Becoming Peruvian...although we still look quite American...Everything happens in time.

August 22:

First day of classes.  I have an 8:00am class, and I’m still absolutely straight chilling.  I woke up at 6:50 in the morning no lie, and it’s coming up on 11:30pm now.  What a long day, but what a good day too. 

I met one of the workers at the school today.  His name is Percy, and his first language is Quechua.  He, along with Chavu, are going to teach me, and I’M SO EXCITED!  List of words that I will elaborate on as I go:

·         Allianchu cashanki – como estas

·         Allint’achu punyurunki – has dormido bien?

·         Y mata mihuranki punchaipi – que has comido hoy dia?

Basically it’s awesome.  I’m so full of excitement about this city and the people here that it’s really kind of ridiculous.  I met Percy today, and he’s mad chill.  He’s 29 and lives by himself.  He works at the school from 7am until 3pm.  I’ll probably meet the other people who work at the school too, I’m sure of it. 

Me, Dawn, and TJ already have a place that we like to eat.  We went there today.  And we saw the girl who is our new friend.  We found out her name is Wilma, and she really wants to learn English.  So we’re going to help each other.  She wants to be a guide and wants to be able to give tours in English too.  I had a hamburger there, and it wasn’t quite like an American hamburger…um, it had an egg on it. Haha.  It was funny.  But I was so hungry that it was good.  I’m sure it’s good regular too.  I also had pineapple juice and a banana split.  I was basically in heaven. 

Classes were cool.  I PLACED IN ADVANCED SPANISH!!!  I mean, I was hoping that I would get advanced, but thinking I would still get intermediate.  Our class is awesome.  The professors at the school are so caring.  They want the best for us and for us to understand.  I’m taking a literature class that’s all in Spanish too.  It basically took all five of us from the class to figure out what the homework was, but the professor is so sweet and is like, “If you don’t understand, just tell me and I will repeat.”  The only class that was kind of boring was photography.  But I’m SURE it will get better. 

Cristian took the students who are staying with host families out to dinner today.  In a really high up place.  We had pizza and wine.  And Cristian is awesome too!  Omg.  I love the USIL family.  They’re all so great.  Gonzalo is leaving again for Lima tomorrow.  Yeah, these people are definitely good people.  And I’m not sure if it’s because it’s business or whatnot, but they really do care about us and how we’re doing and want us to be happy. 

We went over Dawn’s host family’s house after dinner.  I met her little host sister who is so cute.  I quickly made friends with her.  She’s five.  We were playing with my webcam on my computer, and she made a whole video of herself.  Too adorable, believe me. 

Oh, and postcards are too expensive to send.  It’s like 5 soles (like a little over $1) to send a freaking postcard! Get the heck outta here!  I literally spent 28.50 soles just on five stamps.  Nuts.  Absolutely nuts.  I hope that the addresses that I wrote were correct.  Yeah, because it would basically mad suck if I spent all the dumb money, and it didn’t get anywhere. 

We defeated the taxista today!  Margaret, TJ, Dawn, and I took a taxi to school this morning, and the driver tried to charge us 4 sol, and we KNOW that we don’t have to pay any more than 3 soles.  We gave him 3 soles and left!  It was awesome. 

And since I got into advanced Spanish, guess what?!  I only have school from Monday to Wednesday!!! Four-day weekend!!! Woot!! Can you say stoked?  I can.  Like this:  stoked.  Haha.  I really want to teach English though, so hopefully Cristian will be able to get me the hook up with that where I’ll get paid and all to do it.  I mean, I’ll have an extra day.  And it’s something I’d really like to do. 

Word.  I really have to sleep since I gotta do the 6:50am thing AGAIN tomorrow. 

Can’t even complain. 

I’m in Cusco.

Pinch me. C:

El Mercado Molino (Black Market) and Arcangel Farmacia

August 21 (otra vez):

We didn’t end up going to that little dessert place down the road, but it’s fine.  We ended up going to the black market se llama el Mercado Molino.  There were all these American things there, so we didn’t stay there that long.  Next we went to uno mercado se llama Mercado Artesinal.  That basically had all the stuff that we wanted (like woven bags and big ponchos and the like).  I bought a little notebook in which I’m going to take notes for one of my classes.  It was 20 soles (brought down from 25 thank you very much ;) ).  Then we went with Margaret to the apartment she actually ended up getting with one of the Aussies of the program.  There was another market there that TJ, Dawn, and I went in but it was mostly food so we didn’t love it.  We’re not really cooking or anything, so it wasn’t really of necessity.  But I did end up buying two little bulls for my kitchen table.  A lot of the houses here have bulls on top of them for protection.  I like that idea, so my house will be the only one protected asi en la ciudad de Filadelfia.  I also bought a woven purse.  I was thinking to buy a backpack, but I really think the one I have (although broken) is still fine.  If it breaks past the point of usage, then I’ll buy another one.  I mean I did spend $50 on it after all. 

After this market, we walked to La Plaza de Armas.  On our walk to La Plaza, we found yet another little market thing that of course we entered.  Dawn and I were wondering how much it would cost to get our nose pierced.  We really might get our noses pierced.  It’s 50 soles for everything.  Legit though we’re thinking about it.  I bought a little sweater with a llama on it for Osito while we were there.  I know it’s kind of dumb, but it’s definitely something I wanted to buy so whatever.  He looks great in it, though, really I can’t lie. 

When we were finally sitting, many local people came up to us to try to sell us stuff.  I don’t really care; I’ll sit there and say no all day, but Dawn was definitely frustrated.  I’m just frustrated that we kept getting gypped on cabs all day.  Basically just because we’re American and look touristy.  I literally hate it.  Because the thing is that we definitely know how much we’re supposed to be paying.  We need to be more aggressive.  Anyway, there was a guy who was kind of mad cute selling things to put in your hair (I’m not sure how they go in your hair but they were mad cool) and he asked me where I was from.  He guessed that I was from Argentina.  Love that.  <3  Because I’m basically so Spanish.  Word.  I’m down.

Tomorrow’s the first day of school!  I wonder what level Spanish I’ll be in.  I think I’m going to wear my dress that looks like a skirt/dress combination with my boots.  We’ll see.  I’ll write more about what goes down tomorrow.  I’m regretfully bringing my laptop tomorrow in the hopes that I’ll use the internet there to make some calls.  I know my mom’s basically going to kill me.  I did give her my number though, so she could technically call me.  I don’t understand.  Maybe she hasn’t bought a calling card yet.  It’d be nice if I could buy a calling card that I could use from my cell phone.  The thing is that it’s just so much cheaper to call through the internet so I’d prefer to just have nice access to the internet.  I think having it at school will work out just fine.  I called Omar today with the last four minutes I had on the calling card from Paula.  It ended up hanging up on him.  He has my number too.  Maybe he’ll call.  It’d be such a nice surprise.  ::)

Well, I can’t think of any other little stories so I think I’m quite literally going to just read a little bit or watch a little bit of the movie Baby Mama before I go to sleep.  Let’s just hope this 8:00am class doesn’t kill me.  We’re meeting at Arcangel tomorrow at 7:30am. 

Hasta 7:30 manana.  Ick. 

Hearts to Cusco

August 21:

I just got back from lunch with Chavu.  We went to a little place called Epacoy and had chicken with French fries with Inca Cola.  Inca Cola is so good!  It basically tastes like candy.  It’s like a mixture of cream soda and cotton candy (which is how Dawn described it, and she was spot on).  Chavu paid which was super nice of her (although I definitely brought money.  Just saying).  And she was hanging up her jacket (which I have to learn the word she used for it because it was definitely NOT chaqueta…it was such a cooler word) and saw my wet towel from my hair hanging in the closet.  She told me she had a better place for me to put it so that it would dry better.  She then lead me to a window, opened it, and threw the towel up over this pole that is just chilling out there.  Quite literally tossed it up and over the pole and pulled out a stick and said you can use this to help get it there.  I was laughing on the inside because it was just so awesome the way this little Peruvian grammy was just throwing around this towel.  

Yesterday, I bought stuff.  I already said this in the previous post, but I want to elaborate on a few things.  It was the first time I was bargaining in my entire life.  It was awesome.  I didn’t pay whatever price they asked for for anything.  I got one bracelet and my keychain for 4 soles and another 2 bracelets for 4 soles in another little place.  Both places asked for 5 or more.  My scarf/shawl was supposed to be 25 soles, which I only paid 20.  Ernesto was the guy from which I bought my shawl.  He was interesting to say the least.  He gave each me, Dawn, and TJ a free little pin that he carefully affixed to each of our breasts and made sure that he fixed each one as well.  Yes, he definitely copped a feel.  We came to the conclusion that we could look at it as though he copped a feel or as a free pin.  We chose to look at it as the latter; we felt better about that.  It really wasn’t a huge deal; just I wanted to include it in here. 

Dawn, TJ, Margaret, and I are going to go out soon to this little place that we found on la Avenida de la Cultura.  It’s a dessert place.  So of course I’m going to go there.  ::) They’re on their way over now.  And Margaret apparently knows something about the black market?  Yeah, I’m not totally sure what exactly she’s talking about, but apparently we’re going to go there afterwards.  TJ’s going to a picnic with her family at around two (it’s about 1:50 now), so we’re going to say hi right quick and then she’s going to peace out. 

I really need to shoot Emily a message on facebook, but it would be nice if my facebook would work!  I was at Casa Don Ignacio yesterday, and facebook has my account on lockdown basically.  I can’t get past the security; it’s kind of ridiculous.  Because, yes, I’m definitely going to Columbia.  And I really can’t wait. 

One gripe I’ll put here right quick about everything is that the school only has American and Australian students in it.  It’s not like we get to intermix with the locals.  That’s okay though.  I’m just going to go out into the streets and talk to people.  Which is AWESOME.

Oh, and one last thing because TJ and Dawn just got here:  Chavu said that I was learning Spanish quick.  I liked that she said that.  C:  And yeah, I just talked to Dawn and TJ from my window because I could hear them.  It was great. 

 
I love Cusco. <3

One who studies hard must know how to play hard too....or go home.

August 20:

Yesterday was orientation.  Chavu y su amiga nos llevaron a Margarita y yo a la escuela para nuestro orientation.  It was the first time we were going to the school.  It’s pretty close to where we live and super easy accessible via taxi.  The school blends right in with the rest of the surrounding buildings.  Chavu nos dijo que la escuela iba a estar muy cerca and we ran right into it.  The first person we met was Cristian.  Margaret did a lot of talking in Spanish, and I was kind of not talking so much.  I think the most of it was because I had this headache that was pretty much ridiculous.  I thought my head was quite literally going to explode in the morning.  No joke I had 5 ibuprofens within the span of like 2 hours or something.  Totally druggie status.  But I don’t know how else I would have gotten through the day without these drugs.  Creame.  So I thought I was going to get outshined by Margaret with her bold personality and good Spanish speaking skills, but today I was so much better (head-wise) and last night was good too.  And I think people are kind of finding out that I can speak Spanish a little bit. Haha.  

After orientation Margaret, Dawn, TJ, and I all went to get cell phones.  Yeah, we got the cheapest one (59 soles) and each put 10 soles worth of minutes on it.  It’s blue.  And very little.  And very simple.  Let’s just say it’s not my droid.  L But it’s okay.  My phone number is 974732080.  There are so many numbers (but there really aren’t because there are the same amount in this number as in a US number).  Lol. It just seems like a lot, but I’m not entirely sure why.  Getting our phones took a little bit longer than we had anticipated, and we ended up being late for the Spanish placement test (that was supposed to last from 3-5).

The paper test wasn’t so bad I didn’t think so, but some people thought it was one of the most challenging things basically in the entire world.  The only thing was that there was some tense that I wasn’t so sure about.  Something about “ese” as in hubiese or something.  No clue.  I went in for my oral test though, and really I wasn’t even worried at all.  The professor asked me what languages I spoke, and I responded that I spoke a little bit of English and Spanish.  She looked confused and corrected me (as I knew she would).  Dijo, “Un poco de ingles?  Tu quieres decir un poco de espanol y ingles, no?”  Dije, “No, es lo que queria decir.  Solo era una broma.”  Le hice reir.  It was cool though.  I really liked that professor.  Her name was Rebekah (I forget how it’s spelled, but I know it’s something with a “k” in there). 

Last night we went out.  Omg.  So much fun.  Iba a tomar, but I really didn’t want to since I was still feeling effects from the altitude with my head.  And I really thought que iba a regresar tempranisimo porque tenia sueno, but I stayed out.  We went to La Plaza de Armas first to a place called Muse.  It was cool, but too tranquil for our tastes.  We wanted to dance and move around a little more.  Nos fuimos de alli en busca de otro lado.  Encontramos tres lados muy cercas sobre una esquina.  Uno se llamaba Mythology and the other one was called Inka something (I forget right now).  There was another one that I didn’t even go into but seemed cool too (Lek?).  But yeah, we were dancing in Mythology and I went outside to talk to some locals.  I met a guy named Hector y muchos otros tambien.  Edgar y su amigo (el tiene un nombre q ni podia pronunciar ni escuchar bien).  Tal vez vamos a un baile cusqueno una noche con ellos (Margaret and I).  Hector was cool though.

I was out until about 1:50 in the morning. Chavu me llamo and was like, “No puedo dormer porque estoy preocupada por ti.”  Dije, “Nos vamos muy pronto a la casa.”  So I waited a little bit for Margaret.  She smoked her cigarette; we talked with the boys (Edgar and friend), and found a taxi.  The taxi didn’t know where we wanted to go, and we were quite literally driving around looking for something that looked familiar.  When I called Dawn.  At 1:30 in the morning.  She was sleeping.  But she saved the day with the big TV screen.  And then we get to the house, and Margaret (or me for that matter) couldn’t figure out how to use her key in the outside iron gate that is meant to keep out terrorists.  She had to call her host mom. She was drunk.  I came home after that, and Chavu was still awake.  I told her the taxi thing and I was waiting for Margaret and that her key didn’t work and stuff and I went to bed. 

Today we went to visit the projects that we’ll be able to work on in terms of volunteering.  I want to work in El Hogar de Las Estrellas.  But I think everyone will want to work there, so I think I might not end up there.  We’ll see.  If I got to work in the little hotel, that’d be cool too.  There’s a girl around our age I guess whose name is Edith, and she’s deaf.  I really want to sign with her.  There’s also a cook at El Hogar de Las Estrellas who is deaf as well, but Edith just seemed so cool.   I want to ask Miu if she can help me find a place where I could try to teach English to people because that’s something I REALLY SUPER want to do.  Miu, Gonzalo, Cristian, and that other lady (she’s like the head hancho of everything) are really cool people.  They care about us and how we are doing.  I like that.  The other projects we saw were in a clinic working with children or in a place working with endangered animals.  Kids, yes.  Big institution, no.  Animals, definite no.  Although the animals were cool.  I can’t lie about that.

When we came back, we got to see La Casa Don Ignacio or whatever it’s called which is where the students who don’t have host families live.  It’s nice there, but I definitely prefer my little house with Chavu.  Although internet access would be nice, not gonna lie.  After Don Ignacio, Dawn, TJ, and I made our way to La Plaza de Armas which was a little adventure.  

And we bought stuff.  I got like a scarf/shawl thing.  Very Peruvian.  And three bracelets.  And a key chain for my house keys.  It was cool.  I like hanging out with Dawn and TJ.  Both are awesome girls, and Dawn reminds me so much of me and Kaela that it’s uncanny.

Ok.  I wanted to get that stuff in, but I’m super tired now and didn’t realize it was 11:42pm.  Wait.  It’s totally not that time.  That’s just the time that my computer thinks it is. OMG.  That means that it’s really only 10:42pm.  Which means that it’s even earlier and I still feel like its about 3:00am. 

Word. I’m out.