Just a Few Things

Not much has happened since I last posted, but what has happened has been pretty awesome. My "spring break" was pretty fun, although it was definitely different, what with having three hours of math every day. But I actually understood what was going on for a change (we started a new subject), so that made it not so bad. 

This was basically math class for me before this past week: not understanding anything.

On Tuesday during spring break some of the girls from my class and I all went back to the pool for an afternoon of swimming. 

Stereotypical jumping picture! Told you the pool was gorgeous. 

I didn't do much else for spring break, as I was sick one day and then just mainly hung out with the family. However, that Friday after school my sister, some friends, and I went shopping at the market where they sell the American goods that have been thrown away because they're not good enough to sell in America. It was definitely a strange new experience, seeing all the American goods laid out for sale. There was a whole range of things, from American Eagle jackets to perfume to make-up to shoes to extra-large t-shirts from the northern New Jersey Baptist Church's 2009 mission trip. Almost everything was in near-perfect condition. It really made me think about how lucky we are and how much we take for granted in the States. We refuse to accept anything with the slightest defect and throw it "away" with horrifying arrogance, not realizing that what we consider trash, what we decide isn't worth our time or money, is an incredible luxury for others. We're really so amazingly lucky to have been born in America, in a country where it's an almost unthinkable idea that you'd have to wait for hot water to take a shower, or that you'd go to the grocery store and buy a banana with more than a slight bruise on it. People complain all the time that their lives are terrible, while in reality I think that most of us haven't even begun to realize the many blessings that we take for granted. 

After shopping we headed to our friend Majo's house to do karaoke. I learned a lot of new Latin pop songs - one of the only English songs on the disc was a Jonas Brothers song, and I try not to be familiar with the Jonas Brothers. It was really funny though, and good to know that I'm not the only one who sounds horrible while trying to sing along with Shakira. The karaoke was a good way to practice though, because last Wednesday (Halloween) we all went to a concert! Gianmarco came to Tacna, and practically the entire town went to his concert. 

This is Gianmarco. He's pretty cool. 

He also plays the ukelele and the harmonica. He's REALLY cool.

I went with Annalena, my sister Adriana, and some of our friends from school. We met up with our other friends while waiting in line to get in. 

We waited for almost four hours before the concert started, but it was worth every second of the wait. He's one of the most popular Peruvian musicians, and has been nominated for several Latin Grammys. We all sang along, and even though I didn't know any of the lyrics, it was still really fun. It was strange not doing the usual Halloween stuff though. Halloween isn't really all that popular in Tacna, and only some of the very young children go trick or treating. But they go to the stores, not the houses. I tried to buy some pumpkins so I could teach my family how to make jack-o-lanterns, but there weren't any at the store. However I still dressed up my dog - my sister and I bought her a little costume. 

I'm not entirely sure what she was supposed to be, but she's so cute I don't think it matters much. 

On Friday I was supposed to go on my class trip all around Tacna, and throughout the desert, but instead I got sick. Sickness seems to be a common theme of my time here, but I think I finally know why. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to aji, a spicy pepper that's really common. It's kind of disappointing because it's ridiculously delicious, but I'll trade not eating it for not having to miss out on anything else because I'm sick. 

This weekend has pretty much just been a weekend to relax and hang out with my family. My sister and dad are in Bolivia for my dad's friend's wedding, so it's just my grandma, mom, brother, and little sister here. It's been good to relax though. 

Something interesting is how hard this post was to write. I feel like my English is getting worse and worse, and there were sentences where I read over what I'd typed and legitimately not known if my English was correct. I hope it all is understandable! I had my first dream in Spanish a few days ago (well, it was half in Spanish and half in English) and so I feel like I'm really learning a lot. 

That's just about all, so I hope you enjoyed the pictures and reading about what I've done (even though it hasn't been very much). I hope everyone's having a great day, and I'll try to post again soon! 

Chau for now, 

Emily