Lunes Felices

Today I woke up pretty well rested considering I got a lot of sleep yesterday. I wanted to dress up for school but it’s starting to get a bit nippy here so I was fine with just wearing pants. I went downstairs for breakfast, as per usual, and had eggs, cereal, bread and tea. I went to hang outside for a little bit with William and my host mom since I had some time to spare while Rosana was getting ready. He is the cutest little boy in the world! In his little child/broken English accent he played with his toy cars and screamed out “taki taki (taxi)” which apparently is his favorite game. I was so happy to hear him recognize me with an “Hola Kati.” Anyway, I spoke to my host mom a little more after about which stores around Miraflores would have good deals for souvenirs and gifts for friends/family. Then we cabbed it to El Sol for class, and for the first time ever we were 10 minutes early and not late.

Today’s lesson in class dealt with “esto, ese, aquella, etc.” which basically explains the variety of uses for “this” and “that” according to distance. I learned that the neutral/safe words to use are “esto, eso, aquella” with esto pertaining to items closest to you and the rest referring to items further away. We also learned that “aqui” and “aca” are interchangeable although in school I never learned “aca.” We always used “aqui” to mean “here” but it seems that in Miraflores, it is more common to use “aca.”

In culture class, we went over the culture of Lima and the different characteristics of the ceramics and technologies. We went over the significance of “Huacas” which were the temples, or archeologist sites found in Lima. A lot of the domestic architecture included simple designs, very light on detail, and different browns painted over the drawings. The ceramics were also very porous and fine in detail with orange as the main color. 

In conversational class, we talked mostly about different types of clothing and practiced conversing with hypothetical vendors. We had to show that we knew how to bargain and how to ask for specific clothing. It was pretty fun overall and we ended the day with a game we usually play that asks the first person to say a word in Spanish and the second person to say another word in Spanish that begins with the last letter of the first word.

We cabbed it to FAP to teach our second official lesson in English on clothing, clothing stores, and prices. We explained to them what a department store was, a plaza, an outlet, and a thrift store. We named some clothes used for sports like helmets and baseball gloves. The kids were actually just very interested in our lives and culture in general and didn’t ask many questions about the topic. After class ended, they all ran up to us asking for pictures. 

After English class we went to the auditorium for lecture. Lecture today was on the independence of Peru and a historical background on Chile and Venezuela. We talked a little more about Tupac before Jenny let us split into groups and discuss whether or not independence was a good thing for Peru. Vinny gave a valid point saying that independence was a good thing because it was unfair to tax countries the way they did with their other territories without including them officially.

Once class let out I went to the supermarket to pick up some laundry detergent and headed home to get some work done. I’m excited that we’re going to see Pachacamac tomorrow after school and even more excited to finally have access to the money my mom wired me through Western Union. Anyway, dinner is in 10 minutes and afterwards I plan on finishing my essay or going to the hookah bar, depending on the majority consensus. I will update later with photos if the latter does happen.

Free Day to Work

Today we had a much needed free day. I slept until about 12, well aware of the fact that I was risking skipping breakfast for some more sleep. Thankfully Rosana knocked on my door and called me down for breakfast. My host dad, James, explained that Peruvians generally have tomales every Sunday as part of their custom. He laid out some bread and butter, cereal, and made one tomale for us to try/share. I wasn't much of a fan but ate a good portion anyway because I was starving at that point.

After we had breakfast, our mom and dad told us that they'd be having a little bbq for lunch and invited us to come down in about an hour. I knew that I was going to go straight to Starbucks or the equivalent, Holly's cafe, to do some work with Tess and Karlayne after so I used the awkward hour in between to pack my computer and notebook. 

I came down around 1pm while they were still preparing lunch. Rosana and I kind of stuck around and talked to them about politics and Peruvian culture. I asked my host mom about the Keiko and Humala Presidential election and brought up the dangers of traveling to Cuzco/Puno around the time of elections. Currently, there is much debate over who will be the new President of the Republic of Peru. Keiko Fujimori is a 26 year old female whose father was President at some point but is now in jail because of corruption and other governmental reasons. The other candidate, Humala is said to have come from a very military background and resembles the personality of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's harsh dictator. I asked a lot of people, mostly cab drivers and friendly locals, who they prefer but the consensus is that neither candidate is liked. The people, in general, are skeptical and have no real faith in the government. With Keiko, the controversy of her being the first female to run and also her ability to pardon her father if elected make her a bad candidate for Presidency. Also, her young 26 year old mind is believed to not have enough experience to run the country. As for Humala, his dictator ways alone are enough to fear his presidency. If it were not a requirement for Peruvians to vote, I am almost certain most wouldn't. Unfortunately there is a fine of about 85 soles if you do not vote. What I have heard is that most people go to the polls and draw little pictures or scribbles to avoid choosing a candidate.

My host mom, Nicole

Our kitchen

Yummy, fresh salad

Had a bbq for lunch today

My host parents cooking lunch

Our backyard

We will be traveling by plane to Cuzco on election day, June 5. Apparently just a few days ago there was a bomb that was found in the airport that we will be using to fly. I asked my Professor, Monica, if it will be safe and she advised me that perhaps election day will be even safer to travel given that everyone will be at the polls and a kind of silence will be present due to the suspense of elections. My host family said that the problem won't be so much the elections but rather the protests happening in Cuzco and Puno. From what I understand the people are protesting the building of more mines as a means of acquiring capital. They resent having contaminated air and water and are in a very rigorous battle with the government. In Puno, the people have already built road blocks to prevent people from leaving or entering. I won't be traveling with the rest of my group to Puno during the last week because I am going home early for a scholarship program but I am concerned for them and our trip to Puno.

Anyway, the topics were very interesting and I even picked up the newspaper and read a little more on the statistics of the election. Keiko and Humara are pretty much tied when it comes to national percentage so it should be a very suspenseful election. All I can assume is that both candidates are exploiting the mining issue to their benefit. That's politics, anyway.

After lunch I waited on my host dad to finish a design he had been working on. He's an artist so I asked him to design a little something for me to keep and remember my experience in Lima as him as my host dad. I love what he created, it represents the feline that dominates prehispanic culture and the tail is another symbol that represents Caral, the first city in America that was recently found not too far from Lima. He also talked about the strength and ferocity of the puma and how he thought it matched my personality although I've never really showed any side of that to him. I'm actually still quite intimidated around my host family and self-conscious of my Spanish speaking abilities. Anyway, he might make a few alterations on the design but other than that, soon to come..

Went to Holly's after to meet up and do some work. Once again bought the best strawberry smoothie in the world (for 11.50 soles.. sadface). And now, finally caught up on blogs. PS I am in love with the fact that Peruvians always cook their food fresh and visit the supermarket just about every day. Good eats!

Caral

Saturday was the day we visited the oldest city in America, Caral. The night before we had all gone out and luckily Rosana knocked on my door to wake me 20 minutes before we were supposed to meet the group. I quickly showered and grabbed a piece of bread before we were out the door on the way to the Youth Hostel. The bus ride was about 3-4 hours with a rest stop in between in which I was able to purchase a pack of sliced ham and Gatorade for my pounding hangover.

 

When we got to Caral I was a little skeptical because all I could see was desert and I didn’t really know what to expect. I had dressed in black jeans and it was scorching hot out. A lot of people were in sandals and weren’t prepared for our semi-lengthy walk to the ancient city.

 

On the trail to Caral, there were 3 horses and 2 horse carriages being offered for either 2 soles (carriage) and 5 soles to ride the horse. Unfortunately I had no idea we could have rode the horses apart from our group otherwise I would have hopped on. Some people did, however, get the memo and saved themselves a pretty dry, hot, lengthy hike.

When we arrived to Caral we split up into two groups, one that preferred a Spanish tour versus an English one. I chose English so I would be able to pick up more information. I do pretty well on Spanish tours, too, but sometimes I zone out and miss a mouthful of words that are hard to piece together, especially in Spanish.

We learned about the ancient pyramids of Caral and that the site was only recently excavated within these last 10 years. We saw the tombs without pointy tops, similar to prehispanic Moche or Chavin. Apparently the pyramids were hollow tombs, except for the top where there was a small opening for bodies. Only 4 human remains were found and the site is undergoing a lot of investigation right now. Archeologists only started analyzing little pieces of the city, trying not to remodel anything. The only alterations that were made were little rock walls build to prevent sand from destroying the ancient city. A lot of what was being done while we there was restoration, the process by which workers remove rocks and things and clean them off/make them look good and put it right back. Throughout our tour we also got to see a lot of holes in the ground which was probably the place that held the fires to cook and burn sacrifices. Our tour guide also explained the oddly placed stone buried partially underneath the ground. Theories include it being a sun clock or a mark that was central to the entire city.

 

When we left Caral we were all pretty starving and tired. I napped because the heat was just too much. Tess woke me up when we got to this pretty fancy restaurant that served us duck, chicken, and salads. I chose the duck dish which was actually very delicious. I’m a huge fan of duck, ever since I visited China, and was relieved to finally catch a break from all the chicken incorporated in Peruvian food.

After we ate we headed back to Miraflores for a solid 4 hours because of traffic. Along the way I woke up randomly and caught a glimpse of the sunset over the Pacific. It was an amazing sight to see and the whole bus just stared in awe. I wasn’t able to take out my camera and try to nab a picture. It was really a beautiful sunset by the cliffs and I wish I had a picture to show for it. I know a few people on the bus took pictures so I’m going to wait until they post them up and I’ll steal a few for this blog.

As for that night, most people decided to stay in, including me. I thought to myself that I definitely needed sleep such a long week and eventful weekend.

T.G.I.V(iernes).

School was rough solely because Rosana and I took the wrong bus to school and ended up in Baranco. We had to pay another 10 soles to get back to El Sol and fortunately we were only 5 minutes late. In class, we had our first exam on grammar which wasn’t too terrible although I feel as if I might’ve rushed my answers. It seems that whenever I take a Spanish or Math exam I blank out and all my logic goes out the window. I only really had problems on the questions that you had to determine which tense to use the verb and so on.

After the test I think our Professor gave us a little break by talking about more interesting things such as dating and the names for girlfriend and boyfriend. Apparently in Peru “novio/a” refers to a fiancé/e, which is totally different from what I learned in school. The correct word for a boyfriend or girlfriend would be “enamorado/a” with “amante” referring to a mistress or someone you’re with “illegally.” I thought that was pretty cool to know considering it’s a unique characteristic of Peruvian culture. Most countries in South America use “novio” to refer to their boyfriends. In class we also went over the names of clothes and the culture of Mochica. Their ceramics were very fine and sophisticated while their houses were made of adobe material and straw. The cool thing about this day was after class we were all called up to the cafeteria where they had pisco sour shots ready for us. Pisco is the liquor that is specific to Peru and I remember my shot being super strong. Apparently it was the last day for a few of their long term students so we had a little celebration and cheers for them. The proper Peruvian way to say cheers is to hold your glass up and say “Arriba,” then bring it down and say “Abajo” then bring it forward “Al centro” and then to your mouth to chug “Pa dentro.”

As usual, we went FAP after school to teach English and receive our cultural lecture. We thought we were a little more prepared this time around to teach English but we were moved to another classroom, Basic level, and had to start fresh with the kids there. We spent time introducing ourselves and talking about our favorite foods. We ran out of time before we could start explaining the different places to eat in the US such as diners or drive-thrus. To our surprise the kids brought us “Papa a la Huancaina” which I’m not a big fan of so I passed it onto Vinny. 

After class and lecture we played some more volleyball and basketball with the kids. I was feeling super tired and wanted to head home early so I only stayed for an extra hour or so. When I got home I took a nap and woke up for dinner to find Steffi, my host mom’s sister, and their  cousin at the kitchen table. For dinner we had a kind of spinach pie with bread and tea. We talked about the clubs in Miraflores and what Steffi planned on doing with her life and school. Melissa came downstairs and chatted with us for a little bit but I had to quickly get ready since Monica was taking us out to a Pena in Boranco, similar to a Peruvian culture show with lots of dancing.

 

Since I was pickpocketed the other day I was running on allowance of 20 soles that I borrowed from Tess. I had an additional 10 out of my own pocket so I was working with not a lot of money. We decide to get pitchers of sangria and just chug because that’s the only way to get drunk off a budget. I don’t remember too much after that but I remember it was a very fun and live night. The live band was exceptional, the lomo soltado that Monica bought for us was great, the show was amazing, and the balloons at the end were the icing on the cake. I also met some new friends when I stepped outside for a little but although I can only remember that the woman’s name was Greta. Overall, it was a very good start to our weekend.

and the pic that says it all...

Huecos

After class (we let out early at 10am)we were given instructions to take a cab and meet our Professor, Monica, at El Museo Nacional de Arqueología Antropología Historia del Perú. We were all extremely tired and were curious to see what fun filled events we had awaiting us. We were able to squeeze 6 of us in cab and made it in once piece although we paid 25 soles because the cab driver got lost. We found the rest of our group eating lunch at a nearby restaurant and joined them. I ordered Lomo Soltado, my favorite Peruvian dish although I am still quite curious about the Ceviche, a mixture of lemon juice and raw fish. We ate and met in front of the museum, with half of our group going ahead on the first tour and my group, the other half going a half hour later with Monica. When we finally met with our tour guide, I was half asleep and really discouraged from going on the tour. I noticed that the museum was very small and didn’t seem too interactive. We went to different exhibitions, studying artifacts from the Chavin culture and progressing toward the Inca period with Machhu Pichhu as the main focus. In the exhibits, we saw a lot of ceramic pieces that we studied in culture class and during the lectures at FAP. The structure was typical, with a globe shape and two “picos” and a handle known as “asa puente.” The colors were very earthy with a fine finish, typical of prehispanic times. These artifacts were used to hold wine or other beverages during ancient times.

Other pieces included skulls that we had seen and learned about in the Cathedral we visited near the government center. The skulls had holes, typical of the prehistoric culture. It was normal for people back then to undergo a sort of operation (without any anesthesia, perhaps drunk off pisco) that required drilling into their skull (all of which is not fatal or does not affect the brain) to make the cranium area longer and more distinct. People in that era performed this ritual so that they could be distinguished from all the other cultures and societies of that time. A lot of the skulls we have seen thus far seem to have underwent this very operation although I can’t imagine how painful it must have been. Sometimes, the holes were used to drain the brain of disease or evil spirits.

Included in the tour was also “Los Personajes de la Sociedad Moche” and “La sexualidad en el Mundo Moche.” The pieces were very interesting and our tour guide said the pieces in the erotic collection were not pornographic or meant for arousal but represented fertility among other beliefs. However, our Professor, Monica, and I believe it was probably just meant for pornographic reasons. It is slightly humorous the exaggeration seen in the figures, and apparently Peruvian culture feeds off exaggeration. For example, Monica told us that someone who hasn’t seen a friend in a couple months will say in certainty, “I haven’t seen you in 5 whole years.” I thought that was pretty interesting and reflective of the following piece(s):

Another interesting piece of the exhibit was the mummies. We learned in class that the mummies were buried in a fatal position and planted in an egg-like hole in the ground. They were also wrapped in cloth and their preservation is due partly to the dry climate and high salt content of the region.

 I think a lot of people ended up going to Murphy’s that night but I was entirely too exhausted. I stayed home and decided to read my article on Lima like a good student. I remember going to bed immediately after I was done reading, though. It just seemed that I was lacking more and more energy to get by every day. I was grateful, however, for such a rich cultural lesson that reinforced what I had learned in school and in Peru, overall.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Dana!

On our 8^th day here, we pretty much got into routine by waking up early, getting dressed for school, having breakfast and scrambling around trying to decide what mode of transportation we wanted to pay for. School was still very interesting; we went over some more grammar and in culture class we studied more prehispanic artifacts. My favorite part of school is conversational speaking because we have a chance to converse about any topics that come up while our Professor guides us and helps us with vocabulary and phrases.
 

After we all took cabs to FAP, the Air Force school in which we teach English. I tried to cab it with my group Natalie, Tess, and Diana but it was chaotic with everyone trying to get lunch beforehand and thus only Natalie made in my cab. We reviewed our lesson plan for the day and commented on how nervous we were to be teaching a Spanish class, English. Our class was apparently the advanced English class so we went over some complex terms pertaining to food (jokingly, of course). We came up with the terms “broil,” and “filet.” When we got there, however, everyone was frantically trying to find their classroom and we were all just placed into random classrooms. We were missing Tess but Priscilla was put into our classroom as a replacement. The teacher there made us introduce ourselves and had the class ask us some questions in English but the majority of that day was spent introducing ourselves. Toward the end we played a game asking everyone to raise their hand when they agreed or disagreed with a statement. For example, “raise your hand if you have a brother.” From those who raised their hands we selected a few and asked them more challenging questions like “how many brothers do you have” or “how old are they.” The game started off interesting but I could tell we lost the class’ interest toward the end because they got rowdy and started talking to each other.

When the bell rang we were led to the auditorium where we had the welcoming ceremony for another lecture class. Jenny lectured us on the culture of Peru and the three trips of Pizarro. It was very hard to pay attention because I was already tired from the long day we had and a lot of information we learned in our textbook. But it was interesting nonetheless and I tried my best to pick up most of her Spanish. I took notes but we went through the powerpoint pretty quickly. Luckily Monica sent us the powerpoint via email so I was able to finish my notes at home.

Once the ceremony was over, Alessandra and Leslie asked us to follow them onto the soccer field. The boys in our group were already out on the grass playing with some of the kids but I wanted to play volleyball. We played for quite a long time, actually, moving from the grass onto the real volleyball court. Of course my team was “ganando (winning)” and we learned about the Peruvian victory dance. Our sportsmanship wasn’t that great and we kept badmouthing the other team. Our co-leader, Henry, joined the other team and it finally felt a little balanced, haha. Anyway, by the time we finished playing I was exhausted and all I could think about was going home and sleeping.

 

After our spaghetti dinner, I went to my room and realized that plans for Dana’s birthday had already commenced. The plan was to meet at Murphy’s Irish Pub and venture off to find discotecas after. I wasn’t feeling up for it at all but I did want to celebrate with everyone so I made an effort to come out, and even decided to dress up a little. I’m glad I did, though, because I probably needed a night out to just relieve myself of all the busyness and work that was going on. I cabbed it to Murphy’s with Tess since we live fairly close to each other and met up with the rest of the group. We had a few shots, including one free “mouth shot” where the bartender stood on the bar and just poured this blue drink into our mouths. It was kind of sketchy but it was free so I didn’t complain. We also had a shot of Jose and bought a pitcher of beer. I went outside for a bit and met some cool locals who knew English. It was funny because I attempted to respond in Spanish but they kept trying to speak to me in English. They  told me about some popular discotecas around town and suggested some activities we could during our time in Miraflores. It wasn’t long before the group came out and decided to head to Baranco, another district, to go clubbing at some live music place.
 

When we got to Baranco the area seemed entirely too empty with graffiti written all over the place. We had a heightened sense of security simply because we all got bad vibes. We continued walking around and found a discoteca that promised us one free drink each if we went into their club. The music was sub par and the drinks were less than tasty but it was a solid spot to stay in. Tyler and I managed to haggle the guy at the bar and convince him we were the only ones who didn’t get a free drink. He gave us both coke and rum after Tyler promised to buy another round of drinks if the first one was given to us for free. We never bought another drunk and just danced the night away until it was time to call it a night. I went home and practically passed out the minute my head hit the pillow. I knew school would be a nightmare the next day. And as I write sit here and recall, it certainly was (at least for everyone who went out that night). 

 

Una Historia mas Rica!

I’m terribly behind on blogs so the next few might omit specific details that I’d usually try to include. On Tuesday, we had class for about an hour and then went to visit El Palacio de Gobierno del Peru in La Plaza Mayor. It was absolutely beautiful there in that part of town. The intricate design of the palace, the yellow walls of the plaza, everything was all so beautiful and busy. Of course, the palace was swarming with tourists so I had to really pay attention to which tourists I belonged to. Anyway, the palace was gorgeous and very well designed, in my opinion. It is also the residence of the President of the Republic of Peru, Alan Garcia Perez. I also learned that President Bush (the son) was the first President of the USA to visit Peru in that very house. He actually joined them for dinner in their elaborate dining room. It was pretty cool to be present during the changing of the guard ceremony. At 12 noon every day, they have a special ceremony that basically allows the morning guards to switch with the afternoon/night guards. Essentially their way of clocking out/clocking in was going through the ceremony of live music with a band, and a cadence that sort of matched Hitler’s army. Fortunately, we were inside the palace and inside the gates watching as other tourists were barred outside and forced to watch through the fence.

Near El Palacio de Gobierno del Peru was the Palacio Municipal de Lima and Plaza de Armas. This was the series of buildings with the bright yellow and white paints. We didn’t necessarily go anywhere specific but below were lots of markets and merchants and people, or more so tourists, bustling around looking for good eats. I believe Karlayne and I went to eat somewhere near there and I got a hamburger and pastry with dulce de leche for about 3 soles, or $1 US. We had a quick lunch and rushed to meet at the plaza for our next stop, El Catedral de Lima and more specifically, El Museo del Convento de San Francisco. 

We weren’t allowed to take pictures because of the fact that it was a sacred place and the artifacts were really old; it seemed that the preservation process included no camera flashes, or cameras altogether. But everything inside the cathedral was extremely interesting. There were rooms dressed in gold and lots of pictures and sculptures depicting the different deaths of saints and martyrs. There was also an extensive collection of real human bones in the basement. The catacambas were laid out in different designs, different pits, and some even in their original form. The bodies in prehispanic times were buried facing the ground with possessions and things for the afterlife. The whole experience was creepy and interesting at the same time. There was, however, a consensus that the stench of dead bodies saturated the air. Our tour guide said that since there were no real cemeteries back then, people would lay dead bodies in the same kind of bit with just a blanket over the corpse. Once the body was completely decomposed, the bones would be thrown into a communal pit. We actually saw the communal pit although the archeologists had arranged them into one giant circle with the school scattered neatly in the middle. Another interesting piece in the museum was the Peruvian version of “The Last Supper.” In it, there is a round table instead of a long table and if you look hard enough, you can see Judas, who betrayed Jesus, pointing at himself with the images of 3 devils in the background. Another detail to make note of is the fact that there are more children in this painting that supposedly represents innocence.

After the museum, we went to Congreso de la Republica del Peru. We were stuck outside the building for quite some time before entering because we were unaware of the fact that shorts were not allowed in the building. A few of us were wearing shorts and as a compromise, those girls had to wrap sweaters around their hips in an attempt to cover their knees. We also had another problem at the door because both Alison and I had our wallets pick pocketed from us in Peru and had no proper identification. Luckily Henry was there with our passport numbers. 

At this point of the day everyone was practically falling asleep because it was such a long day. However, we went on with the tour, almost kind of dragging our feet from room to room. It was interesting to see where Congress operated and the woman informed us that Congress met once a week and once a month for the important issues. On the way out, Monica, Tess, me, and Henry noticed a few men outside hammering away at some video tapes. I pulled out my camera to take a picture but my memory was full. One of the men saw me take a picture and yelled for me to stop. He then proceeded to take a picture of us walking away. So no big deal, we’re probably on Peru’s hit list.