tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88554110296791192682024-03-13T09:22:34.054-07:00Lindsey's Exchange AdventuresThis blog is all about my exchange to Peru. I will tell you all about my adventures before I leave, while I am there and when I return home. I hope you enjoy!Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-3706501609309265692010-05-18T07:05:00.000-07:002010-05-18T07:19:36.665-07:00homeAs most of you probably know, I am home. I have been home for over a month now. AFS recieved a recomendation from the doctor saying that I needed to return to the USA, so here I am. It all happened very quickly, I only had a day to get all of my stuff ready and to go shoppoing and to do everything that I wanted to do, of course I was not able to do everything or to say goodbye to everyone. Leaving was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do in my entire life. It was like I was torn from everything I knew and thrust back into the unknown. Just like when I first got there.<br />I will never forget my experience. I have made life long friends and I now have connections in an amazing country. I have learned a language that I am now fluent in. I have seen places that most people can only dream of or see on post cards. I have learned things that I will need for the rest of my life.<br />I do not consider myself to be fully American anymore, becuase I know that I am and always will be part Peruvian. Peru has become part of who I am and who I will become.<br />Since I have been home I have become very busy. I am doing camps, working 2 jobs, taking summer classes, getting my drivers liscense. But I am also starting a fundraiser, it is called Adopt A Desk, and it was set up to help the second school that I went to, Maristas. To learn more about it, please visit the website at adoptadesk.webs.com which should be up and running by the weekend. I will keep everyone posted on that.<br /><br />So as soon as I got to Peru I started thinking of how I would end my blog, the end of my time in Peru, and I have found a suitable quote that I think sums everything up.<br /><br />I came, I saw, I conquered - Julius CeaserLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-45971888756225725142010-03-29T18:11:00.000-07:002010-03-29T18:20:34.731-07:00sorry it took so long!what an....adventure. I am so sorry that I have not posted anything for a while. I was pretty sick so I had to be hospitalized in a clinic for about five days. I must say, it was not the horrible experience that I imagined it would be. I did not enjoy it, but I did have cable TV and the nurses were really nice to me, so I am not complaining. The doctor said that I had an infection in my throat and the effects spread to the rest of my body.. Not quite sure what that means, but I had blood drawn 6 times, 4 shots, 2 IVs, and one biopsi, so it ust have been bad. I am much better now, I left on Saterday and I am currently staying with the AFS president in Huancayo until I am fully recovered.<br />I am very excited because I start a new high school tomorrow. I am not changing schools because I did not like San Juan Bosco (my old school) I just want to have some new experiences and get to know some new people in my last few months here in Peru. I am going to a school called Maristas. It is a new school, it just opened 2 years ago, so it is still very small. About 50 students. Or thats what I heard at least. I have actually not been there yet, so tomorrow is going to be very exciting.<br />I am also beginning to think that I am going to be changing families...again. But that us still up in the air, no one really knows what is going to happen yet.<br />I can not wait to tell you all about my first day in my new school!!!!<br />Love you guys!!!Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-80185449027635131312010-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:002010-03-18T14:30:53.184-07:00sickI am so sorry that I have not written in a long time. At the moment I am sick and I just want to sleep all day, so I am not going to write that much. As soon as I get better and get back in school I will give you a very long update, but right now I am going to the doctors.<br /><br />I love you guys!!!<br /><br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-50484216595960566712010-03-09T15:36:00.000-08:002010-03-09T15:53:46.350-08:00see with your eyes closedClose your eyes and look around. What can you see? Black? Black with those little squiggily lines? Look more carefully. Can you see what I see? I see faith. When your so far away from everything you know, that is all you can look for and if you are very lucky, then you can find it. Now, you may be thinking, what does faith look like. I can assure you that is not an easy question to answer.<br />It is that feeling that is inside of you that is so strong you feel as if you can see it just as clearly as you can see your hand in front of your face.<br />The act of knowing that you are not alone even if there is no one around for miles.<br />The beautiful song that fills your head when the world is silent.<br />The warmth that comforts you in the cold air of that Andes mountains.<br />The feeling of security in a world filled with violence.<br />It is the still calm that comes over you, when you do not feel the need to do anything, only the need to just be.<br />Have you ever seen a stranger go out of their way to help a person they have never met before. It is a beautiful thing. It is what we all hope to see everyday. But why do we sit there and watching hoping to see a true act of kindness when we could be the people doing the acts and setting the example.<br />Have you ever heard the lines from the well loved song "so I keep on waiting, waiting for the world to change" ? What a stupid song. We all keep saying that the world needs to change, and then we sit around and wait for other people to do it. Why arn´t we the ones making the change, one person can make a huge difference.<br /><br />So I sugest that you stop looking with your eyes open and start trying to see with your eyes closed.Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-58102387823808491192010-02-24T06:57:00.000-08:002010-02-24T07:20:02.396-08:002 gringas en ChinchaWOW!!!! I am so happy that I decided to take a little break from Huancayo and come to the coast to visit my friend for a while. I am currently in the city of Chincha. It is not a city for tourists, not at all, there is nothing here.<br />My first day did not get off to a very good start. Within the first 3 hours my cell phone got stolen and then a truck full of boys dumped water on us and we got soaked! This was very refreshing, but at the same time it was very annoying. Luckily we were coming home and not going out.<br />But my friend Nicole and I are sleeping on the roof of her house everynight because the sky is just so pretty. It started that we were just going to sleep there for the first night, but that changed as soon as we layed down, the sky was pink and blue and purple. WE just sat there and stared at the sky. It is so fun because the clouds always make the most interesting shapes, we have seen letters and a cross and a flag and a guinia pig and other cray stuff like that.<br />It is all very funny because we are playing the very popular game of Carnival (with the water). WE stand on her roof and throw water at innocent people passing by. The funnest people to hit are the ones riding by on motorcycles. After we throw the water we duck down so that the people can not see us, which makes it even funnier because they are all looking around for where the water came from. Now I know that this might sound cruel, but its just so much fun. You should try it sometime.<br />yesterday was my best day of my entire year in peru so far. Nicole and I got up early and we took a 2 hour bus ride to the city of Ica. First we went to the mall. A real mall, with 3 floors and more then 10 stores! I was so excited. We went shopping and I got my hair cut for the first time since I have been here ( I feel like I am 10 pounds lighter). We bought some really cute jackets that say Peru on the front. Then we took a taxi to a lagoon that is in the middle of the desert. It was so beautiful, but the best part is what we did in the desert. We went sand boarding!!!!! We took a buggy (like a tricked out jeep) far out into the sand dunes. It was like a roller coaster, sometimes we were driving on verticle walls of sand. Then we got to the top of a very large hill of sand. We layed on our stomachs on these boards that looked a lot like snow boards and then the guide would push us off down these almost verticle hills. It was one of the funnest things that I have ever done in my life. And what was great is that Nicole and I got a private buggy so it was just us two and the guide ( who was also 17). When we finished we went back to the lagoon and tryed to shake off all of sand that now covered us. Eventually we managed to get mostly clean and we took a taxi to the movies. We watched a really good movie about rugby in south Africa.<br />After all of that we were so tired so we slept the whole bus ride back to chincha. We finally got home and we took a shower and went right to bed-on the roof.<br /><br /><br /><br />Lots of Love,<br />Lindsey<br /><br />PS- pictures will be coming when I get back to huancayoLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-52273263028812394112010-02-20T11:29:00.000-08:002010-02-20T11:33:30.834-08:00More Pictures!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtTBNKavlH_yc_mHJW5NPJp3bbadz24FMqz3zB_yLQZUKZiduMkiZkSBj6x0WNmubpMPTzYwUAOTzTN2McfvXZ9mBZG0PJ60FkNkduR_JkHXh6Z3VX3GtpF6tq9EB4XZngR0wVFDM42I/s1600-h/18054_280638116273_636841273_3574757_425115_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 239px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440410424765919202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtTBNKavlH_yc_mHJW5NPJp3bbadz24FMqz3zB_yLQZUKZiduMkiZkSBj6x0WNmubpMPTzYwUAOTzTN2McfvXZ9mBZG0PJ60FkNkduR_JkHXh6Z3VX3GtpF6tq9EB4XZngR0wVFDM42I/s320/18054_280638116273_636841273_3574757_425115_n.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsC4Ro59n9A_P-cAsIMcOufX8EMLzgN15k-NUdYVVYg3ZUsZdtvkeBJLxOHs9WALQI2MD9AVFhZ8tBxrGcUX6D8fm5vfr5lzB7OqM2g-Jc74igAVM4aK0-DYeQIBicK8oJShY8eLvZ_5E/s1600-h/18054_280638036273_636841273_3574750_1978511_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440410418616843714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsC4Ro59n9A_P-cAsIMcOufX8EMLzgN15k-NUdYVVYg3ZUsZdtvkeBJLxOHs9WALQI2MD9AVFhZ8tBxrGcUX6D8fm5vfr5lzB7OqM2g-Jc74igAVM4aK0-DYeQIBicK8oJShY8eLvZ_5E/s320/18054_280638036273_636841273_3574750_1978511_n.jpg" /></a> Ok, The first two are from pole dancing. Then there is me on the steps in my house in Lima. and then there is my wonderful, amazing family in Lima that I stayed with for two weeks. And filally, another picture from prom of me and my friend Nele from Belgium.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5d4nI1PmeFW4sKTNZzBghrRbHQag2ypaY5a6eCPWE17Sfe6N-i4pHbBB3Gh-pXKcJu_xqPfRIMbbcRO_Zsx_s76McIbN8VJIfx4MlthxaTrL-nAOhCoSmqx-rwHA9u2EsYgbycFH_wCY/s1600-h/18054_280630881273_636841273_3574733_8346186_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440410414542573362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5d4nI1PmeFW4sKTNZzBghrRbHQag2ypaY5a6eCPWE17Sfe6N-i4pHbBB3Gh-pXKcJu_xqPfRIMbbcRO_Zsx_s76McIbN8VJIfx4MlthxaTrL-nAOhCoSmqx-rwHA9u2EsYgbycFH_wCY/s320/18054_280630881273_636841273_3574733_8346186_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXyHHpsQZ7mL13u5I9QQt7jI8vHnShOPILXcpQ8WcRvQzNKf3n-o8eoYbF592P_wCjSuG9ZPBsJlLSJ_OUiiUk_qEnweZHEXMwbcYsfP_3ngI4ihvW40GKZmIAGaLZ7Wkla_KeCuLhEc/s1600-h/18054_280620521273_636841273_3574719_2505166_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440410411699143346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXyHHpsQZ7mL13u5I9QQt7jI8vHnShOPILXcpQ8WcRvQzNKf3n-o8eoYbF592P_wCjSuG9ZPBsJlLSJ_OUiiUk_qEnweZHEXMwbcYsfP_3ngI4ihvW40GKZmIAGaLZ7Wkla_KeCuLhEc/s320/18054_280620521273_636841273_3574719_2505166_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLIqgS48t_x0Pe2CAO2lGIgm3Dw6Y0TsYK4mZ5XyYGD5YFf2POvcUqtnt6mPGFTrQUjB5zP38Zkivase1C6oF_VPCOFOFDEEVgoL-4Zva1bCDyylyMr9cBomkGgj0mFbXRpQujczJyC0/s1600-h/18054_279683991273_636841273_3570461_8145551_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 234px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440410404999097122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLIqgS48t_x0Pe2CAO2lGIgm3Dw6Y0TsYK4mZ5XyYGD5YFf2POvcUqtnt6mPGFTrQUjB5zP38Zkivase1C6oF_VPCOFOFDEEVgoL-4Zva1bCDyylyMr9cBomkGgj0mFbXRpQujczJyC0/s320/18054_279683991273_636841273_3570461_8145551_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div>Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-67957313963261785972010-02-19T10:00:00.000-08:002010-02-19T10:32:08.912-08:00Hand-washing clothesI hate to say it, but Americans are spoiled. Now don´t even try to deny it because we all know that it is true. We take so many things for granted, like washing machines. Such a simple little thing that as Americans, we all have. Well in these past few months I have had to emotionaly deattach myself from this glorious machine. I have had to do the unthinkable, the unheard of, I have had to wash all my clothes by hand *GASP*!!!! Yes it is very shocking, I know, in the beginning when my family told me what I had to do I just looked at them with what was probably a very stupid expression.<br />Now I know what you all must be thinking, "Lindsey, its not that bad, its so easy". Well that my friends is where you are wrong.<br />To start, you have to find the perfect size bin to put your clothes in. To small and not all of them fit, to big and your water to clothing ratio is off (yes, math is very much involved, who knew). Ok so we have the clothes in the perfect size bin, now you have to add the water. You have to put just enough water in so that you can push all of the clothes under, but you have to leave a little bit of space so you can still have the space on the top to scrub your clothing. Water, Check! Now as you all may have guessed, it is time to put in the soap. I am proud to say that I now have this down toa science, but my first few times I suffered deeply. I made the two most common mistakes, to much soap, and not enough soap. If there is to much soap it will take you, no joke, and hour to rinse one article of clothing. If you are infortunate enough to not use enough then your clothes do not get clean and when you are scrubbing you can rip them. Now, not having enough soap is very easily corrected, UNLESS, you add to much more and then you are stuck with the first problem that you were trying to avoid in the first place! OH NO!!!! Although those things may sound dramaticaly serious, they are not really that bad.<br />So we have a bin, we have water, we have soap, and lets hope that we ahave clothes or else putting soap and water in a bin would be very pointless.<br />The act of washing the clothes is actually the easiest part. You just use a brush and scrub away the dirt, you you dont use a brush and you use the clothing itself to clean itself. But there is a hidden danger. The brushes here have attitude problems and sometimes like to leave bristles stuck under your skin, not a very fun expearience and a pain in the butt (or finger) to get out. It took me like ten minutes because this bristle had to be difficult and keep breaking in little parts.<br />ANYWAYS! So your clothes are finally clean, YAY! But now they are full of soap.<br />Simple, dump out all the soapy water and fill it with clean water over and over and over again untill all the soap is out. Or you can rinse each article of clothing individually, which ever you prefer. Then you squeeze out as much water as you can so they will dry faster. And in Huancayo you want your clothes to dry very fast because you are always racing with the rain.<br />If you use the clothing lines as part of a grid and you line up the grid with the position of the sun and use points to represent articles of clothing then you can pinpoint the exact locations that will dry clothing the fastest and the slowest ( I told you that math was involved). But only losers would actaully take the time to make a grid and monitor the position of the sun, so I just hang up my clothes and move them around until they are dry. Both methods work just fine.<br />I hope that you all have learned something new.<br /><br />I miss you all and I love you!!!!<br /><br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-87289878313239879282010-02-18T09:41:00.000-08:002010-02-18T10:05:22.938-08:00PICTURES!!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uo7zBIMsJDGPZ2wASpuorPhM3XwkeUgT9XiUpL2qkt4TaquwpmzSPfGvlRu9kTBFXl7cF8rpDcZP6c98O6ZhUiuak-hI7kY7O7UGNOONHYgHFmJhqB5e5CS7z2p9wNlVrfqukBbSpew/s1600-h/pole+dancing.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439644331357907714" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Uo7zBIMsJDGPZ2wASpuorPhM3XwkeUgT9XiUpL2qkt4TaquwpmzSPfGvlRu9kTBFXl7cF8rpDcZP6c98O6ZhUiuak-hI7kY7O7UGNOONHYgHFmJhqB5e5CS7z2p9wNlVrfqukBbSpew/s320/pole+dancing.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I am finally putting up some pictures! The first one is from my pole dancing classes. The next one is me in the tradition clothing from the city of Lamas in the Jungle. Then I have two from the beach when I went to Lima, I am with my host sister from Lima Jimena. And the last two are from my prom!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kmPU6i5Y1tCdeZvpqBQCcJQHuKbwABW5kED9WYg6HqsDu1l_O5Augny6R1-qLkWMM7ExiUI20gFFS-m6PmKdoYTungKrSTpKTcOmUX5Y5ayZ_YKnTNc65gGnv4rLwg7Kpm5zmIZkPEQ/s1600-h/vnc.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439643345022400178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 238px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kmPU6i5Y1tCdeZvpqBQCcJQHuKbwABW5kED9WYg6HqsDu1l_O5Augny6R1-qLkWMM7ExiUI20gFFS-m6PmKdoYTungKrSTpKTcOmUX5Y5ayZ_YKnTNc65gGnv4rLwg7Kpm5zmIZkPEQ/s320/vnc.bmp" border="0" /></a> the picture with all the people are all of the AFS students in Huancayo and the other is me, my friend Nele, and our friend José.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBfKlqLG3F1yyrMWYUYuNPw1DhgKjSyJW8IZDK4qc-yDIvo3fOPAfVukuWCczZWCxqYf5HSNc-ArGv0pPFAext3m8WW9gt9zh211U6eVRRO8RdD_5x_Kvhlhu6yNK3Tt5YqShzcVp1sA/s1600-h/zdvgzdx.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439643338648790082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBfKlqLG3F1yyrMWYUYuNPw1DhgKjSyJW8IZDK4qc-yDIvo3fOPAfVukuWCczZWCxqYf5HSNc-ArGv0pPFAext3m8WW9gt9zh211U6eVRRO8RdD_5x_Kvhlhu6yNK3Tt5YqShzcVp1sA/s320/zdvgzdx.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmq7F_JBh6vDcqMqHb_YBDOAhrwNDszbt8A4nO9j2lMtZx6v-mLqi1mzksdh-UHiLoTQezZCUOYDkPl-L0tNGht7hGROK-Hbe40EPBqSAaMbafa57eLq5173YsLWtj6jVnE61ZvMrIlI/s1600-h/xgsxg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439643340516627298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmq7F_JBh6vDcqMqHb_YBDOAhrwNDszbt8A4nO9j2lMtZx6v-mLqi1mzksdh-UHiLoTQezZCUOYDkPl-L0tNGht7hGROK-Hbe40EPBqSAaMbafa57eLq5173YsLWtj6jVnE61ZvMrIlI/s320/xgsxg.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bmP3J8JmDrThdn0JflOUH2lE-TbzdetnHFcTdmWlsd2-CFAzt9dz3KNxGGpADDKD9DIrFWLCLFFyuax-oFfpLL7GX55QOpPP_ZRQIRXBdDGzNXR_mQ0qrY-PzzePyaZVEMAxE5aOpWU/s1600-h/zgzg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439643334047517730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bmP3J8JmDrThdn0JflOUH2lE-TbzdetnHFcTdmWlsd2-CFAzt9dz3KNxGGpADDKD9DIrFWLCLFFyuax-oFfpLL7GX55QOpPP_ZRQIRXBdDGzNXR_mQ0qrY-PzzePyaZVEMAxE5aOpWU/s320/zgzg.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqXNkNVnxp9ZPGWMcIWipB68DFYSUnYzEKXnx1FzMDQiONrOBT-V3vC8Vv8ryaFUmuoJCx3BqD4FaZe3Sc6ZmHjA2mvPWEOOCo8rTDwcGRS-pR5uuPjaSe-2aeVkYuXbupVbDuujwI3E/s1600-h/fxhnxc.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439643352263632034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqXNkNVnxp9ZPGWMcIWipB68DFYSUnYzEKXnx1FzMDQiONrOBT-V3vC8Vv8ryaFUmuoJCx3BqD4FaZe3Sc6ZmHjA2mvPWEOOCo8rTDwcGRS-pR5uuPjaSe-2aeVkYuXbupVbDuujwI3E/s320/fxhnxc.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-53307081645786879052010-02-16T16:31:00.000-08:002010-02-16T16:43:16.356-08:00What a crazy few days! Well on the 14th I went over to talk to one of the AFS volenteers. She somehow convinced me to return to my first host family that same day! I was amazed that she wanted me to change that fast! So I went back to my house and I packed up all my stuff (close to 11 bags!) and I was in the other house in under 2 hours! Things were going great until the night time. I don´t know what happened but I just broke down crying for about 3 hours. I felt so bad because I just got to their house and the family had no idea what to do. I was just so stressed and I missed my family so much, I actually wrote an e-mail to my mom telling her that I wanted to come home in March. I went to bed hoping that a good nights sleep would help me out.<br />It did! I woke up on the morning of my birthday feeling great! I got up kinda early and I got ready. I put on my special outfit that I had picked out and then I went to my friend Johanna´s house and she did my hair and make-up. I came back to the house and I cleaned and set up the livinf room for my "get together" (not a party) that I would have that night. Then I went back to the family that I had just left because they had prepared something special for my birthday. We ate cake and hot chocolate and they gave me an adorable doll. But I soon had to go. So I said my goodbyes and I returned to my house. I called my mom so that I could talk to her a little bit for my birthday, but not to long because I had to set everything up.<br />And soon, people started showing up! So many more people came then what I expected! It was so much fun. I showed everyone my clothes fromt he jungle and we ate cake ( Prilu, my sister, shoved my face in it) and we danced for hours. By the end of the night I was so exhausted! I helped clean up a little bit and then I went to bed and fell asleep so fast!<br />I can´t believe that I am 17. I remember when I was 10 saying that I would never be 16 because that is so old. Well just look at me now! 17 years old. I guess that I am growing up whether I like it or not. But like someone famous once said, growing old is manditory, growing up is optional.<br /><br />I love you all and I miss you all so much!<br /><br />Lots of Love,<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-16049296250581243232010-02-12T12:52:00.000-08:002010-02-12T13:13:22.065-08:00My new normalIt would be very hard for me to say that what I considered to be normal is now very weird. I also realize that I now consider things to be normal that you all might think is crazy. Allow me to explain myself.<br />1. Washing my clothes. I hand-wash all of my clothes, we do not have a washing machine; it is very rare that families have washing machines. And none, I mean NONE of the families have dryers. I asked about a dryer, they did not know what it was.<br />2. Washing dishes. People here do not know what a dishwasher is, they think that it is a person that comes to the house to wash the dishes.<br />3. Taking a shower. Most families here do not have a shower, they dump water on them or they go to a public sauna. I am very lucky, I have a shower in my house.<br />4. Water. A lot of people don´t have running water. I do. But no one has hot water. If you are very lucky you have hot water in only your shower. Well hot water means kinda warm sometimes.<br />5. We do not have a refrigerator. We buy all of our food for the days meals and we use it that day.<br />6. We drink some type of hot beverage 3 times a day. Sometimes its hot chocolate, sometimes its coffee, or tea, but we always drink something hot.<br />7. Transportation. I can not imagine not being able to call a taxi to my house if I want to go out. Or not being able to pay 30 cents to ride a combi to my friend´s house.<br />Those are just a few things, to me they are completely normal. I would not even think twice about these things, they are my life now.Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-38282242563464900952010-02-11T11:09:00.000-08:002010-02-11T11:23:11.327-08:00*I can not think of a title for this one*I was wrong. I was so sure that things were going to get better with my sisters, but as I have learned things do not always go the way that I planned. My older sister has made it very clear that she does not want me to live here anymore. So I have talked to AFS and they are in the process of finding me a new family. I know that I only have a few months left to make this the best experience of my life, and that is what I am going to do. I need to stop relying on other people to make this great for me and start making it great for myself.<br />I would like to apologize. I know that this blog is the only contact that some of you have with me and I have not been updating it very much. Like I said, I have been stressed and very busy, I will try to get a new post up at least twice week (please don´t hold me to that).<br />Right now I understand what it is like to be an adult. I am having a few money issues. I left my camera out in the rain. I was so sure that it was broken beyond repair. So I kept taking the battery out so it could dry out. And then it started getting better, and one morning I woke up just knowing that it was fixed and all dried out. Then I tried to put the battery in. I had been taking it out and putting it in so much that the little spring broke, how ironic is that. I had to buy a new camera. I now have to start saving my money for the trip to Manchu Pichu in the summer (we can´t go now because Cuzco is underwater). That should be super fun.<br /><br />I miss you all so much. Los extraño bastante. Yo quiero regresar a mi casa y mi collegio. Es asi, yo quiero regresar a Estados Unidos, pero yo no quiero irme de Perù.<br /><br />Con mucho amor (Lots of Love),<br />-LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-66981573362068726092010-02-03T20:12:00.000-08:002010-02-03T20:24:46.218-08:00CarnivalWe are going to do what!? That was my first response when my sisters explained the "carnival" to me. The carnival is the whole month of February and it consists of dumping water on other people. This is not just done in the family or with friends; everytime that you walk on the street you are in danger of being soaked wether you like it or not. Now I imagine that on the coast or in the jungle where it is really hot that this game is a refreshing cool down. I live in the mountains, it never gets above 70 degrees. At first I refused to participate for the fear of dying of hypothermia. But I somehow ended up on my roof with my sisters and a friend trying as hard as I could to soak them; and it worked. I did not die, I did not get frostbite, in fact, I had fun. A lot of fun. Yes, I was freezing, but I felt like a part of the family and not some forgein girl that is forced to live here.<br /><br />After my trip to Lima I expected to come home to warm hugs and a changed family. That however was not the case. My sisters were treating me worse then ever, they had even rearanged the room so my bed as all alone in the corner. But I was determined to make this work. So I did as much housework as I could think of so I could make a good impression, showing that I really do want to be here. And my hardwork did pay off. My sisters actually started being nice to me. Everything began to look just a little bit brighter then before. Now I am not sure if it will always be as good as today playing carnival, but I know that things will in fact be better.<br /><br />XOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-43109959559658284222010-01-24T09:05:00.000-08:002010-01-24T09:26:46.773-08:00LimaI have been in Lima for just over a week now and I LOVE it. My host family is great, just really amazing! I will tell you all what I have been doing for the past week and my plans for this week. Monday was so much fun! I got to sleep in until whenever I wanted and then Jimena and I swam in her pool and layed out in the sun. But then in the evening was the best part, I had my first pole dancing lesson! Now I know what you all must be thinking about pole dancing, but it is not at all what you would expect. I am learning the sport, not how to be a stripper, and it is actually really really hard. I was so surprised at how much strength it takes, and after i was beyond sore!<br />I dont remember what happened on Wednesday. On Thursday we had pole dancing again, i am so proud that I can do some of the crazy hard hanging upside down stuff that only the insturctor can do. Of course i will post pictures as soon as I get back to Huancayo.<br />Then on Friday we backed up our stuff and headed out to the beach house for the weekend again. And of course, I am sick. I don´t understand how its possible that I am not sick when I am 11,000 feet in the mountains in the freezing cold and constant rain, but I get sick on sea level where it is BEAUTIFUL.<br />Well, now it is Sunday, I am feeling much better. Last night we had a fire on the beach, it was a lot of fun. Then I slept in until about 12 this morning. I got up and I drank my fresh strawberry juice... OH YEAH, I dont remember if I told you guys. They dont really sell juice here in Peru because everyone makes it fresh. I have had papaya, orange, strawberry (my favorite), maracuya, banana, and so many different mixes that I cant remember.<br />I am really looking forward to this next week. Its my last week in Lima so my friends are going to take me clubbing on Tuesday and on Thursday. On Tuesday I am going to go to salsa class, that should be super fun, nad I already promised my mom that I would teach her when i get back, she wants me to have a group class, how funny would that be!<br /><br />I am in love with the city of Lima. It is such an amazing city and the district that I am in is REALLY nice. It actually reminds me of the USA. But I have started to realize that the people that live here dont really travel in their country. I have been talking with all of my friends and asking them what other parts of the country that they know, and I am always surprised that I know more parts then them.<br /><br />Well I am sorry, but I am going to go now. I am sure that I could sit here for another 3 hours and write, but it is sunny outside and I am at a beach house. So I am going to go lay out in the sun because it is never sunny here, the sky is always covered by clouds.<br /><br />I love you guys!!!!<br /><br />XOXOXOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-40137537844779254092010-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:002010-01-18T12:38:13.475-08:00more travelingWow, I have not written a new post in so long, I am so sorry, I have just been so busy. On the 11th i had to pack up all of my things and take the 8 hour bus ride to Lima. I got to Lima at about 6 in the morning. I went to a youth hostal to sleep for a little while and to eat breakfast. I stayed there until about 9 then I headed off to the office of AFS. I just waited for the whole day until about 4. Then we went to the bus station because I had to go to the city of Tumbes for my Visa. The city of Tumbes is partly in Peru and partly in Ecuador. So what I did was I got permisson to leave Peru, then I went and I got a stamp that says that I was in ecuador. Then I got permission to leave Ecuador, then I went back and I got my new visa to be in Peru, all of this in under an hour. But the boarder was really cool, there was this really long market with a bridge in the middle. On one side of the bridge was Peru and on the other side was Ecuador, I still have no idea where the part in the middle belongs.<br /><br />So then the next day I packed up my things and I took the 22 hour bus ride back to Lima, yes i did say 22 hours in a bus.<br /><br />Luckily I do not have to go back to Huancayo right away, I get to spend 2 weeks in Lima with a host family here. It is a chance for me to get to know a different part of Peru, all of the exchange students are going to a different city for these 2 weeks. My familt here is wonderful, I have 2 sisters Jimena and Isabella. Jimena is 16 and Isabella is 18. They are both so nice and i know that i am going to have an amazing time. I have already been here for 3 days, 2 of those three were spent at their beach house.<br />I am going to enjoy myself very much.<br /><br /><br />I love you all so much and as soon as I get back to Huancayo I am going to post more pictures.<br /><br /><br />XOXOXOXOXOXOXO,<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-4663797479237311912010-01-04T14:27:00.000-08:002010-01-04T14:39:30.960-08:00inside the thoughts of LindseyI am so confused. My sister and I talked about everything and we managed to work everything out. Things were great for about three days ( Yes dad, I am magical, I called that). I tried so hard to keep everything good between us, i was as nice as i possibly¡ly could be. I helped out extra, doing work around the house so that she could see that I was making an effort. But sure enough things started to go back to the way that they were, her not talking to me and just telling me what to do. I feel like they are purposely making me feel left out (my two sisters). They are constantly playing around and joking, but then if i try to join in they ignore me. All of this really amkes me miss my real sister. I mean sure she would yell at me and tell her to leave her alone, but at least she never ignored me. And besides, Kelly´s hair changes colors, how many people can say that they have a sister who´s hair changes colors.<br /><br />I want this experience to be the best year of my life, but the first half has been a constant flow of one problem after another. I just want to have fun, I mean have the time of my life laughing all day fun. I think that I owe it to myself to find a family that will help me to do that. Who knows what this next half of my year has in store for me, all I know is that it is my choice.<br /><br /><br />Oh yeah, so as you all know I am in the jungle right now. I have found out that the traditional clothing from one of the cities here are amazing, so guess what, I AM BUYING SOME!! and i am learning the dance to go with it!!!<br /><br />I will post more photos when I get back to Huancayo<br /><br />Love and miss you all<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-79648857405670439992009-12-29T07:14:00.000-08:002009-12-29T07:28:10.096-08:00Christmas and motorcyclesMy christmas was not good, I had to convince myself that it was not really Christmas just so I did not spend the whole day crying. Convincing myself of this fact was easier then I expected seeing as I spent the whole day in a bus.<br />I was excited because I was taking that bus to Lima, where I would be taking a taxi to the airport, where I took a plane to the city of Tarapoto,which is in the jungle. It is wonderful, I am dying of heat and am very badyly sunburned even after putting on 5 layers of sunscreen. But that day was worth it because I got to ride a motorcycle for the first time. At first I was terrified, I barley new the person that was driving and I was wearing flip flops (yes dad, I know). But soon the fear melted way and I realized that for the first time since being here I was not expected to say someyhing, I did not have to think about my problems with my sisters, I could just look out over the mountains and forget where I was and who I am and for that hour I could just be. I was so happy and i felt free,but my knuckles where white from gipping the handle bar. I will never forget that, ever.<br /><br />So yeah as I metioned i am having some problems with my sisters here. The older one Alicia only talks to me when 1 the most common, she is telling me to do something or not to do something 2 when she is forced to talk to me by another person 3 the only time she is nice to me, when she wants to use something of mine. this morning I came out of the room and said good morning to her, she looked at me and said nothing but gave me one horrible looks. And this is how it is, if I ask her a question she ignores me and pretends that i do not exist. So I am not sure what I am doing wrong or how to fix it, but i am trying.<br /><br />Merry Christmas and a happy new yearLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-35423748062622239532009-12-20T18:02:00.000-08:002009-12-20T18:16:45.756-08:00Visa adventure!!!So I was sitting at home on a normal wednesday night, I don´t even remember what I was doing, when all of a sudden the phone rang, I thought nothing of it....little did I know.<br />So my dad answers and is talking for a while, I thought he had hung up, but then he tell me that the president of AFS here in Huancayo is on the phone for me. I just figured that it was another meeting or another trip, BOY WAS I WRONG!<br />So she starts talking about the city of Lima and then my visa and I did not really understand at first, but then she starts talking about a city called Tumbes. Now at first I thought that she was saying that I was changing cities for my two week exchange in January (all of the exchange students are going to change cities for 2 weeks to get to know another part of the country). But then she said that I was leaving on Monday! Then I finally understod the issue. There is a problem with my visa, and in order to fix it I had to go to Tumbes, I soon found out that Tumbes is partly in Peru, but aslo has parts in Ecuador. yes Ladies and Gentalmen, I was getting kicked out of a country! How many people can say that!!!!<br />So the next two days leading up to my trip I was feeling horrible. I did not want to travel the 8 hours to lima and then 20 hours to Tumbes in a bus! Well when I got to Lima they were all very worried about my health, so I actually did not end up going to Ecuador, I stayed in Lima for 4 days to get tests done. I actually enjoyed my visit because I got to see the beach for the first time in months, I got to wear flip-flops and short sleeves and not get yelled at, and I found out that for my two week exchange I am going to be living in one of the richest districts in Peru!!!!<br />So then when they found out that there is actually nothing wrong with me but a gigantic overload of stress, I was allowed to go home!<br />The bus ride back was actually not miserable, I did not get car sick or anything!<br />Well eventually I do have to leave the country, sooner rather then later, so that will be another adventure!<br /><br />Mrs. Tammy- I have found the Peruvian version of you while I was in Lima! She was in AFS too, she loves God and Jesus, AND she is the first peruvian I have met that is Baptist! I am going to give her your e-mail if that is ok!!<br /><br /><br />Love you guys!!!Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-42641961222551575532009-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:002009-12-01T14:27:22.570-08:00Thanksgiving away from homeSo I was not quite sure how I was going to feel spending my first major holiday away from home. And the day before I was actually kind of excited because I was going to get to say the prayers in the morning in front of the whole school so that I could explain what thanksgiving is. I woke up and got ready just like any other day. And I was so excited when I got to school to talk in front of the entire school. I was so proud of myself, I did not mess up once and everyone understood my spanish!<br />But then I got downa dn looked at the time, big mistake, all I could do was think about what my family in the United States is doing, then I started crying. I continued crying through most of the morning because all I could think about was how much I wanted to be with my family. But then during the brake my class had prepared a little party kind of thing for me. They all went in a circle and said what they were thankful for, and then they all came up and gave me a hug. It was so sweet of them and it made me very thankful to be there. For the rest of the school day I was allowed to leave school to go to my friend´s house, which was very nice of them ( the school even offered to pay my taxi).<br />then I met up with my family and we went out for lunch and ate my favorite thing, chicken a la brasa (don´t know how to say it in english). It was very nice of them to do that for me. But when I got home one of the other exchange students told me that she had two american friends that were here in Huancayo and that were making dinner!!! I had to wait a little bit so I called my family and I got to talk to everyone, which was really nice.<br />Then i went to the house to eat dinner, wich only reminded me how great mine is, because it was kinda horrible, but I had fun.<br />I definatly did not like spending that time away from my family, it was by far my hardest day here. I think that christmas is going to be about 5000x as hard, but who knows.<br /><br />A few more things that I would like to add<br />*My kittens have now opened their little eyes<br />*My host school won the dance competition<br />*I pass out when I get very stressed and am 10,000 feet up in the moutains<br /><br />Thats all for now :)<br /><br />XOXOXOXOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-28601417039741604672009-11-18T13:36:00.000-08:002009-11-18T13:53:56.822-08:00coffe and kittens :)<div><div><div>I am SOOOOO happy right now! Why? Because my cat had her kittens at 2 in the morning and I get to keep one!!!!!! I named my little kitten Boo for a few reasons, one, I like the name and think that it is cute, two, because she is black with splotches of orange, just like Halloween. The two babies are so cute, I am so happy that I get to be here to experience that, I just wish that it was not at 2 in the morning.</div><br /><div>Anyways, as you all know, I am in a new host family and that I love them! Well, my dailey life has changed quite a bit now. I wake up every morning and go up to the roof to wash my face. Then I get ready for school, I always drink coffe in the morning. Then I am off to school in the taxi with my two sisters and my two cousins. School is the same as alwasy. but after I take a taxi home where we just chil and watch TV and do homework. </div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI_mTKBjkmZaOTamETANy2ftZh9eSz_UQWd9CRhIdSKteWKTV3x0eemhHiS968TuI7FF9gollfjxZnMY_Ci6JTul72VIcC7qi8ao1z1EF4L_Ct3C2N3Jril_bdRRUyKL2aOxrX9eNkFE/s1600/13069_177959291273_636841273_3071580_7062995_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 239px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405563938798702818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYI_mTKBjkmZaOTamETANy2ftZh9eSz_UQWd9CRhIdSKteWKTV3x0eemhHiS968TuI7FF9gollfjxZnMY_Ci6JTul72VIcC7qi8ao1z1EF4L_Ct3C2N3Jril_bdRRUyKL2aOxrX9eNkFE/s320/13069_177959291273_636841273_3071580_7062995_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>My house is very different too. I do not have to go outside to get upstairs or to go to the bathroom <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4iGVETnHPbY9nkJsxuVORjeyYHiRVAxIki62KcMa9xOppemjNyqvk4XKGGn_q3QDuJzVRshpoY2RhyDzcb8LpbAehCxHDBsZDCap82_Ge1Ie2N6UuR7t5y6Kah4ndHA1-yy5eM3opGA/s1600/13069_177959271273_636841273_3071578_4870276_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405563950667265106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4iGVETnHPbY9nkJsxuVORjeyYHiRVAxIki62KcMa9xOppemjNyqvk4XKGGn_q3QDuJzVRshpoY2RhyDzcb8LpbAehCxHDBsZDCap82_Ge1Ie2N6UuR7t5y6Kah4ndHA1-yy5eM3opGA/s320/13069_177959271273_636841273_3071578_4870276_n.jpg" /></a>anymore, it is much more like the houses in the USA.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>My new family also took me to the most beautiful`park in all of Huancayo, La parque de Identidad. It is all a bunch of stones that cover everything, with little houses and winding paths, it is very beautiful and very peaceful, i wish that I could have stayed there forever. I have wanted to go to that park since my first day here.</div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCG47bLh6FMcCI-7ubmrhdEAeVQL1T8kgKRvaW5kM7JJfDpi8pXtKl3KJF34lxtFz1sMKULitOT3GgljG7gwGh5No9-3bM97H-37zgyO7HLuH1A8SCDtw6D62SIjL3H21p7L3qciJ64Y/s1600/13069_177959441273_636841273_3071601_8230176_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 239px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405563929153173234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCG47bLh6FMcCI-7ubmrhdEAeVQL1T8kgKRvaW5kM7JJfDpi8pXtKl3KJF34lxtFz1sMKULitOT3GgljG7gwGh5No9-3bM97H-37zgyO7HLuH1A8SCDtw6D62SIjL3H21p7L3qciJ64Y/s320/13069_177959441273_636841273_3071601_8230176_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yqGk84UHrmWMwORqGObYGk-UgIY8fuyM2EPFWauvwKXUEp3EGs6ZYPXUvMLc9zWe9Lyaklyp_fBEz4-DWEPImqg54SCyP0FbGNp3WltLS_-z3OYY3ua7ttnaPUciy9ptW7AD3VW-rEs/s1600/13069_177959401273_636841273_3071596_485901_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405563934239243666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yqGk84UHrmWMwORqGObYGk-UgIY8fuyM2EPFWauvwKXUEp3EGs6ZYPXUvMLc9zWe9Lyaklyp_fBEz4-DWEPImqg54SCyP0FbGNp3WltLS_-z3OYY3ua7ttnaPUciy9ptW7AD3VW-rEs/s320/13069_177959401273_636841273_3071596_485901_n.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Chua (bye)</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>-Lindsey</div></div></div>Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-73281826228858524042009-11-10T07:14:00.000-08:002009-11-15T15:28:18.408-08:00New host family<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomx5CYzD6QZrGPxtquIWpX9ouf2VkEEjuC4jVbFe0mi2l6rSB32JgLOBsSpLtZCIkgvDfFEpYjPURWSq5UblXF8i7tm6vg0XynhsVsrg59q4WM0j1un6nbXypQM57hyphenhyphenNgixwUKYd-ids/s1600-h/Imagen+447.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404475854352924850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomx5CYzD6QZrGPxtquIWpX9ouf2VkEEjuC4jVbFe0mi2l6rSB32JgLOBsSpLtZCIkgvDfFEpYjPURWSq5UblXF8i7tm6vg0XynhsVsrg59q4WM0j1un6nbXypQM57hyphenhyphenNgixwUKYd-ids/s320/Imagen+447.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIIie1p7Y3NRVUu4JeMDHYrX0Qikl0odLv1B1RSGzyiKHG2WZu579Tj0X1rXwcoKhWlBUvch75VRiwPaM2ZtGW4QYST-jNIyyNUvb9fbKV66tTWwkVTyf_o0QHygRb1jprONjWvH9a7c/s1600-h/Imagen+460.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404475850774390626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBIIie1p7Y3NRVUu4JeMDHYrX0Qikl0odLv1B1RSGzyiKHG2WZu579Tj0X1rXwcoKhWlBUvch75VRiwPaM2ZtGW4QYST-jNIyyNUvb9fbKV66tTWwkVTyf_o0QHygRb1jprONjWvH9a7c/s320/Imagen+460.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeMshRbQjlZoKVdFS18Dabh4M4iLgngOwg3RD81v1qmt9PBjEA_EoofZ4s4ad0LLifj2JG6XCuaOY7VQzqTwh7Z5QL4HQg8t8Ev2zt2tGMDOFaKidouvwRj8Se0WuUwdwr1bWHVrZ4So/s1600-h/Imagen+480.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404475841949146610" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeMshRbQjlZoKVdFS18Dabh4M4iLgngOwg3RD81v1qmt9PBjEA_EoofZ4s4ad0LLifj2JG6XCuaOY7VQzqTwh7Z5QL4HQg8t8Ev2zt2tGMDOFaKidouvwRj8Se0WuUwdwr1bWHVrZ4So/s320/Imagen+480.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>As some of you may or may not know, I was having some problems with my old host family, so after about aa month of people telling me that I should change families, I finally did. The day that my best friend Alicia knew for sure that I was changing, she asked her parents if I could live with them. And the best part is, they said yes. So I decided to change on Tueday and I was in her house on Friday!<br />I now with my mom, dad (who is my language teacher, how great is that!), my cousin who is four, my aunt, and my two sisters, Alicia who is 15 and Leo who is 13. I share a room with Alicia and Leo, which I love cause we can just talk all night. In the past few days, my spanish has gotten so much better and I am about 10000000x happier.<br />On saturday I went with Leo on a trip for AFS and we had so much fun, it was such a great way to get to know her. And on Friday my family took me shopping to buy things for the room. And on sunday they took me to buy a whole new dresser for all of my stuff, A WHOLE NEW DRESSER! I thought that was really nice!<br />We also wash all of our clothes m¡by hand here, wich is really really fun. So on Sunday morning, we were out in the morning for about 2 hours washing our clothes, well I was wearing a razor back shirt, and was in the sun. My one friend now calls me Miss Lobster 2009, because I have the worstsunburn of my entire life. Luckily I had on a hat so, my face is ok, utmy back is truely horrible, so much pain. Sleeping is very difficult :)<br />But my family is taking good care of me and doing everything that they possibly can to keep the pain down, cause it hurts A LOT, all the time. I have learned my lesson.<br /><br />So yes, I am much happpier and I really think that changing families was my best decision so far.</div></div></div>Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-78024890226202834602009-11-02T12:41:00.000-08:002009-11-02T12:52:59.090-08:00QUE DIFFERENTE!!!In Peru, everything is different then in the USA. And I know that I have said that everything is different, but I have not explained how. So now I am going to make a huge long list of everything that is different....<br /><br />* People here greet each other with a kiss when they say hello and when they say goodbye.<br />* Public transportation is the main way to get around, barely anyone owns a car.<br />* After you go inside the fron door of a house, you are usually still outside and are not inside untill you enter a room. Every house has parts out side ( my "backyard" is in the middle of my house)<br />* The schools here are completely enclosed by walls.<br />* The only trees are in the parks<br />* There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE<br />*In resturants you do not pay at the table, you get a bill and bring it up to the front register to pay.<br />* Students never change classrooms, it is the teachers that change.<br />* The only type of paper used in notebooks is graph paper.<br />*Most shops here are just one little room about 15 by 15 ft sometimes less.<br />* Most of the houses have tiny little doors that you have to duck to get into<br />* Kids that are poor can go into resturants and go table to table begging for money.<br />*There are poor people on every street corner.<br />* Guys here love to whistle at girls (expecially if they are blond)<br />* Everyone knows how to prepare rice.<br />* We eat rice with almost every meal.<br />* We drink some type of hot water with every meal.<br />* We do not eat lunch in school<br />* Breakfast is usually bread<br />* Every school has a uniform, even the public ones<br />* The dial tone for telephones is one long beep<br /><br /><br />There are many more, so I will post another list later with more detail, but right now I have to go to my dance practice :)<br /><br />XOXOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-14921123456450685742009-10-27T19:32:00.001-07:002009-10-27T19:54:58.627-07:00why yes I am a dinosourAs you all know, I am not the only exchange student in Huancayo right now, there are two kids from Thailand, a girl from Belgium, and my best friend, a girl from switzerland. Her name is Johanna and she is 20 years old. She is truely my best friend here, and she speaks english, so when I am upset I can talk to her without having to translate!<br />Anyways, I love to go and hang out at her house with her and her host brother, Charlie. Whenever I go to her house there are a few things that we always do. We always sit on her bed, we always listen to music, and we always always always eat junk food. It is so fun because we just lay there and talk about anything and everything. What we are feeling, school, families, friends, food, problems, or just any random stuff that we think of; like dinosours.<br />We were just sitting on her bed making shadow puppets on her wall, when one of them looked like a dinosour, which made me remember when I spent like two days walking around my house in the United States acting like a dinosour. So naturaly I wanted to tell them this story, one problem, neither johanna nor I knew the word for dinosour in spanish to tell Charlie. So what did we do, we used actions and sounds. I think that Charlie was laughing to much to relize what we were doing so it took him about five minutes to figure it out. Turns out that the word for dinosour in spanish is practically the same as in english.<br />My time at their house sitting on Johanna´s bed is probably some of my favorite time spent in Peru. Johanna is just so nice and a good listener and is always there for me whenever I need her. And Charlie is like my big brother, he is alwasy looking out for me and making sure that I am happy and that I am being safe and that any problems that I am having are being resolved (He is 21).<br />So there you go, two more important people in my life right now and an example to show that I am still just as crazy as when I left :)<br /><br />XOXOXOXOXO<br />Lindsey<br /><br />PS- SOOOOOOOO sorry about the pictures, I am trying so hard to get them up, but I always run into problems!Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-68270708693687666962009-10-20T15:42:00.000-07:002009-10-20T16:10:38.673-07:00sundayOk, last Sunday was a very special day for me. Why was it a very special day for me? Well on this sunday I got to spend five hours at my boyfriend, Alex´s house with his family. I had so much fun!<br />At 11:00 in the morning he came to my house to pick me up. Then we took a taxi for about 30 minutes to the city that he lives in, Concepcion. When we got there I was sooooooooo nervous! Well we were walking down the road and his three little brothers ran over to meet us. Chrystopher is 12, Paul is 8 and Rai is 2. They were all so sweet! So we walked with them to their grandparents house. I was even more nervous! And then we turned the corner to the backyard and I was shocked, I was not just meeting his parents, I was meeting his parents, brothers, grandparents, aunt and cousin!Well as soon as I greeted all of them my nerves disapeared because they were all so nice and welcoming.<br />Soon after I arrived we all got up to play a game of volleyball. It was so much fun, I felt bad though, because I played horribly! Luckily no one seemed to mind (even though my team lost both times) :).<br />After our exciting vollyball match we sat and talked for a while. I got to learn a little bit about all of their personalities. Paul is crazy, but I love him! He has so much energy and is so curious and he asked me the most random questions, but I was smiling the whole time. Chrystopher is more reserved, but he is so sweet! He would sit there and try to explain everything that I did not understand.<br />Anyways, after vollyball we all went out to lunch. The resturant that we went to had really good food, of course I got Cebiche (it is one of my favorites!!). The whole first half of the meal none of us could really eat because we were all laughing so hard watching Rai try to eat his Jello. We eventually did manage to finish our meal though, then we listened to a man play us a few songs on this little flute then we went to Alex´s house.<br />When we got there it was almost time to go, but we did have time to eat dessert! Now what I am going to tell you just proves that Alex´s mom is the most thoughtful person in the world. Before going to her house I had only met her once and I don´t even remember talking about it, but some how she rememberd that I love the dessert called Turrone. And she had her husband bring back one of the best Turrones in Peru from Lima to eat with me on this particular Sunday. I was so touched! and of course the Turrone was DELICIOUS!!!!!!<br />After that,I had to say goodbye to all of them. It was so cute because Paul almost cried! They told me that I was welcome to come back any time that I wanted and I know that I definatly will!<br />On the ride home our first cellectivo broke down in the first two minutes so Alex and I had to walk back to get another one. We did not really talk much, mostly because I spent the trip looking out the window at the mountains.<br />Overall that day gets a 9 out of 10. It does not get a 10 because it was to short!<br />I had a BLAST!!<br /><br />Oh yeah. SO I am trying very very hard to get my pictures up, but there are some problems that I have to figure out how to work around. I Promise that I will find a way to get some posted soon!<br /><br />XOXOXOXO<br />Lindsey<br /><br />PS: Please leave comments, even if they are just to say hi, because I miss you all so much!Lindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-7401667334550051312009-10-14T16:03:00.000-07:002009-10-14T16:22:31.209-07:00PeopleSo, I have been here for just over a month, and I have met a lot of people. I am going to tell you about some of these amazing people.<br /><br />Mama- She is one of the most caring person I have ever met. She makes breakfast with fresh juice for us, as well as lunch. She always makes sure that I have everything I need.<br /><br />Papi- He works most of the day, but when he is sitting around the table with us he is so funny. He has this very distinct type of humor, but it is so funny.<br /><br />Prilu- She is my sister here and I would be so lost without her. She explains and translates whenever I do not understand anything. We have so much fun together, making dances, singing, and joking about everything. She is the biggest Jonas Brothers fan that I have ever met.<br /><br />Nestor- He is my brother here. I do not see him very often, but when I do he is one of the nicest people.<br /><br />Alicia- She is my best friend in Huancayo. She sits next to me in class and explains everything and lets me copy her notes. She does everything to help me and make me feel welcome here.<br /><br />Rosmery- She sits behind me in class and can always make me laugh. She is the funniest person that I have ever met. She has a joke for everything, and can make you feel better no matter what.<br /><br />Alex (Panda)- He is one of my best friends, he is also my boyfriend. He is so nice, he walks me home everyday and pays for me to ride the bus. He always makes sure that I am happy and have everything I need. If I have to wait for my mom to go home he will wait with me (even in the rain).<br /><br /><br />Well that is all for now, I will post another with more people at another time, but right now I am in an internet shop and quickly running out of time.<br /><br />Love you all<br /><br /><br />XOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855411029679119268.post-67062279330223354762009-10-08T15:56:00.000-07:002009-10-08T16:20:50.880-07:00CombiSo I realize that I have now mentioned combi´s a few times now and you probably have no idea what they are. So I will explian them to you the best that I can.<br />So you all know those vans in the USA that fit like 10 people, well combi´s are a little bit bigger then those, but not much. They have 4 rows of seats. There is one long seat in the back, then three rows of a bench for two-space- then a seat for one like this --_- (the dashes are seats and the underscore is the aisle. So the best place to sit is the front single seat. Because then you do not have to be pushed against someone else, you have leg room, and if it is really crowded it is easy to get off.<br /><br />--_<br />--_-<br />--_-<br />----<br />the first row deas not have a single seat because that is where to door is.<br /><br />Ok so now that you know the set-up of these combi´s I will explain how they work.<br />It takes two people to operate a combi, one person drives and the other person leans out the door and yells the name of the route and tells the driver where the passengers need to get off, this person also collects the money.<br />Now these are not like in the USA because they do not have designated stops, when you want to get off you tell the caller and if you want to get on you have to flag them like a taxi.<br /><br />Once you get on, you better hold on because you are in for quite a wild ride. The drivers do not obey any of the common rules of the road, they love to honk at anything and everything, and they are usually really really crowded so it is really hard to get on and off.<br />Sounds like fun right!<br />I use one to get home everyday.<br />But oh yeah, one more thing, it costs 30 centimos to get home from school, in dollars that is about, .10 cents.<br /><br />Combi´s are one of those things that you learn to love.<br /><br />By the way I have all of the stuff for my camera so I should be able to upload photos soon!<br />LOVE YOU ALL<br /><br />XOXOXO<br />LindseyLindsey Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247721081667068122noreply@blogger.com2