So I guess after 5 months of BIENVENIDOS A PERU!!!, it's time for the goodbyes.
Saturday night was the last time this year I will ever go party and dance in a Chimbote discoteca with my Peruvian buds. Fabian, Jhoselyn's primo, and some of our other friends came over and opened some celeberatory bottles of wine. Then her dad came home, was a little surprised, thought it was funny that we'd drank a bit, and gave us permission to go dancing at 1am. I still can't believe we brought out my big baby to the disco!! But we took care of it and got some awesome photos :) We danced our worries and goodbyes away until 4:30 in the morning, an early night. :)
Yesterday we had our last AFS gringo reunion (without the AFS volunteers :P) for my gringo goodbye. We went and had pina coladas in a cafe across from Plaza Mayor and then went for pizza one last time at Gabriels, where we always went after AFS meetings. (and where Clemens once encountered a chicken tooth on his pizza xD). Clemens, Ondine, Mona, Emily, Louise, Laetitia. (Johanna is in Lima). I'm going to miss them stupidly. Sooo much. I brought some bottles of contact solution for Emily, and all the girls poured it in their eyes to make it look like we were crying. Really it was just to cover up being teary. I was talking to Clemens about returning home, because he lived in Australia for a year and knows what the return home part is like, and he said it is hard. Some friends expect you to be the same old bud they knew and haven't changed at all, and some are disappointed or surprised with the new changes. Everything is strange and new again, and he was surprised that after a full year away, nothing had changed back home. Or not in the way or level of changes that he'd experienced. He was surrounded by friends but felt alone and strange. I totally understand and am totally afraid. Worried. I almost don't want to go back... i'm not ready for that. This.
Today is my final, final Chimbote goodbye party, at 7pm en la casa. We invited everyone we could think of, including my colegio friends that I haven't seen in awhile. All the AFSers will be there too. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of love and farewells I've been receiving. "Miaaa, no te vayas! Te vamos a extranar oyyye Miiia mejor te quedas conmigo en mi caaasa. Porque te vas?" God this is gonna be hard. Tonight we won't need the contact solution. Better put my waterproof makeup on.
xo
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Mixed Emotions
Less than two weeks left. It's all such a messy teary blur of shTUFFF i haven't had time or energy to write about how i'm feeling, i just know that one day i'll wanna know when i look back on this.
Basically. Every happy moment I have makes me teary. Every sad moment as well. Every song I listen to, every photo I see, every last goodbye, every message i'm sent, every memory I've had and making. Everything.
Since when am I such an emotional person?! I never used to tear up. ever.
Imagining the end. Ridiculously painful. I'm sorry to admit I've so forgotten all of you back home, just in the way that... it's so far away in everything. My life is here and has been here and im so scared to readjust. then i think of all my friends and family in Canadaland... and i get teary again. jesus. i can't even freaking write this right now! :'(
sometimes i almost wish i hadn't done this. JUST because.. it's been so unbelievable and amazing and heart breaking down building up patching together everythingy. because it hurts so much to have to leave. i know i couldn't live here forever, but. oh you have no idea. i have no idea.
Mom, im so happy you're coming to try and see where i've lived for so long and to meet my family but. im also scared. all of a sudden it feels wrong and hard and sad to combine my two lives. maybe you'll understand, maybe you won't. i dont want to offend you by saying this, at all. i just. my god i dont know a thing right now.
Please be prepared if the Mia you used to know is absent for awhile. She's changed and changing and she's going to be super confused and sad and don't think it's not that she isn't happy to be home; just. I'm so sorry- i had NO idea what this would do to me. I was so naiive. "woopeee i wanna go learn spanish in some poor country :D " How stupid and brilliant i was to sign up for this. honestly.
lots of love xo
Basically. Every happy moment I have makes me teary. Every sad moment as well. Every song I listen to, every photo I see, every last goodbye, every message i'm sent, every memory I've had and making. Everything.
Since when am I such an emotional person?! I never used to tear up. ever.
Imagining the end. Ridiculously painful. I'm sorry to admit I've so forgotten all of you back home, just in the way that... it's so far away in everything. My life is here and has been here and im so scared to readjust. then i think of all my friends and family in Canadaland... and i get teary again. jesus. i can't even freaking write this right now! :'(
sometimes i almost wish i hadn't done this. JUST because.. it's been so unbelievable and amazing and heart breaking down building up patching together everythingy. because it hurts so much to have to leave. i know i couldn't live here forever, but. oh you have no idea. i have no idea.
Mom, im so happy you're coming to try and see where i've lived for so long and to meet my family but. im also scared. all of a sudden it feels wrong and hard and sad to combine my two lives. maybe you'll understand, maybe you won't. i dont want to offend you by saying this, at all. i just. my god i dont know a thing right now.
Please be prepared if the Mia you used to know is absent for awhile. She's changed and changing and she's going to be super confused and sad and don't think it's not that she isn't happy to be home; just. I'm so sorry- i had NO idea what this would do to me. I was so naiive. "woopeee i wanna go learn spanish in some poor country :D " How stupid and brilliant i was to sign up for this. honestly.
lots of love xo
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
AFS Tortugas Campamentoo :D
Tuesday
After our AFS meeting thingy about the 4 day Tortugas camp we had, Mona and I went for a milkshake and I then accompanied her to her house. My hair had gotten super awesomely long, but frizzy crappy split ends. Entonces, we took a pair of scissors out in the street (her mom wouldn’t let us in the house) and cut my hair on a windy street curb. Yay gringo hair flying in la calle! Hahaha wow I never would have let something happen to my hair before, but now it’s like.. ooOOo big deal... it’s just hair... and it actually turned out lovely J despite the wind and lack of knowledge and giggles hahaha thanks Mona!
After our AFS meeting thingy about the 4 day Tortugas camp we had, Mona and I went for a milkshake and I then accompanied her to her house. My hair had gotten super awesomely long, but frizzy crappy split ends. Entonces, we took a pair of scissors out in the street (her mom wouldn’t let us in the house) and cut my hair on a windy street curb. Yay gringo hair flying in la calle! Hahaha wow I never would have let something happen to my hair before, but now it’s like.. ooOOo big deal... it’s just hair... and it actually turned out lovely J despite the wind and lack of knowledge and giggles hahaha thanks Mona!
Wednesday the 19th
At 8am Mona came to my house to go huntos to the Chimbote bus terminal with a huge ass bag of cancha (popcorn) that my lovely Nancy made for us for the ride. She’s so cute sometimes. At the bus station we met up w almost all the other afs peru’ers (that I met at the Lima orientation in my first 3 days in Peru) and crammed into a tiny bus to drive to Tortugas beach. There we stayed in some religious retiro casa thing and I enjoyed MY OWN ROOM for the first time in 5 months. I was lonely.. haha! Just kidding, it was delightful and I loved it. Mona and Ondine were in the rooms beside me. Then we all went down and had some chill time on the rocky beach w pelicans and waves and starfishes and other sea creatures. Then we just enjoyed the sun and napped on some big shore rocks and bought ice cream from a guy walking around w a cooler. (there’s ice cream guys everywhere here in peru) Then after breakfast we went farther along the beach and a few of us non-pussys went swimming. For some reason I thought the German’s would have handled the cold water better lol I’m told Canada gets A LOT FREAKING COLDER than where any of my euro friends live hahaha anyways. Then Ondine and Mona and I found some creepy weird thing that had no eyes or visible mouth. Like an orange slug with an armadilo (i can’t stand spelling that with two l’s because that’s a ‘y’ sound! Uggh) shell that could roll up into a defensive closed ball. Then we sat on a dock and i burned my ass off. I thought my hair was covering my shoulders/back (totally forgot that Mona and I had cut it shorter..) and it was windy so i didn’t think i was burning. It also wasn’t very long tiempo! The bathing suit X-men burn didn’t show up until 2 hours after we’d returned and I thought I hadn’t burned.. Then I went pee behind some hidden craggy sharp black rocks and didn’t see all the scittering huge crabs everywhere. After the freaking huge lunch I met the American boy from Missouri (who wasn’t in lima cuz he arrived late) and was pleasantly surprised. Not so stereotypical as I’d stereotypically (oops) expected, except for his obsession with American football hahaha Then we had more bonding and talking and hanging out time (which was pretty much the whole 4 days; awesome) before the first AFS workshop thingy. There was a photo contest that i was too late to have sent photos in for but yeah. Then mona and i went for a walk to buy apples but returned having left her room key 10min away down the beach and left dinner early to run back in the dark and find it. HOLY RIDICULOUS SUNBURN. I still can’t sleep on my back or turn my head/shoulders all the way to either side.
At 8am Mona came to my house to go huntos to the Chimbote bus terminal with a huge ass bag of cancha (popcorn) that my lovely Nancy made for us for the ride. She’s so cute sometimes. At the bus station we met up w almost all the other afs peru’ers (that I met at the Lima orientation in my first 3 days in Peru) and crammed into a tiny bus to drive to Tortugas beach. There we stayed in some religious retiro casa thing and I enjoyed MY OWN ROOM for the first time in 5 months. I was lonely.. haha! Just kidding, it was delightful and I loved it. Mona and Ondine were in the rooms beside me. Then we all went down and had some chill time on the rocky beach w pelicans and waves and starfishes and other sea creatures. Then we just enjoyed the sun and napped on some big shore rocks and bought ice cream from a guy walking around w a cooler. (there’s ice cream guys everywhere here in peru) Then after breakfast we went farther along the beach and a few of us non-pussys went swimming. For some reason I thought the German’s would have handled the cold water better lol I’m told Canada gets A LOT FREAKING COLDER than where any of my euro friends live hahaha anyways. Then Ondine and Mona and I found some creepy weird thing that had no eyes or visible mouth. Like an orange slug with an armadilo (i can’t stand spelling that with two l’s because that’s a ‘y’ sound! Uggh) shell that could roll up into a defensive closed ball. Then we sat on a dock and i burned my ass off. I thought my hair was covering my shoulders/back (totally forgot that Mona and I had cut it shorter..) and it was windy so i didn’t think i was burning. It also wasn’t very long tiempo! The bathing suit X-men burn didn’t show up until 2 hours after we’d returned and I thought I hadn’t burned.. Then I went pee behind some hidden craggy sharp black rocks and didn’t see all the scittering huge crabs everywhere. After the freaking huge lunch I met the American boy from Missouri (who wasn’t in lima cuz he arrived late) and was pleasantly surprised. Not so stereotypical as I’d stereotypically (oops) expected, except for his obsession with American football hahaha Then we had more bonding and talking and hanging out time (which was pretty much the whole 4 days; awesome) before the first AFS workshop thingy. There was a photo contest that i was too late to have sent photos in for but yeah. Then mona and i went for a walk to buy apples but returned having left her room key 10min away down the beach and left dinner early to run back in the dark and find it. HOLY RIDICULOUS SUNBURN. I still can’t sleep on my back or turn my head/shoulders all the way to either side.
Thursday
Thursday morning I woke up early (by accident) at 5, 6, and 7am but decided to wake up anyways because it was soooo beautiful. The sun was lighting up the sky and little calibris or something were chirping and waves were lapping. I’ve never witnessed a morning in Peru so quiet and peaceful and amazing. I hadn’t even realized how loud Chimbote is, or had forgotten! Amazing. After some refreshing, tranquila morning sun sky silent yoga, I drank my breakfast tea (kind of obsessed with it lately. I went on a body cleanse from all the fatty fried food and sugary hot milk drinks; so now i’m a tea lover.) Later on more afs students arrived and I reburned when we had more beach time. I had the sunscreen with me because I was going to ask someone to put it on my back for me. Apparently I totally forgot. But this is only the 2nd/3rd time I’ve been sunburnt in Peru for 5 months!! J Ondine brought out her slackline and tied it under the shelter above the beach. It’s suuuper hard to balance but can feel like you’re flying! After not being hungry for lunch of the inside of a cow’s stomach, we presented our Peruvian cities in an AFS “lo q se de mi ciudad” workshop thing. Some people brought typical treats to share as well. Then more bonding and hanging and applying sunburn cream until dinner time, where we were laughing til death with Xaver and Liam and Juliette while learning german and “swiss german”, which is apparently 1000 times different. This camp was amazing in the amount of Spanish I spoke. Mona and I almost always speak in Spanish to eachother, but I was stunned at how much farther along we are than everybody else, who have been speaking too much of their native languages (w their AFS friends in their cities) to have progressed much. We often can’t even tell what language we’re speaking, or think Peruvians can’t understand us when we’re speaking Spanish because we think we’re speaking English! Hahhaa it’s so confusing and awesome. Mona also told me that I often switch between the two languages without even realizing it! But this day especially we didn’t speak a word of English until I was explaining something and didn’t know the word in Spanish and said it in English. It sounded so strange and wrong that we started laughing because we hadn’t even noticed we’d been speaking Spanish the whole day! I often think in Spanish without thinking ;) Awesome. Then I won some ugly face photo contests (which I almost ALWAYS win ;)) and listened to the Beatles and a few of us shared a cervesa on the beach past the sunset.
Thursday morning I woke up early (by accident) at 5, 6, and 7am but decided to wake up anyways because it was soooo beautiful. The sun was lighting up the sky and little calibris or something were chirping and waves were lapping. I’ve never witnessed a morning in Peru so quiet and peaceful and amazing. I hadn’t even realized how loud Chimbote is, or had forgotten! Amazing. After some refreshing, tranquila morning sun sky silent yoga, I drank my breakfast tea (kind of obsessed with it lately. I went on a body cleanse from all the fatty fried food and sugary hot milk drinks; so now i’m a tea lover.) Later on more afs students arrived and I reburned when we had more beach time. I had the sunscreen with me because I was going to ask someone to put it on my back for me. Apparently I totally forgot. But this is only the 2nd/3rd time I’ve been sunburnt in Peru for 5 months!! J Ondine brought out her slackline and tied it under the shelter above the beach. It’s suuuper hard to balance but can feel like you’re flying! After not being hungry for lunch of the inside of a cow’s stomach, we presented our Peruvian cities in an AFS “lo q se de mi ciudad” workshop thing. Some people brought typical treats to share as well. Then more bonding and hanging and applying sunburn cream until dinner time, where we were laughing til death with Xaver and Liam and Juliette while learning german and “swiss german”, which is apparently 1000 times different. This camp was amazing in the amount of Spanish I spoke. Mona and I almost always speak in Spanish to eachother, but I was stunned at how much farther along we are than everybody else, who have been speaking too much of their native languages (w their AFS friends in their cities) to have progressed much. We often can’t even tell what language we’re speaking, or think Peruvians can’t understand us when we’re speaking Spanish because we think we’re speaking English! Hahhaa it’s so confusing and awesome. Mona also told me that I often switch between the two languages without even realizing it! But this day especially we didn’t speak a word of English until I was explaining something and didn’t know the word in Spanish and said it in English. It sounded so strange and wrong that we started laughing because we hadn’t even noticed we’d been speaking Spanish the whole day! I often think in Spanish without thinking ;) Awesome. Then I won some ugly face photo contests (which I almost ALWAYS win ;)) and listened to the Beatles and a few of us shared a cervesa on the beach past the sunset.
Friday
was the best day ever. After breaky we had MORE chill time on the deck thing w Ondine's slackline and I napped in the sun after learning some dutch w Emily. I'm jealous of the Belgians. After a quick redo of french, I'm learning Dutch!! Then German. Then everything else ;) The AFS workshop was odd. Started with everyone walking around screaming out their different animal sounds. I enjoyed being a rooster. Then we were put into many small groups to talk to the AFS person about every single detail and problem of our lives in Peru so far and how we could improve it. Our AFS volunteer was, with my luck, ignorant. He took a call from his "special girl" when someone was telling him all their problems. I couldn't handle thinking about my whole experience and difficulties and problems that I've had and things I've gone through and not even been able to write about. I started llorando (crying) before my turn and just couldn’t do it. I slipped away to the bathroom and just fell apart. I didn't feel that talking about all my old frustrations and horribleness would help me 3 weeks before my return. There is no point in reopening old wounds. I have long made peace and fallen in love with my family, problems or not. Then we drew our problems and he read way too far into our doodles (one girl drew a turtle for "turtle beach" and he went all YOU ARE THE TURTLE, ADAPTING TOO SLOWLY" haha) and then chilled and ate chocolate almonds to calm down again. Then we saw a demon exorcist constipated child screaming on a pile of gravel and went and socialized some more. I freaking love all my AFS around the world friends. This has been an intercambio of so much more than just one culture. It's so hard to think about leaving anybody anywhere. :'( Mona and Ondine and I went and bought cookies and apples and had fun making sunset silhouette pictures by the beach. Dinner was a REAL SALAD AND FISH OMFG SAAAAALAD!!!! I have never eaten so many vegetables in one meal. ever. And then all the students hungout on the deck thing w music speakers listening to amazing cultural music that Anja brought from Iquitos. So relaxing :) At around midnight I got the amazing idea (from Anja and Senne) to go swimming. I was with Mona and Juliette, and we were all joking about it but going along as if we were serious. Apparently I'm "a crazy girl who is so infectiously influential that she made me go skinny dipping. i love you mia!" Fuimos! It was so heavenly hahaha freezing cold and sharp rocks and waves under the peruvian moon. It was crazy that it was so normal. We were laughing too loudly I guess, because a Peruvian shone a flashlight around which freaked us out hahah luckily our clothes were still there when we got out xD. Then we took hilarious pictures and Anjya with her sweet camera weird shaking head medusa shots. (that's the best way i can describe it..) Then after some cervesitas and more chill time, I went skinny dipping again with Anja, Ondine and Senne. It was colder but we stayed in longer and woo! Felt so alive and clean and fresh and awake :D After listening to some hilarious Belgians and a france ganster, we went to bed at 3am.
was the best day ever. After breaky we had MORE chill time on the deck thing w Ondine's slackline and I napped in the sun after learning some dutch w Emily. I'm jealous of the Belgians. After a quick redo of french, I'm learning Dutch!! Then German. Then everything else ;) The AFS workshop was odd. Started with everyone walking around screaming out their different animal sounds. I enjoyed being a rooster. Then we were put into many small groups to talk to the AFS person about every single detail and problem of our lives in Peru so far and how we could improve it. Our AFS volunteer was, with my luck, ignorant. He took a call from his "special girl" when someone was telling him all their problems. I couldn't handle thinking about my whole experience and difficulties and problems that I've had and things I've gone through and not even been able to write about. I started llorando (crying) before my turn and just couldn’t do it. I slipped away to the bathroom and just fell apart. I didn't feel that talking about all my old frustrations and horribleness would help me 3 weeks before my return. There is no point in reopening old wounds. I have long made peace and fallen in love with my family, problems or not. Then we drew our problems and he read way too far into our doodles (one girl drew a turtle for "turtle beach" and he went all YOU ARE THE TURTLE, ADAPTING TOO SLOWLY" haha) and then chilled and ate chocolate almonds to calm down again. Then we saw a demon exorcist constipated child screaming on a pile of gravel and went and socialized some more. I freaking love all my AFS around the world friends. This has been an intercambio of so much more than just one culture. It's so hard to think about leaving anybody anywhere. :'( Mona and Ondine and I went and bought cookies and apples and had fun making sunset silhouette pictures by the beach. Dinner was a REAL SALAD AND FISH OMFG SAAAAALAD!!!! I have never eaten so many vegetables in one meal. ever. And then all the students hungout on the deck thing w music speakers listening to amazing cultural music that Anja brought from Iquitos. So relaxing :) At around midnight I got the amazing idea (from Anja and Senne) to go swimming. I was with Mona and Juliette, and we were all joking about it but going along as if we were serious. Apparently I'm "a crazy girl who is so infectiously influential that she made me go skinny dipping. i love you mia!" Fuimos! It was so heavenly hahaha freezing cold and sharp rocks and waves under the peruvian moon. It was crazy that it was so normal. We were laughing too loudly I guess, because a Peruvian shone a flashlight around which freaked us out hahah luckily our clothes were still there when we got out xD. Then we took hilarious pictures and Anjya with her sweet camera weird shaking head medusa shots. (that's the best way i can describe it..) Then after some cervesitas and more chill time, I went skinny dipping again with Anja, Ondine and Senne. It was colder but we stayed in longer and woo! Felt so alive and clean and fresh and awake :D After listening to some hilarious Belgians and a france ganster, we went to bed at 3am.
Saturday
woke up, breakfast, afs compromises (a promise to change/fix whatever problems we've had), danced and remembered oldschool music, chilled in sun and cut hair, had lunch, said goodbyes, went to buy food and burned the shit out of my feet because it was super hot and I lent Ondine my flipflops because hers broke. i've never had sunburns/blisters on the BOTTOMS of my feet before. it's awful. It included lots of hopping and piggy back rides and strange laughs/looks from Peruvians :P At the restaurant a weird Peru lady put her 5yr old in between our chairs and took pictures... then we went back n went to the beach to go swimming and swam to some boat and floated in it just chillin. I found some pretty beach glass, went back, showered, drank wine, chilled w music and massages and my new German cello guy friend, did yoga for the sunset with Ondine, packed my things and walked to the restaurant with all the remaining AFS people, ate drank tea and drove to Chimbote w manu chau playing and said our final goodbyes and arrived home after 11pm. Too lazy to fix this last part up, you get the idea though.
woke up, breakfast, afs compromises (a promise to change/fix whatever problems we've had), danced and remembered oldschool music, chilled in sun and cut hair, had lunch, said goodbyes, went to buy food and burned the shit out of my feet because it was super hot and I lent Ondine my flipflops because hers broke. i've never had sunburns/blisters on the BOTTOMS of my feet before. it's awful. It included lots of hopping and piggy back rides and strange laughs/looks from Peruvians :P At the restaurant a weird Peru lady put her 5yr old in between our chairs and took pictures... then we went back n went to the beach to go swimming and swam to some boat and floated in it just chillin. I found some pretty beach glass, went back, showered, drank wine, chilled w music and massages and my new German cello guy friend, did yoga for the sunset with Ondine, packed my things and walked to the restaurant with all the remaining AFS people, ate drank tea and drove to Chimbote w manu chau playing and said our final goodbyes and arrived home after 11pm. Too lazy to fix this last part up, you get the idea though.
My sunburn is the worst I've ever had in my life. I think I have scales on my left shoulder blade?? So gross and red and dry and painful. We put slices of pepino (fruit) on me for a good half hour last night but I still have the crazy X Men sign tattooed onto me. Oh man.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
One Month. :'(
Hookay. Haven’t felt like writing this in a long time. So much effort. Not sure if I’ve actually been busy though.. just lazy. J
2 weeks or something ago was Sunday, and we all went as a family to Fran’s religious confirmation ceremony at her church. Nancy’s crazy and allegre and full of personality Aunt Alessia also came, from Lima, with little ornaments that Fran exchanged with all her friends. It was the day she was accepted into her faith and such and she’d been preparing for it for the past year. It was kinda cool to watch but it was 1000 degrees on those benches, and at first I didn’t really have a clue what was going on.
Monday was Lala (my Peru dad’s mother)’s birthday (at their house next door). And so we all went over and visited and ate cake and guinea pig and drank wine as I played my violin for various relatives. Families here are huge. I’m pretty sure everybody is related to everybody. So many tios and primos and sobrinos and aah!! But Lala’s brother is a very hilarious guy and was telling some pretty funny jokes. One was about an American who came to Peru and had 3 coches (cars) to sell or something, when he met a Peruvian who wanted to sell his ton of coches and cochera for very cheap. I don’t remember the joke but basically... “coches” here are pigs. So the American ended up with 100 pigs and a farm and the Peruvian got 3 expensive cars haha. Ok. Well how I told it isn’t funny. But he wanted me to tell it to my mom :P And there was another one about one of the regional presidents here who dies and gets a diplomatic choice whether he wants to go to heaven or to hell. He is told he can visit each place for one day and then choose which one he prefers. He chooses to go to Hell first, and is welcomed with beer and huge parties and fiestas all day and night long and loves it. Then he goes to heaven the next day and finds it way too peaceful and boring. So, he says he would prefer to go to hell. When he returns, it’s awful and there are no fiestas and everybody is working in chains. He asks what happened and the devil tells him that the other day they were in elections/campaigns. Hawhaw
I enjoyed conversing with the adults though (after Jhoselyn and Fran ditched me and didn’t say if they were coming back.. so i waited for nothing aha). Adults always understand and want to make use of the exchange part of the intercambio, and that I have to teach them things as well. They often love hearing that my parents don’t buy me many material possessions or new clothes when I can get a job and pay for the things I want, but don’t need, for myself. Kids here are super spoiled.. anyways.
Tuesday we made homemade soy milk from scratch! Super easy. Soak the soy thingies overnight and then the next day blend them with water or something and then filter it and out comes soy milk. I have a feeling there was another step. But it was the most delicious stuff ever!! Then the next day we got my 2nd care package (thanks fam!) and devoured one jar of peanut butter in 1.5 days. I even ate spoonfuls of it, which I used to find DISGUSTING. They pretty much loooove it and we ate it on bananas and bread and apples and crackers and omg. So good. Love PB. This is a future xmas present I will be sending them :P Then that night was my best buddy from Swizterland, Mona’s, 16th birthday and Francheska and I went and danced and celebrated with her. Her Peruvian grandfather gifted her a bottle of wine and her family from Swizterland sent her chocolates and other goodies.
Then Saturday we randomly decided to go to Trujillo to shop for swimsuits for the girls. (Trujillo has a mall, Chimbote doesn't) haha and I ate my pizza hut again :D We stayed at the house of Louise's Peruvian mum's sister and her family. I met her (the mom's sister's) parents and they were a very welcoming and friendly but very sad old couple. The grandfather is in a wheelchair and has no legs. I really liked him but I had tears in my eyes seeing him roll his wheelchair out to the front step just to sit in the sun and watch the street life go by. What else is there to do? Nancy bought him chocolate and we wanted to take him out for a spin but couldn't. :'(
The next morning we visited the Plaza de Armas of Trujillo and drove around a bit in a taxi. Trujillo is freaking cool. It's like the Victoria of Peru or something hahaha. Then we took a combi tour that included the ruins of Chanchan and a museum and a big cool labrynth! There was also a group of 6 university students from Argentina (who talked with a lisp or something funny and at first I didn't realize they were speaking Spanish!!) who had just spent their New Years in Cusco and HIKED Macchu Picchu because they were too strapped for cash to take the train. It only took them 7-8 hours, and their photos were postcard perfect amazing. Awesome. They thought I was also in my 2nd year of university or something haha but yeah they were cool. Then the tour ended with 45 min at Hanchaco playa (which was SOO crowded, and I fell in w all my clothes on and Fran and I had a blast in the gross sticky water). Then we went out for dinner with a couple we went from Lima named Victor and Layla who are very cool but very religious and I felt kinda attacked at one point and couldn't defend myself well enough in Spanish. It is kind of frustrating when people ask me why I don't believe in God - well, the way they ask it. Like an interrogation. Anyways. Then we missed the bus to Chimbote and left the next day instead. O_o
Wednesday Nancy's tia and prima and her 2 kids arrived for a few days to visit. The older one Phil is still here because he is accompanying Junior, who otherwise only has his little baby brother to hangout with most of the time. As well, Philly is teaching him better habits. He is a super mature 14yr old who comes from a much poorer and harder home life. He knows all about respect and doing your chores and duties not because they're chores but because they need to get done and everyone does their part. He's cool. Finally something different from Nancy's children, who, because of their dad and homelife, are used to just getting everything they want. Dad just pays for only the most expensive brands and stuff to compensate for lack of family time with them. :S They're finally opening their eyes a bit the more they hang around Soda Phil so yeah. Whenever I say something, it's just because that's how it is in Canada, but now that Phil is also teaching them they are starting to realize it. Fran knows how lucky she is, but Jhoselyn still only values objects and brand names over all other things in her life. This is a rushed explanation but it's because I'm nearing the end and I've been sitting on the computer too long and I need to shower. But I finally saw Junior do his first chore! Yay Phil!
Uuum i forget. Saturday we all went swimming in El Huerto, which is a swimming pool about 5min walk from la casa, and Mona and Arlette came as well. It wasn't too special but Gabrielito is still the cutest thing ever! Hard to get photos of him though. We're tight. He also comes and lays on me and kisses me and "Miaaa ven!" haha aaw. I'm his big sister too now.
Sunday we played volleyball in the street at night when it's not so hot that we sweat up a storm, and then rode bikes around Nuevo Chimbote. Maaaan I miss biking!!! Oh and I've been going to the gym more often too. It's only 3 soles for a drop in hour hahhaaha yes. :) Then yesterday I went to the movies with Clemens, who just got back from 2 weeks in ARGENTINA!! (he can travel differently because he's in a different program thingy w AFS) and Louise but the movie was pretty lame. I'm gonna miss my fellow AFSers though. They all live so far away... Europe and New Zealand. o_O But now I just have excuses to travel and places to stay! :P It's really getting harder every day here. Exactly one month left before I fly from Lima to Canadaland. I'm as emotionally unstable and teary as I was my first month here, but it's for completely different reasons. I just can't think about leaving so soon. What happened to my time!! Wasn't it just New years?? I can't explain the love and attachment I feel for the people I've met here. For the second family and home and country I've been living in. It's so hard to think about tearing myself away from it and readjusting to Western culture or whatever.
I mean of course I'm happy to be coming home again; but I'm also so confused and upset and I feel like this is my life. Canada seems so far away in my memories and my mind that... I dunno. What if I feel like a stranger when I come back? I know I've changed. So much has happened here, so much that I haven't been able to write about or tell you but. One month. And it's going to fly by with AFS trips to the beach (tomorrow until Saturday afternoon) and Francheska's birthday and another possible trip ;) and then February 8th the family leaves Chimbote to Lima to see my mumma on the 9th.
I love you guys. I don't know what else to say or how to say it but maybe it'll be easier to explain everything in person. Falta poco. Los amo. xo
2 weeks or something ago was Sunday, and we all went as a family to Fran’s religious confirmation ceremony at her church. Nancy’s crazy and allegre and full of personality Aunt Alessia also came, from Lima, with little ornaments that Fran exchanged with all her friends. It was the day she was accepted into her faith and such and she’d been preparing for it for the past year. It was kinda cool to watch but it was 1000 degrees on those benches, and at first I didn’t really have a clue what was going on.
Monday was Lala (my Peru dad’s mother)’s birthday (at their house next door). And so we all went over and visited and ate cake and guinea pig and drank wine as I played my violin for various relatives. Families here are huge. I’m pretty sure everybody is related to everybody. So many tios and primos and sobrinos and aah!! But Lala’s brother is a very hilarious guy and was telling some pretty funny jokes. One was about an American who came to Peru and had 3 coches (cars) to sell or something, when he met a Peruvian who wanted to sell his ton of coches and cochera for very cheap. I don’t remember the joke but basically... “coches” here are pigs. So the American ended up with 100 pigs and a farm and the Peruvian got 3 expensive cars haha. Ok. Well how I told it isn’t funny. But he wanted me to tell it to my mom :P And there was another one about one of the regional presidents here who dies and gets a diplomatic choice whether he wants to go to heaven or to hell. He is told he can visit each place for one day and then choose which one he prefers. He chooses to go to Hell first, and is welcomed with beer and huge parties and fiestas all day and night long and loves it. Then he goes to heaven the next day and finds it way too peaceful and boring. So, he says he would prefer to go to hell. When he returns, it’s awful and there are no fiestas and everybody is working in chains. He asks what happened and the devil tells him that the other day they were in elections/campaigns. Hawhaw
I enjoyed conversing with the adults though (after Jhoselyn and Fran ditched me and didn’t say if they were coming back.. so i waited for nothing aha). Adults always understand and want to make use of the exchange part of the intercambio, and that I have to teach them things as well. They often love hearing that my parents don’t buy me many material possessions or new clothes when I can get a job and pay for the things I want, but don’t need, for myself. Kids here are super spoiled.. anyways.
Tuesday we made homemade soy milk from scratch! Super easy. Soak the soy thingies overnight and then the next day blend them with water or something and then filter it and out comes soy milk. I have a feeling there was another step. But it was the most delicious stuff ever!! Then the next day we got my 2nd care package (thanks fam!) and devoured one jar of peanut butter in 1.5 days. I even ate spoonfuls of it, which I used to find DISGUSTING. They pretty much loooove it and we ate it on bananas and bread and apples and crackers and omg. So good. Love PB. This is a future xmas present I will be sending them :P Then that night was my best buddy from Swizterland, Mona’s, 16th birthday and Francheska and I went and danced and celebrated with her. Her Peruvian grandfather gifted her a bottle of wine and her family from Swizterland sent her chocolates and other goodies.
Thursday I got a lovely xmas envelope package from the Shaws! Thank you guys! Xox Gabrielito, the baby, went crazy over the fake snow :P. Then Nancy took me to her friend Marlene's house, who is a classically trained singer. (the only one in Chimbote) She sang BEAUTIFULLY and her husband, a super nice friendly chap, invited us to some sweet yellow wine and mango. We conversed a TON about music and she gave me some scores to copy. We also watched vids of her singing with the Trujillo symphony, which was awesome. Then on the way back we stopped by Jose Luis' casa “por un momento” and ended up being invited to more food and chocolate (bebida). He recently was gifted a new electric piano to learn, and I stumbled my way through songs I haven’t been able to play in 6 months. The horror. I can’t believe how much I’ve forgotten!! And it didn’t have a pedal either, so yeah. Oh and the cheese we had with our pan was sooo REAL AMAZING & DELIGHTFUL and fresh and crazy. More intercultural conversing and exchanging, then I showed them photos of my promocion in Peru and of good times this summer in Canada and yeah. Jose Luis’ little cutie sister Cielo is the cutest 7yr old I have ever met! She is pretty much in love with me now and thinks I’m her prima J She wants me to buy a house in Peru when I’m older so I can have one in Canada and one close to her. (which actually is not a bad idea if i ever get the money!) She couldn’t stop talking and was ecstatic when I put her hair in braids and she showed me all around her cramped, unfinished house with her starving cat and little birdies. She didn’t want me to leave and the first thing she said after goodbye was “ask your mom if you can come tomorrow!” I really love their family though. So rich in happiness that it doesn’t matter about all the possessions they don’t have. What’s weird is that I’ve stopped even noticing when people are poor. Or i’ve become used to a different level of rich a poor. I only notice when I start thinking of Canada.. and sometimes it actually makes me feel sick. Just the amount of EVERYTHING we have back home. It’s gross. I’m not sure how to feel about it. Even this laptop I’m writing on is like. I feel I shouldn’t have it sometimes. OH! And Jose Luis also did a “declaration” for us and it was stunning. (where you act out/read a poem). It was the most passionate and beautiful thing I’ve seen a young person do here. I was stunned and surprised and had goosebumps! I thought I was watching an actor in a movie or something. It was amazing.
The next day Marlene and her family invited Nancy and I over for a special lunch of Causa? (dunno how it’s spelt) so i could play my violin for her. We went over and gained 50 pounds after delicious soup and the second plate of causa, which is a type of salted fish that’s then wrapped with yuka and some sort of onion and spicy pepper sauce in banana leaves and cooked in boiling water. It was amazing. I can’t believe I never used to like fish before Peru!!!!
Then Saturday we randomly decided to go to Trujillo to shop for swimsuits for the girls. (Trujillo has a mall, Chimbote doesn't) haha and I ate my pizza hut again :D We stayed at the house of Louise's Peruvian mum's sister and her family. I met her (the mom's sister's) parents and they were a very welcoming and friendly but very sad old couple. The grandfather is in a wheelchair and has no legs. I really liked him but I had tears in my eyes seeing him roll his wheelchair out to the front step just to sit in the sun and watch the street life go by. What else is there to do? Nancy bought him chocolate and we wanted to take him out for a spin but couldn't. :'(
The next morning we visited the Plaza de Armas of Trujillo and drove around a bit in a taxi. Trujillo is freaking cool. It's like the Victoria of Peru or something hahaha. Then we took a combi tour that included the ruins of Chanchan and a museum and a big cool labrynth! There was also a group of 6 university students from Argentina (who talked with a lisp or something funny and at first I didn't realize they were speaking Spanish!!) who had just spent their New Years in Cusco and HIKED Macchu Picchu because they were too strapped for cash to take the train. It only took them 7-8 hours, and their photos were postcard perfect amazing. Awesome. They thought I was also in my 2nd year of university or something haha but yeah they were cool. Then the tour ended with 45 min at Hanchaco playa (which was SOO crowded, and I fell in w all my clothes on and Fran and I had a blast in the gross sticky water). Then we went out for dinner with a couple we went from Lima named Victor and Layla who are very cool but very religious and I felt kinda attacked at one point and couldn't defend myself well enough in Spanish. It is kind of frustrating when people ask me why I don't believe in God - well, the way they ask it. Like an interrogation. Anyways. Then we missed the bus to Chimbote and left the next day instead. O_o
Wednesday Nancy's tia and prima and her 2 kids arrived for a few days to visit. The older one Phil is still here because he is accompanying Junior, who otherwise only has his little baby brother to hangout with most of the time. As well, Philly is teaching him better habits. He is a super mature 14yr old who comes from a much poorer and harder home life. He knows all about respect and doing your chores and duties not because they're chores but because they need to get done and everyone does their part. He's cool. Finally something different from Nancy's children, who, because of their dad and homelife, are used to just getting everything they want. Dad just pays for only the most expensive brands and stuff to compensate for lack of family time with them. :S They're finally opening their eyes a bit the more they hang around Soda Phil so yeah. Whenever I say something, it's just because that's how it is in Canada, but now that Phil is also teaching them they are starting to realize it. Fran knows how lucky she is, but Jhoselyn still only values objects and brand names over all other things in her life. This is a rushed explanation but it's because I'm nearing the end and I've been sitting on the computer too long and I need to shower. But I finally saw Junior do his first chore! Yay Phil!
Uuum i forget. Saturday we all went swimming in El Huerto, which is a swimming pool about 5min walk from la casa, and Mona and Arlette came as well. It wasn't too special but Gabrielito is still the cutest thing ever! Hard to get photos of him though. We're tight. He also comes and lays on me and kisses me and "Miaaa ven!" haha aaw. I'm his big sister too now.
Sunday we played volleyball in the street at night when it's not so hot that we sweat up a storm, and then rode bikes around Nuevo Chimbote. Maaaan I miss biking!!! Oh and I've been going to the gym more often too. It's only 3 soles for a drop in hour hahhaaha yes. :) Then yesterday I went to the movies with Clemens, who just got back from 2 weeks in ARGENTINA!! (he can travel differently because he's in a different program thingy w AFS) and Louise but the movie was pretty lame. I'm gonna miss my fellow AFSers though. They all live so far away... Europe and New Zealand. o_O But now I just have excuses to travel and places to stay! :P It's really getting harder every day here. Exactly one month left before I fly from Lima to Canadaland. I'm as emotionally unstable and teary as I was my first month here, but it's for completely different reasons. I just can't think about leaving so soon. What happened to my time!! Wasn't it just New years?? I can't explain the love and attachment I feel for the people I've met here. For the second family and home and country I've been living in. It's so hard to think about tearing myself away from it and readjusting to Western culture or whatever.
I mean of course I'm happy to be coming home again; but I'm also so confused and upset and I feel like this is my life. Canada seems so far away in my memories and my mind that... I dunno. What if I feel like a stranger when I come back? I know I've changed. So much has happened here, so much that I haven't been able to write about or tell you but. One month. And it's going to fly by with AFS trips to the beach (tomorrow until Saturday afternoon) and Francheska's birthday and another possible trip ;) and then February 8th the family leaves Chimbote to Lima to see my mumma on the 9th.
I love you guys. I don't know what else to say or how to say it but maybe it'll be easier to explain everything in person. Falta poco. Los amo. xo
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Year's 2011, at the beach :)
Even though it started off kind of horrible, I had such an amazing New Year's this year !!!
Nancy decided to take the whole fam (Gabo, Junior, everybody!) and like 7 or 8 of Francheska's friends to Tortugas beach for New Years; where the party's at apparently. We went to el centro around 1pm to set up a huge taxi thing to meet us at her house and shuttle us all there. He said he could pick us up at 5:30pm. Then it was 6:30pm. Then he called saying 8:20 at the earliest. Then it was 10:30pm and he stopped answering our calls, so our heroine Nancy flew to el centro and hustled down another taxi. Then it was 11:30pm ish when we finally arrived at Tortugas. It was kinda cold. Well, for them they were dying, poor things. I was fine xD But at night, it's suuuper windy and misty coolness on the beach. We made a little fire and I set up their two tents (because nobody had ever set up a tent before and had no idea how...) while trying not to get frustrated w them all MIA MIA MIA NO ENTIENDOOO RAWSDAS and being idiot tent setter-uppers hahahah oh god. Nearly set one of them on fire. (the tents that is) Good job boy scouts. You're failing... Anywho! Got out my camera and walked sola down to the ocean (soooo ridiculously warm for ocean water. warmer than any yukon lake!!) to take some pics of fireworks. Or try to anyways :P The beach is in like a sei circle thing that closes in on itself almost and so through the mist you could see the countless fireworks exploding across the water and stuff so it was pretty cool. I got ONE super awesome firework pic hahahh so difficult but anyways. Woooo happy new year. I kinda missed the countdown and was needing some breathing alone time from the little children but then Johanna and Louise, who were there with Zoraida (the coolest AFS volunteer), Johanna's brother, and some Peruvian friends, came and rescued me! And we had the sweeeeetest time ever. If they hadn't been there, I would have had one of those breakdown moments.
Jhoselyn paid 60 soles to go to the discoteca set up thingy with her boyfriend, but I am waaaay too cheap to have done that. So we just hung out w Gaby's pick up truck infront of the party, where we could hear and dance to the music just fine. And we were closer to the hot food stands hahaa. I'm so surprised Nancy was so relaxed and awesome about that night, because I didn't go back to sleep in the tents like everyone else, but just chilled with my friends until 8:30am and went back when everyone was crawling out of the tents waking up hahaha so I was pretty much missing for 8 hours. But yeah, Gaby is super cool, and I met 3 other old AFS students who had returned to Peru, one from Germany, one from Swizterland and I don't remember where the Asian guy was from. Older people are more my crowd. I had sooo much fun. I was wearing my lucky yellow underwear (everyone wears something yellow for good luck in the new year) and we ate our 12 grapes (good luck for every month), me one for each of my friends there, 2 for Louise, one for Canada and one for me :P Then we partied until and past the sunrise over the mountain tops! hahah it was awesome. Then it got suuuper sunny and so at 8:30am I stripped down and went swimming. Apparently that's way too early and too cold to do such a thing, so I was the only one out there. Then they told me (as I was swimming) that there's eels and "fish that pica" in the water. I got out pretty fast.. hahah.
By then, after passing out on our beach towels for awhile, Nancy and everyone woke up and then Louise and my buddies left so I spent the day with Fran and her friends getting all sandy and sunburnt and feeling way too tired to live. I went swimming a second time with Fran before we left and was teaching two adult men how to float. "Can you swim?" is a common question here!! Crazy. I also know lots of people who have never ridden a bike. o_O Anyways. The water was awesome. Warmer than Marsh Lake on a good day! Then we walked around and ate ice cream and Mona and her host sister Arlette showed up for awhile too. By 5pm we'd made it home and showered and fell asleep until January 2nd :P Chyea! Awesome awesome AWESOME! :)
Nancy decided to take the whole fam (Gabo, Junior, everybody!) and like 7 or 8 of Francheska's friends to Tortugas beach for New Years; where the party's at apparently. We went to el centro around 1pm to set up a huge taxi thing to meet us at her house and shuttle us all there. He said he could pick us up at 5:30pm. Then it was 6:30pm. Then he called saying 8:20 at the earliest. Then it was 10:30pm and he stopped answering our calls, so our heroine Nancy flew to el centro and hustled down another taxi. Then it was 11:30pm ish when we finally arrived at Tortugas. It was kinda cold. Well, for them they were dying, poor things. I was fine xD But at night, it's suuuper windy and misty coolness on the beach. We made a little fire and I set up their two tents (because nobody had ever set up a tent before and had no idea how...) while trying not to get frustrated w them all MIA MIA MIA NO ENTIENDOOO RAWSDAS and being idiot tent setter-uppers hahahah oh god. Nearly set one of them on fire. (the tents that is) Good job boy scouts. You're failing... Anywho! Got out my camera and walked sola down to the ocean (soooo ridiculously warm for ocean water. warmer than any yukon lake!!) to take some pics of fireworks. Or try to anyways :P The beach is in like a sei circle thing that closes in on itself almost and so through the mist you could see the countless fireworks exploding across the water and stuff so it was pretty cool. I got ONE super awesome firework pic hahahh so difficult but anyways. Woooo happy new year. I kinda missed the countdown and was needing some breathing alone time from the little children but then Johanna and Louise, who were there with Zoraida (the coolest AFS volunteer), Johanna's brother, and some Peruvian friends, came and rescued me! And we had the sweeeeetest time ever. If they hadn't been there, I would have had one of those breakdown moments.
Jhoselyn paid 60 soles to go to the discoteca set up thingy with her boyfriend, but I am waaaay too cheap to have done that. So we just hung out w Gaby's pick up truck infront of the party, where we could hear and dance to the music just fine. And we were closer to the hot food stands hahaa. I'm so surprised Nancy was so relaxed and awesome about that night, because I didn't go back to sleep in the tents like everyone else, but just chilled with my friends until 8:30am and went back when everyone was crawling out of the tents waking up hahaha so I was pretty much missing for 8 hours. But yeah, Gaby is super cool, and I met 3 other old AFS students who had returned to Peru, one from Germany, one from Swizterland and I don't remember where the Asian guy was from. Older people are more my crowd. I had sooo much fun. I was wearing my lucky yellow underwear (everyone wears something yellow for good luck in the new year) and we ate our 12 grapes (good luck for every month), me one for each of my friends there, 2 for Louise, one for Canada and one for me :P Then we partied until and past the sunrise over the mountain tops! hahah it was awesome. Then it got suuuper sunny and so at 8:30am I stripped down and went swimming. Apparently that's way too early and too cold to do such a thing, so I was the only one out there. Then they told me (as I was swimming) that there's eels and "fish that pica" in the water. I got out pretty fast.. hahah.
By then, after passing out on our beach towels for awhile, Nancy and everyone woke up and then Louise and my buddies left so I spent the day with Fran and her friends getting all sandy and sunburnt and feeling way too tired to live. I went swimming a second time with Fran before we left and was teaching two adult men how to float. "Can you swim?" is a common question here!! Crazy. I also know lots of people who have never ridden a bike. o_O Anyways. The water was awesome. Warmer than Marsh Lake on a good day! Then we walked around and ate ice cream and Mona and her host sister Arlette showed up for awhile too. By 5pm we'd made it home and showered and fell asleep until January 2nd :P Chyea! Awesome awesome AWESOME! :)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
PROMO!!
Well. When in Rome -Peru, right? hahahah okay. Here goes.
Right, Tuesday. So at 9am Tuesday morning, we had our final dance ensayos to learn the 4th choreographed dance hahahh. New moves and dances on the last day (DAY OF OUR PROM) of ensayos? Hora Peruana, as always. Anyways, it was also the first and only time I brought my tacos (high heels) to try and dance in. Kinda scary to run in those ankle eaters. BUT I'm very proud to say -I didn't fall once. :)
Then I went home, ate, washed dishes, slept, got up, showered, bought credit for my cell phone, took money outta the bank, dried my hair, and was dragged to a hair salon thingy close to the casa. For 25 soles or something, this hairdresser lady made my hair all fancy and done up as if for a ball or something insane. Of course, we had to be at Tumbao (the location of our prom) at 8:30, and my hair-do was finished at 7:45. Then after a short walk home in my flowy casual clothes and crazy fancy hair (followed by too many whistles) I super speedily changed into my panties/tights things, fancy silk pink short dress, (with shorts underneath hoof) high heels and was forced upon with overly shiny jewellery. Thank god I stopped her from piercing my ears for this. I'm not even kidding. Nancy was determined to pierce my ears so I could wear earrings. Hooooooo no thanks! :P Anyways, at 8:30 Yessenia came by my house and we rode in a taxi with her pareja and older sister to Tumbao. They wouldn't let me go with my flats and camera in my hippie bag (psssh unappropriate not fancy enough ayayaii) so instead I just shoved my cell and camera down the front of my dress and off we went.
The event was supposed to start at 9pm EN PUNTO (sharp) but. We're in Peru. It started more around 11:30 hahahah. The local was all decorated in pink/coral and white fabric and tables and chairs and there was a huge table with 20 some cakes (one for each student to take home :O what delicious calories those were!) After everyone's families and partners arrived and everything, the students & parejas descended pair by pair (as we were announced) down the two staircases to the main floor. I don't remember how my name was pronounced, but it evoked much laughter and it's a good thing I didn't trip being filmed riendo down the staircase xD Then everybody present was given a glass of pisco sours I think (some lemony alcohol with a foamy crema on top) for the brinding. We toasted, sipped, and then performed our first choreographed baila of the night, as well as the dance of the padres. (I danced with a weird teacher that I never really quite liked/understood, instead of my father) Many thanks to Jhoselyn and Nancy, who filmed pretty much everything and took over 200 photos oh my :) After our first dance, us alumnos went back up the staircase to eat our two course tasty meal and sip a glass of wine with our awesome Napoleon-esque firecracker physics profesora. Afterwards, with slightly bulging stomachs I'm sure, we performed the second dance. Or maybe then came the toast. Or speeches. And then our last choreographed dance of the night; where I was picked up and twirled around laughing because my dress was too short and I was trying to hold it down haaha. Yes. All on camera.
After that the techno booming reggaeton came on and the strobe lights came out and we had a blast dancing our little butts off. My partner and friends and some random parents were also helping teach me how to salsa, and dance to cumbia and meringue as well. Much laughter :P Then came something that probably would have scarred the old Mia for life. xD Luckily, the new Mia just laughed her ass off but wasn't too embarassed! Luckily :P
The "hora loca". Something only done in Peru. And it started off with me, hurray. Everyone was cleared off the dancefloor for a moment and a single chair was placed in between the two staircases. The announcer was asking for one lucky lucky volunteer to go sit in the chair, and obviously my friends love me very, very much, because they all forced me to go sit in that chair. I tried to avoid it. "Noooo no! Tengo miedo! No, gracias, no quiero hahaha." But I had no choice. I totally knew something um.. let's say bad.. was going to happen to me. Hahahah after my painfully slow and cautious walk,right when I sat down, everybody started winking, laughing, smiling and clapping. Seconds after the lights went out and the song "I'm too sexy for my shirt..." started playing. I started laughing because it was obvious what was going to happen next. Justo, dancing down the staircases came two tightly dressed and muscled men. Oh my god. Then, after some more dancing, they started stripping. At this point... I couldn't even breathe I was laughing so hard. This is prom we're talking about. Anyways. I then was um "gifted" xD with lap dances. Hooooray.. lucky me! And with every second of it being filmed and photographed xD Then they tried to get me to feel them up. I politely declined. Then out came some creepy ass clown thing on stilts and he did some awkward dancing that I didn't see because he was standing above my head. Oh greaat.. I can only imagine how that went from peoples' faces and stories afterwards hahahaha. THEN the hora loca started started and we all ran around screaming to the songs and jumping up and down in circles and being psychos. Awesome; not to mention slipping in the confetti and silly stream and bubbles weird fluffy snow stuff and who knows what else not. Theeeen we danced some more (Nancy too) but I was pulled away from my girl friend to dance with one of the male half stripper dancer guys until we went home early at 3:30am with my cake (breakfast). Viva, Peru!
Definitely a blast and a half that was !! Still can't believe Mia was barbified and didn't have her grump face on all night. She is much more relaxed and easy going now... which is a good thing. But the barbie part. Well --she didn't get to choose the dress, or the colour, or the jewellery or or or or :P But she has learned that it's okay to do something like that for other people. And to suck up a smile for the 6000 photos her peru mother took of her and the xmas tree and the cake and her cacti and such afterwards. xD And to participate fully and rawrf. Didn't expect an experience like this!! She's super tired and sick right now and the words aren't flowing so well, but chyea. The eeend! :)
P.S. (she actually enjoyed herself and didn't complain about a thing! :OOOOO or felt the need to complain! *applause*)
Right, Tuesday. So at 9am Tuesday morning, we had our final dance ensayos to learn the 4th choreographed dance hahahh. New moves and dances on the last day (DAY OF OUR PROM) of ensayos? Hora Peruana, as always. Anyways, it was also the first and only time I brought my tacos (high heels) to try and dance in. Kinda scary to run in those ankle eaters. BUT I'm very proud to say -I didn't fall once. :)
Then I went home, ate, washed dishes, slept, got up, showered, bought credit for my cell phone, took money outta the bank, dried my hair, and was dragged to a hair salon thingy close to the casa. For 25 soles or something, this hairdresser lady made my hair all fancy and done up as if for a ball or something insane. Of course, we had to be at Tumbao (the location of our prom) at 8:30, and my hair-do was finished at 7:45. Then after a short walk home in my flowy casual clothes and crazy fancy hair (followed by too many whistles) I super speedily changed into my panties/tights things, fancy silk pink short dress, (with shorts underneath hoof) high heels and was forced upon with overly shiny jewellery. Thank god I stopped her from piercing my ears for this. I'm not even kidding. Nancy was determined to pierce my ears so I could wear earrings. Hooooooo no thanks! :P Anyways, at 8:30 Yessenia came by my house and we rode in a taxi with her pareja and older sister to Tumbao. They wouldn't let me go with my flats and camera in my hippie bag (psssh unappropriate not fancy enough ayayaii) so instead I just shoved my cell and camera down the front of my dress and off we went.
The event was supposed to start at 9pm EN PUNTO (sharp) but. We're in Peru. It started more around 11:30 hahahah. The local was all decorated in pink/coral and white fabric and tables and chairs and there was a huge table with 20 some cakes (one for each student to take home :O what delicious calories those were!) After everyone's families and partners arrived and everything, the students & parejas descended pair by pair (as we were announced) down the two staircases to the main floor. I don't remember how my name was pronounced, but it evoked much laughter and it's a good thing I didn't trip being filmed riendo down the staircase xD Then everybody present was given a glass of pisco sours I think (some lemony alcohol with a foamy crema on top) for the brinding. We toasted, sipped, and then performed our first choreographed baila of the night, as well as the dance of the padres. (I danced with a weird teacher that I never really quite liked/understood, instead of my father) Many thanks to Jhoselyn and Nancy, who filmed pretty much everything and took over 200 photos oh my :) After our first dance, us alumnos went back up the staircase to eat our two course tasty meal and sip a glass of wine with our awesome Napoleon-esque firecracker physics profesora. Afterwards, with slightly bulging stomachs I'm sure, we performed the second dance. Or maybe then came the toast. Or speeches. And then our last choreographed dance of the night; where I was picked up and twirled around laughing because my dress was too short and I was trying to hold it down haaha. Yes. All on camera.
After that the techno booming reggaeton came on and the strobe lights came out and we had a blast dancing our little butts off. My partner and friends and some random parents were also helping teach me how to salsa, and dance to cumbia and meringue as well. Much laughter :P Then came something that probably would have scarred the old Mia for life. xD Luckily, the new Mia just laughed her ass off but wasn't too embarassed! Luckily :P
The "hora loca". Something only done in Peru. And it started off with me, hurray. Everyone was cleared off the dancefloor for a moment and a single chair was placed in between the two staircases. The announcer was asking for one lucky lucky volunteer to go sit in the chair, and obviously my friends love me very, very much, because they all forced me to go sit in that chair. I tried to avoid it. "Noooo no! Tengo miedo! No, gracias, no quiero hahaha." But I had no choice. I totally knew something um.. let's say bad.. was going to happen to me. Hahahah after my painfully slow and cautious walk,right when I sat down, everybody started winking, laughing, smiling and clapping. Seconds after the lights went out and the song "I'm too sexy for my shirt..." started playing. I started laughing because it was obvious what was going to happen next. Justo, dancing down the staircases came two tightly dressed and muscled men. Oh my god. Then, after some more dancing, they started stripping. At this point... I couldn't even breathe I was laughing so hard. This is prom we're talking about. Anyways. I then was um "gifted" xD with lap dances. Hooooray.. lucky me! And with every second of it being filmed and photographed xD Then they tried to get me to feel them up. I politely declined. Then out came some creepy ass clown thing on stilts and he did some awkward dancing that I didn't see because he was standing above my head. Oh greaat.. I can only imagine how that went from peoples' faces and stories afterwards hahahaha. THEN the hora loca started started and we all ran around screaming to the songs and jumping up and down in circles and being psychos. Awesome; not to mention slipping in the confetti and silly stream and bubbles weird fluffy snow stuff and who knows what else not. Theeeen we danced some more (Nancy too) but I was pulled away from my girl friend to dance with one of the male half stripper dancer guys until we went home early at 3:30am with my cake (breakfast). Viva, Peru!
Definitely a blast and a half that was !! Still can't believe Mia was barbified and didn't have her grump face on all night. She is much more relaxed and easy going now... which is a good thing. But the barbie part. Well --she didn't get to choose the dress, or the colour, or the jewellery or or or or :P But she has learned that it's okay to do something like that for other people. And to suck up a smile for the 6000 photos her peru mother took of her and the xmas tree and the cake and her cacti and such afterwards. xD And to participate fully and rawrf. Didn't expect an experience like this!! She's super tired and sick right now and the words aren't flowing so well, but chyea. The eeend! :)
P.S. (she actually enjoyed herself and didn't complain about a thing! :OOOOO or felt the need to complain! *applause*)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
2nd Post today. Finally caught up. Should start writing less.
Since Monday or whatever
Tuesday the... 21st.. what!?
Went to el Cine with Francheska and a bunch of her friends from her iglesia group and saw Louise, Emily, Laetitia and Maricielo and Daevis there as well haha. Then on the way back the taxi driver overheard Bryan asking me if I believed in god, and started on this huge preach. Religious Juan told me “hija, you must believe in god.” It is very hard to defend yourself when your Spanish is lacking and well. It’s often just hard to speak with religious people who avoid the scientificly based questions/points and can ramble on for hours about offtopic things and such. But he was a very nice guy. It was actually kinda cool. When he stopped to let us out, after calmly conversing and stuff, I was the last to get out of the taxi and before I did he asked if we could do some “oraciones” together. I went with the flow and let him take my hand and closed my eyes and tried not to giggle as I repeated some religious verses after him. “Amen.” Something about “today I accept Jesus into my heart as my savior” and he told me he was happy because there are “fiestas en los cielos” or parties in heaven. The only reason I was into it was because this guy wasn’t just trying to convert me, but actually and truely believed he was helping me and trying to make my life better. He honestly just wanted the best for me, which was interesting. I’m quite proud of what we did manage to converse about in my handicapped Spanish though hahah. I kinda love all the little experiences like these in life. They’re my favourite.
Then I was super stomach sick fever tight neck craziness for three days and also saw and tried on my vestido for the first time :O! It’s above knee height and silky and coral (dark orange/pink) and has a silver strap belt thing and is kinda like a corset and then it fans out at my hips or something silly. I kinda look good in it but I’m kinda never gonna wear it again :P Oh man. Little Miaclaire in a fancy dress. What. Has. This. World. Come. To. Hahaha and then Mona helped me take out my crazy hippie braid dreadlock. I can actually say I had a dread. One, single, huge, knotted, beautiful, dreadlock. It’s all good now haha I think I’ll put another one in before Canada-time.
Wednesday
Bought more regalos for chocolatada and had dance ensayos aaand I bought and gave Soledad her beautiful polo xmas present, because she left that night to travel to her home family in Puko or some other city for Christmas J <3
Thursday
Chocolatada aaaaaall day. The whole fam got up early and went to Sra Vicky’s house to help set up balloons and chairs and huge stereo speakers and wrap presents and make hot chocolate. It was awesome. I brought my little camera (and filmed parts of it too) to take pics. It was cute and sad because everyone wanted a picture of themselves and were soooo excited to look at them, because none of them have cameras. Aaw then there was a clown and some paid dancers who came and entertained the kids. Talia- this one guy danced super flyyy hahaha I filmed a bit for you to see haha kinda like Michael Jackson and who knows what else, but it was smooth. Then every single person’s name was called out from a list, and they each came in with their tickets to receive a present (sorted by age appropriateness), a cup of hot chocolate, and a huge slice of paneton. It was kinda sad how many didn’t say thank you... but it felt so amazing to be helping. We gave to over two hundred ninos. Thanks to Nancy and Sra Vicky and Lady and everybody who helped us, we brought Christmas to over 200 kids who would not have had it otherwise. And that... is freaking awesome. I wish I’d bought even more presents!! We wrapped it up and made it home around 10:30pm with plenty of hot chocolate to spare.
Noche Buena (written on xmas eve)
No internet, no puedo hablar con mi familia, quiero llorar, no siento nada de navidad. I washed dishes and helped out and bought expensive presents for fran, jhosey, junior and gabo (mañana voy a comprar for Nancy and mario in Trujillo) and well. They’re just kinda ungrateful ..and I’m not sure if they deserve anything im giving them. While I was buying presents for them, they were trying on fancy dresses and complaining to Nancy. Its so hard always being the better person and sucking it up. Usually, after buying presents for people, i always feel so amazing, and happy and warm and fuzzy! But after buying them gifts.. i don’t feel anything. I don’t feel good for having bought them nice things. Thats not right. Usually i love buying people presents- but this time. It felt more like an obligation, i dunno. It hurts. Xmas isn’t the same here. I don’t feel it. It’s just another day. I wish there was internet so i could skype my family and bawl my eyes out or say hi to everyone at paul and michelle’s or something. But no. We’re eating delicious pancitos and cooking a pig’s head with some purple (yeah. Naturally bright purple purple) kamotes/sweet potatoes. And apparently tomorrow, instead of being able to skype my family how we’ve been planning for... over a month. L i get to go with them to Trujillo. Woopee. Im told that i can skype my family from an INTERNET CAFE AT STARBUCKS. That’s not Christmas. They have no idea how hard this is for me. Is it so much to ask that i can skype them ... not from the calle?? They know ive had this planned forever and just. Now we’re going to Trujillo. Im trying so hard to see this as a positive, once in a lifetime “Christmas in peru” experience that I’ll never have again... but im just not feeling it. I don’t feel the joy of giving. I feel the greed and selfishness of jhoselyn bearing down on me like the wild boar in the oven. She just demands expensive new clothes from her mother as if its her right to receive them. In a country like this.. i just don’t understand how she can be this way L this isn’t Christmas. This isn’t Christmas. She glared at me when i suggested that it’s about more than regalos. Scoffed even, because she was in the middle of making demands of some sort from her poor mother. Unbelievable really. Unbelievable. And i cant even cry because it’ll hurt them to know how sad i am under their roof. And then they’ll feel bad and i don’t want to bring down their Christmas, it’s not their fault i miss my own family and traditions. But it’s also too much to handle right now. I just wanna go to sleep and wake up for new years L I miss you guys!! Feelin’ like a baby though hahaha
***
K WELL after bawling my eyes out during fireworks in the background; I had a good time. I took a couple cool pics of Junior and his friend shooting fireworks and then we shared a big dinner of delicious sweet pan, turkey, pig, pink potatoes, purple kamotes, hot chocolate and applesauce. I would have thought the dinner would have been longer, but it didn’t last more than 15minutes and we didn’t talk that much. That’s less than usual for every day almuerzo! Then Junior dived right in to open his present. All the kids loved my gifts hehe and Nancy gave me a shirt and Mario gifted each of us ladies with a beautiful purse/bag thing. Mine is super soft and blue and has 10 pockets and might be leather. I feel way too spoiled and was nOOOOOT expecting that! I’m definitely the most grateful kid in the house right now though. The others act like it’s expected and it’s kinda..yeah. Anyways. Then we all stayed up super late eating more bread til we passed out at 4am.
Xmas
K so even though it didn’t feel anything like Christmas yesterday, apparently it was xmas. I got up and washed dishes, went back to bed, then we had more chancho (pig) for breaky/lunch. And then I skyped my generous and beautiful family and they opened WAY TOO MANY presents for me under our homey Charlie brown xmas tree that i miss so much. It was pretty awesome. <3 Wow. It was only yesterday, but I don’t really remember what else we did. Nothing really. Christmas is over on xmas eve in Peru I guess hahah. Then Jhoselyn and I went out to eat but almost everything was closed...duh. THEN I SKYPED WITH WENDY AND CHEYLSEA OMG made me smile. So happy. J And then our buds Chemo and Fercho came over around 11 and kidnapped us out to a DISCOTECA in el centro around 12:30. It was the most fun night we’ve had in awhile! It was soooo crazy and packed. Christmas is a good day for discos hahah everybody goes out dancing like crazy. It was hard to dance properly sometimes because of all the people and it was soooo hot but so awesome. This time it was just 6 of us dancing together and stuff so it was a smaller group and way more fun. We just went all out no matter what type of music was playing.. cumbia, salsa, reggae, rock, techno, reggaeton, all of it! Then we raced home a bit late at 3:30 and it was today. Feliz Navidad!
Today(Sunday??)
Woke up, washed dishes, cleaned room, ate paneton, showered, did yoga.
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