Not too much terribly interesting has happened the last few days. I have done a lot of walking around town and some resting and watching people. I visited the rocky beach of Barranco yesterday and took a tour of Pachacamac this morning. It was a bilingual tour, and the guide spoke such good Spanish that I almost didn´t listen to the English! We toured the ruins of Pachacamac, including a residential area, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Moon. It was interesting seeing layers of culture under the better-known Incas. I was also able to see the district of Chorrillos, which I missed walking around Barranco. (They are next to each other.) I also had a random dinner with my hostel roommate, her friend, and her friend´s coworkers, and her friend´s coworker´s family members. It was 95% Spanish, and I think I did pretty well, overall. Maloy and I have had fun conversing...me in Spanish and her in English. We´re both on about the same level and do pretty well with our Spanglish. Best phrase so far: ¨¡Too much comida!¨ (that´s food for all you non-Spanish speakers)
This afternoon, I spent some quality time in a few different bookstores, trying to find something juvenille-level to read in Spanish, but to no avail. I´m not sure my abilities are that advanced yet, even with my handy dandy little dictionary, and 99% of the books here are wrapped in plastic and too expensive to risk it. So, instead I went to one of the 2000+ casinos in town. ¡Yo ganó! I won! I was so excited, I even asked one of the men working if I was saying it correctly in Spanish. He smiled, said yes, and walked away...probably laughing because I was so happy about winning $15. But still, that´s like S/.45.00! Aaaand, it´s way better than losing, which is normal for me! Aaaaand, it included one very strong rum and coke. :)
On a completely separate note, I think I am addicted to the pan de pizza (pizza bread) here. I´ve had it for breakfast about 4 times, and I had some for dinner tonight, too. You can get two big fist-sized rolls of bread, ham, and cheese for about 50 cents at the grocery store. It´s soooo yummy! And I don´t know if I´ll be able to find it anywhere else.
