Destination: Peru

My parents are going to Peru in a couple of months! They've known for a while, but recently my dad officially decided to learn the Spanish language. He's always tried to speak a little of it here and there... in very slow, broken sentences. When I was in high school, he would try to say "hello" and "goodbye" and "how are you?" and "my name is..." but it was comical to listen to.

He tried the Rosetta Stone software by testing out the free demo they have on their website, and he can tell a funny story about trying to speak the Spanish words and having Rosetta Stone beep loudly to tell him he pronounced the word or phrase wrong, and then a few seconds later, the refrigerator would make a noise, and Rosetta Stone would take that as the right answer. Needless to say, my dad gave up on that avenue and decided to go with a face-to-face Spanish class on a weekly basis.

So, yesterday, I went over to my parents' house to have lunch with my him, and even though it's only been a few weeks, he's already writing ESSAYS in Spanish. This week he had to write one about his family, and I could comprehend almost all of it except one line about hoping to learn a lot in Peru when they go.

I know I said I was going to keep my blog updated on current events, and I haven't been doing a very good job. Recently, there was a horrible mudslide in Peru.

A mudslide on the famed Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru killed an Argentine tourist and a Peruvian guide Tuesday, as authorities evacuated dozens of tourists by helicopter from a flood zone where nearly 2,000 more were still stranded. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/26/peru-mudslide026.html#ixzz0hzdoI3Ye

There have also been terrible earthquakes around the globe in the recent months, starting with a 7.0 in Haiti on January 12th. According to CNN, it went on for 35 seconds1.

As of 12 February 2010, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake;^[7] the Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. The death toll is expected to rise.^[8][9] They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

Since then, there have been 6.0+ earthquakes in Chile and Turkey, all within the last couple of weeks2.