I bought an octopus. A large octopus. Like it weighs almost two pounds, large. And I'm going to eat it. And it's going to be delicious. I was shopping for some groceries. Mary told me to pick up some fish. So I picked up some fish. I bought three trout, whole, for S./ 9.00, which is about $3.00. We had the trout on saturday evening.
But let's backtrack a little. Last I wrote was last Sunday. The week of classes was really good. The kids were well-behaved, one of our more troublesome students was the only one in Jr. High to get a priviledge level 'E', which is the highest level a student can get. (They get priviledge levels based on progress, as well as behavior, from the week prior). So that was very exciting. It was definitely a good thing for him too. I played some basketball Thursday after school against one of the high school students. Which was also good. Friday night after school, we went to a birthday party. It was for one of the students, who turned 15, and she invited the whole school, or at least most of it. We met at her place and took 3 buses out to a restaurant/resort thing where the party was being held. There was a popular Peruvian band playing live, and over a hundred and fifty people there. Pretty crazy. It is somewhat sort of like a 'sweet sixteen' thing here, except for fifteen. This brought on Saturday. I was woken up much too early, 12:30ish. Not to my excitement. Mary needed to exchange some money, and wanted a bodyguard. Me. After getting the money exchanged, I went on the grocery trip I was mentioning previously. The purchase of the octopus was one of great pleasure for me. I asked the seafood man to get me an octopus from the fridge. He came out holding the thing by it's head, and it was hanging almost to his knees. It's pretty big. It was almost 2 pounds, and it only cost me S./ 18.50, or just over six bucks. I'll be making it sometime in the next few days and will try to take some pictures of it, so you can be as excited as I am.
Instead of going to church this morning, we were invited to go with Vanessa D to see... THE HUMAN RACE!!!
It is this race that is held all over the world which hundreds of thousands of people run in. Vanessa's dad was running in it, and running in it well. He ran it in less that 50 minutes. Pretty good for someone who is 52. He told me that I could run with him after I expressed some interest in running a race similar to this. So he offered to run with me and 'train' me. He runs pretty much halfway across town and back every morning. Crazy. I might die. Anyways, he seems like a very sharing guy, cause he's also invited me to learn how to cook Ceviche. (It is fish cooked slightly in lemon juice).
Tonight I am going to Immanuel Church again. Should be good. I'm gonna have to pray some extra tonight I think. I've got to pick up Teresa Berkholtz and Jodi Hummel tonight and don't know exactly how yet. Also, my boss who said they could stay at the school with me isn't around, and her mom who is probably doesn't know that they are allowed to stay. And, there is school tomorrow, which means that they can't sleep in, or come out of my room in the middle of the day. (It just looks bad here. Like they slept over or something...). I have to teach til four, so I won't be able to show them around very well. Pretty much, I'll bring them home to sleep, and then kick them out in the morning. I'm gonna have to take them out to dinner or something. Yikes. I'm excited to see some familiarity though. Definitely going to be a nice treat. I think they are going to be doing the Inca Trail, or at least going to Machu Picchu. So I am feeling a little jealous about that. If anyone is interested though, I will maybe/probably be doing the trail in Febraury. So let me know, and I think I'll be able to set you up with a place to stay and all. Well, I guess it's time for me to go and shower and get ready for church. 5:00 service today.
PS. If you are interested in visiting Lima, or Peru, and need a place to stay, I might be able to hook you up with somewhere. Just give me a call or send me a note. I'll work out something.
Sunday, August 31
Sunday, August 24
Peru: Day 28 (The Exclusive and Exceptional Event of Emotional Equanimity and Ease)
Almost a month. Muy loco. This past Friday, Becky, Mary, and I were invited to Vanessa D's house. We had a delicious Peruvian-style dinner, and such a good dessert. So simple, and so tasty. A banana in the microwave or oven, sliced down the centre and covered with some butter. Don't try this at home though, because it was an other-than-ordinary banana. Something down here. Really really good though. After dinner, we watched 'The Tuxedo', and then 'A Walk to Remember', and then, 'Casino Royale'. We were up pretty late. Like the sun was gonna rise in a couple hours late. Like in bed around 4:30ish. It was definitely fun, and good to get away from the school. It is a little hard to be working at the school when 'going home' means walking twenty steps to your room.
Such is the case, that I decided to take a day to myself yesterday. Saturday. It was awesome. I woke up at ten, showered, ate, and left at about quarter to eleven. I got on a bus that was headed in a somewhat sort of similar direction as I was headed. I rode the bus for about an hour and a half. I got off somewhere close to the airport. (Quite a ways from my final destination). I hopped onto another bus and road along the ocean up on the cliffs, down beside the beach. A really nice ride. I got off that bus about a hour walk from my final destination. I walked through parks filled with people and artwork and statues, atop a cliff with the ocean breeze around me and the waves crashing below me. It was a gorgeous day out, sun shine and warm winds. So nice. I think God new exactly what I needed. I got to Larcomar, my final destination, and went to Starbucks, grabbed a Manjar Blanco Frapp, exclusive to Peru. Tasty. In Starbucks, I met a couple of Canadian girls who were just down for a couple of weeks. We chatted for a bit and then they left. I then went to a cliffside cafe/restaurant and sat on their balcony for awhile. After wandering around Larcomar some more, I headed for Miraflores. Miraflores on a bright and sunny Saturday is amazing. There are street vendors set up everywhere. Tons of paintings and crafts. Lots of little food vendors. The real food is with these guys. Empanadas, Churros, Manjar treats. (Manjar is a sort of Peruvian caramel). I went into a little cafe in Miraflores and had some tea. I brought my Bible with me so this provided me with a good chance to chill out and read it some. (I'd read it on the balcony at the restaurant as well, but this was pretty nice too). After some more wandering around Miraflores, I made my way to Jockey Plaza. It is a shopping mall, and I needed a couple of ties. I ended up not getting any ties, but I managed to get a sweater for 2/3 the regular price. (It was S./260, but I got it for S./80 cause it has a little hole). Good bonus one my side. I got a couple of tees as well and then headed home. I had such an amazingly chill day just wandering around, actually stopping and smelling flowers, and just relaxing. So much so, that it made me write this blog.
Today was a pretty decent day as well. We headed just a little out of town to Cieneguillo. A church had invited Mary to preach there, so Becky and I decided it would be good to go along. Good call. The church was a house church that was kind of a branch off of Immanuel church in Lima. About 25 people were there, and we were thoroughly welcomed. Invited even, to join the church and work in it. Really cool. We stayed afterwards for lunch at one house, and then headed to another house after for coffee and snacks. Today was a really nice relaxing day as well as yesterday. I am definitely prepared for another week at school. I am well-refreshed and ready to go. For now though, I should probably hit the hay, so to say. So as not to waste any refreshing that I have experienced.
Such is the case, that I decided to take a day to myself yesterday. Saturday. It was awesome. I woke up at ten, showered, ate, and left at about quarter to eleven. I got on a bus that was headed in a somewhat sort of similar direction as I was headed. I rode the bus for about an hour and a half. I got off somewhere close to the airport. (Quite a ways from my final destination). I hopped onto another bus and road along the ocean up on the cliffs, down beside the beach. A really nice ride. I got off that bus about a hour walk from my final destination. I walked through parks filled with people and artwork and statues, atop a cliff with the ocean breeze around me and the waves crashing below me. It was a gorgeous day out, sun shine and warm winds. So nice. I think God new exactly what I needed. I got to Larcomar, my final destination, and went to Starbucks, grabbed a Manjar Blanco Frapp, exclusive to Peru. Tasty. In Starbucks, I met a couple of Canadian girls who were just down for a couple of weeks. We chatted for a bit and then they left. I then went to a cliffside cafe/restaurant and sat on their balcony for awhile. After wandering around Larcomar some more, I headed for Miraflores. Miraflores on a bright and sunny Saturday is amazing. There are street vendors set up everywhere. Tons of paintings and crafts. Lots of little food vendors. The real food is with these guys. Empanadas, Churros, Manjar treats. (Manjar is a sort of Peruvian caramel). I went into a little cafe in Miraflores and had some tea. I brought my Bible with me so this provided me with a good chance to chill out and read it some. (I'd read it on the balcony at the restaurant as well, but this was pretty nice too). After some more wandering around Miraflores, I made my way to Jockey Plaza. It is a shopping mall, and I needed a couple of ties. I ended up not getting any ties, but I managed to get a sweater for 2/3 the regular price. (It was S./260, but I got it for S./80 cause it has a little hole). Good bonus one my side. I got a couple of tees as well and then headed home. I had such an amazingly chill day just wandering around, actually stopping and smelling flowers, and just relaxing. So much so, that it made me write this blog.
Today was a pretty decent day as well. We headed just a little out of town to Cieneguillo. A church had invited Mary to preach there, so Becky and I decided it would be good to go along. Good call. The church was a house church that was kind of a branch off of Immanuel church in Lima. About 25 people were there, and we were thoroughly welcomed. Invited even, to join the church and work in it. Really cool. We stayed afterwards for lunch at one house, and then headed to another house after for coffee and snacks. Today was a really nice relaxing day as well as yesterday. I am definitely prepared for another week at school. I am well-refreshed and ready to go. For now though, I should probably hit the hay, so to say. So as not to waste any refreshing that I have experienced.
Tuesday, August 19
Peru: Day 23 (Dunkin Donuts in Detention)
Three and a half weeks in. The last two weeks have been somewhat less adventurous than the first two. I went to the two churches on sunday morning, the first one being Immanuel Biblia Iglacias. It was en Español, so we only stayed for the 9:00 worship. Afterwards, we headed to Union Church, which is a non-denominational church for English speaking people....like us. It was alright. I found it to be much mellower and more conservative than City Center Church, which I am beginning to miss greatly. Immanuel was a pretty exciting church, and I have been to it three times since the third. of august. It is somewhat similar to City Center Church. I´ve had a translator the last couple times, and the pastor´s seem very excellent.
After that Sunday, Becky and I had a week of training, which consisted of us doing ´schoolwork´. We needed a break after day two, and, after work, we went, with Mary, and our two Peruvian friends (and coworkers), Vanessa D. and Vanessa G, to Miraflores. Miraflores is a touristy part of Lima, and it also happens to be on the ocean. We walked around a couple of clifftop parks overlooking the ocean. Very beautiful. We then stopped in at a nice little restaurant called Cafè Cafè. We ate some food and chilled out and just had a very nice time.
We completed the training. I worked with the Vanessa G. in our classroom. We are teaching grades 4, 5, and 6 together. The first week of classes (August 11-15) had it´s ups and downs. Kids are kids, and so it took a little bit of time to get them to settle down. I have got to say that I do enjoy that everyone addresses me by Mister. Mister, can you help me? Mister, can I do this? Mister can I go over there? etc. There is a demerit system on which this school operates. If a child is misbehaving or talking during classes or something, they get a demerit. If they get three demerits in a day, they then recieve a detention. So the first couple of days, I handed out a few demerits, kind of feeling out the whole idea. The kids whined a little when I gave them their demerits, but generally behaved afterwards. Something happened last thursday (14th) though, that changed the students drastically. They became ignorant, and disruptive, and I don´t know if it was because the end of the week was nearing, but they just did not listen. Some students didn´t even acknowledge me talking to them. So thursday ended up being a day for detentions. I gave out 2. I laid down the law Thursday thinking that Friday would be better. But friday was actually even worse. One student got two detentions, and the total number of students with detentions was eight. It was quite the mess. The kids have behaved a lot better the first two days of this week, so I am hoping it will continue for awhile.
Oh, I forgot to mention. I bought a suit. I look stunning.
Friday night after work, Becky and Noemi (friend from school), and moi went to an English Bible study at Dean Milley´s house. It was a great relaxing time and Becky and I both felt really good afterwards. Kind of just refreshing.
This past Saturday, we went to Immanuel again, for their youth service. It was a really incredible experience. The music was similar to City Center, but a lot louder. There were lots of songs that they sang that I recognized, whether it was Hillsong, or others. It was really nice to know the songs, because then I could just sing in English. We were out late Saturday, and decided that Sunday morning would be for sleeping. Good thing that we are in Peru though, because there are 6 different services at church. One at 7, 9, 11, 1, 5, an 7. Plus a youth service on Saturday. So we went to the 5:00 service, which is somewhat of a youth service as well. After church we went out to Dunkin Donuts. Oh, it was wonderful. More good times with friends here.
Last night, Becky and I went to Miraflores again, to see Dean Milley (the guy who set us up down here). Becky needed to get a bank account, so Dean offered to help and also invited us to have dinner with him. We got the bank account set up and then he took us to Pardo´s Chicken. It is a chain restaurant similar to the Swiss Chalet or something. I had chicharròn de polle, which is like chicken nuggets, but only really really really good. And real chicken. Dean also insisted that we try ´tres leches´. It is a moist cake made with three different milks. And it was amazing. I am going to figure out how to make it so I can make it for everyone back home. Really really tasty. Anyways, that brings me to now. I am coming up on the one month mark (this Sunday night), and that is pretty crazy. It´s pretty sweet that there are still four months until Christmas, cause I am truely enjoying myself downhere. Well, I´ll try to let you know how I´m doing prior to two weeks from now. Ta ta.
After that Sunday, Becky and I had a week of training, which consisted of us doing ´schoolwork´. We needed a break after day two, and, after work, we went, with Mary, and our two Peruvian friends (and coworkers), Vanessa D. and Vanessa G, to Miraflores. Miraflores is a touristy part of Lima, and it also happens to be on the ocean. We walked around a couple of clifftop parks overlooking the ocean. Very beautiful. We then stopped in at a nice little restaurant called Cafè Cafè. We ate some food and chilled out and just had a very nice time.
We completed the training. I worked with the Vanessa G. in our classroom. We are teaching grades 4, 5, and 6 together. The first week of classes (August 11-15) had it´s ups and downs. Kids are kids, and so it took a little bit of time to get them to settle down. I have got to say that I do enjoy that everyone addresses me by Mister. Mister, can you help me? Mister, can I do this? Mister can I go over there? etc. There is a demerit system on which this school operates. If a child is misbehaving or talking during classes or something, they get a demerit. If they get three demerits in a day, they then recieve a detention. So the first couple of days, I handed out a few demerits, kind of feeling out the whole idea. The kids whined a little when I gave them their demerits, but generally behaved afterwards. Something happened last thursday (14th) though, that changed the students drastically. They became ignorant, and disruptive, and I don´t know if it was because the end of the week was nearing, but they just did not listen. Some students didn´t even acknowledge me talking to them. So thursday ended up being a day for detentions. I gave out 2. I laid down the law Thursday thinking that Friday would be better. But friday was actually even worse. One student got two detentions, and the total number of students with detentions was eight. It was quite the mess. The kids have behaved a lot better the first two days of this week, so I am hoping it will continue for awhile.
Oh, I forgot to mention. I bought a suit. I look stunning.
Friday night after work, Becky and Noemi (friend from school), and moi went to an English Bible study at Dean Milley´s house. It was a great relaxing time and Becky and I both felt really good afterwards. Kind of just refreshing.
This past Saturday, we went to Immanuel again, for their youth service. It was a really incredible experience. The music was similar to City Center, but a lot louder. There were lots of songs that they sang that I recognized, whether it was Hillsong, or others. It was really nice to know the songs, because then I could just sing in English. We were out late Saturday, and decided that Sunday morning would be for sleeping. Good thing that we are in Peru though, because there are 6 different services at church. One at 7, 9, 11, 1, 5, an 7. Plus a youth service on Saturday. So we went to the 5:00 service, which is somewhat of a youth service as well. After church we went out to Dunkin Donuts. Oh, it was wonderful. More good times with friends here.
Last night, Becky and I went to Miraflores again, to see Dean Milley (the guy who set us up down here). Becky needed to get a bank account, so Dean offered to help and also invited us to have dinner with him. We got the bank account set up and then he took us to Pardo´s Chicken. It is a chain restaurant similar to the Swiss Chalet or something. I had chicharròn de polle, which is like chicken nuggets, but only really really really good. And real chicken. Dean also insisted that we try ´tres leches´. It is a moist cake made with three different milks. And it was amazing. I am going to figure out how to make it so I can make it for everyone back home. Really really tasty. Anyways, that brings me to now. I am coming up on the one month mark (this Sunday night), and that is pretty crazy. It´s pretty sweet that there are still four months until Christmas, cause I am truely enjoying myself downhere. Well, I´ll try to let you know how I´m doing prior to two weeks from now. Ta ta.
Saturday, August 2
Peru: Day 6 (Casually Cuddling the Cathedrals) Pt. 2
I forgot about Thursday P.M.
On Thursday night, Miss Elizabeth took us to a fountain exhibit. It was a park filled with really big fountains. The fountains were lit up and made for quite a show. There was one fountain that Becky and I actually went in. It had rings of fountains shooting up at different times in different directions. The point of it, I think, was to get to the middle of the fountains without getting wet. Neither of us succeeded of course. Another fountain was a walk-through tunnel. We wandered around the park and around town for the rest of the evening before heading home. We stopped by a market, and I bargained on different prices for different items. And we saw what Centra Lima looks like when it is lit up. It is amazing to see all of the colonial era (17th cent.) buildings lit up against the dark sky.
On to Friday though.
Friday morning, we all went back to downtown Lima, and brought Mary along with us. We first watched the changing of the gaurd at the presidential palace. It is a small fifteen minute ceremony with a band playing. The gaurds change spots, and march, and march. Kinda interesting. After that we went for lunch, for S./ 7, which is just over two bucks. I was once again stuffed. We wandered around the streets for awhile and I noticed a very peculiar thing. Peruvians LOVE their shoes. We walked down one street for two blocks and I kid you not, 75% of the stores and shops were for shoes. If I still loved to buy shoes I would´ve gone crazy. There is one shoe shop that I will probably go to to get my shoes, because the owner handmakes his shoes. The place is called Luis Vallejo, in case you were wondering. The next place we went was the ocean. Yes, Lima does have it all. We went to a restaurant with an amazing view of the ocean and the surrounding landscapes. I´m sure we have pictures somewhere. We had Peruvian donuts there, which are made from sweet potato. Very tasty. We went down towards the ocean on a little path surrounded by older buildings, restaurants, and street vendors. It was very beautiful. We ended the night by going to a small bible study at my boss´s brother´s house. We sang some Spanish songs and some English songs, and ate some more food. I´m probably gonna break 200 pounds with all the food I´m eating here.
Saturday. Today.
Today, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning. Miss Elizabeth, my boss, and Daniel, her brother, invited me to go to Barracas with them, which is approximately three and a half hours South of Lima. We left the school at five and I dozed on and off for the first hour or so. We drove past smaller towns and the poverty level dropped very quickly. Elizabeth told me that in Lima, where we are staying, we are in a level A area. (The area we are in is relatively safe and there is not too much poverty around us). The towns we were passing by, she said, were level E. The landscape we drove through was mostly desert, and all over there were small ´houses´, no bigger than 10 feet by 10 feet, made of straw mats and canes. There were hundreds of these places and, though I did not see many people near them, I can assume that the people that lived in them were barely getting by. Daniel said that they moved from the jungle to find work and have to live like this until they can save up money for a real house. It was really shocking to see so many places like this all around us. Eventually, we reached Pisco, and Daniel said it was my turn to drive. I thought, hey, I can handle this. It´s not too different right? Wrong. I ran over a few large dugouts in the road and realized I was in for it. We got to Pisco (just before Barracas), and the roads got narrower, and busier. There were little motorbike cabs everywhere, and cars, and carts pulled by donkeys, and huge trucks overloaded with cane, and people, and dogs, and one lane main streets, and piles of dirt. It was a crazy experience driving through Pisco. We made it to Barracas though, thankfully. In Barracas, Daniel and I went on a sightseeing boat tour out to the Paracas Islands, paracas being sea lions. We went in a 30 passenger speed boat out to the islands, and along the way saw a massive Inca carving on a oceanside hill, as well as caves carved by the waves. We saw a lot of wildlife including penguins, albeits, pelicans, and sea lions. It was incredible to actually see these penguins, chillin´on a small island, along with the other birds. The sea lions were very sweet too. They just layed around basking in the sun. We took the boat through a tunnel carved by the ocean. It was amazing to see the rock formations that the ocean made. We headed back to Barracas, and once back on shore, checked out the market that was right on the beach. It was crazy to walk through this market with white sand below the booths and below my feet. Really nice. On our way back, there were tons of stands on the side of the road, but none of them had the regular fruit, candy, arts and crafts stuff. They were all full of wine bottles. Daniel told me that around Barracas and Pisco, they have a lot of vineyards, and thus, a lot of wine. So, Mom and Dad, I´m gonna try to send you a bottle of it. I´ll make sure I get an expensive one, which will probably cost no more than S./60. Or about $20. But I´m sure it will be tasteful and elegant. Anyways, that brings me to wear I am now. We drove home, and I ate dinner (empañadas de polle, kinda like chicken pot pie), and now it´s time for bed. Gotta be ready for churches tomorrow. Yup, I´m going to a couple.
Beunas noches.
On Thursday night, Miss Elizabeth took us to a fountain exhibit. It was a park filled with really big fountains. The fountains were lit up and made for quite a show. There was one fountain that Becky and I actually went in. It had rings of fountains shooting up at different times in different directions. The point of it, I think, was to get to the middle of the fountains without getting wet. Neither of us succeeded of course. Another fountain was a walk-through tunnel. We wandered around the park and around town for the rest of the evening before heading home. We stopped by a market, and I bargained on different prices for different items. And we saw what Centra Lima looks like when it is lit up. It is amazing to see all of the colonial era (17th cent.) buildings lit up against the dark sky.
On to Friday though.
Friday morning, we all went back to downtown Lima, and brought Mary along with us. We first watched the changing of the gaurd at the presidential palace. It is a small fifteen minute ceremony with a band playing. The gaurds change spots, and march, and march. Kinda interesting. After that we went for lunch, for S./ 7, which is just over two bucks. I was once again stuffed. We wandered around the streets for awhile and I noticed a very peculiar thing. Peruvians LOVE their shoes. We walked down one street for two blocks and I kid you not, 75% of the stores and shops were for shoes. If I still loved to buy shoes I would´ve gone crazy. There is one shoe shop that I will probably go to to get my shoes, because the owner handmakes his shoes. The place is called Luis Vallejo, in case you were wondering. The next place we went was the ocean. Yes, Lima does have it all. We went to a restaurant with an amazing view of the ocean and the surrounding landscapes. I´m sure we have pictures somewhere. We had Peruvian donuts there, which are made from sweet potato. Very tasty. We went down towards the ocean on a little path surrounded by older buildings, restaurants, and street vendors. It was very beautiful. We ended the night by going to a small bible study at my boss´s brother´s house. We sang some Spanish songs and some English songs, and ate some more food. I´m probably gonna break 200 pounds with all the food I´m eating here.
Saturday. Today.
Today, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning. Miss Elizabeth, my boss, and Daniel, her brother, invited me to go to Barracas with them, which is approximately three and a half hours South of Lima. We left the school at five and I dozed on and off for the first hour or so. We drove past smaller towns and the poverty level dropped very quickly. Elizabeth told me that in Lima, where we are staying, we are in a level A area. (The area we are in is relatively safe and there is not too much poverty around us). The towns we were passing by, she said, were level E. The landscape we drove through was mostly desert, and all over there were small ´houses´, no bigger than 10 feet by 10 feet, made of straw mats and canes. There were hundreds of these places and, though I did not see many people near them, I can assume that the people that lived in them were barely getting by. Daniel said that they moved from the jungle to find work and have to live like this until they can save up money for a real house. It was really shocking to see so many places like this all around us. Eventually, we reached Pisco, and Daniel said it was my turn to drive. I thought, hey, I can handle this. It´s not too different right? Wrong. I ran over a few large dugouts in the road and realized I was in for it. We got to Pisco (just before Barracas), and the roads got narrower, and busier. There were little motorbike cabs everywhere, and cars, and carts pulled by donkeys, and huge trucks overloaded with cane, and people, and dogs, and one lane main streets, and piles of dirt. It was a crazy experience driving through Pisco. We made it to Barracas though, thankfully. In Barracas, Daniel and I went on a sightseeing boat tour out to the Paracas Islands, paracas being sea lions. We went in a 30 passenger speed boat out to the islands, and along the way saw a massive Inca carving on a oceanside hill, as well as caves carved by the waves. We saw a lot of wildlife including penguins, albeits, pelicans, and sea lions. It was incredible to actually see these penguins, chillin´on a small island, along with the other birds. The sea lions were very sweet too. They just layed around basking in the sun. We took the boat through a tunnel carved by the ocean. It was amazing to see the rock formations that the ocean made. We headed back to Barracas, and once back on shore, checked out the market that was right on the beach. It was crazy to walk through this market with white sand below the booths and below my feet. Really nice. On our way back, there were tons of stands on the side of the road, but none of them had the regular fruit, candy, arts and crafts stuff. They were all full of wine bottles. Daniel told me that around Barracas and Pisco, they have a lot of vineyards, and thus, a lot of wine. So, Mom and Dad, I´m gonna try to send you a bottle of it. I´ll make sure I get an expensive one, which will probably cost no more than S./60. Or about $20. But I´m sure it will be tasteful and elegant. Anyways, that brings me to wear I am now. We drove home, and I ate dinner (empañadas de polle, kinda like chicken pot pie), and now it´s time for bed. Gotta be ready for churches tomorrow. Yup, I´m going to a couple.
Beunas noches.
Peru Pics 2
One of the towers of the San Franciscan Monestary.
Inside the San Franciscan Monestary.
View from the center courtyard at the Basilica Cathedral.
Inside the Basilica Cathedral.
This is a box of skulls in the catacombs. It is eerie, but I thought it was important that I show these pictures. Below is a box of bones. Each box is about two feet across, six feet long, and twelve metres deep. There were about twenty-five of these in a row, all full to the top.
Peru Pics 1
The view from the second floor of the school. 
A somewhat empty intersection in La Molina. 
Pretty sure this is the only time ever that there has been an empty street in Lima. 
Of Course, we can´t forget Elmo at Molina Plaza. 
My boss´s brother´s son Daniel, avec moi. 
Becky and Daniel.
San Cristoble. Saint Christopher Hill.
A little jam seche with Becky and Eunice. (eh-oo-knee-say)
Becky and Erique´s star.
Peru: Day 6 (Casually Cuddling the Cathedrals)
Well, day six is here and the week is coming to a close. For the sake of the clinically curious, I am wearing sandals, jeans, a volleyball T, a scarf, and a touque. The last few days have been jam-packed with tons of different trips to different parts of town on, quite possibly, one hundred and thirteen buses. Maybe not that many. I have ridden somewhere close to six buses per day, with a couple days topping eight rides. Even today, I was gone to Pisco (South of Lima) all day and I still managed to get on four buses. It would´ve been six if I had gone to church tonight, but alas, my legs can carry me no farther.
Tuesday.
Tuesday was a very informative day as I partook on a journey to Molina Plaza. We stopped at Plazavea, a superstoresque complex, and took a look at the grocery shopping situation. We left. We, is Becky, Mary, and I. I´ll show you some pictures. Back to the groceries though. I have yet to actually fully shop for groceries. When we were at Molina Plaza, all that I picked up were some buns and a potato. The buns are amazing here, and amazingly cheap. They are about S/. 5-7, ¡PER KILO! Which is roughly $1.90-2.40ish. ¡PER KILOGRAM! Definitely a great deal. Anyways, after looking around Molina Plaza, and calling my grandma from a pretty cheap internet/long distance phone cafe, we returned home for some tea and a movie. Tuesday evening was probably the most relaxed I have been this week.
Wednesday.
On Wednesday, we went to Yogi Plaza. It is a large mall filled with many stores. Similar to the malls you have back home, actually. We saw the only ice rink in Lima at this plaza. (It is winter here, after all). We saw the star and hand prints of none other than Enrique Iglesias at Lima´s Walk of Fame, in Yogi Plaza. Now, this next part of the day is quite interesting. Believe it or not, a girl in the mall tried to pick this guy up. I was walking in the mall, waiting for Mary and Becky to come out of another store, and a Peruvian girl about my age walked by. She asked me something in Spanish, and I said that I didn´t know any Spanish. I turned to walk away, and she called me back, in English. She said she was going to school in Oklahoma and asked if I was hungry and wanted to go eat with her. I said no thanks, and she said she wanted to talk with me, see what I was doing in Peru, and, once again, eat lunch with me. This went on for a couple minutes, and then I left, because I needed to find Mary and Becky. So, I was an attempt at a pickup that failed. I was pretty impressed, but Mary and Becky said we should probably get outside because my head was going to be too big to stay in the mall. It was pretty fun.
Anyways....Thursday.
Miss Elizabeth, my boss, decided it would be nice to take Becky and I to Centra Lima, or downtown Lima. It was definitely a good idea. Our first stop was Al Museo del Converto de San Francisco, or The Franciscan Monastary and Museum. It is a huge cathedral which still has Mass every sunday, but part of which has been turned into an amazing museum. It is mostly paintings and tributes to mother mary, but some of the paintings were painted in the 1600´s, which is so incredible that they have lasted this long. The church was full of beautiful wood carving and architecture. The pulpit area is insanely detailed in the woodwork with the Twelve Apostles even having veins carved in their arms. The next place we went was a place called Jerry´s, actually. We paid S./ 12 and were stuffed from the amazing Peruvian food. I had huevo a la rusa, and trucha, which is basically a potato salad with a Russian egg, and fried fish. Delicious. After Jerry´s, we went to the Basilica Catedral de Lima. Another cathedral. In this cathedral, were the catacumbas, or catacombs. These catacombs held thousands and thousands of bones from Jewish and Protestant people. These people were tortured and then killed in these catacombs, right below the Catholic church. They were tortured for anything that disagreed with the Catholic church. I just want to say, that it is one thing to read about thousands of people dying, or being killed, but to actually see these bones was a very chilling and stirring experience. Other than the catacombs, the church was stunning. It was massive and very colorful inside and out. I´ll throw some pictures in here before I go into Friday and today, Saturday.
Tuesday.
Tuesday was a very informative day as I partook on a journey to Molina Plaza. We stopped at Plazavea, a superstoresque complex, and took a look at the grocery shopping situation. We left. We, is Becky, Mary, and I. I´ll show you some pictures. Back to the groceries though. I have yet to actually fully shop for groceries. When we were at Molina Plaza, all that I picked up were some buns and a potato. The buns are amazing here, and amazingly cheap. They are about S/. 5-7, ¡PER KILO! Which is roughly $1.90-2.40ish. ¡PER KILOGRAM! Definitely a great deal. Anyways, after looking around Molina Plaza, and calling my grandma from a pretty cheap internet/long distance phone cafe, we returned home for some tea and a movie. Tuesday evening was probably the most relaxed I have been this week.
Wednesday.
On Wednesday, we went to Yogi Plaza. It is a large mall filled with many stores. Similar to the malls you have back home, actually. We saw the only ice rink in Lima at this plaza. (It is winter here, after all). We saw the star and hand prints of none other than Enrique Iglesias at Lima´s Walk of Fame, in Yogi Plaza. Now, this next part of the day is quite interesting. Believe it or not, a girl in the mall tried to pick this guy up. I was walking in the mall, waiting for Mary and Becky to come out of another store, and a Peruvian girl about my age walked by. She asked me something in Spanish, and I said that I didn´t know any Spanish. I turned to walk away, and she called me back, in English. She said she was going to school in Oklahoma and asked if I was hungry and wanted to go eat with her. I said no thanks, and she said she wanted to talk with me, see what I was doing in Peru, and, once again, eat lunch with me. This went on for a couple minutes, and then I left, because I needed to find Mary and Becky. So, I was an attempt at a pickup that failed. I was pretty impressed, but Mary and Becky said we should probably get outside because my head was going to be too big to stay in the mall. It was pretty fun.
Anyways....Thursday.
Miss Elizabeth, my boss, decided it would be nice to take Becky and I to Centra Lima, or downtown Lima. It was definitely a good idea. Our first stop was Al Museo del Converto de San Francisco, or The Franciscan Monastary and Museum. It is a huge cathedral which still has Mass every sunday, but part of which has been turned into an amazing museum. It is mostly paintings and tributes to mother mary, but some of the paintings were painted in the 1600´s, which is so incredible that they have lasted this long. The church was full of beautiful wood carving and architecture. The pulpit area is insanely detailed in the woodwork with the Twelve Apostles even having veins carved in their arms. The next place we went was a place called Jerry´s, actually. We paid S./ 12 and were stuffed from the amazing Peruvian food. I had huevo a la rusa, and trucha, which is basically a potato salad with a Russian egg, and fried fish. Delicious. After Jerry´s, we went to the Basilica Catedral de Lima. Another cathedral. In this cathedral, were the catacumbas, or catacombs. These catacombs held thousands and thousands of bones from Jewish and Protestant people. These people were tortured and then killed in these catacombs, right below the Catholic church. They were tortured for anything that disagreed with the Catholic church. I just want to say, that it is one thing to read about thousands of people dying, or being killed, but to actually see these bones was a very chilling and stirring experience. Other than the catacombs, the church was stunning. It was massive and very colorful inside and out. I´ll throw some pictures in here before I go into Friday and today, Saturday.
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