Jan. 13th (Thu.)

After coming back from Peru to the US I felt that I was comfortable to speak in English and my English proficiency got better. It might be because of my proficiency gap between Spanish and English. In peru not many people speak English, so I survived speaking poor Spanish. In the US I can express much more than I can in Peru. That's why I feel that I have highter proficiency of English than before.

Jan. 12nd (Wed.)

We haven't had a snow yet in Philadelphia. It is very strange because we usually have a lot of snow in January. Well, sooner or later we will have snow.

Jan. 11th (Tue.)

Good news! I lost my weight. Many classmates told me that I looked that I lost my weight. I know why. Because I walked a lot every day and ate a lot of fresh fish in Peru.

Jan. 10th (Mon.)

The spring semester has begun. These two weeks is a registration period, so I shop around classes before I decide which course to take.

Jan. 7th (Fri.) the US

I came back to the US. I had a transit at Miami again. I was very hungry and found a hamburger shop. I had never bought a hamburger in the US before because I was not interested in it. But today I really wanted to have a hamburger, typical American food, so I ate it. The taste was much better than I imagined and I was very satisfied with it.

Jan. 6th (Thu.) Lima

Today was the last night in Peru. I went to the centro of Lima and bought souveniors (alpaca scarves and a bottle of wine). Then I met a Perubian friend and her sister to have dinner. My friend (this was the first time to meet her) worked in Philadelphia and went back to Peru during winter break. Her sister knew a very good restaurant which was famous for a roasted chicken. To be honest with you, it was GREAT! It tasted WONDERFUL! I had a very good night.

Jan. 5th (Wed.) Lima

I went to the Amano museum where a Japanese woman who I met at Machupichu was working. Most of the artcrafts of the museum was Chankai period. When nobody was interested in the artcrafts of this era, a Japanese Amano collected those and established a museum. The entrance fee was free because he couldn't ask money for Perubian people. The guide was Japanese and she was wonderful person. She knew a lot and explained to us in easy words. Although there were only two rooms which exsibite artcrafts an hour guide tour seemed to be too short to me.
# cebiche and arroz de mariscos

Jan. 4th (Tue.) Lima

Today I spent a day with a Japanese woman who stayed in a same hostel. We went to a center of Lima, a museum, and a shopping center. We walked about 12 hours from 9am to 9pm. I carried only my small bag but I really felt it heavy and had a backache because of the weight. I was not going to buy anything but I bought some junks. Shopping is fun!
# museo de erotica

Jan. 3rd (Mon.) Lima

Today we went to a center of Lima. I was a little scared because it was known for not safe place. We asked a direction to a passenger how to get to a park. He warned us to be careful walking around the park because there were not very good people there. That made me feel like not going there. Fortunately we were not robbed and enjoyed walking. This evening my boyfriend went back home. His school starts earlier than mine. I still have 3 more days left in Peru.

# chickens at a market

Jan. 2nd (Sun.) Lima

We arrived at Lima from Pisco by bus. A taxi driver took us to a different youth hostel where we were thinking to stay. But the rent was cheaper and it was clean and nice place. So we decided to stay the hostel. There were many American fast food restaurants and cafes in this area like MacDonald, TGIF, Starbucks, and pizza hut. The price was a little higher than that in the US. So we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The set menu of today where most restaurants offer is usually two dishes, a soup and a main dish. These are too much for one people. Sometimes two people could not finish plates for one person. I wonder why Perubian are slim although they eat a big meal.

Jan. 1st (Sat.) Pisco

Pisco is a small and quiet place close to the beach. We went to the beach but did not swim. The pacific ocean looked very dirty from here... The town was nice. I liked to see an old man reading a newspaper under a big tree and women selling drinks in the shade all day.

Dec. 31st (Fri.) Ica

Today I really had a good time. We enjoyed riding a sandbuggy in sand dunes. It was about $10 for about 2 hours. It was very beautiful sand dunes.

Dec. 29th (Wed.) Arequipa

Today we were down because of diarrhea. We took medicine and stayed in bed.