School,math,learning

Math is taught differently here, which makes teaching it that much more difficult...

like the plus and minus sign for addition and subtraction is placed on the other side..
division is done differently and it took me a bit to figure it out... for example: 8593 divided by 23 is written like this:


for thousands and millions.. there are periods rather than comas.. for example.. 1 million is 1.000.000 not 1,000,000
and decimals are written as commas.. for example $12.50 would be $12,50... this took some time for me to get used to as well...

common denominator is also done differently....
letter are written slightly differently.. like a 1 has a weird line at the front of it.. but i've seen similar writing of people from european countries...

also, kids don't have books, they have notebooks, where they paste (with glue) in a paper copy of the book assignment... books are too expensive here i'm guessing...

peruvian kids seem to be obsessed with writing in different colors of pens... they seem to be taught from a young age to use a couple colors (red/black) when doing assignments... when they're missing one of the colors and you try and tell them just to use the one and it doesn't matter for the class if it's in all black or all red... they refuse and insist on borrowing from their friend and taking twice/3x as long to do the assignment...

Holidays

So thanksgiving came and went and it didn't overtly feel like I missed much... (however this week has been, again, a homesick-feeling week for me)... one of my housemates mentioned that she was also somewhat lacking that holiday feel.. another housemate mentioned she started seeing some christmas stuff and was very surprised, even though in the states, it usually starts around october..

the conclusion we came to was that it is because it feels like summer here (well because we're entering summer right now).. like today, it was SUPER-sunny and probably about 85 degrees outside, if not more... and it's only going to get hotter (i think we're still just right at the end of spring)... so it physically does not feel like there should be any holidays other than summer vacation :)


great for surfing :)

The gym and my first hamburger :)

So i've been going regularly to the gym... shadow boxing and baile (dance).. i've already mentioned this.. but did i mention the GUAPO shadow boxing teacher? .. theres two of them, but one is really good looking.. actually looks like a coworker i had once... hehe..

anyway, on my way back from the 2 hours of strenuous working out, i stopped by a stand to have my first peruvian hamburger.. it had the meat patty, egg, cabbage slivers, potato crisp things and of course aji.. very tasty..

OH NO.. i take that back.. this past saturday we went out dancing till 6am and went for burgers afterwards and i had a half a burger then.. but that doesn't count :)

anyway, just baked a banana chocolate cake for tomorrow's big thanksgiving dinner :)

tomorrow i'm making some candied sweet potatoes...

yum!!

:)

My shopping list

So, this is mainly for my own record keeping, since this is pretty much what I've been regularly buying, and rather than having to think of the list every time, I just have to refer to here....
.....but if you're curious about what happens to be on my shopping list..

Tottus (supermarket):
Aji salsa (spicy stuff)
Cream cheese
Juice
Soy milk
Potato chips (my splurge)
Quinoa oatmeal
Cracker snacks
Tuna (when i really need some protein)
Cut veggies (when i'm feeling lazy)
Won't need for a while: jasmine tea, honey, quinoa, butter, olive oil, chocolate ice cream (my other splurge), vegetable broth cubes, aji pepper

Hermalinda (huge local market, where veggies,fruits,etc, are super cheap.. it's a pretty amazing place, like there are isles devoted to one thing.. one isle you'll see 20 diff types of bananas, and literally thousands of them..probably more than thousands; isles like 15 feet high and a block long).. and then in another isle thousands of onions... in another isle, thousands of potatoes)....
Tomatoes
Brocholi
Banana
Eggs
Pasta
Mandarines

Lady outside the house:
Bread

Other store near house:
Water

Happy thanksgiving!!

Bunch of folks are gonna have a huge thanksgiving dinner here on Saturday.. (since thanksgiving isn't celebrated here, thus no days off and we work today and tomorrow.... well we work saturday too, but just till noon)... so thanksgiving saturday!!

This will be my first without my mom and family i think...

HAPPY Thanksgiving!

After re-reading A's emails...

Just finished re-reading some saved emails that A had when she went traveling (Chile, Mexico, other countries)... I had read them all before.. but they are back from 2000 and for the most part I couldn't really relate to alot of the stories, until now!... so here are some thoughts that sparked up from reading her emails and similarities here...

Advertising here is very interesting... I've already seen strange displays in stores with full human size examples of the products dancing around outside/inside the store.. and I'm not sure if these are advertisements or something else, but there are taxis that drive around with P.A. systems on top of their car blaring something (have i already mentioned them?)... there are large mural size advertisements on concrete walls... (including huge murals of who the mayor of town is..and how).... I already mentioned the huge spring festival parade where pretty much each float was an advertisement of the product (which, i guess, is similar to parades in the US, except in the US, it's a bit more subtle I think...maybe not, can't remember) and how street signs have beer, supermarket, or other random advertisements on them)....

the lock situation.. so our front door to the house has 5 mechanisms to lock... like, the key turns/locks 3 times (in fact you're only supposed to turn it 2 times during the day because if you do it 3 times it can't be opened from the other side (this goes both ways and is a problem if someone forgets or doesn't know and turns it 3 times and then the people inside or outside are totally locked out/in)... and then there are 2 slot things and the a chain thing.. and then this switch (like a safety on a gun).. and you can't pull the door thing if the safety is on.. most doors seem to be like this (meaning, it's not excessive)... and then there is another door waiting for you outside the house... but at least we didn't have to do two keys at one time (A had to do this)

everything is sold in plastic sacks... I've seen a little of this in the states, where some packaging is sold in plastic bags instead of large boxes.. but it's pretty much the norm here.. milk, soy milk, cereal, mayonaise, yogurt.. etc.. all in sacks.. something I was definintely not used to (but my europe housemates say it's like this there)... is how dairy products (milk, eggs, etc) are not refridgerated... this feels very weird to me, but i guess its ok unfridgerated...

black boogers

So, every day i come back home from work with black boogers... this is because the town i work in, el porvenir, has dirt roads and lots and lots of sand... i usually wear my sandles, so i come home with black soles on my feet as well... (otherwise i'd come home with tennis shoes filled with sand and dirty socks)... so anyway, when the wind blows, which is often, my hair, face, and nose are filled with dust.... just walking from the SKIP office to the school (indoamericana) is like walking through the desert...

i'm very fortunate that this is not where i live.. and im fortunate to have other options.... i dont sleep in a dirt house with dirt floors, that are uninhabitable when it rains... i have adequate (running) water and electricity.... I can sweep dirt out of my room... I can study my spanish with adequate lighting and furniture to sit on.... i had the option of NOT working when i was 6 years old... life is very different for these folks...

Maria...

did i already mention the "ghost" living in the house??

I really don't believe in ghosts... everything i believe, in theory, doesn't go along with the existance of ghosts... however during the 5 minutes, in the middle of the night, when i have to run to the bathroom is a different story... any other time of the day, or if the lights are all on, I'm not afraid :) strange how my mind works sometimes...

anyway, supposedly (according to neighbors)... some girl committed suicide in our kitchen, and she still lingers around the house... but supposedly she's a "good ghost" and watches over the house... supposedly past volunteers have "seen" her....

anyway, like i said, none of this creeps me out, unless i'm running through the dark to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but i should clarify that during that time, i'm just about freaked out about everything till i'm back in my warm bed.. hehe...

Mangos no more :(

So there are some awesome prices on fruits and veggies here... such as 1kg of mangos for S./1 (which is just about 3-4 mangos for $0.30)... a beautiful humungous heads of broccoli for about $0.30 as well..

anyway, it's hard to pass up a deal for mangos... but apparently I'm still allergic to them.. i was quite allergic to them a few years ago when i had this weird allergy spell to almost everything i ate.. then i started avoiding all foods that i'm allergic to and started the immunotherapy in hopes that it'll get my body to tolerate some food i really like (such as corn)... when i came to Peru I started eating mangos again (in addition to corn, cuz it's almost impossible to avoid corn here)... but as it looks now, I think I will not be able to keep eating my precious mangos... my lips are getting progressively worse with rash every time i eat one and my body become unhappy and bloated (and i end up feelng restless) for a couple days after... it probably has something to do with the amount of corn i eat here too... and the amount of MSG they have in the dishes...

oh well.. well i have about 5 mangos left... question is.. do i keep eating them (because they're oooooh so good... like honey! and taste so good on toasted bread, or just as a snack) or give them to housemates

not an easy decisions.. because i am getting quite rashed up.....

SURFING!!!! (mucho mejor que sábado!!!)

Thursday:
i did soooooooo much better today with surfing.. conditions were perfect and the ratio of standing and falling was the opposite!!!!

i fell maybe 2-3 times.. and stood up and rode the wave like 10 times or something... soooo much fun today.. gonna try and surf like 2 times a week.. :)

MORE NOTES from the Saturday after Thursday, above:

Went again today!! so 3 times so far.. started learning to paddle (before, the teacher had been pushing us to catch the wave)... it's funny because before last saturday, i really didn't like going to the beach much.. i dont like how sandy it is (hehe) and the water is so salty, wet, (who knew!!) and sticky... and the idea of surfing seemed like such a hassle.. dealing with the wetsuit, and the board.... but now none of that phases me... i want to go as many times as it fits in my schedule.. i was even, for a split second, contemplating how I could move to Huanchaco (the closest beach, 15 mins away)... but alas.. no.. i'm happy where i'm living.. and i'm happy going twice a week (one lesson on my own or with housemates and one lesson with the SKIP kids)... and perhaps a lesson on a free saturday... I would go more often, but money does not grow on trees... (however, it is significantly more affordable than in the states)

I still don't like too much sun (soon i will be one large freckle)... but i can tolerate it for the surfing....

Dulces sueños

Had a dream last night that I came home for the holidays... saw all my friends/family... and took care of stuff that was unsettled since getting here.. (one of my CC hasn't been working properly, left a few books at home that i want here.. etc...took care of all of this)

then i woke up...

oh well...

This is the first thanksgiving and christmas that I'm not spending with my family (I think)...

:)

looking forward to seeing Brentt in January!!

Tentative return date....

So there's a conference I have really been wanting to go to, pretty much since I've started planning this whole thing...

http://www.soga-del-alma.org/

It's the 5th Annual Amazonian Shamanism Conference... In past years, they've had talks on everything from shamanism to plant medicines...With speakers such as Dennis McKenna, curanderos, psychologists, psychiatrists...

This year it's from July 11- 18... so I'm hoping to go there, then head down to Lima... go to Isla Ballestas... then go home.. So, tentatively I'll be home around July 25th more or less :)


Home for my bday.. and enough time to prepare for end of August camping trip.... (and work a few months before jetting off for part two of my travels)..

Yay!! Looking forward to seeing everyone again in July!! :)

....
on another note.. will have pictures up soon of my trip to Chicama (where the LONGEST waves in the world are...) and random other pictures... including the surfing...

ANOTHER PACKAGE!!!

Got another package, this time from my mom!!!! will post picture later, but got kimchee, tofu and chocolate... I'm hiding the chocolate, because i've seen chocolate disappear in 2 seconds here in this house.. and this is Godiva!! So it stays in my room... may possibly consider locking it away hehe... :)

Thanks mom!!

Oh.. a story.. so the kimchee packages were totally swollen so I went outside to pop them (and not to get the smell in the house), but the wind was blowing.. straight into the house and now it smells in here.. for me, it's a yummy smell.. but for someone unknowing.. kimchee is a bit of a ... surprising smell...


:)

oh well.. housemates will have to get used to it.. hehe :)

More on terremoto and chupe... and surfing....

Finally got to try some chupe de langostinos (chupe de camarones is way more expensive and langostinos and camarones are pretty much the same, right?...prawns and shrimp..)... soooooo yummy :) i love chupe anything...

turns out the terremoto is a prediction based on a baby that was born with some disfigurement..... (from what i heard today)...
so we'll see come martes)


went surfing today for the first time in my life... i'm not sure that i've really even touched a surf board before today, which is really strange considering i live in los angeles... and before that in rancho palos verdes where my high school had a surf team... so there really isn't an excuse as to why i've never even tried surfing...

How did it go? well the swells were huge, and the current was incredibly rapid and strong... but despite this, I was able to get up a few times.. 'surfing' during the sunset... in Huanchaco... with an awesome teacher... it was great!... I had many tumbles and swallowed alot of water that is probably going to get me sick... however I will try again when the water is more tranquil... possibly thursday when another housemates wnats to go... :)

there may be some video i can upload.. just need to get it from the instructor.. :)

yay!

terremoto and gringos...

apparently, there is a predicted earthquake for tuesday at night.... california is sort of known by many to have earthquakes (even some folks here in peru had heard about earthquakes in california and thought they happened all the time)... anyway, so even in california we don't have any sort of predictions that i'm aware of...

seems to be one here however and people seem to think i'm weird for not understanding how this can be predicted so precisely...

so.. we'll see.. earthquake tuesday night....


on another topic.. apparently there are other folks who are also getting a bit annoyed with the 'automatic assumption' thing.. the automatic assumption that all asians are chinitos and all white people are gringos... the term gringo is pretty much for folks from the U.S... my understanding is that it had something to do with the U.S. army outfit and i think it started in Mexico, where they would yell out "green go (home)!"... anyway, my non-US friends seem to get as annoyed about being called a gringo as i do about being called chinita....

Off the cart...

So there's some things you're not supposed to do.. that even some of the locals don't do.. one example is eating off the cart.. on the side of the road.. (some countries it's fine, but in Perú, you're not really supposed to... but we did it today!!

I.. along with a french volunteer/housemate, marion, and irish volunteer/housemate, libby... decided to dare this..

on the way back from the gym we always see this cart with the side street packed with people.. and they even have a table and chair setup (i'm guessing because this particular stand is so good)... so we decided to stop after the gym and eat there... they had fried chicken.. aji de gallina (hen and some sort of cream sauce).. papa rellenos.. papas fritas... rice.. and salad (books advise not to eat salad, but i've been doign that anyway, cuz at this point, if there's anythign in the water that they wash vegetables in, i've already been immune to it, cuz i dont get sick from washing vegetables in the water)... and some desserts......

anyway, so i had some rice, papas fritas, aji de gallina and salad... AND decided to get some rice pudding (with chicha morada sauce on it)... all for S/3 (which is just about $1)....... it was delicious!!!


stay tuned for a post on "bicicleta" aka montezuma's revenge... :)

Coreanita (o estadounidense coreanita)

ok.. so i've decided.. when it's not absolutely necessary to know that i am from the U.S... i'm just going to tell people that i am from "corea"...

it skips the annoying step of.. their confusion of why i said i'm from "estados unidos" (since I'm clearly a 'chinita') and then them telling me they thought i was a "chinita" and then explaining i was born in the states but my parents are from Korea...

so .. i'm going to go straight to.. "I"m from korea".. and they'll stop from there... hopefully...

-------------

EDIT: so i'm just gonna play it by ear... cuz i figure maybe it's not a bad thing to explain all this out.. and letting people know the US isn't just full of gringos.. and not all the asians they see are chinitas or japones .. and they could possibly be from the land of the blondies...

Engrish.......

but not from asia this time...

had to post this funny translation for some "arroz arabe: pilaf" heres the english translation on the box:



and the ingredients:



I wonder what is the "small stick" that is inside this rice... either way, i'm glad it has "extra rice," cuz just a normal amount is not enough...

acabo de mandar una tarjeta de correo (postal)...

I sent a card to mom, A and brentt on Oct 31st.. looks like it got to my mom today... brentt received his two days ago... A, I dont know yet...

And.. Pilsen Trujillo.. the beer of Trujillo, Peru

Inka Cola! the drink of Peru

no estoy seguro porque hay tanto gringos en el video...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freckles

Argh! The peruvian sun is darkening my freckles!!!

dare i talk politics...

WARNING: very opinionated blog post ahead......

i generally don't talk politics or religion, when i can help it, for reasons i don't feel like explaining right now.. but...

--so glad we voted in Obama.. but what's with Orange county voting for Mccain?? Guess i shouldn't be surprised??? but hellllloooooo Ohio voted Obama... OC is way behind in their thinking...
--High speed rail eh?? don't we already have a system to go from LA to San Fran? do we need to spend a sh*tload more for another one, when there are other things we could be spending our money on and our economy is sh*t right now??
--No on prop 4.. THANK YOU!! Glad we agree on 2 things...
--.. OK the big one.. Prop 8... WHAT UP HOMOPHOBES IN CALIFORNIA????? I dont understand this at all.. ugh, why do people think they're better than others (or deserve anything more) just because of their sexual orientation... WTF seriously.. WHAT THE FUCK?? ... UGH... maybe you're all the ones who voted for Bush 4 years ago??? THANKS a big one! *sigh*

(More stats: there are filters on the link below, showing who voted for bush in 2004.. turns out IT *IS* ALL YOU GUYS who are opposed to gay marriage who are BUSH fans..)... see a pattern here?? very LAME.... Sorry, but i think you're all *ssh*les...

More stats: looks like more counties with less than 10% with bachelors degrees voted YES on prop 8
more counties with more than 15% with bachelors degrees voted NO on prop 8

.....says something......

results found here for california:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory
Here is state by state:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/uselections2008


sorry to be so negative on that last one.. I am very excited/happy to have Obama.. but equally frustrated and disappointed about prop 8...

More Pictures!!

Posted some pictures from a trip to Chan Chan, Huacas de la luna y del sol, Chiclayo, some Criolle festival on Oct 31st, and some other random photos... here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frunkus/sets/72157608638605731/

Enjoy :)

Don't forget to click on video clips for the peruvian dog and other youtube links in picture descriptions...

Heres a small preview...

I've got mail!

OMG!!! the mailman arrived with my notice to pick up my package from Julienne!! Hurray!

So, heres what happens.. got the notice for package.. went to post office (hours of pick up 8-12, 2-4).. got to post office.. need to show two photocopies of my passport.. so i ran around a bit looking for a copy place..

finally they let me inside the small room... one person ahead of me.. couldn't quite understand what the postal employee was saying, but she was clearly annoyed with the previous customer when she got to me..

they were really nice.. had to sign some more documents.. but they got my package... OPENED it up.. (note: don't send me anything risque!) poked around through everything.. then gave it back to me and sent me on my way...

on the mail notice, it looks like for every day they hold it, you have to pay a certain amount.. couldn't figure out what the other fees were, but sometimes they make you pay to pick up express packages or something...?? anyway, i didn't ahve to pay anything more than the s/.20 for 2 copies...


THANKS JULIENNE!!!!