international living

As I am entering my third month here in Peru, I am feeling more like a true member of the Young Americans Practicing International Living Club, the unspoken association we all belong to by living abroad. We adjust to different changing of seasons, types of food, amounts of food, language, sides of the road, lack of roads, customs, and of course politics. A friend joked with me that I am not truly experiencing "international living" because I have a 617 phone number for people back in Boston to call my Skype phone for free. I also feel like I should get points taken away because our apartment has cable with news in Spanish, English or Arabic. My easy internet access is a big difference from my own previous international living experience in Bolivia where I had a few favorite internet cafes to do my correspondence. Yesterday as my roommates and I were relaxing watching one of our many pirated HBO series DVDs, I realized that I am finally feeling at home in the apartment I arrived at couple months ago, unable to imagine ever feeling at home in.

I still take pleasure in doing activities that make me feel more at home or comfortable like reading a novel in English, watching "Sex and the City," and of course corresponding with all of you, but more and more I find lots of my new activities fun and fulfilling. This past Saturday the 4 of us volunteers had our monthly meeting in Carabayllo. It was slightly stressful for a couple, not so bad for me, but we were all looking forward to our lunch of ceviche. I never had ceviche before coming to Peru. It is fresh fish, not cooked, soaked in lime juice and herbs. It comes on a plate with choclo (oversized tasty corn) and potatoes. It has a really great savory flavor. Carlos's girlfriend just arrived last week, so we went out to a ceviche restaurant with her and some of our coworkers. It was relaxing, delicious, and fun. A great Saturday afternoon with, finally, some springtime sun and warmth.