Germs Schmerms!

       As you know, germs are all over. But, if you are a American moving to Peru, germs are everywhere! Germs cause most of my longing for home. For example: (Table of contents:)

1) We can't walk on floors with out carpet, unless we are wearing shoes.

2) We can't drink the tap water. (normal water from the faucet)

3) We can't eat meat off the streets.

4) We have unusually unlikeable swim practices.

#1: We can't walk on floors without carpet, unless we are wearing shoes.

       Yeah... that's right. My mom and dad say that you can get germs by walking on the floor with bare feet. My siblings and I believe them. (I'm not sure about my big brothers, maybe they are just doing it not to get tortured by Mom and Dad.) At least I brought lots of shoes!

#2: We can't drink tap water. 

      Not here in Peru. We can't drink it because there is bacteria in the water that is not good. Even Peruvians can get sick. But because that germs are already all over, we don't want to take chances. We drink purified water. At least they sell purified water. One company is Cielo, which means sky/heaven, and the other is San Luis. San Luis is by CocaCola. I like it better, not because it tastes good, (both brands taste bad) but because they can deliver 20 gallon cartons to your house! I still like drinking tap water at home better.

#3: We can't eat meat off the streets.

      Not literally the streets, but there are usually stands by the street that sell meat. Renen, my brother, is really hungry after swim team so he always wants one. But my mom says that it is unsanitary, since it is on the streets. It could be pecked at by flies, or something. And I hate the SMOKE! I wouldn't eat it anyway, most of it is just chicken hearts or something. 

#4: We have unusually unlikeable swim practices.

      Well, not likeable here. It is usually fun at home, but not here. That's because they don't put chlorine in the pool. And they only put river water in the pool! (It does come from hot springs. That's why it is warm. The only way it is cool: it is heated by a volcano!) On our first day of swim team, Tuesday, it is pretty clean, not all the way. A few hairs, but no more. Next day, Wednesday, it is noticeably dirty. Thursday, they are emptying the pool. Since you are closer to the bottom, and since more people have visited the pool since yesterday, it seems much dirtier with clumps of ewcky stuff on the bottom of the pool. That makes a bad end-of-the-day (since swim team is at 5:00 to 6:30).

So, be glad that you can WALK on the FLOOR, DRINK from the FAUCET, HAVE SNACKS from NORMAL COMMERCE CENTERS, and have a LIKEABLE POOL.