This has only been 10 days?

Well, my last post was a little bit specific...well, really specific I guess. I'm guessing that many of you who are reading this blog would like to know a little bit more about the specifics of what I'm up to here in Perú other than just how I get around on public transportation. So, now that we've finished the first week of classes, this is probably a good time to share a little bit about my daily routine.

So, as I said in an earlier post, I live in the port district of Lima named Callao. I live in the same building as another student, Phil, or Felipe here in Perú, which has made travelling to and from home a little easier. Here in Lima we attend language schools at a local seminary and also do lots of group stuff as well. A typical day might be as follows:

- Wake up at about 6:45, get ready and have a quick bite to eat for break fast with my host dad, Segundo, and mom, Mervy. During breakfast we usually talk about plans for the day. What new busses I may or may not need to take that day. What I'm going to be doing at school. Basically things I'd talk about with my real mom and dad. Though, I've found that making plans and travels arrangements is one of the more difficult challenges when communicating in a foreign language.

- At 7:30 Felipe and I meet up and walk two blocks to the bus stop. From there we catch a colectivo that takes us to the seminary where classes begin at 8:30. Our commute is usually about 40 minutes or so, and during that time we face the inevitable fumes of automobiles and the bouncing around of the bus. Some days the pollution in Lima is worse than others, but it is definitely one aspect of life that I'm really getting used to.

- We have class from 8:30 to 11:00. Though usually we don't start until 8:45 and have a half our break sometime during the class session, so all in all it's about an hour and 45 minutes or so of class time. Nonetheless, I've been learning a lot in class. Our group is split into two classes, the smaller of which I am in. There are just 8 students in our class, so I've really enjoyed the conversational style of our class. I always seem to learn a few new words or new grammatical rules that I can take back home for conversation with my family. I can't wait to see how conversational I am in 5 more weeks here in Lima.

- After class the days vary, but we usually do something as a group during the afternoon. For example this week on Monday we visited some ancient native ruins, Tuesday we went to the Peruvian Congress building, Thursday we had a guest lecturer, and yesterday we visited an archealogical museum. Every Wednesday we also go to Duane and Karen's house for Goshen Tambo, which is just an afternoon of relaxing and reflecting upon what we've been up to.

- The activities we do as a group are very fun, bust sometimes somewhat lengthy, so we're all usually ready to go home and relax. More and more this week I've found that I look forward to going "home," as it really is starting to feel like that for me. Often times when I get back I will chat for a while with my host sisters and maybe have them help me with my homework. Then later I might do some reading for class before getting some sleep. Our house is very relaxed, which I like a lot.

That's basically what a daily routine might be like for me during the week. It might seem a little general, and maybe boring, but after this weekend I will definitely have some more specific stories for you and some more pictures as well. As for now I better get going, as my time here at the internet café is going to expire pretty soon.