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!