Lima

      
          On the 22nd, I went to the Notario in order to legalize the copy of my passport in oder to travel to Lima. We payed one sol for this request, but it took 40 minutes just to stamp and sign my paper which I do not understand why, but it is what it is. After this, we went to the house of my AFS director, Shirley, who needed to talk to me to figure out my plans in case I wanted to travel. Coincidentally, I was leaving the next day to go to Lima, so it was very good timing for this meeting. She basically told me about different things I should be worring about and things I need to do, like to stay in communication, while I am over there. One of the problems with going to Lima is that I would miss tennis which I did not really want to do since I was paying for the classes, but the coach said that I could make them up the next week. I also wanted to look for my calculator which had a better chance of being imported to Lima than Huancayo. So, After buying some food the next morning and sitting on a bus ride for 8 hours which fortunately I did not throw up which on the contrary was not the same luck that Lucia had.
          We arrived in Lima at 9 at night and waited for Charleys, Lucia's older brother. Forunately, Angela and Kris stayed in Huancayo which definitly helped when it came to staying in a confined room with her. Charleys finished his job and we all went up to his apartment and then walked down the street to eat something. I ended up eating pápa rellena which is a food item that I really enjoy. It is basically taking mashed potatoes without the butter and milk, just potatoes mashed and then forming them into the form of a potatoe again while filling them with meat and veggies. Then you put them in egg and flour and then fry them in a skillet to crisp up the outside. They are served with raw onions that were soaked in lemon juice making the meal even better. After eating we went back to his apartment to sleep. Another reason we went to Lima is because it was Charleys' birthday on the 24th, so we went to celebrate. The apartment is small, but it is nice, if you think sleeping on the floor in 95 degree weather with only one small fan and without air condicioning is nice, then yes, it is nice. There is one queen size bed that Lucia and mamá slept on and I slept on a two inch thick piece of really not firm foam while Charleys slept on a mattress on the other side.
          Now I do not know what you guys think about sleeping in your underwear in front of others of the opposite sex, but that is what I did. I slept on top of the foam and a blanket and with nothing on but my underwear which still does not satisfy your urge to move and sit in front of the fan that is ironically placed on the other side of the bed where, because I am on the floor lower than the bed, does not blow air onto me. Luckily I am tall and my feet were able to get some air which surprisingly can cool you down quite nicely.
          Another cool thing about his apartment is that he has cable with after living for 4 months with only 20 channels, really does make the heat seem to go away. Now I am not saying that living in Huancayo is like the slums. In fact it is quite the oposite. My peruvian dad and brother both work at a bank and we have a car and two computers (which often do not have internet) and running water that can sometimes be hot. This is a lot to be thankful for since I could be in a worse position. Also, about the cable, in the US I do not have cable. I have about 20 channels, the same (well the stations are different, but the same number of channels).
          On cable, there was AXN, FOX, DISCOVERY CHANNEL, WARNER, and ANIMAL PLANET. There are others, but those are the main ones that I watched. AXN is basically all crime shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, and CSI Miami. On FOX, there was Glee, The Middle, Modern Family, and others that I had not seen for 4 months. Discovery Channel and Animal Planet you know, but WARNER was my favorite. I got to see the BIG BANG THEORY, which is by far my favorite show.
          Thursday, the 24th, in the morning, mamá prepared the egg whites and wine to eat for Charleys' birthday. We ate this and then Charleys left for work at 8. We spent the whole day at home sweating in the 97 degree weather, and then when Charleys arrived home from his job for his lunch break we all ate Cuy which mamá had brought along on the bus. Due to the heat and humidity, taking more than one shower a day is very popular. Charleys takes a shower in the morning, a shower when her returns for his lunch break and then just washes up at night. Even food in the freezer does not freeze solid. Ice Cream is like pudding and not much colder. Charleys returns to work at 4 and then gets home at around 8 or 9. Thursday night, Charleys and his coworkers went to play soccer. I went too, with the hope of being able to play, but I ended up just sitting down and watching the whole time which was fine with me because those men fight like little girls. "No you touched it last", "That is a foul", and such. That night Charleys went out to drink for his birthday and did not get back until 6 in the morning. He was definitely drunk.
          On the 25th, Charleys got home for lunch at 12 and we went to the zoo which is actually really big. Another thing that is really awesome about Lima is that I got to wear the shorts that I brought to Peru. At the zoo, there were tons of animals, and we even were able to see a seal show. After the zoo, Charleys took us out to lunch which I ate Chicharron de Pollo which is basically chicken fingers but a lot lot lot lot lot better. After this we returned home and waited until the next day of activities. Another thing about Lima is that we drink a ton basically it is all Aquarius and Yogurt which I am perfectly fine with.
          The 26th, which was a Saturday, Charleys finished his job at 1 like all of the Saturdays and we left to go to the center of Lima. I could not take pics on the way because of people that will break your car window to steal something while you are at a stop light. Basically the center of Lima seems like another country because there are a whole lot of white people, basically all tourists. We took a tour bus to drive around the whole city and then walked up and down different streets looking for my Calculator, but again no luck. After we finished all this, we got ice cream and took lots of pics around the gov. building. Then we drove to San Borja to pick up Rocio, Charleys' girlfriend, and went to this shopping center where you can see the beach. It was late at night, so we could not see much of the water, but it was still refreshing smelling the water. Then we returned home and slept another sweaty night.
          The 27th, was a Sunday, and like all Sundays, Charleys does not work, so we were able to have a fun day, the whole day. In the morning one of his friends showed up to spend the day with us. We went to a big shopping center that had a small amusemnet park called Coney Island which was a real crappy Coney Island as it was not even an island to begin with. We walked around the all shopping center and I ended up buying a gift for Kristhel who everytime when she calls us asks me to bring her a gift. Then the others bought a snowcone, but I found a STARBUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Say hello to Frapucinno. It tasted so amazing after not having any for so long. They are expensive, but it was by far worth it. Then we went and bought Chinese food and China Wok and watched Barca play against some weird team that starts with an O. When we left around the 70th minute, Barca was up 5 to 1 and Messi had scored 4 of the goals, one from a penalty kick. I was pretty pumped for that and also, the chinese food was amazing. We were planning on going back to Huancayo that night, but the path was closed from rain, so we had to stay another day and I had to miss another day of tennis, but I still was not upset. I really enjoy Lima.
          The 28th, we went to the house of one of mamá's brothers who was not at home, but his wife and youngest daughter were, so we ended up walking around town with them and then we went out for more chinese food which is really awesome. The one thing is that they do not serve a lot of spicy food. It is salty or sweet. Whichever you want. I usually go with the salty as I do not like pineapple and peach mixed with my chicken and rice. Then later we went to the movies at the mall and saw Hansel and Gretel, the Witch Slayers. It was not subtitled or anything, and it was purely in spanish, but I enjoyed it just the same and I understood everything. I am getting pretty pumped with my language skills. We bought a super giant popcorn which definitely holds up to its name as it was the largest popcorn I had ever seen. At around 9 we left to go to the bus terminal and I got onto Charleys' cell phone and found my house and my school on Google Earth. I was pretty pumped.
          After 8 and a half hours in a bus we arrived in Huancayo at 6:30 and we ate breakfast and I got ready for tennis for the first time in about a week. Tennis today was not the greatest day as I was a bit rusty after relaxing and not sleeping much the night before, but it was nice to get back to my routine.

 

tennis, tennis, and more TENNIS!!!!

          Starting on the 8th of January, I joined the tennis club to play tennis. I have got to say, playing tennis really picked up my spirit after the holidays without my US family.  I ended up joining every day of the work week which is minus the weekend for an hour every day. During the tennis time, I did not do much other stuff with it also being the summer break. I have been studying Precalc and have been looking for a calculator, but finding a Texas Instruments Calculator in Peru is more difficult than you think and I had not look.
          On the 10th and 11th I went to play tennis like usual and ended up putting a new grip and new strings on my racket. I do not know if any of you know, but a can of three tennis balls is like 7 dollars here, which I think is pretty expensive, but importations can be. On Saturday, the 12th and that weekend, we went out to visit more of Huancayo, which is enjoyable, but can get a little annoying stuffed in the back of the car with Lucia, Angela, and most of all, Kristhel who has this idea that I love to sit in the car hugging her the whole time, and by the whole time, I mean literally the whole time.
          The next week, I had more tennis and I really think I am improving fast. There are two other kids in my group, and the both of them do not really know how to play tennis very well, so the class is a bit boring when I am playing with them, but when I play against them, it is fun. I also enjoy playing one on one iwht the coach is really great, and I improve a lot faster when I am plying with or against those who are much better than me because it provides me with a challenge. On the 16th, I stayed after to play this game that is sort of like tennis and racquet ball combined. You play on a wall and hit a really flat racquet ball against it using a wooden paddle that is smaller than the racquet used for racquet ball. I had never played before, but within five minutes of learning the rules and practicing, I was better than most of the kids I was playing with. I defintiely can say that I am a fast learner. After tennis on the 16th, Lucia and I went to get cake. We ate a cake called tres leches which is really good. It is basically a white cake that they poor milk over and then ice with whipped cream icing. It comes in chocolate, strawberry, mocha, and vainilla, but I have only tried it in vainilla. I really do enjoy it.
          That weekend, the 19th and 20th, we started out by going to the new arcade games in hope of playing dance dance revolution, but it was not working that day, so we ended up going shopping for the weekly food, and then we played air hockey and basketball. I set a new record on both of the basketball games. I am definitely pretty good at that, or everyone else who has played it is not. Then we went out and Papá treated us all to Pollo a la Brasa, which is great every time I try it, but I enjoy trying it in different places. The main difference is the french fries, that are really different in the each restaurant. I like the crunchy ones, but sometimes the restaurants serve you really big and mushy french fries which I do not like.
          Monday and Tuesday I continued playing tennis until Wednesday which I will tell you about in my next blog.

New Years

          Okay, first of all, yes, this blog is almost a month late, but since I have not had internet in my house since the 1st, I have a reason to back up my tardiness. I have also not gotten to talk with my parents or friends until today, and I was a bit upset about missing out on my blogs for January, but I am going to try to basically remember everything I did this past month and write it in a few blogs.

          On Sunday, the 30th, Lucía and I went out to pick up the ingredients to bake cookies and guess what? They put a STARBUCKS in the mall. I was so psyched that I ended up buying a drink for Lucía and I because she had never had a Frappuccino.
          On Monday the 31st, we basically finished decorating the house for New Years. We just stayed in the house and hung out until around 2 when we murdered the family chicken to prepare for New Years. We then prepared that chicken, and a turkey and pig that we had bought to take to a place where they would cook them. Unfortunately the place that could roast the turkey and chicken could not roast the pig because of the grease and stuff. Then we went back to the house and I put on my lucky yellow underwear which is a tradition for New Years and my skinny jeans which were my gift for New Years and then we waited until around 10 when we went out to get the meat that had finished roasting. At around 11, the family of Papá’s brother arrived and we began to dance with the new stereo system that my dad had bought. At 11:30 we began to plate the grapes which are a tradition in Peru. When the clock tolls midnight, everyone eats 12 grapes as fast as they can. Unfortunately these grapes have seeds in them making them hard to eat fast unless you want to just chew the seeds and all. Then the family of one of Mamá’s brothers arrived and we continued dancing and handing out yellow eyeglasses that say 2013 and whistles and gadgets to make noise. We also went outside to pay with fireworks and stuff and everyone got wine (my favorite) to drink. Also at around 12 midnight, everyone drinks champagne to celebrate. I do not exactly like Champagne too much, but it is fine. I still think red wine is my favorite. At 11:50 we all got into a circle and started talking about what we want to do for the new year and then with 10 seconds left we all started counting down and then when 12 rang we all cheered and started eating grapes which is not that easy when you are also giving out hugs and have a glass of champagne in your hand, but it was fun. After 12:00 we all just laughed and talked and we served the pig, filling, pineapple sauce, and the usual potatoes. At 2 the other kids and I began to watch Spider Man and then they left at around 3. I continued watching the movie until around 4 when I fell asleep.
          The rest of the week I had more late nights with watching movies and such. It is not because I want to go to sleep late it is because I am bored and do not know what to do. I will definitely say that I do enjoy the school schedule more, but I do not enjoy school more. 
          On Saturday we went out to drive around Huancayo. We ended up driving completely around Huancayo in a hail storm. The weather was not too pretty, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Sunday, again we went out around town and then we planned to go to the movies the next day, but more rain prevented that. I ended up just studying my Precalc book that I have to learn before I return.
          Monday, the 7th, my sister Angela went out to check out the country club to see if there are groups that I can play with. It turns out that there are, but I wanted to see how good they were before I paid money to play, so on Tuesday I went to the club with Lucía and found out that the group was formed by beginners, and I did not really want to play tennis with kids that were just starting to learn to play. The coach actually said I could come back in the afternoon to play with him and he would see my skill level and figure something out. I was so pumped that I would get to play tennis down here, but unfortunately my skill level might not have been so great as I have not played in like 6 months since school the last year.