Travels

Sorry for not having blogged in a while, its been a pretty busy last couple of weeks. I am now officially in love with Lima. I actually find myself thinking, "I can't imagine leaving Peru" and "This is the best thing I've ever done." Its actually a really refreshing feeling, knowing that you are completely happy with where you are and what you are doing. And then I think about enrolling at OU next semester, and senior year, and then i start freaking out about the future. So, I'm trying to live in a solely Lima state of mind.

School has started to gear up. In fact, I just got back from my first test, which I know I aced! They are very official at la PUCP. For tests, they have a proctor, in addition to your teacher, you only write on official university paper, and you ID is checked during the exam. I felt like I was taking an IB exam AHH!!I was pretty stressed before the test, trying to finish the readings before class. I broke my peanut butter (which pisses me off because peanut butter is expensive here!) and fell asleep multiple times. Its surprisingly hard to keep interest/track of a book about Peruvian society when they change presidents/leaders every 6 months!! Anyway, if you're interested in Lima's middle class, feudalism in the 19th century, or Mariategui's views on the agrarian problem, I'm you're girl!

Probably my absolute favorite thing about Lima is the combi. (Never thought I'd say that, but there it is). Ok, Lima has no metro system and it makes it sort of hard to get around...but theres not better way than the combi. Broken down, dirty, cramped and unsafe...I look forward to riding one to school every morning. There's never two the same. Although a few I have been one are literally held together by wood or tape, I never feel unsafe. Combi drivers are unusually skilled in narrowly avoiding people, other cars and buses, and even speedbumps. Here they will drive up on the sidewalk to avoid a speedbump. Although the cobradors (people who call out the destination of the bus and take the money) are sometimes mean or try to rip you off, you have to respect them. I've seen some dash across the road to buy the bus driver a water or ice cream, run down the street to pay the man in charge of the routes (still not sure how that functions) and even as they scream for you to GET OFF the bus, they always soften and help an old person mount the bus. (Yes, i just realized I said "mount the bus" meaning "montar albus"....my english has been suffering since I've been here. Either I attempt to translate a spanish thought into english or I speak how my non-native english speaking roommates talk.)

Combis are also decorated impeccably...from Loony Toons stickers, including Bugs bunny grabbing himself giving the middle finger, to Barbie sized horses glued to the front. My favorite aspect however, is the music they play. In Lima, there are three main radio stations, La Karibeña, La Calle, y Oasis. Theres nothing like some good techno or reggaeton in the morning. But theres no competing with "Oasis" tunes from the 80s and 90s. Its really hard not to break out laughing when you're scrunched up next to a smelly middleaged man when Tina Turner's What's Love Got to Do with It" starts to play--like it did on my way home tonight.

Thus, I am in a great mood...and am prepared to blog my heart out about the last two trips I've been on sense last post.

NAZCA

Two weeks ago, I traveled with my roommates to Nazca to see the famous Nazca Lines. I was told by multiple people that if I didn't see the lines, I would be in trouble.

Its about 6 hours to get from Lima to Nazca by bus. My first experience on a bus wasn't all that great. Of course, I was the lucky passenger who ended up in the only seat that didn't recline on a night bus. And of course the lady in front of me is leaned back the entire time...giving my knees a total of, oh...NO SPACE! The bus leaves from its terminal in the middle of the city and immediately a man starts to sell products, cure alls for any ailment you could think of. The bus company left the lights on for him and his spiel lasted for about an hour. "Friends, do you suffer from arthritisis, diabetes, canker sores, cancer. Misters and Misses, friends, I have the cure." Luckily there was a cute baby who wanted to play in front of me. After the traveling salesman had his say, the shut the lights off and started a movie. You can only guess...The Godfather. Try to sleep during the Godfather!! I'm surprised the babys on board weren't scared out of their minds.

Our hostel in Nazca was amazing.We spent half the time talking to the owner and playing with his nephew, both of which were under 5 feet tall lol. Our hostel arranged for our flight over the lines, our visit to Chauchilla cemetary, and our sandboarding adventure. Our taxi drivers were always talkative and the people on the streets always willing to point out the way.

The 12 seater plane

The Nazca lines were amazing. The place seated 12 and the turns and twists it made even made me feel a little weak. At first it was hard to spot the lines, but once you knew what to look for, it was much easier. I personally don't think they were made by aliens, but who knows for sure! Below are some photos....

Hummingbird

Tree

After lunch, we took the 30 minute drive to the cemetary, where the ancient Nazca people mummified and buried their dead. Yes, I was scared. Yes, Georg managed to make me scream twice. Yes, I was and am embarassed. But you would be scared too, just look at these creepy mummies with their long hair and empty but searching eye sockets....

The graves and skeletons

There were only a few burial sites available for view, because the rest of the sites had been destroyed and ransacked for their expensive antique pottery. Remnants of other sites were added to the open graves, which resulted in stacks of bones and skulls all together in the same pit. The wind was unbelievably strong and the sand gusts unrelenting. Safe to say I was happy to leave.

Flying in the wind

Then we were taken to a pottery shop, where they recreated the pottery the Nazca people made using the same techniques and materials. Basically, she gave a crappy 5 minute presentation and then we were taken to the gift shop...where i'm sorry to say we all paid too much to buy something. These Peruvians are good at what they do. Later we were taken to a display about mining for gold. The man was freaking hilarious...its hard to explain. He insisted on speaking in "english" even though we all understand Spanish. It went something like this..."rock, hit the rock, take material, water, add water, shake, find." His vocabulary was pretty restricted to nouns and verbs that were not formed into sentences. To top it all off, he gets out a bottle of mercury (very toxic) and sprays it all over these sediments to show us the process. Then we were herded to the gift shop...but we had already learned our lesson.

Tired, sweaty and sandy, were were ready to call it a day and leave in the morning to go sandboarding. Until we found out that Nazca is home to the TALLEST sand dune in THE WORLD! For some reason, we were all compelled to climb it and sandboard down...even though none of us had experience. That lead to us roaming the streets with our guide, looking for sunglasses and proper shoes...since we were totally unprepared.

The hike was set to start at 2:00 in the morning, to avoid the harsh sun. Yeah...2 hours of sleep...thats enough to climb an almost 4,000 foot high pile of sand right?? Flash to all four of us waking up suddenly to the doorbell. CRAP, we overslept. Running around like chickens with our heads cut off...forgetting things and freaking out. It was a pretty funny situation.

Needless to say, it was all worth it. The hike was hard, the view was perfect. Walking in the dark with only one flashlight on dangerous drop offs was probably not the best idea. However, I have never ever seen stars so beautiful or so bright. I felt so close. Im talking about being able to see the Milky Way. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I say two shooting starts and stumbled my far share of times, looking at the sky instead of the path.

Once the sun came up, the view was even more spectacular. Making it to the top of Cerro Blanco took some work...especially in my $2 thrift store grandma shoes. There were times I had to crawl up sand slopes, because it was impossible to walk without the sand shifting and sliding down, crumbling the mounds and leaving you again at the bottom.

Hiking up Cerro Blanco

Once at the top..our boards were tied to our feet and we stood looking down a steep sand slope. "just shimmy your way off the top" was the instruction. It was super scary...but actually quite easy to manage. Although the one time I attempted to change lead feet ended in catastrophe, I was pretty good if I do say so myself.

At the top of the tallest sand dune in the world

The final slope was 330 feets...impossible to make it all the way down without re-waxing your board, but eventually we made it all the way down. Only to face an hour hike back to the road, this time in the scorching sun. Over all, it was totally worth it. How many people can say they've climbed the highest sand dune in the world?

Surfing down the dune

AYACUCHO

Last weekend was Semana Santa, and I was lucky enough to be invited by an Ayacucho native to his hometown for the weekend celebrations. Ayacucho is well known throughout Peru as the biggest Semana Santa celebration in Peru. They weren't lying.

The city is about 9 hours by bus from Lima, and situated high in the Andes mountains. The city is actually still under safety advisory, during the 90s it was completely under the control of the Sendero Luminoso. Tickets were pretty expensive to go during Semana Santa, so the bus line we ended up taking wasn't exactly the best.

I would retell the horrible bathroom situation...but its to scarring to recount. About 7 hours into the trip, after winding up and down switchbacks on the Andes, an indigneous woman was allowed on the bus to sell us mate de coca (tea from coca leaves). The coca leaf, although completely illegal in the United States (because obviously the leaf and cocaine are one in the same, right?) is sacred in Andean society. Its medicinal qualities are many, and it tastes really good. The tea really helped to relieve the altitude sickness I was beginning to feel.

Local woman of Ayacucho

Being in the Andes was absolutely amazing. The clouds were so close I felt I could reach up and touch them. Everywhere, women were in traditional dress and I really felt immersed in the culture. Andean women in Ayacucho are amazingly beautiful and the babys are probably the cutest living thing I've ever seen. No wonder half the postcards you find are of Andean babys!

Our lodgings for the weekend were an elementary school. A little weird, and totally unexpected, but it was nice to have somewhere centrally located in the city, free to sleep. Isaac's grandparents run it, and there were beds and everything, so it all worked out well.

Where we stayed the weekend

The first day, we took a bus to a neighboring city, Huanta, in order to hike to the waterfall there. The city is pretty small, and hardly ever sees tourist. This was obvious by the people straight gawking at the 4 tall/blonde germans I was traveling with.

Gawking children

On our way to the waterfall, we were advised by the locals to hike up the mountain to see the crucifixion of Jesus. On the hillside is a giant white statute of Jesus. It was a touch climb, but I was determined not to be passed by every old woman with a huge pack tied to her back. Its the air...its so thin, i had to catch my breath fairly often...which I tried to disguise as only wanting to take in the view. lol.

Getting passed by an old lady

Taking in the view

We finally made it to the top, and were immersed in the carnival like atmosphere. They weren't kidding when they said crucifixion either...pretty soon we saw "jesus" coming up the mountain dragging the cross with him. After several minutes of poorly acted whipping, Jesus and two other men were tied to the crosses and slowly and cautiously hoisted into the air. The people were enthralled. Honestly, a little too morbid and ridiculous for my taste. But it was interesting to see, as I noted the whole weekend, the pure and honest faith and devotion the people have to Catholicism.

Waiting for Jesus

After they were crucified

After the killing of Christ, we continued on our way to the waterfall. The path was muddy and I fell flat on my face, but overall it was a nice hike. Along the way we encountered a woman and attempted to converse with her in Quechua. It was surreal being in the countryside. A little boy came out from the village and showed us the way to the waterfall, were we all spontaneously got half naked and ran under it. The water was painful as it pounded your back and freezing too, but totally worth it...until we began the walk back.. and then I wished I hadn't of done it, ha.

The waterfall

Back in Ayacucho that night we watched the procession of Jesus' casket down the streets. Candles were lit, women were veiled, and tears were shed...it was crazy.

Jesus' coffin

To follow this came the period of celebration. Jesus is dead, there is no such thing as sin. Lets get drunk and chase bulls down the street and build human pyramids. Which is exactly what we did Saturday morning. The local firetruck was on site in case there were any accidents..that or to spray the crowded plaza de armas with its fire hose...which was quite refreshing.

Human pyramid

We attempted to make our own pyramid, but it ended up in us falling over. I have the bruise to prove it! After dancing in the town square, we went to get lunch at a local fair. The fairs are pretty equal to the Oklahoma State Fair...not really on par with the Texas State Fair though. They sold good food, although I was iffy about all the meat, produce, fruit and had a few games and rides. The pictures can probably explain better than I can.

Traditional Peruvian dance

Food!

Games!

Unfortunately Serena, Moritz and I decided to return to Lima Saturday night, so I was unable to partake in the huge party into sunday morning. But before we left, we had a try of cuy...fried guinea pig. Its sad because all weekend we saw them at the markets, alive and squealing...and here it was..fried up, head attached, laying crispy on a bed of potatoes. I tried a bite, and it was tasty, but i couldn't bring myself to eat more.

Alive and Happy

Dinner :(

Overall Ayacucho and Semana Santa was great. Even though I was unprepared for the mud, the rain and the cold, I really loved my experience there. I'm back in Lima, Jesus is alive again. All is good.