Paint Party and Beach Day!

The last few days have been a whirlwind!

On Thursday night Dean and I went to Miraflores to meet up with Marie Louise to go to a pre-party get together in the apartment of one of the people we had met at University, Sheila.

Sheila and her friend Maddie live in a REALLY nice apartment in Miraflores right near Parque Kennedy. We were a mixed group: Me (North Carolina), Marie Louise (Norway), Dean (England), Sheila (Mississippi), Maddie (Mississippi), Korteza (Oklahoma), Katie (Indiana), and Gerardo (Peru). 

In the course of the conversation, Sheila and I figured out that her high school guidance counselor was my aunt, Juawice! Juawice even wrote Sheila her college recommendation letter! She also went to high school with my cousin! Apparently the McCormicks are famous in Starkville. What are the chances that we would meet in Lima for the first time and yet have this weird thing in common?

Part of the group: Dean, Sheila, Maddie, Marie Louise, me, Korteza

Dean, Katie, Maddie, Marie Louise, me

Maddie, Marie Louise, me, Dean, Korteza

Maddie, Marie Louise, me, Dean, Korteza

After the get-together we went to a club in Miraflores. What we didn't know is that it was the last day of Carnaval and so it was a paint party.....people had bottles full of different colored paint and they were squirting them everywhere. We got completely covered within the first 2 minutes. Crazy.

Marie Louise, me, and Korteza

We look like creatures from another planet

Katie, Dean, Marie Louise, me, Korteza, and some Brazilian girl from Uni

PAINT!

group picture!

me and Katie looking......interesting

After we left we went to McDonalds (and got some interesting looks from the other customers and cashiers) and had to document what we looked like:

selfie in McDonalds in Miraflores

I was the one covered in the most paint so Marie Louise wanted to take my picture....and I had some guest stars who also wanted to be in the photo:

This is just great on so many levels

On Saturday we went to the beach in Miraflores. We had to walk down about a million stairs down the cliffs. Mid-way down we stopped for a rest/photo opportunity:

me, Marie Louise, and Dean

me, Marie Louise, and Dean

me, Korteza, and Dean

The "beaches" in Lima are not like beaches I am used to in the US. There is no sand, only tons and tons of stones (like several feet deep) that have been smoothed by the ocean. There were many Limeños out enjoying the summer weather seemingly unaware of how uncomfortable sunbathing on hundreds of small stones is.

before I went into the water

We must have looked ridiculous: not having brought water-proof shoes, we had to pick our way down to the water in our bare feet, which was extremely painful. Then when you get near the water, the shore slopes down sharply - because of the hundreds of stones, we were slipping and sliding down to the water.

Here I am tentatively dipping my feet in, looking very uncertain, while Marie Louise tries to get me to come into the water further:

me reluctantly being dragged further in

#touriststatus1000

In case you don't know, the water in the Pacific Ocean along Peru is cold. The Hunboldt current runs along the Peruvian coast and brings water from deep in the ocean to the surface, making the waters colder than normal. So even though the day was warm, the water was still very cold. Eventually, however, I was convinced to go deeper. Here I am getting hit by the first wave:

realizing how cold the water is and how strong the waves are

We decided the best approach (so as not to be knocked over by the waves) was to sit down. It was all very funny to watch for the Peruvians I am sure: we were shrieking and flailing all over. Not only are the waves strong and the water cold, but the water also brings in rocks with every wave, so your legs and body are constantly being hit by rocks - my legs are still bruised!

As you can see here, our feet are buried in several inches of rocks:

 To get out of the water, you have to climb back up the hill of slippery rocks. It must have been hilarious to watch us - every step we took we would just slide back down, so we had to do a fast crawl up to the top. It was hilarious and painful. Note to self: buy water shoes next time. All in all, a very good day!

Orientation and first days back in Lima

Yesterday was Orientation day at the University. This day is very confusing and chaotic for those who have never done it before. Luckily it was my second time around so I knew what to expect. So I got to help out two of my friends, Dean who is from the UK and lives in my house, and Marie Louise who is from Norway. Orientation consists of going to the different faculties you want to take classes in and seeing which classes are open after the Peruvian students have finished with registration. You then write down the classes you are interested in in each faculty on a paper, and then next week we can go to these classes and see if we like them or not. Actual registration is not until March 24th.

I went to the faculties of Human Sciences,  Social Sciences, and General Studies. There were a lot of classes that looked interesting - Andean Ethnography, History of Modern Peru, Andean Archaeology, Anthropology of Water Beliefs in the Andes, Fieldwork Anthropology (where you study a town in Peru and their beliefs/customs, and then travel there for a week in May), Anthropology of Gender, and many others. Unfortunately a lot of the classes I want to take are at intersecting times and so I won't be able to take them all. However, on the plus side I will have lots of back-ups for registration day if my first choice classes fill up.

I am also hoping to take a Spanish language course at the University. Spots are limited - there are two classes, Intermediate and Advanced, with only 15 spots each. There are many steps to get into the course - First, you must take an online language assessment test. Based on the score you get on that, you either go have an oral interview with the Intermediate of Advanced professor. 500-700 puts you in the advanced class. I scored an 849, but that was because I guessed on a lot of the grammar questions - lucky guesses I suppose because I didn't understand a lot of the grammar. I went to the interview with the Advanced professor and she confirmed that I should be in the Advanced class. The only thing left to do now is to get to registration day VERY early and hope that I am early enough to get a spot.

So, this coming week I will be going to try out the classes I am interested in and hopefully I will be able to register for them on the 24th!

General announcement

I got really behind on updating my blog last semester. So, I am trying to do that now. I will be posting the rest of the pictures from my trip to the Amazon, as well as from my trip to Huaraz. So stay tuned for those. I will try to be more timely this semester.

First look at my new house!

I am living in a new house this semester. It is farther away from the university, but still a manageable distance. I have to walk for about 10 minutes to Avenida Bolivar, where I can catch a bus to the university. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes.

The house has 10 students living in it from all over - Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Great Britain, Norway, the US, and probably other places.

Like every house in Peru, the doors, walls, and windows do basically nothing to prevent sound. So I can hear everything that goes on in and outside the house. For example, as I am writing this, I can currently hear a conversation between 2 people in a room near me, a dog barking, a child crying, and cars going by. However, it is near impossible to get a house where this isn't true in Lima, it is just how people live. I don't know how people survive who live right on a major road. The sound is deafening.

My room is on the second floor and opens onto an outdoor stairway that goes from the kitchen up to the rooms. Right now the proximity to the outside air is nice, as it is in the 70's. However, I imagine come June when it starts to get cold again I will not be quite as happy.

The room is VERY large, larger than my room last semester and my room at home! And, best of all, I have my own bathroom!

Here are some pictures of my room:

My bed - the cryptic message on the wall written in gold star stickers says "Can". I don't know who put it there or why...

I have a wardrobe! I feel like I am in the chronicles of Narnia!

Here is my desk. It is right in front of my window, which open facing another room where Tor, a Norwegian guy who I met last semester, is living. The rooms have about 4 feet of space in between them but I can still get a nice breeze if I open the window.

This rack is actually very useful. But I am also realizing how hipster this looks in the photo....

This is my bathroom. It is weirdly proportioned...the shower is really long but the sink is TINY...barely big enough for my hands. But so far the toiler has not overflowed or stopped working so that is already better than the toilet in my last house.

Here is a picture of my whole room (minus the bathroom which I couldn't fit in the picture - it is in the room next to the bed). There is actually quite a lot of space!

Outside of my room opens directly onto an outdoor stairway that leads down to the kitchen and up to some other rooms and an outdoor patio. This means that it is a bit noisy because I can hear everything going on in the house and in the streets around the house. But that would probably still the be case even if my room was more inside because in Peru the walls, windows, and doors are so thin and not soundproof at all.

Right outside my door are several sets of stairs. Some lead to other rooms that are inside hallways. Some lead down to the kitchen. And finally, some lead up to more rooms and then to the outdoor patio.

These stairs are right beside my door and lead up to more rooms, the patio, and the spiral staircase leads up to the roof.

Here is the outdoor patio. It is right above my room and there is a great view of the city and some mountains in the distance that you can see on a clear day.

Here is the view from the patio. Look closely and you can see the mountains in the distance!

Up on the roof there is a washing machine and a clothesline for hang drying clothes.

The view from the roof is also very nice. The neighborhood I am in is a lot busier than the one I was in last semester - more cars going by and taller buildings. 

Jungle Trip Day 2

Here are pictures of our first real excursion into the Jungle. We walked the whole morning, rode in a boat, walked again, then in the evening went in the boat and watched the Amazon river dolphins. I will write up a post later to accompany the pictures, but for now, enjoy!