Academia El Mundo Hispano / Spanish World Academy

By Deb Hamel

Saturday, January 17th

Shortly after my arrival in Perú, I was on my way to my hostess, Gladys Enriquez’s, house in a cab late at night or real early in the morning, however you want to look at it. I was already fascinated by the cultural difference of this country during my 20 minute ride from the airport to her house.

The speed with which they travel on their roads made me feel like I was in the Indy 500 except you are in real small cars. They drive at high speeds within inches of each other. I never felt unsafe by the driving of my chauffeur, though. Horns are used a lot by drivers in Perú. They do not hesitate to use them as they dart back and forth between lanes to get to their destination.

Even at 1AM, it looks like the afternoon with the amount of people walking along the streets, and sometimes, in the streets. Sometimes they are barely missed by a car as it speeds by with the horn blaring.

Even at 3AM on the weekends, you can hear noise and music in the neighbor-hoods. It felt like it was in the middle of the afternoon back home.

Gladys was very happy to meet me and spoke to me of things in her country on the ride back to her house. I was looking forward to a very cultural informative week.

Sunday, January 18^th

Gladys took me to her church, La Iglesia de Las Nazarenes. It is a beautiful church with some history. An earthquake in the 1600’s crumbled all but the painting of Christ that is behind the altar and the immediate surrounding structure. This painting (Christ Crucified) was originally made by a black slave in 1655. The church is located in the original place were the painting was made. Even though the mass was in Spanish, I could follow it because it was the same as the masses here.

Today we had no classes so she took me to a district in Lima called Miraflores.

It is a beautiful district. We walked along the park that is overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Perú’s coast is very different from the East Coast’s coastal shores. The water of their ocean is almost translucent blue. Not quite as clear as the Caribbean but close.

I experienced three desserts that are common in Perú. I had a treat called churro, which is a deep fried dough rolled into the width of a finger and wrapped around a sweet caramel filling and rolled in sugar. I also had ice cream flavored from a fruit called Lucama. It tastes similar to a melon but unique in its own way. I had turrone which is a pastry-like cookie with honey within the layers (there are three) and honey on top with sprinkles and a few hard candies.

It is summertime in Lima during January. The average temperature is around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Lima gets no extreme weather. They have some rain during the winter but it does not rain much nor is it ever a driving rain. Lima gets no snow.

We went for a walk in two parks that are around Gladys’ house. In the parks, a statue of the Virgin Mary is encased in lighted displays. It is also common to see crosses on the mountains.

I went onto the rooftop of the house (which is flat) to take pictures of the city of Lima and the Andes Mountains which you can see from the roof. Beautiful view!

To prepare for tomorrow, Gladys had me practice speaking Spanish by conversing with her husband who speaks and understands very little English.

Gladys made me mashed potatoes from Perú’s infamous yellow potatoes. They were the most delicious mashed potatoes I have ever eaten! They have a unique flavor all their own.

Each evening as the sunsets, a cool brisk breeze kicks up. It dissipates after 8PM. Each evening I could also smell the sensual scent of jasmine as it drifted past my nose. Jasmine will always remind of Perú now!

Monday, January 19^th

I had grammar in class today. I did well. But when it came time to practice outside the classroom, I did not do well. But it was only my first day. I was to purchase lettuce. I asked the vendor if the lettuce was good for salad. (Gladys had to do a lot of coaching.) The vendor was very nice and patient with me. She told me the lettuce was 7 nuevo soles. Gladys bargained with the vendor and got the lettuce for 5 nuevo soles.

I also had to ask another vendor for 2 grams of crackers. This went better but I was still uncertain of words when spoken to. Spanish words bleed together to the untrained ear.

Gladys wants me to only speak Spanish to her to keep me practicing. Since I have been here I have learned many new words.

Gladys also showed me where most Limeños go to the internet. Most people cannot afford the internet in their homes, so they go to public buildings that have about a dozen computers in them and pay for the internet by the hour.

Tuesday, January 20^th

I sat in on Gladys’ English class. The two girls, Monica and Erica, spoke to me in English and I spoke to them in Spanish. Even though we are all learning the languages, we understood each other.

I went into downtown Lima today. The major attractions in this area that I visited are Plaza de Armas, the president’s house, the cathedral, the municipal palace, “The Elder” crossing, El Jirón de la Unión, Santo Domingo church and convent and Club de la Unión.

Many of the buildings near the Plaza de Armas are very old and are very interesting architecturally. The municipal palace boasts many balconies that are unique to the Latin American style.

One of the most interesting trips we took from downtown was going to Cerro San Cristóbal. It is one of the poorer sections of Lima. The tour bus climbs a section of the Andes Mountain past houses built on the mountain to a lookout area with a huge lighted cross they call La Cruz Luminosa de San Cristóbal. The streets going up the mountain are very steep and narrow. At one point, it felt like the bus would stop in the middle and not be able to continue up the mountain. The view from the lookout on the mountain was absolutely magnifi-cent, though. We could see for miles. We could see the entire city of Lima and the Pacific Ocean. From this lookout, the city of Lima looked like a giant Christmas tree all lit up. The lights from the Plaza de Armas, where we started our tour, shone brightly. Even though we were on the mountain at sunset, which we saw set (today was cloudy), you could not feel the cool brisk breeze come in this evening. From this lookout, you could also see a cemetery that must have spanned for almost 3 blocks or more.

In downtown Lima, is the country’s oldest university, Universidad de San Marcos. It is 445 years old. There is also the world’s smallest church, La Capilla del Puente. It only seats 25 people including the priest. El Jirón de la Union is a famous street where many different kinds of stores are located and the only traffic allowed in the area is pedestrians. There are shoe stores, clothes stores, jewelry stores, etc. It runs for about 4 blocks.

There are also people who stand on the streets that can exchange foreign currency for you. It is legal in this country and they give you the best exchange rate.

While we were on the Cerro San Christóbal tour, we rode past the plant that produces Perú’s own brand of beer, Christal and we also rode over the oldest and first bridge build in Lima (stone bridge – El Puente de Piedra) which dates back to 1610. Lima’s cathedrals are open to the public everyday from 4-7PM so you can go and worship or confess if you like. Holy water is also available to parishioners. We went into La Catedral to sit down and admire the beauty of this cathedral while we were at the Plaza de Armas. This cathedral dates back to at least the 1800’s. We also took a quick tour of an exclusive club called Club de la Unión.

To end this day, we took a horse buggy ride around the plaza and she asked me to express how I felt about today but it had to be in Spanish.

My Spanish lesson went better today than yesterday. Gladys has me speak Spanish to her while we are touring. Her philosophy is, “Speak in Spanish, think in Spanish, correct your mistakes in Spanish”. So far I would say that when I get back home, I should understand spoken Spanish almost 50% better than when I left the USA.

Even though we were not physically in the classroom for many hours, I was always in the classroom because I was hearing spoken Spanish while I was out in the communities and Gladys had me speak as much Spanish as I could.

Wednesday, January 21^st

Today I had a long session of vocabulary. We were in class for a minimum of 4 hours doing exercises with the vocabulary. When Gladys has to prepare the meals, I work on my reading and writing skills.

There are vendors with push carts and microphones who go through the streets of the neighborhood hawking their vegetables/fruits. There are also push cart and bike cart vendors who go through the neighborhoods selling ice cream. They blow horns that sound like New Year’s party horns.

The drugstores are very different from ours. You need to ask for what you want or need because all of the merchandise is behind counters.

Perú has a type of corn on the cob where the corn is the size of a mule’s tooth. There is another kind that is slightly smaller. It tastes similar to our corn on the cob.

There is also a chocolate made by Nestlé called sublime. It is a chunk of milk chocolate with peanuts in it. Hellman’s also makes a mayannaise with lime in it. Delicious! And of course, who can forget the most famous soda in Perú, Inca Cola. This cola is advertised on almost all street corners. It is certainly more popular than Coca Cola even though Coca Cola has some billboards in Perú.

Alpaca wool is also another common entity of Perú.

Another Peruvian staple is Pisco liquor. It is distilled from grapes but it is not a wine. It is technically a brandy. The bottles are wrapped in leather that has artwork painted on it.

Another common sight on the streets is a person who is sweeping the streets to keep them clean at all times.

Thursday, January 22^nd

Today we had the English class in between my Spanish lessons. The girls earned their certificates of completion. They were both very excited about that.

Tonight was a special night because I was going to a club called Brisas del TitiCaca to see Perúvian folklore dancers. Native dances and beautiful costumes! They danced the danza de las Tijeras (scissor dance) where the main instrument is a pair of scissors, made up of 2 independent sheets of metal around 25cm long and which together form the shape of a pair of rounded edged scissors. They perform stunts called atipana kuy during the dance while playing the instrument. Tremendous amount of agility, skill and acrobats is involved.

Another famous dance is the dance of the devil called diabladas. Absolutely beautiful costumes! The men are wearing masks during this dance. And who can forget the Marinera Norteña, which is one of the most seductive dances there is. The man is trying to seduce the woman without contact while the woman seductively shies from his advances while they are dancing and seductively wave hankerchiefs. The folklore dancers like to have tourists join their show for a dance called Sikuri because the dance involves a large number of people who form a chain and dance around the musicians.

It was an evening to remember!

Friday, January 23^rd

We went to the Pacific Ocean today. I put my feet in and the water was nice and warm. The water is a beautiful blue.

We took a ride to a district called La Molina, Lima’s wealthy neighborhood. The houses have the latino style but they are of a modest size and some have gates at their entrances. We went down to the lake in the middle of the subdivision and took some pictures. The lake was a rich emerald green. This district is at the base of the Andes Mountains.

We traveled to the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa which is the object of permanent pilgrimages of the faithful who go there in search of a miracle, especially for healing of the sick. Santa Rosa of Lima is known for her penitence to resist sin, as well as for her kindness. She is a patron saint of the Americas.

Public transportation is very big in Lima. Every second it seems there is a bus or cab passing by on the street.

Today I received my certificate of completion for 30 hours of conversational Spanish. My last day in Perú, I successfully asked for 5 pieces of chocolate and 2 bottles of Inca Cola and asked the cost with no errors. I am the first student to complete the study abroad program through Spanish World Academy. It is definitely a good program; the instructor is very knowledgeable and she encourages you to utilize your learned Spanish.

I want to return to Perú next year but for a longer time. This trip proves the slogan that the website promotes, “Study Spanish where it is spoken”.