This has been such an eventful week — orientation is pretty intense and involves a lot of activities. However, it’s worth it. I love getting to know the people in my program and the city of Lima. The gist of this week has been about getting to know each other, the university and Peru. We have had many small adventures and mishaps, but it has been great. This week is “orientation” and there are many activities involved. We have had some short days, some long days, some stressful times and some very fun times. So far, the program is great and I love the people in the group. I want to keep this blog short and readable so that you can keep up with me, so now I’m going to break down some highlights of the week.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

• We visited the university (PUCP) for the first time and took public transportation there as a group.
• In the evening I was able to give my host family the gifts I brought for them and tell them about myself and my home state in the U.S. It was super fun to talk to them and get to know them a little more.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

• We had a short day of orientation, so people wanted to use the extra time. A group of five of us ended up going on a shopping adventure for a few hours. We found our way around Miraflores and had a fun time learning about the city by walking around.
• In the evening I got to talk to my host brother, who is the same age as me, for a while over some dinner, which was really fun.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

• We went to campus and got to know it a little better by visiting the different schools that we might want to take classes from.
  I had lunch with two awesome girls from my program at a buffet style place on campus.
  They had a demonstration for International Women’s Day, or Día Internacional de la Mujer, on campus. It was very cool to watch for a little while.
• Six of us went on a little adventure when we left the university and got a little lost. We ended up splitting into two groups and we had a great time getting to know the city by wandering around until we found our way home.
• We went on a nighttime tour of the city in a Mirabus, which is a double-decker bus, with a tour guide who talks about the city as you pass important and fun places. During this tour we stopped for a walking tour of the Park of the Reserve. It is a beautiful place filled with many different fountains that light up at night.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

• To conclude our orientation week we played some games. In teams we competed in the “IFSA Hunger Games” — dress up for a team photo and create a team name, charades with Pictionary cards, photo scavenger hunt of places in Miraflores and a race to answer questions about things we learned in orientation. We finished with a wonderful lunch at a Peruvian buffet in Barranco.

All in all this has been an amazing week filled with fun and adventure. I have learned so much, and made new friends. It is the beginning of a wonderful semester. I look forward to what comes next. Let me know what you think, and please give me any suggestions to improve my blog. This is a learning adventure for me, but I hope you enjoy reading about my time here in Lima.