Colegioooo

Yesterday marked the end of my very first full week of school here in Peru! School here is very different than school in the US. My school is a small, private, all girls Catholic school. We wear uniforms, and there are roughly 20 girls in each class.

My two sisters and I, in our various school uniforms!

The biggest difference is that you are with everyone else who is in your grade all day long, and you stay in the same classroom as well. The professors are the ones that move around. My schedule is different every day, but I have about 10 different classes per week. So far, I've understood 3 of them: Physics, Chemistry, and History. The moment when I realized I actually understood what was happening was pretty great. You're just sitting there, and then bam! the words actually mean something, and you don't have to translate every single one to get what's going on. Of course, I'm probably destroying all my progress in Spanish by typing this, but that's a price I just have to pay. Otherwise people might think I've been kidnapped by llamas.

Speaking of llamas, I still haven't seen any. But that will most likely change soon, because in a week I will be off on my very first Rotary trip, to Machu Picchu!! (I'm just the slightest bit excited, if you couldn't tell.) All the Rotary kids in my district here in Peru will be going to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and several other famous sites during our trip. Not only am I excited for the trip, I'm excited to meet all the other exchange students. My friend Annalena, who is from Germany, is the only other exchange student who lives in Tacna with me. We get to go to the same school together too, which is nice because we can be confused together. However, I can't wait to meet the others (and see my friend Zoe) because I want to add more pins to my blazer. And make friends from all around the world too, there's also that aspect. 

I've been making friends with all the girls in my school as well. I'm constantly amazed by the sheer friendliness of the people I meet here. Last night Annalena, one of my friends from school, Alejandra, and I went to one of the shopping centers in Tacna. Then we all came back to my house, where some people from school were over, watching the Peruvian soccer team play Venezuela in one of the qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup. It was so much fun, and Peru won 2-1 to cap off an awesome week.

The Peruvian team celebrating after a goal.

Well, I hope everyone who is reading this has had an great week like mine, and I hope you all have a great weekend as well! Today is my abuela's birthday, so the entire family is going to go out to eat to celebrate. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of all the delicious food. That's pretty much it for me down here in the Southern Hemisphere, so chau for now!
Emily