fin de semana

So, I've realized that I didn't do a very good job of advertising this blog. Which is to say that this blog doesn't have very good advertising. If anyone would like to advertise here, please let me know.
Yesterday we went to this club at like 2:00 in the afternoon. It looked like some kind of ridiculous mtv place, huge and with open walls and part of the ceiling open to the outside, palm trees growing all over. So much fun. Wall to wall people, having drinks and loud music, some people dancing. It is the perfect way for me to party, in the middle of the day. I never want to go out at night because I get tired before we even go out, but this was early enough even for me. I met a bunch of Jorge's girlfriends and they were really cute and nice to me. Then we went to a one-year-old's birthday party, Jorge's friend's baby. I ate lots of chocolate things and cookies that I think were alfajor and cake. Then I went to this small group at the church I started attending. We met at the church and took a taxi to this girl's house. It was really good even though I didn't understand what was being said in the group. Only when I was talking to people one-on-one could I understand them. They all speak english a little, but they don't think they can. It got really late and I wanted to go home before everyone else, so they ALL left the house and walked me to a spot to take a taxi. I told this girl to ask the driver how much it would be. There are no meters in taxis here. Instead, you have to negotiate a price before you get in. Then I got in the taxi after kissing all 6 or 7 people, and we started driving. I didn't really know where we were, but it wasn't too far from the church, which isn't far at all from Jorge's house. I knew the main road and some other roads, but I've never taken a taxi alone and also don't have a very good sense of direction in general. So we're on the right road but I'm not exactly sure where we are, when the driver tries to ask me something. But I don't know what he's saying. How am I supposed to know. Do I look like I speak Spanish? So I told him I can't speak Spanish and I don't know what he wants (in spanish). But I told him the landmarks and the road I wanted and everything looked kind of familiar but also kind of wrong. I had this moment of total panic before I realized that we were just going the wrong direction. So we just turned around and were soon home where I tried to remember how to say "left." We had a few laughs, that taxi driver and me. Also yesterday for the first time I saw a guy on a roadbike and got such a pang. I miss my bike. I love my bike. Thursday and Friday my two classmates didn't show up so I had a private lesson. I want her to be my best friend anyway, so it worked out. Thursday we kind of had a regular lesson but Friday we just talked in Spanish about random things for two hours. It was so much fun and made me feel like I'm on the brink of learning Spanish. Even though whenever I didn't know a word I just said it in English and she gave it to me in Spanish. Which unfortunately does not happen in real life.

the people on the bus

I've been walking around with my ipod on recently. I've always thought that was kind lame when people do that, like they can't be bothered to fully participate in the drudgery of real life, like waiting in line and walking down the street. But I do it now, only sometimes. I actually almost got hit by a car today and missed a bus that I think may have been my bus because I had it on. Oh well.
This post is less new things about Peru than new things about me. For instance, now I like juice. Everywhere you go, you can get fresh juice. All kinds of juice, from fruits you never knew existed.
I think my espanol teacher is bored with my class. The korean girl in the class is smart but gets really slow when we learn new things. And it's a class, so we always learn new things. And the hungarian boy misses class and comes late so she kind of hates him. I don't think she hates me, but I'm not such a speedy learner either. Nothing is intuitive, you just have to memorize things. I prefer more relative subjects, where anything that sounds good, is good. Like philosophy. Anyway. On the bus, this boy gave me his seat! Rush hour in Lima is from 5pm to like 10pm or something. After class gets out (5:30) I bum around until rush hour dies down, which it doesn't really ever do. It's bumper to bumper. You can be waiting for your bus, looking at the car in front of you and it will not move an inch for 10 minutes. Swear to G-d. So after waiting for a bus with seats available, I got on this really full bus and was like ok whatever. I had to stand up. But then about 65 more people got on and we had only moved about 2 blocks and we weren't moving at all and I couldn't handle it so I pushed through everyone and got off. The guy tried to get me to pay but I was like "dos cuadros!" I don't even really know what that means but I just walked away. I'm not paying you anything, dude. Then I got on a big bus, the good bus. There were still no seats, but it wasn't too crowded. I walked to the middle of the bus and kind of made eye contact with this guy, this kid really, in shorts listening to his ipod too and he looked at me and just got up and gave me his seat. We both had headphones on and I just sort of smiled. I was in shock. It made me smile for like 10 minutes. He spoke english too. I asked if he wanted me to hold his bag because he had to stand up now. And for some reason I spoke to him in english and he answered. I should have talked to him but I just put my headphones back on.

Today is Easter. I had almost forgotten, but this morning Jorge´s mom gave big chocolate eggs to Jorge, Georgina and to me! It was so nice and made me feel at home. And it was very delicious. After breakfast I was going to go to a coffee shop to read, but I passed by this (Spanish) church on my way there and heard singing. I had forgotten again that it was Easter and even that it was Sunday. And I had forgotten there was a church there. I had seen it before but thought it would be weird to go because . . . I can't speak Spanish. But I am learning. Last week I went to an English-speaking church, and that was nice. As I walked by it, I decided to go in. It was actually just starting and everyone was so friendly. This lady gave me a program and I told her I didn't speak Spanish. The stereotype of friendly Latin America and especially Latin American churches seems true. The pastor said say hi to people and about 75 people kissed me. It was nice. I felt way more comfortable than I did in the english-speaking church. I knew the song they were singing (in english), and I could follow along with the other songs. I couldn't follow a lot of the sermon, but when the pastor put scriptures up on the projection, I could figure it out. Also, I had my dictionary with me so I just looked up words the whole time. I kind of felt like a huge dork, but it was ok. Then this really cute girl came up and talked to me and told me to come back tonight for an easter play or something, I didn't really know. They say holy week, santa semana. And then she texted me about it later! I went and met a bunch of other people, who spoke a little english. The musical was actually a little painful, even though it was mostly well done. Except for Jesus, he was creepy, creepy eyes creepy smile. I had to look away. And I didn't understand it, and I had no concept of how long it would go on. But afterward I talked to the cute girl from this morning and she invited me to this small group that meets on Saturdays and she also gave me a Spanish-English new testament that she had inscribed to me in the front! I wanted to pinch her, she was so cute. Then she introduced me to a bunch more people. They had a lot of young people there. People that I've met here have been really welcoming. No one hates me because I came to their country without knowing the language. There are things about Peru that I started to hate, like the traffic and the smog. But the good things outweigh it so far. Like the people: nice. And the fruit: things I never knew existed. I don't know what they're called. One is called guanabana. So weird.

family stuff, caral

The last few weeks I have been going with Jorge's family to a bunch of family things. I went to his grandfather's 100th birthday party. His grandfather wanted them to take a picture of just him and I, but his grandmother said she had to be in the picture as well. I went out with his family (his sister and parents) for their parents' anniversary. I also went to a niece's baptism and a cousin's birthday. I kind of follow them around wherever they go. It is nice. Today is good Friday. Or Black Friday or something. Everything is closed today. This whole week is Holy Week. I've never heard that term before. There were no spanish classes yesterday or today.
Hare pictures from when Jorge and I went to Caral a few weeks ago. Caral is one of the oldest cities in the America's and possibly in the world. They think it was inhabited between 3000 and 2000 BC. This guy Paul Kosok "discovered" Caral in 1948 and it is still being excavated-- there were people working on it while we were there.

Here I am getting ready, and I am in a really bad mood because it is like 6am and I don't know why we have to get up that early Jorge thought it was funny to take my picture.


This is where we had to catch a taxi after taking one big bus and two little buses. And by "taxi" I really mean this falling apart station wagon that first had to stop and pick up a bag of feed, then drop it off in the middle of the desert to a duck farm. A pack of wild dogs chased the car.









We took a tour of Caral along with a beautiful Italian couple and their beautiful child, and their really loud Italian friend and his half Italian-half Peruvian daughter. They took SO MANY pictures and the woman videotaped the entire thing. We didn't take so many. It was the hottest day ever in the history of the world and we hadn't eaten breakfast and I was still kind of a in a bad mood.

Here are some really old pyramids:

















There were really beautiful valleys and mountains behind us and it was cooler over there. And I decided to take a nap.
















The ride home on the bus was about 400 hours long and I started to be in a bad mood again. But then we were on the bus for so long that I started to go crazy, and be in a good mood. And then I guess he was too.

I have been drinking Coca-Cola. It is delicious and I don't know why I ever drank diet coke. On Thursday I had my first Spanish class. My teacher is this really adorable woman from Peru with sort of a fashion mullet. She's beautiful and only speaks to us in Spanish. Except when we're extremely dense, she'll say a word or two in English. The only other students in the class are a Korean girl and a Hungarian boy. They are really cute and it is good we don't have the same first language so we can practice our Spanish out of necessity. Classes are two hours a day, five days a week. Class is a lot of conversation and interaction. Some grammar, but in the context of communication. So much better than any Spanish class I've taken. It is really the only thing I'm doing. I need to learn more Spanish in order to work or even volunteer. I've been having fun being a bum. I've been reading. I've read "Catcher in the Rye," a book of Haruki Murakami stories, and now I'm reading "Nudge" and poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks. Gwendolyn Brooks is amazing. Listen:
You have no word for soldiers to enjoy
The feel of, as an apple, and to chew
With masculine satisfaction. Not ¨good-by!"
"Come back!" or "careful!" Look, and let him go.
"Good-by!" is brutal, and "come back!" the raw
Insistence of an idle desperation
Since could he favor he would favor now.
He will be "careful!" if he has permission.
Looking is better. At the dissolution
Grab greatly with the eye, crush in a steel
Of study-- Even that is vain. Expression,
The touch or look or word, will little avail.
The brawniest will not beat back the storm
Nor the heaviest haul your little boy from harm.
- from Gay Chaps at the Bar
I've also been reading nytimes and gofugyourself. The latter is extremely hilarious and often devestatingly well-written.
I'm going to wander around San Isidro tomorrow, where my class is. The yoga class I was going to take was full, so I am going to try to buy a yoga mat tomorrow and do it myself. I miss my daily stretch class with the kids at the preschool. I miss having a schedule and things to do . . . I have to go do more stuff, like explore on my own. I am really lazy if I don't pay attention. I've started to get motion-sick if I travel in the small buses for a long way. They're really small; you have to duck when you get in. It's like a minivan but twice as long. And you can pack about 700 people in one. They jerk all over the place when they're driving, because they race forward to assert themselves into the 4-inch gap between two other huger buses, then they SLAM on the breaks because they can't actually fit in that gap. And the smog is really amazing. The combination makes me feel like puking. But tonight I took the big bus, a normal person bus and I didn't feel sick. Today is my dad's birthday and I wrote him a list of things he says:
I didn't go to school for 25 years for nothing.
Hiccups are an irritation of the frenic nerve.
78% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Manske´s Summer Home, some are not
I didn't realize I was hungry until I sat down to eat.
Bend back the book covers and first and last pages of softback books so they'll last longer.
Walk the opposite direction of traffic.
Keep your eye on the ball.
Do you know the longest word in the english language? Disestablishmentarianism.
How do you spell Mississippi? EM-eye-es-ES-eye-es-es-EYE-pee-pee-eye
The state bird of Minnesota is the misquito.
It's important to develop good metamemorial skills.
Kid: I'm thirsty! Dad: Swallow your spit.
Catch up backwards. Do today's work today.
to bad drivers: "You lizard!"
I'l be 2-5 (newspaper and coffee mug in hand)
Where's the hot sauce? Where's the ketchup?
I'm not fussy.
That's D-U-M.
I follow my nose.
That guy's like Officer Bird. I just say "yes sir" and "no sir."
Does this match? My kids say I'm colorblind.
I don't really need anything (said at birthdays and christmas)
Want some ABC gum?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results.
Everything in moderation, even moderation.
I gotta take a whiz.
I'm getting caught up.
Have you ever read "The Richest Man in Babylon?"
If you invested $1 in 1949, do you know what it would be worth today?Have you heard of the guy who won the lottery and got $1 milllion a year for ten years; at the end of the ten years he was broke.
Do you know the etymology of that word?
Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.
The whole Dan family.
You can always come home.
I love my dad.
I am tired, I am going to bed.

Credit cards are so stupid. Never again. What was I thinking? I haven't used them in over a year but I'm still paying them off. I just paid one off and was very proud of myself. But today I looked at the fine print on one of them and realized the terms changed in January because the company got taken over. A bunch of my cards had that happen, and I just paid off the one that was about to raise interest rates. But I guess I didn't read this one. But I just read that if I had opted out of the new terms and surrendered the card (which I don't use anyway) I would have remained under the old, more favorable terms. That is so frusterating. Even though some of it was for classes to finally finish my philosophy degree. Which, by the way, has been generating loads of cash for me. How many credit cards do I have? Right now . . . four. That's not too bad, right? Four credit cards, AES student loans and one citibank student loan. I almost waited to come to Peru until I had everything paid off, or at least the credit cards paid off. But I needed a change sooner than that. So . . . whatever. It's an investment in my mental health.