One Down

As of today I have been in Peru for a whole month!! Wow. That is pretty much unbelievable. It doesn't feel like a month. Sometimes it feels like I just flew in a few days ago and sometimes it seems like an eternity. It really depends. Weird how time passes here. Maybe I'm like in some sort of time portal where nothing every feels or seems like what it really is. Maybe...

In other news, I finally registered for classes on Monday. I got up wicked early (5:30) to shower and then leave at 6:30 to head to school. I arrived a little after seven. There isn't much traffic so early in the morning, but the micro was still very very full.

While I'm on the subject of full micros, I'd like to give a shout out to the guy on the micro that always lets me have a seat when there is an empty one. I've been on the micro with him a few times and whenever a seat opens up, he always taps me and lets me know so that I can sit down. How nice of him. So thank you, whoever you may be. I've found both ends of the spectrum, there was a little punk who snuck into a seat that I was going for, and I've had a man actually give up his seat for me.

Ok, back to registration. So I arrived at la Católica and was number 38. Not bad, considering there were over 200 exchange students. So I waited in a classroom until around 9:15 then I was able to go in and register. I had no problem getting into the classes that I wanted, for which I am very thankful. Some others weren't so lucky. So now I'm officially a student and I've even got a student ID to prove it.

Here I am with my registration card. The stamp says: MATRICULA COMPLETA. And I am overjoyed. So no more stress about getting into classes and not having a schedule.

I'm taking Current Literature and Musical Appreciation. My professors are pretty much polar opposites of each other. My music teacher is very free spirited and just wants us to learn to appreciate and enjoy music without judgements or prejudices. He's pretty chill about people arriving late and usually gets there late himself. He is probably in his 50s or 60s and has the biggest eyebrows and nose and you can always see some gray chest hair peeking out of the top of his shirt. My lit professor is on the younger side, maybe in his 30s. He is wicked strict about being on time. The first day of class two of my friends from the program and I had trouble finding the classroom so we arrived about 10 minutes late. (Mind you, things in Peru almost never start on time) We walked in and he looked at us with a very stern look on his face and said "última vez" which translates to "last time". It was intense. He's pretty serious and closes and locks the door when class starts so no one else can enter. His theory is if your late you need to take responsibility for your error, wake up earlier and get to class on time. End of story. Which I can see where he's coming from, but its still intimidating.

So classes are going well. I haven't been late to my lit class yet, but there have been a few close calls. I've also been able to check out the two christian groups on campus. I don't quite understand the division between the two. Apparently they used to be one, but there was a split a while back. So Amelia and I went to one the first week with our friend Catalina. Then this week we decided to check out the other one. Shhh don't tell anyone. They meet at the same time in the same building. So we were afraid that people from the other group would see us. But we got away with it. I really liked the one that we went to today. The people are really friendly and we had lunch with some of them and chatted for a while. I mentioned that next Wednesday is my birthday and they all got excited and insisted that we go out. I've kind of got plans for next weekend (Ica), so I think they decided to wait until the following weekend. We'll see. Best part = they told us that our Spanish was very good and that we spoke well. Hallelujah.

I just got back from a night out with some of my girl friends. We went to Crepes & Waffles for dinner and then went over to my friend Laura's house to watch a movie. We watched "Did you hear about the Morgans?" Which I'm pretty sure is still in theaters in the states, but Laura bought it for 2 soles here in Peru. We only watched half of the movie because it was getting late and I wanted to make sure that I was safe coming home on the micros. And I was. I'm starting to feel relatively comfortable with the transportation.

I'm currently done with classes for the weekend. Tomorrow I'll sleep in and do some homework for Monday. Then on Saturday we (CIEE) are going to Lunahuaná. I'm pumped.

Alright, its almost 1 am, so bed time.

Buenas noches (Señor Jesús)

ps-sorry no exicting pictures. I promise I'll have some after this weekend.