As I Get Ready for School...

this is what I'm listening to. It's pretty popular here right now and it's SO catchy! This was definitely an iTunes purchase :) Listen because it'll probably either make you smile, wanna dance or both!

Now off to Art History and Spanish!



“Te Amo” - Makano
I love you

Nanana nananananana nanana nanana

Ella todavia me llama yo no tengo la culpa
She still calls me, it's not my fault
Que no me halla olvidado
that she has not forgotten me
Espera por favor no te vayas analiza
wait please, don't leave, analyze
Y escucha lo que tengo que decir
and listen to what I have to say

Si tu supieras cuanto yo a ti te amo,
if you knew how much I love you
Y estar contigo es lo que me hace mas feliz,
and being with you is what makes me happy
Ella no es nada solo fue un triste pasado,
She means nothing, it was only a sad thing of the past
Te amo te amo te amooo… (2x)
I love you, I love you, I love you

Quiciera entender por que motivo no me puedes creer
I want to know the reason why you can't believe me
Si yo yo soy hombre de una sola mujer
Yes, I am a man of only one woman
Te lo he demostrado en mi forma de ser tienes que creer,
I have shown you this by the way I am, you have to believe,
No puedo acepta que dudes de toda mi fidelidad,
I cannot accept that you doubt my faithfulness
Y ahora me grites que yo a ti te engaño, por que no es verdad,
and now you scream at me telling me that I'm deceiving you, it is not true

No dejemos que muera el amor,
Let's not let love die
No dejemos que el fuego se apague (2x)
Let's not let the fire extinguish (die out)

Peruvian Politics Class

He suddenly stops.
From the front of the lecture hall,
He looks
To me.

“Do you have anything
To add?”
My partner’s distant voice
Inquires.
In Spanish.

I tread into my
1st day of kindergarten.
Looking through the wet cellophane of my
Tear-filled eyes, I only recognize
My name in bulky letters on a celebratory label.
A breeze shifts the glossy
Alphabet cards hanging over the chalkboard
Together in time, a metronome
Behind the cacophony of voices,
Anxious mothers and soothing teachers.

I slowly shake my head.
Shaking to remove the option of tears.
Shaking to dissolve the threatening bile.

The politics class,
All the students turned in their chairs,
My friends nodding smiling
The Peruvians staring horrified.

That scene from The Princess Diaries.
Running out of class,
Going to get sick.

“I can’t.”

I should say it in Spanish.
Just to know
They know.

Blowin´ through the Jasmine in My Mind

It´s strike season, according to the locals. This means that not only the professors at UNSA are striking but also the administration! Which means we couldn´t get through the gate today. So, we vamos-ed to Lucy´s house.

She has a beautiful complex with a huge, fenced-in backyard, bordered by countless types of flowers. I was so happy when we had our Spanish class outside because being in the sun always lifts my spirits. While practicing the subjunctive and imparative modes, I gazed at the fruit trees, lillies and her pet monkey fighting with her Dachshund and just smiled. (Yes, she has a baby monkey named Toto and an adorable dog named Mushi. She also has a tortoise, but I swear it´s the spawn of Satan! It´ll bite your toes off, and it´s FAST! See FB for pics.)

Today´s weather was perfect for class outside but weird for Arequipa. I woke up to a partly cloudy sky. That´s already strange. But the longer I´m here and the closer we move to summer, the more clouds we´re having. My first month here, a cloud caused people to gawk and point at the sky. Today was gorgeous with a steady, cool breeze and a hot sun. As the day progressed though, the cloud cover grew until, at 4 in my taxi, it was overcast. It´s the 2nd completely cloudy sky I´ve seen here.

And then, joy of joys, it started to rain! As I walked from my taxi a block to my apartment complex, I felt something wet hit my face. I stopped in the middle of the deserted road and just held my arms out and lifted my face to the sky. Honestly, it was just a sprinkle, but it was still RAIN!

When I got in my room, I decided to make the wise life decision and take a nap. The room was gray, the breeze was blowing my sheer window curtain around and my bed looked SO comfy. When I woke up, this song was in my head. It´s not summer yet, but the mood of this song goes along perfectly with my day and how I´m feeling.

Read, listen, enjoy! (PS - Dad, I know you want to say SOMETHING about the chasms in my mind!) :)



Summer Breeze

See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light-a-shinin' through the window
Let´s me know everything's all right

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' though the jasmine in my mind

See the paper layin' on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walk on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Sweet days of summer -- the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day’s work
And you're waitin' there
Without a care in the world

See the smile awaitin' in the kitchen
Through cookin' and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Lookin On, She Sings the Song...

My fingers are itching to play piano! I've only had one opportunity while I've been here (more than 8 weeks!) to play a legit piano. My host sister, though, has very kindly offered me her "electric organ" AKA a Casio keyboard without a stand or pedal. And that's only letting me play about 2 octaves tonight. Oh, and sometimes, it gets cranky when you want to play more than one note at a time. Chords in both hands? Forget it!

Whenever I'm at the piano, I usually don't think. Normally, a certain song I've learned/heard before pops in my head and then I just let my fingers go! Most times, I zone out and play for so long that I have to twist my back in all different directions when I'm done so it'll pop and actually relax again.

One of my favorite things to do is to pick out pieces by ear that I've never tried before. Maybe "Wagon Wheel" or "I'm Yours". Last night, it was "Halo". (Of course, the whole song consists of just FOUR chords. Oh, Beyonce...)

But tonight, I want to play the ones from my books...which, of course, are thousands of miles away...at home by the piano bench. Some RENT or Coldplay or Elton. It's been so long since I've seriously played that the chords are starting to slip my mind! I just tried to play the following fave but the keyboard just wasn't cooperating. :(

I love this song so much that I almost had TINYDNCR put on my license plate. If you know me at all, you knew this song was coming to my blog soon!

Many of you readers don't know this, but I will always connect this song to my late best friend, Isaac. I'll never forget the time he sang, nay, caterwauled "Blue jean bourbon, L.A. laden" as I looked on in disgust. What the heck? The boy was totally oblivious! I could've slugged him for his blasphemy. Well, I was always impatient with that boy...

I've always related to certain parts of the song. (Mom's always said, for example, I'm gonna "marry a music man". That would be divine!) But mostly I like it because it's just a beautiful ballad. I 'bout died 'n went to heaven when I heard my man playin it LIVE last spring in Charlotte! *chills* I was definitely looking on, singing the songs, the words I knew...well...actually, I knew all of the words! Forget humming.

Go ahead now and reread the words because you probably already know this one. Give it a listen. And if you're near a piano, appreciate it!

I hope this video works!


Tiny Dancer

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums

But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly slowly

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today

Copying Mom

Today's Song(s) of the Day are by Matty Nay. He's such a great live performer that I bought both of his albums after seeing/hearing about him the 1st time! He's funny, sexy and talented.

I'm really jealous because my mom got to see him in concert this weekend AND get her picture taken with him!

So take a minute or 5 outta your day to read these lyrics while listening to the YouTube vids.

Much love from Peru!



Come on Get Higher

I miss the sound of your voice
And I miss the rush of your skin
And I miss the still of the silence
As you breathe out and I breathe in

If I could walk on water
If I could tell you what's next
Make you believe
Make you forget

So come on, get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire and the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard and drown me in love (2x)

I miss the sound of your voice
The loudest thing in my head
And I ache to remember
All the violent, sweet, perfect words that you said

I miss the pull of your heart
I taste the sparks on your tongue
And I see angels and devils and God
When you come on

Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Sing sha la la la
Sing sha la la la la

(Come on get higher, loosen my lips)
It's all wrong
(Faith and desire and the swing of your hips)
It's all wrong
(Pull me down hard and drown me, drown me in love)
It's so right

Come on get higher
(Come on get higher, loosen my lips)
Come on and get higher
(Faith and desire and the swing of your hips)
Because everything works love
Because everything works in your arms



Romeo and Juliet

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a streetlight steps out of the shade
Says something like "you and me babe, how about it?"

Juliet says "hey, it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack"
He's underneath the window she's singing "hey la my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that"
Anyway what you gonna do about it?

Juliet, the dice were loaded from the start
And I bet that you exploded into my heart
And I forget, I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong?
Juliet

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?

When you can fall for chains of silver
You can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers
And the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah
Now you just say "oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him"

Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said "I love you like the stars above, I'm gonna love you 'til I die"
There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong?
Juliet

I can't do the talk, like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song, like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'll do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and the bad company
Now all I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Juliet, I'd do the stars with you any time



Gone

Love,
I'm aching to believe
Give me something real enough
Give me somewhere to fall from

'cause in the dark
I can't find my feet
Built my world on promises
Colorless and cold

I'm short of breath, I'm sure
Gone, let it wash away the best I had
Gone, and when I disappear
Don't expect me back, don't expect me back

Lost, sweetest things get lost
In the static far away
Painted pictures of you
I fold
Don't want to be holy then
Don't want to be sold again
The way I was with you

At its worse the heart is sober
At its worse the heart is cold, cold, cold

A Song of Freedom

OK, yet another song. Seriously, if you haven't noticed by now, music = my joy!

Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to go for a 2hr sunset horseback ride. It was as perfect as they come - galloping down a dusty valley road with my arms thrown out to either side (yes, like Rose on Titanic), feeling the spray from a waterfall on my face, climbing a mountain just in time to see the sunset over the city - all for just the equivalent of $8!

While riding, I had this song stuck in my head. This is a typical "repeat" song for me. EVERY single time I listen to it, I get chills. Dunno why. Usually, when I listen to it, I feel like I could fly, it's so freeing and powerful.

The 1st half is very mellow and pretty. You'll probably think, "Ah, that's nice." But the 2nd half...I feel like it could pull my spirit out of my body and fling it to the wind! I HAVE to close my eyes every time. I encourage you to do the same.

Imagine riding a running horse. Or flying to a new place. Something that makes you feel completely weightless and full of rapture and anticipation. Enjoy!

This One's for the Girls

While I was working in my room yesterday, I had my entire iTunes library on shuffle. (It's good to do that sometimes, at least for me, because I tend to get in a song rut.) Then this song came on and so many images came to mind...Standing on my desk chair freshman year, brush in hand, pointing and singing to Mackenzie. And when Amanda came by and started dancing with us. Or the times when we were getting ready to go down to the Court. Or dressing up and doing our makeup before going out to eat one weekend night.

This tradition, as the great ones do, continued. There were many more times to come freshman year with Kenzie and I hopping on our beds, singing to a group like Hanson, with the window open for all to see. Yesterday, my window was open, and let's just say the neighbors probably thought I was on something. It's a good thing my mom wasn't in the house!

This song also brings back another memory, one from my childhood. I remember that this CD came out while I was in the 4th grade, and it was my 2nd CD (after Aqua, which my Uncle gave me one Christmas). And I remember being EMO to this. Savannah can be like this now...basically, it involves sitting with your CD player on the floor, and listening to a song on repeat and FEELING something powerful. Being pensive is a must. This song, along with a few others on this album, struck a certain chord within me. I REMEMBER sitting in my room, the doors closed, and wishing that, one day soon, I would have somebody like in the song. Someone to love completely and miss every minute. My other half. I was only about 9 years old, but dang it!, I wanted someone to LOVE! Very young and very naive.

So pick your pensive self off the floor, read the words for a refresher, grab a hairbrush, jump up on a chair or bed, and return to the joy of childhood by dencing like a loon and singing to this total 90s boy band song (think the Jo Bros a decade ago). Get it, girls!

(PS- Again, I couldn't watch the vid because my internet's so slow. Let me know if this doesn't work!)



A Minute Without You

Well I woke up this morning
And the night had been so long
It seems that I had had my mind on you
Well the day, it has begun,
And I can't get a minute,
Can't get a minute without you

You're always on my mind,
You're always in my head
And I can't live,
I can't live another day without you

Cause when the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days
Then a week goes by, you know it takes my breath away
All the minutes in the world could never take your place
There's one-thousand-four-hundred-forty hours in my day

I've been trying to call you all day,
Cause I got so many things that I want to say
I'm going crazy, cause all my thoughts are filled with you
There's got to be some way I can get through to you ohh

(repeat chorus)

I can't keep myself from thinking about you
It's because I love you, and I know that it's true, whoa
I'll call it desperation, can't you see it in my eyes?
That I want be with you until the sun falls from the sky

For When I Can't Close My Eyes

I had an amazing day. Slept in, visited fascinating museums (with lots of mummies!), rode a horse through the mountains at sunset, had crepes out with the girls, and I just got back from watching Gerard Butler's cute self in "The Ugly Truth"...your typical, predictable chick flick. Truly, a wonderful day.

But I can't go to sleep.

It's not caffeine. I'm not stressed.

I just can't stop looking out my window at the stars outside. Some are different, but they're becoming familiar. And the moon. That perfect crescent that's actually the same one you can see.

Perhaps I'm just pensive. What gal likes to sit alone in her room after watching a happily ever after? Throw on top of that a foreign place and a perfect day, which always makes you want to tell someone! And the fact that I can't get this song out of my head.

My mom sang this to me when I was little as a lullaby. It always made me cry. The part about "you can sing this song when I'm gone." Got me every time. I remember asking one time, "When will you be gone, Mommy?" I didn't like the answer, needless to say.

But this song has changed for me lately. It's certainly a song for any type of loved one, but to me, it's a love song now. Listen, whether it's tonight or during the day, hours or even days after I posted this.

Hopefully, now, I can close my eyes. Because it sure won't be long before another day.



You Can Close Your Eyes

Well the sun is surely sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising
So this old world must still be spinning round
And I still love you

(chorus)
So close your eyes
You can close your eyes, its all right
I dont know no love songs
And I cant sing the blues anymore
But I can sing this song
And you can sing this song
When Im gone

It wont be long before another day
We gonna have a good time
And no ones gonna take that time away
You can stay as long as you like

All Was Golden in the Sky

According to Albert Camus, ¨Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is in flower.¨ I love this quote because, if you´ve read other posts, you know I love autumn more than any other season. But I want to revisit summer today with my SotD.

Probably to Amanda´s frustration, I only like Panic at the Disco´s ¨Pretty.Odd.¨ album. Basically because it´s less hard punk rock and more orchestrated like music from The Beatles. The whole album, to me, is great. One of my favorite songs is below.

After class, I came home around 1:30p and took a 2 hr nap. What finally woke me up was the sun shining in my eyes. The sun was actually behind our apartment just enough to shine on my mirror and bounce onto my bed, making a long trail up the sheets and up into my face. As soon as I was conscious, I stayed still with my eyes closed, the sun warming my body, my vision all white, and I heard this song in my head. It´s a tad trippy, but it´s beautiful to me. This will always be my song of two summers ago. Listen and read the lyrics, even if it isn´t in the middle of summer...



When the Day Met the Night

When the moon fell in love with the sun
All was golden in the sky
All was golden when the day met the night

When the sun found the moon
She was drinking tea in a garden
Under the green umbrella trees
In the middle of summer

When the moon found the sun
He looked like he was barely hanging on
But her eyes saved his life
In the middle of summer

In the middle of summer
All was golden in the sky
All was golden when the day met the night
Summer, all was golden in the sky
All was golden when the day met the night
Summer
Golden when the day met the night

So he said, "Would it be all right
If we just sat and talked for a little while
If in exchange for your time, I give you this smile?"

So she said, "That's okay
As long as you can make a promise not to break my little heart
Or leave me all alone in the summer."

Well, he was just hanging around
Then he fell in love
And he didn't know how
But he couldn't get out
Just hanging around
Then he fell in love

In the middle of summer
All was golden in the sky
All was golden when the day met the night
Summer, all was golden in the sky
All was golden when the day met the night
Summer

When the moon fell in love with the sun,
All was golden in the sky,
All was golden when the day met the night

Summer
The middle of summer, summer, summer, summer
The middle of summer, summer, summer, summer
The middle of summer, summer, summer, summer
The middle of...

Song for Yesterday

Yesterday was not a typical Tuesday. After my afternoon seminar, about six of us (five girls and David, lol) went to a place near the Plaza in the Church of the Company called Cafe y Vino. Pretty easy to translate. So, at 4 in the afternoon yesterday, I was deciding which foreign red wine to try.

Warning: Mom, ya gonna get jealous.

Cuz what happened was the wine we wanted from Argentina was out. So the cute French waiter (happily married to a cute Peruvian girl...poo) offered us a Chilean or French wine for the same price of 43 soles. We wisely chose the French wine. (The name has slipped my mind...oops!)

Boy did we get a DEAL! That wine was the most delish I´ve had and was worth 95 soles! He gave it to us for half the price!!! So, I had a couple of glasses and snacked on some prosciutto and toast with cheese. It was perfect: a glass of French wine, a great view of the mountains and a seat on the upstairs patio of a 16th century church. I told ya not to be too jealous, Mom! :)

After going home for a quick nap, I met Kate and Kathleen at the mall a block from my house. They have a food court with AMERICAN food. A KFC, BK, Pizza Hut...heaven. Well, almost. I REALLY wanted a biscuit from KFC or onion rings from BK. You think they had ´um? Of course not. So, I settled for my tee-niny BK chicken sandwich. Tiny because Peruvians actually have sense and don´t supersize all of their food!

Then Kate and I left around 8:30 for a cool bar called Split. Here I found my fave drink...a Perfect Kiss. Look it up/try it! After that and a shared jar with the UNSA studens of a, sorry this is PG 13, Multiple Orgasm, we were ready to go dancing! We wandered the streets around the Plaza for an hour looking for somewhere cheap enough for all of us.

This is when the Song of the Day was sung. David, Kate, Ned and I sang Beyonce songs like Halo and Single Ladies the whole time. It was lovely, I must say. ;)

So here´s Halo. I sing this every single day because I love the lyrics and tune. I also like the music video because it does a good job showing the comfort level you come to find in a relationship. So READ the words, DANCE around the room and ENJOY!

PS - Amanda, I think this is our fave hottie in the music video. From Diary of a Mad Black Woman? Yowza!



Halo

Remember those walls I built
Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make up a sound

I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now

It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light

I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again

Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo
I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo