4 seconds left, down by 2

Last quarter, 4 seconds left, down by 2, DaMoude shoots from the 3 and… I don’t know what happens next. I still have 3 tests to take, homework to complete, and a 14 hour trip back to the United States to know if I made it or not! I have less than 4 weeks left, and just like in a basketball game, those 4 seconds can go so fast and so slow at the same time. That’s what it feels like right now. If I score that 3 I will have improved my Spanish so much! I think I’ve already scored a few 3 pointers in the game, but it’s the last one that wins or loses it for me! I need to take full advantage of the rest of the time I have here and try to push the limits of my Spanish abilities.

There have been a few injuries along the way (slicing my heel open), times where we were losing (homesickness), times where we were up (Machu Picchu), and a few time outs when we just needed a break (no class on Friday’s and Netflix).

Our group was split up into small groups based on our interests and majors. In these groups we have been attending Peruvian classes on campus. For us education majors, we have to go to another campus that takes about 45 minutes to get there because of traffic (it should really only be about a 15 minute car ride). We have the opportunity to sit in on a bilingual education class. It’s really interesting and I won’t go all teacher geeky on you and bore you with the details, but the professor is awesome and I’m actually learning some cool stuff in there!

A few of us ventured to a place called Polvos Azules to look for some cheap movies last weekend. We were not expecting to find a huge mall full of anything you could imagine. The competition is really intense there too so everything is really cheap. I took full advantage of the movie wing of the building and got 15 movies for $10 (about 75 cents a movie). Some of them are movies that just got out of theaters like a month ago. People pirate movies like crazy in Peru, so they make them really cheap so people don’t do that. We also got lost in the shoe part of the store. There had to have been at least 30 different shoe stores, if not more. I also took full advantage of the souvenir part.

On Sunday, Jenny and Martín took me to Pachacamac. They were ruins of the Incas that lived near Lima. The view of the ocean was absolutely incredible when we got to the highest peak in the ruins. Their niece, Leslie, came with us and she reminded me so much of my cousin Morgan. They are the same age and have the same personality! It actually made me kind of homesick because Morgan has been my best friend since the day she was born and I miss her so much! I got to meet some of Martín’s family after visiting Pachacamac (another niece, his dad, sister, and brother-in-law) and his dad took a picture with me and told me I was his American girlfriend.

One of the girls in our group recently lost her best friend in an accident. It has really been on my mind and I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to any of you. Please buckle up, no texting or snapchatting while driving, tell somebody you love what they mean to you, but most of all enjoy every second of this amazing life we have been given. God has blessed us to have met each other and to whoever is reading this, thank you so much for being in my life and supporting me on this journey I’ve had over here. Only a few more seconds left and we’ll see if the shot was made.

Con amor,

Mariah

Random Things

• I saw a Herbie car the other day and I laughed so hard when I saw it.

• There have been a few pump trucks driving through town here and every time I see one, I think of my awesome dad!

• They pronounce Google, Googlie, here. It’s so cute!
• Nike is also pronounced differently. Basically they say it like “Mike” but with the N in front. Probably like it should be pronounced according to the rules of the English language. 

My host mom taught me how to make causa
yesterday and I'm so excited to make it in the USA