"'No más' y 'ahorita.' Sí, esas son dos cosas que tú dices que nosotros no decimos pero que me suenan muy monas!" -My host mom

I turned crimson. My host mom brought up the two things I say that only Peruvians do that she finds incredibly cute. And in doing so, she called me out on the two things that separate her perfect Castilian Spanish from Spain from my not-so-perfect Peruvian Castilian. And it’s not that Peruvian Castilian isn’t perfect… it’s just that I don’t speak it perfectly! 

Before coming to Spain, I told my mom (real mom, lol) I would probably feel more Peruvian in Spain than ever. “Pero por que?!” she asked. “Because my Spanish is naturally Castilian and my culture is based off of Spanish culture,” I replied with a mischievous smile, envisioning an easily blooming future in Madrid. I took this attitude with me and felt it confirmed as soon as I got off the plane and realized that the outside of the airport felt just like my beloved Lima.

As my adventure continued, I suddenly...

Done with Labs for Chem 1!

I just had the best Chemistry lab today! In retrospect, I should have taken some pictures... but here are a few highlights:

• We made Slime,
• We made Plastic (Poly(methyl methacrylate)), and
• I got to break a test tube... WITH MY FIST

Who made the lab syllabus!? Honestly, he or she is my favorite person on earth right now. This week is CRAZY for me, since I have a Chem midterm tomorrow, an Algorithms midterm on Thursday, and a German project due on Friday. But this lab was an odd and unexpected stress reliever.