words, and repeats himself when he can tell we do not understand. Our literature professor, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to understand because he talks really fast. I am not really interested in literature other than Harry Potter so Tuesday’s are going to be a little rough.

These are the four little kids. Left to right:
Rafaela, Fabrizio, Fatima, and Joaquin

Today the grandchildren were over at the house because two of them have tennis lessons nearby. It is also summer here so the kids don’t start school again until March. After their lessons were over we went to Patty’s house so Carmen could make lunch for everybody. Us kids (yes I still consider myself a kid) played monkey in the middle with about 8 people. Then they tried to teach me a game called encantada. I did not understand in Spanish, so they explained it to me in English and I still did not understand very well. Maybe that means I am growing up. Anyway, the one week that I have been in Peru has been great and I can feel that I am understanding more every day!

I have been keeping a list of some random things I make note of so here they are:

·        My name is very hard for almost anyone here to say

·        They put the sheet you pull over yourself on the bed facing down. The print does not face up, it faces down.

·        There are not as many bugs as I thought there would be. Nebraska definitely has more bugs than Lima.

·        I love kissing everyone on the cheek to greet them! I don’t have to use as much hand sanitizer!

·        There are lots of stray dogs here that are so skinny. I just want to feed them all.  

·        Peruvians wear sunscreen to walk to the store… I wear sunscreen now to sit by my window. I am definitely a gringa.

·        Nobody knows how to drive here. There is constant honking. They honk when they go up hills to make sure somebody on the other side doesn’t run into them.

·        Speaking is really formal here. The other morning Fatima asked me if she could accompany me while I ate breakfast.

·        Toilet paper is thrown away, not flushed…

·        I saw a trailer of bricks with nothing holding them down or together. We drove by that and I thought I was going to die if that truck hit a bump all of those bricks were going to come tumbling down.