getting in the groove

I can’t believe it’s already the 17th! Things are getting easier; I understand the combis and I know where I’m at most of the time and school is school (they give us like sooo so much to read!!), but I’m starting to really like my environment. My host mom is sooo soo sweet, and she lets me do whatever I want basically whenever I want. She is very very artsy and there’s these huge beautiful paintings all over and she always tells me about her life (which is very rich and interesting). I’m not as put off by the cat-calls, I come to expect them, I am blonde! The other day I learned the hard way not to wear a watch. Someone came up to me and asked for the time (completely harmless parents, don’t worry, was in broad daylight – I think I should put a warning label on this sometimes), and I thought that was innocent enough, I can give someone the time, then he started asking for my name and where I was from and where I was going, so I said, ‘No gracias,’ like I didn’t understand lol. Girlfriends – you’d never recognize me! My geek-watch is too touristy to wear and my Peru phone didn’t come with a clip! Peru is stripping the geek from me! What do I do! lol. The fruit here is amazing amazing, soo yummy; maracuya, lucuma, the watermelon is so delic, even the apples are sweeter! I have fruit everyday and it’s so cheap too when I buy it on the street! I eat rice with everything everything while at home. They eat rice with potatoes, rice with bread, rice with meat, rice with vegetables, rice with .. anything and everything. I haven’t had a meal yet without rice! And they have super yummy chifa – the Chinese, which isn’t as sketch as we have it in the US (I hope!). I have super super delic coffee every morning with their sugary leche. They have dif pop tho – the cola tastes flat and they have this ‘peruvian pop’ called Inca – Cola. Tastes like straight up bubble gum in a bottle. Why anyone would wanna drink that, I don’t know, but everyone does! They drink something called chichi morada a lot for meals, it’s like a kool-aid drink made out of purple corn that’s super super yum. Their drink is the Pisco Sour – and oh it’s strong! But very yummy J. We got it free a lot over the weekend – at our hotel, at restaurants when we go in as a group, etc. I think I may have Peru-allergies tho, cause I’m always sneezing now. It could be from all the pollution – it’s so so strong! During rush hour, on my way home, my eyes sometimes burn, and my nose too cause there’s so much fuel emission. I do my power-walking along the ocean coast in the mornings with other joggers and runners – oh it’s amazing. The view is simply breathtaking. A picture or words cannot describe it.. and I get to walk it every morning! The desserts here are very dif, but yummy. (I’ll watch out sylv – try at least!!) (And Mandy, you’d love love the ice cream – it’s to die for! I had some with chocolate covered cereal the other day! My new fav) My maid made me something with sugar, milk.. and other stuff I didn’t understand – and it had kind of a weird texture, like a sponge or something, but it was good. While I ate it, she sat like – a foot away from me watching me eat it. Maybe less than a foot. I was like, “It’s good, thanks.” All the while she is staring at me. Then I said thanks again. Then she told me I had very beautiful blue eyes. Lol. It’s just different here I guess. A lot of times I have no idea what I’m eating (that would def not fly at home!), but my maid tells me I don’t have to eat anything I don’t like and she can tell when I don’t like something and laughs (I’m very bad at lies, especially trying to eat food I don’t like). And I feel comfortable enough where I don’t eat the things I don’t like. My maid refers to me in the formal, which is very different, like I’m above her, which is something we don’t do in the US. There’s def a class system here. My host mom rings a bell when she wants our maid to come, and then she does. Seems like something for a pet, just different I guess. I bought an air-freshner cause my room smelled kinda weird at first, from all my host mom’s paint supplies and such, but I think I’m getting used to it, or the room is smelling more like me, but I bought an air freshner and now I’ve got this cheaply-cleaned bathroom smell in my room, so I think I may throw it away :P. I should actually do something right now – even though I’m just super overjoyed I have internet in my house right now! Love and miss you! Un beso!