zmr

although this blog is intended for peru related things, since i can't be there to annoy him and give him embarrassing amounts of birthday attention in person, this post is dedicated to wishing the fantastic Zachrey a HAPPY 21st!

21 Besos y Abrazos !

important things peru: school

In the spirit of staying in on this friday night to study once again, I thought I would make this third installment of important things peru about the lovely university I attend, La Catolica.

To understand school here, do the following:
Step 1: Think of the basic organization of a university in the States, like UW Madison.

Step 2: Forget all the basic organization of a university in the States, like UW Madison, it will do you no good here.


CLASS/TEACHER:
Madison: Class size 300. Trying to meet with your teacher is like trying to get penciled in for lunch with the Queen: Difficult, but possible.
La Catolica: Class size 25. Trying to meet with your teacher is like trying to catch a unicorn. Impossible. Unless you are on some kind of drug. Then maybe you can imagine it. Still, imagining will get you no help on finding theses for your three 15-page final papers.
(Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture??)


LIBRARY SYSTEM:
Madison: Need a book? Go to the library. Find it yourself. Browse if you like. Check it out. Hang on to it for a while, eventually give it back.
La Catolica: Need a book? Go to the library. Write your name, student ID, book ID, author, title, date, signature, name of your first born, favorite season and the square root of 3423294 on a tiny sheet of paper. Hand it to grumpy looking man along with your ID card. Check it out. Return it within 3 days (yes 3) or else your card will be frozen and you can't check out books for a week.
(Um...really?)


CLASS MATERIALS:
Madison: Buy expensive books or receive packets from teachers. Sell back books at the end of the year. Get a little money back to go spend on beer to drown your sorrows that you only got $16 back when you paid $400.
La Catolica: Teacher scribbles article/book name on board. Go to the photocopier and tell them you need one copy of [insert book title] for [insert teacher's name]'s class. Wait anywhere from 5 minutes- 1 hour to get your copy. Extra $ to get it spiral backed. Read it, never get to sell it back or use it again. This sounds not bad right? WRONG. This is what you have to do about every week. For every class. Over and over. The best part is when the teacher assigns a book, but doesn't leave it in the photocopier. This means you get to RUN to the library before the other kids in your class get there, check out the ONE copy of that book, and bring it to the photocopier (and return it in 3 days of course). If the book isn't available at the library? Tough luck.

Oh Peru.
Well, I must get back to reading my 250 page book (or, well, photocopy of a book) on the history of colonial views in spanish america!

Besos, abrazos, y happier posts to come!

[thanks to alicia groh, from whom i took ideas for this post!]

updates

Not much has been happening since our return from Ecuador, unfortunately.

A few highlights of the past week or so include:

1.) Sharing how to make s'mores with our Peruvian friends. After we made them for them, their response was "Que Rico!" (shocking, I know)

2.) Getting an A/B on one of my Literatura papers. After the way midterms went, looks like I'll be needing to get a 4.0 next year @ Madison. Oh well.

3.)Opening up our host family's world to velveeta shells and cheese! A friend sent me a HUGE box of it in a package a while back, so Ash and I made it today. What they said after trying it? "Que Rico!" (GAHHHHHHHH)

4.)Celebrating our host mom's 73rd birthday! If I look as good as her and have as much energy when I'm that age, I will be incredibly lucky. After the party ended SHE went out more! Not us!

Mariana, Marianita, Camila, Senora Esther, Alessandro, Mauricio, Senor Dante


And, on a non-Peru related note:

5.) My darling sister completed the Mad-city half marathon with a time of 2:32:49. She's insane and fantastic, I know.

6.) I was informed I got the job I applied for with PAVE, an organization I've been volunteering with dedicated to ending sexual assault and domestic violence. So I am now the '09-'10 Volunteer Coordinator!!!

Besos y Abrazos!

midterm update 3:

Midterms: 1
Laura: 2

I should clarify, just because I got a point, this does not mean I got an A. This just means I passed.

(Mom, go ahead and have your heart attack now)

midterm update 2:

Midterms: 1
Laura: 1

midterm update 1:

Midterms: 1
Laura: 0

más montañita, por favor

Just a heads up to you all, when I win the lottery, I am going to buy a house in Montañita, Ecuador. You're all invited to visit any time.

After a luxurious flight to Guayaquil Friday we grabbed a bumpy bus to Montañita, town of 1,000 people on the coast of southern Ecuador. The town is known officially for 2 things: tourism & surfing. It's also known unofficially for two things: hippies & marijuana.

To sum this town up: it smells like coconut, it sounds like Bob Marley, it feels like warm ocean breezes, it looks like rows of tiki-huts, and it feels like...total relaxation. The entire town has a relaxed surfer vibe, with everyone walking around in swimsuits and sarongs or laying in hammocks soaking up the sun.

Katie and I tried surfing the next day, and instead of taking a lesson we just grabbed a board and had our a Dutch friend we had met the night before show us the ropes. For those of you who think surfing is probably some easy sport anyone can do: you. are. wrong. It's incredibly easy to underestimate the power the ocean has...and not only is your body being rocked by the waves and undercurrent, the surfboard you are attatched to also is. Thus, when it goes flying, so do you! Especially when you are a 5'2'' girl. Once I got the hang of flipping the board over to go beneath the waves, it got much easier, and Joe helped me catch a bunch of waves! Unfortunately..(or maybe fortunately?) there are no pictures of me making a fool of myself on the ocean, so you'll have to do with a mental image.

ALSO: I managed not to see any sharks this week. (Kari Mickelson, I know you're happy to hear this)

The rest of the days blur together a lot, because they were mainly spent with our new Australian friends Shane and Steve getting fresh fruit for breakfast, spending the day at the beach, and going out for dinner and drinks.

One evening the 4 of us (Ashley was unfortunately sick at the hostel) went down to the beach to build a bonfire. We were all relaxing together when out of nowhere a group of about 15 locals decided to join. All were thoroughly drunk and on anywhere from 1-5 drugs I would guess. One started going on and on about Mother's day and about how important moms were, how beautiful the female body parts were, and how abortion was the worst thing in the world which led to a heated debate in Spanish with another local. I must say, never did I ever imagine my vacation would include a debate in Spanish about abortion between 2 drugged out hippies. Awesome.

Probably the best part of this place, besides the beach and perfect weather, would be the never-ending juice bars. There are all these tini tiki-like huts where for $1-2 you can get a huge blended juice drink with as many kinds of fresh fruit and alcohol as you please. They are all on one long road, and everyone sits around them on plastic chairs telling stories and dancing. The smaller ones normally just have one person and one blender, and one of them we went to had this crazy old man dancing as he made our smoothies. After he handed them out to us, he came around to each glass pouring more rum into each glass. My kinda guy. Yessss.

The only downside I could possibly find from the week would be the killer mosquitoes...And the allergic reaction to the itch-cream I used on them. Which I find slightly ironic. Itchiness made itchier. Eh, so my legs look like I have a slight case of leprosy. Minor price to pay for a week in heaven.

Hope you all are well & surviving finals.

Besos y Abrazos! (Please see following pictures for the YMCA...leaping on a beach in Ecuador style)

never will i ever...

...take having my classes in ENGLISH for granted again.

Wow.

I just finished up my midterms here at La Catolica, and it was definitely harder than any round of exams I've had in Madison, mainly because of the language barrier.

On my exam today, a question used the word "alcance", which according to my dictionary either means:

"reach" or "range" or "deficit" or "pursuit" or "talent"


Um awesome. About 3 of those definitions fit in with the question, and since the teacher was not present in the classroom to explain which definition is actually the common use of the word, I just guessed. Hurray.


With midterms behind us, Katie, Ashley and I are heading to ECUADOR tomorrow morning!!!!! We will be flying into Guayaquil, and then busing it to Montanita, a tiny town known world wide for surfing. I actually think I might take a surfing lesson, despite my completely large and irrational fear of sharks. Here's hoping my surf instructor will be a Julian Wilson look-alike!

So until the 13th I'll be relaxing in a hammock holding a drink with an umbrella, forgetting all about midterms, the smell of Lima, and the disgusting thought of Brett Favre being a Viking.
Until then,

Besos y Abrazos!

this has NOTHING to do with peru.

joe mauer is back in action.

he'll be playing tonight.

against the royals.

in minnesota.

gah.

too bad i'm 4,000 miles away.

if one of you could send him to me, you would get points. MAJOR points.