It's really true!!! I'm in Peru!

OH WOW. I'm in Peru! This still seems so crazy to me! Every morning, I wake up, and I'm STILL here!!!

And I need to clarify something. Some of you might be under the impression that I get up at 5:00 AM to write blog posts. That, I assure you, is not true. I write all of my posts at reasonable hours. However, Google likes to play jokes and has decided for some reason to not post accurate times on my blog.

I am learning more about how things are done in Peru, more specifically at Universidad Catolica San Pablo. I recently had an assignment due for my Didactica de las Matematicas class. Part of this assignment involved getting a book from the library and making a copy of a few pages, and printing something off from the computer. This is NOT as simple as it seems. Yesterday afternoon, I decided to tackle these objectives.

First I went to the library. I was slightly surprised when I realized that I tell the librarian what book I want and then she goes and gets it. But that's not too bad, I can handle that! When it was my turn, I told the librarian what I needed, and she asked me for the code. What? Is there a secret library password that I don't know about?? Actually, there are computers outside of the library that I walked right past to get in. I was supposed to stop at those computers and look up the book I want and write down its code. I didn't do that. The librarian still got my book for me, but next time... I'll give her the code.

After that I headed to the printing place. I waited in line for a short time for a free computer, and when one opened up, I took a seat in front of it and started to log into my email, since the document that I needed to print was in there. But I didn't get very far. I typed in "hjberridge" and then I realized that pressing SHIFT + 2 would not give me the @ sign that I needed. Instead, SHIFT + 2 gave me ", and that was NOT going to help me.

Needless to say, I felt slightly lost, both at the library and at the printing place. I have always known how to check out a book, and throughout my years at school, I never had a hard time printing out documents. These are, more or less, pretty simple tasks that I, as a member of my culture, almost automatically know how to do! Yesterday, though, I felt a bit out of the loop. Everyone else knew how to check out books and log into their email accounts. This made me think of all of the people from different countries who come to America with their families, or to study. They most likely feel a bit out of place as well, and when I return to America, I want to keep that in mind when I interact with people who are not in their home culture.

When I got home, Andrea taught me that @ is CTRL + ALT + 2. Now I know.

Oh God, thank You so much for this time! I give You this day, and I pray that You would do with it whatever You want. Open my eyes to see what You are doing and how I can join You, Jesus! And I pray that You would bless my host family here--thank You for their hospitality, and fill their home and their hearts with Your unfailing love!