New Kid at School

In Lima, there are two great truths: 1) if you want something you have to wait and 2) everything has a price.  In the US we’re all about efficiency; we do our best to never wait in line.  Peru doesn’t work like that; everything seems to take the maximum number of people and the maximum amount of time.  Here I find myself paying more with my time than my money.  If I learn anything this semester it will be patience.    

Angelica and I on the fourth flour of MacGregor after RSP.

On Monday the 18th classes at la Católica commenced.  There are over 200 exchange students at PUCP.  The majority are from Europe and the States; although, there are a solid number of domestic exchange students.  Foreign students have the entire first week of classes to “shop” for courses before official matriculation the following Monday.  Spending 8 hours a day in class made for a hectic and mind numbing first week.  Some courses were really interesting: Contemporary Peruvian Narrative, Andean Ethnographies, Arqueology of South America, and the History of Peru in Modern Times; others moderately boring: Meteorology and Climate; and some were down right terrible: Peruvian Arqueology 1.  By the Thursday I was ready to quit school and join the circus.

The weekend’s most exciting event occurred on Friday night: a World Cup Qualifying Game between Peru and Chile held in the National Stadium in Lima.  Peru and Chile have had a rivalry dating back to the War of the Pacific: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile–Peru_football_rivalry.  Usually Chile comes out on top, but regardless limeños gathered all over the city to “sweat for their country”.  Friday night’s game was bigger than the Superbowl.  I took in the spectacle in the comfort of a friend’s house.  However, I heard from the other IFSA students who watched the game in Parque Kennedy that after Peru’s win they had never seen so many happy people. 

The flora and fauna of PUCP: flowering trees, students, and Peru's only carnivorous deer. 

The following Monday I got up at 5 o`clock to officially matriculate.  La Católica has the strangest registration process for foreign students: first come first serve on the Monday of the second week of classes.  I waited in line for over 4 hours, but was able to register for all of my classes without a problem: Castallaño Avanzado, La Realidad Social Peruana, Arqueología del Sudamerica, and Narrativa Peruana Contemporanea.  Now the fun can officially begin.