I was a little trepidatious the first time I tried cuy, but I went in with an open mind, understanding that this is part of the culture. It was delicious!
This week, I listened to a lot of Americana music. I play the fiddle, and I'm teaching one of my friends the type of music I grew up playing, from traditional to New England and eastern Canada. Other than that, I heard my neighbors play a lot of cumbia, salsa, and huaynos, which are all popular in Peru.
The most fun activity was probably teaching in the schools. I taught a group of elementary school students about la naturaleza (nature) this week. We discussed how to care for our medio ambiente (natural environment) and spent the second half of the class picking up litter in town.
I finished a book called Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. This week, my book club discussed the book and spent some time afterward catching up. I also continued reading one of my favorite childhood books, Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), in Spanish.
This week, I played a lot of chess. I bought a chess board in my regional capital, and I practice explaining the rules to the kids who visit my host family's restaurant. I'm starting a chess club at my school, so I'm trying to learn chess vocabulary in Spanish so that I can explain the rules to my students!
