Happy Belated St. Paddy's Day from Peru!

Not this past week but the weekend before, my friend Emma had a birthday party that was coupled with a St. Paddy's Day gathering. It was really fun and my Cusqueña gringa girlfriends accompanied me as well as Mia who lives with Julie. We had a great time chatting and meeting people. Julie made some connections for singing with Internations and Eimer showed off her Irish dancing skills. She taught me a few things as well. She also explained to me that St. Patrick was a guy who was a shepherd and then found God and the holy trinity in the 3 leaf clover and then proceeded to evangelize. I am not sure if that is the true story or not but it sounded pretty good to me.

Addie's first day in Lima and livin it up!

I love gatherings with expats. This party had Peruvians as well. It was a mix of Emma's yoga friends, internations people and women with wine. I always meet interesting people at these types of events. People come from all over the world to Peru.

Me and the birthday girl!

We ate a lot of meat and there was plenty of beer and alcohol to go around. It was a Sunday afternoon though so I wasn't trying to party too hard. I want nothing to do with hangovers when it comes to work. No thank you!

The party went really well except for the fact that someone either threw or knocked a bottle off of the 21st floor terrace and it smashed the front windshield of a car of a tenant. Eimer, the lovely host, is being taken to court for it. That is not cool at all and maybe there should be more panels so this kind of thing doesn't happen. The terrace is meant for people to have BBQs and with those comes drinking either out of cans or bottles. I think the car owner's insurance should cover the accident but I am positive it doesn't. Car insurance here is a complete joke.

This part of the terrace has glass windows with no roof. This is a view of Miraflores by the way.

Other than that, things are moving right along. I have started lessons again with one of my students form last year and I have a potential 4 year old student coming to observe my Wednesday class. If I get three students who are 3 or 4 years old I will start group lessons on Saturday. That would be fantastic and it is so crucial for the students to play with each other and learn from one another.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Happy Monday!

I promise I am still alive. I have just been a little busy as last week was my first full week of school and this weekend was full of social events. My friend Addie is staying with us right now while she gets her carnet stuff taken care of and I have been entertaining her so blogging hasn't been the top priority. I also started the violin workshop I will be teaching this semester at school today. I have lots on my plate but I am super motivated and feeling so grateful for all the work and activities I have going on right now.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday night!

Let the Classes Begin

What a tiring but satisfying day! I had my first class with all the kinder classes and they got better each time I executed the class. My last few classes are going to be the most productive because I will have perfected my routine after performing for the first three classes.

I realized that I didn't plan enough so I went onto things that we were going to start tomorrow. I started asking them what feelings I was feeling by showing them different faces. It was a good way to gauge if they knew the feelings yet and most of them did which was great. Kinder C has the most fluent English speakers and Kinder E has the most resistant. They all kept asking me why I couldn't explain things to them in Spanish and if I could speak Spanish. I told them all that I understand Spanish but I don't speak it.

Hehe. I am not going to speak to any of the girls in Spanish. They will always get English responses from me. This includes my first grade class that I will be watching during lunch time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think everyone will benefit from it. Hopefully, the girls will start asking me questions in English too. The goal is to get them speaking in complete sentences and to work on pronunciation. I think I can do a good job on eliciting better pronunciation but unfortunately, the English that the girls will be getting from the rest of their teachers as they go through elementary school will have an accent of sorts. That is not to say the girls won't learn English or learn how to speak well. Actually, the English pronunciation skills they get at the pre-kinder and kinder levels will ultimately help them later on. It becomes increasingly more difficult for kids to pick up dialects after the age of 6 years old. I will do my part as best as I can!

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I just had a quick interruption from my step-son. He is living with us this year and he just started school as well. He had some homework and I helped him print out a picture of the parts of the skin. I will be serving as homework helper this year since Marco works late. It's fine by me and it will give me good practice for when I have adolescents of my own down the road. I am set on him learning English and I have started asking questions and responding to him in English and he got frustrated but I am determined. The more you hear it and have to deal with it on a daily basis, the easier it becomes. It is just a matter of patience. I am planning on doing the same for Marco. Neither one is going to get off the hook! I won't speak Spanish at work with the girls and I would like to speak less at home. I will get plenty of Spanish speaking time every where else. Wish me luck on this endeavor!

Baby Showers

I am not writing about a baby shower for me but I figured since we are going to have a baby shower for a co-worker tomorrow, I will write a bit about what baby showers are like here in Peru. I think I might have touched on it this past year because Marco and I went to a baby shower of a promo of his but I don't remember. (I should really tag my posts. That might be a good weekend activity)

I don't know when baby showers arrived to Peru but the fact that they are called baby showers and not something else gives reason to thinking they are relatively new to Peru. My husband tells me that he has always known them to take place since he became an adult and started going to them. I personally think that it is a fun tradition and a great way to congratulate mom and dad and celebrate the coming of a new child.

I have been to three baby showers since coming to Peru. The first one was in Cusco for a co-worker at Qantu. It was very simple and just co-workers. We had a cake and we all bought her gifts. She opened them in front of us and we chatted for a bit.

The next one was here in Lima at a promo's apartment. When we got there they had a guy dressed in a clown outfit and the dad was blindfolded guessing what the presents were. He also had a large diaper and bib on. It was pretty funny and I will have no qualms whatsoever, when and if the time comes, watching Marco be dressed up and guessing what presents we receive. After the presents were opened the clown put on an hora loca CD and passed out whistles and balloons. We had to dance around in a circle for a good 10 minutes. That part was awkward. I felt kind of ridiculous because it wasn't like we were at a dance club and there were no children around (except for two girls around 9 or 10 years old). I could have done without that. During all of this we were served drinks and food by caterers or people hired to pass out food. We danced and we chatted. It was a good time overall. I did feel a bit of us versus them with the husbands and wives. All the ladies sat together and made jokes and the guys responded. It is definitely a different dynamic than what I am used to with my male and female friends that all know each other and have a friendly relationship. It's not that females and males aren't friendly, it is that one does not have a personal relationship with the promos of one's husband. I am sure there are exceptions but for the most part it would be considered very weird. I will write about gender norms in another post. I digress. The one thing I don't like about the baby showers here is that the decorations are all styrofoam giant babies and moons. I could do without those.

The third baby shower that I went to was for one of the girls in Coro Arpegio. It was a blast! We played games like guess the baby food and wrap each other up in toilet paper diapers and race. (I was very good at the baby food guess the flavor game by the way.) We gave her tons and tons of diapers which are the most needed thing the first few years and the most economically burdening (other than formula if breast feeding isn't an option). It was a great atmosphere and super fun!

I have yet to go to a baby shower in the States but from what I have heard and pictures I have seen they seem to be pretty similar in fashion.

So tomorrow we have a baby shower at work. I made spritz cookies. I have been making them a lot lately. They are the perfect treat for gatherings. I found quinoa flour as well which makes them that much yummier.

Happy Monday everyone!

**Update: The baby shower was short and sweet and everyone aaawed after every gift. I liked that the majority of the gifts were not pink. There was an orange onesie with the Life is Good logo on it and a blue and white dress and a super cute lion bib. Also the spritz cookies I made were a huge success!

Los Comecaca

Lima has a problem. It is of the fecal kind and it is because people don't pick up after their dogs.

That is where Los Comecaca come in to play.

Barranco, a district within Lima, decided to get clever and the municipality created Los Comecacas, essentially the poop eaters. They are cartoon characters of the stereotypical Peruvians that nobody likes. They include, the corrupt politician or businessman (El Corrupto), the tramp (La Tramposa), the gossipy housewife (La Chismosa), the uneducated creep on the street who whistles and shouts inappropriate things at women (El Mañoso), the party boy footballer who drinks too much (El futbolista Juergero), and the guy who has no issue backstabbing his friends and co-workers (El Maletero).

These characters now adorn garbage bins all around Barranco. They say "In Barranco, we put poop where it belongs", and that is literally into the mouths of these detestable characters.

On the one hand I think it is a clever idea. On the other hand I think it just perpetuates stereotypes and gives people more fuel to use them. I also think that this plan did not put into consideration that most people do not pick up the excrement of their furry friends because they don't have bags with them. What they should do is set up plastic (biodegradable) bag stations next to the comecacas and then there would be absolutely no excuse for not picking up the poop. I think changing habits of its residents is a difficult task for the municipality to undertake and this is a step in the right direction.

Here is the video. It is not in English but you will get the idea. It is a very well edited video I might add.

The video function is not working right now so here is the link to the video: Los Comecaca

*Update: I passed one of Los Comecaca this morning while on the metropolitano and I saw that there was a stand that had bags for dog walkers. This campaign made the front page news on the publimetro (a free newspaper given out at the metropolitano stations) as well. Fantastic! Excellent work Barranco!

**Another Update: There has been quite a stir on social networking sites about this campaign. Check out the article linked below for more information. I definitely think that the ladies who are upset about the home wrecker character have some valid points. It's not always the woman that wrecks the home. It is a two way street. Also, why is open minded used as a bad trait? Check it out.

Happy Day of Love and Friendship

I really love how Peru celebrates the love on Valentine's Day. It's not just about couples. It's about love for everyone from your sister to your father to your friend to his or her friend. There is plenty of love to go around! It is called "Dia de amor y amistad" or the Day of Love and Friendship.

This Day of Love and Friendship, I tried cooking an egg on a cute little skillet that my mother gave to us. It didn't cook all the way through but the thought was very nice. My mother always thinks of cute gift ideas. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful day of love and friendship as well as a great weekend! Stay warm my North American readers. Summer is on its way!!

First Day of Work

Look at us both uniformed and ready for work. Today was my first day of work at my new job! I am very excited to be the new English Enrichment teacher and there is so much for me to go through which is wonderful. There is nothing like coming to a job and having lots of resources. The same could not be said for starting to teach music at Altair last year. I found the programming and lesson plans from the past two years and there are flashcards to the heart's content! I made myself right at home and covered the bulletin board with blue paper and green paper making a sunny day look. I added a fun little smiling sun at the top. I also got my schedule for the year. I have no idea what our schedule is like for the rest of February but I am all set for when I actually start teaching the little ones. It's all good. I will be getting the February schedule tomorrow. I really can't complain about organization because it is on point. I received a bag full of office supplies and a notebook and binder for programming. Both Julie and I are very content and impressed. Obviously, we both had very different experiences at our old schools.

The morning started off with a mass. Julie and I participated in the ofertorio or the offering. I gave the chalice that holds the bread to the father. I really like the fact that the director of the school is accepting that we are not Catholic. We respect mass when we are obligated to go to it but you won't find me going every morning in February. (Yes, there is mass at 7:30am every morning until school starts.) I personally, enjoy listening to sermons when they are well presented and thoughtful. I have heard some excellent sermons this past year and I have also heard some really terrible ones. It's all about the father and his personality and interpretation. Also, I find that mass is a good time to have some meditation. I take time during prayer and communion to close my eyes, give thanks, and clear my mind. It's very nice.

Unpacking and organizing. I love it!

After mass we had a breakfast and the new staff was introduced. I would have really liked to do an introduction of myself so that I wouldn't have to repeat myself over and over answering the typical questions: How long have you been here? Where are you from? Do you like Peru? Do you speak Spanish...etc. I didn't have too much time to answer them too many times before heading off to the kinder building. We had a quick meeting and then had the morning to set up our rooms and offices. I have my own office on one side of a divider and there are two teachers on the other side who teach religion and communication. Both of them have been super helpful. I have felt very included and I think I am really going to like my job.

At 1pm Julie stopped by and we headed to lunch. We were free to go at 1pm which was great. She and I caught up and I showed her how to get to her place via bus. Honestly, I think the metropolitano is going to be the best option for the both of us. This morning I hopped on an expreso 1 at 7:15am and was in the door at school at 7:30am. Not bad if I do say so myself!

I am going to have to think of something to put under the welcome sign. Suggestions would be appreciated!