first week

Under the plátano trees

The second thing I noticed was the driving. I have to hand it to Peruvians. They know how to drive. It may be fast and it may look completely insane and unsafe to an American, but I have not once seen a single wreck since I've been here. And in all honesty, a 3 cm margin is really all you need between cars, right?

View from the farm in Mala

The first week I spent in Perú, I stayed with Gaby, met the other AIESECers, saw Lima, and waited for the other trainees to get here. Gaby took me to Miraflores, Larcomar, and many other places around Lima. We saw the beach at sunset (how romantic haha) and I learned about taking taxies and micros (busses), which is how most people travel. Soon enough, Ben and Mathilde showed up and we had a few adventures. La madre de Renato was our personal tour guide around Lima, Mala (where she has a farm/fruit plantation/house), and everywhere in between. She even took us to to buy cute little cuyes (which she raises to eat). At her farm in Mala, we tried every fruit known to Peruvian mankind. We also tried a lot of traditional Peruvian dishes. They're all delicious. Rice, potatoes, and chicken are favorites here. And also fruit.

Ice cream at Larcomar con Gabyta

Forgot what it's called, but includes
macla (corn), shrimp, rice, potatoes,
eggs, and DELICIOUSNESS

After touring, we got down to business. The latter part of the week we attended talks about Perú, teaching others, and the project that we were about to start. These were held at Universidad Pacifico, where we were joined daily by a couple of other trainees and a lot of AIESECers. This week served to prepare us for the two months we'd be teaching.