Days 11-15

I've been pretty busy the past few days so I haven't had much time to update my blog. On Thursday my first class was biology. I actually understood most of it because the professor had different people from the class take turns drawing pictures and writing notes on the board and I've already taken biology so that helps. After that, we had a break before having math class. I started understanding math a little better too even though it's kind of different from what I've learned. Then we had another break before German class. I just talked to a classmate and worked on some other stuff during that period and then our final class before lunch was phyics. Only the teacher didn't show up for about 30 minutes so the classroom was pretty crazy! When school let out, Nico and I headed home for lunch and we had mashed potatoes! Oh the sweet taste of mashed potatoes. (: At 2:30 I had to go back to school for geography. It lasted until about 3:50 but then we had to have a 10 minute "recreation time" before we could actually leave. I walked home and talked to the ladies in the salon before heading upstairs to wash my clothes, clean my bathroom, and watch some TV. Once Nico got home, I listened to him practice memorizing the national anthem for one of his classes. Later that night, after supper, I talked with mamá about Quinceñeras, school, food, and some of their family history. I enjoyed learning about a lot of the customs and this was probably one of my favorite days so far. 

On Friday my first class was math. I got to sit in my seat in the corner of the classroom, at the front of the room, facing a different direction than the rest of the class again. That's my seat now since all the other seats in the classroom are full. How fun. (: Then we had a break and then German class. I was pretty bored so I ended up writing a few poems to pass the time. Next we had chemistry but thank goodness we didn't take notes since the class was talking about ways to raise money for their trip in July of their senior year. Every year, the senior class takes a trip somewhere. After another break we had Literature class. I didn't have to do anything during that class either though and the teacher is a lot of fun. Once school let out I went home and had lunch and I told my host parents that I didn't like the place I had played volleyball last time so we went to find somewhere else to play. We found a team that one of the girls from my class plays on and we talked to her dad about me playing. I have practices on Thursdays from 7-9pm and on Saturdays from 8-10am. (More or less since time here doesn't seem to have much meaning!) Then I had my hair done for the second time by the ladies in the salon! Next, we went to mamá's stores and I helped her and a few of her workers organize and stack up a ton of different shoes. When we were finished I gave some money to a homeless guy (there is a lot of elderely homeless people here and it's so sad, I just want to help them all) before we took a taxi home. I talked to the ladies in the salon for awhile before getting ready to go to Café Florín with my classmates at 8. I was pretty nervous to go but once I got there everyone was excited to see me. I shared some Picque de Pollo with two of my classmates and it was super good! One of the girls I had shared it with told me that she plays the piano and that her dad is a piano teacher so I'm going to see about taking lessons from him. After we had finished eating, I headed home to watch TV and talk to Nico before bed.

It finally rained on Saturday!! I love rain and it made me so happy! The only bad thing is that it was really cold. Anyways, I went to volleyball practice and I had a lot of fun. I really loved it and it actually felt like a real practice compared to the other place I had tried. Shadia, the girl from my class who's on my team, thinks I'm really good and her dad does too so he's looking into something for me. I'm not exactly sure what though haha. I don't understand everything yet. After volleyball I walked home and watched TV until lunch. After lunch, I redid my art project (since I had made a small mistake and I'm a perfectionist!) and made some bracelets. However, the entire time, Nico enjoyed watching TV and annoying me. Once I was finished with my art, Nico and I walked across the street to get some snacks and I tried a few new snacks. Then I went downstairs to talk to the ladies in the salon and while I was down there all the power went out for about an hour due to the rain. We still enjoyed talking and after they closed the salon all of the ladies from the salon, Nico, mamá, and I went out to eat since Sunday was like the International Day of Hair or something. We fit 11 people into a 5 person car. Crazy! We went to a chicken place for fried chicken and fries and I had some more fried yuca too. (: Abuelita gave me Nico's and her yuca since she knew I loved it so much. Finally I did a workout and got ready to get some sleep. I was so tired!

On Sunday, I went to church (mass since they're catholic) with Abuelita at 9. Afterwards, we walked two blocks to buy a TON of fruit and we had to take a taxi to get it all home! We got bananas, oranges, apples, kiwi (HUGE kiwis), strawberries, and papayas. Then we picked up Nico and the three of us went to get salteñas. I liked them a lot more this time since I took out the part of the filling that I didn't like. The outer shell is my favorite part and it's so delicious! After that, we walked around La Plaza for awhile to look for sweatpants for Nico but we couldn't find much so we took a bus to El Mercado Campesino (another crowded area with a ton of outdoor vendors) and found some sweatpants for him. Some places even had raw, unpackaged meat just sitting out to buy. There are dogs EVERYWHERE here. Stray dogs looking for food and a warm place to sleep and I just want to take every single one of them to a shelter! I don't think they have animal shelters here though. When we got home, Nico enjoyed annoying me for a few hours again until we went to get lunch at 4. I had Filete a Caballo (it's not actually horse!) and for dessert we had flan. I loved the steak from my dish and the flan was REALLY good. After that, Abuelita, mamá and I went to look for a long sleeved shirt for Nico and leggings/yoga pants for me. I got to try on diffent leggins in my own fancy dressing room. What is that dressing room? Standing behind a manikin on one half of the open little outdoor vending area. It's definitely an interesting memory now. (: When we got home, Nico, Abuelita, and I watched Batman: The Dark Knight Rises until mamá and Nico had to leave for La Paz. After they left, Abuelita and I finished the movie, had some supper, hung up towels to dry outside, and played with Chachi. When we were hanging up the towels I got to look at the breathtaking view of Sucre (from the roof/deck thing) at night with all the pretty lights and the mountains! It was absolutely beautiful!!

Today (Monday), I woke up and was having some stomach problems from not drinking enough water. Abuelita made some special tea for me and then I made it through school. My first class was biology and we learned about meiosis and reviewed our notes on mitosis. Then we had religion and I really liked that class! The teacher was super sweet and even introduced herself to me. I feel like I could talk to her about anything. Anyways, we just talked about different religions and afterwards we had a break before chemistry. We had to take a TON of notes in chemistry and I don't think I even got half of what he was saying written down! Then we had German and I listened to the teacher reveiw with the class until our next break. When our break was over, we returned to German class and I wrote some more poems. Our final class of the day was physics but the teacher didn't show up so the classroom was super crazy again. After school, papá picked me up and we went home to have lunch. The maid had made me some soup and I was able to eat a few noodles but I still didn't feel too well. Finally, I got a chance to sleep for a few hours. When I woke up I felt a lot better so Abuelita had me eat some crackers and drink some tea. Then I went down to the salon for a little bit and my secretary from school was there getting her hair done. I talked to her and one of the ladies in the salon for awhile before going back upstairs to watch TV and lay down for the rest of the night. I'm really hoping I feel completely back to normal tomorrow!

Eating chicken with the ladies from the salon

All the yummy fruit I get to eat!

Eating chicken with the ladies from the salon and Nico