Beach

We're going to the beach tomorrow for 10 days, so there won't be any news for a while! I also sent my list of classes that I'll be taking this semester.

Spanish
Anatomy and Physiology
Primary Nursing
Fundamentals of Nursing
Nursing in Women's Health
Nursing in Children's Health
Nursing in Mental Health and Psychiatry
Nursing in Geriatric Health

I'm going to have a fabulous semester!!
L

This week

   I've had a beautifully eventful week! I started off on Monday with an early riding lesson where I finally got some pictures because my little host cousin, Adrianna came with me. Monday was just practicing more circles and half circles and working with getting the horse's head tucked in. It was a really good lesson for me, but so much different then what I'm used to at home. Thursday was an amazing lesson though! I got to do a huge tour of the military school. It's huge and really pretty! I also cantered for the first time with the dressage forms. 

Snuggling with Garoto

Heels down

   Wednesday, however, was the craziest day! I got a haircut early, just for kicks and giggles so I had to skype with my dad to show him! I then went to meet Honore from the US to go paragliding. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it since I'm pretty dang scared of heights, but my dad convinced me I should. I met Honore in the mall in Miraflores and we had to search a bit for the paragliding place. Once we found it, we realized that we didn't have enough money to pay for it, so we went on a quest for an ATM. It cost 150 soles, but it was so worth it to fly! It's super weird to have the feeling of flying freely, but at the same time you feel super secure. I wasn't scared after we got up in the air because I could feel the harness.  

Happy!

I was so high!

   The other days were mostly just chilling and having fun with the kids!

Mama should not leave us alone in the car!

L

Cerro San Cristobal

 For family day on Sunday, we took a trip to one of the highest points in Lima, the Saint Christopher cross. I had been wanting to take a trip up there since the first night I arrived. When we drove by the mountain that night, I could see the lit-up cross on the top and it really showed me a piece of Lima's culture in just a few seconds. It's grandeur is something that is displayed in everything the Limenas do. From the top, you can see all of Lima. It's really fantastic! I had to take a video to capture it! I only got about a quarter of the view in the video though. The boys are my brothers obviously!

My house is in this general direction. Lima is huge!













Paulo, me and Bruno in front of the great view!












Pretty girl! The ocean is WAYY back there!

   The original cross was built in 1535 by Franciso Pizarro's men during the attempted conversion of the 'heathen' Incas. The Incas continued to tear it down until one day, the soldiers built it so quickly that when it was finally up, they claimed a miracle. It has fallen many times since its erection, but always been rebuilt by the  strongly Catholic Limenas.  

   After coming down the tiny mountain road again (in a Honda Pilot) we drove to Miraflores for lunch, only to have to drive back home when every restaurant in Miraflores was crazy full. So we ended up eating in a really nice grill close to the house. I ordered a nice ravioli. It was a really fun family day!

Food porn!

L

Lazy days!

After riding on Thursday, I pretty much just died for the next two days. I can still feel my whole body aching a bit, but it's not as bad as it was. I've been stretching every night so that definitely helps! I've also been trying to eat just a little better by not wasting calories on soda and junk food. Today we went to KFC though. I thought it would be a death trap for me, so I ate some rice before we left. I had a sprite and one spicy chicken wing... I swear that was the best crispy chicken I have ever had in my life!! I think it had something to do with the fact that I haven't had crispy, spicy fried chicken in 6 months. It reminded me of Lee's at home (KFC is actually good here). Then I ate a few big spoonfuls of coleslaw (also delicious for coleslaw.) Something that small really made me miss Rolla in general and the great home cooking back home! I think I miss Uncle Mike's BBQ ribs and Aunt Bub's banana salad the most.
   I think my favorite part of the meal was when we left there were a few little boys trying to sell candies to live, so I pulled out my coin purse to buy a few, and my Mama handed one the KFC bucket with all the leftover chicken. He was quite happy about that. As we were going to pay for our parking, he came back and I was just sure he was going to ask for something more. He had come over to ask if he should share with his friends, and of course Mama, being a mother to two boys told him that, yes, he should share. Then he asked if he could have some of the aji (a spicy sauce) packets that we were stealing from KFC for the house. He was so cute, she couldn't say no! As we drove by to leave, we could see the boys scarfing down the chicken like there was no tomorrow. I see these things everyday here in Peru and it's very humbling and makes you feel super grateful for a home and family! I hope to grow up to be like my host moms and my real mom too!
Be inspired to help out someone in need, because it spikes your epinephrine like crazy ;)
L
ps. I got a fan in my room and I am a VERY happy girl for it! It is so hot!!!

Montando caballos!

So I went to my first horse-back riding lesson today! Did I lose all of my skills from riding horses before? YES! I only ride for about 45 minutes and I am absolutely DED dead. The riding school that I will be attending is a military equitation training school, so all the personnel is military. It's very structured, but I don't like that under-rank soldiers do all of the cleaning and tacking up. I really like the get the horse reading myself.
  I got there at 11 and started to ride at about 11:05 because they had already tacked up Mariposa (butterfly) for me, therefore, I didn't have to do anything but ride my butt off. At this school, we start out with a body warm-up for us, the rider. I stretched my neck, arms, and legs while Mariposa walked. Then we just got into basic flat work. Trotting is so much harder on a real sized horse. I am much more grateful for Tinker's easy gait now because Mariposa is big! With the added loss of balance caused by being out of shape, I really had to squeeze with my legs. My ankles hurt so much right now from trying to keep them down, unsuccessfully. I finally cantered a bit until we did some final balance activities.
   However, during these activities, my host Aunt Mimi came running in. She was definitely the last person I thought I'd see there. My first thought was that Mama was doing some chores and she asked Mimi to pick me up, but when she started talking I knew she thought something was wrong!
   Turns out, a conman had called the house and told Otilia (la doña) that Mama had been in a big accident and that we would have to pay something. I'm not exactly sure, but they were definitely trying to extort money from the family by scaring the crap out of us all. She called Mama, who was shopping with her phone in the car. Everyone freaked out and Mimi came to ask me if I'd seen Mama and if I knew where she was. I thought she had gone back to the house. Everything was perfectly fine though and nothing happened to Mama.
   Stuff like that just happens in Lima. The are thieves and liars everywhere and they are scary!
   Overall, I had a very good and interesting first lesson. The instructor probably thinks my family is crazy now, but it's ok. I can't wait to go back on Tuesday!
L
Ps. Pictures later, I wanted to save the crazy for a later date.