December Travels

After a four hour scourge of my room, I'm finally packed up and ready for my travels home. I'm hoping all goes well and there aren't any major delays because I've heard the snow in the Midwest is massive right about now. To put the climate shock to my system in perspective, here's a photo of my recent vacation to Mancora...

 

 As soon as I returned from the beach, I headed for the much cooler and damper Cusco. The city was beautiful but overwhelmed by tourist agencies and street vendors. I actually heard a tack I hadn't before at the city's Plaza de Armas when multiple children were coming up to me with hats and bracelets. The first boy asked where I was from, and in an attempt to avoid him immediately speaking to me in English, I lied and said Italy. Like some kind of crazy record player, he starts reciting facts about Italy for almost two minutes. A second girl came up several minutes later and did the same thing for the US. It was incredible that they've memorized so much but it wasn't really convincing as a sales tactic.

 On Friday, I went to Machu Pichu. The site was amazing and I explored it first on a personal tour and then on my own for several hours. The day was an excellent way to complete my time in Peru, and I would love to go back someday and experience it with others. As I went in a single day, most of my time was spent in transit. The train on the way there had enormous glass windows and a delicious "snack" (which was really a full breakfast), but I took a less expensive one back which seemed a lot longer than four hours. I've definitely had my fill of long-distance travel and am looking forward to not be in a bus/train/airplane for a very long time. Of course, that is after today. Next time you'll hear from me I'll be back in the US. Nos vemos!

Final Month Reflections Part 2: USA!

Alright, the much delayed Part 2 of my final reflections. With just two weeks to go in Peru, I am thinking about all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful parts of my home country. In honor of point one of my "looking forward to" list, the names of the categories will be... book titles.


GREAT EXPECTATIONS

   1. Books and libraries: The nerd in me is excited to have a school library in which I can loan a book for longer than 4 days. I have read over 5 novels here, but being in Spanish, its much less relaxing than my usual reading. Up next on my reading list- The Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts, Madam Bovary, Theater of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal, and A Hundred Years of Solitude.
   2. Broccoli: Representative of my desire to see a fiber-filled plate of greens. I am so ready to control my own diet once again.
   3. Transportation: I would love to have a grand total 15 minutes in  the car to get to some location. It would also be nice to have traffic laws which are actually obeyed and drivers who know they don't possess that squeezing-car charm in the Harry Potter movies. No, you are not the Night Bus and you will not fit through a 2 foot gap, sorry.
   4. American concepts of time: I'm a product of my society and would gladly return to a place where things are expected to begin on time, end on time, and, umm, actually happen when scheduled.
   5. Seeing my family and friends! I miss them all like crazy and can't wait to spend some quality time with them for the first time in over 5 months.

HEART OF DARKNESS (Joseph Conrad- if you haven't read this book, do yourself a favor and don't)

   1. Winter wear: The temperate temperature of Peru means that there is rarely a need for drastic wardrobe changes. Not looking forward to whipping out the clunky snow boots and winter jacket at all.
   2. Large lecture halls: I've gone soft and gotten accustomed to small classes, active discussion, and personal attention from teachers.
   3. Prices: It's going to be a huge shock to buy any food when I return, mostly because it's all ridiculously cheap here.
  4. Lack of corny, whole-hearted affection: You just don't have guys saying "My dear friend Catalina" to you in the US, like my friend Miguel does. They also say "mi enamorada" to describe their partners, and how much better does "my beloved" sound than "boyfriend/girlfriend"?

Alright, that's it for now! Tomorrow morning I leave for Cusco for 3 days, and then I'll be returning home! Expect a nice, picture-laden post on Saturday or Sunday.

Final Month Reflections Part 1: Peru

Peru- Lo buen, lo mal, y lo feo.
 (The good, the bad, and the ugly. And yes, I probably translated that wrong)


With one month remaining in Peru, I'm going to share a few of the things in Peru worth actively missing and also the things worth escaping. I'll start off my little diatribe with a list of things I very much like about Peru.

1. The food: Pretty much any dish here has a long history, from fusion to import to adaptation. The cocineros have a few staple ingredients they know how to use and use well, as well as some interesting ones. Among the, how to put it, "unique" things I have tasted here- cuy (more commonly known as guinea pig), cow heart, pig stomach, and lucuma (a delicious fruit only found in Peru during the summer). Chela, my host mother, told me she once ate cat. Mmmm.
2. The lack of heating/air conditioning: While I realize that the temperature extremes here are, well, not extreme at all, I have to admire the complete negligence of these systems. One Peruvian attitude we can all learn from would be translated like this: "Buck up. Wear a sweatshirt."
3. The variety: Peru has just about every type of geography possible and seemingly limitless locations to explore. I could explore the many fascinating landscapes of Peru for months on end.
4. The history: If there is one place that celebrates who it is and where it came from that place is Peru.
5. Academically, the focus on development seems very realistic and productive. They invest in research for how to bring themselves out of poverty, raise the standard of living, and generally improve the country. What's more is that they are training the next generation to do the same.

Now for the mildly annoying attributes...

1. Why are there 10 ophthalmology stores in a row on a single street? Or an avenue full of mattresses? Does this business strategy really make sense to anyone?
2. Also, how many key replication shops does one neighborhood need?
3. Kissing traffic jams. This one extends to every culture that uses the cheek kiss as a greeting and decides to say goodbye in the very center of a crowded sidewalk between a group of 10 or so. Flash forward15 minutes and foot traffic finally stands a chance.

Finally, the hate list. It had to come, but I hope you will see my negativity as charming sarcasm or some other bull crap (hey, there's always the chance, right?)

1. Lines: They don't have them here...
2. because people think they need to be extraordinarily rude to service workers in order to actually get what they want/need.
3. Machismo and catcalls: Wanna hear my BIG-cat call? GRRRR. Now get the hell away from me.
4. The celebration of diversity when there is actually huge singling out of minorities, a highly racially divided society, and rampant stereotyping.
5. Teachers not showing up for classes. At the danger of sounding like a petulant teenager: WTF? Who does this? Its your job for which MY tuition is paying. You need to be there.
6. On the same note, teachers rescheduling classes they miss and then taking attendance. No no. Not happening.

 Anyway, this is part one of my "final month" special. As this one focused on things I will miss/not miss about Peru, the following will do the same about the US.

November has arrived and it is time to get down to business. Which is why I'm sitting here writing a blog post. As far as procrastination goes, I'd say this is fairly productive. Regardless, I've been doing some pretty fabulous traveling during the last two weeks of October in preparation for my November homework hibernation. The highlights of my trips are as follows...

Ica

• We hit up a bodega (wine and pisco brewery), did some tasting, and bought our weight in alcohol. We're legal here after all!
• I visited a museum with a large collection of mummies, deformed heads, and various other non-appetizing images, after which...
• My roommate Katie found a worm in her food. Yum. The waitress simply said, "Oh don't worry. It's from the lettuce," and picked it off the plate.

Huacachina

• The only activity we took place in during this excursion was sandboarding, which was more than enough. It breaks down like this: hop on dune buggy, race over gigantic mountains of sand, grab a snowboard, and ride it down standing up or lying down. It was awesome, and I even stood up once or twice!

Paracas

• This touristy town is really just a gateway to other activities, but we did meet a friendly artesano and his loyal Peruvian hairless dog.
• The Islas Ballestas are a 30 minute boat ride from town and are packed with every type of marine wildlife: birds, sea lions, penguins, everything.

Arequipa

• The White City had all the brilliant sun and gorgeous architecture Lima is missing. The locals were friendly, the number of catcalls was significantly lower, and the food was something else.
• The first day here we spent wandering and seeing the beautiful colonial homes, churches, and monasteries.
• At Museo Santuario, I had the chance to see the frozen remains of Juanita, an Incan human sacrifice on the top of a mountain near Arequipa.

Colca Canyon

• So much fun. We had a great, but exhausting trek down the canyon to an oasis. Everything was included in a surprisingly low price and we made some American friends that were put in the group as us.

Selvamanos!

I wanted to do more of a photo journal for my past weekend's visit to Oxapampa. Oxapampa is a small town located in Peru's central rain forest, and this weekend it was the host of Selvamanos, a music festival. A quick synopsis of events: arrive in La Merced after a 10 hour, over-night bus ride, take a taxi to Oxapampa making a side trip at a small indigenous village and a waterfall, eat a hugely satisfying meal, wander about town, sleep, chill out, drink a wee bit too much, eat a delicious papa rellena, attend the concerts, sleep, take taxi back to La Merced, realize we as a group are completely broke, take return bus to Lima, sleeeeeeepppppppp. It was a fun weekend, but I'm getting a little tired just thinking about it. Enjoy the pics!

Livin' the Lima Loca

To start your day off on a bright note...

Don't feed the deer!!! These little guys run around our gated campus and are the least skittish "wild" animals I've ever seen. They're a truly unique part of La Catolica's (the vernacular for PUCP- my university) campus.

Oh, and something else about PUCP: classes. Were I to summarize them, I would say challenging. tons of group work, and unstructured. The whole concept of a syllabus is looser here, and readings are given each week during class. After being informed that a article or chapter is due, students go to a photocopier for the academic department their class is in and have it printed. The main challenge is obviously language, however others do exist. The workload is high, even for a native Spanish speaker. Group work and interactive classes are a norm here, and I have many group projects due throughout the semester.

Now, the interesting part: the cool things I've been doing in Lima due to my class work. Ecology and Society (my most bleh class) has a group exposition on rights to natural resources mid-way through October. Organizational Communication likewise has a large final project, however this one deals with investigating the corporate culture and functions of a major business in Lima. We previously had to observe non-verbal language in a movie scene, for which my group chose "The Notebook"- Noah and Allie 4evah!

Okay, so those were not the coolest. My Intercultural Communications class may be. Today, I went to the Museo de la Nacion and went to the Shining Path exhibit. It chronicles the 20 year civil war in Peru that ended with tens of thousands of fatalities. My assignment is to take a photo from the exhibit and analyze it in the light of several articles we read recently.

Also a top contender, Activity in Anthropology. This class is basically one long field research project. Our task is to interview a specific artisan in Lima who produces traditional crafts for festival and other purposes. My group is investigating the work of Jose Luis, a bordado maker. His work is fascinating and is located in Central Lima directly behind the Congress building with a number of other artisans.

 

 This weekend for my Anthropology class I will be visiting the patron saint festival of a small village in the Andes. All I can say is, "be prepared!" (courtesy of Scar- a little Lion King action and you never saw it coming). Anyway, there is definitely one monster-sized blog coming up.

Ode to Peruvian cuisine

Last night my roommates and I went into the Parque Excursion to stuff ourselves with absolutely delicious Peruvian fare at the Mistura food festival. Just getting in to event was difficult as we did not buy our entry tickets ahead of time. After we succeeded in entering, the problem was deciding what to eat because there were so many options.

While my friends were munching down on empanadas, I was scoping out the scene and decided to try a tacu tacu. Its appearance was of a soft, almost sponge-like roll covered in green sauce with a sprinkling of fried chicken on the top. The chicken provided a great salty crunch on top of the savory tacu tacu and the sweet salsa on top. It was so good that I ate the entire thing before remembering that I wanted to take a picture of it. After the fact, I discovered that the base ingredient is beans and rice and it is fusion African-Peruvian dish. However, there is a ton of variety on how to prepare it and it can come with any variety of toppings.

Well, I was playing catch up to the other girls who already had consumed two dishes, so I followed them on to dessert- Toblerone cheesecake. Best invention ever. The servings were small (from an American frame of reference), but it was incredibly rich. The "cheese" part of it was barely noticeable and the texture was much thicker than traditional cheesecake.


Unfortunately, the evening took a little downward turn when the friend of my roommate was robbed of her wallet and passport while she was waiting in line. She left to report the incident, but the rest of us remained for several more hours, carefully watching our belongings.


My final dish was actually quite the steal. I was talking with the cashier, trying to find out the ingredients of the different dishes offered, and he immediately asked what my home country was. Apparently he had spent several years in Texas and loves the United States. Thus, when he discovered that I only had half the money required for the food he took it quickly and put the order through. For once, the "gringa" price was a good thing! It was a chicken, rice and beans meal: incredibly filling, with a nice spicy kick.

On a final gastronomic note, I've included a picture of the delicious coconut balls that are sold at the bodega (a corner store) next to our apartment building. These will be the reason I gain weight in Peru. They have a cake-y center, connected with a caramel filling, and coated in a baked coconut mixture. Que rico!