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Villa El Salvador 21/10/2009
Three weeks away from home already. Time is going so fast here..
I realize how busy I am only when I need something and I cannot find the time to buy it during the week. I have from 2 to 3 hours of Spanish everyday, 4 hours of English teaching and normally I use 2-3 hours everyday to prepare the lectures. Very busy girl..
My Spanish teacher is very sweet and very good with the grammar. The only problems is that my brain has decided to temporary eliminate the Italian grammar and verbs to make some space for the Spanish one. And, since, Spanish and Italian, are so similar, I am also starting to mix them up and use Spanish words when I talk on the phone with my sisters or my mum.. :-)
Today I got my daily shock with Spanish. The accents.. Before writing a word, you need to think which kind of word it is (4 types -ayudas, llana, esdrujula or sobre esdrujula) and THEN you decide where to put the accent.. Easy no?
My students are very sweet, we laugh a lot and have great time. I have one class that is very good and another one that is not as good. I am training my patience with the last one, since often they do not understand what I am saying. So, sometimes, in order not to use Spanish words, I jump here and there in the class trying to be as much theatrical as possible. And then they laugh and say: "Oh yes yes, we understand now..". So sweet.. With the other class we have great time, I can make jokes and they understand. They always laugh at my Spanish (from Spain) accent when I say something in Spanish. And they are very curious about me. They come up with all sorts of questions every day. Why are you here? How did you think to come to Villa El Savador? Do you like Perù? Do you have a boyfriend? Engaged? Married? Kids? How old are you? How much is your salary in Denmark? So, do you speak Italian and Danish? Can you please tell us some words in Italian? Etc..Etc..
With my family I feel at home. We talk a lot and, as the time goes by, the more I think that this experience is so incredibly interesting. I get to know things that I would have never gotten to known if I was a tourist coming to Perù on vacation. We talk a lot about the traditions in the mountains (the mother in the house is form la sierra), the mentality of Peruvian people, politics, family problems etc.
The negative part of this experience is that I am fighting against fleas that apparently are in love with my body and keep biting me and fungi in my room. It is so humid here that in the last period I wake up in the morning without voice.
Villa El Salvador is something I have never experienced before. It is a very big suburb of Lima (400.000 people) where streets have not cement and almost all the houses do not have a proper roof. There are many wild dogs in the street, some of them sick and hungry. It is an enormous difference if compared to Miraflores or the centre of Lima. It can be dangerous to go out at night, so I avoid it and I stay home after 8pm.
Sometimes I feel sad when I walk around and look at people. I think about the differences between Copenhagen and Villa El Salvador and, sometimes, I feel angry, sometimes I feel powerless, sometimes I think this word is unfair, sometimes I simply feel lucky.
Last week-end we had a long (4 days) week-end so, me and Pernille and Mikkel (the two other Danish volunteers) went travelling to the South to see the Nasca lines (drawing in the desert made by a pre-Inca civilization). We over flew this lines with a 4-seat plane. Then we went sand-boarding on the dunes in the desert (unique experience!) and later we went to see the Islas Ballestas, which are a protected reserve, full of birds and sea-lions. We were sleeping in average hotels, but we all were thinking it was mega-luxury since we are not used to it anymore. So, both Pernille and I, were taking 3 showers a day to enjoy the hot water. It was so funny! We thought to be in a 5 star hotel!!!!!!
Next week-end I should go diving and dolphin-watching with Peter, my colleague from DTU who I leaving in Miraflores to study Spanish. We will also do the Macchu Picchu Inca trail together at the end of November. It was funny to meet Peter here. Everything seems so far away in this period, and suddenly, seeing a person that I knew from before, was like a relief. I like that somebody I know is here close to me.
I took many pictures and I will update them soon on the blog, I promise. Pictures of Villa El Salvador included.
A big hug to everybody from Perù.
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