First Day at UNIFE

5/30/16

Today was the start to a new week and to our surprise we had a new grammar teacher named Diana. Now nothing against her but I had a strong connection with Carmen and her teaching style, but I reminded myself to be open to learning in new ways. When Diana teaches she speaks very fast and while it may be a little more difficult I think my mind adjusted to the challenge really well because I started picking out works that I knew and understanding her is just as easy as Carmen. This is especially good because to me one of my biggest issues is listening and hearing what someone is saying to me. I have the confidence to speak but not the best ear for listening (this is probably the same in English too).

That afternoon we had our first day at the new school after the Flight school last week. This school is called Universidad Femenina del Sagrando Corázon and is an all girls university with students around our age. We started are first day with welcome festivities and getting to meet some of the students there. We simply talked in English and then Spanish but over all it was exciting to talk to other people our age. I was amazed by how good their english was while I am hardly able to get through the day without asking for help and needing someone to say something again "Mas lento por favor" I can hear in my head. The introductions were then followed by a series of dances local to Peru and other Spanish speaking countries. The first was a romantic dance between a boy and a girl in very formal dress clothing. The two fluttered around each other and would casually join hands. At the end they invited a couple of us up to the stage to show our own moves and learn in the spotlight, being watched by not only our group but most of the students in the surrounding buildings. The next dance was a form of step involving about 10 girls doing a choreographed collection of kicks and skips to a beat with a few aspects of call and response. At the end they invited more of us up on and we continued to dance on stage making a fool of ourselves but alas we had to get home.

The rest of the day was uneventful except that we decided to take a little detour to the Fiesta Casino on the way back. By we I mean Annie, Reesha, and I walked into the casino to try our hands at slots. It was very over whelming at first with all the lights and most of the machines in Spanish, but I was determined to learn how to play and hopefully win some money. I tried two machines Jumping Frijoles and The Bald Eagle and at first it was very hard because I could not for my life figure out the betting system. it took a bunch of bumping around and hitting lights but eventually I managed to win some points and cash our with a profit of 30 soles. Not too shabby for a first time.