Sunday, May 22, 2011

Hoy vamos a nuestros familias!

Today was a very exciting day as we arrived at our Lima host families. I was greeted with open arms by my host father, Alan, and quickly met the whole family. My host father is Canadian and his wife, Shirley, is Peruvian (although Shirley says that Alan is more Peruano than her). They have two children, Alana, 13, and Salvador, 11, and a pup named Taffy! (Sidenote: I miss my dog). Everyone but Shirley spoke Spanish and English fluently; with my disease it is very comforting to know that in an emergency, I could communicate clearly with my familia de Lima.

I was given a quick tour of the apartment and shown to my room to unpack. By the time I had settled in, it was time for lunch. The whole family was there! I met Shirley’s mother, sister & novio, and brother & novia. We ate an enormous lunch from Pardo’s Chicken, a popular chain in Lima. The food was incredible! There were huge amounts of chicken, rice, papa pure (potato puree, like Peruvian mashed potatoes!), and salad! I took it upon myself to mix the papa pure with my rice. YUM. Shirley said that I could be Peruvian because apparently this is a very common way to eat arroz y papas! I sat and chatted with the family for a little while. I had a little trouble understanding Shirley’s sister because she spoke so quickly! But my familia was very gracious and made an effort to speak slowly and clearly.

After lunch, I had some down time to relax and chat with boyfriend, friends and family via skype. So nice to catch up with everyone after a whirlwind first week in Peru! I went to bed early tonight because our first day at school and at The Air Force School was the next day!