Maggie Sue LOVES Peru !!

Okay. So much to write and not enough time !
       Wednesday I arrived at the Peru airport at 3am because our toronto flight was delayed by three hours. And, there was no AFS volunteer waiting for me at the airport how they were supposed to be, probably because of the delay. Anyways, I kept chill but had no idea what was going on haha so many guys were trying to get me to take a taxi to some random hotel in downtown Lima. uuuh no thanks. Bad idea. I phoned all the emergency contact numbers and nobody answered, so i was stranded. Luckily another girl showed up named Marie and she is from Quebec, so we were stranded together. Eventually the volunteers arrived around 4:30am and took us through downtown sketchy looking Lima to where we slept. Let's just say, my mother would never come to Peru ! hahahaha. The rooms were... less than clean and less than large. And the traffic here is worse than Europe even! Sometimes there are no painted lanes, and people ignore them anyways. It's pretty much a free for all where whoever honks the loudest gets their way! It was interesting.

        The next day we woke up late because we had to get up at 8 and then went to breakfast with about 40 other AFS exchange students from Belgium, Germany, France, Austria, Iceland and New Zealand. There were only four of us that didn't speak either German or Dutch. The Europeans are kinda awesome but super crazy and I wish i could speak so many languages ! Then we had an orientation which was more of just a couple days of bonding time. After dinner on Thursday a bunch of us brought out our instruments and had an improv jam with a guitar, some garbage cans & spoons, a clarinet, a harmonica, many voices and my violin. It was actually awesome.

         I didn't see very much of Lima and then last night at 11:30 we took the sweetest buses ever to our different cities. These buses are more classy and more comfortable than our airplanes! Seats that fold back 180 degrees and are soo spacious. And we got served food. OH YEAH se me olvido. The food here is awesome. Most of the time i have NO IDEA what im eating. I just hope it will taste good and so far it always has ! Parentals, you better be proud ! Hahaha I am no longer a picky eater. They have this weird dark red goopy chunky dessert that has some sort of unrecognizable fruit in it here, but it's hardcore delish. Lots of potatoes, rice and chicken. ANYWAYS

       I got to Chimbote at around 8:30am this morning and the Quezada family was waiting for me. I love them ! There are three sisters and two younger brothers. They have a rabbit and a bird, and a house bigger than ours, and half of it is open to the outdoors, and you can climb up onto the roof and look at the stars at night. I'm actually IN LOVE with Peru. I want to stay until grad !! Sorry guys haha :P After they showed me the house and I gave them their presents (mom- the girls loved the maquillaje) and they loooved my photos; we went for a "moto" ride to someone's house to help make lunches for los ninos. A moto is basically a motorcycle with a cart attached but kind of on top of it. I'll post a picture sometime haha it makes your feet vibrate hardcore, and it's awesome.
          Jhoselyn and I went for a quick photo walk (with the crappy camera, because you cant take expensive stuff in public safely) and saw a beautiful view of the city and the ocean, and two guys and a cock fight. I have to admit, after the 20th time, it's kind of annoying to be whistled at by old man Peruvians. OOOH GRINGAAA!!! Especially the taxi drivers and the stupid raising of their eyebrows OMG hahhaa. I love Jhoselyn because like me, she laughs a lot. Apparently my laugh makes others laugh and everyone keeps telling me to "stay cute stay cute!" Little kids always want to touch my hair and play with it. We went to the birthday party of one of Jhoselyn's friend's baby and it was insane. People here know how to party ! This little 1yr old boy had a cooler birthday party than i ever have ;P There were huge speakers, loud music, a crazy insane clown, bubble machines, tons of food and games and dancing and yadayadayada. It was fun, and even though it was for babies, the whole family goes and dresses up and has a good time. I never really dress up at home, but I was put into a dressy outfit and jewellery and mhmm. The girls had fun dressing me up and such. And here everyone kisses eachother on the cheeks when saying hello and goodbye, boys and girls. So i was forced to kiss a few good lookin spanish boys, oh no.. hahaha.
         After the birthday fiesta Jhoselyn, her friends and I went to a dance/club/disco thingy. People here also know how to dance ! I never dance. Ever. But they were teaching me and it was hilarious. Apparently I'm a fast learner, according to Andreas and Pepe. I love spanish names ! It was so much fun, so I guess i'm learning to dance like a Latino !! One thing i'll say, is their dancing is very... close. Haha end of story. But fun. We danced for a few hours and now I'm going to sleep! So much to write so much to write HAAAYY MUCHOS! It's awesome, i'm starting to think in spanish when it's something i know! And i thought it would be a lot harder to understand and to learn, but it comes fast when you can't resort to english. Nobody in my host family knows any english, except for Fran un poco. When they teach me a spanish word, I teach them the english word. Nancy, the mom, reminds me of my mahjaaa (in a good way of course mum!) Im learning fast but theres sooo much new vocab. Im glad i have already taken spanish classes. None of the other exchange students have ! There are 4 others in Chimbote but they are going to university while i might be going to high school, but im not really sure yet. School starts next week anddd i cant think of anything else at this second. PEACE

xo

PS oh and i'll post photos later ! it's hard to take them here because its dangerous to flash a nice camera around.

chauu

Primero Mensaje (first post..)

So I leave tomorrow morning at 8am from Van-Toronto. Then from Toronto to Lima, Peru at 5pmish. I will get to Peru around 2am local time ! Then I'll spend a few days in the capital (Lima) in an orientation with other AFS exchange students from around the world (i think...) before taking a 2hr bus ride to my host family in Chimbote !

Excited. Terrified. Pumped !!

Sorry for the horrible first post :) hahaha SEE YOU ALL IN FEBRUARY!