¡Feliz año y Feliz Navidad! I just got back to my house in Lima about an hour ago from Chincha, where I spent the holidays with Rey, a friend, and his family. His family was very welcoming and it was a great couple of weeks. The weather is finally getting really nice and we went to the beach, played basketball, and had a lot of time to just relax around the house. Now (in about an hour) I am off again to the North of Peru—Mancora. I have not been to Mancora yet, but the beaches are suppose to be beautiful and the climate is much warmer than Lima.

Sorry for the short post…As soon as I get back from this trip I will have some time to sit down, write, and upload some of the photos!

Be back soon!

Chau, Pedro

Last week I went to Arequipa where I did a 3-day/2-night trek in the Colca Canyon. It was absolutely beautiful and although at the time it did not seem like it, the trek was worth the 20-hour bus ride (each way)! Here are a few of the pictures I took while we were in the Canon. One night we stayed in a small village in the Canon and the other night in a small city overlooking the canon. Once again, the sites of Peru have amazed me!

The past few days I have been busy doing a little Christmas shopping and now in the next few days I will be busy spending time with the rest of the Holy Cross group, or simply “las chicas” who all leave next week! It’s been an awesome group, and there will be some emotional nights in the next few days. I know we already have a final dinner planned which will be nice to have some time together the last night with our closest friends (and in the case of a couple of the girls their boyfriends).

Next week I will be leaving Lima to go south to spend Christmas and New Years at a friend’s house. We will be in Chincha, a smaller city in the south of Peru. I have already been a few times, so I am familiar with the city. I am very excited to spend a Christmas with my friend. Although I will obviously miss my family and Christmas at home I am sure it will be an incredible experience to spend it with another family. I will definitely be writing a lot about my Christmas and New Years so look out for a new post in the next couple weeks.

And maybe it is different up there…in Boston…with the snow! But here, is definitely does not feel like Christmas. I cannot believe it is next week! Plus, it doesn’t help that I associate snow with Christmas, and here it is sunny, hot, and muggy. Here I also included a picture of my Christmas tree, here at my house.
Ciao,
Peter

It’s been a while since I have written, but I am done with first semester! Classes, exams, presentations, and I even had an oral exam. In the past few days I have recently received all of my grades, and I am very happy with how the semester turned out.

Today I went to the final soccer game of the season. Alizanza and La “U” are two of the most popular national teams and today they played their final game of the season. Although the team I was rooting for, Alianza, lost it was still a great experience. The game was crazy. They call is a classic…something like “Red Sox vs. Yankees”…but it was very, different to say the least. You could say the fan behavior is a little different than in Fenway Park…as you can imagine soccer is kind of important in Latin America.
It was an incredible experience I really enjoyed the game. I am looking forward to going to more games the following season in 2010.

Ciao,
Peter

Although they obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, tonight I went out to dinner with the group of Holy Cross students along with all of our closest friends from the University, the study abroad program director, and our cultural advisor. It was a really nice night and it was great to do something as a group, especially during a time like Thanksgiving when we are all thinking about our families and our homes.

Earlier today I also “skyped” with my family…almost my entire immediate family. We always have Thanksgiving at my grandparent’s house (the parents of my mom), and this year was no different. My mom brought her laptop to my grandparent’s house and I skyped with my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, my sisters, and my parents. In total about thirty people. It was really nice to talk to everyone because I really have not been able to keep in touch with my entire family…especially since my family is so big (my dad’s side of the family is double the size of my mom’s side).

Now I am off to finish up some final projects, papers, etc. The next couple weeks will be extremly busy, but I cannot believe I only have about two weeks left of my first semester!

Ciao,

Peter

At "Voluntarios" in Mira Flores, Lima

I can’t believe I only have two more weeks of classes, then finals, and my first semester is over! The time has just flow by.
I haven’t done any traveling since Iquitos since I have been so busy here, but life is great. Last night, since I have finished most of my work for the semester minus studying for finals, I had a couple friends over my house before going out to one a favorite spot in Mira Flores, a part of Lima.

Although the semester has been great, I am looking forward to finish the rest of my work and have a couple months off to relax. Christmas and New Years are only about a month away too, and I finally confirmed that I will be staying here in Peru! I’ll be spending December with a friend and his family in Chincha, south of Lima, and I am sure it will be an incredible experience. It will be the first time I am away from home for Christmas so it will be

The boys in my group from the school, Fe y Alegria in Canto Grande, Lima

enjoyable to see how families here celebrate Christmas and New Years, two of my favorite holidays. Then, in January, if all “goes according to plan,” one of my sisters will be coming down to visit!

Finally, I am still working at the school Fe y Alegria every Friday and everything is going great. I work with a group of boys who have family problems and poor grades and since we started in September all of them have improved their grades and significantly reduced there “behavior problems” in and out of the classroom. It’s a great group of kids and I always enjoy spending my Fridays with them. Like me, they only have a few weeks of school left too, but we plan on continue this group next year (the next semester) and I am anxious to see how much they have improve over an entire year. Until next time…

Ciao,
Peter

Several of the boys in my group at the school, Fe Y Alegria, in Canto Grande, Lima

My monkey and Me

I just got back from my trip to Iquitos. And like I said in my last post, Iquitos is suppose to be one of the “‘most exotic cities’ in all of South America according to my guidebook”—and it is. One could say it was my most interesting trip so far.
In Iquitos, I spent three nights and four days in the rainforest. In the lodge where I was staying there were only eight people including myself…so it was, in my opinion, pretty close to an “authentic” jungle experience. My stay included eating alligator, turtle, and fish from the Amazon River, swimming with piranhas, (trying to) sleep while monster-size cockroaches overtook my room, and almost stepping on one of the most venomous snakes in the jungle. Our guide explained to us that he has seen people bitten and within five minutes, “they bleed out of their eyes and are in excruciating pain.” However, he did kindly remind us after this scary story: “that’s why we were these rubber boots.” This made me feel a little better, but I had little faith the flimsy, old boots would do anything if I were bitten…so for the rest of the hike I looked twice before I stepped forward.

I then arrived back at the lodge, sweaty from the hike, and decided to take a swim in the river. As soon as I dove in I felt small pinches all over my body, I assumed it they were just little minnows, which I had seen swimming on the top of the water, but my guide was nice enough to tell me “those are just piranhas.” I didn’t believe him at first, and thought he was kidding, but his piranha story proved to be true the next day when we went piranha fishing and we were able to catch a bucket-full in little.

Finally, the best story I have from the trip was our boat ride back to the city from the rainforest. Now, I’ve been on a lot of boats in my life—sail boats, motor boats, little boats, big boats, canoes, and kayaks—but this hour and forty minute boat ride in a small metal boat was easily one of the scariest experiences of my life. It started as a rainstorm, but within twenty minutes, we were attempting to recreate the movie “The Perfect Storm” on the Amazon River; luckily, this boat ride didn’t end the same way. Lightning bolts were striking all around us and it was pouring so hard the rain hurt as it smacked against my body. I was saying the Rosary while others in the boat were crying. During all this, we also hit a log in the river…and if you ever played the computer came “Amazon Trail” in elementary school, you know that the boat flips over and sinks when the boat hits the log. Lucky for us, it only just made a scary noise and there was no sinking or dying involved.

The Storm...

One hour and forty minutes after we left the rainforest we arrived in the city, Iquitos, and I had never been so happy to get off a boat.

Now I am back in Lima, alive in well. Even though my trip to Iquitos was “eventful” and at times scary, it was a good trip (in retrospect) and I did enjoy myself. As always, it is nice to get out of Lima and see a different side of Peru. Everything here in Lima is great and I cannot believe I only have about five weeks of classes until finals! The semester has just flown by. The next couple of weeks I will be reading and studying for my final quizzes and then my final exams. The semester has been fantastic so far and I am looking forward to the next couple weeks as I wrap up my semester and prepare for summer break…and the sun, which is just starting to come out in Lima!
Ciao,
Peter

In our wetsuits before heading to the beach to surf

I am now about halfway done with my first semester and it is crazy how fast the time has flow by…this also means that, unfortunately, the following two weeks I have mid-term exams. Although I am now busy studying for those the past few weekend, luckily, I have been able to find time to travel. Two weeks ago, with the Holy Cross group, I traveled to Huanchaco, a part of Trujillo, in northern Peru, and this past weekend I spent a couple nights in Chincha, two hours south of Lima with friends from the University.
Huanchaco is a small area of Trujillo on the beach. The people are extremely friendly and relaxed, and the weekend was just what I needed to get away from the constant schoolwork. It reminded me of Cape Cod where I love to spend time on the beach when I am home in Massachusetts. The entire weekend in Trujillo was fantastic, but undoubtedly, my favorite afternoon was spent surfing. It was the first time I had surfed in my life, and surprisingly I left the beach with no bodily injuries, and was even able to stand up and actually surf almost every time. After we surfed, we had to hurry back to the hotel to shower and get ourselves to the bus terminal. We got back a little late, due to the usual horrendous traffic in Lima, but at least by now I am use to sitting in traffic forever. Despite the slight delay turning our “8-hour” bus trip into an 11-hour trip, we arrived safely in Lima for classes.
Then, this past weekend, I found myself traveling yet again, to Chicha. Luckily, the trip to Chincha is only about 3 hours—much more accommodating for my legs (I am 6’2). In Chincha, I stayed with the family of one of my friends from the University. There I enjoyed many great home cooked meals, like carapulcra, which is a pork dish served with “sopa seca,” and it a traditional dish of the area. The pork is served in a sauce mixed potato, peanuts, and I don’t really know what else, but it is absolutely delicious. On Saturday, we attended a graduation party and on Sunday afternoon, we went to the beach—we were lucky to be in Chincha one of the first nice days of spring (which just started two weeks ago)!

In Chincha

So, despite the mid-terms and many test and papers that remain I keep remember we’re quickly approaching summer here, while my friends and family back home in Massachusetts are approaching winter…and snow.
Well, I still have sixty pages left in “From the imperial reform to a reluctant independence,” so I am off to read. However, yesterday I bought plane tickets to Iquitos…so I will have a lot more to talk about and many great pictures coming soon! It is in the rain forest and is suppose to be one of the “most exotic cities” in all of South America according to my guidebook…

Ciao,
Peter

… Megan McCormick ’11, Michelle Mariene ‘11, Meredith Houghton ’11, and I finished the 100th Half-marathon of Lima. At least for me, it wasn’t the easiest thing I have done in my life, especially since I “forgot” to run the last five days before the half-marathon…so my training schedule was a little off. Nevertheless, it was an incredible experience. This year was especially important for Lima too since it was the 100th running. After the marathon we all, along with several friends, went out to lunch where we ate cebiche (seafood that is cured with lime), my personal favorite, and the finally returned home to rest. Unfortunately, we only had the afternoon to rest. Monday morning I had classes as usual. Even though I was sore for three days, and we are considering possibly running another one in October or November.

Michelle Marieni '11, Meredith Houghton '11, Peter McGovern '11, Megan McCormik '11 after Lima's 100th Half-Marathon. Sunday, August 31, 2009

I cannot believe how fast the first month of school has gone by. I have already read a huge stack of books, and today I had my first real test…and I think it went okay; it was in my “History of Peru in Modern Times” class. I am glad it is over, but now I am looking ahead at all of my work for next week: another test, a paper, and a project…preceded by reading for the test, researching for my paper, and meeting with my group to do the project. I guess you could say it’s a little overwhelming, but luckily I have two years of experience at Holy Cross in handling workloads like this, haha. On the positive side, I am sincerely interested (in most) of the work and I am always learning more Spanish!
Right now, I am off to study and then tomorrow I am off to Fe y Alegría (the school)! I am excited for tomorrow because it is the first day of the afterschool program I am starting and will be in charge of this year.

I started classes the University yesterday. This week I have the opportunity to go to as many classes as I want, and then decide by next Monday which ones best fulfill my major and other requirements. In the past two days, I have gone to five different courses and tomorrow I have two more. So far, the Professors have been very welcoming to all of the students from abroad. The other Peruvian students have also been great, starting conversations with me around campus and letting me know they can answer any questions I have about class. Although the University is like Holy Cross in many ways, it is great to have the opportunity to be with a bigger, more diverse student body in this different setting. The past six weeks of orientation have been fantastic, but very busy and included a lot of travel. I am excited to be finally settling down into a schedule! I can’t believe I already have homework, but I am looking forward to learning more about Peru.

A small group of students playing Volleyball after classes

This past weekend I also visited a school in Canto Grande (a slum outside of Lima). I volunteered at this school about four years ago when I was last in Peru and I had lunch with the Catholic Brothers who run this particular school. After lunch, the director gave me a tour of the school and it was great to see how much has improved since last time I was there! This coming year I will be working there every week and I am excited to get started. I have always found working with children extremely rewarding and I am confident this will be an unforgettable experience for me.
Ciao, Peter

The time is flying by here. I cannot believe I start classes on Monday. This is my last week to learn and review Spanish…but I am confident the past few weeks in the classroom will pay off. 

I am excited as much as I am nervous to begin classes. La Católica, the university I am attending, has many courses in Political Science and Religious Studies (my majors) many of which pertain directly to Peru. It will be great to take courses in my majors that also pertain to the country I am living in!

This past weekend was also my Peruvian grandmother’s birthday. She turned 80 years old, but was still dancing and had all of her friends as well as my family and me over for lunch and dinner—as you can see by the picture! Coming up, I am looking forward to our last few outings as a group as part of the Holy Cross orientation program. The orientation program has been a great help in the transition and now I am ready to start classes. Still this week we have a museum and what is suppose to be a fantastic show this Friday night—I will be sure to write after.

Ciao, Peter