Daily Life: My daily life with my host family is great. I am currently living with the Calizaya family, and I will be switching to the Barreda family in the first week of January. My current family works like this: my host dad will be home about 0.75 times a week (75% chance he'll be at home for one day each week). This is unfortunate, and I wish he was home more often. My host mom, Eusebia, and her host sister, Norma, are home much more often, but they are also absent for around 1-3 hours every day. Some days only for a few periods of 20 minutes throughout the day, some days for 3 consecutive hours. I can only recall one mild argument ever occurring within the family, during the stressful week my host sister, Gabriela, was departing for her exchange in Kingston.
School: School in Peru runs from late February - early March until mid-December. My school ends on December 15th, with exams from the 7th to the 15th. The exchange students are unable to write this exam*, and because we were on a recent trip to the Peruvian jungle in the north, we missed the first two days of exams. This means we have started our summer vacation 1 week earlier than our peers. I will seek the will of God and figure out if He wants me to go to a post-secondary school. There are language schools here I could attend, or I could go to a culinary school.
In terms of credits and/or certificates, I will be able to get a certificate from my secondary school due to the generosity of the English teachers (and 2 Spanish/Communication teachers) in my school, whom offered to teach us Spanish on our breaks. Having given us tests, quizzes, and other assignments they are able to evaluate us, give us a grade, and some sort of "certificate".
*Because we arrived in the third quarter of the school year, and missed a month of school, we had only 2 months to learn 10 months of school curriculum in order to prepare for exams. Due to additional weeks lost due to trips, this proved completely impossible. Thus, exams are out of the question.
Problems: I have had no conflicts with my host family, nor with any friends nor school nor teachers. However, there have been some minor issues with my host club which I will in short discuss.
Rotary Club: My Rotary Club (Rotary Club de Tacna, Distrito 4300) is really interesting. The actual meetings are, as most are, well organized. It needs no saying that the food is delicious. I also recently (Nov 28th) presented my "from Canada to Peru" presentation, which was widely appreciated.
In terms of problems within the club, there are two issues I would like to address:
1) My official host councillor, Jorge L, is my councillor in name only, not doing any of the required or expected duties. I see him once a month, during the club meetings. I say "Hi", basic greetings, but no more. This would be a problem if it wasn't for Roy Cardenás, who is our youth exchange district (4300) chairman. He is the functional councillor, doing all the necessary duties and stuff. I meet and talk with him much more often then with Jorge.
2) The actual planned trips, while plentiful and, by the grace of God, affordable ... tend to not be that well organized. The trip agenda (sent out beforehand) tends to become useless by the 2nd or even 1st day of the trip because activities are added, left out, postponed or preponed. Sometimes days are even added/subtracted. This means that the travel coordinators will often either be overpaid, or underpaid. Sometimes when they are underpaid, they will ask we pay that which lacks, or they will kindly pay for it out of their own pockets (as they did the previous time).
Trips: The last trip we went on was a trip through Arequipa to Lima (touring the historical sites there), then we flew to Tarapoto, a city in the jungle. Let me tell you, if I could live anywhere in Peru, it would be in Tarapoto - small, poor, but a crime rate of almost zero; a very slow-moving town, with a relaxed atmosphere. We travelled around to various lagoons, visited a chocolate factory; later in Lima we went to the zoo and to a water-light-show-park.
The Plaza de Armas in Lima.
The Peruvian inquisition museum in Lima. The majority of the exhibits showed the tortures the Catholic Inquisition would apply to Christians, Jews, Pagans, etc. (Fox's Book of Martyrs, ch. 5)
At the sea-port in Lima (Callao) there still stands towers and walls of the Spanish, and later Peruvian, Navy. This tower was used to hold prisoners - there is a dark labyrinth within.
Tarapoto, San Martín - the jungle of Peru.
Taken on a large car-transporter-barge which crosses this (muddy) river.
The beautiful clear-water cascades, around 45-60 minutes from Tarapoto.
Glassy waters, further upstream of the cascades.
Hormigas (Ants) - there are many scattered along the floor of the Peruvian rain-forest. I would assume the largest in the picture is either a soldier-ant or the queen-ant (less likely).
Salamanders!
Taken at the zoo in Lima - a lazy bear, to be sure!
The light beams were projected through water fountains at this water-light-show-park in Lima.
Another of the many displays at the water-park (the location is called either 'Magica de las Aguas' [Magic of the Waters] or 'Las Aguas Magicas' [The Magic Waters]).
I love the blog. One advantage of having a poorly organized trip, is that it allows you be become an expert at dealing with the unexpected. However as your parents we know that one of your strong characteristics is dealing with unplanned for issues and events. Well done, we are so proud of you.
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