Selvamonos

So it has almost been a full week here and I am slowly getting the hang of things. Peru is like San Francisco in that there are numerous districts throughout the city that help separate each sector. This also means that getting from the most Southern to most Northern part can take 2 or so hours by bus. Taxis are the most common mode of transportation, 3/4 of the cars on the roads seem to be taxis and are used by everyone.

I do have a few pictures I have been taking and these ones should have been added to last week.

My room with some bright walls. 

This is my "hall way". My door is the one at the end and there are stairs behind me. I am on the third floor and the majority of our rooms lead straight outside but the communal area is normal. 

I have a flash light on this little bad boy.

Since being in Peru I have been job searching. Everyone keeps asking for pictures and crazy stories but it hasn't been overwhelmingly crazy just yet. The most interesting part of my week has been documenting the different ways they spell my name. I have Shohy and Shopi on the list so I will keep you guys updated with that. This past weekend I went to a beach about an hour south of Lima to a concert called Selvamonos. It pretty much translates to jungle monkeys ha. I went with some other foreigners and we stayed the night on the beach so Sunday we enjoyed the sun. One of my roommates compared me to a crab so I guess you could say I need more sunscreen on top of the two layers I had applied. 

I don't know the name of the beach but the surf was beautiful. Maybe I will take it up in Peru because living in San Diego my whole life and never surfing was too easy. 

 After the beach and a long Saturday night I came back to a pleasant Sunday evening. Everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather and it was time to relax. I walked around with my friend and took a few pictures just of the main plaza and church.

The plaza is about a block from my house and the red building in the distance is the library. 

 My primary focus this week is to look for jobs more. I had two interviews on Monday and have to teach a 20 minute lecture tomorrow and a tutoring class for two different companies to see if they like me. Unfortunately I do have to take my nose piercing out because the school has standards of appearance to withhold and piecing are one (even though the lady interviewing me had an extremely low cut dress for a school position if I do say so myself). I also have another interview Thursday with another tutoring company and one more soon to be scheduled with a school. So keep the prayers and love coming and I will keep everyone posted :)

Bright Green Walls

Why is it when we look back on the past we only think of happy occurrences in life? I have traveled numerous places and experienced culture that exceeds my expectations yet as I look towards the future I get so nervous.

I note traveling because as many of you know I decided to packed up my life and moved to Lima, Peru to experience adventure.  Everyone asks all the obvious questions of where will I live, what will I do, and . . . am I planning to meet a Latin man.

This is what I know after being here for one day . . .

 -My room is a typical Latin room: small, bright green walls, no matching furniture, but comfortable in its own way

 -My roommates, all 11 of them, are worldly, loving, and patient people (I do not remember all their names yet    and actually might not have met them all yet, who's counting really?)

 -I need to practice Spanish a lot more 

 -I have a bomb cell phone circa 1990

 -I have three interviews within the next few days and no idea how to get to any one of them

 -Humidity will be my new best friend

 -Inca Cola is supposedly the next best thing since sliced bread 

 -Each moment I stop and think I am baffled that my friends and family let me do this

I had some free time today after unpacking, meeting people, and grocery shopping to walk around the area where I live. I was in awe of the architecture, new and old, of the buildings and the bright colors that covered the outsides.  I am truly blessed every step I take in this country for knowing the support I have with this endeavor. I l can't wait for more adventure to arise but for now I'm going to try and fall asleep among these bright green walls. 

Total Relaxation

So I have been living in Palermo now for 2 weeks and I have studied and mastered the art of relaxing and doing nothing. haha. Let’s just say the first couple days here were rough. After enjoying the last few days with my friends in Torino I finally had to say goodbye to everyoneBut after two days of sleeping and being mopey I decided to get up and be productive. I have been staying active by going on runs around the city and surrounding areas to get a better understanding of the land.  I have also notched a couple books off my list and have had time to catch up with friends. So Skype and Facebook have been pretty prevalent in my life as well. Gabe’s family has been overly gracious. They take me all around town and have been my tour guides the past week and a half. I also had three friends from Torino in the area. I was able to meet up with them a few times last week which was nice to see familiar faces. Even though it had only been 4 days.  Gabe has introduced me his friends too. Some who speak English and some that don’t but we manage.  Last Sunday I went on a boat ride around the bay and it was beautiful to see Palermo from the ocean. And this past Wednesday was the 20^th anniversary of Falcone and his death. He was a judge who fought against the Mafia and put away about 300 people involved in the mafia. There was a march where we walked all over Palermo chanting and singing. That night I also attended a soccer game celebration that had different actors and singers performing along with a soccer game that consisted of people related to Falcone, other judges who fought, and actual soccer players. It was a great way to celebrate the life of Falcone and what he fought for. And since then I have been hitting up the beach Mondello that is an hour run so I just wrap my suit around my wrist and head out for the day and take the bus back after I enjoyed the water and sun. Now I am in San Martine a small town 20 minutes outside of Palermo that is in the hills. Gabe and his family have a house here. We are here to relax for the weekend and enjoy the nature and sun! 

il finale

So it has been quite I bit since my last log in. Honestly I don’t even remember everything that has happened in the past few weeks. Last weekend I did a spontaneous trip to Porto, Portugal with my friends Marcus and Cierra. We really knew nothing about the area besides the fact that it was cheap, had a beach, and port wine. Going into the weather was supposed to be all rain but we had a miracle happen because the two days were beautiful and we were even able to make it to the beach for a few hours one day. We went wine tasting Friday night and lets just say they gave us generous amount which ended up with Marcus helping Cierra and I walk back and we proceeded to pass out at 9 that night haha. Saturday we went on a walking tour and saw all the beautiful sights. Also, JK Rolling lived there and taught at the University because her ex-husband lived there and she got a lot of inspiration for her books from the town. You could see it in the architecture and streets. We were also there for student week. This is a weeklong celebration where freshman at the university go through a hazing type of week while the seniors get to do different ceremonies such as the fountain where they all are baptized type of idea for the real world.  So Saturday night they had a concert type of event and we were able to get cotton candy and kettle corn as well! (Sometimes the small things make everything so much better haha)

Then it was my finals week, which also meant the last week with all the friends I have made. Thursday everyone was done with finals, which gave up until Sunday to hang out, clean, pack, and celebrate every moment left together.  We all met up each night and went out to different places, had multiple breakfast, lunch, and dinners with friends and just enjoyed the last few nights in Torino. (Pictures are to come J) Nothing over the top or special happened but just a lot of laughter. Today everyone left on the group flight to go back home and lets just say numerous tears were shed. I am not afraid to cry in front of people haha.  I had a bus coming an hour later so my friend and I grabbed coffee and when I went out to the bus my Spaniard friend Patxi was there as well. So as of right now I am on a bus with Patxi and 6 other Spaniards heading to Sicily. I will be living there for a month with Gabe (he is an exchange student who lived with my family a couple years back) and Patxi and his friends will be there for a week partying, so I might have to join in with the festivities!! So overall very emotional because I said goodbye to all my friends but know that this summer will be epic!!!

Berlin

So I believe that last time I wrote I have just gotten back from Southern Italy for Easter. Since then I have had 2 weekends. One I spent in Torino. The other I went to Berlin!!! After coming back from Rome and Bari I needed a break I was able to just focus on school for the past two weeks and just have restful nights sleep and hang out with friends. Unfortunately the weather has been pretty bad up until today. Just rain all the time but I still went out on rain runs with friends and even had a taco night with about 15 people! Holding the tradition even in Italy! So after my week in Torino I went off the Berlin for the weekend. My friend and I left last Thursday night and got there around midnight and even at night I was in awe of how modern and lively the city is. I was there for 3 full days and it allowed me to see the city but also be able to sleep in a bit as well. My friend and I would go out til midnight for dinner or so and hit up a bar for a beer. We saw the rebuilt parliament building, the East Side Art Gallery (which is about a mile length on the Berlin wall still up all painted), Check Point Charlie, the burnt down parliament building that Hitler used, and the holocaust memorial. They also have a huge park in the middle of the city and there was a festival on Sunday so we enjoyed the surprise and also ended up playing soccer with 2 little boys we met. It was 2 on 2 and you think that we could dominate being were about 10 years older but we got beat pretty badly (take not I was wearing a dress). But now back to school for a couple days and have a few projects do these first few days of the week then have a week off of school because of Italian holidays! I don’t have any plans yet but I think I am going to train around Italy a little and see some places close by!

Phew

So it has been a while to say the least. Let's go back about two weeks.
I went to Nice and Monaco for the weekend with my two friends Matt and Maddie and it was an enjoyable and relaxing weekend. We were able to see both the towns and enjoy the local food and markets. And of course we hit up the beach! The fist day was a little overcast but after that it was beautiful and not a cloud in the sky. We all read quite a bit and basked in the sun; which has seen to benefit me a lot considering everyone keeps telling me I look black so I guess I will take that as a compliment.
In between class and traveling my friends and I took advantage of the weather. We hit up the park almost every day and got soccer balls, frisbees, footballs, and brought food so any free time equals a picnic in the park. I have also been trying to see the tourist sites in Torino as well. Being that there is only a month left of my program I don't have too much time here left to see everything!
Last week though I went to Rome and dominated the city by myself. I went for 3 days and saw the ruins, colosseum, vatican, and pretty much any historical point on the map. It was nice to travel by myself and see everything on my own time and pace and luckily I made friends at the hostel so when the night came I was able to go to dinner and go out with friends. I thought the city was beautiful and every corner seemed to have a new surprise the downside though it that it's very touristy which I don't exactly like, but I am a tourist so I can't complain too much.
After Rome I took a train to Bari which is on the South-Eastern side of Italy. My Italian roommate Veronika lives there so my roommates and I joined her family for Easter. She took us to local towns around the area such as Putignano, Fasano, and other small quaint towns that were famous for one thing or another. Easter was Church then eating and eating and eating. The lunch took about four hours where we had anti-pasta, then paste, a 30 minute break, then the meat and dessert. They also gave out chocolate eggs and the tradition is that you break it on a persons head so we got to partake in that as well! Overall it was a great Easter and cool to spend with an Italian family. Now I am back in Tornio for a week or so and it's nice to be back in my apartment and have time to eat healthier food, run, and sleep. Pretty much just work off all the food! haha

London, Paris, Normandy, Barcelona . . . Wow that's a mouth full

Where do I begin.
I started my spring break on Saturday and headed off the London in the early morning. It was me, my friend Emily, and four guys I hang out with. On arrival in London we took care of business first and found our hostel to put our stuff down then headed out to check out the sites. We went and saw Big Ben, The Eye, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and then headed to the downtown area to walk around the shops and find dinner. It was crazy that in one day we had seen so much but considering they are not museums or things that take a long time to look at we were able to cover some ground. The next day I took a stroll through Hyde Park in the morning and in the afternoon we headed off to the Tower of London, but before that we went to platform 9 and 3/4! It was amazing to see the architecture, artifacts, and crown jewels. Then we walked across the London Bridge and found some fish n chips as a small restaurant alone the river. The last day in London we started our day off at the Natural History Museum which was massive but awesome to see. Then took the tube out to Wimbledon so check out the grounds, went back into the city to see the British Museum which has numerous artifacts in it such as the rosetta stone, ancient mummies, and easter island statues. Then we booked it over to Abbey Road before the sun set and hit up a pub for dinner and ended our last night in Trafalgar square.

The next morning (Tuesday) we were off to Paris. After checking into our apartment (yes you can rent out apartments for 2 or 3 nights I highly recommend it) we started our journey to the Arch de Triumph and realized the walk there was a lot longer than we thought but we were able to see the city and some parks along the way. Then we walked down the main street Ave de Champs Elysees and ended up by the Grand Palace and Hotel where we just hung out at the park for a little and enjoyed the weather. And before the night ended we hit up Notre Dame and then headed back to our apartment to make dinner.

Wednesday my friend and I decided to take a day trip to Normandy and words can not describe how I felt when walking through the American cemetery or on Omaha beach. First off, I didn't know it was so huge! I expected the beach to span 20 miles or so but the whole D-Day attack took place over a 70 mile radius! We also went to the museum there and it was loaded with good information and interesting facts. After a full day there and taking some sand back in a bag we headed back to Paris to meet up with our friends for dinner.

Then on Thursday we started out day with breakfast at Basilique du Sacre-Coeur which is a large church on a hill that overlooks the whole city. After that it was off to the Louve for another full day of artwork such as the Moma Lisa, Cupid, and Venus de Milo. After a quick dinner we were on our way to the airport for out last stop on the trip . . . Barcelona!

Barcelona was not what I expected. We had great weather so we obviously hit up the beach for the 3 days we were there and even though I live by the beach it was still nice to see it again considering it has been about 3 months! haha. But everyone I traveled with wanted to do the beach thing all day so I went off on my own for a couple hours each day to check out the town. It is just a town full of life all the time. Cafes and markets always open and welcoming people in and people practicing instruments or skating everywhere as well. Besides some architecture there isn't too much to do there so I just enjoyed walking around and spending time with myself. And yes we did hit up the discotecas at night and I thoroughly enjoyed my time dancing for 4 hours each night but also kept my distance from all the creeps. Monday morning came fast and we had to head back. That night I had a presentation and test that I hopefully rocked, and had a test yesterday as well. Today there are no plans of I am just going to rest and catch up on life in Italy. Overall a very successful spring break!