I left the States once again for Lima a little more than two weeks ago. As is the Wisconsin tradition around this time of year it was freezing the day that my dad was supposed to drive me to the airport. It doesn't seem like such a big deal until you realize that it is currently summer in Peru and was well into the 80's when I landed. I basically left the house wearing the most minimal of winter clothes that I could manage without getting frostbite as if I wore anything too thick I would be sure to get heatstroke as soon as I stepped of the plane in Lima.
When I finally did arrive at my host family's house at around 7:00 in the morning the next day, I quickly took off as many layers as I could and took a 5 hour nap since I hadn't slept well on the plane. Honestly, I never do sleep well on planes, but it is made harder by the fact that I had to fill out several papers to go through customs and immigration in both Mexico and Peru. However, Aeromexico is a very nice airline and I would recommend it. Also, all of my luggage made it through this time. Already, this semester was off to a cleaner start than last semester.
The next two days I unpacked little by little as I felt too hot to do too much at one time. I have adjusted better to the heat by now, but the fact that I had gone from a very cold climate to a very hot one made the first few days almost unbearable. I don't think I stopped constantly sweating until about day four. It is heat like this that makes me wish I was boating on the lake instead of walking through the concrete desert of Lima.On the bright side, it will only get cooler from here on out.
That Monday, I returned to my university to meet all of the new exchange students for this semester. There are ten of us in total; four guys, five girls, and me. The other students had to take the Spanish and culture courses required by the program, but seeing as I have already taken them, I am exempt from them this semester. However, I still went to the university almost every day, especially when the group was doing a special activity, so that I could get to know them all better.
The first activity that we did was to go a very new art museum in the center of Lima called MALI. It contains art from all throughout Peru's history and has lovely gardens surrounding it. The rest of the exchange students were gathering information for an assignment, but since I did not have to take the class I just got to wander around the museum and enjoy myself. Another activity we did that week was going to Parque Kennedy.
That Friday one of the exchange student's host fathers (who also happens to be my host uncle) took us to the National Museum located in Pueblo Libre. Every Friday evening a different event takes place at the museum. That Friday it was a festival of AfroPeruano dances. After the event, all of the exchange students, my host uncle, and I sat in the park outside the museum. I'm not much for clubbing, but that night two Peruvian friends of one of the exchange students from last semester had invited us to go out with them. Since I had not been clubbing in Peru yet, I figured I should at least do it once, and I actually quite enjoyed the company of the other exchange students and the friends of a friend who brought us to their favorite clubs in Barranco..Again, I am not much for clubbing, but I would consider doing it again if I was with the same people.
The next week I spent most afternoons at the university. Even though classes hadn't started yet for me and the other exchange students had class every day I spent every lunch break with the students and spent the rest of my free time hanging out in the CIEE office. I did go on little excursions with some of the group during that week. The best part about this group of exchange students is that we all have a group chat where everyone is willing to share what they are doing. Even if I'm not really looking for anything to do, I can ask the group what they were thinking of doing that day and I will get three or more different responses.
One highlight of the week was going with two of the students from the group to Parque de las Leyendas which is a zoo and archaeological park near the university.The most unique aspect of the park is that it is a modern zoo filled with (not exclusively) animals from the country of Peru that happens to be build around Inca ruins.
I think the best part of the zoo is the penguin enclosure. It only contains penguins from off the Peruvian coast so they are not suffering in the Lima heat. The other students and I agreed that we could have spent all afternoon just watching the penguins, but we decided it would be best to see as much of the zoo as we could.
On International Women's Day there was a march which students from the university participated in. I did as well. In fact, almost all of the group went. The march wasn't as big as Ni Una Menos last semester, but it was still fun. During the march I got to know one of the exchange students from last year, Naomi, who was visiting Lima again during her Spring Break. I think it's appropriate to say that she and I became fast friends. Even though she is leaving in a few days, I am confident that I will see her again before then seeing as she spends most of her time at the university anyways since that's where all of her friends are now that classes have begun.
It actually is disorientating to think that some people are already on Spring Break while I haven't even properly started the semester yet.
On Thursday there was a fair that the university threw for the incoming freshmen. Though I am not a freshmen (I'm not even a first semester exchange student for that matter) I did manage to snag an event t-shirt which was my ticket into the fair. Naomi also managed to get her hands on an event t-shirt and she also managed to get in without showing anyone her university ID card. All she had to do was pull the most brilliantly horrible accent I have ever heard in my life. We spent the afternoon and early evening indulging in free ice cream and participating in games that campus organizations had set up where they were giving away free stuff like water bottles and pens.
On Saturday a sizable group of us decided to spend the evening at a place commonly known as Parque de Aguas. It is a very nice, huge park in the center of Lima that is a very famous tourist attraction because of its many spectacular fountains that are lit up spectacularly at night. The reason we were drawn to the park this particular weekend was because there was an event happening where several ice cream shops from around the area had booths set up where park visitors could sample and buy their different types of ice cream, slushies, popsicles, and sherbets. I think I bought three different types of goodies to devour. I think the best thing was the pisco sour flavored sherbets sold by one of the stands. Like the name implies, it was very sour, but in a pleasant way, like frozen lemonade. We ended off the night by watching the laser light show at a huge fountain towards the main entrance of the park. All of the smaller fountains are synced up to music to match the light show. I couldn't have asked for a better Saturday.
This week saw the beginning of classes for regular students, which means several hours of me trying to figure out a course schedule for next week when I will actually be able to register for classes. I've been spending a lot of time dropping in on classes and pouring over available courses to try and find a schedule that I like.
Oh, before I get back to course selection, I should mention that my host family got a new dog while I was gone.. She is a little, white dog they found in the park by the house. We speculate that she must have been abandoned. Her name is Mia, and she is one of the most relaxed dogs I have ever met. She spends all of her time in the kitchen, watching everyone come and go while waiting for whatever scraps are offered to her. It took no time for Mia to warm up to me. She likes to lay down by my feet when I am at the table in the morning, so I call her my breakfast buddy. We have also discovered that Mia is pregnant, which is certainly going to be an experience. I will be sure to keep everyone updated since the puppies are due before the end of the month.
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