Frupasion

Today was the longest day EVER. I have to observe two TEFL teachers this week, so I went in at 8:00am to get one out of the way before my 6 hour class. The teacher I observed was great and her students loved her so that was good motivation. TEFL class was long. More notes, more group work. In the afternoon we had a man come in to give us a Quechua lesson (quechua is an ancient Incan language) to show us how difficult it can be for students to learn a language when they have little to no experience with it. It was definitely an eye opener. It took us 45 minutes just to learn basic greetings. My brain was fried after those 45 minutes, but it definitely showed us that we need to be patient with our students. AND it's a beautiful language. Their greeting "allillanchu" literally translates to "how is the village within you?" and "tupananchiskama" translates to "until we meet again in this life or the next". I also signed up to teach my first mini lesson this Friday! I have to teach a basic "how to" lesson. I'm thinking "how to make a peanutbutter and banana sandwich" or "how to do" a certain yoga pose. We'll see.

I grabbed lunch with a few classmates today instead of taking the ham&cheese sandwich from my house. I got my first fresh juice, a "frupasion" which was fresh orange & passion fruit juices. Amazing. I also had an avocado & tomato sandwich that left a little to be desired, but the juice made up for it. Got my vitamin C for the day!

I had a few things I wanted to get this afternoon so I ventured to an artisan market with my housemate and made my first purchases in Peru!

I bought a little wallet because Peruvian money (soles) uses a lot of coins. I also bought a sweet bracelet and, yes, some Nature Valley bars. Hey, a girl's gotta snack. Then I got a sweet bag to carry my books to & from class. I've been using my awesome laptop bag, but it's pretty bulky and I don't even take my laptop so I wanted something lighter.

We also stopped at a natural food & vitamin store so my housemate, Maggie, could pick up some "miel con propolio". It's honey with a mix of plant resin and bee secretions. It sounds gross, but she's sick and several people have recommended it. It's apparently a cure-all. That and coca tea, which I've become addicted to. It's made from the Coca plant (aka cocaine!) and apparently I wouldn't pass a drug test if I took one after drinking so much of it, but it's delicious, wakes me up, and gets rid of my altitude headache :)

After that, Maggie went home and I did the unthinkable...I went to the supermarket by MYSELF (calm down Mom and Dad, I survived). A girl at Maximo recommended this drinkable yogurt drink with probiotics that protects against the crazy parasites and things in the food & water down here. It also boosts your immune system, so I wanted to buy some. It's only a few blocks from my casa and I wanted to get them before my trip this weekend. Nothing eventful or scary. I went in, bought 8 yogurts for 10 soles (about $3.75), and walked home. And I survived! People really are harmless here. It's like any other city in the world: as long as you watch your back and aren't ignorant, you'll be fine. Not that I'd go frolicking around in the dark by myself, but I know my way around enough now to go to the store alone. I feel pretty accomplished!

Sorry this was a relatively boring post. Time to go write a paper and start my lesson for Friday! Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone! Get your drink on for me :)

Love<3