Living with a family

Well I must admit when I first read that I´ll be living with a family the entire time I will be in Peru, I was quite taken aback. And now after 2 weeks, I realize that it´s a good thing. I like my first host family and they help me a lot every day. They are responsible for all my meals, washing my clothes and most importantly, helping me learn Spanish. They take this very seriously including the 14 year old girl and 10 year old boy who help me with homework and correct my language errors. My host dad and I often talk an hour or so in the evening and I can tell you people here know more about US politics than we ever know about another country. And I have a 2 year old brother here who is really cute. He didn´t want anything to do with me for about a week. Then one day as I was leaving, I said goodbye to everyone in the family except him and he began howling. Ok, so now I remember to say goodby to Markitos!

A week ago Saturday my group went into Lima for a class in getting around and staying safe. We have had lots of classes in security including how to tell counterfeit money, travel safely, etc. When I was getting ready to leave for Lima, my host parents really grilled me. No backpack. No fanny pack. Only a change purse on an inside pocket. Well I didn´t take their phone number and got back late because another volunteer was sick and I went with him to the Peace Corps doctor. My mom was so distressed. She´d seen the other gringos come back and I wasn´t home yet. She went to the soccor field to ask the gringos in my group where I was and no one knew because they weren´t aware of what I´d done. She was sure I was kidnapped. So you know that I now carry my family's phone number with me!


Sometimes I think I could write a book titled, "Miss Picky goes to Peru" because I´ve eaten food I would not have gone near at home, learned to meditate and practice yoga with pigeons on the roof and the TV blaring, do homework in the living room while the 2 year old fusses, and generally live a life the opposite of my quiet house on Johns street. Sunday my host mom cut my hair "corte punk" and I feel more like myself with short hair again. And I made spagetti with marinara sauce that was well received. Learning to cook with what´s available both in foods and utensils.

I´d like to be learning Spanish more quickly but am so immersed I have no idea if I´m improving because I´m constantly aware of how much I have to learn. I may actually come out the other end of this experience bilingual!