Segundo Semana

Segundo Semana 9/30/2011

So I’m finally setting in some. I even got to try ceviche, Peru’s national dish. My host mom made it homemade. It was delicious! It’s raw fish with cilantro, onions, and lime, but there are many different types. The food here is fantastic but I have an innate fear of gaining weight from all the rice and potatoes…a high carb diet  (a woman’s worst fear lol).

Ceviche

I also went to a dance festival. It lasted for 5 hours and it only cost S./ 1 ~ $0.50. Nuevo sol is the currency of Peru. This dance festival was held at a school and over 20 dance teams performed traditional Peruvian dances ages 5- 17. They were all pretty great and very interesting dances and elaborate costumes. I want to get one of those cool skirts before I leave…so I’ve got a while.

5 and 6 year olds dancing

It’s very dry here and never rains. September 23 was the first day of spring…so it looks like I get to repeat summer over again….yay…ok not really. Anyone who really knows me also knows I hate the heat, but I’m a trooper and will survive. It has been really nice lately only in the 60s at night to 80s during the day.

Peruvian acrobats! haha

I also got to play soccer for the first time this weekend. My host brothers and I along with another volunteer and her brother started up a game of soccer on Saturday. I did much better than expected. Thank the Lord for my athletic abilities! Considering my skill or lack there of I did much better than expected. Thank the Lord for my athletic abilities! We lost the game on Saturday 10 to 3, but on Sunday I redeemed myself and we won 10 to 7. I scored 7 of those goals. Nonetheless, I need to practice!

Not so traditional Peruvian dancing...I think it's a Gorilla!

Training can be a headache. In a lot of ways I feel like I’m back in high school. Training is everyday from 8-5 then homework and “practice” aka working with my Spanish tutor. Somewhere in there I have to spend time with my host family, read, exercise, and keep in tough with friends and family back home.  Talk about a juggling act. As always I like staying busy.

This week we started our Pre-Service Training Community Diagnostic….yep…It’s a big of a headache as it sounds. We have to run a series of meetings, surveys, calendars, and a bunch of other “tests” to learn about our community and get a better idea of their needs and goals.  Basically, this is just the practice round for what we will be doing individually in on communities in a few months.

Traditional Peruvian Dance

I’m learning Spanish quickly. I now meet with a tutor every afternoon for an hour. I also got moved into a new “more advanced” Spanish class….that by no means says I’m an advanced speaker but it is definitely an encouraging step in the right direction.

This week, a group of us were conducting some community surveys in a local high school, just as we were about to leave the director asked the five of us to teach an English class. I was really fun but the students’ English levels were pretty low. Since we had about 30.2 seconds to prepare, thanks to my handy dandy M-Fuge training I was able to whip up a few games in a matter of minutes. We played a word recognition game, an old standby game of Hangman and Charades, and we even sang, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” I must say I thought we were a hit. The students appeared to be between 14 and 16, but in Peru kids are younger than they look for the most part. It was a very fun day and they invited us back!

About Peruvian television….they show any and everything…and by any and everything…I mean ANY AND EVERYTHING… from bloody car wrecks, murder, molestation on the news to cross dressing, and countless American shows dubbed in Spanish.  One of the most entertaining is a show a called, “Canta si puedes.” Which is basically a mixture of American Idol and Fear Factor. The show makes contestants do ridiculous stunts while they sing.  I’ve also watched Lord of the Rings, Titanic, and Footloose…all dubbed in Spanish.

Saturday I’m going to Lima and Miraflores. More on that next time!

This week as been a lot of firsts for me and everything continues to fascinate me. I know that will wear off but I will enjoy while I can. I have been in the Word a lot this week and God has continually been good to me. I don’t deserve it! I have been reading in Isaiah for several weeks but Chapter 46 really stuck out this week. “There is NO ONE Like God!”

I pray everyone is doing well. I pray for you by name and thank God everyday for the hope, peace, and salvation we have through His GRACE!

LOVE  you ALL!

Celeste

P.S. I’m realizing how many awesome movies I’m going to miss in the next year or so....It would be awesome if someone would compile a list of all the awesome movies I will need to catch up on….that kind of sounds like a list for Drew!