Corn

Today was the second day of classes at la Universidad Catolica San Pablo! It takes about 15 minutes for me to walk to class. Today and yesterday was mostly orientation for our Calvin group. We learned all about safety from the the head of security at the university, we learned about being healthy from the university doctor, and we learned about student activities. Some friends and I are going to take a tae kwon do class starting next week!!!

This morning we had a scavenger hunt around the city. We broke up into teams of three to explore, and it was great!!! However, it was a race, so things went a bit fast. In a few minutes I am going to go out again with some friends and retrace our steps. I'll take some pictures so that you all can see this awesome place!!!

When I got home from class, I ate lunch with Tita, Vincente, Andrea, Kike (that's Andrea's boyfriend's name--now I know it!), and Tita's mother and aunt. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Arequipa, and dinner is usually very light (soup or a sandwich) because it is not wise to eat a lot in the evening because of the altitude.

Part of lunch today was corn. The corn here is HUGE!!!! One kernel of corn is about the size of half of my thumb. They also have purple corn, and it is used to make juice, which is delicious!

There are signs all over the university and the airports that say "Zona segura en caso de sismo", which means "Safe zone in case of tremors". I spent some time relaxing with Tita and Vincente a few nights ago, watching television. They told me that it is very common in Arequipa to feel earthquake tremors--it happens once every couple of weeks. The last real earthquake was in 2001. The buildings in Arequipa, including my house, are all made of concrete so that they can sustain these tremors and earthquakes. The walls sound different here when you pound on them because they are very solid. In order to hang something up, they have to drill holes.

I spent some time showing Tita and Vincente some pictures of Lansing, Chicago, Calvin, the Indiana Dunes, and my family and friends. They loved the pictures!!! They think that you are all beautiful people!! And they are right!!!