SAN BERNARDINO - They were 4,000 miles from home but couldn't escape U.S. politics. On the streets of Lima, Peru, posters denounced the war against Iraq. Graffiti-scrawled walls declared President Bush a murderer.

"Talking to the taxi drivers and other people who live there, many feel like the U.S. is a bully,' Josue Rodriguez said.

About 14 advanced Spanish students at Cal State San Bernardino spent four weeks in May taking and teaching classes at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos Lima and traveling around Peru as part of a new university program. They learned as much about perceptions of America as they did about Peru.

In the conversational English class Anthony Correa taught, discussions often centered on questions students had about the United States. Many, he said, had very specific ideas of what America and Americans are like based on what they see on TV.

"They believe the media so much,' Correa said. "They think it's a wonderful place and money falls off the trees. They think it's all like 'Friends.''

TV images lead many Peruvians to believe that everyone in the United States, except for a handful of blacks, is white, Correa said. Many he met were surprised to hear how large the Latino population is.

Elisa Lopez, 20, said that many people she met said they pictured Americans, particularly Californians, as blond. American names were surprisingly common, she said. She met a boy there named Michael Jordan.

"They idolize Americans,' Lopez said. "I think they think we have what they don't have.'

But the students also found that many Peruvians question American foreign policy.

"When you travel abroad, most people in the world like Americans that's not the issue but they don't like the actions of our government,' Marcus Endert said.

Leslie Ruiz agreed.

"Everyone (in Peru) hates Bush,' she said.

This trip was the first time that a study abroad experience has been integrated into a spring semester class at the college.

"It was like a lab,' professor Dan Whitaker said.

About half the class went on the trip, which cost $2,500 including airfare. The students lived with host families in Lima.

Cal State San Bernardino is one of the first international groups to work with the University of San Marcos, Whitaker said. He said he hopes to continue the program each spring. Founded in 1551, the University of San Marcos is the oldest university in the Americas. To get into the very competitive public school, Whitaker said, applicants must pass a test that only 10 to 15 percent pass. About 50,000 people apply each year for about 5,000 spots.

For more information about the trip to Peru, check online at www.geocities.com/estudiantesperu.