First Day of Classes

I've been meaning to blog for a couple days now, but at night I get busy so it ends up not happening... I have had two classes so far. On Monday our class had orientation at 10:00 there we got our syllabuses for our classes and our UPC (the Univsity) ID's. Apparently my new name is Marie Harper, I was very confused when they were calling my "name" but they said they would change it. Then we got a tour of the campus and after some of us stayed on campus to eat instead of going back to our houses since my walk is pretty far up a "mountain" (to them it's just a hill, but to a Nebraskan it's a mountain). So Mariah, our Professor Marta and I stayed and ate in a snack shop on campus. I got Salchi Papas, not knowing what I was getting and figured I could remember that name when I got to the register and it sounded authentic. It cost me 5 soles (about $2.30) and then I also bought an Inka Kola for 2 soles (about $0.75 the exchange rate is 2.5/$1) Here is what I got:

A plate full of french fries with hot dogs on top! After squirting lots of ketchup on top it was pretty good! Then we went to our English class and just recapped what has happened to us so far and what they talked to us about at orientation. After orientation they said they would only speak Spanish to us, and if we went into their office that they would say they don't understand English. Which is similar to my house because they literally don't understand English. Liseth my sister is pretty good at teaching me, and understanding me, Fanny my cousin who is staying with us for about two-three months doesn't know much English at all (I asked how much English she has had in school and she said a couple months), and my mom María doesn't speak any English. A misconception that a lot of us had going down was that they taught the kids English at an early age in Elementary school, but nope! Fanny is 18 and doesn't know much so I think it is something they start teaching in college. So if you are not in college or didn't go to college, you don't speak English. But because of this it has helped me with my Spanish. I think I'm getting more confident and learning a lot too at the same time. After our English class we got on a Combi and went to Jockey Mall. Here is a picture of a Combi:

They literally hang out the door like that and jump off to get people to get on, then as the Combi drives off they jump back on. Depending on how far you go, it's .50 soles or 1 sole (super cheap!!) I'm learning things are cheaper here. Oh and the cars are crazy and do not stop for you... So you have to run like a mad man across the busy streets. And the other day I was running but my water bottle fell out of my purse as I jumped onto the sidewalk and I stopped so I could grab it before the cars came, but their sidewalks are really slick b/c they finish them more than we do in the USA so I fell right on my butt! It was not very attractive at all and I was scrambling on the ground to get my water bottle back. But I got my bottle back just as the car drove past and all was good! We spent some time at the mall then took combi's back to UPC and we walked home from there. That night I Skyped with my parent's, which was great! It was good to see them and talk to them. I had a lot to do that night and said I'd only talk a little bit... ha we Skyped for about 45 min. and after that I had to go to bed. I get tired earlier here, but end up staying up late. Since my mom is a doctor, she works three day shifts. Very strange! So Fanny cooked for me on Tuesday she cooked me rice, chicken, papaya, and salad; a basic meal here. The salad was a lot different that what we have in the USA but it was good! I was trying to tell Fanny the night before how much I love ketchup, and so for lunch she gave me some ketchup! She is so sweet. But I told her that the chicken was so good that I didn't need the ketchup...

Oh and the first day I was there they had orange juice and I told them it was really good! What have I gotten every day since then? Orange Juice :) For breakfast they give me toast, but I found out that the toast is store bought, they don't toast the bread themselves. Also, yesterday I had my first Spanish class. It's a grammar class, which I know will help me a lot! We have quite a bit of homework to do for that, so I might have to start waking up earlier than 10 so I can get everything done. Last night since María was working the three of us went out to eat. We left around 8:30 to eat supper, very strange for me to eat so late! We ate at a Korean restaurant, and it was really yummy!! But I think Liseth ordered way too much food. We ended up eating it all though. They had a TV playing Korean Music Videos and I was like a little kid staring at it cuz the videos were so weird. Here is a picture of our food:

There was more of it, but since they bring it in stages not everything got in the picture. We also had Egg Soup as an offering then for dessert it was like a fried crepe with some zucchini in it. It was super good! But what isn't good when you fry it? I am loving Peru so far! It's great, and I know it will be really hard to leave in May. I'm glad that I am loving it already. Chao!