June 3rd, 2011
Today was our final day at El Sol, and I will admit I’m a bit sad! I hope our language school in Cusco is similar to El Sol because I enjoyed the way we were taught. I appreciated how interactive the language component of the program is. My teacher at El Sol, Andres, always aimed to keep us speaking in Spanish, and conversation was always flowing. I also enjoyed the culture class because simultaneous with our class lectures, we have been visiting sites and museums in Lima that house the artifacts of the same pre-Hispanic cultures we discuss in class. We had a quick multiple-choice test in class today as well, which I assume is to be sent to our next school for placement. We ended class with a group class picture with our teacher Andres.
I am very proud of what happened next. I have needed a new SIM card for my phone since it disappeared as soon as I got it, and today I finally had time and was right near the Movistar phone store, so I decided to buy it. Everyone was eating lunch, so I had to go to the store solo, meaning I would have to communicate what I needed to the staff without a more proficient Spanish student as a crutch. I was scared, but I was also really excited to go into this phone store, silly as it sounds, because it was going to be a perfect situation to practice my Spanish. Sparing the details, I successfully bought a SIM card! I was really proud of myself, because it made me feel like I had accomplished something really cool by being able to communicate with that man in the store, without anybody’s help. That was the first time I could say that, and it felt really good. And now I can finally communicate with the group the good old American way, texting!
After my success at Movistar, I went home grabbed my computer and went over to Starbucks near Kennedy Park to use the wifi there, grab a coffee, and get some work done. I didn’t get too much done though, because soon Scott called me and told me to meet up with some people so we could go see the beach. I hadn’t seen the playa up close yet so I had to go! Our trek to the shore was a long walk with many stairs to get down that massive Lima cliff you see in all the shoreline pictures, but as soon as we reached the shore, lined with dozens of surfers out in the waves, I was glad I had came. We spent some time walking up and down the shore and the boys made arrangements to have surfing lessons tomorrow. Its a shame Lima’s winter is so gloomy and dark, because I could feel how beautiful the view would be in the bright sun. We grabbed some more Starbucks and then a cab and headed back to El Sol, because they were having a small party for our last day.
The party was more fun than I had actually anticipated, and I think that goes to show how cohesive and amiable our group is. It was only our dialogue group and some of our teachers and El Sol staff, but put this group in a room with some music, maybe a Pisco Sour here and there, and the result is a very enjoyable night with new friends. We were all more than ready for dinner when it was ready at 10pm, and luckily there was salad and potato salad for the veggies.
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