A gooder day

Today ended up being a really good day.  In my first class, we just watched a movie ("Martin Fierro"), which was pretty interesting although it was from the 70s.  On Fridays we don't have our culture class, so I was able to go home and rest a little before going back for my last class.

Tonight, Valerie asked us if we wanted to go with her and her significant other, Ricardo, to the same restaurant we went to last week.  We really liked it last week (especially the desserts), so we went.  Again, the food was great, and I had a Chocolate Insanity cake for dessert.  Last weekend I had a Choco Brownie Tart, which was a brownie baked into a tart topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings.  It was ridiculous.  This is the third time we've gone out to eat, and Ricardo has paid every time, refusing to take our money.

Afterwards, we went to Ricardo's house for a little bit, and we met his awesome dog, Charlie.  Wow, this dog was soooooo cute!  It's a small dog, but a big puff ball.  She had a ponytail to keep her long fur out of her eyes.  She was so hyper and would run all over the house, running into walls and springing onto couches, crashing into the back.  I've never seen a dog act like that, but it was hilarious!  She would spring up like a grasshopper and plop on your lap.  I was seriously smiling the whole way home!

Something so different here for me is greeting people and saying goodbye.  You give a kiss on the right cheek.   Before going to the restaurant we stopped by Ricardo's house to pick him up, and Floppy (his 19 yr.-old daughter, whose real name is Florencia) was just arriving home with a friend and Sebastian (one of the sons here).  We had to give everybody a hello kiss, and then 2 mins. later when we were leaving, we gave a goodbye kiss to everyone.  Many of you know that I'm not a touchy-feely person, so it's something that I just have to get used to here.

Tomorrow, we're going to a museum to see the famous mummy, Juanita, discovered on one of the volcanoes here.  She was an Incan girl, sacrificed at around 12 or 13 years old.  Back then it was considered an honor to be sacrificed.  So she was probably happy to be chosen, as were her parents.  It should be interesting.  Hopefully in the afternoon I'll get some studying done.  Then at night, we're going to the restaurant that Valerie's sister owns (and that's also Valerie's place of employment).  It's a nicer restaurant called Chicha, and it's by the famous chef (who I've never heard of, but maybe some of you have), Gaston Acurio.

Next week is looking to be a busy one.  I have a test on Tuesday, my hardest presentation on Wednesday, and another test on Friday.  I'm hoping it will go by fast. Anyway, it's time for beddy-bye now.  Chau.