1. General impressions and observations Lima is truly a beautiful city. When you look past the smog and the traffic, you see the multicolored houses, the amazing gardens full of wonderful flowers, the teenagers immediately jumping up to give their coveted micro seats to an elder. I think living in LA last summer really helped me to look for that beauty here, and not be overwhelmed by the superficial business and griminess of such a large city. I'm not much of a big city person, as I often say, but I'm surprised to say that Lima has already started to grow on me.
2. Host family I already feel more at home with my Peruvian host family than I have with any of the other host families I've stayed with. My host parents, Ulda and Juana, are two of the sweetest people I've ever met. They're married, 65, and both work in education, Ulda as a professor, and Juana on various other education related jobs. They have three sons, two of whom live quite close by, while the third is finishing his masters in architecture at Harvard. The youngest eats most meals with us at the house. The oldest has two adorable kids, a 4-year-old, and a 5-month-old. I always look forward to their visits. They have all made me feel incredibly welcome and comfortable here. We also have a live-in maid who does all of the cooking and cleaning. Her name is Gloria, and she is also one of the sweetest people. Suffice it to say that I am already in love with this family, and am dreading even now leaving them in 8 weeks.
3. Peru vs. Mali This is something that has been dominating much of my thoughts here, but despite that, it's hard for me to articulate those thoughts. Being abroad again, and in a place that has so many similarities to Mali keeps bringing back memories of my previous trip. I think the biggest difference is in the challenges of the program. Where in Mali the most challenging part was how amazingly different the culture was, here, it's much more the language that challenges me. I really took for granted how easily french came to me in Mali when I was there. Speaking spanish all the time, while enjoyable and interesting, is definitely taxing. I feel kind of like Peru is the halfway point between the US and Mali. I can't help wondering how different my first impression would have been of Lima had I not lived in Bamako first. To me, Lima is to Bamako, what Minneapolis is to Lima. Stay tuned for such exciting posts as "Volunteering: the best way to spend your day", and "What am I eating: the fruit edition". And if anyone has any question, comments, or sassy remarks, feel free to leave them as a comment, and I will respond to them appropriately on my next post.
A few of my favorite pictures so far:
This is a photo taken in front of the biggest cathedral in Lima, and therefore probably in all of Peru. It was taken on Good Friday. Behind us, the square is full of thousands of worshipping Peruvians. It was
quite a sight to see!
Taken while lying in the hammock at our hostel.
Our first real view of the ocean.
The cliffs of Lima.
Some pre-Incan ruins.
Sunsets. 'Nuff said.
And finally, a teaser of the aforementioned post on fruit. Bonus points if anyone knows what it is!
Passionfruit?? I can think of someone who would be jealous of the hammock. VERY COOL photo of ruins. I think I'm falling in love with Lima, too. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteGrace: Julie sent me your blog and I really enjoyed reading it. Looks like you caught the bug. I always wanted to learn Spanish...Alisa wants to start studying it next year. I'll have her read your blog and hope she'll make some comments. Have fun! Dan (Brooks, in Moscow)
ReplyDeleteOMGGGG IT'S PASSIONFRUIT :)
ReplyDelete