173 centimeters

The Peruvian school year re-started a few weeks ago, so I've got a bunch of new classes in swing - always an exciting time. On my first day of class last week, I met Bruno, a particularly exuberant 7th grader who constantly (and vocally) participates - sometimes on topic, sometimes not. Meeting a hundred new kids in one week means that learning everybody's names just isn't going to happen, but Bruno was one of the students that stuck out. 

As I went over to put down/pick up materials from my desk during the lesson, Bruno (whose desk is, naturally, located right next to the teacher's station) took the opportunity to cheerfully remark, "Wow, you're tall! Is everybody in the United States tall? How tall are you?" I laughed and told him I couldn't say - I only knew my height in inches, which wouldn't mean much to him since Peru, like every logical country, uses the metric system. He was disappointed, but seemed content to hazard his own guess of however many centimeters, based on his standing up to estimate my height against his. When I went back to the same class a week later, Bruno met me at the door: "Do you know how tall you are now?" Clearly my metric measurement is an issue of more importance to Bruno than it is to me - I had to admit that no, I still did not know my own height, but that I would be sure to find out for next class. In case you all are wondering, I now know that 5'8'' translates to approximately 173 centimeters - bring it on, Bruno.

In other news, our family dog Vlady got a haircut this week (first time I've seen his eyes in two years). But Lourdes consequently thought he was too cold, so he got to be a "fan of La Alianza" (Javi's favorite soccer team) with a slick new dog sweater-jersey. I'll be sure to bring one back for Soph :)