This week flew by. I cannot believe that I’m already in my fourth week here as I write this, meaning I’ve been here for a MONTH!? This was our first “normal week” with full on classes that we are registered for. But next week is our first break and trip of the semester, so it feels like things are moving very quickly. As we settle in to classes and schedules it’s easy to feel at home here in Lima. Going to school, hanging out with friends, exploring the city — it’s all beginning to feel comfortable. It’s less overwhelming and stressful every day.

This week I made it to all my classes, and managed to understand what was happening; that’s a joke — don’t worry, classes aren’t hard. In fact, I’m really enjoying the poetry class I’m in. We also had a special class for the first time this week called a taller de gramatica, which is a class for IFSA students and it is just a small grammar lesson. It isn’t required, but is free through our program. The early part of the week was mostly school and resting at home, but I had time for some fun activities over the weekend.

So, here are the highlights of the week:

Friday, March 23, 2018

• Pictured above, we had an optional program activity going to the Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Lima. This is a contemporary art museum located in Barranco, a neighborhood of Lima. They have some cool exhibits. We got to see three, one of which was interactive, which was very cool.
• Afterwards some of us hung out at the restaurant that they have at the museum. It was a fun way to end the night.

Saturday, March 24, 2018

• I spent the day with my friend Lucia in Miraflores; we had lunch, walked around and shopped, and spontaneously decided to get our nails done!
• Later that evening we decided to go to Barranco because some others had told us about a feria (fair) that was happening there. It was such a cute place, and we found out they have fairs every weekend.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

• My host brother took my friend Colleen and I shopping at a mall.
• Colleen and I later ate dinner at a food court and then went back to my house to hang out a little. It was a relaxing end to the weekend.

Overall this week just flew by, and getting ready for the short week coming up due to Holy Week (which is a national holiday here in Peru) has taken up all my time. I am loving this city more and more every day, and it is such a blessing to be here and be able to live this life.

Favorites:

• Food: Potatoes — they have different kinds of potatoes in Peru than in the U.S., and they have different ways of preparing them. For instance papa a la huancaína.
• Drink: Frozen mango juice.
• Activity: Exploring the city.