January 14, 2015
I am finally here and able to post. At least I hope
it works this time. I've written other posts, but they somehow get lost in the
saving and posting of them. Connectivity is an ongoing problem for me.
The first couple of days for me were rough. I was
not able to sleep and the altitude was affecting me a little bit. I haven't had
to take the medicine, but I have to take it slowly. I have walked a lot
around the city. I live off of a street called Avenida Agustin Gamarra in
the section called Huancaro. My apartment is small, but has the
essentials I need. The kitchen has a 2-burner gas stove and a
refrigerator and sink. There is no hot water in the apartment except in
the shower. The shower is a "suicide" shower, meaning that
electricity is connected to the showerhead to heat the water as it comes out.
The faucet handle is wrapped in electrical tape. I'm not sure if that is
because it was broken or if it's to insulate you against shock when operating
the shower!
Each morning I walk 20 minutes to get to school. I
am currently taking Spanish class from 9-11 each morning. Then I meet in the
afternoon with someone to practice speaking with for an hour. The rest of
the time is free to see the city sites.
Yesterday, I got better acquainted with a classmate
of mine, Sarah. She helped me to get a local cell phone so it will be
easier to communicate with my classmates, the school and my cousin in Lima. It's
a simple phone so if I text, I'm back to counting instead of spelling!
Sarah and I went to a great restaurant yesterday
that was recommended called Yola. We both had the Lomo Salteada, which are beef
tenderloin pieces cooked with wine, onions, and tomatoes and served over French
fries. It was a fabulous dish and reminded me of the Spanish Carne en
Salsa. There are many great restaurants in the city, so I hope that we
get to try a lot of them.
Every Tuesday night at school is Salsa lessons. They start with the basic steps and then move
on to putting it to music and then with partners. It was great fun, but I could not keep up
with the speed after they went through the basic steps and were bringing it up
to speed. It is a very popular event and the room was very crowded.
Salsa dancing?! You are way more adventurous than I!
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