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.