Feliz cumpleaños a Lanisa!

Today is Lanisa's birthday!!  I was able to walk to Lanisa's to watch a movie and eat dinner with her for her birthday. It was very nice to be able to see each other since we hadn't seen each other since we left the airport with our respective families. I stayed there for quite some time while my family was with their extended family. 

To start from the beginning, Lanisa and I got to Lima on the 3rd really late in the night, and the immigration lines and baggage claim lines were hell *perdóneme*! ¡Qué horrible! My host dad, Enrique and su hijo Mauricio (Mauri) picked me up at the aeropuerto and we took un taxi a la casa. It was an hour long drive and it was already las dos de la mañana (2am). Patty y Daniela (the daughter...with the same name as me!) waited up for me to get home to greet me, I thought that was very nice. One custom that is very different here is the besitos en la mejilla (kisses on the cheek)...I thought it was only from Europe, pero NOPE! 

I am already finding myself talking in English, like I think in Spanish. If that makes sense...at all. I know my mom has already noticed my language has changed a little and I've only been here two days. I call it my survival mode. My family is absolutely wonderful! I am very lucky to have received the family I did. Los hijos, y la mamá hablan en inglés y español así I can talk in English. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Patty, mi mamá, wants me to speak with her in Spanish most of the time, but like I said sometimes survival mode comes into play. 

Tacu tacu...sin carne

So far, the food is my favorite parte and my least favorite is the ice cream man that makes a terrible noise with a horn of some sort. He rides by my apartment every twenty minutes and blows a horrendous sounding horn that sounds like a dying peacock. I hope he loses his horn. 

Anyway, the food is impeccable! Enrique made tacu tacu for lunch today. Tacu tacu is a Peruvian dish that has rice and lentils fried to form a cake sort of dish and it is served with meat. Another dish we have had is hamburguesa con arroz y lentajes...lentajes (lentils) are probably going to be what I eat most of the time so I am glad that I like them!! 

I haven't walked around my neighborhood very much yet, but I did go on a little walk yesterday and managed to get a solid sunburn...shirt outline and all! ¡Qué lástima! I live very close to UPC, so that is nice! Only four blocks, and about a 5-10 minute walk depending on how much traffic there is! I learned very quickly that crosswalks mean NADA and cars don't care about people...cars come before people. I didn't learn from experience, gracias a dios (thank god)...Daniela told me about it while she showed me to the university. I have been given many tips about safety in Lima, and I am glad! 

A lot of my free time is spent writing in my journals because I do not want to forget anything that happens here. I try to write in each journal (one for anyone to read, and a private one) twice a day...who knows if I will be able to keep up with that for the next four months! We will see I suppose...

¡Hasta luego mis amigos!