I Am Famous

No pictures this time but big news, I was on TV. Johanna and I went to an art expedition with some friends for a different type of night out. I am not one for art that you have to interpret so a family of alien looking statues was way over my head. But we had a nice time enjoying each other’s company and then the camera entered the room. They were from a local television show and the host is known for his comic interviews, I should have known because he was wearing a suit with tennis shoes. They began walking around the room, finding different victims but our group stayed well hidden. When they would walk in our direction we would slink down behind one of the alien's. But he was a crafty sucker, while we were talking and looking for him on one side of the room he popped up beside us and I got caught. I thought I would be able to escape because I could easily play the no Spanish card but he had thought of that and he knew English, there was no getting out of this one. He asked me a couple of questions about why I was in Peru and if I was enjoying myself and then he gave me a test. He said a word in Spanish and I had to repeat it in English. I was doing good, mano-hand, dientes-teeth, brazo-arm, and then he said some slang word for standing I think and I had no idea. We all had a good laugh and he released me back into the party. Then the show aired on TV a week later and I finally got to see how red I actually get when I am embarrassed. I know you all know this lovely quality I have but I never realized it was that bad. I was even glowing a little (sweating profusely). Anyway, the show repeats through the week so it was on 3-4 times per day from Sunday to Saturday. Ever since, when we go out with friends or meet new friends I have been getting noticed as the gringo on the TV.

The BIG Family Picnic

Johanna and cousin Luis, they represent the youngest and the oldest cousin in the family.

Everyone getting situated on the bus.

Tug-of-War: I think we won becasue we had a good coach, Cousin Luis in the grey sweats.

That is Johanna in the hat with her partner Gisella competing along side of Pamela and her partner Andrea.

The men are gearing up for an exciting match of "Who can walk with the egg on the spoon the fastest without it falling off" better know as the "Egg Race."

The intense soccer match. That is Johanna's dad sporting #6.

The face of an enthusiastic, goal scoring soccer player.

Johanna and cousin Renzo showing off a little for the camera.

The Family. I count 52 in the picture and I am told that is only about half. A pretty incredible sight.

Sunday we had a family picnic that Johanna and a couple of her cousins have been planning for the past month. When they started to plan the get together there were about 5-10 people that were going to be attending and the final count was around 60 people. Now they were not all family members (yet) because there were two boyfriends there but everyone else was family. Since there were so many people we ended up meeting at Sonia and Juan’s house at 7:30am and we piled on a full size bus which fit almost everyone and the few extras drove their own cars and met us there. Johanna’s cousin Marcos’ attendance was a big surprise because he was transferred out of town for work. He is a national police officer and was sent to a city involved with a group of local terrorist and he is not supposed to come back to Lima for 2 more months. But he heard about the get together and snuck away for a few days, I hope he does not get in trouble. When we arrived the games began. We played tug-of-war, three legged race, wheel barrow, volleyball and many other fun activities. The next big event was the futbol (soccer) game amongst the men. They asked me to play but I politely declined because my last time on the field was when I was 10 years old and cousin Renato said they were all very good and competitive, so I just sat back and watched. As you can see they are pretty serious because they even purchased team jerseys for the competition. They actually use to play every Tuesday and that is where they first got the jerseys but since they are unable to play there weekly game anymore they were more than happy to get out the old uniforms. After the big game the girls and kids played and Johanna’s team lost 2-1 but she did score the only goal for their team and her father and I were very proud. As you can see in the picture she was so happy she stopped and posed in the middle of the field for a photo. After all of the fun games we all ate parrillada (food cooked on the grill) and finished the day with some? Anyone…anyone? That's right DANCING! Everyone took part and we were all having a great time when the dreaded clock struck 6pm and it was time to go. Everyone slowly packed up and we headed home. What an awesome day.

The Big Day

Giovanna (Johanna’s best friend) got married on Friday/Saturday to Javier after dating for 10 years. I think everyone saw this one coming. The ceremony was on Friday in the court house and they had their reception on Saturday at a beautiful old house/mansion in Mira Flores. Javier’s brother dances typical Peruvian dances for a living and as a gift to the bride and groom he had four of his coworkers dance at the reception. They performed four different dances dressed in full costume as you can see. A little later there was a problem with an electrical tower nearby and all of the lights went out for about an hour. We were all worried for Giovanna but she handled it like a champ. She stayed calm and everyone continued having fun and then there was light. We continued dancing through the night until they made us leave at 3am and we headed home for a long nights sleep.

They have all been friends since elementary school.

This was the wedding cake. They cut the bigger on in the center and gave a box with a single serving cake to every guest.

Transportation

These are just 4 of the approximate 20 busses that stop at the bus stop by our apartment.

Since we do not have a car here in Peru we utilize the public transportation system. Even though the gas prices are about equal to the US the cars here are very expensive because of import costs. Therefore a large portion of the population rides the busses and taxis to get around Lima and the country for that matter. The bus system is a little difficult to get the hang of because there are so many different bus lines and they go every which way but I have learned how to get to two areas where I work. I have yet to get lost and that is mostly due to my good teacher Johanna. The taxi system is a little easier if you know where you are going. We do not take taxis very often because the bus is much cheaper, ($0.33). But when you go grocery shopping it is a lot easier to take a taxi rather than a bus as you can imagine. There is not a regulated pricing system for taxis so when you flag one down you ask how much they will charge you for your specific destination. If you like the price then you get in, if not there are many more to choose from. As you can imagine I do not blend in so well so they can see me coming and they generally try to charge me a little extra but I think they get surprised when I refuse of start haggling down to a fair price. It also helps sometimes for me to hide around the corner while Johanna makes the deal and then I get in after the price has been negotiated. Whatever it takes to get a good deal.