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!

He's Almost Here :-)

Today was quite the busy day. I went to school early to go to confession, but there was no confession. They had adoration instead, so I stayed until I had to go to class. (truth be told tho I probably could have stayed until the priest put the Eucharist away) It was nice. I confessed my sins to Jesus, but it would be nice to see a priest. Class was so boring. We had a presentation apparently that I didn't know about. See! It's a good thing my Video 1 class is a group effort because I would not have done any of my assignments, lol. I didn't say anything, and I was glad because I am self conscious about my Spanish especially since I'm the only exchange student in my class. My group knows, and they understand. I guess it's silly to be self conscious of my Spanish because I know no one would judge me. I guess it's more of a personal thing. I want to be really good at Spanish, but I'm not. I suppose the only way to get good, though, is to practice. Afterwards, a few of us went to lunch, and the director, the other girl who probably should be producer instead of me, and myself finalized our report to submit to our teacher about our program, and the other girl and I made the shooting schedule. I told her I just wanted to see the outline, and she and I sat there for like an hour working on it. Oh! And it's been bugging me because everyone keeps referring to the narrador as voz en off, and I had no idea why it was called that. I asked one of the girls in my group, and she told me it was because the voice was off screen. That makes sense, so I was satisfied, lol. I spent all day working.

This evening, a bunch of friends of my roommates came over for Natalie's birthday. We had like a pre-party where we drank, hung out, and ate the cake I baked. Everyone enjoyed it and thought the frosting was really good. Even us who aren't huge fans of frosting enjoyed this frosting. Last night when I made it, I tried it before I finished and it was definitely too sweet, so I just added more milk, and it tasted perfectly. Then we went to this club called Gothica. It's the most expensive in Lima. (S/100.00) Natalile's and Katie's friend got us all on the list, so we didn't have to pay. The alcohol was expensive, though, so we just bought a bottle of whiskey and split the cost. I hate whiskey, apparently. It was pretty fun. It was nice if nothing else, but it wasn't really that special. Like, I didn't feel like it was extraordinary. To be honest, friends make the club experience, and that's something I've definitely noticed. Good music, good friends, and everything else will come. I noticed I was very cautious about dancing with guys which I think I have every right too be. For a few guy friends it wasn't necessary but for one, he was definitely pushing my new comfort zone. Everything was fine, though. It was a fun night, and Natalie had a good time which was the important thing. So excited for tomorrow, all ready to go.

The Big Event

Last few days haven't been that exciting. I don't know, I don't feel like my life is more exciting because I'm in Peru. Well, Tuesday was the Big Event: my haircut! Yes, I went to Quechua in the morning and got my haircut a little while later. I went to the place down the street that did my roommate's hair well. I told him I wanted "capas" (layers) and not only did he gesture to prove we were on the same page, but he got out a book and showed me a picture. He was cheap too, only S/15. My hair turned out really well, as you can hopefully see in the picture. I didn't feel like doing homework, so I didn't. I watched a movie instead, lol. Didn't even take a nap.

Film History yesterday was really fun. We watched Intolerance. That also is in the book. I'm so glad that even though I'm away from the book and my Netflix, I can still cross movies off. I really enjoyed the film. My favorite character was the Babylonian chick because when a boy so much as looked at her, she was yelling at him. She took no crap from anybody. One guy kissed her without her consent, and he was sorry. And when they auctioned her off as a bride, she did not try to appeal to the male of our species and she didn't care. She rocked. While the other chick, like their story eventually got good, but the gangster dude pissed me off because he kept harassing the girl and was quite aggressive. In my afternoon class, we talked about that stupid book. No one liked the book except for this one American chick. I don't like romanticism - English nor Spanish. That's just the way I am. But my teacher even said that this wasn't a good piece of literature. We only read it to learn about the genre. In the evening, I went to the library and watched Midnight Cowboy. I've seen some of it already, and thank goodness I've already seen the ending because due to technical difficulties we couldn't watch the very end. They made it to Florida and the computer battery died.

Today wasn't too interesting either. In Quechua class, we learned about the different languages in Peru and a brief general history of them and the "Castellanizacion" of Peru. (Castellano means "Spanish" - don't ask, I don't know) I like Quechua, it's fairly simple gramatically, and I think it's very nice to listen to. Then I met with my group in the afternoon. The film department is very different from that of Long Beach. They have editing rooms, but they're bigger. They only have one television studio and no booth. (ha!) They have a really awesome service that's more for the protection of the equipment than for ourselves. We get a van, driver, and security guard whenever we have a film shoot off campus. People don't have cars, and public transportation and taxis are not safe for the equipment. (lucky us!) Also, we don't need a permit to shoot on campus and they have this special thing to let our teacher know when we're missing class for a film shoot. At Long Beach, we're on our own in that department. I don't know, I think it's about the size of the one in Long Beach, and has it's advantages and disadvantages. I wouldn't trade it for Long Beach, though. I realize that all film students around the world are the same. We all have the same dream, the same appreciation, understanding, and love of film. What separates me from them is, by the Grace of God I was born in California/EEUU. This afternoon in my film class, we watched a film called Dioses from 2008. It's a Peruvian film about a rich family. It gets really weird though because the brother and sister are in their 20's and the brother develops some strange sexual obsession with his sister. idk... it's part of the story though. Everyone kept talking about how the story was about the difference between the two classes. While they were talking about that, I was thinking about how they were wrong. And when the conversation was over and I finally put my ideas together, they were done, so now I have to write a damn paper, which in retrospect won't be that difficult. But still. I thought about how the film is more about dissatisfaction. The brother is unsatisfied with his father, his riches, and his lack of a sexual life. So he finds satisfaction in switching his major and obsessing with his sister. Obsessing over his sister though also doesn't bring satisfaction, but when a real woman comes into his life, he still thinks about his sister so in a way it still brings some kind of satisfaction. But all the members of the family were dissatisfied with something. I guess you could argue the class thing, but I think it's more about the dissatisfaction. This evening I baked a cake for my roommate for her birthday. I hope she likes it. She turns 21 tomorrow and wants to pretend we're in the states even though we're not, lol.

Countdown!!!

Nick's almost here :-) I'm so excited for his visit! I have lots planned, and you will hear all about it.

Well, I haven't worked much on my video project since Saturday. On Wednesday night we finally decided on our theme and since then we've been perfecting the show.

Yesterday was the elections, and so Ollanta and Keiko are going on to the final round or whatever. I went to mass in the park, but the church was closed, and I wasn't surprised. So I just went to mass at a different church in the evening.

I didn't do much yesterday except read. I loved the book I was reading. It was like a telenovela. It was a love story. One of those kinds that I hate. This dude falls in love with this chick. She falls in love with and marries a richer man. She cheats on said man and becomes pregnant. He leaves her. He dies. The first dude gets engaged to the chick's cousin. The chick comes back with her baby and without her late husband. Chick falls in love with dude again, and dude is still in love with chick. They get married and live happily ever after. It pissed me off that that dude never stopped loving chick. It reminded me of Jane Eyre, and I hated that book.

Today I read too. En la manana. Ooh! the first big event of today was I got a haircut. I went to the salon down the street. I made sure I knew the word for layers before I went, and when I told him I wanted capas, he made a gesture that indicated we were on the same page. He then showed me a picture, and it looked good. I got nervous halfway though though when he kept cutting the top layers. I was worried it would be too short, but it turned out well. It was a scary moment, but all is well. Then this evening, my roommate and I saw the movie Nobody Knows Anything About Persian Cats. It was so good! I want the soundtrack. They didn't have subtitles of the songs, but you didn't need them because the images they showed told you how the song felt which is the important part. Such a well done film. So tragic too. It was really good.

Video 1

Yesterday was quite a day. Class in the morning/afternoon. When class was over, we stayed around to work on our project. We met with our teacher/mentor for the project. Wednesday night when we met with him, we had to come up with a new topic, and it took like 2 hours, but we finally for real decided on a topic everyone can agree on and the teacher approves of. Our show is about famous directors of Latin America. Our first project is about Claudia Llosa of Peru. She directed Milk of Sorrow which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film last year at the Oscars. Yesterday we got familiar with the equipment which was fun. We're using a really nice camera. Probably nicer than the camera we used to make The Loan Shark. Beautiful picture. My teacher notices that I'm very quiet, and he talks to me. It's funny, almost everyone asks me if my real name is "Violet" or if it really is "Violeta" and then they sometimes ask why I just say "Violeta" so I have to explain about my first trip to Espana and how it's just easier. I am very quiet in the group. Sometimes I'll have something to contribute but usually not anything. I don't know.

Then today I worked with my group again. Afterwards I went to Plaza San Miguel for lunch and grocery shopping. I should have gotten lunch inside Wong, but I didn't think of that so I ended up at McDonald's. It was the cheapest restaurant I could find. I had a Big Mac, and I didn't like it. I don't know why I eat hamburgers because I'm very picky. I remember when I was walking around trying to decide what I want. I suggested McDonald's to myself, but I initially rejected the idea because I knew I would find it gross and feel icky afterwards. That's exactly what happened. I felt gross and the burger wasn't very good. So I got all my ingredients for my roommate's birthday cake. Her birthday is a week before mine. Then I came back and just sorta hung around. Tomorrow is election day, so it'll be interesting to see how Lima is on election day.

One thing I've noticed that I keep forgetting to mention, but there are Mourning Doves in this country. Everywhere I've been there has been pigeons but not always Mourning Doves. These are a different kind, but there pretty because they have a bright blue on their beak. I always see them having breakfast in the morning on my way to school. They're so sweet!

3 days of film, woot!

Tuesday, nothing exciting happened. I had class in the morning and nothing the rest of the day. I had another quiz in Quechua, and I did better, but not great. I went to the library to get my Quechua book. One thing led to another and I ended up checking my school e-mail for the first time in 3 weeks and apparently my teacher has been sending us e-mails telling us what's on the quizzes. fml. Well, now I know what will be for sure on the next one.

Yesterday was so awesome! In Film History we had a substitute (which wasn't awesome, I like our teacher), but we watched Birth of a Nation by David W. Griffith. It's a very famous black & white, 3-hour, silent film from 1915. It's in "the book," so not only have I heard of it before, but I've seen it. I got more out of it this time, so I'm glad I did see it again. The teacher talked about the film's place in history or whatever, but he didn't mention that the actors who play the black characters are white dudes in make-up. I find that to be a very interesting and important part of film history. Like in Shakespeare's time when white dude's even played the parts of the women. I still enjoyed the film. During the film, I realized that the rest of the class was having a different experience than I was having. This is a piece of my country's history (a very intimate piece even). I had no idea how my classmates were feeling or what they thought of the film. I think I'll ask someone next week. The girl sitting next to me though fell asleep halfway through. (I guess I don't blame her, on one level it's boring, but I love it) That's my favorite class so far, but I'll probably say that about the next one, lol. Then literature was normal.

Today wasn't that exciting either. I went to class, and we ended the class by translating long sentences, and I was proud of myself when I learned that I could. Nuqa huk t'anta Pedrop wawkinman mikhuypaq quni. (Doy un pan al hermano de Pedro para comer.) Afterwards, I sat outside the church and wrote down my sins in Spanish so I could go to confession. I went to the little church on campus, and not only could I find no confessional, but I could find no priest. I'll go again on Tuesday and try again. So then I went to the communications department to wait for my group because we were going to give the screenplay to our teacher. While I waited, I talked with another group of students. They spoke quickly with me, but all-in-all I could understand them and respond quickly as well. I surprised myself in that way today. I also was able to talk quickly as well during film class. Apparently I didn't "grasp it all" but I was proud that I could communicate. That pissed me off because in the first class the teacher said there wasn't a wrong answer. I hate when teachers do that. Well, only one member of my group showed up, and we couldn't print the screenplay, so a little afternoon I left. Then had class and the rest of my day was uninteresting. Sunday is election day so only a few more days. Today there was like some kind of closing ceremony that I watched on the TV. Oh! I forgot! I watched La Betty Fea during dinner. I had a little trouble getting into it because I didn't know which actor was which character (except for Betty). Once I figured that out, I was good to go. And the Mode office looked similar to the American one. I was glad I caught that.

Trouble with Tribbles. I mean Literatura.

Today was a slow day. This morning I finished my reading for Literatura, and I was so excited! I knew what the play was about. I knew enough that I could yell at it the way I yell at Ugly Betty. I felt so ready for class this afternoon. Turns out though we were supposed to read something else instead, and the teacher forgot to tell us. Pero bueno. We still had the lecture.

It was cold when I walked home from school. It was cloudy with a light layer of fog. It was foggy in the morning sometime last week too. I guess it's getting to be that time of year in Lima. I guess the April fog in Lima is famous in poetry and stuff. I can't wait for Nick to bring me my leather jacket. That'll keep me nice and warm. :-)

This picture is of me en la Plaza de Armas in Central Lima in front of the fountain. This is kinda old, but I thought you all deserved something interesting.

NOW We Can do Pre-Production

Today I just worked on my video project. I went to 8am mass where we sang, but not as much as at the other masses. Then I went to school and of course was the first of my group to arrive. We went to Luciano's house. (he doesn't live far from La Catolica) We spent 5 hours talking about what our show should be when I thought we'd already decided it. For lunch, instead of going out, we ordered Norky's delivered. The six of us ate 1 1/2 chickens, french fries (ate my with aji; yum!), salad and like, 2 liters of Coke. The chicken was really good. I think I can enjoy chicken a la brasa. Well, we finally decided on a topic, and this week we'll start on pre-production.

Peruvians love chicken. I had it for each of my meals today: chicken sandwiches for breakfast, chicken a la brasa for lunch, and broiled chicken for dinner. I just know it, I'm going to hate chicken when I get back. I was so grateful for my ok tasting fish last night.

Tonight was the presidential debate between the five candidates. Honestly, you have not experienced a campaign until you've experienced a Peruvian one. Parties painted on walls, mountains, PPK set up a display or something in the park, there are signs everywhere especially of Keiko and Toledo. They all seem to be running on the same platform, PPK has a PPKuy (a guinea pig mascot), I've seen Toledo dance on TV, and the candidates didn't look natural nor relaxed during the debate. Plus they kept reading off their notes. Election is next Sunday, so we'll see.

This evening I baked a different kind of brownies with marshmallows and peanut butter with the chocolate. They turned out quite well, but nothing too special. We'll see how the roommates like them.

An Exciting Weekend

Yesterday was pretty good. I had class, and my group just worked on our project. Then we went to lunch, and one of my group members helped me figure out meatless food. Even though I stopped fasting I'm still honoring the no meat on Fridays. In the evening, the school showed Rosemary's Baby in the library amphitheater. (which was actually quite small) My Companero PUCP Luis and I went to see it, and we both enjoyed it. It was both our first time watching it. It feels good to go to the movies with another film student. There are more films next week that I want to see, so I'll invite him to come with me.

Today was less exciting than yesterday. I have tons of reading to do for Literatura entonces I spent almost the whole day reading. I got through half the play. I took a break in the afternoon to go grocery shopping for brownie ingredients. I'm baking different brownies tomorrow. I stopped at Starbucks on my way home because I wanted to buy a travel mug that my roommates have. I also got a frappuccino. The senoritas at the Starbucks were so nice! They were like asking me about what I'm doing in Peru, how long I'm staying. One of them guessed correctly that I study at La Catolica. They also said I spoke Spanish very well and asked how I learned. I didn't have my contacts in, so I couldn't read the board. I told one of the senoritas that I wanted a frappuccino, and she recommended one to me. I don't know what it was because I couldn't understand her. She said something about forty years, so I just said "ok," lol.

I was so proud of myself because I made it halfway through the play I need to read. (only because it's a fairly quick read compared to what I've been reading) This evening, my roommates, and I chilled out together. Natalie is in the US but the rest of us are here and we drank and played cards. Giovanni and Catalin taught us an Italian card game, and it was pretty fun.

Not much planned tomorrow so once again a chilled weekend. I need to get out more.