I know, I know, I suck. I've been busy living my life, sue me. Here's an update about what's going on.
First, the point of doing this whole thing: my Spanish. It's better than ever and I'm very pleased with the progress I've made. It's even gotten to the point where - some days - I don't even want to speak the language anymore. I dream in Spanish, think in Spanish, speak in Spanish, do everything in Spanish. It's quite odd really because my English has definitely taken a huge hit, but I'm sure that will pass once I return to the United States.
That being said, I have about 2 months left in this marvelous country and I'm not sure where the time has gone. I've had so many different, unique experiences that going back to Madison - although I do miss my friends and family - will probably be a huge shock to me. On the one hand, I will be able to breathe clean air, not have to get up for class 3 hours early so I can make it on time, and to sit bored in a lecture hall...oh wait, I do that here, too. On the other hand, I will miss so many fascinating aspects of Peruvian life, such as haggling in the street with various merchants, finding ridiculously cheap and filling foods, having money that's worth 3 times as much as it is in the States, etc.
The lifestyle that I lead here is completely different from the one I have in Madison and I believe it's changed me for the better. I'm much more relaxed about many things (though I stress out about school - that's an inherent trait I have), I'm a lot more willing to go out on the weekends, and I've finally learned how to just enjoy something and not see everything in a purely academic lens. Furthermore, this experience has helped me to put many things into perspective; things that I thought were extremely important no longer hold such significance in my life, and I feel liberated. It's wonderful. :)
School sucks, as usual. I'm taking classes that are interesting, of course, but school is school. My class schedule is the following:
Gender and Politics
Poverty and Social Policies
Introduction to the Geo-environmental problems of Peru
Film
Senior Thesis
Obviously, the last two courses are super easy it's a bit laughable, but I need free time to work on my Senior Thesis, which is basically why I chose Peru in the first place. That, too, is also coming along, but I'm getting nervous because I need to turn something in by the end of the month to my thesis advisor! It's no longer just a concept - my thesis is becoming real!
Enough about school. How was my vacation? Great! I went to the Iquitos (the Amazon), Huaraz (part of the Andes), and Chile. I've never had a more relaxing and care-free time in my life. The best part of the whole thing was, however, was that my friend Lucy came to visit! It was great to see a familiar face and we had a great time in Huaraz. She also took care of me when I got super nauseous from the altitude. I went to Chile with some of my Peruvian friends, which was also fascinating because none of them speak English so it really forced me to express myself when I had a problem or a question. Below are some choice pictures from the various trips:
Lucy and I in Huaraz with Maggie (we printed out a picture of her to take with us since she couldn't make it to Peru)
I went skiing for the first time in Chile. It was awesome.
I also carried an adorable monkey - several, actually - in the Amazon. He tried to eat my sunglasses.
A view of the Amazon River.
There are so many other things to catch you all up on, but this is a good summary for now! Hope you're all doing well. Lots of love from Lima!
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