Major Update

Alright, considering the fact that it has been over a month since I made my last post, it goes without saying that it is about time I gave a major update on my blog. I left my blog off saying that I would be spending my exchange in Peru. Well, I officially have a city.

So I was anxiously awaiting finding out where I would be spending my year in Peru. I thought that I would be in Lima due to the fact that all the students that were going to Arequipa had all gotten emails from their counselor. While I had a feeling I would be in Lima, I wasn't sure until I looked at my Facebook and saw two friend requests from two Peruvians. One was a girl that looked to be in high school and the other a woman who appeared to be a Rotarian. Upon clicking upon both of their profiles, I saw that both of them live in Lima. While I had to leave for work before I could message either of them, I accepted their friend requests and messaged the adult woman when I got home.

So the woman, or Violeta, is my YEO of my Rotary Club. I messaged her in Spanish and asked her if she was a member of my Rotary club. She responded in English after some time, as she had someone else write the message in English. She doesn't speak English, and even though I messaged her in Spanish and I will be learning Spanish, she still took extra time to message me in English. I feel this goes to say something about privilege in this world. I'm going to Peru to learn Spanish and will be speaking Spanish (or attempting to speak Spanish) and I still got a response in English.

Anyways, after I messaged Violeta, I received a message from the girl who had sent me a friend request. Angye is my host sister, or at least my temporary host sister. Angye will be going to France for her exchange, but we will be spending 3-4 weeks together as she won't be leaving until late August. Angye quickly told me of my host mom Haydee (age 50) and my host sister (age 19). My host mom is a pharmacist and my host sister is a college student studying economics. My host mom doesn't speak any English, but both of my host sisters speak some. I don't have a host dad, as the parents are divorced. He lives in the city of Ica, and my host family will take me to see Ica if I wish. I definitely want to see Ica, as it is in the middle of the desert (something I haven't seen before).

From Angye, I found out that I will not be staying with her family for the entire duration of my exchange. She also told me my school is El Colegio de Santa Rosa. My school is in the district of San Borja, and it is a small, private school. The school is affiliated with my Rotary Club and maybe other Rotary Clubs (not really sure). Upon snooping about the website, I discovered that my school has an Interact club, which makes me really happy. I also get to wear a school uniform, which makes me very happy (no sarcasm here, I want a uniform). My school starts at 7:40 am, meaning I'm going to have to learn how to get up. I assumed that my school and home were in the same district of Lima (Lima is divided into 43 districts), but it's not. My home is in the district Lince and my Rotary Club is in Pueblo Libre. So I'm spread about the city. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I will get to know more of Lima, but traffic in the city is apparently bad. So we will see how traffic factors into my school morning.

I also received my oh so important guarantee form from my Rotary club. To anyone who doesn't understand the significance of this form, it's essential. Without a guarantee form from your host club, not much is going to happen for you. So I'm more than happy to have it. Additionally, I also received forms to fill out for my visa from my travel agent. I am entering Peru as a tourist, and will get my residential visa while I am there. So, everything is coming together. I have my Rotary jacket, but still need to finish making pins and getting business cards.

That's all I have for now, ¡Hasta Luego!