Hi all!
Here is another update and it is one filled with lotsa goodies..!
First of all, to those who thought of it, many thanks to all the happy birthday wishes! ;) My birthday was a pretty normal day, I was invited by my Spanish teacher´s family for a 3-course Peruvian b-day lunch. At night I had to teach at the orphanage and they started singing for me! But...I promised some juicy news, so let´s get to it..

New housing
The first thing I thought was worth mentioning is that I have a new home since a few days..
Yep, I managed to get myself in such trouble that it was necessary for me to leave the house! What could I have done that was so horrible that I was no longer welcome and the only solution was for me to get kicked out?!? Keep reading....

First you need to know that when I first moved into the house I was told 3 rules which I had to keep to;
1. No drugs
2. No alcohol
3. No strangers in the house

To me, the rules were plain and simple: No sex, drugs & rock ´n roll: behave yourself, don´t do anything outragious, don´t come home drunk or drugged up and have threesomes (or have any guy staying over for that matter).
Well, it wasn´t hard at all for me to keep to these rules for the first 3 weeks, but I cracked.. I couldn´t resist any longer and I just had to break one of the rules... this is what happened:

Last thursday my Spanish teacher told me that she had a friend that was going to El Misti with a group of about 20 of his friends on the weekend, the famous Arequipenian vulcan (6000m) and she asked me if I wanted to come. It sounded like a fun idea (I don´t know why I thought walking with 15kg on my back for 8 hrs 2 days in a row without any showers or bathrooms around was fun, but that´s another story) so I excitingly told her I wanted to come! So on friday her friend and I met up to talk things over, because we would leave at 6AM the next day. We talked about what El Misti would be like (he had done it 3 times before), things I should take with me, got some groceries and he then took me home (which to me wasn´t necessary, but he insisted, because he said it could be dangerous for a woman to be in a cab alone at night). In the cab he asked me which backpack I have ...that it is important to have one not too heavy and with good backsupport... I told him I would show him the backpack when we got to the home. When we arrived, he initially offered to stay outside, but it was cold and dark out there and I learned it is not very polite to leave a guest outside. So, I told him to just come in and wait in my room while I went upstairs to get the backpack. Upstairs, I found Liliane (the mother) and told her I am going to El Misti with a friend of my Spanish teacher, that we had just met up, we had just done groceries, that he took me home and that he is waiting downstairs for me to show him the backpack. She nodded and we talked a bit more about what I could expect..she then got the backpack but at the same time the big, furry, white cat (that usually does nothing but hide or lay around and I have not EVER seen running through the house) starts running like crazy, down the stairs, into my room! I was still upstairs, but Liliane starts running after the cat yelling not to go in my room. At that time she discovers the guy in my room (just sitting and waiting for me)! She kinda acts shocked, is speechless for 3 seconds and then opens the front door asking if I am leaving with him. I was sort of puzzled because I had missed the first moment of their contact (not knowing how and if there was some sort of introduction) so I hesitated and looked at her. But then she sort of started screaming at us in a panicky voice to leave and to get out, because the children were upstairs and she was in her houseclothes, which is when I realized their first moment of contact was probably not a happy one. A bit confused about what had just happened, we finished our conversation and agreed we would meet up the next day at 6. When I got back in the house I immediately went upstairs and apologized to her, telling her it was not my intention to upset her and explaining that I thought she knew he was there (because I told her so), not knowing it was such a big deal and that he was only there for 5 min to look at the backpack. She replied that it was late (9PM), she was walking around in her houseclothes and that the children were sleeping upstairs. We then said goodnight and the next morning I went of to El Misti.

At 8PM on sunday, I came back from the trip, exhausted and dirty, ready to just take a warm shower and hit the bed. Before I could even get to the shower though, Mark, the program director and friend of Andrès, called and kindly told me he had heard about what happened (Liliane found a guy in your room!!!) and that was against one of three rules. I kind of expected that the news would get to him so I wasn´t too surprised and figured this was a warning for me not to do this anymore..then he told me ¨so yea, this is it, I arranged for you to move in with Guillermo, so if you can start packing your stuff, you can move in there as of tonight!¨ Speechless and amazed I started packing my stuff...and that was that!

Reflecting back on what exactly had happened, I realize I should have taken ¨the rules¨ a bit more litteral, and no strangers, means no one whatsoever! (I guess it is an illusion that Latin Americans are oh-so hospitable and warm and welcoming) I may have had to be a bit more considerate. On the other hand, I think the whole deal was blown up and there was a serious overreaction on Liliane´s side.

On a better note, though, I now live with a guy named Guillermo and his brother, parents, aunt and cousin. It is a totally different environment and atmosphere (for the better). The house is sort of a big complex with separate bathrooms and kitchens and I mainly hang out with Guillermo and his family (eating, etc). Eating usuallly happens together, as they take turns cooking as well as doing the dishes (I guess I am back to normal life!). I feel more comfortable and I am enjoying myself more, as the last place was a bit of an elite upperclass (young) family.

Guillermo (32) is a very nice guy, funny and energetic and has lots of plans and projects. He is a musician and artist and loves to make all kinds of things. He studied food engineering, loves cooking and explaining things to me. The 2nd night we prepared 2kg of strawberries, and today he showed me how to make strawberry jelly! Also, he put together and decorated my room (the walls, floor, etc) (see pics and movie). Guillermo´s father, a really funny man knows a bit of English, Italian, French, German and Quechua (an old south american language) and makes it a game for me to figure out which language I am being spoken to each time I see him. He is really cute and sort of reminds me of my grandfather with his jokes. He also likes to make things and today I had a shot of self-made Baileys (yes, the liquor!)...it was great! They have a garden in the back where they grow all sorts of fruits and veggies (Check out the movie of the father giving a tour of the garden!). The brother is a bit of an odd case...but funny too...he is nice, but talks SO much and in such an irrelevant, chaotic and extensive way, repeating those irrelevant things so often that sometimes I think there is a hidden camera somewhere to record my reactions to all of his stories!
Anyway, I am really happy here and I feel like I am actually experiencing ¨true Peruvian culture¨! Oh and did I mention that my new home is in the center!!

El Misti
When I excitingly said yes to climbing this vulcan, I really didn´t know what I was getting myself into! I don´t know what I was thinking because walking up a hill for 8 hrs straight is not something I usually enjoy doing. OK, the views were nice, and the sunrise and sunset were breathtaking...but after 2 hours I thought I had seen enough and wished I hadn´t started this whole thing! I didn´t want to give up though and managed to finish the whole thing...but it wasn´t easy, I tell ya! Not only was it tough with the backpack walking through the sand and climbing rocks in a 45 degrees angle non-stop, the height was another factor that really got to me. Here in Arequipa (2000m above sealevel) I already sort of get out of breath when I take a shower or change clothes, but climbing up to 6000m was another thing! I was walking like an old grandma or someone with severe asthma! I really had to focus on breathing, because after 2 steps I would be out of breath! The first day we walked from 8Am to about 4PM and then put up the tent and got some food (banana´s, peanuts, crackers, bread with tuna and water)...I was already done by then, doubting if I really wanted another day of suffering the next day (night), but I decided to wait and see how I would feel. We went to bed around 6PM and got up at 2AM which is when I decided I would continue the climb. At 10AM I finally got to the top, superexhausted and just wanting to go home!! Also, during the night it was freezing cold- a little below 0 degrees Celcius (I had 5 layers of clothes) and NO toilets whatsoever! Normally you´d expect some kind of facilities in national parks, like shops, restaurants or at least bathrooms, but while climbing this vulcan all you would see around you was sand, rocks, and many other fellow sufferers.
I made it though and the best part was going down (other than for the obvious reason), because it was just running down a dune. It sort of felt like the same way snow feels only this was sand, rocks, and of course it was not cold. If I had a board, I could have been sandboarding down! (watch the video!).

Observing at the shools
Observing classes at state schools was also quite an experience. I have only been to the state schools and here I could see the low priority education has in this country. The buildings are sort of in bad state, with cracks in the walls, dirty floors, cracked windows, and no decoration or material on the walls whatsoever (see video). The teachers are not paid very well, and therefore the quality of teaching is not a high one either. The children all wear uniforms (this is for every school in Peru, and probably in South America).
Every monday morning there is a ceremony where all kids stand in lines on the main square and they sing the national anthem. When a teacher (or guest, like me) enters the class, all kids stand up and greet you all together ¨good morning¨! It reminded me of my years in school in Belgium, as I had sort of experienced the same thing. Another thing is that state and religion are definitely not separated..it had ¨catholicism¨ written all over the school, as this is the dominating religion here.

Food
Although I have experienced a major improvement in terms of food I still want to mention the Peruvian kitchen is one I am not used to yet. At this new home though, I love the fact that they eat bread in the morning AND the evening and have a warm lunch.

Peruvians like to throw everything but the kitchensink into one dish, make it a soup and then proudly call it ¨Caldo¨. Not to sound to disrespectful, but it was here that I first experienced all major carbohydrates (except for bread, which is eaten on the side), that is: rice, boiled patato and pasta, together with meat, corn, beans, sometimes shrimp and many other things my mind can not possibly think of right now. As surprising it is to step on the combi every morning, it is even more surprising to discover the kinds of ingredients on my spoon every attempt at getting closer to finishing this dish!
It is not all too bad though, I have discovered delicious GIANT tangerines and the bread I am served every day is really good too. You can see all of this for yourself under pics and video´s to get a visual impression along with the desciption.

So...I guess this is enough for now! You are all up to date again!
Hasta luego!!
Muchos besos de Arequipa!