Yanela left to Paris at the end of August. These pictures are with my best friend and host sister in Peru, Yanela and also another really good friend Barbara. On one of Yanela's last days we made sure to go dancing and we went out with some friends who would also be going to Paris with Yanela. We had so much fun. We found a restaurant that had a big room for dancing in the back. No one was there except a DJ. With just us and our friends we filled up the room and danced and picked our own music to play. It was a great night. I miss Yanela. I can't wait to go see her in Paris.
This was our orientation for our University in Peru. I only signed up for 3 classes at the University. History of Peru, Math, and Advanced Spanish are my only classes. I went to the history class 1 time, because the classes are at 9AM and my house is an hour away from my university. I would rather sleep in. The classes of math and Spanish are great though! Especially Spanish. I learn a lot in that class. Everyone in the Spanish class is foreign. The school is an international school so they have TONS of exchange students from different groups come every year. So I only had the opportunity to make Peruvian friends in my math class. Everyone is very very nice. They are all focused on the class though. One guy and I are something I would consider friends though. The best part of the university honestly has to be the hot chocolate machines. You pay 2 soles and a machine makes you some hot chocolate. So during breaks of the class we always go onto the roof of the school (which has a nice view and lots of tables and chairs set up) and get some hot chocolate. I go to school Tuesday- Friday. Most of the time I only go Tuesday- Thursday though. I really like the university, but it is just far. I also take Institute classes for my church. I love those classes. I take 3 classes. I take Book of Mormon, Eternal Marriage, and Principles of Leadership. It has really strengthened my testimony and I like getting to feel the spirit more during the week while I'm in institute. I usually leave my house at about 2PM and get home from the Institute or University at 10PM. My Spanish is getting better still. Being in the classes for so long helps I'm sure. I have made friends from the Institute too. We have a lot of Institute activities and parties. It's awesome. So many members of the church come to institute.
My friend from math class, Eduarado, and I eating pollo a la brasa and drinking Chifa. One of my favorite meals!
Me and Ana getting a smoothie after institute one night.
Henry and a random dude who jumped in our picture
Jasmine and Pau
Henry, Pau, Rebekah, Amy
Rebekah, Pau, Amy, Henry, Mauricio
Harold's birthday party
This is my favorite restaurant. I pass 2 of them everyday. It is just a nice place to buy light food like smoothies and sandwhiches. The environment is really cool though. They make the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted in my life. This was after an institute party.
As you can tell these pictures are all mixed up. These are just some of my friends from the Young Single Adults in my ward. Harold is in my ward. He invited everyone in the institute to come to his house for a birrthday party. It was so fun. I met a lot of people too. Some of the pictures are at a institute party. It was so fun. There was so many people and we were just dancing and having so much fun. A DJ was there from Spain too. Jasmine is not a member, but she is one of my best friends and she was hanging out with us all in those pictures. She goes to my University too. I don't see her that much at the University though.
The sky is clear enough a lot of time now to see the moon. It is spring here finally. Sometimes it's still cold, but a lot of time it is sunny with the perfect temperature. It isn't as cloudy as it used to be. This is a picture of the first time I'd seen the moon in months.
The Temple is right across the street from the Institute so I am by the temple grounds a lot.
All the exchange students watching a military flag raising ceremony and representing our nations. We all received pins for our blazers.
Exchange students at an amazing museum here in Lima, Peru. While in the museum we learned about the terrorism in Peru that ended in the 1990's. Terrorists groups rose up against the government. The streets that I walk every single day were being bombed. Charo, one of the Rotarians, said she wasn't even allowed to leave her house because it was so dangerous. I've always always always wondered why these people as a whole seem so scared of everything. I understand there is violence in Lima. There is violence in every big city though. The people here are a little scared to the extreme. Now I realize it is because they lived their child hoods in such fear of the terrorist.
Rebekah and Joey
Hadley Pritchard, Jenni, and Rebekah. Hadley and I always say we are cousins or sisters or something, because we have the same last name.
Valentine, Rath, and Rebekah
Joey and Rebekah
I love this years exchange students. All of them are so nice. We have all hung out a couple of times. We aren't really supposed to yet, because they need to learn Spanish and aren't all supposed to be together. We speak English are our first languages when we are together. I am excited to go on a trip with all of them though.
I managed to get out of ever doing a presentation. I used to hate speaking in front of people in Spanish. I would get so scared. I feel more comfortable now though and I am leaving soon and wanted to share with everyone about Texas, so I asked Henry if I could do my presentation now. It went great. Everyone thought it was really funny when I told them we have probably 10 guns in my house. I wanted to share things uniquily Texan. Guns happens to be one of them.
This Cinnamon Roll deserves its own post. I love them. They are so heavenly. Sometimes I stop by and get one on the way home from my University.
Our awesome mall that overlooks the ocean. The views from every restaurant and from every place in the mall are breathtaking. I love it.
These are some pictures of Franco and I's adventures. We had tons of fun together. He is crazy good at the guitar and bass. He studies music here. We went to lots of concerts and had a lot of fun together.
Jasmine is a diva and spoiled. She loves taking selfies. One day it was just me and her in the house and she wanted to play hide and go seek. She couldn't find me and at one point I heard her say, "REBEEEE, donde estas?!?! Estas en la refrijadora?!" (Rebekah, where are you?!?! Are you in the fridge?!) Then I heard the fridge open and then close a few seconds later. It was really funny to me. She is cute even though she's a diva. I do have a new host family. We aren't as much as a family as my old host family though so I still spend a lot of time with my old host family, which Jasmine is a part of.
I don't see my best friend from colegio very often, but when I do we always have fun together still.
This is just a picture with me and my new host sister that I forgot to post. I am not very close to her or anyone in her family. She is very nice though. The problem is that we all are all so busy. I am either teaching piano lessons, in the university, or hanging out with friends, and they are all working or studying themselves in universities and colegios. They are a nice family though. I have been very blessed to have to awesome families. My first family I love and provides me the love of a family. The 2nd family is nice and just perfect for this time in my life. I am about to leave Peru and they let me do whatever I want, whenever I want. It is nice to have unlimited freedom and get to hang out with my friends all the time since I am about to leave. They don't really care about anything. My host dad even told me "We know Rotary has rules, but you are 18. As long as you don't go around bragging to other exchange students who will get us in trouble, we don't care what you do. All we care about is your safety. Just tell us where you are so if anything happens we know where you are." They are awesome. I don't always feel comfortable in the house though, just because I don't know them very well so it is kind of awkward.
"It usually takes me 2 hours to get to school. Since I left at 5AM and no one was on the roads it only took me 20 minutes"
That;s how band Lima traffic is.
Sublime chocolate is so good and I'm going to miss it. It usually cost 1 sole and I can get them on all the yellow carts full of candy that are everyone in the city. On every corner basically.
Soren, Rebekah, and Charo
We were able to raise money for cancer. I collected the most, I think. It was fun. We also joined a group at our University who is starting a program with a local hospital. We will get to help children in the hospital. I don't know if I'll still be here for a lot of the time, but hopefully I'll get to help in some way before I leave. They have HUGE hospitals here that the government pays for. That means they are packed, have the worst doctors, and not very good service. The good doctors go to private hospitals where they can get paid more. It is sad that none of the doctors get paid very good in the public hospitals. And there are just too many people. I don't know how government should work. But free hospitals doesn't work either. I guess for people who can't afford any medical help the free hospitals are better than nothing though.
ALRIGHT, that's all for today.
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