Thursday 10 April 2014

The shenanigans of a Peruvian.

Hello there! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been preoccupied by trying to live the life of a Peruvian hehe. And also slightly because I don't want to face reality and accept my time here is coming to an end. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact it is already April! I'm not quite ready to leave my life here in Lima behind. Luckily, I have 17 more days to seep in as much as I can!

March has been filled with much excitement of trying to experience all we can of Lima.  I've always been one to think pictures say more than words, so I'm going to try to let my pictures do most of the talking! ( Don't quote me on that because I tend to ramble:) )

Our first accomplishment of March was a Peruvian soccer game! I've never been to a big wig soccer game before, nor am I too knowledgeable about soccer as it is, however, it did not take long for me to catch on that LAU (The Peruvian club team) was not the greatest. Luckily, I'm not too hard to please, so I was content watching them pass the ball around for hours and never score. Actually I take that back..LAU did score...but for the other team! hehehe I can't decide which part was my most favorite; watching them score on the other team, or listening to all of the ludicrous cuss words they were saying in Spanish. It's a pretty close toss up! I thought us Americans were creative with our cuss words, but boy did they prove me wrong. I would post some on here..but I don't think the Study Abroad office would be too happy with me :) Nonetheless, it was another adventure checked off of our to do list, and I even got to purchase my first ever soccer jersey. I'm sure it will get a lot of use when I return back to the states ;)





The next accomplishment was not one specifically by choice. We were given the opportunity to receive extra credit in our grammar class if we went to the play Incedios. I was excited for this because I love myself a good play, but a bit nervous because this would obviously be my first play in full-blown Spanish. I could lie to you and say I understood it all, but that would just be plain silly. Thanks to Maria Fernanda(our Peruvian friend that went with us), and the always reliable google translator, I was able to understand it more afterwards. They have an English version called Incendies, so feel free to watch it if you'd like. ;) It actually was extremely interesting, despite the confusing dialect and constant changing of timeframe.


Todos del grupo. 
Had to enjoy myself a cup of vino before the show ;)

I'm trying to contain my over exuberayting excitement as I fumble through which pictures to choose. I have one word for you: PLAYA PLAYA PLAYA!! 

Missy's boyfriend Luke came to visit for spring break, so we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to tackle trying to go to a nice playa. This beach is in Asia (pronounced Ah-See-Uh not like the continent). It is about an hour away from where we live in Surco and was well worth the slight hassle of getting there. I say slight hassle because you never know what to expect when taking a taxi here in Lima. Let me give you a run down on how a typical situation of trying to get a taxi usually goes (well at least for us Americans):

First, you must flag one down, which is not usually too terribly hard since there are thousands of them everywhere. Then, you must tell them (in spanish of course) where you are going. Not too difficult right? Well, they then decide if they want to and how much it will be, usually depending on the distance or time of day/night. Next, comes my favorite part, the bartering! There are no set prices for taxis here in Lima, so it's all fair game. Usually the taxi driver says some price that's way too expensive. They think they can pull a fast one and over charge us because we are gringos(white folks), but unfortunately for them we have learned the ropes and have become pretty savvy bargainers. After bargaining up and down and up and down they usually agree on a price thats pretty reasonable. Then, after the whole debacle you're on your way to your set destination!

Well, we did just this for our trip to the playa. We split up into two taxis and agreed with the taxi drivers on 90 (roughly around 30 dollars) soles for each taxi. Perfecto, Vamanos! Psyche...come to find out, our taxi drive had a different idea in mind after we had arrived. Apparently he had to pay more money for tolls, so he was wanting !!!140!!! not 90. Obviously, we were not okay with that. After some slight haggling back and forth he agreed on 100 and we were on our way to the playa! This is just one example of the extreme difference of culture here in Lima. At first it was slightly difficult to get accustomed to, but it pretty much comes natural to us now.



Anywho, the beach was absolutely breathtaking and just what we all needed! We all caught some sun rays, played volleyball in the ocean, and had some much needed relaxation time. We even made Missy into a sand mermaid. :)






I hope to return to this beach one last time before my departure back to the states. We will see if time is in my favor and allows for me to do so, because we have lots left to do school wise before we leave! Either way, it was definitely a time well spent--and with great people, so what more could I ask for?



Hasta Luego, playa! Until next time...

That following night we decided to take Luke to two of our favorite destinations here in Lima. El Parque de las Aguas and of course the infamous Burrito Bar! Both were marvelous as always and I think it is safe to say we all thoroughly enjoyed the evening! El Parque de las Aguas even had different light shows we had never seen before, so that was pretty neat as well! All and all, it was another successful night here in Lima!



Last Friday Brittany's host family threw a fiesta for us! It was a fabulous evening filled with food, laughter, reminiscing, photo taking, vino and of course dancing! It's crazy how fast we've all become friends here. If you didn't know us you'd think we had been friends for years not a mere 3 months. Which is why I refuse to think about us leaving this city until the time comes.




That is all for now my friends. I hope you enjoyed the read and I'm sure you will hear from me soon as I only have just over two weeks left here. :( 
Besos--Chou!