Lunahuaná

Taking a break in the heavenly shade

Recap of my weekend:

Friday I spent the whole day at home just lounging around, doing homework and skyping. I was able to video skype with my roommate Rebecca and my friend Amy. I am such a huge fan of Skype.

Saturday morning I woke up early because I was determined to get to the bus early/on time. I always seem to get stuck in what my friend Amelia and I refer to as the "Peruvian time warp". It sucks you in and you don't know where the time goes, but you're always late. Its strange because I'm the type of person who is always on time or often early for things, but here I always wind up being late. Although sometimes the time warp goes the other way and I'm 1/2 hour early for class. Well Saturday morning the time warp was not on my side and I arrived late. BUt good news is that I wasn't the last one! So we started our journey to Lunahuaná. It took a little over 3 hours driving along the coast. Most of the coast of Peru is desert but occasionally you'll come to some valleys that are green and luscious because they have a river flowing through. Lunahuaná is located in one of those valleys and the majority of the economy is based on tourism.

When we arrived we got into our hotel rooms and quickly changed to go white-water rafting. We all loaded into 2 vans and drove to where we were going to put in. We stopped along the way to load 2 rafts on each van along with lifevests, helmets and our guides. I was in a raft with 3 girls, our program director Melvin and 3 guides. There was one guy in the back who was in charge. When he shouted ¡Adelante! we paddled, and we stopped when he yelled ¡Alto! It was so much fun! During a calm section of the river we got to hop into the water and float along with the boat. When I jumped in I lost one of my flip-flops and I thought it was gone forever. Then it floated by and I grabbed it. During our rest we walked upstream a bit and then floated down to the boats. That was fun, except the river was pretty low so I kept bumping my bum on the rocks. Then we got back in and finished up. It was a pretty short adventure, maybe 20-30 minutes total. I wish it had been longer because it was a lot of fun. Then we got into the vans all sandy and sopping wet and headed back to the hotel to change.

We then headed down the road a little to our restaurant for lunch. After lunch we went to see some Incan ruins called IncaWasi (Incahuasi). It was pretty cool. Looked like most of the other ruins I've seen before. Unfortunately I left my camera at the hotel so I don't have any pictures from Saturday. We hiked up this HUGE hill and it was wicked windy up top. I almost got blown off a few times. No joke. Okay, well not blown off, but blown back a few times. After checking out the ruins we headed over to a bodega where they make wine the old-fashion way - no machines, no motors, no preservatives.

We even got to squish some grapes with our feet. It tickled a bit at first, then after a while it felt like a massage. Exfoliating. So cool. Then we did some wine and Pisco tasting and had the chance to buy some wine. They only sell it at the vineyard; they don't export to hotels or restaurants in order to preserve the quality. Pretty cool.

After that we took a short walk around the Plaza de Armas de Lunahuaná. There is a really pretty catholic church there. Then it was back tot he restaurant for dinner and then back to the hotel. A lot of people went swimming and did some karaoke by the pool. Amelia, Audrey and I decided to just chill out on their balcony, drink some wine and chat. So we just hung out and Chris joined us for a bit then decided to go swimming. After I finished my wine I headed back to my room, took a shower and fell right asleep.

Me chilling out on some pre-Incan ruins

Sunday morning we got up early to go for a hike/walk. First thing we had to do on the hike was cross the river. And this is how we did it, a cable going across the river with a wooden platform hanging from it. So we put on life jackets and helmets and rode across the river. It was probably the best part of the hike!

Don't mind my face here, I actually did enjoy this

After we had gotten everyone across we started our hike. It was pretty cool. Up and down hills, down by the river and everything. We even passed our hotel. We had a buffet breakfast waiting at the hotel for when we arrived. So when we passed the hotel I was thinking, Ok so we'll probably cross soon to head back for breakfast. Nope. And each step I took was another step farther away from the buffet. We walked for about another hour after passing our hotel. But on the plus side we did get to see some pre-Incan ruins. And just last year they discovered two mummies!! Super exciting. Unfortunately the cage where the mummies are is closed to the public on Sundays. Well that didn't stop our guide. He was determined to have us see those mummies. So he just took the door out of the hinges and we went in to check out the mummies. They were underground so you had to look through a little glass box thing to see them.

Here is Piggy chilling out on some pre-Incan ruins. He likes history. Moving on...after a total of 2 and a half hours of hiking we finally got to a bridge and thank the Lord there was a bus waiting to take us back to the hotel. Buffet has never tasted so good. Then we decided to have a little time of refreshment and go swimming in the pool.

Once refreshed we went to go and ride some horses! We got to the place, put on helmets and picked our horses. We then trotted off. I really had no say in what was going on, the horse was basically in charge. I was just along for the ride. Luckily there were no problems and we just followed the people in front of us. We went up a rocky hill and then came back down. It was pretty fun. Then back to the restaurant for lunch, and after lunch there was time for a nap. Heavenly.

Then it was on to 4-wheeling. Emmett, another kid from my program, and I shared an ATV. The front left wheel looked a little wobbly, but the guide didn't seem too concerned so we just continued. It lasted the whole trip, so whatever. We did however run into a few herds of goats. Which was pretty funny to see. After 4-wheeling we went back to the hotel, packed up and headed back to Lima. So it was an adventure-packed weekend and I had a blast.

In less adventurous, but still very exciting news I successfully made chocolate chip cookies today. And tomorrow is my birthday.

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.

Si no tenemos nada...

Its been a crazy and somewhat stressful week. Classes started at la Católica, but I still don't have a definite schedule, which is a bit frustrating for me. Those of you who know me really well know that I like to have things organized and all planned out. Not all the time, but with things involving school, thats how I like it. Fortunately I've had some experience with chaos and uncertainty through Mexico Outreach. So now it frustrates me, but its also oddly freeing to not have a set schedule. But it does make it hard to set up Skype dates. So good news is that I'll be registering for classes on Monday and then I'll finally be able to settle into a routine. That will be nice...

So I'm hoping to register for Musical Appreciation and Current Literature. I was able to get the music class to count for my fine arts credit for core at Gordon. Thank goodness. In the lit class we will be studying Peruvian poetry. Sounds pretty interesting to me. But the final grade is based off two grades - 40% on the Midterm and 60% on the final. Nothing else. So I'm either going to hit or miss. We'll find out. I've done some work with analyzing poetry before, in previous classes, so I'm fairly confident. But we'll see.

Thursday night I went out to dinner with some of my friends. We went to Pizza Hut. Now hold on, I know what you are thinking. Pizza Hut? Well let me tell you that it is a nice classy restaurant here in Lima. And pizza has never tasted so good. Well thats a lie, my mom's pizza is better (I'm not joking, my mom's pizza really is the best. Ask Jenna or Suse if you don't believe me).

So anyways, we had pizza and just sat around and talked for a while. Its nice to be able to just talk and joke in English. We are all having similar experiences and feelings of inadequacy. Its hard to be constantly surrounded by Spanish. My brain has to work double time just to understand people, so forget about trying to respond or contribute to a conversation. Sometimes I'm just tired and it feels like I don't even speak Spanish. They say that we have the speaking ability of like a 6 or 7 year old. Its hard to communicate and get your point across with such a limited vocabulary. I feel like people don't think I'm very interesting or funny because I can't convey that part of my personality. Hopefully it will get better. I'm sure it will, I just need to be patient and keep working at it.

Saturday CIEE took us on a tour of Villa el Salvador. Its one of the newer and poorer districts of Lima. What happens is that when people can't find anywhere to live, they move in and start inhabiting the areas around the city and start up their own districts. Villa el Salvador is 39 years old. It started with a bunch of people deciding to start building their homes in the middle of the desert. Their slogan or phrase was "Si no tenemos nada, lo haremos todo."

(If we don't have anything, we will make everything) They wanted to build a community, not just a place for people to sleep and then go and work in other parts of Lima. There is a very specific plan for the city, with parks, health centers, schools and sport centers spread evenly throughout. Its pretty cool to see, but there is still a lot of work to be done. And it also has its problems, including a growing gang population. Its a slow process because the people basically just took the land for themselves and are now trying to get titles for the land that they have been living on. Electricity is the first thing to come to a new area, but some places are still without running water. We visited one area called Deporte y Vida where I hope to be volunteering during the semester. This part is 16 years old and does not have running water. They have cisterns outside the houses and have to buy water every few days and it is very expensive. They are hoping to get water within the next few months. Here are some pictures of the area of Deporte y Vida:

Its pretty because its right on the coast. But see those big circle things near the bottom? Those are huge tanks of petroleum. Bad news. PetroPeru the oil company has a plant right next to Villa el Salvador and is polluting the air. There isn't much that the people can do because PetroPeru was there first and they just recently got titles to their land. But they are fighting. I hope that something gets done.

It looked similar to parts of Tijuana that I've seen. But this area here is a bit more developed and planned out. I will be volunteering with the center that works with the youth. I'll be helping out with basically anything, tutoring, crafts, games and just playing with the kids. I'm super excited to get to work with kids. I was thinking today of some fun songs to teach them. Have any suggestions? I'll probably uses some from my Mexico trips, like mono loco and boom chicka boom.

Today I was able to go to church with a few of my friends. Its so nice to be worshiping here in Lima knowing that at the same time, my church family is worshiping back in Peabody. Its a cool connection. The people are so welcoming and want us to come to the youth gathering on Saturday nights. I'll try to go soon. When I got home I ate a little something and then called the Rowley BBQ. I talked with Ben (for a few seconds), Dee and Emilio. I hadn't talked to Emilio since before I left for Mexico, so that was so great. It just makes me so happy inside that everything is going well there. Such an answer to prayer. I can't wait to go back this summer and visit. And eat cornbread and mashpot and swtpot FF and pulled pork. And impress Emilio with my Spanish skills. And see JimJimJimmyJimmyJim. It will be great!

But I've got a ways to go before then! And so much to do and experience. My friends and I are planning to go to Ica for a 4 day weekend during Holy Week. I'm super excited to travel. Next weekend, CIEE is taking us to Lunahuaná. Which from what I hear is wicked awesome. I'll let you know!!

My love to you all!!

I Wish I looked more Peruvian

So my mom would always take a picture of me on my first day of school, all the way through high school. So here's another one to add to the collection!

Today was the first day of classes at la Católica. Which means that all 20,000 students where on campus. Wow. Thats a whole lot of people!

I had two classes today, both through CIEE. First up was Peruvian Social Reality. The course seems like its going to be very interesting. We have 5 major topics that we are going to discuss. For each topic we have to do a blog entry, I'll put up the link to my blog for anyone who is interested. (It will be in Spanish, by the way) The topics are

1. Cultural Diversity in Peru

2. Race and Ethnicity

3. Poverty, Marginalization and Social Distances

4. Identity and National Image

5. Gender in Peru

Sounds pretty cool, right? I think so. In the afternoon I had Spanish class - Advanced Syntax and Composition. Doesn't sound quite as interesting. But its with the same professor from my 2 week intensive Spanish class, who I like very much as a professor. And its a small class (5 students) which is always nice. So tomorrow I'm going to attend my first direct enrollment class with other peruvian students. Scary. I'm going to go to Musical Appreciation. My friend Caitlyn said that it was a pretty easy class, which will be good for me. I don't want to completely overload myself. Then I'm going to go to an Anthropology class in the afternoon with Amelia. This week all the international students can go to whatever classes they want to kind of test them out, its like a trial period. Then next monday we have to choose and pray that the classes we want haven't already filled up.

So it was a bit strange for me to have so many students on campus, since I'm used to cute little Gordon College. The class sizes here aren't wicked large, so it's not so overwhelming all the time. But I definitely wish that I looked more Peruvian sometimes. But I don't. And there really isn't anything I can do about it. The other students may be staring at me because they can obviously tell I'm a foreigner, but I've decided to just let it go and not worry about it. I can't try to be something that I'm not, or in this case try not to be something that I am. Besides I'm hoping that the other students have some respect for us as exchange students. We're coming in here and don't fully know the language and are studying at the best university in all of Peru. Thats legitimate.

On another note, I had a great Sunday. I was able to go to church with some of my friends and I think I'll continue going to that church. There is also a youth group on Saturday nights that my friend Laura attends that I'll probably end up going to as well. After church on Sunday I took a micro over to the church where my peruvian family goes to mass on Sundays. I waited in a park behind the church that overlooked the ocean and took some pictures.

This part of Lima is called la costa verde (the green coast). There are some beaches, but they are mostly rocky. But people still go. There are also people surfing and parasailing. It was such a beautiful day yesterday as you can tell from the pictures. (Sorry to everyone back at home who is drowning in rain.) Then in the evening I met up with some of my christian friends in the group and we hung out in another park down by the ocean and watched the sunset.

These are the real colors. No photoshopping. Absolutely beautiful. And it makes me think of this song:

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

"You're Beautiful" - Phil Wickham

Why yes, I am a tourist.

So last night CIEE had another excursion for us. Doing possibly one of the most-touristy things in LIMA. A Mirabus tour of the city. It was a giant, red, double decker bus. And we sat on top. Since there was no way to avoid the stares and laughter of the limeños on the street, we decided to embrace it. Which included taking many pictures and waving to people as we passed by.

The first exciting sight was some Incan or maybe pre-Incan ruins. Pretty much just some dirt and rocks. Best part, listening to our tour guide's English explanations of what we were seeing. Best thing about the Incan ruins: they are open to the public from Wednesday to Monday. (strange way of saying closed on Tuesdays). Our first stop was at a park filled with different fountains.

We were able to get off the bus and walk around for an hour. It was pretty cool. There was this one fountain that was like a show, with music, lasers, lights and pictures being projected. It was actually amazing what they could do.

Some of the fountains you could run through and there was one that made like an arch walkway that you walked under. Then we got back on the bus and headed towards the center of Lima. Sadly it was getting dark, so picture-taking didn't go too well.

But I tried. Check out those wooden balconies. Pretty cool, huh? We then ended up at the Sheraton Hotel in Lima for a "coffee break" (called the same thing in Spanish, which I think is wicked funny). I had some orange juice and there were three little sandwiches. Yummy!! Then back on the bus to finish off the tour.

So then I got home safely and without any problems. Which is always an accomplishment. And I went to bed!! Woke up this morning and did a few errands with my host mom. Then I headed over to La Marina (one of the streets near the university) to meet up with some girls from my group at the Incan Market. Its a few buildings with little shops filled with all your typical Peruvian/Andean handicrafts and souvenirs. I mostly looked around and got some ideas for gifts for people. If you would like anything specific, let me know! I did end up getting a cute little change purse and a purse. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant called Sandwichs. Then I hopped on a micro and headed home, took a nap and tried to work out my class schedule. Then my host dad comes home and asks me "¿Vas a cenar? (Are you going to eat dinner?)" I said sí and he said "Pues vamos ahorita a una chifa para cenar (Ok, we're going right now to a chifa - peruvian chinese restaurant for dinner)". So that was yummy. Chicken and rice. So much rice. I had no idea that peruvians eat so much rice. Not only with chinese food, but with EVERYTHING. I probably have it at least once a day if not twice.

Monday is the first official day of classes at la Católica. The first week the international students can go to any classes just to get a taste and see if they like/can understand the professor. Then the following Monday (the 22nd) we actually register for classes and pray that the ones I want don't fill up before I can sign up. So it'll be a stressful next couple of weeks. But then I'll finally be able to settle into a routine and time will start flying! My host mom keeps telling me that once I've been here a month, the rest of the time will go by so quickly. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess thats alright, because I'll be coming back in the fall!

Tomorrow I'm going to go to church in Miraflores with my friend Laura. That'll be fun. Then I'll probably just lounge around in the afternoon and call the BBQ to talk with Dee and Emilio. =) Then I think in the evening I'm going to meet up with some christian girls from my program to hang out and probably have a time of prayer. I am so blessed to have found some christian friends here in the program. The pictures up there of me with other people are two of the girls - Amelia and Catalina (Caitlyn). Catalina was here last semester and became good friends with my friends Lauren and Kallee from Gordon. Small world.

And now, its time for bed.

So buenas noches (Señor Jesús).

So much Happiness

Last Saturday we had our first CIEE Cultural Excursion. And we went to the BEACH!!! YAY!!

I absolutely LOVE the ocean and I'm so glad that I am still close to it here in Lima, although its a different ocean from back home. But the effect is still the same, a day spent relaxing with friends, enjoying warm weather. A plus about the beaches here in Peru is that you can do some shopping while sitting in the sand. Vendors walk up and down the beach trying to sell you things. And its a wide array of things: bracelets, jewelry, clothing, wraps, ice cream, drinks, books, pirated music and DVDs, sunglasses. Its great, you just sit there relaxing and they come to you. My friends and I decided that its like online shopping, only better because you don't have to pay for shipping and handling. Although it can get a bit annoying when you really don't want to buy anything. If you show any bit of interest in their product, they keep pestering you for a bit. I was told many times by a lady that I was very pretty and that I should buy a pretty bracelet to match my pretty face. While I appreciated the compliment, I wasn't interested in what she was selling.

Being in the water was probably the best part of the day. The water was warm, way warmer than the Atlantic ever gets up in Gloucester during the summer. Usually up at home, I have to wait for my body to go numb so I just can't feel the frigidness of the water. But here, once I adjusted it was quite refreshing and relaxing. The water was wicked salty and I floated easier. There is just something that I really enjoy about swimming in the ocean. Its like being a part of something bigger than yourself, something that is so powerful and that you really have no control of. I like being able to just let go and float with the waves.

Here are some pictures

La playa el Silencio - now even though it looks cloudy, I still got sunburned. =(

A pelican

A fisherman coming back from a day of fishing

Me and my friend Amelia

So that was a SUPER day. Then this week was the second of my two-week intensive Spanish class. We focused this week on other Latin American countries and looked at their music and their literature. Lucky for me, I had already read most of the stories that we were reading in class, so that made homework a whole lot easier this week.

We read some Juan Rulfo, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jorge Luis Borges. Who are really some of the best Latin American authors of all time. Then we checked out some música, Ranchero (Mexico), Tango (Argentina), Bolero (Cuba), Son Cubano (Cuba), Cumbia Colombiano (Colombia), Vallenato (Colombia). Best part of class today, when my prof told us that later on in the semester we would be analyzing some songs from a popular Colombian artist - JUANES. That easily made my day.

Other things that contributed to the overall happiness of the day:

Seeing a man shaving (with an electric razor) while driving today.

Calling home and talking to my Mom and Dad.

Having ice cream for dinner.

Calling and talking with Mrs. Dee.

Finding out that everything is going well at the BBQ.

Having someone today on campus apologize to me because he didn't speak Spanish very well.(Little did he know that I would have understood him if he spoke English)

Finding a really great song on my iTunes: "Melody" by Kate Earl (Check it out)

(This happened a few days ago, but...) My tattoo:

"And I know that I'm never alone

And I know that my heart is my home

And the music within makes me whole

A world that I built on my own"

-Melody by Kate Earl

Aren't you proud of me?

I am now relatively confident using public transportation to get to and from school. Anywhere else and I need help, but to and from la Católica, I've got it down.

So for those of you who aren't familiar with the public transportation in Lima, I'll fill you in.

There are two people working on the micro/combi, the driver and the cobrador (the guy/sometimes a lady) who stands in the doorway to let people on and off the bus. The cobrador is the one who is actually in charge. He tells the driver when to stop and pull over or when to go. He does this with hand signals out the window and by banging on the side of the bus. The cobrador is also the one who comes and collects money for the ride and gives you a small paper ticket. Whenever the micro/combi comes to a stop, no matter where, even at a stoplight, the cobrador yells out the names of the streets that his vehicle is going to pass through. So as long as you know what main street you are near, you can find one going there and tell the cobrador when you want to get off. To do that you have to say "bajo en la esquina" (I'm getting off at the corner) or "al paradero" (at the bus stop) or in the morning when I'm going to school "bajo en la católica". I'm pretty sure that I stick out like a sore thumb on the micro. But oh well. Thats just how it goes. My ride to school can take anywhere from 45 minutes when there is minimal traffic up to an hour and a half in the evening during rush hour. My ride costs 1.50 S./ (about 50 cents), although my peruvian mom says that it is 1.40 S./. I've argued with the cobrador once when he wanted to charge me 1.60 by telling him that I always pay 1.40 and he seemed upset with me. But I didn't have to give him any more money.

Now, being from Boston, I thought I was used to crazy drivers. But oh no. I think we spend the majority of the time in between lanes. They can cross three or four lanes of traffic in a matter of seconds and come within inches of other vehicles. Also, sometimes when there isn't a traffic light at an intersection, there is a person directing traffic with a whistle.