Half way point!!

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whoop whoop! I´ve made it half way through my trip...alive!! haha I sort of joke about that, because generally, SA is quite safe and people just hear stories and it gets blown way out of proportion. But I truly am grateful for the prayers and support that has gotten me this far. Im quite positive I wouldn´t be sitting in this internet cafe if it wasnt for my friends and family (even though you are all thousands of miles away). So thank you all very much!
Lima... what to say... I love it! I know, I know, I say I love every city that i´m in, and I dont think I would like or appreciate this city as much if I had started my trip in Peru. Its definitly has its own flare and distinct culture, and its not so snobby as Buenos Aires, and its more crazy than Santiago. Good mix.

The family I am staying with has been the best so far, which could make a big influence on my opinion of Lima. Im staying with a grandma (they must love the foreign students or something), her 50 yr old daughter and the daughter´s 26 yr old son. Im in the nicer area of Lima, and everyone in the house is super nice! The second day here, I think I ate something a little off, and got quite sick. I must say, being sick in a country where you dont know anyone, and are thousands of miles away from home is not on my list of favorite things. But the old lady took care of me. Sort of humorous, because she bought me some pills, who knows what, and a litre of coke. She kept trying to make me drink this darn Coke. I dont mind a glass, but a whole litre??!!
Anyway, Im feeling basically 100% again, and renergized! I think my body may have just needed a whole day to sleep also. So, today, I got to cross another thing off my list of things to do...go surfing!!! Yes, I must say, it sounds much more glamorous than it was. Originally I didn´t think I would be this near the ocean and it wouldn´t be people friendly (cold and dirty). But surprisingly, its quite beautiful! well, the beach is only rocks, but the rocks just added to the excitement of trying surfing for the first time. The original price was 75 soles (their currency, which is about 25 canadian dollars) for a lesson, board and wet suit. Another girl and I were slightly unsure if we wanted to go, but we worked out a deal that it was two of us for 70 soles! Sweet! Thank goodness I didn´t have to pay more than 12 dollars because it was one of the worst 30 minutes of my life!!! ok, I know im not the most athletic or cordinated person out there (as im sure you all have noticed this as well), BUT surfing just about killed me. The first 5 minutes of paddling on the board, my arms felt like jello, and oh here is another unknown fact about me...I get extremely seasick! SO annoying! Im just on the board, and the waves going up and down, up and down; I just about lost my lunch. So, here I am, way out in the middle of these rather large waves, so dizzy. For those of you who get car sick, it was like that. Or for those of you who know what its like to have one too many glasses of wine and get dizzy. Just take that feeling and put yourself out in the pacific ocean, with salt water burning in your contacts that dont want to stay on your eyeballs, and a little peruvian man who cant really speak english trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with this awkward Canadian girl. So, I was determined to try to surf, minus the spinning world around me. I am not sure why I got so sick. Could be that I was ill only a couple days ago, but regardless, my dreams of being a surfer are smashed (which is ok!). Anyway, I stood up on my first and only wave. And when I say stood up, I mean stood up, and promptly fell face first into the water. YAY for me! I loved that brief second though! So, that was a rather hellish experience, but I have no problems with surfers😉 Its actually quite a big deal here in Peru.

Oh another fun thing about Lima is the traffic. Sure, its been kind of disorderly in other countries, but lima is quite the different place. On my walk to school for example, I have to cross about 15 intersections. Some of them have two lanes going one way, so like a large intersection. And I suppose buying even a stop sign is too much money. Come to think of it, I have yet to see a stop sign. So you have to watch the traffic like a hawk and walk really really briskly across the road. And I think cars speed up when they see tourists crossing. I read your more likely to get hit by a car then get your stuff stolen. Good thing im really fast at avoiding cars. And it sounds like its a festival, by the amount of horns constantly going off. nope, its just road rage! haha I love it! Its never really a dull moment. They dont have a subway system or city buses either. They do have large van things, but they dont clearly state where its going. And the taxis here...a whole different story. You have to negotiate the price before you even get in the car. And anyone with a car can call themself a taxi. Its really easy just to buy a TAXI sign and through it up on your dash and there ya go! Those are the ones that may or may not pull over and take your money. Sooo, I just avoid those ones.

In South America, its just sort of normal to be stared at, or some guy make a cat call, whistle, etc. But in lima, its full on! Just walking by some police men, or business men is bad enough, imagine how it is when i walk by a construction place. Should record it actually. Im not even bragging. They do that to all the girls, but its just something quite unique. If any girl ever feels the need to have some attention, just dye her hair blond and come to peru. Thank goodness im not blond!

I was lucky enough to go to another futball game!! This was wasnt nearly as scary for me. Probably because there wasn´t any opposing fans (it was peru vs argentina), or because im getting more used to the way things are down here. It was still awesome though! it was in the largest stadium in south america. It holds 100,000 people! A cool thing ive noticed is that at the games, they still have guys walking around selling food, but its healthy! For example, they sell sandwiches, popcorn, and a plate of fried rice. Really, rice is a thousand times better for you than hot dogs. Not like that healthy food has made a difference. Thank goodness I dont have a scale. uhh you can always tell by how tight your jeans are... good things tight jeans are sort of in style.
Only 1 more week of espanol class!!!!! I like the people, the culture, but my brain has completely checked out of school and learning anything else. This school is the smallest of all the three. Its quite nice actually, in comparison to the 140 students in Buenos Aires to only 18 or so here. Nice!

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