tofu

Apparantly it is very difficult to get tofu in Lima. I've been asking Vilma, my wonderful maid who takes great care of me, to make me food with tofu in it for weeks and she always apologizes that she can't find it. Well today, in the middle of my Spanish lesson, Reada's maid Lupe showed up at my apartment with the biggest block of tofu I have ever seen. Lupe and Vilma are friends and, from what I could get of Lupe explaining to me in Spanish, Lupe was able to find some tofu somewhere, but it is very hard to get and she can't get it all the time. So, at least for this week, I will have tofu to my heart's content. I can't wait for Vilma to come on Friday and make me something yummy with it!

lovely weekend

Eric's parents were in town again this weekend and I saw them yesterday afternoon. They had a wonderful trip to Machu Picchu and it was fun to see their pictures and hear all their stories. It made me ready to go to Machu Picchu again, so if you are interested in coming down and checking it out, let me know! :)
We went to lunch at the Park Hotel, which is the swankiest hotel in the city. It was nice to sit out on the terrace and enjoy a little luxury. It is always a fun little break from the craziness of Lima. I only go to the Park Hotel when I have visitors and it is a nice way to show people another side of the city.

We spent the afternoon in the area around my apartment, just walking around, checking things out. I took them to Larcomar and we watched the paragliders for a while. Even though I am afraid of heights, I still think I want to try paragliding while I am here. It would be fun to do it over a city that I actually know well.

After I dropped Mary and Phil off, I met some friends and we went bowling. I haven't been bowling since Karen's birthday party in Berlin and I am pretty bad at it - I can't seem to make the ball go straight!
I'm off to a movie with Reada and Dave this afternoon, then Indian food and Scrabble with some friends tonight. This Indian place just opened up - it is the only one in the city. They only do delivery and they cook everything in their house. You have to place the order hours and hours, or even days, in advance, but the food is as close to good Indian food as I am going to get down here, so it is worth it. Nothing will ever beat Amrit in Berlin, but at least I can finally get some Indian food in Lima.
I hope you are all having a happy weekend!

Visitors!!

Eric's parents, Phil and Mary, are doing a Machu Picchu/Galapagos Island tour for two weeks and they were in Lima for the weekend. It was SO great to see them and be able to show them around the city. I took them out to school this morning, then we walked to Barranco this afternoon. The weather was beautiful and Lima always looks pretty charming in the sunshine. I loved spending time with Phil and Mary and I'm looking forward to seeing them again next weekend, when they are back in town before they go to Ecuador.

St. Patty's Day

Tim, Reada, Dave and I went out to Murphy's, an Irish pub, to celebrate St. Patty's Day. There were 2 live bands, tons of people speaking English, and lots of good beer. It seemed like every American in Lima was at the bar, so we ended up meeting a bunch of people. I actually met a guy who graduated from Central High School in Manchester! I couldn't believe I was talking to someone from NH at an Irish bar in Peru.

Overall, we had a great night, which actually ended at 4 this morning. We ended up back at my apartment, after deciding we needed pizza. Reada and I went to get pizza and left the boys to sober up a bit. By the time we got back, Tim was passed out on my couch. By the way, yes, that is a mullet he is sporting. For some reason, he thought growing a mullet would be a good idea. I don't know what he was thinking...

Guitar Festival

Reada, Dave and I decided to be cultural last night and check out the International Guitar Festival here in Lima. It has been going on all week and has had people on the program from the US, Finland, Spain and Peru. Last night was a Peruvian musician and a Spanish musician. They have been starting out each concert with a local kid playing as the "opening act", which I think it great. The boy last night was maybe 15 and was really nervous, but he did a great job. The Peruvian guy was pretty amazing - lots of energy and passion. We were looking forward to the Spanish guy, but he ended up being kind of a dud. He played well, but the music had no emotion and got a little long to listen to. Overall, it was great to hear some live, acoustic guitar and do something that felt "cultural". I feel like I used to do tons of cultural things when I lived in Berlin - opera, Philharmonic, museums - and that just doesn't happen here. It is a little more difficult to find out about things and everything isn't quite as easily accessible as it was in Berlin. But last night was nice. It is an annual event, so it will be fun to check out more of it next year.

Orchestra

The second semester is off to a great start at school. It feels so nice to be back at school and to be with my kids again. Though some of them are still in summer beach mode, the majority of them came back ready to work. I've started new music with the symphonic band and the jazz band that I am very excited about - the music is stuff I ordered in August and it just arrived in February. Got to love Peruvian customs!

The exciting news this week is that I found out I will be teaching high school orchestra next year, in addition to my 2 bands and my 2 IB music classes. The orchestra is currently taught by a Peruvian who also teaches elementary strings. The orchestra is small and he chooses music that isn't appropriate for their size or ability level. The concerts can be a little painful. I had mentioned to my principal that I would be interested in doing the orchestra in the future, if the opportunity ever presented itself, and he followed up on it and made it happen this week. I am so excited! I loved teaching orchestra at West and missed working with string kids in Berlin. I think this group has a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do together.

I feel like things are really coming together here. I love the classes I am teaching and taking on the orchestra is another really positive step. It is nice to have the support of my principal and to know that changes can be made when they need to be. They keep making this job sweeter and sweeter - I may never want to leave!