Sad,

because this cycle I have like, no classes. There are maybe 6 new teachers and I guess since I´m leaving and they are staying they get the classes. It sucks because I have students who I´ve taught for two months and now I don´t have them. At least I still have my favourite class though for Basic-3. And I do teach from 8-8 on Saturday. But I really want more than one evening class. At least I have my private tutoring too so I won´t be too bored. The problem is that my family is going to Lima for a week and a half in the middle of this month and if I don´t have classes and my friends are working I´m not sure what I will do. I guess I will start looking for a Spanish class or something to fill time. Maybe if I go to ICPNA and beg for more classes... that´s not very attractive. Hm.My contract forbids me from going to another instition for work. That´s too bad because I know of other places where I could work and get hours teaching English. But I won´t break my contract. I´m sad that I don´t get to teach my students for the last month. :( Maybe I will get to sub lots. But it´s not the same.
Other than that, things are going well. This month of teaching was amazing!! I loved it.
It´s a national holiday today so the gym is closed. No muscles for me.
Oh! Irene lied to me about her age. She is 21, not 18. Also, she lied to me about having a son. She has no son, Luis (who´s a doctor) gives her contraceptives. I was all concerned to Rosa about when she has time to be with her son and she said, what, she doesn´t have a kid! I´ve asked Irene so many times how her son is!!! I don´t like lies. Especially stupid lies like that.
Last night I had Chinese food. It was very good.
I think I am going to go for a walk now because I am restless.
Ciao chicos!

Hiya,
I hope that you can ignore how attractive my nose isn´t from that angle. Haha.
I really have nothing much to say, but I miss my classes at ICPNA, not just teaching but my students too. One day off and I miss class. How will I ever survive in Canada? I do not know. Yesterday I tutored physics but it was hard because the kids were not in the mood to study. Here are some photos from when Juan came to see my class. The other pic is me in the courtyard of the church and art gallery in the old hospital. Yesterday for lunch we had yuccas again. They are sooo dry. I have to concentrate on chew chew chew and swallow because I am accustomed to food with more flavour and wetness.
I love Spanish music. I am pretty much in love with the song Mientes Tan Bien by Sin Bandera. Check it out is lovely.
I am now a salsa dancing champion. No, just kidding. I´m awful. I find it hard to let the male lead me, I am used to taking control. Haha.
Michael Jackson died!! And so did Farrah Fawcett. My word. But Michael Jackson will live on forever in his music. He is a legend let´s face it, even if he may have done some messed up things.
My hands are freezing from typing. Haha.
Oh! Haha, the other day when my students came in to kiss me as normal this one student stopped and said, high five! Hahahahahaha. How very very strange.
I can´t believe I only have one month left in Cajamarca. I have to stop thinking about this I will start bawling.
Take care!

Confusion and stress.

Okay, so at ICPNA there is a big sign that says Mier. 24 last day of classes. So, like an idiot, I thought that meant yesterday was the last day of class. I was wrong. For most classes it was the last day, but for Reg.2 I have class on Friday. So all my students came to class ( a rare thing when all 26 come) ready to write the exam yesterday and I was told I wasn´t allowed to give it until Friday. I said, do you want to tell my students that because I sure don´t. So I took a deep breath walked into my class and told my students and they responded with outrage, and I don´t blame them. I was pretty angry myself. Then about 10 of them said they were travelling and couldn´t write the exam on Friday. It´s natural because we all thought we had a week off, so of course lots of people are going on holiday. So I did something bad and decided we´d write the exam anyway, because everyone wanted to and because I think that as teachers we have to facilitate the students who are paying, and not them us. If half the class can´t make it to write the exam on Friday that´s no good. I can´t fail students over a misunderstanding. Hopefully nobody at ICPNA finds out and I don´t get into trouble over this but I have to take my morals over the rules. I am really happy that I don´t have to travel to Chiclayo though. It´s so tiring because you don´t get any sleep for like 48 hours and I don´t need that. Maybe I´m a terrible teacher for letting my students write the exam yesterday but in life we make choices and I made mine for my students, not for me. Unless someone from ICPNA reads my blog we should be okay.
Yesterday was my co-workers birthday so we had a little party in the office with cake and stuff, and the head cahuna boss from Chiclayo was there. It was nice but weird because we all had class and our students were waiting. I left a bit early because I felt bad about it.
Apparently this cycle there´s going to be a break from 6-6:30 where we all have to sit in the office and socialize to help the non-native speakers with their fluency. It´s a nice idea but it means I´ll have class until later and get less sleep. Well, that´s life I guess.
This morning I had a student who needed to make up his exam so I went to ICPNA early and handed in my exams and marks and waited while he wrote his. It was weird because I´ve been subbing for Delicia and her exams were yesterday. The secretary had all the marks for the kids which is impossible because I have the exams. So whatever, I gave her the exams but I don´t understand how the kids have grades.
Today I am doing private tutoring again. And tomorrow.
Last night I went out for Chinese food after work, to desress with Inca Cola. I was sick all night. It was awful. Not going there again. But the food was soooo good!
Irene is back today.
The TV fell off the wall. That´s not good!
Today my friend is going to teach me how to dance Cumbia. Should be fun!
Maybe I won`t look so stupid when Cumbia´s playing at the clubs now!
I can´t believe I only have one cycle of classes left at ICPNA!!! How totally sad! ICPNA here is expanding. They want 15 teachers, now there is about 9. There is totally a job for me here if I stay. But I can´t.
Haha, one teacher is heavily pregnant and the head boss asked Geraldine and I if we were thinking of going the same way. I think not! We said not for a longgg time thank you. Better to be young and freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The other teacher is 30 so it´s different.
Last night there wasn´t any water. So that wasn´t too nice.
Yesterday for lunch we had green spaghetti. It was vair vair good!
I am tired.
Keep writing me amigos!
Ciao!
P.s. Look, it´s me teaching. haha.

Yes, found it!

I found my lip chap. So, now my lips won´t be chapped anymore. I wanted to start your day off with good, exciting news that will probably change your life forever. You´re welcome.
Yesterday when I was at the gym there was a parade so I went to watch it. Today is a special day, being summer solstice here. It´s Inti Raymi, a celebration of the sun, which is why my boss is in Cusco I guess. Lucky her, sounds like an awesome thing. Apparently Camaron Diaz is there too. Thank you google, for your useless information. It´s also San Juan, this celebration about a feast. Yeah, that´s about as much as I understood in Spanish but you can google it in English and read about Cameron Diaz if you want.
Apparently Irene is coming back to work tomorrow. At least she´s okay.
Oh, I don´t have more time to write we are going to the gym now.
Well, at least you don´t have to read an essay today.
Take care!
Look, Arroz Cubano

Trying to tan it up.

Yesterday Rosa was sick so we didn´t go to the gym. Instead I went and sat on the roof while I planned my classes in an attempt to coax some brown on my legs. But, unfortunatly I´m still white as a sheep. A white sheep.
When I walked into Delicia´s class of Juniors yesterday they cheered me really loud. So, that was really really nice and pretty much made my week. Delicia´s lesson plan took about 20 minutes so after we played pictionary and bingo. It was fun. The second class with children was okay, they all came and gave me a group hug. It was sweet.
After class yesterday I went for cake again. I really need to go the gym today because I will put all my weight back on hahaha. My friend said I need to go for 3 hours. So that was kind. haha. The cake was very nice though. I came home and deadbolted the doors as usual and went to bed. Half an hour later Rosa called and told me to open the door! I thought they were in bed sleeping but they weren´t even home! Ahahaha.
Rosa is angry because Irene didn´t come to work yesterday or today and she won´t answer her cell phone. So, that´s not good. Hopefully she just doesn´t want to work and is okay.
Tomorrow I have my final exams. I hope that they go well.
Yesterday we had Cuban rice again, which is really dry without ketchup. Not sure how the people here can eat so much dry food without anything. I only eat the rice once it is red. Haha.
The sun is really hot in the day here so I don´t understand why I won´t tan. Probably when I go back to Canada everyone will be tan and I will be white.
Ít´s really bizarre because sometimes writing this blog I write in spanish and then I read it over and change it into English. I think in Spanglish.
Yup, well I have classes to plan so I´ll catch you on the rebound chicos!
Ciao!
The pic is me at the room that the Inca wanted full of gold and silver.

Guinea Pig

Yesterday I went for lunch with the family of my friend and we had Guinea Pig. It was reallllyyy good. I love how here lunch with the family is like 4 hour event. You have your meal, chat, have dessert, chat, drink Pisco, chat, drink cocktails, chat and then chat more and laugh a lot. It´s really difficult to understand the conversation though because they speak really fast and interrupt each other and laugh while they speak so I mostly just laughed at the really funny laughs some people had.
Yesterday I called my familia and chatted for Father´s Day so that was nice. In the evening I went to see Ghost of Girlfriends Past, in English with Spanish subtitles. It was okay but my sister said she cried lots and I didn´t cry. Afterwards I talked with my friends about the meanings behind the story and opinions about marriage etc. We are nerds.
Yesterday morning I tutored science. Haha, it´s pretty hard to explain physics in English to kids who speak Spanish, but it actually went okay and by the end I feel like they understood. I had a problem though because its really hard for me to understand Spanish on the phone because my phone is crackly and theres no facial expressions or hand gestures to help with my understanding. Entonces yesterday I went to the wrong house and had to take another taxi to the correct place. haha.
Today I have to sub for Delicia again. Should be interesting. I hope the children are calm!
I´m going to the gym in the afternoon. Gotta keep in shape!
Oh! I finally bought new jeans, and two new shirts. Yup, I look very good in my jeans, just to be modest about things (it´s my new gym body hahahaha). I have muscles. Rosa says I was fat (people here are very honest) when I arrived but now I´m slim and when I go to Canada I have to keep going to the gym. Haha.
Oh! Remember how last Saturday I puked at work? Well on Saturday one of my students came and asked me if I´m pregnant. Dear God! I almost choked I was so surprised. I assured her it was just bad fish.
3 more days left in this cycle. On Friday I have to go to Chiclayo again. Not really excited about that because it means I probably won´t be sleeping and then have to teach all Saturday again. Oh well. Geraldine is going too though.
On Saturday I went to a new club (for me) Saltos, but it wasn´t that good, essentially a massive room but it was underground so it was really really hot and there were lots of people. We went to a different club after which was nicer because it was more open and they had Karaoke, and my friends can sing very very well. Haha, when we enter clubs here the men get searched but the women don´t. It´s kind of pointless because everyone knows that´s how it works so of course if people are bringing in anything they just have to give it to the women. But whatever. I saw more violence at Houstons than I´ve ever seen here so I don´t feel unsafe. It also helps that there are lot of men looking out for me, and they have muscles. I have noticed that a lot of people here are ripped. It´s nice.
Next week I have Monday and Tuesday off work. How nice! What will I do? I have no idea since my friends will be working. Maybe I will go to Baños and take a natural bath in the hot springs all day. Haha I would be wrinkled like a toad. I´ll probably still do my private tutoring though.
It is hot, but I am still so white!
Take care chicos!
P.s. The pic is me in the courtyard of a convent. Don´t worry, I´m not converting, I could never never ever be a nun.

I want to break free!

This song has become my National Anthem for Peru because it´s always playing, at the gym, in the clubs, in stores, and I love it.
Yesterday I went to tutor this little boy and it was really fun. He is so intelligent! He has an exam today though so I hope it goes well. Today I´m going to tutor him again but another mum heard about it so I´m tutoring her son too at the same time. I hope they aren´t too rambunctious!
So, I´d just like to say that on my midterm for Reg.2 ten students scored 100. Wow!! And it´s not like the test was easy, I´m the mean kind of teacher who likes to challegne my students. I´m happy happy happy about that!
Today the new teacher is going to teach my Pre-3 class. I think she´ll be really good because she seems like a lot of fun. Good for my students!
I have to plan my class for tomorrow morning. It´s my longggg day of teaching after which I´ll be ready to sleep but instead I will go clubbing with Geraldine from work and her friends and my friends, so it should be a good time!
My family told me I have to cook them a traditional Canadian plate. I told them there really isn´t any such thing because Canada is a mix of hundreds of different cultures. There´s poutine, but that´s a French Canadian thing, there´s bannock, but that´s a Native Canadian thing, there´s perogies, but those are Ukranian, etc. Any ideas? Caesar Salad? Haha, it´s easy at least.
Yesterday after work I went to Mister Chopps again to watch music videos. That was fun. There was this really sad one in Japanese, all the girls were practically crying. Haha.
I can´t believe there is only 5 more days in this cycle. Where is the time going? Slow down time!!!!
Happy Father´s Day for Sunday all the Dad´s out there!
I have marking to do, and then I´m going to the gym. Maybe, today, I will finally have time to buy jeans. That would be nice.
Irene is going to Celendin too so I will be home alone for tomorrow and Sunday. Wooohooo house party. No, I am joking. I would never do that, it would be wrong on so many levels. Fun though.
I think Dad would like it here because they are always playing 80s music!
It is hot here now in the days. Summer is hereeee and my nose is peeling. Nice.
I love Inca Cola!!
Ciao chicas!
The pic is proof of my outstanding students!

Just keep swimming---

Well, yesterday was actually insane and crazy busy.
In the morning I went to the house of this couple who wants me to tutor their son. It´s a very nice place. Today I will begin. Wow, I am a tutor. Cool beans. Then. Rosa called me to say that Juan the co-ordinator from Lima was in the house. So I skidaddled my butt home to meet with him. We had a nice chat. The problems in the jungle aren´t affecting the SWB students there, so that´s a good thing! Some of them ate bad food and wound up in the hospital though. Wake up call, I think so! But the food in this house, and the house in general, is very safe. There is a lock and two deadbolts on the front door, two locks on the second door and then my room has a lock which clicks twice. The produce is cleaned with iodine and Rosa picks out the meat. This could be why I am not sick, usually. On Saturday Rosa was in Celendin hence the bad fish. She said never again I will have fish if she doesn´t pick it out.
Yesterday we had asparagus soup. It is yummmmmmmmmmmmy.
Juan and I went to see the room which the last Inca demanded be filled once with gold and twice with silver. The writing there was in Old Spanish so I understood very little, but Juan explained to me in normal Spanish so that helped. Then we went to a church which was totally gorgeous in the typically Colonial Spanish style and two old hospitals. The old hospital for women was a lot nicer than the one for men.
Then, I had to mark a lot of books. I went to Baños Del Inca for a short break and then prepared my classes and practically ran to IPCNA with about 20 books in tow. They weighed a lot. I almost died, but thanks to my new muscles I am strong... ish.
Juan came to observe my Reg.1 class and it was very funny because he kept taking pictures and some of my students assumed the classic, I am thinking like the Ancient Greeks pose. It was really hard not to laugh.
My Reg.2 class involved a classroom change again. After class I had 3 students who needed to write the exam and so I had to stay later. Not really a lot of fun but oh well. No problem.
My legs itch like mad. The mosquito bites from a month ago won´t go away. Probably becuase I keep ripping them open with my scratching. Arrgghh.
My students were laughing at how I said tomato in class yesterday. I told them it´s the proper pronunciation. They don´t believe me. Sometimes when my students repeat what I say they sound all British and I think, hm, do I really sound like that when I speak? Ahahahahaha.
My Elbows have gone plasma-y from the dryness here. Yucky.
I still haven´t bought jeans. That´s maybe a month of procrastinating now. The pocket is almost completely off my current jeans.
Next week I have to teach Delicia´s two classes of children again. It will be nice to see the students but they are insaneeee!
Geraldine wants to go clubbing with my friends and I on Saturday. It´ll be cool if she can.
Today I will go to the gym. Yesterday I didn´t have time. Oh, the other day there I heard this version of I Will Survive that was awful! I almost died exercising it destroyed the song so much. Yes, I don´t recommend listening to any version that isn´t by Gloria Gaynor.
The days seem to be flying by so fast. It´s already Thursday, I swear that yesterday was Sunday. Good grief.
Well, keep sending me your news and such.
Ciao chicos!

A whole day of marking!

Holy man on fire. Well I´ve marked all my exams and I´m pretty happy because my class averages are 92, 91 and 81. The third is bad for ICPNA though I will have to work harder. I still have more homework marking to do though...
So, last Friday there was another teacher watching my class and then after she told me that she would be teaching my class this Friday. So, it´s nice how nobody told me about that...I don´t like having people observe my class it makes me nervous.
My hands are freezing typing this!
Well, I´m feeling pretty full after our usual 3 course meal, some of which I have no idea what I was eating but it was pretty good. I have to load the ketchup onto my rice though because I just can´t eat mountains of plain white rice. Especially with potatoes too.
Yesterday after work I went out for cake. Kind of makes going to the gym useless but it was really good and very chocolatey!
Oh, I forgot on Saturday night I went clubbing again and it was a lot of fun. There was karaoke but I didn´t sing because I´m dreadful and the people here can actually sing really well. Plus the songs they had in English were all Britney Spears and Bon Jovi. Not really in my range. My Latin dancing is improving :)
I can now lift 25kg with my ankles. I know, that´s so interesting for you.
I never made it to the mall to buy jeans. There doesn´t seem to be enough hours in the day. Yesterday Rosa and I went grocery shopping. Is it just me or is this blog really mundane?
I have a blister on my hand.
This weekend my family are going to Celendin again so Sunday will be lonely... hahaha yeah right I will go out and have fun somewhere with my friends.
Oh, one of the kids in my juniors class drew me a lovely picture with my name. It was so sweet!!
My cell phone has a radio. It´s not exactly the most useful thing in the world though. It doesn´t have a camera.
I think it´s going to rain again. It´s always raining. Raindrops keep falling on my head, keep falling on my head...
Okay, I think I´d better stop now because this blog is beginning to take the form of every random thought that pops into my head. Also, I have to go to work, at ICPNA, where I teach English. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you think that if I tie myself to the staircase at ICPNA they will let me stay here longer? No, they´ll probably send me to an asylym.
Well, okay now I must go,
Cuidate,
Gemma!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bits and pieces

Well, finally the internet is back up but we have a new computer and it keeps crashing. So I get really annoyed and my emails are all really short because if I take too long the computer crashes and I lose everything. Blogger saves stuff every 3minutes though so this should be okay.
I have a cute little new telephone. It was a reasonable price.
On Saturday Irene and I were both sick after lunch. We think the fish must have been bad. It was awful. I was fine teaching in the morning but as soon as I got to ICPNA after lunch I felt all woozy and I was shaking while I taught and I had to actually sit down and teach because I felt so faint and then I had to run to the bathroom where I puked up the entire contents of my stomach. It got in my hair which is gross and I had to continue teaching afterwards. I washed it in the bathroom but I still felt awful teaching. It´s only the third time I´ve been sick in Peru but being sick at work is awful.
Yesterday morning I went to Porcon, which is sort of like a hutterite colony in that all the people work for the community and it´s religious, except that people get paid so they can have lots of possessions. They all get the same pay, 500 soles a month, like 180 dollars which is awful but something at least. There was like a mini zoo type thing and I sat on a llama. Haha. I took gravol so that I wouldn´t be sick on the bus but then I felt really tired haha.
In the afternoon I went to the cinema to see Up with Antonio and his really cute little sisters and his mum and Oswar, his friend from Spain. It was in Spanish but I understood most of it and it was so cute. The girls loved it they were laughing the whole time. After, we played on the dance machines at the arcade. There were these two boys there who were so good at it, but they weren´t dancing it looked like they were having seizures their legs were going all over the place! Antonio and Oswar were really good at it, they breakdanced together before. They showed me some moves. It´s pretty awesome but I´ll never beable to balance like that! haha!!!
Well, I´m off to the gym now. My midterm exams are today, I hope all my students get 100! Some wish!
Maybe today I will have a chance to buy jeans. I´ve been wanting to for a while because my one pair has broken pockets from overwearing them.
Ciao pals, take care!!

Cajamarca is awesome!

So there hasn´t been internet and I am at a cafe now, but I have been busy. I have been subbing for other teachers lots this week. On Wednesday I taught kindergarten. I wish luck to you Dana and other people who want to teach the crazy children. It is not for me, I much prefer my adults!
I feel like part of Cajamarca now. Maybe because I´ve taught a couple of hundred students and when I go out I quite often see somebody I know. Also, I just love everything about it here. I think when I have to leave I will hide and they can´t make me go back to Canada! Haha, no I will not hide of course but I have to return here someday. I´m so happy!
My family have gone to Celedin because yesterday and today here are holidays, Corpus Christi. ICPNA doens´t believe in taking a break though and I have classes so I couldn´t god It´s just Irene and I in the house, which is nice but normal because I still have to correct like 500 textbooks and go to work. Haha, I can´t come to the internt cafe without making a friend. The man next to me is from Washington. Yesterday I made a friend at the gym too, who works in the mine here.
I feel like my Spanish is way better, I understand and can translate much more for my students now. Obviously I have a long way to go, but I can understand the general gist of things and my vocabulary is much broader.
On Sunday I went to see Terminator. Haha.
This Sunday I am going to Porcon with my friend in the morning. Should be fun! always good to see new places.
Yeah, well the workbooks aren´t marking themselves and time is short so must go!
Ciao pals!

Alborada!

Hey!
So last night I went to see Alborada and it was awesome!!! Their music is so beautiful and some was in Spanish and some was in Quechua and some didn´t have words. They played the clarine, a really long instrument, and also the panpipes lots. They had some dancers, but I think I could have done the dances, they were a little bizarre and not too too hard. The opening bands were cool too although I missed the first one because it started at 7 and I had to work until 8. It was really hard to find seats because they sold the exact amount or maybe more or something and we were late. In the end we found a place to sit though. After the concert we went to Stragos, a cute little club here. It was a pretty fun night. Work yesterday was tiring, my Juniors in the morning were okay for maybe 2 hours and after that they were just tired and didn´t want to be in class anymore. I don´t blame them because it´s Saturday morning. I made a mistake in playing games in English with them though because they got all hyper after that. Oh well. In the afternoon it was hilarious because I had a whole family, the grandmother, mother, and two girls. What personalities!! It was hilirious, the grandmother was like that slightly barmy lady on tv shows.
Jen and Eric, who are teaching at ICPNA for this month and are from Minneapolis, invited me to a movie with them on Tuesday with Sarah from work too. So, that will be fun. Eric, Jen, and I are the only teachers with class on Saturday afternoon. I guess they rope in the white people for the sucky shifts. They find ICPNA disorganised as well. They taught in China for a year and it´s way different there. It´s interesting chatting with them!
All of my classes have more than 9 students so that´s good because I won´t have to pay anything.
Today we are making pizza, for the first time here. So, that will be interesting, I wonder what type of bizarre toppings we will have. Maybe it won´t be bizarre. But it probably will be. Yesterday we had fish, yucca, pototoes, rice, and corn. It´s all the same colour! haha. I found it to be very dry.
Brrr it´s cold!
My legs still haven´t cleared up the mosquito bites, it just looks like I have some kind of disease. Yucky. Despite this I´ve been wearing skirts to work.
Ciao for now!

La vida

Well, Wednesday was horrible. The head boss from Chiclayo was in town and he observed my class. As soon as he walked in I was so nervous.It was the most awful class I ever taught. Today he is going to have a meeting with me. I think he has rated us all, and I think I will be at the bottom. I am so nervous. LAter, Delicia, my boss here observed my class and I think that it went very well. So, I hope that Delicia tells him that I do actually know how to teach and I don´t get fired or anything. Oh my. Also, on Wednesday Delicia was angry because she said that I didn´t give my list from Saturday to the secretary with my exams and grades. I was pretty nervous because I gave them in on Monday and I don´t have two copies. Luckily, after 10 minutes the secretary looked around and found my package of stuff. I was so relieved. The two kids classes that I subbed for went pretty well. The kids were so cute. Why couldn´t the classes I subbed for Delicia be that calm?
Yesterday I was teaching Otoniel English at Santa Apolonia and writing poetry, and I saw a parrot! It was just sitting on a tree. How awesome is that!
I have no time these days, I have to go to the gym now. Yesterday I got my haircut, here is a pic.
NExt Wednesday I am giving a private lesson to a kid. Gotta go ciao.

New Cycle

Wow, so last night was crazy.
First, I went to the office to hand in my exams from Saturday and the exams that Rebekkah gave me, as she´s moved to Chiclayo now where her man lives. There was some kind of problem which I didn´t understand about Saturday and I was very exasperated because it seemed like I was to blame for something...but it´s not possible because I didn´t do anything wrong. Then, later when I gave Sarita her book back she asked me how 5 of her students failed the exam in her class which I subbed for. I don´t know!! But she was okay and everything the material is tough as it´s an advanced class.
Apparently there were two different schedules made so we were all so confused. I went to the classroom on my schedule and had all sorts of different students come in who weren´t in my class and then a teacher told me I didn´t have a class, which I did. So I had to move to another classroom, but the room was full of students from a different class so my boss came and sorted everyone out. Good grief. Then for my next class I had to move to a different room which is quite small, especially for one of my classes. Neither schedule was right. So, I lost about half an hour of my first class because of all the confusion. But, I´m so happy to have my reg.1 class back, who are now my reg.2 class. I have so much fun teaching them it´s awesome.
One thing that is really weird is that in my Reg.1 class I have new students, and then I have students from my pre-1v class last cycle. So some students speak practically no English and others know lots. I don´t understand how I´m supposed to teach this class because obviously the pre-1vs know how to introduce themselves etc. Oh well.
Markus emailed me that Kenya has died. I was so sad to hear this way. She was a good dog because she liked me...
Did you hear about the Air France plane that disappeared. Scary stuff. There was one Canadian on board too.
At the gym yesterday I was still able to lift the same weights so yay! Estoy delgado ahora!!
Nothing else new for the moment. Yesterday we had Cuban rice again, rice with fried banana and fried eggs. I love fried banana!!
Keep emailing me and sharing your news!!
The pic is in the Plaza De Armas of Peru!
Cuidarte, Gemma

The Unborn

So, last night I went to cinema to watch The Unborn, which was in English with Spanish subtitles. Man was I ever freaked out because I am such a baby with horror movies. But, I did manage to correctly predict the outcome in the first 5 minutes. I should write horror movies. It took me about 4 hours to fall asleep last night though because it made me think so much. Good grief. Although, it makes me laugh how horror movies always have similar predictable things, like the girl who sees a ghost and then wanders off into the woods on her own or the lights always going off when someone is going to die or the girl who opens the door when the bell rings even when she looks outside and sees nobody there. I mean, if it were me I´d be running away as fast as possible, but these horror movie people seem to enjoy the most dangerous route possible.
In the afternoon yesterday I went to Santa Apolonia with Heber. A little kid wanted to tell me the history so he did and Heber helped me understand where I had no clue what was going on. He was such a cute kid. I think I might have mentioned before how much I love Santa Apolonia. I spoke in Spanish pretty much the whole time and Heber understood most of it. Yay!!
I forgot to mention that in Chiclayo in the Psychology session the lady asked a question in Spanish and after I answered she asked how old I was and then did this, oh right rolling eyes thing. I hate how some people dismiss my answers because of my age. I don´t think that it´s fair, especially since I have met a lot of people here who are older than me but seem so much younger and totally clueless about life. I worked pretty hard to get the respect of my students after telling them my age. The first few classes I had the "what could she possibly teach me" attitude from a few of my students, especially the older ones, but by the end of the cycle I had the same students telling me that they would be signing up for my class this cycle.
Antonio has informed me that some of his friends told him to stop hanging out with me because I am a common white girl. Well, isn´t that nice. His friends don´t even know me. But, I am now used to the attitude that many people here have to white people and I´m not too fond of the rude men here either. I prefer the people who are my friends and don´t care at all about the colour of my skin or my age. Antonio told me he doesn´t care what his friends say and that they are ignorant, which I think is pretty true.
Despite the negatives I am actually having the time of my life and am sad that I only have two more cycles to teach.
On Saturday after work I am going to see Alborada in concert, they are a group of native people here who sing traditional songs. I am pretty pumped. I have a DVD of them that I have watched and they are pretty original. In two weeks I am going to go to Porcon and I am pumped because I have heard so many times how awesome it is!
My legs are so itchy in the minefield of mosquito bites.
I am pretty happy to be going to the gym after almost a week because I think I won´t be able to life the same weights anymore. It´s discouraging if I have to go down again. I will have to work hard.
arrr there was something else but I can´t remember what it was...
Well, the pics are of my roomate, Pilar, Ray and I at the restaurant and then just of Pilar and I in the Plaza De Armas of Chiclayo.
Cuidarte,
Un abrazo,
Gemma