Familiar and less familiar things

As for the familiar things, I was very happy to find a Pizza Hut, a BurgerKing, a KFC, McDonalds AND a Starbucks all right here in Arequipa. Also my aunt showed me the hidden places, where you can buy real good chocolate. So if I should get homesick at one point, I sure know where to go now.

But it seems like there are actually more unfamiliar than familiar things here. Just yesterday I learned again, that things just work slightly different here.
In the morning we had to go to a governmental office to pay taxes. The Invention of E-Banking or even just regular bills hasn't gotten all the way to Peru yet. So basically, you have to go to the office and they tell you how much you have to pay (right then and there). The only familiar thing seemed to be the bureaucracy with which these matters were handled. We literally had to run up and down the hall like 6 times, before we could finally pay the taxes. Also I learned, that if you are a gringo, they just put up the tax rate for no reason at all. But hey, whatever, right ;) But they were pretty nice at the end- they even gave us a discount! Imagine, asking the tax office in Switzerland, to please give you a discount on your taxes - haha - that would be to nice to be true!

Also later that day, when I went home from class, two chicos came walking from the opposite side. When they passed, me they yelled something like 'Hola chica'. As for me being completely tired, from the torture in class (no really, it's actually not that bad, but still lots of brain activity)- I decided just to keep a straight face and walk right past them - pretending I didn't hear them. They yelled again a little louder. But I just kept walking.
Maybe it's just me - but I feel like you can only keep a straight face for so long. So once I passed them, I couldn't hold myself. But since it might have been slightly weird, bursting out laughing in the middle of the street, I just did it secretly. Well at least I thought so. I'm sure we've all passed people on the street before, who all the sudden start to grin, even though nothing funny happened and you are pretty sure, that the ground itself can't be the reason for it.
So anyways, I guess that's what I looked like. So I only walked 10m before some random guy started talking to me. He asked me where I was from- and I answered him politely. He then said, that he ooooh so much loved Swiss girls (as probably any other girls) and he wanted to kiss me. Only, he could have been my dad! Haha, so good thing that my little legs can carry me pretty fast ;)

Also today I got ripped off. Yesterday I took my phone to some guy in a tiny shop, to get it unlocked, so I could use it here as well. Well he said, it would cost me 15 soles. Eventually I could have done it myself somehow, but I thought for 15 soles, oh well, he also needs to eat, right?!
So when I returned this morning he was like 'oh, it was soo sooo difficult to do it'. So all the sudden the price now went up to 80 SOLES! Whaaaat??!! But what was I supposed to do? If I wanted my phone -which I did - I had to pay.
We then talked for a little bit and he was really excited about my name - cuz the president's wife is also called Nadine. I then asked him really nicely if he couldn't give me a discount. He wasn't too happy about it - but I think it was the name bonus that at least brought me a discount of 5 soles. It was still a rip off, but at least I got my phone back and I bargained for the first time in my life! But ya, welcome to the life of a gringa! ;)

Ä ganz liebe Gruess a alli wo nid so guet English chöi. I ha vrsuecht e Sprach ds finde, wo di meiste wenigstens chly verstö. Schüsch isch ömu google.translate immer e gueti Hilf!
Ha nech gärn und machets guet!

Adventure BUS

Today I went on an adventure. I took a little excursion to check out the area, where I will be working all April-June. The area is called Sabandia and is about 40 minutes out from the city center of Arequipa.

As I realized, the first adventure was already to find the right bus. First we (I and my auntie) walked up to a street called Salavery, where most busses leave. This wasn't to bad, cuz it's only about a 10 minute walk from our house. When we got there, we asked this really nice police lady where the bus leaves. She pointed in a direction and said, only 4 cuadras up and then take a left and walk about 1 cuadra more. So we did. Only when we got there, there was no bus anywhere. So luckily there were two other police men right there (they are everywhere for some reason). We asked them and they told us to walk about 4 cuadras more. This happened to us even a third time, before we finally got to the right spot (this is  after about 40 minutes of walking).

The second adventure was getting on the right bus, even when standing in the right spot. Busses work slightly different here, than they do in Switzerland. It's sort of a non-stop bus. Literally! So basically you just have to read their signs (of which they have like 10 or so on the windshield), which says where they go to. Next you have to be quick enough to hop on the bus. You are lucky if the bus stops for 5s or so. Normally it's more like a slowing down and you just have to jump on.

So finally we were on the bus to Sabandia. I'm telling you, I was so relieved when we finally got a seat. Haha, these bus drivers are kinda scary- well more their way of driving I guess. But somehow it works for them. So finally arrived in Sabandia we got out and looked around. It was pretty amazing, cuz for a 40 minute bus ride you only pay about 40 cents! Happy savings!!

We quickly checked, where the orphanage is. It's right next to the 'bus stop' - YAY!! Then we took a walk to the old molino. As we realized pretty soon - this was adventure number three today. We passed some beautiful country side, but the road - well - I'm not sure if you could call it a road anymore, was slightly broken. In one part the road has turned into a creek, because it had rained so much in the past couple of weeks.

But in the end we got to the molino and enjoyed the beautiful gardens. Oh and the question for today: Do you know the difference between an Alpaca and a Lama?

Visitantes

Today was Tuesday. Yesterday wasn't one of my strong-days, haha. I had class, but somehow I could NOT remember even one palabra. But today was already better.

In the morning Maria, a good friend of my aunties, came to visit us. She brought me the cutest little placemat. We had a good talk with her and I got to learn a lot of new words. I now started to carry a paper with me, so that I can always write down new words, whenever I hear one. And believe me the paper fills up pretty fast, haha!

Just after Maria left my auntie got a call from a neighbour's son. He owns some parking spots in the city, I think. Anyways, there was this Swiss guy, who parked his motorbike there. So this Swiss guy asked if he could come by and say hi. So he and the neighbour's son came by and we had a great talk with them. He told us, how he's been touring thru South America with his motorbike for nearly 3 years now. He's travelled most of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile etc. Right now he is on his way North. It was interesting to listen to his stories. Around 4pm they left and we had lunch. The rest of the night was rather quiet.

la fin de semana

Wow, my first week in Arequipa is officially over!
After a busy week, we decided to just stick around the house for the weekend. On Saturday we tried to go for a walk - but somehow we didn't make it. Well I guess, part of the reason was, that none of us was eager to get soaked, because it was pouring down like crazy.

So finally on Sunday afternoon, we went for a little sightseeing tour around Arequipa. We went up on the bridge just right next to our house, where we had a great view all over Arequipa. One thing I found interesting was, that there was construction just at the beginning of the bridge. Well, the interesting thing was not the construction itself, but that for the same construction area in Switzerland, the government would hire like 20 people less. So it's not unusual that one guy just kinda walks up and down with a brick in his hand, just so he has something to do.

It was interesting how, even though living in the middle of the city, there is still a great difference in how people live. As for the guy who owns this property, he just doesn't wanna sell it, but at the same time he has no money to build a house.

Also we met the guy who collects metals, bottles etc. They drive thru the city with their bikes and collect whatever they can get. They also put speakers on their bikes sometimes. So whenever I open my window in the morning, I can hear them yelling things thru the speaker (no idea what tho).

Also the river in Arequipa carries a lot of water right now. It rained a lot these last couple of days, even storms with thunder and lightnings - which usually never happens around here. I like to think, that it just wants me to still feel sorta like at home - at least one familiar thing, haha.

So ya, after about 45 minutes of walking, we decided to quickly go to the store to get some bread. When we came out, we realized that a huge storm just passed. According to the sizes of the puddles outside, it must have rained really hard in those 20 minutes, that we were in the store. But when we came out the storm was over and we walked home dry. Tuvimos suertes!
So we had a really nice walk and I got to see some more of Arequipa.

la iglesia

My first week in Arequipa is almost over! Unbelievable! It went super super fast! I'm really enjoying my time here and I think Arequipa is a ciudad muy hermosa! I love the weather, the people and the whole atmosphere here. 

Today was Sunday, so I decided to go find the church building. Last night my auntie was so good to take me up to the adress, where we thought the church was located. Well, we found ourselves in a little alley in front of a locked door. 

So anyways, this morning I decided to walk up there again, to see if the door was open now. Though when I got to number 125 it was locked again. I looked up and down the street - nothing, no people anywhere. I assumed, that since church starts in 10 minutes (which means at 9.30am) and there are no people walking up or down the street anywhere, I must be in the wrong place. 

I had a little prayer in my heart, that I might still be able to find the church, since I now gathered ALL my courage to go there in the first place. 

A little dejected I turned around to walk back home. I just thought, that next Sunday I will just try to find another church building. 

I only walked down one cuadra when suddenly a Sister Missionary comes around the corner. YAY!! I was so happy!

She was accompanied by a young single adult. They were super friendly and they also showed me the church building. It wasn't to far from where I was in the first place!

 

So I had a good time at church. I understood at least some of what they said. 

Also when I walked in, there were to elderly men sitting in the very back. The Sister Missionary said hi to them, so I did likewise. Haha, all the sudden these old men got really excited. Later on I realized why - I think I am the only non-peruvian in that ward. 

So this YSA lady was super nice and she would repeat things for me like 10 times. This was my frist real time of having to speak JUST Spanish - cuz no one spoke English.

But they were all super sweet and patient. I might even join the YSAs this week for some event (haha - didn't quite understand what it was all about).

So yay- found my ward - I'm happy now!

Spanish classes - mañana

Hola!
Tengo que hablar espanol ahora. Or something like that at least. On Wednesday I was supposed to have my first Spanish class. My auntie dropped me off at the school and then went shopping.

I was already pretty nervous when I went in. But then the headmaster came in (Note: He was about my age) and told me that I was supposed to call yesterday, to confirm that I wanted to take classes.
Well I guess it wouldn't be Peru, if things just worked out, right ;) So mañana it is! But they were really friendly and told me to come back tomorrow.

The only problem I now had, was to find my way back home. I knew it was about a 35 minute walk and I sorta knew in which direction I had to walk. Well to sum it up, it took me a full hour to get home... Also at one point I found myself in this tiny little alley and I'm still not sure I really belonged there. Everybody stared at me. haha, gotta love the life of a gringa!

But I made it home ok. So all is well.

On Thursday I then had my first Spanish class. They already told me that my teachers name was Carlos. So all the sudden this young man walks in and introduced himself as Carlos. Fun fact about Carlos is, that he only came back from Switzerland a couple of days ago. He is peruvian, but studyied in Switzerland for a while. So whenever I get confused, I can just use my Swiss German on him.

So good times in Spanish class!

So far I've had two Spanish classes! There are sooo many things to learn. Right now it's irregular verbs - oh dear! But it's super fun and I learn a lot. I'll let you know as soon as I speak some more Spanish!

1st day

Today (Tuesday), I got to meet Carmen, the muchacha. She comes two times a week to help clean the house. I got to practise my first couple Spanish words today. YAY!! She is so kind to always repeat things two or three times for me, till I finally get it.

Then after a wonderful breakfast my auntie and I left to go to the city. We had some errands to do as well as go and sign me in for Spanish (castellano) classes. I will go in three times a week for 2h each time. It's super nice, cuz I will have privat lessons. Unbelievable, private lessons only cost 20 soles here - which is about 7 francs I think. But I'm really excited to finally start taking classes!

Also we walked by the plaza de armas and I got learn a new fun fact about Peru. My auntie showed me a corner, where people sit on chairs with these really old typewriters on their labs. If you need a typewritten letter, you can just go there and they'll do it for you. So peruanos are really creative in their job choice.

All last night our neighbour's alarm went off. So we hardly slept this past night. But luckly they came back from their vacation today. So it should get better soon.

One other thing I learned so far is, that birds don't sound like birds here. It sounds more like somebody is farting all the time. It feels slightely awkward whenever we eat outside and all the sudden you hear this fart sound, haha.