Snapshots from Lima

It's crazy how fast time passes by! Our first month in Lima is nearly over, and on Saturday morning Elin and I get on the plane to Iquitos, where we will be working for the next six months.
I am so grateful to have had these first few weeks in Lima, though, and I feel so much more confident in my language abilities, and much more acquainted with the culture.

Here are a few of the highlights from the last month, including some pictures:

• Getting to know our host family! For our goodbye dinner with our wonderful host family, Elin and I wanted to make some typical norwegian food. We decided to make fiskegrateng (a dish with fish, macaroni, and white sauce) and lapper (almost like pancakes, except made with yogurt), and the video below shows Elin, grandma, and Diego (our little host brother) in the kitchen. (You may notice that grandma is the one cooking the lapper, because after Elin and I failed repeatedly and grandma knows best).


• Nightly family gatherings in the livingroom to watch Victoria, a ridiculously wonderful soapopera I've developed a small obsession with. Watching this show has definitely helped me learn the language better, because I have to REALLY listen to catch the meaning of everything.


• Our last night in Lima, we also had one final hurrah with the other Norwegians before parting. It’s been really great being with them this month – looking forward to seeing them during infield (a 1 week group corse, probably in Bolivia, in January)! (see picture below)
• Seeing Oles and my good friend Karin! Many of you know Jared Brandell and Frieda von Qualen, who are both in Lima right now with the peace corps, and we had a wonderful little luncheon together to catch up. I also got a visit from my good friend from high school, Karin, whose sister is studying in Lima. So good to see them all again!


• Visiting different Stromme Foundation projects. In addition to the center for teenage mothers (see previous post), we've also visited Tierra de Niños (which has lots of different projects with kids and teenagers), and Ágape (which works with issues of family violence). The picture below is of a girl from one of the Tierra de Niños projects, where they (for lack of other materials) used sawdust and sand to make art.


• Going to the water park in Lima with Kristine, Thea, and Thea's host sister, Claudia.