I AM GAINING MASSIVE WEIGHT

Yes folks, it´s true. my diet here consists of rice, potatoes, chicken (which i´ve already told you about) and now... CHOCOLATE. the chocolate here is divine. I finally looked at the nutrition information today on the bars that iI eat so many of each day (they´re called sublimes and I eat both the white and milk chocolate ones) and realized that wow... they´re not fat free. but to be honest, i don´t care; they´re too good. I had rice cooked in milk and sugar as well as some intense boiled purple jello- ish stuff so now my sugar level is higher than that of a six year old on Halloween night.

Last night i was sitting with my host mom ( who is awesome and feeds me constantly and lovessss to hear about what I learn each day) and she asked me what was different between Chaclacayo, Peru and my home in the States. I really didn´t know how to respond (not because my spanish is lacking (because it is), but because i really didn´t know where to start). They don´t have country clubs, vie de frances, or even running water but they still are the happiest people i have ever met. They really make do with what they have. There´s this quote by Frederick Koenig that really kind of puts things into perspective for me: "We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." It makes a lot of sense yet I think thats kind of the difference between a lot of people living in the US and the people here: people here never really want for anything more and are content living their lives as is. I may be overgeneralizing here, but so far, that´s my conclusion.

In lighter news, my host sister gave me a french, bedazzled manicure with flowers painted on my nails. She told me I need to "stop eating my fingers." Habits die hard. I felt like a princess, until I realized that I do not have servants or own a large parcel of land. Que lastima. I also showered this morning (it´s not getting any easier) and tomorrow is a big day for my neighborhood!!!! There´s a religious festival that begins tomorrow at 4 and goes until Sunday morning. I.am.pumped. I watched a bunch of people yesterday practice a traditional dance that they are going to put on tomorrow and it was SO COOL. I can´t even describe but it involved about twenty people aged 16-70, a skinny girl, 20 pieces of a satin-ribbonlike material, and a girl dancing in the air. Tomorrow should be interesting. But before all of that happens I need to finish a project entitled "Mission Impossible" that requires me to take the combi to Chosica (about 25 minutes away) and ask an "alternative medicine doctor" (I just say witch doctor) about his/her health services. Don´t worry, I will be accompanied by someone that speaks leagues more spanish than I do.

Other than that, not a whole lot else is going on. I have six friends that I walk home from school with every day and the walk is pretty when you´re not on the carreterra central (busiet road in South America I´m told). We kind of take the back way to get home- it´s definitely more serene. I missed the season premiere of It´s Always Sunny in Philadephia. I was a little depressed I am not going to lie. So if anyone is thinkg about bday/xmas gifts...I REALLY LIKE THAT TV SHOW. There´s also a MILLYON stray dogs here and one looks like Bob Marley (dreadlocks and all). He´s my favorite. Pilli ( my dog) also got a bath yesterday (thank God) so now I can pet him safely without fear of getting the plague.

My hour is almost up on the internet so I am going to go- i love you all so much and think about each of you every day. I really miss home but I would like to think that I am becoming a little bit more acclimated here each and every day. xoxo