We found our language institute today! We did this by calling and getting the exact address and instructions to tell a taxi driver. This was a better strategy than yesterday, when we tried to find it based on an imprecise dot drawn on an imprecise map by friends who weren´t exactly sure about the address. "I´m sure it´s just around this corner, Laura!", I declare as my wife smiles patiently and Noah cries, ready for a nap. It´s a good thing the taxi driver found it today, because it´s just a house like any other, with no signs or anything. We entered to a pleasant surprise! Instead of just Pedro, the director with a schedule, we ended up crashing a full blown goodbye party for some Irish students who had been there for two weeks. (We had heard that parties were common). The wildest part was that we were almost the only Americans! We met a Canadian girl who is a photographer for a doctors´organization, a missionary from London, three Swiss students getting ready for a conference on education, several other Irishmen, and a girl from Kentucky who just wants to travel. We´re very excited about the international flair of the instituto, and we got a great schedule set up, starting the following week, March 26.
We also met Concho there, a sweet lady who will be helping to watch Noah for a few hours each day when our classes overlap and hopefully teach us how to cook delicious Peruvian lunches.
More pictures. What a beautiful city!
One consolation upon waking up still sick that first morning was to see this right out our window! This is El Misti, Arequipa's most famous landmark. It´s almost 19,000 ft, and a volcano. It apparently still smokes often, but hasn't erupted in at least 500 years. The following pictures are all from our roof, giving a great view of the city and surrounding mountains.
Now some more shots of city life
A beautiful church on the Plaza de España, a bustling meeting place that is more locally popular than the more famous Plaza de Armas
Concho also introduced us to a market near the Instituto, where we got some wonderful fruits and vegetables. Adela, the owner was so nice - we will return!
A few final notes -
--an addition to the 'common mistakes' section of the last post - there are many signs for "playa" here, though we are miles from the coast. Don't think 'beach' like we all learned in Spanish 1; playa also means parking lot.
--Excellent op-ed piece in the WP yesterday that reflects a lot of my thoughts on politics. I've been seeing more movement in this direction lately, and it is encouraging.
And a bonus picture of Noah at his silliest, showing of his tongue on the airplane:
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