One more week left

I have exactly one more week left in Lima before I start traveling with Susan, my best friend who I met studying in the Dominican Republic. While we have a really fun trip planned out, I am really sad that the semester is over. I've really enjoyed Peru and living in Lima and I know I'll be back. Keep reading, as I'll post updates of me and Susan's trip. Susan's studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina right now. She gets into Lima on Saturday and we're going to travel around Peru for a bout a week and then backpack our way down to Uruguay via Chile and Argentina. We're super excited!

Family and friends, I wrote all of you post-cards and then let them sit on my desk for months. My bad.

Fiesta en Chincha

My buddy Kalle invited me and my friend Kim to his friend's birthday party in Chincha, which is about three hours south of Lima. I have never been to a birthday party like this one. It lasted two days and I felt like I was in an all-inclusive resort. We had an enormous amount of delicious food, more Cusquena that's humanly possible to consume, and band of criollo music to keep us dancing. On Saturday night, we left the house at around three to go to a discoteca and came back when the sun was rising. Sunday, the day continued with music, relaxing with Cesar's family, eating, and of course, more Cusquena and Pisco Sours. The family also enjoyed having people from Germany, Holland, and The United States over and made it very clear that we are always welcome to stay there if we come back to Chincha.

The birthday celebration was very different than any birthday party I've been to in the States. Cesar, who's birthday it was, had to dance with all the women in his family, his father gave a speech, and he too had to give a speech. It all felt very formal. There was also a photographer present taking tons of group photos and recording key moments of the party. All the Peruvians said it was a very typical way to celebrate a birthday.

Sube sube sube THE PARTY COMBI

Over the weekend, there was an electronic music party at a hacienda in Pachacamac, which is about an hour outside of Lima. While trying to decide how we could all get there, Rodrigo posed the idea of a party combi, and being that he always manages to pull things together, he made it happen. Imagine a mix of drunk Peruvians and exchange students crammed inside of an itty-bitty bus (sitting, standing, and smooshed on the floor), passing around rum and coke, and that's exactly what it was like. It was exactly like a real-life combi voyage, but it was full of friends instead of strangers and alcohol was involved, so it was a million times better than a real-life combi voyage. Unfortunately, the actual party wasn't as fun as the party combi.

Huancayo

This past Friday, Corinna, Cuchuz and I took a twelve hour train trip to the Andean town, Huancayo. The train moved a bit slow, but the trip was beautiful. I really love being in the mountains here. It was beautiful to see the llamas roaming around and Huancayo is off the gringo trail and is known for its handicraft production and trout. Of course, we spent the first night trying to kick altitude sickness (thank god it didn't get me this time).

Saturday, we took it easy and just wandered around the city. There's a really charming park called Parque de la Identidad Wanka that was all stone and full of sculptures about the area around Huancayo. It was really fun to walk around in, especially because we happened to be there while a mariachi band was following around a bride and groom! While mariachi doesn't exactly fit into Wanka identity, it was fun to hear and it great having Cuchuz, who is from Mexico, there to answer all the questions that Corinna and I had about it.

Sunday, we went to the market that sells handicrafts and everything else you could possibly need and/or want. We stopped to look at Andean skirts and were immediately encouraged to try them on, were given hats, and then pointed out all the practical uses of these skirts. We ended up buying them. Don't we look Peruvian now? After the market we took a tour of traditions, which took us to a yarn factory, a jewelry factory, a lagoon, a trout farm, and a convent. Honestly, it was a pretty long day, but some of the stuff was interesting and pretty and I got a sweet deal on alpaca yarn. After the tour, we had 3 hours to kill before heading back to Lima on the hottest bus ride of our lives.

Arequipa

Dad and I spent 2 and half very leisurely days in the colonial Andean city of Arequipa. The city was so beautiful and easy-going, that it made the all night bus ride completely worth it. Arequipa is called the white city because the buildings are all constructed of white volcanic stone and also, a tour guide told us that in the colonial days it was full of very white Spaniards. We took a tour of a cloister monastery, went to a folk music performance, toured the museum of Juanita (an Inkan mummy), checked out some antique shops, and took a tour of one of the old mansions that has a collection of maps charting Latin American development. We also spent a lot of time sitting in restaurants and in the garden of our hotel. Arequipa is always sunny and the perfect temperature, making it very difficult to get up once seated in one of the million beautiful gardens throughout the city.

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina, or as dad likes to call it "Monastery Discoteca" was where the wealthiest Spaniards sent their second-born daughters at the age of 12 or 13 to live a cloistered life of prayer. It was laid out like a city within Arequipa. There were plazas, chapels, and each nun had her own house. It really was beautiful. While I don't think I would've responded well if I had been sent away to the convent instead of Camp Storer when I was 12, it would be a beautiful place to live. So why does dad call it the "Monastery Discoteca"? Well, the nuns who lived here didn't exactly keep their vow of poverty as they each had big, beautiful, private homes, and they would also invite musicians in for parties. The pope put a stop to this after a couple hundred years and the Spanish families were no longer aloud to pay a dowry for their daughter to enter and they had to live in a communal setting while their houses were transformed into other uses. 14 nuns live there now. Our guide told us that the nuns here would live to be about 80 years old, which is much older than the average lifespan of the time. She credited this to little contact with the outside world and the diseases that live there, high quality food, and the lack of a husband and children to take care of and stress over.

Seeing Juanita, the Ice Maiden, was an experience that is difficult to discuss. She was sacrificed by the Inka about 500 years ago at the age of 12 and was perfectly preserved in an icy grave high in the Andes. Now, human sacrifices were not something that was commonplace in Inkan time; it was done only at times of crisis, and was viewed as necessary and honorable. Upon being her death, Juanita was to live with the gods and become one her self. After watching a video about her discovery, preservation, and the interpretation of the artifacts and ritual surrounding her death, we were led through galleries showing all the artifacts that were left with her. Gold figurines, ceramics, fine tapestries, among others. The final stage of the tour was being able to see Juanita. She is in a glass case -20 Celsius and still in the fetal position she was buried in. Her face, clothes, and hair are all perfectly preserved. It was humbling to realize that we were looking at the face of an Inkan goddess. For more information, visit the museum's website: http://www.ucsm.edu.pe/santury/ and for non-Spanish speakers, click "enlaces interesantes" for sites in English.

The highlight of Casa de Moral was easily the colonial map collection, but apart from that, the house was gorgeous. A fire station was built next to and thus using up what used to be enormous garden space... Dad and I spent a while on a bench imagining how beautiful it must have been.

Lunch today was interesting, to say the least. We both just wanted something light and ended up in the kitchen with this very new age-y chef assisting with the cooking of "Pre-Inkan cuisine". Hmm. It was fun for a while, but we were more than ready to split when he got too philosophical, though the food was delicious.

Excuse me, the Inka were like Arnold Schwartzenegger

Yesterday, Dad and I took a city tour of Cusco. We had the same tour guide that took us to The Sacred Valley and he was not nearly as entertaining day two. If we had a sol every time he said "excuse me, the Inka were like Arnold Schwartzenegger", we'd be rich. Also, our guide had always been upfront about the fact that Quechua was his first language. Quechua is an indigenous language of Peru that is still pretty widely spoken and, being a pre-colonial language, is nothing like Spanish. It sounds very guttural and melodic when spoken. Our guide was getting a kick out of asking us if we could pronounce the names of the places we were at, because they were all Quechua names, and then there would be a chorus of grunting and clicking that really sounded like the entire tour was vomiting.

Anyway, the tour took us to the main cathedral, Quoricancha, Saqsayhuaman, Q'enqo, and an alpaca sweater factory. We got rained out going to the Temple of the Waters, which I would've liked to see, but we saw something similar in Ollantaytambo the day before, so it wasn't too horrible of a loss. The rain really started when we were at Saqsayhuaman, which was unfortunate because I would've liked to spend all day there. The stone work was amazing and very different that what we saw in The Sacred Valley. Here, the stones were enormous (our guide says the tallest building stones in the world, but his statements weren't always factual) and they fit together perfectly. Ok, I know everyone characterizes Inkan stonework by it's perfect edges without mortar, but this were really impressive because the rocks weren't regular. They were like three times the height of dad in some parts and full of jagged corners, curves, and angles, but always fitting together like a puzzle. It was awesome. While I'm not buying that the Inka were extremely tall people, as our tour guide claimed, there is no doubt that they were machines.

Quoricancha was interesting. It is an Inkan temple that the Spanish built a convent over. It's really interesting to see the two architectural styles one on top of the other. What was also interesting, was that some of the walls had been partially disassembled and there were bricks laying out, so we could see the inner working on Inkan masonry. The rocks weren't simply piled up on against the other, but contained notches and holes that allowed them to fit together like a 3D puzzle and also be seismic-proof.

Q'enqo, or Temple of Mother Earth, is a cave site where a table and other alter-like structures out of the walls. It really was a neat place. It is debated as to whether or not human and animal sacrifices took place here or if it was used for mummification.

At the alpaca sweater factory, we learned that alpaca and vicuna clothing is some of the most expensive clothing you can buy. A sweater made of baby alpaca wool is hundreds of dollars while one vicuna scarf cost USD$900! The lady explaining this all to us said that should would give us a nice 10% discount if there was something we really liked. Thanks. Now I can afford that pretty vicuna scarf!

El Valle Sagrado

Today, Dad and I took a bus tour through The Sacred Valley of the Inka that led us to a souvenir market in Pisac and the Inkan city Ollantaytambo and Chincheros. The backdrop of the Andes Mountains was gorgeous and we were awed by the Inkan architecture.

Pisac pretty much only exists today for its souvenir market, which is enormous and a bit overwhelming, but never the less, very colorful. While I didn't buy anything, I really enjoyed wandering around and looking at what was for sale. It was mostly pretty generic knitted goods and ceramics that can be found in any souvenir shop in Peru, but there were some neat things, such as bowls of powdered pigments that become paint when you dip a wet brush into them. After Pisac, we had a buffet lunch and then were off to Ollantaytambo, which was awesome. It's terraces served as gardens for medicinal plants and vegetables as well as protection for the city. This was the first set of Inkan ruins I have seen in Peru, and the precision of the cut rocks is so impressive, especially when you think about how they lugged those enormous things uphill from quarries miles away. We could see watch towers, houses perched on the mountain side, and storage facilities for potatoes and corn. Also, using some imagination, you could see two faces in the side of the mountain. From Ollantaytambo, we went to Chincheros. Before seeing the ruins, we saw a demonstration of how yarn is washed and made using only natural products, which was pretty cool. The Chinchero ruins were interesting both as an Inkan city, but also as a colonial center as well, as many of the bricks were removed from the Inkan structures and used to make the foundations for Spanish-style homes and the Catholic church. We were all pretty heartbroken to learn that an international airport is to be constructed starting next year, which will greatly impact the town of Chincheros.

Altitude sickness is real

Everyone warned me about altitude sickness in Cusco, but having been at altitude before, I wasn't too concerned. The saying is "Tienes que comer poquito, caminar despacito y dormir solito" (You have you eat little, walk slow, and sleep alone) I followed all those instructions, but still was taken over by the altitude.It is real and it's horrible. All day yesterday, even walking up the stairs from the lobby of our hotel to our room would leave me winded, not to mention the hilly streets around town.

I thought I was drinking a sufficient enough of mate de coca (coca leaf tea), but apparently not. Instead of taking a city tour, dad took a nap and I went to get a massage, which did make me feel good for a while. Everything really hit me after dinner. We had a delicious pizza and vino caliente, then walking home I suddenly felt like I was going to die (more so than earlier, even). I spent about an hour in bed tossing, turning, and shaking before projectile vomiting. Dad went out and got me some Inka Cola and water, and the guy at the front desk of our hotel gave me some altitude sickness tablets. Between all of those, I felt well enough to sleep and I woke up today feeling as if nothing ever happened.

PONCHO PONCHO PONCHO!

Dad and I spent an eventful four days rolling on the mighty Amazon River. It was so much fun! We started in Iquitos, which the largest city that can't be accessed by road: you either need to fly in or take a boat... we flew. As a city, Iquitos was interesting. It was full of motorcycles and rickshaws and was once the center of the rubber industry. Now, tourism is it's main economic activity. Right off the Plaza de Armas, there was a building that was built by the same guy that built the Eiffel Tower. We ate dinner there, which was pretty neat.

We went into the jungle with a tour for 3 days and 2 nights. We stayed in a beautiful lodge, without electricity, 140 kilometers outside of Iquitos. We arrived after a 3 hour boat ride up the Amazon. We stopped about half way to use the "bathroom" and right away, we saw the river dolphins playing near by the floating stop. The dolphins were fun to see, and they looked just like normal dolphins, which I was surprised by.

Our lodge was beautiful and ran like summer camp. We had to be in the dining room whenever the bell rang and then had a morning, afternoon, and evening activity. Our activities were hiking around looking for monkeys and medicinal plants, piranha fishing, visiting the nearby fishing village, night excursions to look for caimans and other nocturnal wildlife, dolphin watching, and taking a swim in the river.

All in all, the Amazon was different than any other part of Peru I've seen and the remoteness is amazing. It wasn't as buggy as we expected, though they still managed to get me and it was easily the hottest place I've been. Whenever we were one an excursion, we dreaded the command "PONCHO PONCHO PONCHO!" which meant were going straight into a down pour. When it rains in the Amazon, it POURS!

La Primavera

As I continue to hear stories about how chilly it's getting back in Ohio and Indiana, I thought I'd let you all know that springtime is in full force here in Lima. The climate here is really interesting, because the seasons vary drastically in every region. While on the south central desert coast the days are getting longer, the sky bluer, and the temperature warmer, the sierra and the cordillera are getting cloudy and rainy. The Amazon is also entering it's rainy season. I live on the coast though, so I am loving being able to lay out in the early afternoon and work on my tan and leave the house at night without donning a winter hat and scarf! I'm not the only one ecstatic about this change of weather -- I spent this morning walking along the waterfront and stopped to for a bout a forty minutes to watch a pod of about ten dolphins playing in the surf. The kitten in the picture clearly knows how spring time should be celebrated... sun bathing on the ruins of colonial era stone houses in the center of Lima.

I only have a little more than a month left in Peru and about two months left in South America total... While I miss my friends and family, it breaks my heart to think about leaving behind the South American summer for a midwestern winter.

Another one bites the dust

October came and went I can't believe how fast the semester is flying by. After John left, I've pretty much spent my time in Lima and nearby hanging out with my friends. Last week, we went to Punta Hermosa for the Billabong World Championship surfing competition. We rented a house for 11 of us and had a great weekend! I keep saying that it was beach house, but it was really pretty smelly, kind of creepy, and a few blocks away from the beach. Beach house or not, it was great and Peru won!

This weekend was Halloween and not nearly as big as Halloween in The States, though there were still parties and people in costumes.

These next three weeks should be great! Dad gets here on Wednesday... I'd tell you what we'll be doing, but then you really wouldn't have a reason to read my blog, so I'm going to just keep you all posted as we travel!