One interesting thing about Peru is that sometimes I have to mispronounce things in order to be understood. For example, yesterday I was trying to buy skittles and the cashier didn't know what I said. Taking her best guess at things that start with the s/c sound and are often sold behind the counter, she said "Ah! Cigarros!" I couldn't say no fast enough. Fortunately the lady behind me knew exactly what I wanted. She told the cashier, "No, ella quiere eh-skittles!" "Oh!! Eh-skittles!!!" cried the cashier and quickly grabbed them for me. Anna also bought Eh-skittles, and afterwards I had images of angry Peruvians trying to buy Eh-skittles and find out they had all been taken by tall, pale, foreigners. I never feel especially tall at home, at five foot six I'm pretty average for the United States. Here I never feel tall when I go out with Jaime/Mallory/Anna/all of the above because they are all taller than me. I've only gone out without one of them around three times, and when I was with my family I felt like a giant. I'll admit I kind of liked the feeling of being oddly tall, but I'm not sure I would have liked it if I was five foot six and lived here permanently. One of the occasions when I went out without Anna was to visit my host uncle in the hospital. The hospital was different than those in the U.S. (imagine that..). It was more open than hospitals at home-there was a warmer atmosphere than the hospitals I've visited at home. There were also multiple patients to a room, with no curtain or other division between the patients. There was a nice courtyard where patients and visitors could sit together and enjoy lunch. Although I would still not choose to be treated at a Peruvian hospital rather than an American hospital, I liked the layout other than the lack of privacy. After visiting my host uncle, who, by the way, is the spitting image of Santa, my host mom and I went to the water park. We saw a wedding, which was nice although I'll admit I thought the choice of venue was rather odd. The strangest part was the bride looked miserable. If she was that unhappy on her wedding day then I hope at the very least she believes in divorce. Its interesting to me how many people in our group are either strongly pro-American or anti-American. So many people complain so frequently in our group that I wonder why they don't just go home early and complete their Spanish classes there. On the other hand, whenever we are mistaken for Germans, certain people in our group say they are glad we are not mistaken as stupid Americans. I know they are partially saying it as a joke, but I do think they also do mean it at least slightly. I know America has its weaknesses, but it also has it strengths. That goes for any country. Not a huge fan of sweeping generalizations. I won't say I never make them, but I try not to if I can think about it. For example, I met a man on the bus when I was with Anna and Mallory. he said, "Oh, you're American? But you're not morbidly obese?" This comment, combined with the fact he had insulted my Spanish earlier in the conversation, rubbed me the wrong way. Sure America is not known for having the thinnest of civilians, but at the same time to say a country of more than 320 million people are all morbidly obese, every single one of them, really rubbed me the wrong way. I not so politely told the man that Peruvians aren't exactly all skin and bones either. He looked rather taken aback, and tried to argue with me. He said Peruvians tend to be a little pudgy, but not overweight. Seeing as I was in an agitated mood, I spent around ten minutes arguing with him that just as not every single American is fat, not every single Peruvian is in good shape. Finally, looking perplexed and frustrated, he got off the bus. I thanked my lucky stars I would never have to see him again.