Texas Hold Em

This week is my school's anniversary (42 years I think) so we have had some competitions/contests, and each grade has prepared a dance (I will not be participating but I will take pictures) so I think one day there will be a presentation of all the dances.  We are also having a sports competition day, and I am on a basketball team.  I love playing basketball here because I'm actually considered good ;)  Occasionally I play during recess with classmates. 

Also today, my host brother convinced me to play poker with him.  I was hesitant at first, not because I don't believe in gambling, but because I didn't have any clue how to play and I didn't think it would be fun.  But I agreed, and we bet some American candy I brought instead of money.  He taught me the basics and I pulled up the different hand formations on my computer, and I told him that if by some miracle I won, he had to buy me pizza for dinner because I was hungry and really wanted pizza haha.  We played two games and I won both.  It was awesome.  Most of the time I just threw down chips and didn't really know what I was doing, and was just looking for pairs haha but it worked out well and now I get pizza for dinner :D

Going backwards now:
On Sunday my host family and I took a trip to Chosica and just kind of chilled, saw a few different things, had lunch at a restaurant, and also encountered some llamas.  Here's some pics:

Above is a pic of an ice cream stand that had pretty cool ice cream flavors, many made from exotic peruvian fruits.  Some examples can be found on the sign in the picture:  Chirimoya, Higo, I think Palta means avocado..yuck I wouldn't want that as an ice cream flavor..

Anyways, I got strawberry and a flavor I think was called Maracuya but I'm not quite sure..  whatever it was called, it tasted good.

And as I previously mentioned, we encountered two llamas, a black one and a white one.  My host brother and I both took photos by them:

And below is a picture of me eating a peruvian fruit that I don't remember the name of:

And there was also a nice river.  A woman was doing her laundry there, and I also saw a child being bathed there.

And this was just a nice view taken off of a bridge over the railroad tracks:

 

Oh and one more thing, this is a picture of a drink called Chicha Morada that I tried at a restaurant when we had lunch in Chosica.  It is made from purple corn.  I did not particularly enjoy it.

 

Okay that is all for now.  I hope everyone is enjoying reading.  Please leave comments if you would like to have specific questions answered or anything.  Bye!

An awesome day!

Yesterday I don't really remember what we did, but I do remember we went to eat dinner at a chifa restaurant (chifa is peruvian chinese food if I haven't said that already, they are ABUNDANT here, seriously they are everywhere) and it was about 9:30 PM.  That's something I'm still not quite adjusted to, how late some things are done here.  While dinner in the US is typically consumed at around 5 or 6, here it's normal to eat at 8 PM or even later.  Anyway, the whole family went (me, my host mom, host dad, host brother twins bruno and jim, and host brother christian, plus a friend of jim's) and ate chifa.  I had chicken and rice (BIG SURPRISE).  I eat chicken and rice constantly here, nearly every day.  I'm okay with it though, because its one of the few foods here that I like.  I also enjoy chicken and french fries (I had that after school yesterday...yummm). 

While the last two days have been quite good, there was a big downside which was the following:
For the last two/three days, I had sporadic, intense stomach pain.  Every so often, all of a sudden, I would have this really bad pain in my stomach that would last about a minute, maybe 45 seconds, and occasionally it would be so intense that my breathing would change (I don't quite know how to explain it, my breathing would get ragged? is that the phrase?) and then once the pain stopped, I would feel completely normal and comfortable.  (well, I also would have some bathrooms problems afterwards but I won't get into that for your sake...)  At first, like the first day I had the pain, my best friend Emilie and I would joke that I was going into labor and that I was having contractions.  But then by the second day, I was actually getting concerned, as the night before the pain was bad enough that it would wake me up and make it very difficult to go back to sleep.  And so I decided that if the pain continued the next day, I would seek out medical attention.  But thank god, today I have felt much better and while I have had just a few moments of slight stomach pain, it is a huge improvement from the last two days.  So that is quite a relief.

On a lighter note, today I had quite an enjoyable day.  I went to Jockey Plaza (basically just a big mall) which is like, I don't know, 20 or 25 minutes away from where I live.  Maybe more.  Anyways, I went with Emilie (previously mentioned best friend) and Andre (a kid from our rotary club that went to belgium on exchange and now is back).  We had subway for lunch, which was awesome because I got to eat pickles (PICKLES OMG <3) however I was disappointed in the questionable, yellow substance they called 'cheddar cheese'.  Haha anyway, after lunch we also got ice cream, which was really cool, because there were tons of flavors, including several that were made from fruits only found in Peru.  Andre got some ice cream made from a fruit called lucuma (I think that's what it's called anyways..) and I didn't think it was very good haha but I did enjoy my toffee ice cream.  Then we went and watched a movie, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, which was super awesome because I have read the book series and quite enjoyed them.  The movie was completely in spanish (no subtitles or anything) but I still understood most of it, and not because I had previously read the book.  So that was fun.  Then we just browsed some stores for a little while, I bought some contact solution and some lotion, and then we returned by bus and I walked the rest of the way home. 

And now I am going to go look at cell phones with my host brothers, and hopefully buy one tonight!  Bye!!

~Ginger :)

Interesting Fact:  The currency here is called 'Nuevo Sol' (plural = soles) but american dollars are also widely accepted (mostly at the bigger stores). 

quite busy

So from friday to sunday, all the exchange students in Lima went to 'campamento' which means camp, but we actually stayed at a resort (not really camping).  We shared bungalows (5 people in each) which were actually pretty nice, with little kitchens, patios, and a bathroom. The 'camp' was located in Chosica, which is outside of Lima, not really sure where, but the weather there is drastically different.  Lima is in a constant state of cold, yucky, humid, misty terribleness during winter and in Chosica we actually saw the sun everyday and it got quite hot!  In lima that is quite a rarity during the winter.  It was a nice change to feel warm! 

We arrived Friday afternoon and during the weekend we had various presentations (quite boring and unfortunately fairly uninformative...) and had scheduled activities/games plus free time, in which we all spent time at the resort's pool (with a slide!) and on the ropes course. 

There were ginormous mountains everywhere you looked.  

we enjoyed spectacular views in every direction

the guys enjoyed wrestling in the kiddie pool...

The only reason I wasn't thrown in the pool was because I had my camera on me at all times ;)

from top to bottom:  natalie (canada), gerry (australia), garrett (USA)

WISCONSINITES UNITE!!  Ian from Waupaca, WI and me.

We had a talent show, and also each group of students from each country had to sing their national anthem.  Above are the boys from Belgium from left:  Marcel, Colin, Laurent. 

The french kids proudly singing their anthem!  From left:  Bastien, Simon, Nouma, Penelope, Tiphaine, Charlotte (not sure about the spelling of her name..) and Guillame

Here's another pic of the mountains... and the side is covered in little houses/shacks but its hard to see. 

So overall it was a very fun weekend.  But it was also very exhausting.  Each night we ended up back at our bungalows to sleep at about midnight.  The first morning we had to get up at 6:30 AM and the second morning at 8 AM sooo we were all pretty much walking zombies. 

Also, another bad aspect of the camp was that a huge chunk of the students ended up very sick.  We are not sure if it was because of the food that we were served, or what, but during the weekend, about 6 people were sick (stomach issues, throwing up, shaking, fevers, etc)  and even after we returned to Lima, many more started feeling sick.  I myself had some stomach problems but I had a very mild case compared to some of the others.  One girl ended up at the hospital yesterday, and one boy had to have a doctor called to his house because he couldnt get out of bed.  So it was actually kind of serious. 

We returned on Sunday and I was greeted by my twin host brothers Jim and Bruno, who then took me to the grocery store and let me pick out food/snacks I wanted, which was super cool.  I ended up with vanilla and chocolate oreos, peruvian candy, and spicy salted banana chips (sounds crazy but are actually kind of good).  I think they are going to help me get a cell phone soon.  I was using my host mom's but its super old and you can't actually call with it (can only receive calls, which is not particularly helpful) hahaha. 

Then on Monday, despite not feeling well and being exhausted, I went to school.  Emilie and Tami did not go to school (both of them were fairly sick) which actually turned out to be ok because I spoke more spanish. 

Then monday night there was a rotary dinner which was held at a Chifa restaurant (peruvian chinese food).  It was very formal (I wore a dress and my blazer).  The dinner was to welcome the students that came to peru and to to welcome back the returning students who went on exchange and are now back in Peru.  We exchange students in Lima were supposed to arrive at 6:30 PM to practice singing our anthems and carrying our flags in, but most didnt show up until the dinner actually started so we never actually practiced...but it went fine anyways. 

I got to see Israel!!  Israel went to Hudson, Wisconsin last year so I knew him from Rotary and I had met him a few times.  It was so cool to see him again.  He lives in Chosica (outside of Lima-like 45 minutes/an hour away from where I live I think..) so we are going to try to plan to get together to hang out.

Unfortunately I hadnt charged my camera batteries after campamento, so my camera died in the beginning of the dinner.

I only got about 2 photos.  Here they are:

very formal

ISRAEL AND I!!!!!  :D

ceviche.....AND A SWEATER

So on sunday we went out to lunch at a seafood restaurant.  We got ceviche and different types of fried fish (including octopus).  And apparently ceviche is such a delicious food and everyone loves it but honestly....I thought I was going to throw up.  The texture of that fish in my mouth.....ick.  Ceviche is like raw fish, that is marinated in lime juice and is served with onions and stuff.  It's a pretty well known dish, and is very popular here. Here's a picture of ceviche (from the internet).

It was not a pleasant experience....  but the fried fish was better.  And after we ate lunch, we went to a feria (like an artisan fair).  There were food stands (I saw cuy-- cooked guinea pig) and we had picarones (like doughnuts).  And there were a ton of stands selling sweaters, pants, hats, and other awesome peruvian stuff, and all of it is pretty cheap.  I bought an awesome blue alpaca sweater for 30 soles, so like $12 USD or so, and peruvian pants for 15 soles, about $5 USD.  IT WAS COOL.

Also here's some pictures of my school.  School is so boring.  I just draw in my notebook all day, and occasionally take notes if a teacher asks me to.  Like today I had to take notes in english class and I was like... "are you serious right now???"  That's a pretty funny class actually.  Several of the students speak better english than the teacher...

looking down at the courtyard from the second level

its a very small school

 

classrooms on top of classrooms on top of classrooms

Another difference I havent mentioned yet is that when you greet someone, you do it by kissing their cheek.  Well, you dont really kiss their cheek, you more just like touch cheeks and its hard to explain.. but yeah.  And its the same for saying goodbye.  Its nice sometimes and annoying sometimes, like when you're at a party or with family, and you have to leave but before you can leave, you're supposed to kiss everyone goodbye and it can take a long time.

Chau

where I left off

Well I had finished my last post saying that we were having a little goodbye party for Grace, and so she had some girls over from our class and we played cards, listened to music, ate pizza and cake, and it was quite fun.  The next day I woke up to go to my spanish classes.  Grace was leaving that day and she had just begun packing so that concerned me haha.  I went to spanish classes, learned nothing (the classes are fairly pointless lol), and stayed afterwards for lunch that the Rotex (past exchange students) threw.  But I didn't like the food at all (it was meat--pig back, tomato slices, cucumber slices, plain lettuce... not my cup of tea).  Afterwards, Emilie and I walked back to my house and she stayed for just a few hours.  During those few hours, my host mom, dad, and sister left to buy a few more things for grace's exchange, and to buy a new suitcase because her other suitcase was too small.  They returned at like, 7, and Grace continued her packing.  We didn't end up leaving for the airport until like 9:30, and arrived at about 10.  Her flight left at about midnight, so while everyone was taking pictures with grace, I was like 'dude, you're going to miss your flight!'.  And then she left.  I was sad because, well, she was a good host sister and helped me with everything, and also, being in the airport made me remember when I left and it made me homesick. 

And so now I have a day off (sunday is really my only day off because i have school everyday and then I return to school on saturdays for spanish classes) and I dont know if we have any plans, but currently I am watching the Big Bang Theory, which is quite a funny show (id never seen it before I got here).  And my host mom is altering my host sister's skirt for my school uniform (she's making it a little shorter because its really long).  And Im hungry,  so i hope we have lunch soon, and I hope it's something I like, because unfortunately I have not liked the majority of the food here.  Well I'll go now because I dont know what else to say.

First Rotary Meeting

So last night I had my first rotary meeting here in Peru, with my rotary club "Our Lady of Grace".  It began at 8 PM (I think it normally starts later but last night they had a special ceremony for the changing of the Rotaract president).  Everything happens later here and I always end up quite tired.  We arrived nearly 25 minutes late to the meeting and I was worried, but of course they were running on peruvian time and it hadn't begun yet!  The meeting was held at my school.  Below is a photo of me, a rebound (someone who went on exchange and now is back) who went to Belgium, and the other exchange student in the club, Emilie, from Denmark.  In september there will be another exchange student in our club, Victor, from Belgium. 

I have a lot of pins now!

And then the next day (today) I went to school for the third day.  I dont remember exactly, but I had several classes including Communications (not even really sure what that was...) and Biology (didn't understand it much) and English.  Me and Emilie have the same schedule.  We had classes with varying age groups, from our own age to children that appeared to be 10 or so. Oh and also, remember how I said that there is no toilet paper in the bathroom?  Well apparently you just have to go in the school office and grab some before using the restroom.  So.. yeah hahaha.

After school my host mom, sister, and I had lunch at a restaurant with a classmate named Mariana, her sister, and her mom.  I had pollo a la brasa, which I have had several times now, and seems to have become my go to dish when in a restaurant and I dont know what to order.  It consists of chicken and french fries (not so foreign haha).  Food here seems to be cheaper in general.  My meal had chicken, french fries, salad, and a drink and it was 14 soles = $5.  And I don't know if I already mentioned this but here in Lima, all over on the sidewalks, are these cool stands selling candy, snacks, soda, bottled water, etc.  I bought a candy bar for 1,2 soles = approx 43 cents USD. 
 

its pretty neat

And there's also occasionally stands selling food like sandwiches, picarones, churros, other stuff etc.  Here's a picture of a guy selling churros on the street.  I tried a churro a few days ago-- it was really good.  they're filled with a thick caramel called manjar.

Also occasionally people (and also children!) will go down the street carrying a box of candies or gum, selling to pedestrians and also weaving in between the waiting cars at intersections and selling to the drivers.  It's quite interesting. 
 
And after lunch we stopped in at a bank to see if I could use an ATM.  I had tried to withdraw money from my debit card using an ATM on about three different occasions and each time it hadn't worked, so I was getting kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to get money to pay for my insurance, alpaca sweaters (obviously very important), and a three day two night exchange student camp I have coming up in about two weeks, among other things.  But to my delight, the machine actually dispensed the money!  So now I just have to return to get some peruvian money for my spending here.  Also, I received a letter from home!!!  It took a week to get here apparently, which I think is pretty good.  So it was a good day.

Tomorrow I have school again, and after that we dont have any plans that I know of.  PEACE OUT
-Ginger

School!

So I've been to school 2 days now! and I already know that it's going to be a looongg semester. I'll explain why later.

Well I wake up at about 7 o'clock and put on my uniform.  There are two uniforms, each is worn on a specific day of the week.  School goes from 8 to 3

The casual uniform consists of:

• tshirt
• track pants
• jacket
• casual shoes
• overall it just looks like a track suit

The formal uniform consists of:

• skirt
• blouse
• tie
• high socks
• sweater
• black shoes

And you have to wear your hair up.  I'm wearing my sister's old uniform.  She leaves for her exchange in the USA in about a week, so currently ive just been wearing the casual uniform, but soon ill have to wear the formal one too.

The school is very small.  There are like, 10 classrooms, max.  I dont really know how to explain the layout of the school.  There is like, a courtyard, and the classrooms are on 2 sides of it.  And there are classrooms on top of those classrooms, so sometimes you have to climb a few staircases to get up to the classroom.  Its a pretty simple school, and what I mean by that is there isnt much technology.  In one room there was a projector and computer but it was one of the few.  Most just seem to have desks, chairs, and walls.  And a whiteboard.  There is no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms.  I guess you have to bring it from home.  Me and the other exchange students discovered that today hahaha.  And the stalls are very short, like when you stand in them, your shoulders and head are showing.   All in all, it seems like a pretty ghetto school lol.

It has all grades, so like, kindergarten age kids all the way to 17 and 18 year olds I think.  And there's only probably 100 or so students in the whole school.  Me and the other exchange students (Tami from Canada, and Emilie from Denmark) have been with different age groups, but I think our main 'homeroom' group of students is comprised of 16-18 year olds.

So this is kind of confusing but I'll try to explain it.

Each grade is called a salon.  (sah-lone)
My salon (my grade) is called quinto (keen-toe)
Quinto is the oldest salon (oldest grade) comprising of 16-18  year olds I think
Quinto has about 20 or so students (mostly girls--like 15 girls, 5 boys)

We have like 4 or so classes a day, and each day it's different. (aka each day of the week you have a different schedule)

Yesterday I began the day with algebra.  At first I was like "oh good, algebra, this is easy" and then the teacher started writing everything on the board and I was like "what the heck is this" lol using symbols I didn't understand and I just had no idea.  It was ok though, most of the teachers dont expect me to understand the classes.

I dont remember what my first class was today, but my second was gym. and boy was that an experience. My grade gathered in the courtyard for this class (there is no gym).  First we had to run laps around the court yard.  When the teacher blew the whistle once, we had to change direction.  When he blew it twice, we had to do three squats and then continue running.  It was very awkward.

Then after that, I was horrified to find that we were doing tumbling.  They dragged out two mats and we proceeded to do somersaults.  Imagine that.  16, 17, and 18 year olds lining up and doing somersaults on a foam mat.  I kept thinking "i remember when we did this in elementary school"



In my other classes I mostly just drew in my notebook and occasionally took notes.  I don't really know what my classes were or what they were studying. 

So we had like 2 classes, then a half hour recess, then another class, then another short recess, then a last class.  Or something like that.  Lunch isn't served here at the school.  During recess you can buy snacks and drinks at a sort of concession stand.  Otherwise you should bring some food from home.

Also, at the beginning of the day, before school begins, everyone lines up in formation with their grade and listens to the principal talk on a microphone (also, they were singing a song at one point, maybe the school song? no idea).  Then after recess you have to line up again before you can return to class, and at the end of the day you have to line up before you leave.

Anyways, I said in the beginning of this post 'its going to be a looongg semester' and I said that because I just draw during most of the classes and I cant imagine doing this every day for half a year.  (hopefully the second half of the year Ill be going to the university with the other exchange students).

Most people don't talk to us, but we've (us exchange students) made a few friends.  Unfortunately, most students here speak a surprising amount of english (and several of my classmates have lived in the USA).  And so I dont actually speak very much spanish at school.  And Im the only one of the exchange students in our school who knows ANY spanish, so the other two exchange students HAVE to be spoken to in english.  But the teachers and students often end up assuming I also require the same treatment.  Did I write that coherently???  idk.  after our first week, they will stop letting us exchange students sit by eachother (and this will actually end up being beneficial because I have to speak to them in english because they dont know spanish) and itll be good to speak with the peruvian students.  and actually learn some spanish.

Okay well I have my first rotary meeting in a couple hours so I have to shower and get ready and stuff.  Byeee

adventures

well a few days ago we went to Miraflores and went to what I considered a boardwalk/plaza type thing. Miraflores is on the coast and is considered one of the nicest districts of lima-- there's tons of old, beautiful houses and buildings. I didn't bring my camera which was the dumbest decision ever because once it got dark, the coast of lima lit up with all the lights on the buildings and it was sooo beautiful against the ocean.

We also went to the center of lima, maybe the next day i dont remember, and it was super cool.  the center of lima is where the government building is (where the president lives) and its really cool. theres also tons of spots to get food and buy peruvian stuff like bags, sweaters, panpipes, etc lol. We walked around all afternoon, checking out little shops and admiring alpaca wool sweaters.  here's some pics from our afternoon in the center of lima:

my awesome host sister and I

a cool guy who was doing caricatures and portraits

all lit up at night

Eating picarones with my host mom! Picarones are kind of like doughnuts

tried on an alpaca wool sweater=love at first sight.  would have bought it but i havent been able to use an ATM yet

the woman at the stand making the picarones

this is a map of lima with all the districts.  i live in san isidro (yellow) but more at the top, very close to san borja.  miraflores (on the coast) is a popular meeting spot

today I went to the super market with my host dad and my host sister.  something different in the super markets here is that occasionally there is a person promoting a specific brand, for example, Pampers, wearing clothes that promote the brand and holding the item while they stand in the aisle where it resides. after we bought a ton of groceries, I thought we were returning home, but instead we stopped at a small market at the side of the road, and I will try to explain it in as much detail as possible.

There were crates and baskets of fruits and vegetables stacked on the sidewalks, a woman chopping bloodied chickens with a cleaver at a counter while dozens of plucked, naked chickens hung above her, a surprising amount of illegally copied DVDs available for purchase, what appeared to be a sleeping/dying stray dog lying on the sidewalk next to the fruit, and a sickening odor that only intensified my fear of food poisoning.

After we left, we returned home.  I never know what we are going to be doing in advance here--I was sitting on the couch and my sister was like "come on" and i was like "we're leaving?" and she was like "yeah they're down, waiting in the car" and I was like "oh" and so we went and ate lunch at a sketchy, hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and I didn't bring my camera because i thought we were just going to eat, but then me, my host mom, and my older twin host brothers Jim and Bruno went to a park in Lima that has tons of fountains and water displays.  Its called Parque de las Aguas .  and at first it seemed kind of dinky and not what I expected, but once it got dark, they turned the lights on and the fountains seemed to spray rainbow colored water, and there was also a projected light show in one of the bigger fountains which was quite cool, and I was kicking myself the whole time for not having my camera.  and now Im at home!

also something funny is that chicken and rice is a very common meal here. ive eaten chicken and rice almost every day in my week here.

well I' m going to go!!  I start school tomorrow so I'll soon post about that.  bye!

Hello!

Here's some differences I've noticed in Lima, Peru:

• Shoes are worn inside the house (the floors get pretty dirty)
• Different meal times
• Lunch is the bigger meal of the day and is eaten at around 2 or 3
• Supper is eaten quite late, at around 8 or 9

• No drinking from the tap: the water isn't safe
• People drink soda and bottled water

• Pedestrians do not have the right of way
• You have to be very careful crossing the street; people drive fast and crazy and everyone honks a lot.

• Lunch isn't served at school
• At least, not at my school.  There are snacks available for purchase, but lunch is eaten when you get home, at about 3 
• Houses are small and compact
•  Most people don't have yards of any kind, some have small courtyards
• Different transportation
• Lots of taxis
• Micros are buses. You can wave them down I think...and hop on when they are stopped.  Lots of people can be jammed inside.
• Condiments typically come in bags
• Milk comes in bags or boxes (from what I've seen)
• Tons of advertisements everywhere (especially along the highway, ENORMOUS signs, specifically for Coca Cola)
• Inca Kola is just as popular as Coca Cola:  its a yellow soda that kind of tastes like bubble gum.  its very popular here.

There's probably 7 thousand more but I'm tired so I'm done now =)