 |
| The kitty, recently renamed Pichichi and, sometimes Grem Grem, keeps me warm when I'm sick. |
 |
| The Polo family! |
 |
| Our kitty's Asian look. |
 |
| Me with the beautiful Brits! |
We love our British friends! Sadly, they're heading out of Arequipa in exactly a month to do some travelling and then head back to the UK. I don't know what I'll do without my girlies! There's nothing like having two girls to chitchat with (in English!), go see movies, get haircuts and just relax with. I really hope we'll be able to keep in touch with them, and even visit them in London someday.
 |
| A night out with Gaby, our friend from church, and her pals. |
That isn't to say that we haven't been getting to know our Peruvian friends from church. We've beenn able to go out to some new clubs and restaurants around town. The church was founded by an American missionary who's been living here in Arequipa for the past three or four years. There are Peruvian pastors and musicians who lead the service, but I definitely appreciate having the American tie and being able to see another Southern face every Sunday. Lately, there have been quite a few Americans visiting our church, since they know our pastor. Some came for a free medical clinic, others came just to practice preaching and reunite with old Peruvian friends. Its interesting, being one of the few Americans who lives here permanently and has to watch everyone else come and go. The other day, one of the new Americans visiting mentioned Panera, and I had almost forgotten how much I love their broccoli and cheese bread bowls! My mouth was watering all night. Luckily, we went to El Turco, a middle eastern restaurant that serves great, hot sandwiches, so my palette was treated.
The best news is that we get to DO get to stay in Peru another year! We had been waiting for approval for Juan's work visa for about a month, to no avail. On the computer, technically, the visa was approved, but after two weeks it still had not been signed off on by the director in Immigrations. When Juan's new boss here in Arequipa started calling last Monday to see what the hold up was, and since we still didn't have a definitive answer from Lima, we decided to take things into our own hands! We went up to Lima Monday night, and spent six hours Tuesday sitting outside the director's office in Immigrations. We got such the run around; first we were told the secretary in charge of our case was on vacation, so we would have to wait for her to come back in order to have access to the paperwork. Please. Then we were told the director was away all day in meetings and we'd have to call his advisor. The advisor never answered. We resolutely waited all day, using up the only two waiting chairs outside the office. Finally, at 3:30pm, a woman came out and told us the visa had been signed that afternoon and would be ready for pick-up the next morning. We didn't really believe her, since she refused to share her name, job title or phone number, but we had to leave regardless.
Fortunately the next morning it was ready and we were able to return to Arequipa to celebrate!
Lima was beautiful. Unlike the last time we went up to Lima, and had to stay in Ate to save money, we treated ourselves to a night in a hostal in Miraflores. (When they say "Lima is Peru" they really mean three districts, San Borja, Miraflores, and San Isidro are Peru. They are the only three districts we've seen where progress and cleanliness are visible). We got to walk along the cliffs overlooking the beach and saw a perfect sunset. Too bad we went without the camera.
Unfortunately, I got a bug in one of the 16 hour bus rides to and from the capital. By the time we got home, I was hacking and losing my voice. Never realized how much you miss out on when you can't talk! On Father's Day, I tried to Skype my parents and grandparents, but they could barely understand me. They thought 100 old woman was calling just to scream at them :). I've got some medicine, but it's still going pretty rough. I returned to class this morning, seeing as both French and Chinese end for the month after this week, but I had to leave a couple of times to cough up a lung. When I went to my boss this morning, thinking I might actually stay the whole day, I realized it just wasn't going to happen. He asked if I felt animada enough to stay and work that day. It took me about two seconds, looking into his bright, energetic eyes, that I was not up to task.
So, I came back home and let the cat curl up on my neck again. Might not be able to get out of cooking today, but at least I'll be able to take all the cough syrup I want!
Work overall is still going well. Had a great time designing a wedding invitation. I realized I enjoy doing more frilly designs, much more than trying to create modern, sleek corporate ads (not my specialty). Best part was, since I'd been through wedding planning less than a year ago, and had used the same dark purple/lilac scheme, it was almost like creating my own wedding invitations!
French and Chinese are going well, too. Chinese will be taking a two month winter break after this month. Its also been about a month since I took the HSK 3 test, so I might actually be able to see the results now! Fingers crossed. I took the French DELF A2 test about two weeks ago. I don't want to be overly confident, but I think it went well. The oral exam was definitely better, since I knew what to expect this time and the professor who tested me wasn't nearly as intimidating as the one before. Too bad I had only prepared about two minutes worth of conversation... I visibly struggled to fill in the time towards the end!
That's about it here. Juan is excited to start working; he's off getting his medical exam this morning and will probably be in orientation by tomorrow. If we're lucky, working for this company, Cerro Verde, could even lead to a position in the US. We've heard the company has some US branches.
We'll keep you updated how the job works out and how big our kitty (Pelotita Blanca/Grem Grem/Pichichi, there's so many names...) grows!
Chao!
