Jun 2009

I arrived safely in Lima late Thursday night and didn´t get to my hotel until after midnight. I was so tired that I slept until 10 a.m the next morning. I walked around the neighborhood I was staying in called Miraflores. It is a nice area in Lima. I walked down to the ocean and ate lunch at a nice seafood restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I decided to sign up for an afternoon tour of the city since I only have 1 day in Lima. They took us to several historical sights around the city. It was interesting, but nothing spectacular. My overall impression of Lima is that it is a gigantic, crowded city with way too many people. The population of the country of Peru is 30 million people. 9 million of those people live in Lima. Yikes! Also, Lima is very cloudy and dreary during this time of year. It is winter in Peru right now. They are opposite of our seasons in the U.S.

I came to Cusco yesterday. This city is a lot smaller and very sunny! I like it better than Lima already. There is a big plaza in the center of the old part of town. There are lots of shops and restaruants all around the plaza. My host family´s house is a ways from the city center. I will probably take their mini-buses which are like minivans. It costs only about 25 cents to ride from my host family house to the city center.

I am going to an orientation at my school today at 4 p.m. and then I start class on tomorrow morning. I´m anxious to get started with learning more Spanish. I have a really hard time understanding my host mom. I´m off to walk around the town for a couple hours to get familiar with the city. I have to be back to my host family house by 1:30 p.m. That is the time of day that people eat their biggest meal of the day. Her extended family will be there which includes her 3 sons and a few grandchildren. That should be interesting. I may get a little overwhelmed with trying to understand them and trying to communicate.

Until next time...Kristin

Hello to all my loyal travel bloggers! I am one week from departing on my next trip. As I have talked to people in the last few weeks, I realized that there are still a lot of you who don't know about my travel plans this summer. A little background on my trip to Peru...

I am traveling to Cusco, Peru to study Spanish for 4 weeks. I leave June 25th and return July 30th. After studying for 4 weeks, I will spend the final week traveling to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. I decided that I want to become fluent in Spanish after my February trip to Guatemala. I was able to communicate on a very basic level with the Guatemalans. It made for a more enriching experience being able to talk with the locals in their language. I studied Spanish in middle school, high school and college. I am far from fluent and I would like to advance in the language. Throughout my travels around the world, I am constantly humbled by the people I meet. Most people in countries outside of the US can speak at least 2 languages. Also, there is a growing population of Hispanic families who are coming to live in the United States. I saw a news story that predicts that in the year 2025, 1 in 4 students in our schools will be Hispanic. I had 2 Hispanic families that I worked with this year. I needed to use an interpreter for meetings. It would be great to speak with the families without an interpreter.

While in Cusco, I will be living with a Peruvian family. I don't know anything about the family yet except that they live about a 1/2 hour walk outside of central Cusco. The name of the school I will be attending is Amauta Spanish School. http://www.amautaspanish.com/amautaspanish/english/index.asp
They offer the opportunity to attend another one of their school sights located in the Sacred Valley. I hope to study there for one of my weeks in Peru.

That's all for now. I will write again from Peru!