So I'm feeling much better today. Yesterday my American friends and I went to San Borja (a different district from the one I'm living in which is Miraflores) to visit our friends Carissa and Amjad. We walked around and went to the mall (don't punish me...I got a hot dog...yes, a big juicy delicioso hot dog). Later that evening, I went running with a boy from Germany and a girl from Australia. We actually ran por una hora around Lima and got to see the sunset over el pacifico. Que linda. It is so hard to get use to running in this terrible humidity. Hace muchiiiiisimo calor aca! We decided that the first person to quit has to cook dinner for the others. Luckly...I didn't have too! When we got back, we jumped fully clothed into the pool! It was soooo refreshing.
That night, I went out with my American friends once again to la calle de pizzas. It is basically a street by Parque Kennedy (the central park in Miraflores) in which every restaurante sells pizza. Today (Tuesday) I walked down to the ocean to watch the waves and surfers until 1 when I met my friends at Larcomar (a mall) for a late lunch. We walked around all day and tonight I believe we are going to the movies to watch one in Spanish. Tomorrow I have my orientation at 9am so I'll have to get up temprano. I live about an hour bus ride away from la universidad catolica. I will get to learn about the campus and look at possible courses. Hopefully all is well at home. I miss you all!
Chao!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
First couple lazy days
Hola! So the last couple days have been lazy for me. I haven't been feeling too well. Think I have travelers sickness. I am having to force down food because my stomach cannot handle it. I really hope it goes away soon. Last night I had my first dinner with my new roommates. We went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of veggies, spaghetti noodles, and a bottle of wine. It was so good and I was so angry that I couldn't eat much of it since my stomach was acting up. Today I am just laying by the pool and I'm hoping to find a church nearby to go to mass later tonight.
This week is going to be a big week. I will need to get up really early on Wednesday morning to go to the international orientation at our university. I am really excited to start classes and get into a routine again!
~Kristi
This week is going to be a big week. I will need to get up really early on Wednesday morning to go to the international orientation at our university. I am really excited to start classes and get into a routine again!
~Kristi
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Another exciting/long day!
Hola Todos! Today was another long and fun-packed day! Today I woke up and took a taxi to Carly's house to go to the beach with 2 girls from the University. We walked along the beach talking to the girls about Lima, classes, life, etc. It was a lot of fun and I could feel my spanish getting better by the minute. Because of the earthquake in Chile, there are Tsunami warnings all along the Pacific coast and some of the beaches are closed off. It is very interesting to be down here at a time like this.
Today we learned how to use the buses called Cambi's and realized that anyone who is a timid driver in the US would never make it down here. You need to be aggressive and if that means scraping against another bus...so be it! We took 2 buses to PUCP (the university we will be studying at) and the girls showed us around. We learned about the cafeterias, different classes, and I met the choir teacher. She was a cute old lady and told me about the class. I guess they sing at different churches and during mass. She was a sweetheart.
Later that night, we met up with Zach (also from Wisconsin) and went to see la pelicula Alicia en el pais de las maravillosas (Alice in Wonderland). Y a mi me gusta mucho! Era interesante..pero buena.
I had a great conversation with the Taxi driver about how English is much more difficult to learn than Spanish and we talked about Wisconsin, PUCP, etc. It is only my 2nd day here and I noticed the taxi driver going in the wrong direction. When I told him we were going the wrong way, I knew I was really getting to know the area and he complimented me. I had to explain (without knowing any of the streets or their names really), where he should go to get to the small avenue I live on. None of the taxistas seem to know where Avenida Tejada is. It is so small. When I got home, I met the girl living in the room next to me. She just moved in today and is from Germany. Her name is Emily and she speaks fluent English and German. I think I'm really going to like where I'm living!
Soon, pictures will be posted!
:) Kristi
Today we learned how to use the buses called Cambi's and realized that anyone who is a timid driver in the US would never make it down here. You need to be aggressive and if that means scraping against another bus...so be it! We took 2 buses to PUCP (the university we will be studying at) and the girls showed us around. We learned about the cafeterias, different classes, and I met the choir teacher. She was a cute old lady and told me about the class. I guess they sing at different churches and during mass. She was a sweetheart.
Later that night, we met up with Zach (also from Wisconsin) and went to see la pelicula Alicia en el pais de las maravillosas (Alice in Wonderland). Y a mi me gusta mucho! Era interesante..pero buena.
I had a great conversation with the Taxi driver about how English is much more difficult to learn than Spanish and we talked about Wisconsin, PUCP, etc. It is only my 2nd day here and I noticed the taxi driver going in the wrong direction. When I told him we were going the wrong way, I knew I was really getting to know the area and he complimented me. I had to explain (without knowing any of the streets or their names really), where he should go to get to the small avenue I live on. None of the taxistas seem to know where Avenida Tejada is. It is so small. When I got home, I met the girl living in the room next to me. She just moved in today and is from Germany. Her name is Emily and she speaks fluent English and German. I think I'm really going to like where I'm living!
Soon, pictures will be posted!
:) Kristi
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Mi Llegada en Lima
Hola otra vez! En fin, aqui estoy en Lima! I am finally here and can gladly say I did not have too crazy of an airport experience. Unfortunately, it seems as though I am coming down with a cold. Tomorrow I will try and find some fruits and bottled water to hopefully scare this bug away.
Well folks, today was a long and tiring aventura to Lima and ultimately...mi nueva casa. (If you haven't already noticed, I will be implicating el 'espanglish' in my blogging). Last night was very difficult as I had to say goodbye to Chase (my boyfriend) for the next 5 months!!! In the morning, we left my house around 5:30am (and oh..of course I got up at about 5:22am). My day began at the O'hare International Airport where I had to say my final goodbyes to my mom and dad. This was difficult, but once I got past it and met up with my new friends Carly and Amjad, the day turned itself around and my excitement grew.
Our first flight from Chicago to Miami was not bad at all...2.5 hours. I slept most of the way. We met up with Thomas in Miami, grabbed some pizza and hopped on the plane to Lima...a good 'ole 6 hour flight. Arriving in Lima, we grabbed our luggage and went through customs (no biggy compared to the US that's for sure). There were soooo many people waiting outside with signs and men in uniform everywhere offering a taxi ride...no not offering...mandando! jaja! That's when I saw Jesus Huallanca. He was wearing his blue La Catolica tee shirt and blue jeans..just as he said in the e-mail he sent to me before I left the US. He greeted with a kiss on the cheek and inmediatamente helped me con mis bolsas. We then grabbed a safe taxi and was able to experience my first ride in a Lima vehicle. It was kind of like Honduras. Everyone is out to kill eachother. EVERYONE has the right-of-way, especially the ones who demand it (such as my taxi driver). The traffic wasn't too bad, although it was 11pm.
When I arrived at my house, the door was locked and I, of course, did not have a key. Jesus let me borrow his cell to call Qcha, the owner of APU-Peru international housing. He told me to knock on the door and the 24hr service guy should open the door. After about 5 minutes of knocking, louder and louder and LOUDER, I got an angry comment coming from above! Oops..the door finally opened and I brought everything to my room.
De hecho, I am in my tiny room with little spiders on the walls and when I walk out my door...I am outside and can feel and smell el Oceano Pacifico. I took a shower tonight and realized that I forgot a towel....remembered a robe but not a towel...great. I met a girl named Estephanie de Australia! She is living in a room below me. She is also 20 yrs old but is studying at La Universidad de Lima en vez de PUCP (La Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru).
Well, tomorrow I plan on getting a cell phone and hopefully feeling better (no headache or runny nose).
Hasta Luego!
Kristi
Well folks, today was a long and tiring aventura to Lima and ultimately...mi nueva casa. (If you haven't already noticed, I will be implicating el 'espanglish' in my blogging). Last night was very difficult as I had to say goodbye to Chase (my boyfriend) for the next 5 months!!! In the morning, we left my house around 5:30am (and oh..of course I got up at about 5:22am). My day began at the O'hare International Airport where I had to say my final goodbyes to my mom and dad. This was difficult, but once I got past it and met up with my new friends Carly and Amjad, the day turned itself around and my excitement grew.
Our first flight from Chicago to Miami was not bad at all...2.5 hours. I slept most of the way. We met up with Thomas in Miami, grabbed some pizza and hopped on the plane to Lima...a good 'ole 6 hour flight. Arriving in Lima, we grabbed our luggage and went through customs (no biggy compared to the US that's for sure). There were soooo many people waiting outside with signs and men in uniform everywhere offering a taxi ride...no not offering...mandando! jaja! That's when I saw Jesus Huallanca. He was wearing his blue La Catolica tee shirt and blue jeans..just as he said in the e-mail he sent to me before I left the US. He greeted with a kiss on the cheek and inmediatamente helped me con mis bolsas. We then grabbed a safe taxi and was able to experience my first ride in a Lima vehicle. It was kind of like Honduras. Everyone is out to kill eachother. EVERYONE has the right-of-way, especially the ones who demand it (such as my taxi driver). The traffic wasn't too bad, although it was 11pm.
When I arrived at my house, the door was locked and I, of course, did not have a key. Jesus let me borrow his cell to call Qcha, the owner of APU-Peru international housing. He told me to knock on the door and the 24hr service guy should open the door. After about 5 minutes of knocking, louder and louder and LOUDER, I got an angry comment coming from above! Oops..the door finally opened and I brought everything to my room.
De hecho, I am in my tiny room with little spiders on the walls and when I walk out my door...I am outside and can feel and smell el Oceano Pacifico. I took a shower tonight and realized that I forgot a towel....remembered a robe but not a towel...great. I met a girl named Estephanie de Australia! She is living in a room below me. She is also 20 yrs old but is studying at La Universidad de Lima en vez de PUCP (La Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru).
Well, tomorrow I plan on getting a cell phone and hopefully feeling better (no headache or runny nose).
Hasta Luego!
Kristi
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