I apologize for not updating my blog over the last several weeks, but I can honestly say that I have been busy! To that end, this post (sadly) will not contain any photographs because there hasn't been really anything interesting to show you. Let's talk in this order: my school life, my social life, and then my random thoughts.
My classes are going really well (at least, in these 2 weeks leading up to midterms!). My favorite class is, hands down, my History of the Peruvian Amazon class. The professor is amazing and really cares about his students. To that end, he has already purchased me two (2) books and one (1) newspaper that will help me immensely with my research project. Before you think he's some demented pervert trying to seduce a student, note that I'm not the only student for whom he does this. He literally goes out of his way to find resources for every student in the class, which is no small feat! My oral presentation and control/essay exam in his class last week also went really well, so I have no complaints. My other classes are going smoothly thus far, but talk to me again in two weeks after midterms are over.
Something interesting to note about my 2 of my 4 classes (though the phenomenon I'm about to explain is much more common than one would think): every professor arrives somewhere between 10-30 minutes late to lecture. No joke. Today my literature professor arrived at 11:23am even though the class started at 11am. Fortunately, I had plenty of gossiping to do, so I utilized the extra time wisely. It's going to be difficult to go back to the UW and to be expected to show up on time! Haha.
Socially, the last week and a half or so have been a metaphorical rollercoaster. Sparing you the details, I have emerged relatively fine and have become even closer to my friends here in Peru who have really been a great help. Daily lunches combined with wonderful conversation has made adjusting to this experience as easy as possible! I'm really grateful for that.
Random thoughts:
Language-wise, I seem to be improving a lot. Today, my Chilean friend was super proud when I started talking to her because she said my fluidity and my speaking was very natural. She's a wonderful person and helps me out whenever I have any doubt or question.
Relationship-wise, Peruvians are very direct. For example, a Peruvian girl asked me what I thought about Peruvian girls in general. I told her they're fine. She followed that question up with a "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" You should also know I had only met her about 30 seconds earlier. Yeah, that direct. Also, all of the (heterosexual) couples make out in public, which is common practice it seems because it doesn't bother anybody. That still doesn't change the fact that I think public displays of affection are gross.
Housing-wise: I'm trying to move out of my house because of how far away and how expensive it is. The family is very nice, but I have realized that most of my language practice comes at school and that there is really no point in living so far away from school. As one of my Finnish friends explained to me, I spend three hours traveling to and from school total every day (because traffic here is awful). That's 5 days a week, 15 hours. That adds up after about 36 weeks here. So, if you know of any housing in Lima, hit me up!
Oh! I met Barney and a giant chicken! That's an interesting photo to share with you all!
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