i dont think you'd know me anymore!

First, I can't believe it's March and then some already! How fast that time went by!! Wow!
If you saw what I was eating you wouldn’t know me. You wouldn’t believe it. I eat so many weird random things.. every single day. From my not eating any of the main meals, rarely touch meat, and pick at everything at home, to just my salads and sweets at school and never the main dish, none of you would think I was the same person! Many times I have no idea, not a clue, what I’m eating. I don’t know if it’s a fruit, a vegetable, a meat. I just open my mouth, close my eyes, and hope that it’s not a hot dog and that I can swallow it. A lot of times it’s good lol. I mostly eat the meat I am presented with (I know rents – can you believe that!), or at least try it if I must. I will not try cuy tho (guinea pig!! ick! i wouldnt even eat that if you cooked it dad!!). But I did just agree to Pilar that I will try cow heart.. what!! Lol. Some of the stuff I eat looks so weird.. I had a salad for a while with bright pink and purple stuff on it, no idea what it was. The stuff I eat can be green, yellow, pink, purple, orange, any color, and any texture. I ate the other day like corn mush with spaghetti sauce on it, I actually loved it, but for the longest time had no idea what I was eating. And nothing has the nutrition facts on it – I know I’m a nutrition facts freak! But – ya just go with it here. And I can’t not try something that Elisabeth gives me, she’s so so so so sweet. And if I don’t like it, she just laughs. I try my best to cut it into tiny pieces and move it around, and hide it under rice, but Elisabeth always knows. Some other people’s maids will get mad if they don’t like something, so I am very lucky that I have Elisabeth. I also get a fresh salad every day before meals with palta (avocado) sooo yum! Which I’m very lucky too because some people don’t see vegetables at all or not-fried food, and I rarely have fried food (except for fried bananas that are pink with egg and rice, my host mom’s favorite meal – I know right?) I eat ice cream now too (everyone does every day.. it’s to die for! Sooo so so so good! And it’s so hot here too, it’s def necessary.) and I drink juice. The juice they have is amazing!! And Elisabeth will put it in a shake with sugar milk and sugar and it’s sooo yum. And they don’t drink milk here, so I don’t either – only the sweet leche in my coffee in the morning (I know ma – we are going to go through like a gallon a day when I get back!) So you wouldn’t think I was the same person if you saw my eating habits from now and before!
One thing that is just really different is how we are treated here. We talked about racism and discrimination here in Peru the other day in Ethics class and.. it’s kind of harder to tell and see, but the lighter skin you have the better you’re treated. Of course, that’s everywhere, but there are so so so so many different shades of skin here, and it’s not like.. obvious how people are treated? There are different class levels that everyone knows, that I can’t even see. We also have to interview people on the street for class (I hate doing that!! It’s so embarrassing!) and they said that it’s definitely evident, if you have too dark of skin you can’t get into certain places and clubs – I had no idea! The other night, in Barranco, we weren’t even on the list and we got in before the whole line did, I’m assuming just because we are white. It’s weird too, people just want to take pics with us sometimes. If we are at a club people will just be like, “Can I have a pic with you?” or they will be like, “Can you take a pic for me? Thanks, now you get in it too!” It’s like – what?? I don’t know you! One time in a taxi cab that we were sharing, a the taxi cab driver said, “Omg you are Americans! My wife loves Americans!” then he proceeded to call her and awkwardly handed the phone to us to talk to his wife who loved Americans, then after he got done telling his wife how he was driving Americans, he started to take a video of us with his phone! Completely harmless, but weird! There are so many instances where.. we get to go first or free or get free drinks. We are going to a dance club tonight where everyone in our group get in free (YES!) and the girls get to drink for free! How cool is that? We are taking private salsa lessons, had our first one last night, and it was awesome! Tonight we are going bowling (I don’t know why that’s considered a fun thing to do, I really don’t!) and then out to the dance club. Paige and Carly are coming next week and I’m excited! I live in a small apartment so we are basically going to be sleeping and breathing on top of each other for the week, but it will be fun! As for before then.. I have ‘un montón,’ as my host mom, Pilar, would say, of homework to do!!
Love and miss you all sooo soo much!
besos!!

just a weekend at the beach..

Right now I’m in my apartment with internet! Yes! It’s completely random and always chance on and off and never on of course when I need to look up things for homework, oh well tho! I live in Larcomar! This weekend was really really fun. Friday we actually just chilled out, we don’t have class on Fridays, and we went shopping (uhhh.. yeah I need to stop that pretty quick here!) and had a girls day and ice cream.. you know. Then we got together that night for a ‘baby shower’ for Michelle from the ISA staff. They call it a ‘baby shower’ here, there’s not translation lol! Weird I know. And the baby shower.. well it’s kind of a big deal! There was a commentator, a singer, background music, dancing, games, professional dancing of the National Dance, and sooooo soo many balloons and then all the food you can think of too, with their mini palta (avocado – they love avocado here, and so do I so I’m thinking I’m in the right place!) sandwiches, wafers, the best fruit you’ve had, mini potatoes, and Inka Cola of course! (It for real tastes exactly like bubble gum and even adults drink it and like it! :P) Then we just went to Mango’s, a bar in Larcomar, and had drinks outside overlooking the ocean (I def need to stop that too – drinks are expensive! But we like to buy really pretty ones just because we can J) And I talked to my gfs at Luther on Skype!! Oh I was so excited you don’t even know girlsies! Everyone was like, “What’s your deal Molly, why are you so happy?” and I was like, “I just saw my gfs!!!” Ooo I hope we can soon too! That was soo amazing! Saturday Amanda and I spent the day at the beach in Barancco. Oh I loved it. So soo so relaxing, beautiful. There’s people selling everything, we got ice cream (lucuma of course!) and I bought these really beautiful hand made earrings from 2 kids about my age. I should have bargained for them for less, but they were so nice and they made them themselves! Only 20 soles, which is $6 for really beautiful earrings, I think that’s ok! And.. I am soooo soo burnt. It’s so painful I can’t wear a bra today and it hurts to move. You’d have thought I would have learned my lesson from last time, and I did, but the tiniest parts I didn’t put sunscreen on are crisped right now – like my legs and like my armpit area? Totally random I know, but the rest of me is ok because I put sunscreen on every 20 min! Except for those parts of course and now I’m paying for it! Ouch! Then I was super tired and got ready for the evening out and got to talk to the Ma and Paige – who is coming not next week but the next!! Excited! Then we went to a club where Peter’s host brother and a couple bands sang acoustic for a benefit concert.. was soooo sooo soo good, and we got front row cause we just know the right people (aka Peter’s fam lol) – then we met up with our Peruvian friends and went to this club in Barancco that had a list to get in – but we got in and danced til about.. 4am. We always go in a big group (sometimes it causes a lot of attention, but we are always with Peruvians who know what’s going on) and I always call my host mom at 2am to tell her what I’m doing for the night, so you don’t have to worry rents (you will, you always do!). I called Pilar at 2am last night and my Castellano was a little less than perfect to say the least lol. It consisted of me saying, “Kelly, I have no idea how to say this in Spanish right now – help me!” “Ok Molly, just tell her…” lol. And now I’m here in my apartment awaiting to do alllllllllllll the homework I have for this week. I love everyone’s messages, notes, calls and skypes!! Even if I don’t reply right away, I always take time to take a big breath, relax, and read them. I just got done watching vids of Presy.. 3 times! Oh I miss him so - I can't believe how much he is moving Mandy!! I need to hear my baby talk soon, and his jungle molly monkey better be his fav toy!! :) This week should be busy.. we are hopefully going salsa dancing 3 times this week.. along with all the mountains of homework. I love and miss you all!! I think of you often!
Besos

finally fri!!

Backstreet boys concert….. AWESOME!! They didn’t start playing til 12! I guess it’s Peru-time they were on. They played some new ones ( didn’t know those – who does?? ) and alllll their old ones!! Was so fun, and so funny cause all the chicas there would sing the words and say the words dif – prolly just how we talk all the time, and it was just funny to listen to. Then we were walking back, and we saw police and the the backstreet boys in a car speeding away!! Then when I got back to my apartment, I saw the car again – going like 90mph and I’m like, ‘What the heck, who needs to go that fast right now, it’s 3am!’, and then I was like, ‘OMG! That was the BackstreetBoys!!’ Pretty sure they stayed at the super elite Mariott 3 blocks from my apartment in Larcomar – a super savvy hotel with watchdogs and secret doors and such. Yeah.. I pretty much met them! And Amanda was at the same club as them on Tuesday night but they gated it off so no one else could go to that part of the club – but still super cool! Sleep is not something that I’ve gotten this week. A lot a lot of homework, then I stayed up til 230am listening to Backstreet Boys the night before the concert (idk why!!) and then awake for the concert til 330am – and always getting up cause I have to do homework in the morning, and I can’t sleep pasta 8 or 9am anyway. So I’m pretty tired today – I need to catch up! I don’t know what the day holds, but going out tonight (of course!) and the beach on Saturday (I will apply sunscreen every 15 min!!) and then out and then.. hopefully rest on Sunday, but who knows. I’m really just kind of like.. loving it here right now. I’m kind of realizing like – omg – you’re in peru molly! – and it’s awesome. There’s so much going on all the time, always something new to do and try. I’m getting used to the cat calls – my life pretty much summed up here is sweating and cat calls, how those two mix, I don’t know but they do every day! My computer is being really dumb tho, it for real took like an hour for it to start today. I was pretty sick yesterday (so maybe it wasn’t the Peruvian hotdog) and less sick today. I think there isn’t a day that goes by that one of us in the group isn’t sick – everything’s just so new and different and the air and the food, but not bad sick, just like – oh I don’t feel good but I’m still going to have an amazing day. One thing that’s sad here is the poverty. The ones that make me the saddest and that I usually give in to and give money are the women with babies on their backs begging for money. All the beggars will come to me it seems like and keep pestering me, and Kelly will usually have to say “Leave her alone, she’s not going to give you anything!” lol, they must see the weakness in my face or something. It’s a different world here and it’s amazing. Update me on how all of you are, I feel like it’s been a few days. Love and miss you!
Un beso de Peru

hasta miercoles

So tonight.. uhh Backstreet Boys! I am super super pumped! Lol – should be amazing!! All the old 90’s songs!! This week has been alright, on Monday we had a field trip instead of class to church’s in Lima – beautiful, huge church’s with this tour guide (I should know his name!) who is a famous writer and well known historian here? And yesterday for class we met with former Congressman Carlos Ferrero who was part of Congress during Fuijimori’s term and he just talked to us about corruption in the world and in Peru and.. it’s really interesting. We get to meet some pretty interesting people and go to some pretty elite places while we are here! Monday morning I woke up really sick.. I think it’s because what I ate on Sunday night, or maybe what I didn’t eat?? I had the sickest thing on Sunday night, I couldn’t even pretend to like it, for real. It was hot dogs – and I had no idea what it was when my host mom said it, I don’t know what the word for hotdog is in Spanish! But she said, ‘Oh you’ll really like it – it’s American food!’… uhh no! lol. Elisabeth served it to me and I was like o m g! Except.. I don’t know how.. but it was worse! It didn’t even look cooked and it wasn’t like.. the same. It was worse. I didn’t know you could get worse than American hotdogs – it had like dif meat or something, like gushy – like maybe cat or dog or something? I don’t even know but I could not even pretend to like it. I couldn’t even stand the smell. I decided I had to try it, it wasn’t hamster, and it could be totally good right, I mean did eat duck the other day.. uhh wrong – it was soooo so sick I almost spit it out back on my plate. So I just cut the rest up in little pieces and tried to like move it around and push it under my rice lol.. didn’t really work. Elisabeth always knows and she laughed and said you don’t like it, and then asked me if I didn’t like American food, and I said no.. lol. I couldn’t even pretend to like it, I never wanted to see that on my plate again. So I felt sick all morning yesterday and I think it’s cause of that sick cat-dog or something. It wasn’t from my malaria pills tho.. cause I stopped taking those lol. Wendy, from the ISA staff said it was ridiculous that we all had to take them, especially since they make us sick (they make all of our stomachs upset and make me throw up a lot too!) So we all decided to stop taking them, we aren’t going into any Malaria zones anyway she said, even when we do go to la selva. Then.. Kelly got sick. Kelly went to Africa during J-term and she said she didn’t take Malaria pills, but was in Malaria zones of course. So Kelly thought she had Malaria and oddly enough we all stopped taking our Malaria pills.. So I might have Malaria now! Hah no – Kelly is better tho and hopefully does not have Malaria! Last night was Michaels birthday and we sang karaoke (it’s the cool thing to do here for real, and it’s super funny and quite fun actually) and lucuma cake – lucuma is the richest fruit here that is to die for when put with chocolate. A must have while in Peru! So tonight is Backstreet Boys (super super pumped!!!!) Thursday night is Salsa dancing, and Friday night is a baby shower for Michelle on the ISA stuff, then out again!! This week we have had a TON of homework!! Next week we are starting salsa dancing classes three days a week – super super excited for!! I need to catch up with everyone soon – I feel like I haven’t heard people’s voices in a while! And I’m getting unburnt and mostly tanner – my daily makeup routine is.. deodorant (it’s so hot it’s usually off in the first hour!), hand sanitizer, because everything is dirty and sunscreen – and my belly ring is raw and my belly button is very sunburnt and hurts! Lol, if that’s not sick info you wanted to know.
Love and miss you!
Besos!!

the weekend and then some!!

Ok! Sorry sorry sorry it’s been a while!! I’ve been busier than busy the last few days!! Where did I leave off? Oh yeah – I think Wednesday – hard hard hard day of class. I was just like – “Nevermind, I’d like to go home please, this is harder than I expected,” and I was just at a low point, and the group had made plans to go salsa dancing that night, but I didn’t want to, I just wanted to be miserable at home, but I told everyone I was going, so I went and.. it was amazing!! I love it! We are going to take classes weekly – hopefully more than once a week – and then go to the clubs on the weekend. We went to a salsa club on Friday after karaoke (yep, karaoke bar – first time – was hilarious), and the salsa dancing was amazing… amazing! The way they can move is incredible, oh I want to learn, but to be that good is of course impossible, it’s the coolest thing ever. We had class on Thursday, we went to a market to look at corruption in Peru, and looked at all these things for super super super cheap – like everything black marketed and.. it’s just different! Then Friday the girls in the group all went shopping in Miraflores.. super fun. I tried on like 10 pairs of shoes for super cheap in Saga Fallabella, but didn’t get any (I know ma – you wouldn’t believe it!), but did get some other things! A curling iron – cause if I use the one from the US, which I don’t know if it’s dual converter whatever, it will shut down all the electricity in my whole apartment building, which wasn’t a risk I wanted to take. I figured I could spend 100 soles on a curling iron, instead of a few loans to pay for the re-wiring of my apartment building! Shopping was fun, followed by ice cream (lucuma of course, a fruit here with super super rich ice cream, a def must try when you’re here), and then went home to get ready for the night of karaoke for an intercambio with other Peruanos, and it was so funny. We had drinks before all together (mojitos!), then walked to the karaoke bar (all in Miraflores, right where I live, super convenient for me!) and we sang karaoke for 3 hours! Lol – it was kinda weird at first, but it’s super fun! And funny!! It’s really chill cause no one cares if you’re really bad – like me, lol. Then we went to the Cuban salsa club – o m g amazing, you for real wouldn’t believe these dancers! I like to just sit there and watch, but sometimes someone will make me get up and dance, even tho I tell them I’m a gringa and can’t, but they say it’s the only way to learn – which is true!! So I give it my best shot and it’s always fun, lol, I’m sure you can imagine. Then the next morning went to Amanda’s to go to the beach in Santa Maria with her host sister and her friend, and laid out on the beach alllll day – was amazing…. And hot.. and I am no longer white, I’m pure red!! Ouch it hurts! Sunscreen 5 times I swear!! The ocean was so strong and beautiful, and we had ceviche for lunch on the beach (it’s supposed to be super good there) – a must have while in Peru! – I really like it too, and Chicha Morada – their purple corn drink, that’s quite good! (you need to try all this when you come Pagina!) Then, we got back to Amanda’s, I went home to get ready for the night, I got lost (to give you the PG 13 version.. rents J ) lol, and then we went out again! We went and got drinks in Café Café, a restaurant in Larcomar that over looks the ocean, yes – we can buy our own drinks! But it’s expensive… it’s like the same price, which is not too fun! And then we went to Barancco – kind of a sketch part of Lima, but where all the discotecas are, and danced for the night! Our Peruano friends had to go and ask for the price first before they saw all of us Americans, because they said they’d super over charge us if they saw us – so they got the price and paid before they even saw that all us Americans were coming in. It was – a weird bar kinda, girls danced on the table and – was weird lol, but fun! I’m learning to keep it chill – not everyone is out to get me, there are watchful eyes everywhere, and every taxi driver doesn’t have the same idea. I got my first fake money the other day! Luckily it was only 50 centimos, and the combi girl on the bus just handed it back to me and said no, it’s not real. And so I gave her another one – I was just glad it was 50 soles or 100! That would not be fun.. but it will probably happen! I asked the mom-like woman beside me if it was fake and how and she explained it to me. Then before she left, she kissed me and told me to be careful in Lima. So don’t worry rents, for every one sketch person, there are two good ones, I’m sure of it. One weird thing about being here is that.. I really don’t know the music besides some random stuff in clubs and the salsa – because everywhere everywhere they listen to American music! In the malls, in restaurants, in combis and taxis sometimes, everywhere! Like.. not now music tho – like 80 & 90’s music lol. Oh.. speaking of the good ole’ 90’s – we bought tickets for the Backstreet Boys in Lima for Wednesday! Lol – super pumped. (yes santh – I’ll do the dance we made up for dance camp to, ‘I want you back,’ don’t worry!)
I feel comfortable where I live – I get along well with my host mom and my maid – they are both super sweet. Pilar is my host mom and Elisabeth is the maid. Elisabeth makes everything – last night she made homemade lucuma ice cream! Was good – but really really rich! And I had spaghetti! I get excited every time I don’t have rice for a meal. I think I may never eat rice again after these next few months. It’s with everything! I don’t even wanna go out for Chinese, even tho it’s really good here, just cause I don’t wanna eat rice! And I still don’t know what I’m eating.. my maid will tell me but I won’t know what the heck the new words are so I try it.. and sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t and she always knows lol. I’m just afraid that one of these times it’s going to be cuy – which is hamster!!! Which I have made it a point to NOT try! I don’t know if I could sleep well after knowing I have a rat in my stomach. Ick! I have at least 6 pieces of silverware for every meal, and everything comes on a little saucer – even the jam. Very proper or something here. Sometimes there’s mayo on my salads too.. it’s different. But the mayo here isn’t like the stuff we have, it’s a lot lighter and made with more milk, and I haven’t the heart to tell Elisabeth yet that I don’t want it, all my stuff is laid out waiting for me before I can see it. They also have amazing juice drinks here too – maracuya, banana leche, peach, strawberry, papaya, sooo good!
Right now I’m in my room watching Jon and Kate plus 8 in Spanish, love it (you would too Mandy, I know it! Lol)! Except Kate’s spanish voice-over is waaay too nice! It’s totally not the strict, bossy Kate that we love! So glad I got to listen to baby Presy talk for a little bit today! Oh I miss him so and all his little movements. I miss everyone and think of you often, I’ve hung up pictures and my little notes and so my room is more like my own with you all here with me! I haven’t put up pics yet – I know I know I need to! – but I don’t have internet in my house so when I am on the net I like to talk to people and email back and stalk everyone’s facebook (they call it fa-SAY-book here, funny!) real quick! I’ll get them up sometime tho! Hope everyone is doing well and to hear from you soon!
Sylv – Happy Birthday babe! Sorry I missed it, I was thinking of you tho! And trying to think of your birthday last year…. And I can’t. Why is that? I don’t think that’s a good thing – must have been fun! Lol ;)
- un beso de Peru

home sounds good

And for today..... I'd like to go home.

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.

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!