Que linda....

I made it! After two day of travel and really not much sleep since Thursday I am finally here. The only problem is my luggage is not. No biggy though, as long as I get it eventually I´ll be fine. So where to start? Arequipa "the white city" is so beautiful. My host family is awesome, I love them already. My host mom isn´t here yet but she arrives tomorrow I think, from Sweden where she was visiting my oldest sister who just had her first child. I live with my sisters Maria Luisa (17), Lucia (20) who was an exchange student to Denmark three years ago, Susy (23) and my brother Willy (26 I think). My dad is very sweet, his name is Hugo and they say my mom is awesome so I´ll have to wait and find out. Now let me re-cap these last three days.
Lots of waiting and confusion at the airports. Five hour wait in L.A. but it was ok after I figured out how to get out of United and walk way down to the building for International flights. I had over an hour before they even opened check in so I just hung out and ate some rasberries from Marcello. Standing in line I met a super friendly girl named Becka who lives in Chile but is from the U.S. She teaches English down in Santiago and so we talked forever and she made me feel a lot more relaxed about everything - she didn´t speak any Spanish when she went down there and now has the wicked crazy Chilean tongue that drops s´s and slurs words. Then the flight to Lima was long. Made it to Lima and through customs/immigration. I must have looked totally stupid and lost because that is what I was. Didn´t know you had to fill out this little form or pay six bucks in tax or something like that. Everyone saw my sweatshirt and was like "Ah, you play basquetbol". Good times. So then in Lima I has another six hour wait and three hours till the check in opened and so I sat down next to a lady named Sandra and we talked for about five hours. She lives in Arequipa and so she told me about the city and invited me to hang out with her and her daughters whenever I would like to. And she also gave me some Argentinan chocolate that she was bringing back for her daughters and so I traded her with some Reeses that I had with me. Oh and thanks Staud and Colleen for my cool plane presents, I loved them. And thanks Mom for the card and the picture! Everyone I have met has been so kind. On the plane I sat next to this guy from Idaho (small world) who was working in Arequipa for the past year. As I walked off the plane to the airport I look up and hear "¿Courtney?" from the balcony where there were probably about 15 people waiting. I just waved and smiled and they motioned me to go get my stuff, as I waited for my luggage my knees were shaking so bad. Haha, I was just a tad bit nervous. Well my stuff never came and so I walked out to them empty handed and was greeted warmly with a kiss on the check from todos. My dad and one of my sisters was there along with Rotary memebers and some other kids. Armida, a Rotary memeber that I had been in contact with was extremely helpful helping me figure out the lost luggage situation. The airport actually just called and they have one of my suitcases...YAY! So after that I hopped in the car (a slugbug, the old modle) with my dad and sister but it wouldn´t start and so we waited outside for my brother to come and get us. I got my first look around Arequipa. Were in a valley with three huge mountains, El Misti (volcano), Picchu Picchu and another one that I keep forgetting the name of. On the way to the house I get my first taste of Arequipa as we wound our way around narrow streets and white buildings. My house is sweet, it´s three stories and I have my own room. I´ll post pictures later when I figure it out. After getting settle Armida drops by a bag off stuff for me, sandels, pjs, toothbrush, towel, etc. So nice! And then I head off to my first offical peruvian meal with Armida and three other Rotary members. I have a typical Sunday breakfast, Adobo, which is a piece of pork with onions in a soup that you eat with bread. It was really very good. The restaurant was cool, it was half outside and half under a roof with lots of plants. After that I went home and got settled, took a shower cause I smelled horrible and then later went to lunch with the fam. The restaurant had live music and traditional dancers of the Sierra. I still wasn´t hungry from the big meal before but their food looked excellent and so we just talked and watched the dancers. I did have room for some chocolate helado (icecream) and hugo de piña (pinapple juice). It´s weird because everything is pretty much in bottle and without ice, like on the airplane when they serve beverages and in restaurants. After lunch I pretty much passed out and didn´t wake up until this morning. That is about it, everything is pretty much all in Spanish, no headache as of yet, the Spanish here is pretty clear and so that is good. Lucia speaks English and helps me if I need and other people speak a bit too. I love everything, the city, my family, the house, etc. Siulita, the peruvian exchange student that lived in Canada last year has already called me twice. I think we are going to go to a concert tonight since it is my city´s day tomorrow. Celebrations! Yay! Hope all is well with everyone. Miss you already! Take care! Oh and the keyboard is different so ignore my mistakes!