11/21/06

Today Ricky brought us to the American Embassy and we had to go through a metal detector and show our passports twice to be able to speak to an American administrator.
  The embassy was large and beautiful and had a very familiar eagle emblem on it.
  They told us we would need to validate our American driver’s license with Peru and where to extend our tourist visa.
  It wasn’t particularly informative but it was an interesting experience.
   Then Ricky brought us to the Language school where he attended 3 years learning English.
  Kelsey took a placement test for Espanol and was put in level 6 out of 12 levels.
  Robert and I were, of course but in level 1.
  The lesson plans are for a full year.
  We will try it for a month and see if we can progress at their pace and learn sufficiently well to continue.
  Getting a tutor can sometimes be less expensive then taking it in a classroom situation, but Ricky felt it would be helpful to take it at this school.
  The remainder of the day I went grocery shopping by myself, it takes 10 times as long to figure out what things are without being able to read the labels.
  Kelsey opped out this time to help me.
  Then cooking dinner in Ricky’s house is a challenge, too, but thankfully I brought some of my own kitchen tools which make cooking a whole lot more fun.
  Right now we’re in Ricky’s living room watching Kelsey play with Ricky’s 1 ½ year old nephew Renzo, with Robert nearby with his new camera. 
 

We bought coffee this morning at a Dunkin Donuts and had trouble ordering a coffee with milk.  We had the Spanish correct–Cafe` Regular con leche.  However, apparently most Peruvians do not drink milk in their coffee.  When we asked for the above, they gave me a latte.  It took a little bit to sort that through.  We have a long way to go. 
 
 

Ricky brought us out to a movie tonight.
  He drives fast and weaves in and out of traffic but is very calculated about it.
  We drive through back streets past a pile of sand taking up half the width of the road for a construction project in a house.
  He has to turn often to avoid the “gated” communities where people in an area pool together funds to put up iron gates across their streets which they close at different times. 
  This makes it more difficult for burglars to come into the neighborhood.
  Burglaries are very rampant here.
  The homes are all built behind walls which have pointed iron bars on top of the walls.
  Ricky’s family has an electric fence as well.
  He said that, in the 35 years his family has owned this home, they were robbed once when a a thief tricked a maid into letting him through the locked door as though they were a friend of the family.
  Ricky was in his room sleeping.
  When the maid became suspicious of what the man was doing, he had already stolen a television, stereo and a few other things.
  Kelsey had a dream that we were robbed last night.
  Hopefully it was from concern with the talk of it all yesterday and not prophetic.
  Ricky has also been robbed while in his car at gun point.
  This type of robbery is less frequent here.

The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles (handy for us) and both enjoyable and intriguing.
  The movie is in a large modern mall with a parking garage.
  To get into it the attendant writes your license down on a form and hands it to you.
  When you drive out, you have to give them the form and they check and make sure you are taking your own car.
  If you don’t have your form, they check your license and title.
  Pretty handy for making sure someone isn’t taking your car.
  Interesting that it is common enough to have to have constant safeguards against it.