Happy Mothers Day (for tomorrow)

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you lasses with children. hahahahaha
Well its a beautiful day (i.e- it hasnt rained yet although it has been wanting to all day) it is ALWAYS raining here!
well at least once every day anyway.
My afternoon class got cancelled because there arent any students. So I am free. And what I doing this Saturday night? Going to Church. Thats right. Church. On Saturday night.
My dear friend invited me and wants me to go so badly- how could I say no?
Especially after I totally brutalized Rosas Church in front of him only to find that his Church was THE SAME ONE. Way to think before you talk Gemma... ayayay! So my punishment is returning to the Church although today is the young peoples program (ie under 30) so he assures me it will be fun. I will go with an open mind although I really doubt it will touch the fun I usually have on Saturday nights. At least it will be educational.
Well this morning I had 26 students so that was pretty cool and the class was good although they were very quiet and did not seem to want to speak. They were the same class I had last year so it was kind of neat to see them all again. I wish I could say they have improved but i dont think so. There is one other foreigner teaching in ICPNA and he also thinks the standard is not how it should be. We are sharing a class- Advanced 6- who have been studying for about 2 years I believe. They hardly understand me. The level is not where it should be in my opinion. last year I did not teach anything more advanced than Regular 3 which is pretty basic. Now I am teaching Reg.10 and 15 and sharing this advanced class so I see more the weaknesses in the system. I think that some of my lower classes are more advanced than my advanced class.
I have had requests for private classes. On Monday I think I start a conversation class with a couple of women. It should be good. I am also starting to help out a collegue starting Tuesday.
Today I went to davy college to their Mothers Day celebration and I saw 3 students from last year! The mother who studied with her two daughters at ICPNA last year. Now the mother is studying at the University and the daughters at their school. They quit ICPNA after I left. She took my number so I might have scored another private class.
I also was approached by a man in ICPNA to translate an important document about his buisness. Its about physics. Its a bit hard to translate because its very technical but its something new and kind of fun. Hes paying me $9 a page. Coool!
Apparently in July another native speaker is coming. I wonder where from...
Well the cd player in this computer is not working so I am gonna switch to another and work on translating my document. Due monday.
Take Chicos!
bye!
PS: The family here and I on Mother´s Day in the nice restaurant!

BYE DIETTTTT

The Doctor says Im well and today I was allowed to eat
arroz verde con pollo- green rice with chicken. Woohoo baby!
Last night I kind of broke the diet and ate cake in secret. shhhhhh.
Well my classes? Today I bough 3 big posterboard sheets and wrote down all 16 childrens names. We are doing stickers for well behaved children. I only gave out 6 stickers today. But I think it might improve on Friday because the ones without stickers were really upset. I hate how I always have whiteboard pen under my fingernails now. You cant get it out without large quantities of soap.
Wow. The attention from men has increased 100x- on monday I wore my professional work dress which happens to be quite trendy I think and walking through the Plaza de Armas... well I tried to be serious and ignore them but I ended up giggling and running in my higheels because it was ridulous. But its okay. All in good humour. Maybe.
My collegues were like... wowwww what did you dooooo you have curvessss what did you take I want some. HAHA it was great to see all the ladies who work at ICPNA again.
Nobody is mistaking me for a Mormon this year. HAHAHA. That was hilarious. Apprently I am attracting students to ICPNA with sex appeal. Sorry Mum and Dad for that statement. My classes are slowing growing... hahaha. Apparently white legs are appreciated here. I am the whitest thing around you can practically see your reflection in my legs! hahaha. One of my students told me I should be an actress today because apprently I am just so bubbly in classes. Well half the time men are looking through my classroom door, man I bet I could get anything I want with these skirts. JOKE JOKE JOKE. I am just very amused. Let me just add something for the most jealous boyfriend in the world (if you arent Jean skip ahead to part B)- amor sabes que eres el solo hombre quien me importa y me haces mucho falta te quiero mucho y espero que vienes muy rapido- esta bacan estar aqui pero sin ti no es el mismo. Llamame esta noche no importa la hora.
PART B:
hahaha I am so funny.
But really the pen under my fingernails really bothers me so much.
Anyway Im exhausted after my classes.
Yesterday 2 women asked me to give them a private conversation class. I think I shall. It would be good to get to know some females close to my age.Rosanna says I should charge 30 soles an hour but thats 10 dollars and a bit steep I think. More than I earned working at Redwood. HA.
My feet hurt. Darn high heels.
My trainer at the gym is going back to Lima becuase he misses his fiance too much and they dont pay well here. It sucks because he really knows what hes doing. Today I did 40 minutes of arm work. It was brutal. But he is brutal. He told me to stop wining and look at the girl over there- who was lifting like 100 pounds the crazy woman. But my arms hurt. I am PATHETIC: no doubt about it.
Hey did I tell you that Irene doesnt work in the house anymore? They have a new housekeeper or maid or whatever called Lucy. She turns 20 tomorrow but she seems younger to me. Rosa isnt very impressed with her because she cant cook. Irene was better but she stole 1500 soles so that was the end of that.
I am tiredddddd.
I went with Rosa to her Natura thing which is like Avon but way more classy and they gave me a gold necklace (pretty sure its not real gold). I think I am allergic to it though becuaseI have red dots all over my upper chest where it was and a bit on my back too. hmmmm. Or maybe I have the chicken pox. Joke. It doesnt bother me or anything- I just noticed it at the gym when I was checking myself out in the mirror.
Bueno amigos ya es hora para DORMIR
Well friends now its time for me to return to the house and sleep!
Love you and cheers for the comments!
bye xxxx
PS: I´ve lost weight- right? You can tell right? I knew it! :D

DIET

MY DIET SUCKS
The doctor has me eating
porridge for breakfast
mashed potato and rice for lunch
and for supper also.
ohhh dearme.
Today they are eating STEAK and I am not allowed to have any.
I AM NOW ACCEPTING DONATIONS OF MEAT AND CHOCOLATE.
Jr.2 de Mayo 640 Cajamarca Peru
GRACIAS
Now Jean is talking to me on msn and playing the guitar and singing to me. Isn´t technology fabulous! haha
Yesterday I started my classes- the children are INSANE. I dont know what I am going to do with them. It was super super awesome to see my old students! Lots of screaming and hugs and all that good stuff ESBABA MUY CHEVERE!!!!!!!
I really like my Regular 15 class as they speak English quite well and we can have intereting conversations. Today I have to teach a VERY advanced class. That should be interesting. I also have a class of teenagers who are pretty good.
I worked out yesterday but I got dizzy because I was sick or whatever.The trainer told me to stop sleeping.HAHAHA. He also laughed when he set me at 10 kg and I changed it to 5 because I am pathetic.
Well gotta go! CHAU CHICOS!
PS: The photo is the library in Jose Galvez that the lady from the Peace Core has helped develop. Cute right!

SICKKKKKKKK

UGHHHHHHHHHHH you cannot IMAGINE how sick I have been.
Friday I travelled to Celendin and the car ride made me so sick it was weird- like someone had beat me up in the stomach and all my muscles were tight it was like dyinggggg :(
And then I went to sit in the front of the car an BAM. I felt better. Its not surprising I felt sick though as the mud roads wind around the mountains going up and down and you never face the same direction for more than 30 seconds its like the rollar coaster from hell ughhhhhhh. And Friday night I was puking and every other sickness you can imagine I did not sleep. The house in Celendin is set up so that you have to go outside to get to the bathroom and it rained ALL weekend so it was miserableee. I felt better yesterday and when we returned to Caxa we went out for supper. I should explain that I was on a strict diet all weekend after being sick. They knew I was sick because THERE IS NO WATER after midnight till 6 in the morning so the evidence was sitting there still. GROSS. I puked in the sink too because I didnt make it to the toilet in time. I hope you arent eating right now. It{s all a big adventure and I was only upset at the time now I think its amusing. So basically my diet was soup and herbal tea. And I cant drink ANYTHING that isn{t heated. Not even gatorade. Warm gatorade and pills was my breakfast yesterday. Yum.
So I felt better upon arrival and we went out for supper. I decided to be safe and ate spagetti bolognese because I THOUGHT it would settle my stomach. Maybe my mistake was the Pisco Sour. It was good though. Anyway after that I got sick again. So now Im on this diet ALL WEEK. I HAVE TO EAT PORRIDGE AND PILLS FOR BREAKFAST EVERYDAY. No chocolate. No cheese. Nothing that comes from a cow. Nothing greasy. Nothing that I want to eat. No juice even. I drink teas and warmed up water to take my pills. I eat soup for lunch and more soup for supper with soda crackers. It{s sad really, all this great Peruvian food and Im on this diet. At least I might lose some weight. Probably not though. I can still go to the gym luckily.
Today at 430 I start my classes. Wish me luck! I have little children first whom I hope will be cute and not little devils!
Yesterday I played soccer with Luis and I kicked his butt- okay hes 10. But still. hehehe
A surprise for you all. I WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY. Rosa really wanted me to go with her. Surprisingly I dislike Church just as much in Spanish as I do in English. Especially this Church. He was all about spreading the word of God and using your house as a temple to convert people. He was like if everyone here converts 10 people imagine how much we could grow. I was not impressed. Half the sermon was about growing the church. It{s a huge buisness as I see. I wont tell you how much Rosa donated. Its a huge amount she donates monthly. I dont like how you have to put your name on the donation. It seems very material to me. I would not like everybody to know how much I donated. Thats not what Church should be about. But what do I know little agnostic that I am. When I decided to try and understand instead of sitting there bored it was interesting what he was saying. It was like a huge production to me. At the end they brought in this band and they sang 2 songs. But I dont like how everyone has to love God first. When I get married my husband better love me first. Thats how it should be. And I dont like how hes all like- God will help you. Wait for Gods help. If you want something in this life you have to do it yourself. Thats how things get done.
Well I guess I shall write more later because I have more to say but I dont have time to say it!
Love you all!
Gemma xxx
PS: This image is just to make your mouth water... green spaghetti and steak yummmm

DAY 2

TODAY I WENT TO THE GYM
You will not believe how rude the people are here. I´m pretty sure that almost EVERYBODY has greeted me ¨HEY' YOU´RE FATTER!¨ so you see why I am going to the gym. They are giving me a complex. But I love their honestness.
I had green soup last night yumm
and Today I had Aji de gallina
it´s like chicken in some yellow sauce which is possibly curry and potatoes and rice and lettuce and an egg
it was good
I didn´t mention this yet but it´s dark SO early here. At like 530. So that´s sad.
I went to ICPNA at 6 for my briefing and ITS BIGGER. They have a library and a whole bunch of new classrooms and A STAFF ROOM. I will have my own LOCKER! wooooo!
I am going to have my own class of children. 5 year olds. Because the parents want their kids to have a native speaker. So here I am. That should be fun.
And I have to teach a conversation class. THERE IS NO CURRICULUM for that class. I can do WHATEVER I want. Any ideas of games or any activity that involves lots of speaking would be appreciated. They have given me a lot more advanced classes this year too. Interesting. I start on Monday so I´m going to Celendin with my family here for the weekend. No internet connection! It was great all the teachers were so excited to see me and it was cool to see them too! And they said I have curves now. HAHAHA. Like I think I have the same curves as last year. Or maybe that was a polite way of saying' you´re fat. HAHA
OH and I´m gonna have my own classroom. Classroom 2. Last year I had to move for every class. This is super cool. Except my childrens class. Because they have classrooms for kids now. With little tables and everything. They must have hit a windfall of cash or something!
Well I have a headache so I´m gonna go home and sleep now!
take care chicos!
PS: My Welcome sign!

LANDED

HOLA CHICOS
well here I am in CAJAMARCA and it´s a balmy RAINING but not cold at all
So my trip
Well I got to Toronto and sat next to some boring person who stuck in their earphones and ignored me on the plane. Then I went looking for my gate. So I´m walking around and following the signs and suddenly I realise my number isn´t there anymore. So I turn around and walk back a bit and realize its because my gate number points to a wall. So I go to the wall and turn left and see... AN ELEVATOR a hidden elevator THEY ARE USELESS AT PIERSON AIRPORT
yes so I finally got to my gate after walking for hours ( at least 15 minutes) and went to sit down and eat. This lady proceeded to enter the restaurant type of deal and complain that there was nothing to eat. The waitress showed her the menu and she made a huge fuss about how she didn´t like ANYTHING on the menu. So she went to buy a boring sandwich from another place and came back and sat on the table next to mine. She took a bite and... PROCEEDED TO TAKE OUR HER FALSE TEETH AND CLEAN THEM WITH A NAPKIN in front of me. So that put me off my lunch. They were really dirty. ewwwwwwwwwwwww
Anyway so I got on my plane to Lima. I tried to sleep but I didn´t succeed much. I managed to get a little conversatin out of the old man next to me but not much. I did not eat because I didn´t feel good. The flight attendants were kind of snotty. Finally they gave me a gravol but it was too late. I puked my guts out. By some miracle NONE of it got in my hair! OR over another person! That´s the main thing. Just all over the blanket and seatbelt and mostly in the bag. What an elegant puker I am! :D
After I felt better. My bag took AGES to come at Lima I was having a mini heart attack but it arrived. Then I went for pizza and INKA KOLA! yum. But I still had 6 hours till my flight and so I went and waited to check in being in the way off the cleaning crew all the time. I ended up stacking my bags on a cart and curling up on top of my cart. People thought I was funny. ha.
So I was waiting in the airport and Star Peru wasnt even there until 4 in the morning so I was just sitting staring at nothingness. but I did meet some cool people. I met Mr.Peru (no joke) on his way to Panama for the Mr.World competition. He´s a tad arrogant but it was good to have someone to chat too and not fall asleep.
Then I met a Canadian girl who had stayed many times in the Holiday Inn in Brandon. Small world. We talked about staples and Canadian Tire. THATS how bored I was.
Then I met this strange couple from Florida like stereotypically American with the buttoned up hawaii shirt and hat and all that stuff. It was hilarious. I took a photo of them. He told me I should read this book about two lovers in the jungle. It was strange. hahahaha
Then I had to pay 6.80$ for excesss weight on my baggage. The woman was so apologetic. I was like whatever ! ha
Then I finally got to the gate at like 4- 2.5 hours early for my flight. So I played spider solitaire on my laptop since I couldn´´t snag any internet connections.
And guess what
MY FLIGHT WAS DELAYED
I WAS SO TIRED
I HAD NO SLEPT FOR 24 HOURS
so I laid down over 3 seats and chilled until 7:15 when finally the plane came. It was good because a bunch of people had given up and left and so I had 3 seats to myself. I got on the plane and zonked out and suddenly I was in Cajamarca!
WHERE IT IS RAINING!
My adopted family met me at the airport with red roses and it was very nice!
And they had a little banner here at the house and sprayed me with silly string hahaha they are lovely.
I have just finished organizing my stuff and soon will commence gift giving!
LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!
Gemma xxxxxxxxxx
PS: The photo is Rosa and I in the Plaza De Armas in Celendin- check out the approaching rain..

16 days!

WOW time has FLOWN

Sooo yes soon I am off to the magical world of Spanish people

But first I chose to procrastinate my second research paper due on Monday as much as possible because I SO don't want to do it. But the longer I wait... well I'm sure you've been there.
I went to Son Latino last night and Cassandra and I danced the Macerena with the
band on the stage. HAHAHA I am such a child.

I have already got my insurance and my money so I'm good to gooooo!

See you soon! :)