Diego Lopez from Peru I am Diego Lopez de Romana Gallofre but here I adopted Diego Lopez that it's easy for you to pronounce.  I am 16 years old and my birthday is August the second.

  I live in Arequipa, Peru.  Arequipa is the second most important and second largest city with a population of 1,000,000 people.  Close by are Misti volcano, Chachani volcano and Pichu Pichu volcano.  The weather all the year is sunny and dry, warm during the day and cold at night.  Arequipa is located in the south coast of Peru (about 1000 km from Lima) and 2,230m above sea level.  Peru independence day is celebrated July the twenty-eighth.

We have lived in Arequipa since nineteen ninety-one.  My dad, Alfonso, works in a copper mine.  He is in charge of all south logistic. My mom, Carmen, most of the time stayed at home doing her puzzles that are really big.  The biggest one that she did is 13 thousand pieces.  I am the youngest of two children.  Veronica (21) came here in 1998 and studied at South Hamilton School, too.  In my American family, I am staying with the Huegerich family.  There are Bill, my dad, Kim, my mom, and two little sisters, Rachael (4) and Noelle (2).  We live in Jewell.  Before I came, I knew this family because when my sister came here in 1998 she was fortunate to have this family, and in the summer of that year they went to Peru and to Arequipa to visit us there.  That was when they invited me to come here when I was ready and knew more English.

I study in a Catholic school, named Anglo Americano Prescott.  My school is the best that teaches English in Arequipa.  In the school there about 1200 students.  We have eight periods of 45 minutes and two recesses of 20 minutes each.  The school has a set schedule for all the year every year.  Here that is different; the students decide their courses for the semester.

In Peru we do most of the sports except American football, but we play more soccer.  In my free time or weekends we play soccer in the moring and hang out with friends.  At night most of the time we went out at 9pm and returned home at 3am.  We went to the center of the city to discos or punk concerts.  I have a punk band called PUNK AUSTRIA.  There are three in the band, RODRIGO, MARIO, and me, DIEGO.  We have been friends since kindergarten.  We are really good, and plan to make our CD when we return to Arequipa.  Both of my friends are here in the USA, too.

One of the attractive things of Peru is Cusco.  CUSCO, known as the Archaeological Capital of America, at 3,400m above sea level, is located in the south eastern region of Peru.  The principal attractions of Cusco in town are the churches and architecture of the town.  Out of town are many attractions like Macchu Pichu, Sacsahuaman, Andahuaylillas, and more.

If you want to know more about my country or me, write me at my e-mail address:
DIEGO_LRG@HOTMAIL.COM

Peru Location:
                          Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean,
                          between Chile and Ecuador

                          Map references:
                          South America

                          Area:

                               total area:
                               1,285,220 sq km
                               land area:
                               1.28 million sq km
                               comparative area:
                               slightly smaller than Alaska

                          Land boundaries:
                          total 6,940 km, Bolivia 900 km, Brazil 1,560 km, Chile 160 km,
                          Colombia 2,900 km, Ecuador 1,420 km

                          Coastline:
                          2,414 km

                          Maritime claims:
                               continental shelf:
                               200 nm
                               territorial sea:
                               200 nm

                          International disputes:
                          three sections of the boundary with Ecuador are in dispute

                          Climate:
                          varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west

                          Terrain:
                          western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center
                          (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)

                          Natural resources:
                          copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal,
                          phosphate, potash

                          Land use:
                               arable land: 3%  permanent crops: 0%   meadows and pastures: 21%
                               forest and woodland: 55%  other: 21%

                          Irrigated land: 12,500 sq km (1989 est.)

                          Environment:
                              current issues:
                               deforestation; overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and
                               sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in
                               Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal
                               and mining wastes

                               natural hazards:
                               earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic
                               activity

                               international agreements:
                               party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic
                               Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
                               Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
                               Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
                               Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified -
                               Desertification, Tropical Timber 94

                          Note:
                          shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake,
                          with Bolivia