Some random things that have occurred since I've been living in Lima Norte

• On Thursday, a National Emergency Simulation plan was organized to prepare everyone in case of an earthquake. First of all, I had no idea there were earthquakes in Peru. Yes, I should have known,  cos there had been that massive one in Chile a couple of years ago and therefore Peru is close to the same tectonic plates or whatever. Anyways. I was at work when the alarm rang at 10 - it lasted for as little as 5 seconds. We all left the building, and stood in a circle in the narrow street. I really wondered how much of a good idea that would have been if there had really been an earthquake. Aren't you supposed to crouch down under a table? What if the building had crumbled onto us?

• That night Charro and I went to visit her friend Rosana in the Beauty Salon. A girl my age who works there asked me if I wanted a manicure and I didn't want to sound rude so I said yes. I got to chose the colours I wanted; I picked gold cos I know how much it makes Julia cringe. Once she finished my nails, she asked me if I wanted a pedicure too. I tried to explain that my feet would probably be smelly but the words never came to me in spanish so I accepted. Charro's mother then appeared and asked why my fingernails were so short: I mumbled something about stress and being in an unknown country and not being able to understand what people told me. She then ordered Rosana to give me a massage: what I thought was just going to be a hand massage turned into a face, arm, back, and neck massage...and when we returned to our house she made me lie on my bed and then proceeded to give me a full on leg massage.

• The Peruvians I've met are not only scared of earthquakes, but also pretty much everything else. Every 2 minutes I hear someone say "Es peligroso!" (go google it if you don't know). Taking a taxi when you don't personally know the driver is peligroso. Walking on a busy street during the day is peligroso. On Tuesday a woman stopped our group and explicitly told us not to be in this neighbourhood because it was peligroso. Another one leaned out of her car window to tell us to put our backpacks in the front. It's really difficult to know what the level of danger really is when you are being told that everything you do is peligroso.

• Last night however, I met some kind of pastor (I'm never quite too sure with my poor spanish) and I shared with him my thoughts about this "es peligroso" syndrome. He smiled, grabbed my hand and told me that, if Christ was with me, then I will be safe. 

 Tsunamis are apparently also quite common