Friday, March 16, 2007

Getting Settled

Arequipa is an amazing city- full of life and more interesting every day. Yesterday we explored a bit, and I am posting a few pictures from our walk. We do not have internet in our apartment, and may not (it would admittedly be a luxury), so these last couple blogs are from internet "shops". I don´t know what else to call them, they just say "internet", but they are everywhere, and incredibly cheap - about a quarter per hour. I was noticing the mix of sounds and smells as I walked here, the former a combination of salsa music from tienda stereos, live Andean flutes playing "Unchained Melody" in the plaza, and endless car horns, many of which are made to sound more like car alarms. The aromas are endearing - bread from countless bakeries, pollos a la brasa, and cevicherias all clamor for attention. We have not sampled much of the local food, but i can´t wait.

Last night Laura went to a women's bible study in the church below us. She loved meeting the ladies, and we hope to be involved there while we are in Arequipa. (besides the spiritual blessings, it should also be a great help for our Español)

Speaking of that, we are slowly correcting some of our more common errors as we practice with anyone who will listen. First, they rarely use the word "español" here, but rather "Castellano". To excuse oneself after talking with someone, one does not say "perdón" as I might imagine, but "con permiso". Just a couple examples. Already, we both see a significant improvement in our speaking skills, just from having to make our way through conversations. We love it!
Enough talk, more pictures.


Approaching the Plaza de Armas, and the Cathedral - lots of colonial architecture.





This is on one of the bridges across the river. We will need to cross over each day to get to the Language institute. Noah was having a great time, but somehow fell asleep amist the commotion.




Looking back towards the old part of the city.

The view heading up river toward the mountains.

Well, we have better pictures, but it´s taking too long to put them up for the moment, so I will post a bunch more later. Ciao for now.


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