11 days down...

Lanisa y yo en UPC

Eleventh day here in Peru, second Grammar class, second Tuesday. It feels like I have been here for ages. I'm not upset about that statement, it just seems unreal that I have only been here for 11 days. It's getting a little to the point where I'm becoming restless because I feel more comfortable with doing new things, I just don't know how to go about doing them. 

My Spanish has been improving, although I'm not always completely comfortable talking in Spanish so I go to my brother or sister as a scapegoat and talk in English to get a thought across. I am going to be trying to eliminate my use of English as much as possible...but in all reality I know that I won't just stop speaking English. Keeping my hopes high. 

On Sunday, I went with my family to my grandma's house for a BBQ for my aunts birthday. We left our apartment around 6:45 and arrived to my grandma's around 7. Almost all of the houses in Lima are directly connected to the outdoors in at least one area, and my grandma has glass doors that she opens leading out to her backyard. We were the first to arrive for the party and so I sat on the couch and chatted with family while more brothers and sisters kept coming. When everyone arrived I was told that no one was to speak English to me, and as a joke they said "Vas a sufrir" (You are going to suffer) and that I did. But I survived...and I ate cow heart. The Peruvian dish that is common at barbeques is called "anticucho". Anticucho is cow heart cooked on a kabob and it looks like you are eating beef...but it's beef heart. Of course I didn't know what it was before I ate it, but after I ate it I understood why it was extra chewy. Overall, my first Peruvian parrilla (BBQ) was a success! 

Today was our second grammar class and we had a test. Here in Peru, a 100% is a 20. We were all a little anxious to get our first test out of the way, who wouldn't be? Lanisa and I met up at UPC around noon to go over some last minute studying and to eat some lunch. We ate at a cafe above the Starbucks on campus. So far, my eleven days here in Peru have been great and I'm excited for what's to come. We have been assigned places to look up to travel to for our class with Dr. Moorman so I am excited to get started on our adventures!!