WHITER THAN ME

Dudes!
I totally saw a man WHITER THAN ME today. Long langly white legs with short shorts. Not exactly the most attractive man I have ever seen...but he had this gorgeoues Peruvian girlfriend. So if you are having trouble getting a hott date you should come here. hahahaha. That was mean... but the short shorts were not really necessary.
Well today there is a new trainer at the gym so I guess my trainer will be leaving soon- what a shame. My old trainer has come up with this brutal new exercise that I like to call DEATH WHILE LIVING: its like chin ups with leg circulations = PAIN! My new trainer is brutal too. He´s like ¨are you finished- ready to go home?´´ if you stop for more than 40 seconds between exercises. Yeah. And he doesnt let me cheat with any of the exercises. But hey everyone says I look much better now I have lost weight. Although Rosa is telling everyone I barely eat. That is simply not true. I eat a sandwich for breakfast. Soup and main course for lunch. Sandwich for supper. That is plently. Its becuase we alñways eat two carbs at least. Rice is so filling but rice and potatoes? You cant move afterwards!
My class was observed again today- not sure how it went. I think I am kind of mean and strict while I am being observed...
My laptop is gonna cot me about 60-70 dollars to get fixed. Darnit But its the only way they can fix it without deleting all my stuff. And 2000 songs man! I can´t lose them! Plus other vaious important documents!
I now have a locker at ICPNA. Did I already mention that? Number 14. Woohooo haha. In the staff room which nobody uses because its locked unless you ask for permission and also very small.
Tomorrow at 6:45 we have another staff meeting so I hope I understand the Spanish alright!

Well lovelies now I must cut this short because I was webcamming it up with my family and now I gotta head home for supper!
Con amor de Peru xxxxxxxxx
P.S. THE PICTURE IS LUIS AND I IN CELENDIN!!

Children improving

Well it might surprise you but I am actually starting to enjoy my childrens class now. They are better behaved. The key is to keep them occupied every second of the class. The sticker chart helped because they all want to win. I still have some rascals in the bunch but I am finding it easier to cope with now. Touch wood it doesn´t change!
Well on Saturdays I am going to start teaching a conversation class to the teachers to help with pronunication and expressions and for some grammar. We had observations where people from Chiclayo came out and viewed our classes and they were very happy with me so that´s good. Tomorrow I have another observation where the 3 mentors are going to evaluate me and I have to teach some grammar so I will have to be very prepared and NOT screw it up and trip over my words!
I am also starting to enjoy one of my advanced classes more now because they are kind of funny sometimes. Asking me to go to the bathroom when I clearly see he wants to talk to his girlfriend standing outside the door! Honestlyyyy I am a student too! I would also like to add that I´m probably younger than most of them HA.
Well on Saturday I hung out with some religious friends and learned parts of the Bible. Then we ate pizza which was nice. My class on Saturday started kinda bad because I had such a sore throat I could barely talk- imagine the difficulties! But somehow by the end of the class I was feeling much better despite my students lack of wanting to volunteer answers. Dear me it was difficult. So I just picked on people to answer questions.
Well now that I am using ICPNAs way of marking exams I never have to fail anyone. We just take two points away from one hundred for each error. The final exams are 25 questions. You cant get less than 50. I have to use their system now I cannot claim ignorance.
I bought a phone card for 10 dollars and it gave me 3 and half hours of conversation time. Great right! I phoned home yesterday so that was nice. In the afternoon I taught a private English class which was good too. I liked the topic because it was to do with humanitarian issues and corruption. My student was amazingly ignorant though. In the evening I set to work marking my exams like a diligent teacher should, as well student workbooks. I have yet more workbooks to mark now. woopeee hahahahaa. No it´s good I like it. Last night I went out for supper with my family as they had returned from Celendin which meant I could sleep in on Sunday morning because Luis and Ana weren´t there to be REALLY LOUD at 7 in morning. I also helped Luis with his English homework. And we went grocery shopping. Wow I sound soooo interesting right now hahahaha.
Oh in one of my classes I wrote ¨The chicken is delicious¨ on the board and my student thought it said ¨The children is delicious¨ (BASIC 1 grammar is not that good) so that was a bit of a laugh.
I enjoy my student´s curiosity about other countries and world issues it makes for interesting conversation.
Also I wasted 15 minutes of my childrens class showing them my money from England, Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Hondurus, and Colombia. They were fascinated. Hahaha
The food contineues to be... heavy. But I am going to the gym. I do arms 3 x a week and legs the other two days and I have lost weight it is great! I just sneezed and the man in the next cubicle said SALUD - bless you-- health- OH here its sweet if you sneeze once they say SALUD- heatlh, twice DINERO-money and three times AMOR-love. awwwwwwwwww I love it.
OH MY GOODNESS IT IS SOOOOOOOOOO HOT.
HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT.
I have to wear my shorts and skirts so I dont die of heatstroke. It is a lot hotter than last year and it hasnt rained in about a week and they say it won´t. At night it is cool thankfully but during the day! WOW! The global temperature change is notable here it was NOT this hot last year. I cant even wear long sleeved tops in ICPNA or Pants because I sweat SO MUCH... yuck.
Oh yeah today I jumped in a cab and told the guy where to go and he was like... I do not understand you. HAHAHAHAHA. So I told him again slower and he understood. I mean its not really that amusing but I was really amused.
My trainer at the gym is mean and picks on me for sleeping if I rest. I mean lying down doing nothing for 5 minutes is not a crime. I just enjoy the soft mats they have and its better to sleep than do chin ups and all that fun stuff.
Well today I am hopefully going to have my laptop fixed so I can put some pictures on this sucker but I guess we will see.
What else do I have to tell you? I´m just living the life of the average higher class Peruvian (because my family here are not lacking money) and exploring the culture.
And Jean is gonna come and visit me in June! sweeeeet!
Keep leaving me comments and emails lovely to hear from you!
CHAUUUUUUUUUUU Gemma
PS:: CHECK OUT THE WOOL!!!!! In Celendin!

Women´s Basketball

Hey!
So I saw this man, must have been in his 40´s with a green sports shirt which said WOMEN´S BASKETBALL and I just wondered if he had any idea what he was wearing. It made me smile anyway!
Yesterday in class they thought I was 25. Nobody believes I am 19. How strange! Usually people think I am 15! hahaha
Yesterday my childrens class was much better. Not good of course- but better, yes! I still have some annoying children running around like maniacs and reading magazines under the desk and asking to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Last night I found out that there is a woman who I am supposed to call if someone needs to use the washroom so she accompanies them and makes sure they aren´t running around like maniacs. Thanks for letting me know!
Well I actually went to Church on Saturday night and it was actually kind of fun because there was lots of dancing. Like it was all young people and I know it was religious but I enjoyed the dancing and singing part. I didnt enjoy the 30 minute sermon but if nothing else I practiced my Spanish.
Well I dont remember if I already mentioned it but I had a job translating a document. It is actually something really important with potential to change the world so I feel like I am making a difference. It is about a new machine which creates clean electric energy with 0 CO2 emissions and supplies many people in 3rd world countries with electriciy which they did not have before. It is going to be sent to governments for review and implementation. WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. So that is something pretty cool I think! It also has the potential to supply clean water to people.
On Sunday I went to a fancy restaurant called Pescana with my family here and there was a band playing traditional Peruvian music and then Latin Rock so it was pretty cool! We were there for like 3 hours though and it was raining so we couldn´t go and play football afterwards... we went to Baños Del Inca instead to have dessert- I had Lemon Meringue Pie..yumm!
I bought a phone card to call Mum but it doesnt work- I even bought it at a pharmacy so I should probably go and complain to them about it sometime because it cost 10 dollars and I am cheap- soy tacaña as they keep telling me haha.
I have noticed prices have gone up in the year I have been away.
Well yesterday I went to the gym again but I felt a bit sick afterwards. For lunch I had Tuna and rice so I dont see how I could be sick from that unless the tuna was bad. But classes at ICPNA heal me. I just love teaching there! (usually)
Yesterday I stayed later to prepare my midterm exams for Friday. I keep telling my students it´ll be a blast but they don´t believe me. They say ¨misssssssss¨ ¨teacherrrrrrrr¨ `porqueeeeeeeee?¨ (why)
Well today I have to go at 5:30 to get the feedback of my observation...hmmm. Hopefully that goes okay. I don´t think it can be too bad because I was supposed to get the feedback on saturday but another teacher had a problem so she didnt have time.
Irene the housekeeper from last year called for Mothers Day. She wants to come back. She has left her husband and is living in Lima. Sometimes the big city isnt the best solution.
Well in my Regular 15 class yesterday out of about 20 students only 1 remembered her homework. BAD STUDENTS! I told them they were dreadful. My other classes were better thankfully. Of course I dont quite have the angry teacher face down yet so they dont take me very seriously. They will when I deduct points from their marks for being late! HA!
People keep trying to sell me gum! I do not enjoy that part of being here.
Well I am hoping to have my laptop back from being fixed soon so that I can put some pictures on this baby and liven up your blogging experience!
On Saturday before church I watched Little Man with my siblings here. They love it! ha
Bueno amigos!
Take care!
Cheers for the comments and emails! Love you!
PS: The photo is in Celendin- watch me convert people into Canadians!

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