Días difíciles

So I'm having my first bout of less-than-happiness. Not quite sad but maybe a little homesick and definitely overwhelmed. It kinda started with doing karaoke with my sister and our neighbor and i was kinda the odd one out cuz i couldn't sing in spanish so i felt kinda lonely and then the next day was just like all very spanish-intense situations and i felt really lost language wise. Like all of my confidence in my spanish skills is gone which is really frustrating cuz I've studied for five years and i could have total conversations in spanish in the states but here it's so much harder. I think it has to do with the speed and the accents but still i get so overwhelmed and my brain is exhausted from doing backflips trying to understand all day.  Also i feel really bad for my mom here too because she is always saying i look sad which I'm so not sad I'm just concentrating so hard to take everything around me in that i forget that she's  watching me trying to make sure that I'm happy. Even when i am happy tho I'm not a very expressive person, like i don't jump up and down when I'm excited, I'm really kinda calm and that's sooo not Peruvian culture. They're super expressive and you can always tell exactly how they're feeling which is different than how i act and what I'm used to. That's another thing that's kinda hard, not knowing how to act in all situations, like if I should be more or less formal or what is expected of me, and if I'm doing something wrong or not. I'm so unsure of everything and I feel kinda lonely too but thankfully we met up with some other exchange students last night and i talked to one girl who feels exactly the same as me. So i guess maybe it's normal to feel like this at this point and I'm sure it'll pass but that's kinda what's going on right now.

Me llamo.....

One of the first things that the rotary told us was be prepared for people here to say your names differently than you're used to which I figured would happen anyway because of accents but I've got a nickname that's a little special. When I first arrived my dad called me henna and when he finally figured it out my sister told me that there's actually a word that sounds like that which is ajena. They said it meant to belong to someone which I thought was sweet, so when I looked it up and saw that it meant foreign/alien/strange/of another place, i was a pretty surprised! When I told Diana she was surprised too and now it's a joke between us all. Now my family calls me hannita which i think is super cute and my one friend so far calls me hannah montana griffyndor :)  We'll see what school friends call me soon, hope it's not alien!

Peruvian culture

So this will just be some things I've done and things I've noticed. First off, my family listens to "golden disco" in the car and I have to keep myself from laughing at some of the songs! Also when you go someplace and you have to park the car a person will help guide you in and out and you pay them for this. I've noticed that many people here speak English because it is taught in most schools apparently. This is good and a little frustrating because when I want to speak in Spanish people see I struggle and just switch to English :( It's helpful sometimes though when I just don't understand what's going on. Something else too! When we leave the house my mom locks my closet! It's in the hall and not in my room but theres nothing good in there, just my clothes. And on our main door we have a normal lock, a deadbolt, a chain, and a bar that crosses the whole door frame! High security here. Also there's a flashlight in every room in case of earthquake. Tomorrow I have to go talk to the headmaster at my school and get assigned a class. Every class has a different color and homeroom that they stay in while teachers rotate and a different day for like gym class I think. Also, I had a rotary meeting yesterday which was boring but bearable. You have to pay if you want to eat dinner though which was new for all of us exchange students. That's all for now :)

Clases de español

ok más sobre mi vida diaria aquí. Lo siento si no tengo las acentos correctos, es difícil hacer en mi computadora. Hoy empezó la clase de español con todos los estudiantes de intercambios. Está en un colegio muy cerca de mi casa y tenemos diferentes clases para los diferentes niveles de español. Estoy en la tercera nivel de cuatro, es bastante bien pero no es el mejor. Después de clase fuimos a la casa y comimos almuerzo. También hoy conocí la muchacha, Chio. Diana y yo tomamos una siesta y practiquemos el español más. Comimos la cena (misma comida de almuerzo) y probé agua de piña... ¡es deliciosa! hay unas cosas más sobre la conduciendo... no hay stop signs aquí, solamente speed bumps. Creo es porque la gente no pararía sin los speed bumps. Ahorra tengo sueño y tengo que despertar muy temprano mañana. ¡Hasta luego!

Primera Día

It's so nice to think in English for a few minutes!!! I've been speaking completely in Spanish for almost 24 hours! Our flight was delayed in Texas and because of this we arrived 1 hour late. I met most of the other exchange students on the flight and I like all of them! I will see them all soon too because I start Spanish classes on Wednesday and it will be fun to compare experiences so far. All of the paperwork so far has been very easy except in the airport I was randomly chosen for extra screenings..... yay. That wasn't even that bad though and as soon as I got through it all I was the last student to see my familia. I was so happy to see them and I wasn't even too overwhelmed by the Spanish. They took soooo many pictures and it turns out that photography is a big hobby for my papa. After we all got into the car we drove to our apartment and arrived at nearly 4 am. I found a pair of pjs and went straight to sleep!! Today I woke up around 9 and ate breakfast with mama and Diana (papa stayed asleep). After that I spoke with Diana for a while and then started to unpack my things. It took about an hour but I got all of my clothes organized and most of my other things in a place. Then we headed out for lunch in Miraflores. I told my family that I like seafood so they took to to a restaurant called the hidden island which specializes in seafood. I tried ceviche!!!! When I first saw it I was pretty grossed out because of how it looked but i still tried it! (ceviche is raw fish in lemon juice sauce) The texture was sooooo strange but the flavor was delicious!! It took a few bites to get used to the texture but it was so good especially with sweet potato. I felt bad though because Diana had her appendix out a few days ago and is on a strictly bland diet :(  My papa kept asking if I liked the ceviche and I would tell him yes but he didn't believe me! I didn't eat a ton because I ordered fish as well (ceviche was an appetizer) and I was afraid I wouldn't have room for everything but he loves ceviche so he helped me eat the rest along with mama. After this we went to a park that had a open air market and I got a really cute hat! My parents were worried about the cold and how I'm not affected by it :) Then we went to an open air mall overlooking the beach and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!  We walked around for a while before heading to this giant all purpose store to get dessert for later and slippers for me in the house. We didn't have any dinner at all! I'm not too hungry but I have a secret stash of trail mix in my room just in case! While we were driving up to the apartment there was a lady outside who started talking to papa and apparently she is Diana's great aunt! So she came in for a while and Diana and I went to watch 21 and over in Spanish. (We both are HUGE movie fans!) Then I did the first night questions and gave the gifts and they loooooved everything! My papa cannot get over how cool the sign is (good job dad, he wants to Skype thank you soon! and I guess Fernandez isn't mama's last name- you were right mom!) And they looked through the photo book like 12 times!! They even want to make one for Diana to take to Germany. After aaalllll of this Diana's godchild and our neighbor came down to meet me! She's very nice and Diana and she kept having me teach them pronunciation in English which was fun :) We spoke in Spanish besides the few words they wanted to hear even though they both speak English.  I'm doing ok with the Spanish especially with Diana but it is harder with mama and EVEN HARDER with papa. I do a lot of nodding and saying si pretending to understand but if it seems important I ask :) My family is soooo sweet and patient with me I'm so glad that I have them! Oh there are a few things I noticed about Peru so far that I thought I would share....
-lines on the roads separating lanes are a suggestion
-personal space (especially in markets) is nearly nonexistent
-napkins here are one sheet perfect squares folded in a triangle and don't clean up anything!
-cats are the squirrels in the parks here
-cars will go within inches of other cars and people like it's no big deal
and I think that's it so far :) But I do want to say to Uncle Billiam- my papa puts the car in park at red lights like you! And Aunt Shannon we have the same pitchers here that I used at you house with Sam and Jayne for lemonade! I will put the photos that I have on my phone on Facebook but I can't take many because I can't have my phone out because it will be stolen :( So that's the first day in Peru! I will write again soon, maybe tomorrow or maybe after my fist day of Spanish class and I'm sorry family but I think it's going to be Spanish from now on! I'm having trouble because I'm thinking in Spanish while I type in English! It's bad to speak English during exchange anyway :)
Love you all!!!!!

Bows y español

So here's a picture of my bow pins! I've been working on them more lately too and made a few more combinations. I'm pretty excited to trade them with everyone that I meet and I think they'll like them too. Also I had my final orientation in Ohio and got to speak with some rebounds who just got back from Peru and Ecuador. They were able to answer a lot of my questions and I feel a little more prepared now. One of their pieces of advice that I thought was good to practice spanish is watch a movie with spanish subtitles. It's great for learning certain words that you may not have known before. With only a week left to go things are starting to get crazy. Everyone that I know wants to hang out before I'm gone which is sweet but it 's making me so busy! These next few days I'm going to focus on packing up my stuff and making sure I don't forget anything too important (Like peanut butter)

Peru Prep

Yay shots! Yesterday I went to the travel health office and spoke to a nurse all about how to stay healthy while I'm away. I got a shot for Yellow Fever which is strictly required by Peruvian officials (all students and travelers to Peru MUST get this shot) and also got a meningitis shot. She gave me Typhoid medicine to take starting today and several prescriptions, one for antibiotics in case I get like an upper respiratory infection, one for altitude medication for Macchu Picchu, malaria pills for the jungle, and medicine to relieve travelers diarrhea for the first few weeks of my trip. I think I'll also probably take tylenol with me and allergy medication as well.
 I (and my mom and sister) have also been working on gifts to take with me to give to the people I meet. Rotary gave me many american flag pins but I'm also going to make these really cute red, white, and blue bow pins and give them to people like other exchange students. My sister is working on some red, white, and blue bracelets made from cotton thread stuff and pretty beads. They're pretty awesome because I think they're good for boys and girls.
 I got my flight information finally!!!! I leave July 27th in the morning and land in Ft. Worth, Texas for a layover. I then will meet up with a girl from British Columbia and we will wait there for about 7 more people from all around who are going to Peru with us. We then leave in the afternoon and arrive in Lima at nearly 1 in the morning. The day we arrive (July 28) is the Peruvian Independence day so there will be big parties everywhere and parades in the streets. It may be a bit difficult to handle the jet lag because I'm sure when I get there I will want to stay up and talk with my family and see the house but if I have any hope of participating in all the festivities I'll NEEEEED the sleep.