Peru

Palm Sunday- Holy Week

2011-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 17th, 2011
This morning I woke up to go to Mass at the church to which my host family goes, Catholic and less than three blocks away.
-for the record when I say that my family goes to this church it does not mean that they sit in mass for an hour each Sunday (or Saturday or various days of the week in the evening that mass is held). They are a Catholic family, as almost each Peruvian family is, that do not attend each week. This is a fairly normal practice. For instance my previous host family, though shocked that I had never been baptized, never once attended church even as we passed through the holiday season. My current host family does go with more frequency, more so when there are important religious events happening.-

This Sunday is an important religious day because it's the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday!
Today is celebrated because it is the day that Jesus returned after being in the desert for 40 days. When he returns he is showered with palms in celebration.
Today at this church (and I would make an educated guess that at almost all others) merchants were selling hand made plants which had been folded into crosses and other designs- made of palm and containing olive branches and some with carnations. These plants represent parts of the Easter celebration which is Semana Santa = Holy Week here. Each important event of Jesus' Crucifixion is celebrated since this is considered the most important part of his life- and he is greatly admired here.
The palm represents his return from the desert. The olive his arrest and that proceeding since he was arrested in an olive grove. And the carnation represents his rebirth on Easter Sunday (which I searched to make sure and I found that it is literally written into the bible that the flowering of the Carnation represents the resurrection of Jesus).

Outside of the church we bought our plants (for one sole, the equivalent of about 35 cents) and went inside for Mass. After the opening we were all ushered outside, each person with their plant arrangement. Here the father took holy water and splashed it all over us-the small crowed of people holding these plants over our heads waiting to be blessed. The plant collection, after being dashed with the holy water (along with us) is blessed, and later kept in the house to bring good blessings to the household and those who live inside.
Then we returned back inside to hear the rest of the mass, which includes many songs, some readings in which we read back a phrase or two as a congregation, listening to the father speak and last, Communion.
In this Mass, as it opens the Holy Week that is Easter, all of the parts of Jesus' story were reviewed. They spoke of his return, his arrest, the decision of the city to crucify him, his Crucifixion and his rebirth. They announced as well that each day there would be Mass, and confessional open all week until late in the evening to accommodate all schedules. And that on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday the specific Masses would celebrate the important occurrences of that day: the last supper, his Crucifixion, his burial, and his Resurrection.

I thought the process which they do to celebrate Jesus' return and this Holy Week is pretty neat. I am going to be attending all of the Masses, those held on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (which are religious holidays for everyone- so most people take advantage of this week or long weekend to travel, go camping that sort of thing). I won't be doing anything special so I am going to make sure I get to experience this important religious event!
It is important as a part of this religion and in so a big part of this culture as Catholicism is a big part of Latin America and even more so are celebrated Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

This will be an interesting and very distinct Easter for me this year!

Someone's Bittersweet Return

2011-03-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

In my current house hold I have a host brother, who I have not met because he is on exchange in the United States...
Though that changes today.
This Tuesday evening my host brother will be returning to Lima from Michigan. He is actually the third Peruvian exchange student to be sent home (though one of the three was later revised and seen to have been preemptive). But he is being sent home for having a girlfriend in the US-which goes against the no dating rules that Rotary defines for a reason. It makes it so much harder to say goodbye, which is funny because now he has to deal with that only much worse because he has to say it about three months early (obviously I should mention the no dating rule also protects from other problems on exchange like pregnancy and alienation from other people-only spending time with your partner it's not to your best advantage, ect).
It's sad to see kids get sent home because no one ever wants to leave and it makes the homecoming bittersweet. Of course everyone is happy to be back home, but not in that fashion and not at that time point. Plus it leaves all the extra time that they should have been on exchange extra and empty.

What this means for me is that today I get a host brother.
I must say I am nervous about it because I had already settled into the concept of my family with him out of the picture. And as a factor of the size of our apartment and his completely free schedule there will be a lot of time sorta thrown together. Hopefully we get along and that his return home goes smoothly. Being back at this point could be rough.
So this evening when his plane comes in, I have a new family dynamic to adjust to and a new brother to meet

What is new in Thinking these days

2011-03-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

As the frenzied season of college hunting approaches for me, I am finding it harder and harder to pin point what I want to study and where.
I have many interests, though I am not sure if any of them I want to pursue an entire life time in.

I have never thought of myself as a particularly adventurous person, I like what is familiar and known, I like hanging around the house and seeing good friends I know well. And I was always confident that by the time I got to college I would choose one of the things I was really interested in and get myself educated in it. The most traditional of paths, high school, college, undergraduate work, internships, career jobs. Knowing that I would enjoy working hard to be successful at whatever it was I had chosen.
Because I have always loved working hard to be the best I can be.

But now, after this experience of exchange, I just don't know what I want. That pursuit just seems too easy, as though I am denying the part of me which has yet to decide what one calling I really want, the part of me which urges me to see everything and experience it all before I decide anything for keeps.

Now I long for what is new, to explore and create my own world inside of the new one I am exploring, finding my own corner in something new and different.

In this way exchange has altered my current mind set, my elementary desires.
What I don't know is how I will appease this desire, this need for new. Or how long into my lifestyle it will control my decisions.

We will just have to wait and see what sort of path I can beat into the brush to see where I am headed and how I apply this new focus in my life to the one I already have!

Some Insight

2011-03-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

There are many things that are unique to youth exchange, just like there are lots of experiences and growth that you go through because you are figuring out life more independently and in a foreign country. Things feel different because they are different.

Personally one of the biggest changes from the beginning between living in Portland, Oregon and Lima, Peru was not the language or the food differences or being away from family.
The hardest thing for me to get used to was the concept of being an outsider.
The strangest feeling that I had to get used to was that of being observed.

And it was such a strange thing to accustom to because you are the foreigner, living in a new world. Your job is to soak up everything around you and live this new life by observation. The tips you are literally given before going on exchange are to watch everyone else; if you are not sure which fork to use watch everyone else, how and who do you greet, follow someoneelse's lead.
And let me say that I followed this to the T. Having a host sister was incredibly great for that in my first weeks.

But this just makes it even stranger. You are observing EVERYTHING because it is exciting and new and you are dieing to see it all and experience everything. You observe to understand the life. But these observations are best taken when you blend in, to see the world in its truly natural, neutral environment (with no reactions to you). Which suddenly becomes impossible because you show up on everyone's radar as something foreign.

I am not sure if I am getting this understanding across so I will drag in some visual. In the movie Inception (which I am really just gonna assume everyone has seen because let's face it, almost everyone not living under a mountain has) when the young girl (also known as Ellen Page) is introduced to the dream world architecture they go on a stroll, Ellen Page manipulating the dream worlds structure. There is a point during this in which Leonardo DiCaprio tells her that she has to cool her jets and stop messing with the world so much because all the people walking around will realize that she is not one of them, someone who is unwelcome in his subconscious.
Well- right before the dream people start attacking her, they all begin to turn and stare transfixed. This naked stare is pretty much how I felt, me stepping in for Ellen Page.
It feels like the entire world is just staring at you, unabashed, as you walk around. It is really strange after coming from a place where you are an everyday citizen and no one looks twice to consider your presence. Mix in that you are trying to observe everyone else but they continue to observe you, and it's a real game changer.

For me at the beginning when all the change was fresh and everything was more difficult, this was a big deal. It has some to do with the idea that it's a constant notion reminding you that you are not anywhere that you started (you don't know this place and they don't know you, in the original game plan you did not belong here)-that you are not home. A lot to do with the feeling that you do not belong, it is much more difficult to blend in when a) you are much taller than the average population b) you are much whiter than the average population c) you dress in a distinct manner than the average population and then you have everything else when you begin interacting with people, language accent, mannerisms, interpretations, experiences, knowledge. All of this attracts quite a lot of attention to which I was not accustomed to receiving. Nor was I ready for, I was all set on going abroad and exploring and observing and figuring out life here by seeing it all happening and then jumping in and trying to work it out after taking constant mental notes and images. Instead there is no slip in nice and easy with out turning any heads.
Life as an exchange student is about making the splash when you hit the water.

This was hard to get used to. I am not used to nor am I fond of extra attention. Yelling on the bus for them to stop at the next corner and having ten heads swivel to stare at me was simply a lot to get used to. On a few occasions I would get off a few blocks early or late to avoid the sight seeing if I was just not feeling confident.

A whole other aspect about this is another kind of attention which I got for being a young white woman. I am talking about whistles and cat calls and random 'hellos' on the street. This on top of the subtly phsycological push of standing out made things tougher to get used to quicker. Now I am used to it, but it invokes many complaints from us exchange student ladies.

What I am trying to communicate is that going from being the observer to the observed was a unique experience that I went through (and continue to adjust to in new situations) on youth exchange.

And that this switch from the person doing all the observing to the person under constant observation is a very weird feeling to get used to. As though all the rules to the game you are playing suddenly got changed with out your consult.

But ofcours when you are on exchange you always end up winning in some way near the end

House Switch

2011-03-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

As we all know when in Rotary Youth Exchange, one does not stay with the same family the entire year.
Really we are supposed to switch houses every three months.
In Lima you are supposed to switch houses once, half way through the year in January
When did I switch? February 28th- my seven month anniversary in fact
Why did I switch so late? Really there is no exact answer, we did not figure out our swap (because I was swapping families with another exchange student who lived close by) in the first week of January. Then I was traveling. Then the exchange students together were traveling. Then we were in February. There was some resistance or complication as the the other side looked for someone else to change to. Two eventful weeks passed with out any communication between the two families, then I was traveling. By the time I got back the girl I was swapping with was traveling. Leaving our switch at last being the end of February.

All this business of switching houses was a huge controversy in the exchange student environment. honestly, serious business. There were people who had heard awful things about the house they were destined to be going to, there were kids who plain out did not want to move because they loved their host family, there were those who wanted to rearrange the who is changing with who to see a new neighborhood of Lima, there were people dragging their feet, there were phone calls from the district governor and there were threats of being sent home. Really the business of who is changing with whom and have they switched yet was radical.

I was looking forward to a new perspective of family living in Lima! A bit anxious about starting over in another household, but I had met the family before and knew they were nice people and where they lived.
Of all the scandal and chatter that took place because of these switches, what I wish someone had told me was how long it took them to pack! The day I moved all morning I spent packing and all afternoon I spent unpacking (considering that I moved about ten minutes away). I had not realized how much I had acquired in seven months! Granted it is seven months of my life which are unique and in another country with lots of new things, but still there is a lot to be packed when I am returning home and things could get messy!

Most importantly of all this random mess of information is that I LOVE my new host family. They are incredibly considerate and attentive of me. I feel comfortable and happy here. I live with a single mom whose only son is on exchange right now. She works as a lawyer and her mom comes and stays here during the week, cooking and working among over things. My host grandparents are from Huacho, a small small city North of Lima about three hours away in bus. I really love where they live, they have lots of animals: a mean alpaca who wants to bite me, a big friendly dog, ducks, parrots, turtles, rabbits and more all in a green yard with two hammocks hanging in the front. It is a really nice escape to relaxation and 'wild life' of animals and plants after the hustle and bustle of Lima. Being apart of this family I get to experience that as part of my home with my host grandparents, mom and aunt who is a lot of fun.
I am doing very well and everything is going incredible!

Dance Class

2011-03-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

March 16th, 2011
I had a dance recital! My first and only in lovely Peru and dancing traditional dances of course!
I signed up (with a friend) for these dance classes after seeing my friend's dance recital after her course of dance. The way the program works is you pick your schedule which includes two dances which you learn once a week for three hours (12-3pm for me on Saturdays). You take these dance classes for about two and a half months up until your performance where you go on with your class and dance in front of a packed audience in traditional (beautiful) wardrobe which they supply you with.
My class was for Marinera, the dance of Peru which is a beautiful partner dance which has the theme of falling in love as the woman flirts and dances about. It is really incredible when seeing two great dancers perform. It is characterized by the woman in a long and full skirt which is held in one hand and waved and turned about for specific moves and a handkerchief in the other. The men hold hats and handkerchiefs while wearing a more traditional pants and shirt duo. The women dance barefoot and with their hair back in buns, with flowers in their hair, and black chokers adorned with gold pieces on their ears.
Dancing the Marinera has much to do with form and confidence. You are dancing but you are simultaneously holding yourself still, retaining your structured stance. The most difficult part is dealing with the skirt which has to be held and lifted and twirled all while dancing. It is a lot of fun and very pretty, personally it was lots of fun because there is a certain air about the dance that you get to embody.
The other dance of the two was Huaylarsh which is a dance typical of the Sierra. This dance has much more jumping, movement and stomping. Really it is a combination of stomping and jumping and gets to be exhausting when practicing over and over again. it is also lots of fun because it is as I just said jumping and stomping! Our costume included two skirts which have these incredible embroidered work all over them, brightly colored flowers and birds covering each space (I am considering buying one for everyday use back in the states, they are just so colorful and incredible). So two of these awesome skirts, then another which is a see through sort of heavy knit which you are always holding in your hands and moving about during the dance. Then comes a black shirt which covers part of the skirts. On top of that is a colorful waisted belt. Then embroidered sleeves, a hat and the last touch being a shawl sort of cloth which also has heavily embroidered images of flowers, hummingbirds, parrots or peacocks fastened to the chest. This is a very layered wardrobe, to match what is typical in the mountains- very warm and very brightly colored!

I really enjoyed the two dances, though I definitely had a preference towards the Marinera which is why I chose to continue it by taking it at University as well. The performance was really very fun, we did not do as well as we had practiced if I get the video in April like I've been promised and you see our performance, but I had a great time. Getting to use the costume was a highlight. My current host mom and grandma came to watch and two friends as well. Being on the performing side of the show was great :)

I am coming back with a Marinera skirt and blouse because I bought them for practice, which is neat because I can bring back the costume and some dance to go with it!

Latest Update

2011-03-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

The most recent update!
Today was my first official day of University!
I must say right now there is not a lot to say on the subject because I have only attended one class. But it does seem like a noteworthy point to play catch up on everything that I have left out in my absence to the world of blogging.
So I am attending ESAN University in Santiago de Surco in Lima- a good hour and a half bus ride from my house in Pueblo Libre (though today it took me two hours to get there and two hours to get back, just for my one class which comically so was only two hours long). Needless to say I have some long commutes ahead of me, ramming heads with traffic, and some new bus routes to test out.
This is very exciting in one hand, because it is UNIVERSITY!! and I worked very hard to make sure that I was a) considered to go to University instead of back to school b) included in the planning for finding a university for the exchange students and c) communicating everything between my host club, my host family and the exchange president. Basically it was an incredible amount of frustration, questions and consistence that went into this general act and is just very cool that I get to attend University and see how life is like in Peruvian University.
However it also feels very mundane. Slowly all the pieces have been coming together up until this very last minute moment in which we began classes. It feels right to be walking around the campus in street clothes and taking notes in Spanish about Peru's diversity. I guess I would say that I am calmly excited by this very real and new event!
We (the eight exchange students attending this University- the others were sorted out to be attending one of the finest Universities of Lima through their host club) are taking one history/globalization class of Peru. I have this course Mondays from 1-3 and Fridays from 3-5. Lots of reading assignments as homework due for this coming Monday, with a test looming at the end of the month!
We also get to take two 'elective' classes, I am going to take Marinera, the dance of Peru, and Judo because it seems like good fun and exercise.
I think it will be a lot of fun, I have the history class with most everyone, and then Marinera with a few exchangies and Judo on my own. It will be good to have a new focus with work and activities constantly.

All in all I have started University here in Lima and I am very happy about it, looking into various traffic evasion routs, and very much looking forward to my attendance!

I apologize for my complete absence, there really is no real excuse but I hope that I'll keep something new up from now on.

More school Information

2010-10-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I would also give some more detailed information about my school!

My friends!
As my school is the school for high ranking navy officers there is also a group of kids who come from other countries and are studying and living in Peru while their parents finish their terms abroad. That's my group of friends really, obviously there are peruvian friends too! But my best friends at school are the Colombians, girl from Chile and some peruvian friends. We are a really nice group and I really do get to learn alot more about Latin America, hearing about the differences between Peru and Colombia, Chile and Ecuador! I sorta love it.
Also the concept of friends changes a little bit between exchange students. Through this exchange I really get to see that other parts of the United States really have their own little culture! Between us (the majority of the exchangies are American though there is one girl from Belgium, a guy from France and from Switzerland) we talk alot about differences everywhere, it's interesting to hear about! Also is that I am seeing honestly for the first time that you can be friends with people who you have large differences with, between the exchange students we are all very different but are sort of insta-friends which I love because I do get to see this side of the concept of friendship (my friends back home have mostly huge similarities with because that's how we met or bonded, and here it's purely experiances that unite us!).

About school system-
Here there is no middle school. there are six years of primary school and then there are five years of secondary. Also the school year, because they are in the other hemisphere have summer when we have winter. So their school year is ACTUALLY a year, it's an odd change! So we are ending at the begining of December, and our final quarter begins next week!!
Also something that I have noticed is that the learning/teaching methods are very very different. In my classes the majority of the distribution of knowladge is from copying powerpoints or the chalk board or copying down what the teacher says. At my school there is very little homework and very little actual work. To learn in the subject you really have to get it and remember it the one time it's been stated in class. There is also a general lack of respect I would say for the teachers, there is so much laughter, yelling and just talking during class, not to mention talking back to the teachers (big schock for me, totally different change in atmosphere for a class room).
Class Schedual:

Monday Tuesday Wednsday Thursday Friday
OBE COMMUNICATION MATH HISTORY BIOLOGY
eNGLISH COMMUNICATION MATH HISTORY MATH
ENGLISH RELIGION HISTORY COMM. MATH
PHYSICS OBE OBE OBE OBE

break

MATH BIOLOGY PERSON MATH ART
COMM. BIOLOGY PHYSICS MATH ART
COMM. HISTORY PHYSICS CIVICS RELIGION

break

HISTORY PE ENGLISH ENGLISH ART
PERSON PE ENGLISH ENGLISH ART

p.s. It looks like there is a very high chance I WILL be able to go to college in Peru!

Eating Habbits

2010-10-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Naturally food is a huge part of any culture, and even more so in this country- one of the most common questions that I get are what are the traditional food dishes of your country or more specifically of my state. Because here there are alot of traditional foods!
I am hoping that at some point during my year I will post a blog with pictures of the traditional dishes (which aren't just traditional, traditional dishes that you prepare on ceremony, they are traditional and staples of the country and the everyday life, it's what we all eat) with photos and descriptions of a selection!

But in the mean time I thought that I would write about some general eating habbits. As many know here lunch is the largest meal, it would be our dinner. So the eating habbits are switched up a bit:
In the morning there is always a bag of fresh roles from the panaderia around the block and then there is usually cheese, slices of meats, and butter that you can choose between putting in the role. I usually just eat a couple of the roles, because they are really tasty (but I do it casually because eating plain rolls is kinda considered odd). OR I will microwave the roll with the cheese and ham.
Now, what you drink is a big deal with breakfast. My host mom is all about the milk, she was for it with me and my host sister, but I have never been a big fan of straight milk in the U.S. and it taste very different here (when you drink it people add sugar and always drink it warmed), so I had some for the first couple weeks... Which is when my host mom made orange juice! Which is utterly amazing! Because it's fresh squeezed orange juice!! Ofcourse its great! And so my host mom started making it for me instead of any milk, if we have oranges, we'll have freshed orange juice! Which is amazingly awsome! And I felt guilty at first for my host mom makng orange juice every morning, but then I sort of caught on that really is the sort of cultural norm.
Every morning when I go on the bus all the moms of the kids who get on in the morning will be waiting by the window and wave them off.

Lunch is the meal of the day, it's usually eaten early afternoon and is a large meal usually made up of mostly rice/potatoes and meat.
I eat lunch after school because you don't eat lunch at school. So I don't eat until four fifteen ish during the school week. Though that is not to say that there isn't alot of eating during school, because there is! The kids around my grade level eat alot of cookies, crackers and lollipops all day long. What's more is there are three places where you can buy snacks- all sorts of cookies, chips, candies, drinks, ice cream, donuts, sandwhiches, all sorts of things. I always try and bring crackers and fruit if we have it to eat at school!

Then there is or there isn't dinner. Usually after I eat it's early evening and so if i get hungry later in the evening I just get a snack and I am all set. But if someone's hungry or I say that I am really hungry while my host parents are home we will have dinner but we won't eat until late (usually it will be pollo a la brasa or pizza, something complete that can be ordered in because at that point my host mom is not cooking)

Also some generalizations about restaurants in Lima, Peru; there seem to be select few types. There are ALOT of Chifas which is the Peruvian Chinese food. It's good, though it's not exactly chinese food. Anyway they are all over the place, we live next door to one, and across from two. Then there are Chicken places which serve pollo a la brasa, which is basically a heavily seasoned chicken which is served with french fries and some salad on the side. Then there is some other smaller restaurants which serve things that are more typical like anticucho and other things. Basically there are three main types of places where you will eat. Then there is the fourth area which would be fast food restaurants from America: KFC, Pizza Hut (which somehow became a sit down, classy, wait in line restaurant here), Papa Johns, Dominoes, McDonalds, BurgerKing... there are also some other specialized restaurants, lke italian or what have you, but those four sections are really the most common (at the very least in my generalized experiance!!) This no doubt factors in my local neighborhood and such!

Interesting Peruvian Activities!

2010-10-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

I have several updates to make, and I am not certin where I should begin with them, so I thought I would go over some of the things that I have gotten to do that have everything to do with cultural exchange. Basically all the stuff that's totally normal in Peru but seems completly bizaare to Americans because we are... American!
Naturally part of these have to do with food! What I have gotten to try:
-Anticucho= cows heart
they prepare it sort of barbecue style (but not with bbq sauce or any of that) and i have only ever seen it served in thinner circular-ish slices skewerd onto a wooden stake. These are very common, you can find them all over the place, and they can be prepared on outside carts and any level of restaurant- and they are! And they are prepared everywhere because they are delicious! They are not too chewey and if they aren't over salted, are just really really good!
-Pancita=linning of cow stomach
I only had this once, not as common, definitly not as good. It's really really chewey to the point of being hard to eat and has an uncomfortable texture, with no real redeaming flavor to be worth eating (in my opinion obviously!)
-Cuyi=Guinea Pig
I know that those who have pets will not be happy about this commentary, so you may want to look away now! ...It taste kinda like fried chicken. hahaha. It sounds so cliche, but it's sort of true. It was good! Not as tough or dry as chicken, infact it was a little too oily, but in general it was tasty! (sorry my vegetarian and pet owning friends <3 )
The other things include:
-Seeing a Marinera
Marinera is the typical northern peruvian dance which is really cool! I got to see a full out version with a woman dancing barefoot with a man on horse back as her partner. What makes it really cool is that the horse dosn't just trot around, it really seems to dance with the music and the woman! I have some videos, I will post them if I can figure out how...
-Bull Fight
I got to see a bull fight aswell! It wasn't really a fight, so don't worry! There was no sword play or harm done to the bulls. It was really interesting though, they had four bull fighters and each one his own bull. But inbetween each little show of them running around each other, there was something of interest. So there was the Marinera, there was a walk around of a bunch of young dancers, and most interesting I thought was the use of clowns. Inbetween the real bull fighters they had these two clowns come out with a scrawny little baby bull and they just do a bunch of stupid stuff, running around having the baby bull hit them and everything for laughs. It's a really an interesting atmosphere, when I got to go it was in a sort of amipheater with bleachers and they were all filled. Right behind us was the band, and they play play the time away. People are making noise and yammering and everytime the bull fighter swipes away his clothe coaxing the bull to run through everyone yells OLE! It's pretty fun. Also at events like these everyone has a reason to be drinking, so everyone is drinking, all the time. So down around the edge there is also all the people who are sitting on the brink trying to swat at the bulls as they run around inside, because... I don't know why... Or trying to spray beer onto the animal to get a reaction. It's really funny when the bull jumps over the fence out of the caral and into the samller cirumfrance area they have cleared for that. The only thing is that area generally has quite a number of people in it. On the last bull, which was the most lively, it jumped over several times and ran around the circumfrance. It's funny because it sends up this general reaction from the crowd, as they watch the people down there scramble to get out of the way but also just laugh at the situation. It was pretty comical looking when the bull jumped out the first time and there was an entire band standing in the between area of the circumfrence! It was just like a cartoon, all these (I dunno) 24 peice set of men all dressed in the same official band suit start jumping out of the way holding their shiney instruments, and three seconds later charges by a bull!
-Cock Fight
I hadn't really decided if I wanted to see this or not because the sol purpose of the activity is to have two roosters fight until one kills the other. We, being my host parents and my host neice (who is six years old) just walked over and sat down. I was sitting there thinking, is this really just gonna happen like this, ubber casually, does my host family not see my general shock? Nope. None of that, it was just something normal for everyone. We sat down and there was every type of person there- really ealthy gamblers there to bet and win or loose their money, stretching down to very poor kids, because it's a free show. There are vendors filtering through: selling cigarrets, beer, soda, lollipops, and sandwiches. Everyone's just sittin around while the two birds were marked and each had these huge curved blades tied to the backs of one of their legs. And then they just let them loose each behind its own line and then it begins. It's surprising how quickly and casually it all happens.
-Dance of the scicorss
This is a traditional dance of the Incas where the dancers are wearing traditional clothes and are dancing with scicorss. They dance and jump about cutting the air and traditionally, the rain. It's really interesting to see and an incredible age range of who can perform and how many moves they can perform while keeping to the tradition!

Other quick observations

2010-09-19T19:15:00.001-07:00

Things that are way more popular HERE
(as opposed to in the United States):

~Popcorn
Salted popcorn here is eaten all the time, of everything you can buy at school to eat the bags of popcorn are the most popular I would have to say. Here it is eaten like no big deal, where as back home it's very much like- you are eating popcorn...where's the movie?
~clapping
At our Rotary meetings we clap for the flag of Peru and Rotary... mild but interesting difference
~taking pictures
Every official moment or action moment---PICTURE!
~slippers
Don't even think about walking around in bare feet in your house... I don't know if I'll see my feet for a year... everyone thinks you will get sick, but also your feet would get dirty...
~rice
Every single lunch, with out fail, even if there are potatoes. They don't let THAT faze them, they eat them both!
~Seasoning (on food-pretty heavy)
~Dancing / Music
To dance here, casually or at a party or anything, is to salsa and do other related steps. When people ask if I know how to salsa or merengue and I say no (though I have learned enough so far to look more or less normal and have fun) they all look really confused and ask me what we do to dance in the US... And I try and explain, but I'm starting to ask the same thing! Hahaa
~TRAFFIC
There is alot of traffic in this huge city! It's a terribly annoying thing! I am proud to say that now when someone tells me where they live, in what district of Lima, I am picture it on a visual map--the physical distance. So I'm going along orienting myself well! But along with that comes the realization that when someone says that they live in Miraflores, I see an hour long trip via combi and/or taxi. It's kinda crazy! And about traffic as well is that it is made up of a completly different mix! the majority is loads of Combis, which are public buses. I doon't even know how many different types, sizes and colors there are! Some are literally vans that seats got shoved into, those are harder to get in and out of because of my height (hahaa)... And there are loads of taxis! Though there is some concern surrounding taxis, since everyone is concerned with their personal well being and with an increases in crimes of abductions and murders, women inparticular are much more catious to take taxis by themselves since about 98% of the time the drivers are men... So my family is much more comfortable with me taking the combi then getting into a taxi by myself!
~Billboards
HOLLY MOLLY. I have never been more exposed to more adds here in one week of traveling about the city (I mean my school is an hour away so five days a week I have atleast two hours of commute each day) than in like four months in Portland!
~sub topic: Political Billboards
YEAH. ALL OVER THE PLACE! Elections are October Third and there are extra billboards all over the place for each canidate! Normal signs that are put up on sticks everywhere! I'll get some pictures before the election time, though something tells me they won't come down that fast anyway...
~French Fries
They eat alot of french fries. Alot. Wiiiith chicken, meats and fast foods.

Things that are way more popular in the USA:

~Drinking
Now, this should be taken with a brick of salt. People drink here alot, but the manner that they do so is very different. Here the majority of people only drink when there is a cause for celebration, at reunions, parties, or formal gatherings. But to drink beer or a glass of wine at home would be strange here, super strange. What's more is that the glasses and bottles are completly different-- Beer comes in really large bottles, and at family parties they way that people drink beer is that one person has the bottle, and everyone has a glass--actually the majority of the times I have seen there have never been enough cups, so people just share once they finish, because one person has the big bottle and they pour in about a fourth of the way full and let the person drink that and then fill it up again or pass to someone else (usually pass). And these cups are small. The peruvian glass is a midget. Everything is taken out of small cups-cut our normal glass in two and then make it more narrow, that's what we drink everything out of. So in this way the drinking of beer becomes very communual and is super super different.
Now wine comes in the same normal wine bottle, but it is alot alot stronger here. Now. I don't drink. But you don't have to drink to notice that, you just have to have a nose. You can smell one glass from the other side of the table. All wine is served in a smaller cup than the normal, and is usually served to everyone at formal gatherings where toasts are made.
~Cream Cheese
~Bagels- I have seen NOTHING resembling this tasty breakfast/snack/Americanlunch!
~Chocolate
People eat alot of snacky/junkfood/desserts like cookies and other stuff, but to eat just a bar of chocolate is not that common. Ice cream is expensive and to have just chocolate is tasty here (highly praised) but for some reason even though people like eating just chocolate, it's not a 'shopping list' iteam if you will. Though I will go in depth on shopping for food one day!
~Jelly
~Fortune Cookies
There are ATON ALOT ALOT ALOT ALOT of chinese restaurants here, and they are obviously different than back home because they have a differnt influence, but they are very tasty (though Peruvians think they are Peruvian, not Chinese.. which is just odd...) But there is not a whisper of a fortune!
~Chocolate chip cookies--no one knows what CHOCOLATE CHIPS ARE!

Roteract

2010-09-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
So part of being a Rotary Exchange student is being active in the Rotary community. Here I am apart of San Borja Sur roteract club. For those who do not know Roteract is an organization associated with Rotary for youth between about 16 and 25 to come together with the same sort of principals as rotary- we go out and do service projects for the community together. There is also interact clubs which is the same idea but for younger age group, so I'm under the impression that means the work varies some.

So I thought I would tell some about what we have been doing. It has become a very present part of my life, and usually turns into quite alot of fun. We have meetings in the evenings every other Saturday (which can last for hours, but afterwords we all usually go out to get something to eat). And recently (today actually) we have been helping out at medical campaigns, big where the less fortunate (the poor/needy of Lima or other specific places where we are) come to get free medical help, tooth brushes, hair cuts, ect for them and their kids) in some manner. Last week we were present and had a booth for kids. So they came and their parents could go off and get what they needed while they colored images that we brought, and got their face painted. You are reading the original words of the head face painter of our work, thankyouverymuch! hahaa, it's alot of fun, lots of butterflies, spiders (Spiderman is super popular with the boys here!), hearts, flags, ect. And so the kids got to color and get candy when they finished their drawings, which we pinned up all over the walls, which at the end of the day looked really cool... and took a while to take all down! haha, there was alot of beautiful drawings! : )
Though we are also involved in the medical aspect in some ways, this week we had a ton of glasses and frames for those who need them. So we became part of the system in this way too, facilitating the organization and dispersion of the glasses. We also had the same drawing and face painting going on along with braclets.
All of the exchange students are members of this roteract club, or another, but are always invited to our outings like these. So we all get to hang out and help out. Haha, we also have sweat shirts with the Roteract symbol on the front and our names on the back, so people can ask us for help... though my name is kinda tough here, but that's a different issue all together...
Today we also packed up and the majority of us, and all the exchange students who had come, went over to an orphanage, which apperantly we vsit with frequency, so I'm looking forward to getting to return! And there we just played with the kids, I made bracelts with them, we had face painting, drawing, a volley ball game goin' on. There were also little trinket gifts handed out and before we left we gave the orphanage several cartons of produce (boy did the strawberries look good!) and said ciao!
Roteract is really good for the community and it gives us something to do that benefits everyone involved! So I figured a summary would be important because it has become a prominent part of my live in Peru as a rotary exchange student!

School and Church

2010-08-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

So as you all know, my school is a private navy and Catholic school.
Well yesterday there was a true testament to the Catholic aspect!

The Bishop of Peru came to visit our school, which was a big deal. So we all (we being eeryone in the school) went out in our tidy lines by gender and class, and stood outside because there is no space in the school for everyone! And there was alot of ceremonial entrance with some flag marchers, band, mini choir singing the national song of Peru, lifting the flag of Peru, introduction, ect.
Then he spoke! Which I am ashamed to say, was incredibly easy to zone out of... especially in spanish! Then some kids had the honor to say a thanks infront of everyone to him- the speakers and principal and some other teachers where seperated from us up above the area where we all stand. Then he walked around to each grade class and I think he blessed everyone or just said hello... as I'm tall I'm at the back of the official line!

Then later in the day we had Mass. Catholic mass is incredibly ornate!
There is also alot of standing, sitting, standing, sitting, and so on. Accompanied with alot of songs thrown into the mix. There was also.. ooh, I can't remeber what it's called, where those who have recently confessed can accept the wafer and wine as the blood and body of Christ. And I got really scared that I was gonna have to get into the line and do the same, but luckily not everyone went up, so I could just sit and watch (pheew)! It was also very long, it lasted an hour and a half, but there was alot to see!

Also related to church and school, as I am in fourth year I have to deal with the issue that everyone is going throgh confirmation, but I can't take part in everything that they are doing because I'm not catholic- though trying to explain what Unitarian Universalist is is incredibly difficult- and I was never baptized, which kinda rocked the boat. And everyones confirmation is somehow linked directly to school and so there are certain things and days that occur because everyone in my grade is doing Confirmation soon (in September).

City Review

2010-08-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

So about Lima!
I decided I'd just mention some observations about the city and the culture here!

Traffic and cars--
yes there is some crazy traffic and driving! There are tons of cars on the roads; lots of personal vehicals but even more taxis and buses, which are a completly different story for another time! There are stop lights every blue moon, at more challenging intersections, where there is a curve and five lane crossing. Being a passanger is different too, in the back seats no on ever uses seat belts, and often everyone piles in on top of each other to get everyone to fit, its normal and expected! However they take some things very seriously. If you are seated in the front seats you have to wear your seat belt. Everyone does! They take it very seriously, along with only one grown person in the front. It's an interesting combination of practices.

There city is very large and expansive, so it can take along time to get anywhere, especially matched with the heavy traffic. The tallest building is being built right now, and will be a hotel Westin.

Some bad news of the city- there is no recycling system what so ever. Which is rather painful especially since the tap water is not something you can drink, so everyone buys water bottles... and then just throws them away.
Another thing that is getting kinda rough is that there is a national glue that sticks everyone to television. Peru is also the third most connected country to youTube. Basically this means that there is a tv in almost every room. Down stairs there is a tv in the kitchen, the dinning/living room, my room and my host parents room. That would only leave the bathroom and the extra room that isn't used... And they are always turned on. I wake up in the morning and the tv is on, in the kitchen if my mom is making breakfast or eating. I go to sleep and one is on in my host parents room or in the living/dinning room and sometimes mine.
Worse than that is that this country dosn't really read. at all... Books are sold wrapped in plastic, and I've only seen one small, small book store...

In other news, the city is very interesting.
There is a huge video pirating pull here. Infact pirated movies are the only ones that I have seen for sale... It's totally normal and really cheap!
There are people who walk about selling stuff everywhere, ranging from candies, and nuts to maps of Peru. There is alot of poverty, but there are no pan handlers- in essence that is what they are, but all of them 'sell' something for their money: Candies or mints; kids who go about usually have a bag of mints or something and you buy something not because you want it, and not for what its really worth. But there are no people who sit around with cardboard signs asking or begging for money. It's an interesting switch over for me from Portland to Peru!
There is alot of pride here. The majority of the buildings have Peruvian flags, our house does for one thing! They also take national disputes very seriously...
Even though alot of times the kids ask me why I wanted to come Peru, it may be a break between generations.
Ohh and everyone believes every american stereotype that has been impressed upon them by movies and tv shows. We only eat hamburgers and we eat french fries all the time. We only eat fast food. All my friends are pregnant (sixteen and pregnant, thanks MTV). There are bullies in everey school. There are huge cafeterias where the kids eat divided by "social class". We are very cold and we never hug or give kisses and lack any form of affection, which really does bug me. ect, ect. It's kinda funny but makes explaining differences really hard because everyone already has a very set impression.
The english that the kids know and are learning is also completly impressed upon them by media. So it's pretty vulgar. There is alot of rap and pop songs so no one hesitates to use fowl words and phrases and alot of the N word (in refrence to race), because they are very common in the songs... But I don't know if they realize how bad it is. But there is alot of racism in Peru, so it may no faze them much.
In regards to racism it also extends to gay rights. In general I would say that there is just alot of hatred or misunderstanding towards Gays, or the idea I suppose of them because I don't know any peruvian's who have come out of the closet. It's considered bad here for the majority, and even those who don't think it's bad just think its odd, and I don't really think they know how to deal with that sort of presence (there are a couple exchange students who are gay).
But all the kids are really nice, and super outgoing in general. Hahha, class is crazy and for the majority alot of noise, funny stuff...

I'll give some more general updates later!

Of Rotary Meetings

2010-08-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

My host club is Salamanca de Monterrico
And this club is very very different than the Portland Pearl and any that I have visited in Oregon and Washington, atleast in its meetings and size.
My club is tiny-tiney. At the meetings we all sit around two tables that have been placed together. Including guests there have been about sixteen people at each meeting. Very small, though the club isn't considered super small here.

The meetings are also very different because they begin at nine in the evening and I havn't been to a meeting yet that hasn't ended before midnight. We are also served a three cours meal which is always tasty. Defintly an improvement right there! haha
The meetings are "catered", meaning that there is always a woman who has set up the meeting place, the table with a table cloth, place settings, ect. And she brings out the food from an undisclosed location (meaning its outside of the room and I have no idea where it is) and takes away the empty plates as people finish and brings the next cours.

As for the form of the meeting it really depends on what is happening and what people have chosen to talk about. The president speaks and then there is an order for others to speak- the person who is in charge of certain things speaks about their responsibility, if they have anything to discuss. Then if everything has been covered and we are still eating it goes to "open session" where we all just chat.
Then at the end of the night there is a Raffle.
Word for the wise, Peruvians LOVE raffles. I've already been apart of about five and witnessed more. They are a very popular part of this culture.
So every night, at the end of the Rotary meeting, there is a raffle, it becomes the responsibility of different members to bring something for the raffle, it goes around.
And then we all say ciao and go home (which is about a half hour to forty five minute drive from where I live)!

School

2010-08-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Liceo Naval Almirante Guise
This is the school that I attend here, located in San Borja, which on the bus route ends up being an hour ride in the morning and in the afternoon.
It is a private Navy Catholic school complete with uniforms, students from different countries and who have lived in different countries because of parents in the navy and a nun. And not to mention a combined school student body much larger than Lincoln!
So differences:
~The teacchers move
You stay in the same room with the same students all day (until english when it is divided by skill level)
~Schedual
So I take seven clases at Lincoln (which was a huge deal last year when we jumped fom six to seven) and here everyone takes like...twelve. It's a really odd schedual where you have a class for either an hour or two in a row and then another teacher comes in and you start soemthing else.
~the breaks and stuff are all different too because the eating schedual here is totally different. So instead of having a lunch break we have to recesses, where people eat and buy snacks. So we have about four classes and then like a twenty minute break and then we have more classes and then a longer break and then three more classes. Then I return home and eat lunch- which is equivolent to dinner in the U.S.
~Uniforms
All right so there is the athletic uniform you wear the day that you have P.E. (which everyone has every year and the girls and boys get seperated for) which makes me feel like a fat lemon. Yellow t-shirt, then navy athletic pants (with a yellow stripe down the side) and a zip up jacket as well. Important side note. I am really tall here. So clothes that fit me come in really large sizes soooo everything is length wise good but just llllaarge.
And for the rest of the days we have the catholic girl skirt but in navy and green. Then there is the white button up blouse and the other collard white blouse (you get to choose what day you wear which-oooooh!). Knee high navy blue socks with a green stripe at the top matched with black shoes. And then for a jacket a "knitted" button up which in the U.S. would be cute and are in fashion to wear with normal clothes, but here just scream uniform! So I'm kinda happy to bring it home and wear it with my school sign on it and feel trendy, just have to wait for that moment.

And what "private navy-catholic" school has meant so far: before some classes we say a prayer or three... I can't tell because they are very long and everyone just sort of mumbles them. Also we had a school wide gathering one morning and there are these comands that are used to indicate what stance and so forth we should be in.

I will post pictures of my uniform soon enough!

Signs of School

2010-08-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is just a short update, because its the first dissapointing news.

I was under the impression that I would be attending school as a fifth year student (the last in the high school) because that is what matches my age and what the previous exchange students I have talked to have done. And then I would have graduated and gone to the University for a few months after summer break, as it is free to exchange students. And I was really really excited to be able to experiance both high school and university in a different country!
But instead I will be put in a year younger, in the fourth year. And then come back after the break and go to fifth year for a few months before I come back.
I am really dissapointed. Especially since my host sister, who is my age, is in the fifth year and people have added me on the facebook and chated with me (ect) who would all be in my grade. But now I not know anyone and I will be a year older.
I'm super bumed.
But we'll just see how everything goes on Monday...

Most Importantly

2010-08-01T16:24:00.001-07:00

The toilets flush backwards and the faucets turn the other way.

My host family has a vicious chihuahua named orejas (ears) who hates me (hahaha)

And it´s winter here-overcast and semi gloomy

The most important basics haha
love you all!

First Impressions

2010-07-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
I have been here for about three days, so I figure maybe I should tell you about my original thoughts on the country (the little that I have seen so far)
First of all, it is really big. And you can´t really tell the difference between where is downtown versus all of town. It just keeps going and going!

There are huge billboards everywhere. And by huge I mean huge! On the sides of the highway there are even adds shapped out of bushes! It´s kinda neat. With that in mind, Pepsi rules Latin America. But Peru has their own national soft drink: Inca Cola

The food here has a lot of flavor! There is alot more salt and flavoring in everything. Actually to be honest, everything seems much more extrem- super sweet or rich or que sea. It is tasty, but alot to get used to (haha) I´m looking forward to it being the norm for me everyday!
What I really havn{t gotten used to is the eating pattern everyday, the small breakfast, the huge lunch and maybe a snack at dinner time. I{ll get there eventually
It is winter here so it is cold and over cast all the time. Today I had some hot drink of anise, there is alot of herbs that are drunk here. And anise liquor, which my host dad had me have a tiny sip of because it is good for warming you and for your digestive track. oh my goodness it was horror in a cup! Hahaha
Oh but the sweets and desserts are fantasticly fantastic and yummy yummy yummy!

On beauty: let us be blunt now. I have already had my eyebrows plucked (ooow) and been educated on the fact that I will be wearing makeup to school but really to go out. Hahaa, it´s straightforward and I like that.

My Family! I love my host family!! They are fantastic and our house is really cool. I will post some pictures later, I need to get my charger sorted out down here.
So I have a host sister my age, who in one week finds out about her visa to Canada, to be a Rotary Exchange student, and we share a room. My host parents are very kind and my host dad has a fantastic theory about how I need to try everything to see what I like... yummm... Then upstairs live my host brother and wife and their six year old daughter who is adorable and super energetic!

About the traffic: yeah there are alot of cars on the road and little honks and people walking amongst them. People don´t freak out about it or anything, it´s just normal bussiness which is totally different! haha

I have yet to start school, August ninth we begin, so we shall see how that hurtle is jumped. It´ll be a good opportunity to travel and see things within the city. And obviously to meet new people!!

Anywho I will upload photos later and I hope that everyhing is good back home! I love you all!

Basic Information

2010-07-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

I have all the information about my stay in Peru!
And here it is for those interested:

My Sponsoring Rotary club here: Portland Pearl
Hosting Club: Rotary Club de Salamance de Monterrico
President of Club: Jose manuel Carlos Castellares
My Counselor: Dacy Espinoza de Castellares

My First Host family: The Leturias
Jorge y Neomi Leturia
daughter: Juleisy
sons: Charles Laturia (28) who is married to Milagros Romero (26)

School: Liceo Naval Almirante Guise
location: San Borja
graduating senior

departure date: 28Th of July

I'll try and keep this blog space updated as I receive more information and once I arrive!
Thanks for every one's support!