Machu Picchu

For some one who spends her peace corps career sleeping in till 9 every morning, this trip was a shock to my system. Every morning we were up at 6, except for the day we went to Machu Picchu when we woke up at 4:45 to try and get there for sunrise. I knew it was silly, cause all the mornings had been cloudy and rainy, but we still rushed out of our hostel like a bat out of hell. The boys didn’t even eat breakfast. When we got there it was raining and clouds were sitting on top off the hills so you couldn’t see anything 50 feet away from your face. When it came to be the hour for the sun to rise, nothing happened. It was just like some one was turning on a dimmer switch as the sky went from gray to slightly brighter gray. I could I have stayed in Lima to see that effect. I was thankful that I had been there in June with my parents to see the sun rise over the adjacent mountains. It was so beautiful and mystical but I was also grateful I could be there in December with the mist and fog on the mountains. That too was beautiful and mystical in another way.

In the morning Luis gave us the tour of the sacred city. It was a better, more thorough tour than I had with my parents in June, so it wasn’t all a re-run. We took about 1,000 pictures. Then the boys and I climbed Wayna Picchu, a steep mountain that over looks the ruins. Me and my dad did it two weeks before I ran a marathon and I remember feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Even though I was no where near in shape the way I was when I climbed it with my dad, but it didn’t even feel challenging this time around. I credit that to the fact that I had been acclimated to the altitude and was actually able to breath this time.

The sun came out around 9 o’clock in the morning and we enjoyed the rest of the warm day and the beautiful views that revealed themselves after the clouds lifted.

On top of the mountain Ryan pulled out an Almond Joy candy bar that he had been saving since Lima. He went out to a club and danced all night with the candy bar in his shirt pocket and then slept that night without taking it out. There was no real significance behind the candy bar, only that it was ours and we were going to share it as a victory celebration at Machu Picchu. So we ceremoniously feed each other the candy bar because we are complete weirdoes.

We wanted to hike beer up and enjoy a well deserved refreshment from atop Wayno Picchu, but we didn’t get our act together the night before.

All the boys wanted to stay at Machu Picchu as long as humanly possible. We were on the first bus up and they wanted to be on the last bus down. Stephanie however, had no desire to spend the entire day amongst a pile of rocks. Since I had already been to Machu Picchu, I offered to go down to Aguas Calientes and spend the rest of the day doing whatever she wanted.

We had Lunch at the hotel where my parents and I stayed. I ordered a dish that I had been dreaming about for six months, beef tenderloin in a elderberry sauce with a quinoa soufflé. We enjoyed the tranquil setting of the luxury hotel that contrasted the crowded town of Aguas Calientes and it’s slew of cheap hostels.

We decided to top off our Machu Picchu experience by getting a well deserved, full body message. Meanwhile, back at Ruins, the boys were synchronizing their ipods and running around again to the theme of Indiana Jones. They stayed until the last bus back down to Aguas Calientes where we all met up in the evening and recounted how we had spent the rest of the day.

At 6:30 we boarded a train back to Cusco. The landscape was dark and quite and the train comfortable and peaceful. The entire group for the first time on the trip was silent and lost in thought of the days events. Everyone agreed that we picked the perfect tour and the past 4 days had been one of the most unique experiences of our lives.

Since we had been up since 4:45 in the morning and had a day filled of mountain climbing and excitement, one might assume that this would be the night the boys would take it easy and go to bed. No No No. The boys had big plans for Cusco that night. After we got off the train in Ollantaytambo and onto a bus, every one fell asleep except for me, Ryan and Rico who were all drinking beer in the back and obnoxiously quoting every movie we could think of. The fun came to a screeching halt when we got to the hostel in Cusco and Ryan realized he had left his wallet and passport on the train. Operation Get Ryan’s Stuff Back was underway. I made about 10 phone calls and did all I could do for the night. But it was nearly midnight and there we would have to wait for the next day. We would have to put our plans to leave for Lake Titicaca in the morning on hold until we got everything back.

Cusco to Puno

It’s never fun when somebody looses something on vacation. Ryan had left not only his wallet but his passport as well on the bus. His somberness was contagious and we had all gone to bed a little worried, but hopeful none the less. The next morning all of the phone calls I made paid off. A man brought over all of Ryan’s things in the morning. While the terror one feels when loosing something is awful, the relief that person feels once the items are recovered are so much sweeter.

We had one last breakfast in Cusco with Bullon brothers before we parted ways. The Lucchessi brothers and Bullon brothers really hit it off and were sad to say goodbye. The 5 of us continuing on to Puno had an 8 hour bus ride ahead of us.

Because of the wallet incident, our departure time was pushed back and all of the nice tourist busses had already left in the morning, which mean we had to take a local bus. My friends had the good fortune of seeing a bit more of the “real Peru”. This run down bus stopped every 15 minutes, often times at the side of the road, to pick up and drop off passengers. The people that got off and on were traditional Andean folk, many of them unshowered and lugging on bundles of produce and occasionally animals.

We were in the back of the bus and drinking heavily. At one point, two Peruvian gentlemen filled the last two seats next to Ryan, Steph and Eric, and they offered them a beer and attempted conversation. Rico and I were sitting together in front of them and laughing hysterically at Stephanie and Eric’s attempt to speak Spanish. But I have to give them credit for trying.

The bus stopped so many times it was hard to remain patient. My friends didn’t seem to mind and actually enjoyed their local experience. And finally after a very long bus ride we arrived in Puno and saw the dark outline of Lake Titicaca. Puno is so poor that unlike uber-touristy cusco, we were able to afford a hotel for the same price we paid for a hostel in Cusco. It was after 10 by the time we arrived so Steph went strait to bed and the rest of us went out for a drink.

Lake Titicaca

6:30 the next morning, we were up and ready to take our tour of lake Titicaca. We were picked up from our hotel and boarded a small comfortable boat. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world that straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia.

We were all so excited to be on a boat. In our trip so far we had taken so many types of transportation: Planes, trains, cars, zip lines, paragliding, walking, hiking swimming, and how we were adding boat.

Just 45 minutes off the shore of Puno, we reached the floating Uros Islands. These Islands have been around for hundreds of years and are made up of reeds that grow all over the lake. Not only are the islands comprised of reeds but the houses and just about everything else on the Islands are made from these reeds too. They even eat them! We got to try them and they are pretty tastey actually.

Eric, could not seem to wrap his brain around the concept of living on a floating island and didn’t understand why these people didn’t just move to the mainland. I tried to explain to him that he was using his US mentality to try to make sense of the Andean culture. To me it was simple. These people don’t leave the house when they turn 18. Their whole life is their family and they stay with them from cradle to gave. Leaving home is mutinous. But still, it seemed to me the Uros existence on the island was no longer about tradition and all about tourism.

After the floating islands we got back on the boat and went into the lake another 2 hours till we got to a natural island named Taquile which has about 3,000 inhabitants. The City of Puno is incredible isolated. It’s 12,500 feet up in the Andes mountains and very inaccessible. These people were living on an island, 3hours away on a modern boat from Puno. This island is probably the most remote place I have ever been in my life. It was pretty crazy.

My group seemed to love Puno and Lake Titicaca. They thought it was mystical and beautiful. I don’t know why, but Puno made me feel weird. I wasn’t a happy, relaxed tourist as I had been in all the other places we had visited. I couldn’t shake the idea from my head that this place was hopeless from a development standpoint. These people lived so poorly and isolated that I couldn't foresee their situation improving in my lifetime.

The original Inca gods are said to have emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca. For the Andean people, the lake is wrought with folklore and legend. Stephanie loved the floating Islands and Eric was fascinated with the stone arches and history of Taquile island. Lake Titicaca was exactly what I was expecting. And while others were blown away by it’s awesomeness, I must admit that I didn’t find it all that impressive.

There was very little to see or do in the town of Puno. We took some recommendations from our Lonely planet book and went to bars and restaurants. Since Puno was so poor, everything was very cheap, espeically in comparison to Cusco. We ate some of the best food we had on the entire trip in Puno. The boys found their favorite bar in all of Peru there as well.

Saturday night was the boys last day in Peru. They had a flight our Puno at 9 on Sunday morning back to Lima. From Lima they stopped in El Salvedor and finally arrived in San Francisco around midnight. All three of the boys had work that Monday morning. Most people I know, would want a good nights sleep before that, but the Lucchessi brothers. They didn’t sleep at all. Instead, they drank all night long. Ryan knocked on my door at 5 in the morning to tell me all about he was the only white guy in the entire club and amazing his night had been.
They were so drunk at 7 in the morning when the van for the airport came to pick them up. It’s a wonder at all they made every single one of their connections. I was very sad to see them go. There wasn’t a moment with these boys that I wasn’t smiling of laughing. They were the best travel companions I could have asked for.
Stephanie was relieved to see them go so she could start phase II of our trip: the relaxing phase.

The Last Few Relaxing Days

The next few days with Steph was the complete opposite of the way we had been traveling with the boys. We planned nothing and did nothing especially. We spent a day in the City of Arequipa, a beautiful colonial city that made a Puno a distant memory. We spent our time there reading in parks and sitting in restaurants playing cards.

Then we finally descended down the mountains on an overnight bus and back to the coastal desert. We went to Ica, 300 kilometers south of Lima. Ica is known for the famous Nazca Lines, the Balleros Islands aka the poor mans Galapagos and it’s Peru’s wine producing region. Steph and I saw none of that. Instead, we spent the rest of our trip in a desert Oasis known as Huacachina. We laid by the pool for a few days doing nothing besides reading, playing cards and getting to know the fellow travelers.

One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting new people. But since we were with such a big group for most of our trip, I didn’t interact with many other people than the boys and Steph. Huacachina provided me with the opportunity to make up for the past week of being antisocial.
On the third day we finally did something. We dune buggying and sand boarding. It was really fun and since it is so close to Lima, can’t wait to go back and do it again.

Our epic journey ended very uneventfully. While I would have preferred a bit more excitement on the last leg of our trip, Steph was content with amount of nothingness that we accomplished. After our trip around Peru, Steph saw Lima with brand new eyes. When she first arrived, she didn’t think Lima was all that nice. But after being up in the Andes and seeing places like the tiny villages outside Machu Picchu and “cities” like Puno, Lima seemed like the hub of modernity. Indeed it is for Peru. I can only imagine how she felt when she arrived back in LA.

As for me, I was very sad to say goodbye. Steph is one of my best friends and I’m so fortunate to have been able to share my time in the Peace Corps and in Peru with her.

Greetings from Arequipa

I haven`t posted since thanksgiving. My friends arrived on the 28th of November and since then I have been having a whirlwind experience. Right now I´m in Arequipa and heading out on an overnight Bus tonight. I hiked the Inka trail, took a boat around lake Titicaca and went paragluiding off the cliffs in Lima. I have tons of stories and lot´s of amazing picture to share. I will start posting them this weekend.

I can´t believe it December already!

Best Turkey of My Life

No offense mom, or to any other person who's turkey I've consumed over the years, but this Thanksgiving I had the best turkey ever. I'm normally not a big turkey girl, I'm in it more for the sides: green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie are usually the items that have me salivating come November.

Peru has given me a new appreciation towards proteins. I really do view meat as a luxury now that I live with a family that considers chicken feet a great source of amino acids. But even taking into account my love of consuming things that were once alive, I still never thought I would have the most amazing Thanksgiving turkey here in Peru.

I've been making a big effort to expand my social circle in Lima. I made a good group of friends early on and realized recently that I wasn't making an attempt to meet new people outside the sanctity of my known network. But since coming back from medevac in September I was ready to put myself out there again and expand my horizons. Even in the states I never had just one set of friends. My social circles have always run deep. Especially when living in a foreign country where people are always moving away, it's good to have reserves.

What does all of this have to do with the best Turkey I ever ate? Well, if it wasn't for my recent social expansion, I never would have eaten this turkey. I met a girl named Ryan who is dating the head of diplomatic security for the embassy. Anthony is a big guy, I would guess 6'5'' with buzzed blond hair and some fat tattoos. His demeanor is tough but he is a big softy and is becoming a good friend. He really loves to cook and hosting thanksgiving dinner was his idea. Along with sharing a love a cooking, Anthony and I share another love, sausage. The other week we discovered our shared passion and had an hour long discussion on all things linked. I always complain that you can't find good sausage in Peru and Anthony told me at the commissary at the US embassy sells all kinds of good sausage. Since I am not allowed to shop at the commissary, Anthony has agreed to be my sausage hook-up. Ryan's okay with that too.

Pictured above, Winos.

So Thanksgiving this year, instead of cooking a whole turkey, Anthony got a long, lean chunk of turkey (I don't know what to call it, it looked like a big pork loin) and stuffed it with Italian sausage. Sausage stuffed turkey!! There aren't words to describe the delight I took in eating this masterpiece of a dish. When I have a readily available supply of sausage I will make this incredible meal for my family.

Apart from the turkey, my thanksgiving was lovely. I have spent the night at Ryan and Anthony's before and they are so good to me, that their place is beginning to feel like another home away from home. There is a group of girls I've been hanging out with lately, all of whom were there. I invited Josh, the new water and sanitation PCVC and recent Bolivan evacuee to come with me. Josh reminds me of my friends from home because all he does is make fun of me. It wouldn't be thanksgiving without someone giving me a hard time the whole night. We went through so many bottles of wine and at the end of the night were so full of good food, good wine and good friends.

The best part is that this is only thanksgiving take one! Take two commences tomorrow night at Tania's house. Today Ryan and Eric Lucchessi and Stephanie are all arriving from California. They are going to spend two days in Lima and then we are all flying to Cusco to climb the Inca trail.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I am thankful that you care about me enough to read about my life. I miss you all!

Baby Mama Drama

When I first moved into my current host family’s house, one of the sons named Arturo had recently moved out and was living with his pregnant girlfriend. I didn’t have any sort of opinion about him at first. A little cocky, but he seemed nice enough.

After a few months of living here, Viviana started telling me her opinion of her little brother. As the youngest of all the kids and a boy, Viviana felt her mother coddled and spoiled him. She would defent her son no matter how wrong he was. If Arturo were to kill some one, his mother would say the victim had it coming and that Arturo was still a saint. Viviana said that in reality, her brother is not a very nice person. He is a sloppy drunk who likes to come home and hit his pregnant girlfriend. And my host mom knows about it but says it’s Erika’s (the girlfriends) own fault and that Arturo has every right to do what he wants because he is the man and Erika should learn her place.

Whenever Erika and Arturo would get into a fight, Arturo would come over to our house and my host mom would rant about how terrible Erika is and how perfect Arturo is. From what I know of Erika, I like her. She’s a nurse and Arturo doesn’t work and mooches off his pregnant girlfriend and his parents. I detest the whole situation. The fact that my host mom actually defends him abusing his girlfriend makes me sick.

Their baby was born while my parents were visiting in June. I saw the baby a few times in July and by the time I had come back from the states in September, Arturo and Erika has split up, moved out of their apartment and both of them were back living with their parents. My host mom blamed the whole break up on Erika and her inability to take care of Arturo. Knowing his history of abuse with both alcohol and women, I questioned whether or not I should stay in the house now that he was living in the room next to mine. I didn’t feel my safety was threatened but that it was more a matter of principle. I didn’t want to approve his behavior by remaining the house.

This situation unfortunately, is not uncommon for Peace Corps volunteers to face. Domestic violence is so common here along with the mentality that a man has the right to do whatever he wants to. After a lot of thought I decided to stay in the house. I haven’t had any problems with him, but he is very cold to me. Not in a vicious way, but in a spiteful, immature way. I’m a young girl that has the world at her feet and I’m living in his house taking his attention away from his parents who adore me. He doesn’t like my independence and only speaks to me in a condescending manner.

I had no idea what was happening with his daughter who he had abandoned or how much support he was giving ex. My host mom continued to spit at the mention of her name. Then, Thursday night I went down stairs and the whole family was sitting in the living room having a very intense conversation which I didn’t hear much of except for Viviana screaming “it’s not fair, it’s not fair!” and Arturo eventually got up and walked out the front door. Turns out, Erika is pregnant again! If my math skills are correct, she got knocked up 2 months after the pair split.
My host mom of course, blames Erika for getting pregnant. Her perfect some couldn’t be the cause of doing something so stupid. The family discussion that night was about what they were going to do. Arturo and Erika couldn’t afford another apartment at the moment and my host family wasn’t going to stand by and let Arturo bail on his 5 month old daughter and his pregnant ex. So tonight, Erika and the baby moved into the room next to mine. Ay ay ay! Erika and Arturo do not get along. My host mom does not like Erika and blames her for ruining her sons life.

This is going to be interesting. Maybe after the time I spend in Lima for Thanksgiving and the trip I’m taking with Stephanie and my friends, I’ll come back to my home and they’ll be broken up again and she’ll be moved out. I for the life of my can imagine being in either Erika or Arturo’s shoes. I feel like I should pull out some of my sexuality class material and give them a lesson on birth control.