Dias 3 y 4

This is how my day began on Sunday (Sun. 07.11.10). There are three alpacas on the premises of the clinica as well as an ancient horse named Patricio. The brown one is really protective of the baby, which is red. There's also a white one that will let you squeeze it forever, which is what I look for in an alpaca.

During the day a group of people went to mass at the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas, and a few people, including myself, decided to take a look around the shops and cafes until they were all done. The plan was to meet back up to watch the world cup final. Unfortunately, while we waited at one exit of the church, the group exited another. So instead, we met up with a few other people and the programs directors, who took us to this great restaurant while we could watch the game. We had some:



good salad, a huge bowl of pasta, and a traditional Peruvian beverage called chicha, which is made from corn.

There were hundreds of people in the Plaza who were rooting for Spain, cheering and splashing around in the water. They were also really excited when Spain won, so good for them.

Afterwards, we did some shopping where I bought:



which have dos caras so they also look like this:



when you turn them inside out.

Around 7:00 PM there was a meeting, where we talked about our classes in the morning and the traveling we would be doing on Thursday and Friday to Paucartambo. Paucartambo is a small village in the mountains that has a week long festival for the procession of the virgin.

Monday I got up at 6:00 AM to get ready for a awesome breakfast of bread, jam, and a fried egg before taking a taxi to Limacpampa Grande, where



la Academia Latinoamericana is located. We got there shortly after 8:00 AM, took a placement test for my grammar class, and then got to work. There were six students in total, all from the Rutgers program, and one professor. We started off with introductions and interviews and worked our way over to reviewing the preterite tense. All in all it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Afterwards, a group of us got some lunch (soup, main dish, and mate) for only 3.50 soles. We ran into a few other people, which happens a lot actually, and we did some more shopping, where I got an alpaca blanket, and saw the:



12 Angle Stone of the Incas.

I doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a famous landmark. Most of the buildings in the Plaza are famous for the Inca walls that were built with huge stones carved to fit together. Most of them have four or five points, but this stone has twelve points that fits with every other stone it is next to perfectly. They even have guards that are stationed next to it to keep people from touching it. It's unfortunate that most of the Inca walls were built on top of by the Spanish with crummy architecture, but it is all still pretty impressive.

Tonight I may be going to get dinner at a vegetarian restaurant down the road with some of the other vegetarians that are here, and then working on my diario.

More entries to come,

Victoria