They celebrate Halloween in Peru?

Hi all!

So I have officially survived midterms, and just realized that I only have 4 more weeks of school left. Crazy how fast this semester has gone! Somehow, and mostly because of how pathetic and elementary the “extranjeros” (exchange students) are, I have managed to pull out AB’s in all my classes…..I only brag about this because I can’t remember the last time I was an AB student (because it was in high school). I’ve been hanging in there even though waves of homesickness are starting to get to me. The funny thing is that besides my amazing friends and family, the things I miss the most are my moped (and driving….its been torture), working ellipticals, and (never thought I would be saying this) but men who leave me alone.

A couple weeks ago I actually threw a fit at the gym. I only go there to use the two ellipticals and one stairclimber, which happen to be broken all the time. This particular time that I was working out, two out of these three machines were broken, and one minute into my work out on the last working elliptical, the foot holder just fell off (and I almost went tumbling to the ground). Needless to say this would never have happened in the US. Not only did I tell the manager that he needs to fix these machines (for real this time), but that I was incredibly angry that my roommate pays less than I do for the same membership because she is blonde (they love blonde gringas the most here)! While I did feel much better after letting off some steam, it cracks me up that that was something that I would never do in the US.

I think that I have been letting the chaos and disorganized Peruvian culture get to me a little. I am so lucky that I have had so many chances to travel outside of Lima. And in one week a couple friends from school and I are going to the jungle! I’m really excited! And I won’t tell you all the scary stories I’ve heard until after I get back safe and sound.

Halloween in Peru was pretty lame. I mostly just felt like they were stealing our holiday because while all the stores were decorated, no one really understood the spirit of Halloween (or dressed up very well). Most of the people I spent Halloween with were Europeans who had never celebrated it before. They were all dressed as scary witches while I had all my Wisconsin football gear on (to celebrate the victory on Saturday and make it even more obvious how American I am…oops) and somehow happened to be the one getting weird looks. On a positive note, all the Halloween packages that my roommates and I got were amazing..…nothing like shoving our faces with American candy to get over that homesickness.

El Dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead, Nov. 1) was also an experience. We went to a cemetery in a poorer area of Lima to check things out. It was pretty much like a bunch of family reunions inside this cemetery. Nothing like I had ever seen before because it was such a happy scene, and cemeteries had always seemed like a pretty sad and depressing place to me. Kids were running all over and playing, families covering their loved one's "graves" (it was an above ground cemetery...all in cement building things), and had hired bands to play at the grave sites. It was pretty weird/interesting. We were definitely the only gringos there and got more looks than usual…..we took the hint and didn’t stay too long.

Well, that's about all I've been up to lately. I also found a microfinance non-profit organization that has started giving me little projects to do (mostly translating), and I'm hoping that I can work with them this summer at their headquarters up in the Andes.

I'll let you all know when I get back from the jungle safe and sound! I'm hoping it's something like fern gully....or the jungle book!

Megan

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