It is crazy to think that I have already been here for 3
weeks! They have gone by really fast and I’ve realized that I am starting to miss
some things about Nebraska. I am really missing Nebraskan beef. We had steaks
at the beach last weekend and they were decent, but I told my host family they
have to come to Nebraska just for the steak if they thought that T-Bone they
ate was good. I miss Walmart. There, I said it. I miss country music so much! I
tried to teach Fatima to swing dance the other day, but I don’t know if she
liked it or not. We played some country
music for our Literature teacher Tuesday and I think he wants to hear more
because he wants us to make a playlist for each class! Most of all I miss my
family and friends. With my birthday coming up, I wish I could spend it with them.
My host family wants to do something for me because I think they know I am
missing home a little bit. For my birthday they are going to take me to a water
show at Parque de Agua and they want to make cupcakes too! We’ll see what
happens!
I am so blessed to have such an amazing, welcoming, and
caring host family. They are really trying to make sure my experience here in
Peru is the best it can be. Making me try new foods, taking me places, and
helping me with my homework are just a few of the things they have done to be
so great. I don’t know how I can ever thank them enough.
Is there anything interesting I have done in the last week?
Let me think…hmm… oh yeah! I got to go see the 400 year old Catacombs under the
San Francisco church. Over 25,000 people were buried underneath this church and
the bones have been sorted into the strongest and the weakest. The bones were
placed in different patterns in holes and rooms underneath the church. I don’t
have any pictures because it is prohibited and disrespectful. You’ll just have
to come to Lima to see it for yourself!
Tuesday night Jenny and Martín took me to a show in
Miraflores at a place called Cocodrilo Verde (Green Crocodile) to watch their
cousin play percussion in a band. The music was all Peruvian and I was really
impressed with the flute and saxophone players. They could play notes and make
music I didn’t know was possible to come out of those instruments. The show was
awesome and I got to try more Peruvian food!
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| Alejandro completing his daily crossword. He asks me questions sometimes because the answers are in English for some reason. |
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| Here I am at Cocodrilo Verde for the music show! |
Small rant about the music: they play the same 3 songs over and over on the radio! There are 7 different remixes to each song to try to make you feel like you are listening to something new, but it’s the same song! I have heard Hello, Sorry, and Cheerleader more times in the last 3 weeks than I have before I left the United States! I had a little girl freak out when they switched it up and put on This is Me by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas from Disney Channel. I told my host family about 3 times that the song was from Disney. I couldn’t believe they were playing it on the radio between Adele and Justin Bieber. Rant over.
My host family took me to the beach again! I had a test over
vocabulary words so they all helped me go through my flashcards and explained
each word to me. Jenny even went over my flashcards with me at the beach! The
waves were really big this time so I was in the water for 2 hours one day. I
was holding onto a noodle for dear life and laughing so hard with Martín because
we kept getting water in our mouths and up our noses but didn’t want to leave
the water because the waves were so fun! It was cloudy, a little chilly, and
the water was freezing but we were the only people to tough it out that long
without wetsuits! Martín stepped on a sea urchin at one point and pulled some
spikes out of his water shoe. I stayed in starfish mode after that. My feet
were not about to be filled with sea urchin spikes.
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| A beautiful starfish one of the relatives caught near the water at the beach. |
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| Alejandro, my host dad, put his hat on me and made me stir the ceviche for a picture to send to my mom. Here you go mom! |
Mariah
Random Things
- It is normal to eat Halls cough drops here like they are candy. They sell them at the store to little kids. Fabrizio bought some at the beach and offered them to me. When I told him I didn't have a cold he looked at me like I was crazy.
- Popsicles called "chups" are the thing to eat here.
- They always say how great the food, beach, water, day, etc. is here. They are so grateful for everything and it's really opening my eyes.
- The cashier just didn't give me the right amount of money back today at the store. Of course I realized she took 15 soles from me after I left and was in a taxi on the way home.
- AlgarroBina is the best drink I've ever had. It's like a chocolate milkshake from heaven. Except it is the syrup from a tree here in Peru.
- Either potatoes or rice are always on the menu.
- The fruit here is absolutely outstanding. I don't want to leave it behind.
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| This is some Peruvian/Ican corn. The kernels are huge and they pick them off to eat. |
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| Tuna fruit: the yummy fruit I get to eat almost every morning at breakfast! |
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