First week of classes=loco

So this has been our first week of classes (the Spanish speakers) and we´ve been going to a ton of Catolica classes to see which ones we like. It´s tough because we aren´t familiar with the professors, etc., but we also have some Catolica friends who have been helping us somewhat. It´s funny because here students start at la Catolica when they´re 16, then spend two years in Estudios Generales before they start their ´carrera´. And since Spanish is our second language, we´ve mostly been going to the general studies courses which are filled with 16 year olds. Haha. We´ve also met other foreign students who are in the same boat and are totally cool people so that´s been fun. But it´s also kind of stressful figuring out what classes to take.

So far I´ve been to 5 classes...Gender relations is an upper level Anthro class which reminded me so much of Professor McKinnon´s (my favorite Anth professor!) class. The teacher was fantastic, but as it was an upper level class, the readings were serious Anthro readings by important authors who are difficult to read in English, so imagine them in Spanish! I think I could handle the class and it would be interesting but it would be a ton of work and I´m mostly here to learn Spanish and experience Peru. I´ve also had a class similar to it before so I know most of the material. But I admit it´s strange trying to find easy classes because I´m used to really wanting to challenge myself intellectually and jump into school completely, but the language barrier is challenge enough!

I also went to Quechua 1, which was really really really interesting. We´ll be learning some basic Quechua and also Andean history and culture at the same time. Totally up my alley as an Anthropology major, but I have to figure out the scheduling so that´s a pain.

I went to Ecotourism yesterday, which seems really interesting and I really knew nothing about, but is related to Anthropology and Biology (the Ecology aspect of which I know little about actually).

I might take Andean Archaeology, which I didn´t go to but sounds really interesting and again is very related to my major and other courses that I´ve taken.

I also went to Culture of Peace and Urban Anthropology which were horribly boring. I´ll probably take 1 or 2 English UVa classes and then an upper level Spanish course as well.

I have some random thoughts about my stay so far:
*The classes here are so similar to those in the states. The format is very similar, and the dynamic is similar...for example, no one speaks but the professor insists that he or she wants the classes to be discussion-oriented. Haha.
*I´ve had more women professors that I expected.
*It´s really cool that here at Catolica and other places in Lima they have two trash cans...one for organic waste (like for compost) and the other for recycling. Didn´t expect that.
*I remember thinking when I was walking down the streets at UVa that in a couple of months I would be walking down the streets at la Catolica in Peru. It´s weird that it´s finally happening.
*One of the weirdest things is not doing everything for myself. For example, at the cafeteria we don´t bring our trays anywhere, someone comes and picks them up for us. Another weird thing is that there are always workers in the school buildings that carry desks around to different classrooms to accommodate overflow of students.
*The ´culture of service´ here after the earthquake reminds me a lot of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people are going down to help in Ica, and Raysa, our roommate from Cusco, said that Meghan and I could maybe go with her if she goes. We´ll see! But it´s interesting how much everyone bonds over their experiences with the earthquake and the stories coming out of Ica.
*It´s starting to get frustrating when I can´t express myself in Spanish...I really want to get to that point when it clicks and I start feeling more comfortable and my Spanish becomes more fluid...Ojalá that I get to that point. I haven´t heard or spoken Spanish this much, probably ever, but definitely not since elementary school. And I´m picking apart the Peruvian accent little by little and thankfully it´s one of the easier to understand. I think my ability to understand has been improving at a faster rate than my ability to speak, which I guess makes sense.

Oh...I forgot! We went out last night with the group from UVa and Paco (our amazing resident director) and had anticucho, which is a Limeño classic of grilled cow heart on a stick. It was surprisingly good but I mostly ate the chicken anticucho (NOT chicken heart).

OK, Chao.
S