Quite a Week

My group for Video 1 has been working diligently. We found out we couldn't do a movie scene, so we had to choose a telenovela. It all is working out, though. Tuesday afternoon, Catrin took pictures of Natalie and I. We had to write who we are on the palms of our hands and then stand in front of different backgrounds. I wrote my full name "Violet Marie Lucy Herman" and stood in front of some flowers. I always stand in front of flowers. Natalie wrote "Indefinable" and stood in front of some cool graffiti. That evening, I made some sugar cookies and put a chocolate frosting on them, and they were yummy. They didn't see Wednesday morning, lol.

I saw Wednesday morning, however, and I enjoyed it. We watched two films by a Danish director in Film History class. His name is Carl T. Dreyer, and we watched Praesidenten ("The President") and The Parson's Widow. They were really good. Silent films, of course. I've really gotten a lot out of my film history course that I would not have gotten at Cal State. However, the time has come to admit that I won't get as far along in film history as my peers in the film department at CalState have gotten. Even though I started father back and could teach them a thing or two, I'm only taking the first part of a two part course and it's important to at least skim to the end.

Evening class wasn't that exciting. Thursday was quite busy, however. I had my morning class then I met with my group. We talked for quite a while, and we went out for lunch not too far from the university. Then I had my evening class which took a little longer than usual. That was interesting too. We watched a Gregory Peck film called Cape Fear. It was pretty good. Not great but good. Yesterday was super fun. Yesterday, I went to video class (which was boring) then after class, our jefe de practica, Carlos, showed us the TV studio we'll be working in. OMFG! I HAVE NEVER SEEN A TV STUDIO SO HUGE! The ones at CalState are nowhere near as big. And they have two! An enormous one and one about the size of the biggest one at CalState. But, it's like, seriously, freaking HUGE. It's two stories tall, and they have a walkway up in the rafters. The booth is one story off the ground, so you have to climb stairs to get to it. There's a giant television to view what's on the air. And not like the one in the studio at CalState, this one is big, widescreen, and LCD. The equipment is newer. Dude, I think all the equipment in the department is newer than at CalState. Either this school just has more money or their communications department is newer than our film department. Either way, I will admit that I will miss the equipment. We got to play with the equipment yesterday too. Like, when I got on the camera, I realized that my directions will be in Spanish. One of my group members got on the intercom to direct the cameras, and I could pretty much understand her, so I don't think there will be too much problems next Thursday. Thank goodness, lol.

I don't think I've mentioned much about my new roommate (if I've mentioned her at all). She seems alright, but I don't like to be around her because she's always on the phone. Either that or her phone is always ringing. And she's not in the apartment so much anymore. She's from Arequipa, so I do feel kinda bad for her being the only Peruvian in an apartment full of exchange students mostly from the US. But still, when I try having a conversation with her, she won't engage me. Idk, we'll see. I'm hoping to get out of Lima next weekend, but we'll see.

My Best Weekend Yet

I had a really good weekend. I was not looking forward to my group meeting Saturday night, but it ended up being really good. Daytime was annoying though. I had to go back and forth to the Plaza San Miguel to replace my phone. The meeting was good too. We ordered Pizza Hut for dinner, and we got a lot done. We're replicating a scene from Leon: The Professional. Except it's in Spanish. We did casting and talked about set design. Then we just sorta hung out. THAT was fun. I learned a Peruvian drinking game called vikingos (vikings) but I don't know how the rhyme would work in English. We played that and we played I've never. It was fun.

Sunday I went to 8 am mass. Lots of people were there for Mother's Day. I later went to Huaycan which is a poor barrio en Lima. Natalie and Katie volunteer there, and Gio and Catrin have been going with them. Katie, Gio, and Cat teach an art class, and Natalie teaches two English classes, so I went with her. It was very touching. The homes are quite like I expected. Brick walls, a couple rooms, tin roofs. We did private tutoring in one home. The older sister had picked toys up off the floor and swept it. No matter how poor you are or what your house looks like, everyone tries to keep it clean. Any sane people, anyways. We also taught class in a building called a "comedor" which is like a communal eating area. Women take turns cooking and serving food for everybody. The children were very sweet and very smart. There was an adorable stray kitten that hung out in the second classroom. Beautiful area. None of the roads are paved, though. Not even in el centro. It's tucked right at the root of the mountain and when you get up high enough, you have a beautiful view. I grabbed an empenada de carne for dinner at a bakery that Natalie claimed was the best. She's probably right. In total, we spent about 4 hours commuting.

Today wasn't too exciting. I have to start working on my literature project which I'm not looking forward to. The last half of the year will be a lot of work, but I'm excited for it. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have time to do more as well.

Parciales

This week was parciales and it got me pretty wound up all week. The exams, though, didn't go so badly, though. I mean, I had so much trouble studying, but I did eventually study for each of my exams, and they all were easier than I initially projected. Like, I thought my Quechua exam would be like the homework we did last week. Six pages of translations or something with no vocab list and it was only, like, three pages with a vocab list. So that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Then, while studying for Film History, I started to get all worried because I was like, "How am I supposed to remember all this? And when I do do my exam, how am I supposed to know what he wants to know that I know?" Because that's what our teacher told us last week our exam would be like: just write what you know. Simple enough, right? Well, he ended up asking us four questions, and I knew how to answer all four of them. My lit exam was more difficult, though, but I think I did alright. So I just relaxed Wednesday evening after my last exam. Yesterday was a lot of fun. Natalie and I put together a little 5 de Mayo fiesta. Natalie made MexiCali food, and I baked a Tres Leches cake. All of it turned out delicious. (especially the cake, it didn't survive the evening) A few of Natalie and Katie's friends came over and Gio and Cat ate with us, so it turned out to be quite a party. Then we started crumping and having a crump-off. It was fun. Today was pretty fun too. Natalie and Katie go to this Starbucks five minutes from here often, and the three of us went today and hung out for a couple hours reading. Then Natalie and Katie's friends came over again. Just for like, two hours or something but still. They're cool, so I was glad we got to hang for a bit. That pretty much is my week in a nutshell. Stressful beginning but relaxing ending.

I Guess You Deserve More

I guess my week was more interesting than that. Thursday I went to the mass to celebrate the beatification of JP2. It was nice, but they looked like they were expecting like, 500 people or something and only like, 200 showed up or something. I got an extra bookmark which I guess I will give to Nick. (They gave us blessed posters and bookmarks) There were 8 priests. We watched a Chinese movie in my film class, but I didn't get it. It was about a boy and a girl in 1966. (one of a series of shorts) The girl works in a pool hall and the boy is a soldier who visits her. He leaves and when he returns she's gone so he has to try to find her. She keeps going from pool hall to pool hall, and I don't understand why. I don't know. I just didn't get it, personally. Eventually he found her and the film ended with them waiting for a train and they held hands. Sweet ending, but I didn't get the rest of the movie. Then in the evening, the girls from Indiana and I saw Water for Elephants. I had forgotten how much I miss the movie theater. Nick and I went at least once a month. Although, I don't think I've been to the movies since December or January. I even got popcorn which was super yummy :-)

Friday was normal class. We presented our projects, and I think ours turned out well. I couldn't really tell. Even after critique I couldn't tell.

This weekend was full of studying and avoiding studying. The whole weekend. I finished a whole book, watched a movie, two episodes of Monk, and got halfway through another book. Oh yeah, and I read like 5 pages for literature. I don't know. I've been feeling empty, though, but it's not an unfamiliar feeling. I think it will just pass. At least I hope. I'm serious, though, I want to go home. I just miss Long Beach so desperately. Not just Nick, EVERYTHING. I miss the trees as I walk to class. I guess la Catolica has trees, but they're different. I miss the squirrels, Newman meetings, the film department! Oh, how I miss the Interfaith Center and the Film Department! I miss using my key card to get into the International House. I miss Yogurtland. I miss driving the Zipcar for a surprise weekday visit to Nick while blasting Amp Radio and dancing at the stoplights. I miss the 22, lol. Even during rush hour. I miss fellowship, officer meetings, Bible study. I miss Netflix. I miss Chuck. Ah!!!! I've missed almost the entire newest season!!!! I miss cuddling up on a Friday or Saturday night with Nick and watching an episode of MST3K. There's a lot that I miss. I didn't realize how much I really would miss the US when I left. Aside from people and my chiropractor, I thought there was nothing. All of that, though, is a symbol of LA for me: a symbol of home. I don't so much miss American food because it's not that great to begin with, and I enjoy almost any type of food as long as it's cooked well. I miss my clothes! For God's sake, I have 11 items of clothing. And only 11 items of clothes for 3 months is getting to be quite loathsome. I miss my red dress with the white polka dots but it was impractical to bring with me at the time I left. :-( Yup, I miss LB. Gilligan!!! I miss Gilligan!!! He must be so lonely...Ah, well. 3 more long months until I fly back. 3 more long months until I fly back. 3 more long months until I fly back. 84 days. I counted down the days until I left, and I'm counting down the days until I leave. I want to go home, love Nick, do Newman, and make movies. Then I will be a happy Violet.

I forgot to mention how cool mass was today. Well, mass itself wasn't particularly interesting. We did have a new priest at the church in the park. After mass though, for the feast of our Lord, we processed a crucifix around the church. It was a cool crucifix and people kept taking turns carrying it. We sang and prayed, and it was nice.

I've had an interesting week, and I wanna go back to Long Beach. Right now.

Yay! Film History! :-)

So, this week hasn't been too exciting. Monday and Tuesday were normal classes. Today, though! I was so excited. In film history, I watched a Swedish film titled Ber-Ejvind Och Hans Hustru, a Russian film titled Twilight of a Woman's Soul, and Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. I was wondering when we were going to watch that German film. But I was so excited that we finally did. :-) My teacher learned my name too. When he did role this morning, there were only 5 of us remotely on time so instead of going through the list, we just told him our names. He told me mine, though, lol. I am the unique one of the class, being the only exchange student. I love that class.

I noticed in my afternoon class today that one of the American girls is starting to talk like a Peruvian. Not her accent, but like the things she says and the way she talks. My literature teacher, btw, talked to us in English on Monday, and she had a British accent. Turns out she studied in England for a while. But it's like a weird cross between British and Peruvian. Well, just getting ready for exams, it seems. Not looking forward to them, but I'm planning to study hard this weekend.

Holy Week

Well, sorry I haven't written much, but last week I was a little ocupada porque mi enamorada me visitaba. :-) I'll just give you a quick rundown of how last week went down.

Sunday: I had to work on my project, so I went to 8am mass at my local church. On my way, I noticed something curious. There were women selling palms of intricate designs. I should have bought one, but I didn't, and I was one of about five who didn't have palms for Palm Sunday mass. After mass, I sent Nick on his way to El Centro. I told him exactly how to get there, but he was still nervous. I got no phone calls, so I assumed he made it alright. After my group meeting, we went on a little date in El Centro. Dinner at Norky's, Pisco Sours at Catedral de Pisco, y a walk in the Parque de las Aguas. Norky's wasn't so romantic but everything else was, especially the park.

Monday: We went to the Museo Larco which had ceramics from all throughout pre-Incan history and even some Incan gold. (Not much, tho) Then we went to the restaurant where my friends and I go every Friday, and Nick had Lomo Saltado (a typical Peruvian dish of beef, onions, and tomatoes). He avoided the juice. Then class and a quite evening of Date Night and ice cream. (Date Night is a great movie, btw)

Tuesday: I had morning class and a group meeting. But after the group meeting, Nick and I went on our anniversary date <3 We went to Larcomar in Miraflores where we ate dinner at a nice restaurant called Mango. I mean, all-in-all it's not that expensive in dollars (fairly cheap for an anniversary dinner) but in soles super expensive. Like, rich people expensive. Then we went to a bar overlooking the ocean (Mango overlooked the ocean too) for cocktails. We had an early morning Wednesday, so we left after that.

Wednesday: Super fun! We finally filmed our project. We drove all over Lima, and Nick became buddy-buddy with my teacher, lol. Which made sense because they're closer in age than Nick is with any of my group members. It was a lot of work, and we had much to overcome, but we did it. It was so fun, and we got all that we needed. We went out for drinks afterwards but just for beer, so Nick, one of my friends, and I drank soda. Then Nick and I called it an early night because he was super bored. At midnight, Nick gave me my birthday present which was a talking Elvis card (AAAAHHHHH!!!! <3 <3 <3) and the first season of Monk on DVD. Not something I really need, but if you know the story of my birthday present last year, it's funny. I suppose I can expect season 2 next year, lol.

Thursday was actually fairly busy. We slept in and went to El Centro where we went to el Santuario de Santa Rosa de Lima. There were so many people! Who were still walking around with palms. Some of the palms even had crucifixes in them. They're so cool! Anyway, apparently people were there to be blessed by the priest. Nick and I went to confession. Then we went to lunch, and I got to have my favorite food for my primero: cebiche!!! :-) We tried going to the Museo de la Inquisicion, but it was closed. Lots of people were at the Cathedral too. Nick and I couldn't go inside unless we waited in like, so we assumed everyone was waiting for a blessing just like at the Santuario. Since we couldn't go to the museum, we went to a bakery where Nick bought me a piece of birthday cake. I couldn't finish because it was mostly frosting, so we took it back, and got ready for our trip. In the evening we got on the bus and rode to Huancayo.

Friday: The best day ever!!! We check into our hotel, take a rest, and go to la Plaza de la Constitucion. I finally did it. All week I was jealous I didn't have one, and I finally bought myself a S/5 palm with a crucifix, and I loved it. Nick and I went to visit Jesus' tomb. We go up to Him to get the holy water to bless ourselves and my palm and touch the sarcophagus. At 3, we go to the Cathedral for Good Friday service. At the end of the service, we go up to a small crucifix and kiss it. There's a bigger, more lifelike one at the front, but the line is super long. We then head outside to wait for the procession. And then, they carry Jesus in a glass sarcophagus out of the Cathedral. Maria de los Dolorozos is soon to follow. We watch for a bit then eat dinner. When we return, of course the procession is still going on. I notice everyone has these weird crowns of flowers. I ask a girl selling them what they're for and I think she says that you give them to someone for a blessing. So Nick buys me one. Later, I'm holding mine, and a lady tells me I'm missing one for Nick. So we're like, ok, maybe guys wear them too or something. But no one's wearing them, just holding them. We put them on and have the lady take a picture of us. She laughs and mutters something to her husband that I don't understand. A few people stare at us and laugh at us. We follow the procession off and on for a while. Later, Nick realizes that the crowns are supposed to go onto the sarcophagus. Oops. Later, Nick bravely asserts fights his way to Jesus to give Him his crown, and he does it! Nick wouldn't let me give mine away, so I touch the skirt of Mary with mine. Woohoo! We have blessed crowns! We follow the procession pretty much back to the Cathedral. We head back early to wait at the Cathedral for Jesus and Mary's return. People were still kissing the giant crucifix, so Nick and I went and did it too. I touched Him with my palm and crown, and Nick and I kissed him together. It's pretty brutal looking. Jesus' knees, side, hands, and head are all bloody just like in the sarcophagus. Finally, Jesus and Mary make their way back, and after they're tucked away, Nick and I return to the hotel for a good night's rest.

Saturday: In the morning on our way to El Centro for breakfast, a parade of people playing music and dancing in colorful costumes is going on. Apparently some kind of festival was going on for the native people of the area of Huancayo. After breakfast, we went up to a different village on the mountain where I let Nick try some of my favorite Peruvian food: anticucho (cow heart) So good! There were lots of poor children up there though, which made me really sad. Because of the poverty, I felt strange when we took a walk through the village to get to another part of the mountain. I did like when some of the children said "hello" to us (in both Spanish and English) We didn't make it because Nick and I both were suffering altitude sickness, but we got high enough to a spot where we had a fantastic view. We headed back, and ate dinner back at El Centro de Huancayo. At 4pm, people were already lining up to get a seat inside the Cathedral for the vigil mass. (doors didn't open until 6 and mass started at 6:30) I bought Nick a palm because I thought he should have one, and we took it to Jesus' tomb to have it blessed. After dinner, we too waited outside the Cathedral, and found our seats. Nick then went to get us candles. We only stayed for the lighting of the candles because Nick knew he would be bored. We walked around a bit and ended up in a cafe to drink hot chocolate and talk. We went back to the hotel to collect our things and walk to the bus station. We left and slept on the bus back to Lima.

Sunday: We arrive early and head back to the apartment where we sleep for an hour or two and go to 10am mass in the park. That was the longest freakin' Sunday service I have ever been to. The priest gave the longest homily, and he had an opinion at every point during the service. He's cool, but he just talks a lot. We go back to the apartment where I make Easter breakfast for Nick and I. In the afternoon, we take a bus back to Larcomar in Miraflores to a bar along the ocean for Pisco Sours. After cocktails, we walked to Parque del Amor for a picnic. It's a beautiful park with quotes everywhere, and a giant statue of two people kissing, and it's right along the ocean. Absolutely beautiful. Then we head back to the house for an hour or so then to the aiport where Nick and I spend one last hour together before he goes through security and heads back to California.

Overall, Holy Week was great. Semana Santa was fun, and I was so glad to spend that week with Nick. I wish he could have stayed longer, and I'm grateful that he came at all. It was the best week I've spent in Peru so far, and probably will only be topped by Machu Picchu. I'll get back to my normal blogging tomorrow. Until then, Feliz Pascua!