Goodbye Arequipa, Hello Bolivia

Wow. The past week has really been an adventure. Finishing up my time in Arequipa and then trekking out to Bolivia for a week has been quite an adventure. My last two days in Arequipa consisted of many sad goodbyes to my amazing students as well as my wonderful fellow volunteers and staff members. I spend the day gathering a few last minute things (candy, scarf, hat, etc.) and decided to stop by the office. Turns out that a fair number of people were in to heading over the San Camilo market to try some frog juice (Li had tried some and wasn’t about to recommend it as a go-to option but I thought I’d give it a try).  Turns out that 10 Soles buys one not only the juice but the entire show of preparation. This involves showing us a live frog, showing us the best way to kill it (by smacking it against the ground) and then skinning it and boiling it. After all this, it is thrown in a blender along with some yellowish (cornmeal-esque) stuff and served warm. Kind of tasted like warm rotten banana juice and I imagine might be better served cold. Nevertheless, our group was determined to finish it all since Li’s group had failed to do so (yea…we have a competitive spirit…so what). We documented our success, and I marked frog juice (jugo de rana) off my list of things to do. The rest of the day was spent packing and getting ready to catch my bus (had to be at the bus station around 5am…)

I spent the last night in the volunteer house just chillin with cool folk. Said my goodbyes and caught my taxi in the wee hours of the morning to make it to the bus terminal. Now, there are no direct buses from Arequipa to La Paz, Bolivia. So I was told that I should simply go to Puno (on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca) and I’d be able to do everything from there.  What I was not told was that I’d end up having to get out and push my bus that broke down a few blocks from the station. After receiving poor directions on where exactly the bus terminal was (read ‘terminal’ = just some buses that are in the same area but it isn’t a building or designated area per se…). Grabbed a bus to Desaguadero (vaguely remembered this name from the Lonely Planet guide book but was not at all sure if it was where I was supposed to go). Turned out to be a town on the border between Bolivia and Peru. After a hassle with Peruvian officials (who wanted some airport form that I was not given upon landing…), I crossed over to Bolivia. It wasn’t until I walked into Bolivian immigration that I recalled the tension between the U.S. and Bolivia. This all came front and center when they demanded US$135 for a visa. After a lot of hassle and money exchanging (since I had soles and the closest ATM was in Puno…), I made it through and grabbed a 2-hour taxi ride to La Paz for about $3. Arriving at the Wild Rover (crazy Irish party hostel that my friend Gemma recommened) after about 13 hours of travel was fantastic. The guy at the door answered in English and after a day of arguments and bartering in Spanish, it was nice to just check-in and confirm my reservation all in English. 

La Paz was an interesting and quite unique experience. Though Gemma had originally created this wonderful itinerary, all the issues at the border had me go straight to La Paz and skip Copacabana. Then, upon arrival, I learned from the travel agent that Bolivian farmers had been burning the forest near where my planned amazon jungle trek. Thus, it was then impossible to get a flight to the jungle and the 22-hour bus ride sounded less appealing after she informed me that driving drunk is not uncommon for the local drivers on long distance journeys (not to mention the fact that the amazon city destination is only about 100 or 150 miles away from La Paz but the roads themselves are incredibly dangerous that one is required to go so slowly for 22 hours to get there...) So in the in end, I opted to spend the middle part of the week in Copacabana, a nice small town on the lake front of Titicaca (highest lake in the world). It was a peaceful and calm experience that was much appreciated after spending a few days in the bustling city of La Paz. 

Copacabana from the shoreline

Interesting figure found after crossing the lake (en route to Copcabana)

My view for lunch

My lunch (2 other courses served as well...)

View on way down from top of Isla De Sol

I returned to La Paz on Thursday and spent more time exploring the city (and trying the "World's Hottest Vindaloo" for which I received a free t-shirt since I ate my whole meal (didn't have my camera but pictures were taken by some friends in La Paz and hopefully I'll be able to get them soon. I was in pain given that the dish itself is 40% ground up Bolivian chili peppers).  

I left early Sunday morning and arrived at my present location (Cusco) late Sunday night. The 12-hour international trip back to Peru was a much more enjoyable experience (especially since I didn't have to change buses or pay US$135 to leave Bolivia!). I've met up with my volunteer friends Michael, Gemma, Matt, and Anika here at the Southern Comfort (fresh pancakes w/ chocolate every morning = awesome). More on the Cusco experience to come soon.  I think I'll try and post a lot more pictures with shorter descriptions. Until next time.

Culture Day (Friday Aug 13th) and Arequipa Day (Sunday Aug 15th)

What a weekend.  It passed so quickly that we're already midweek, and I'm just now getting to write about the amazingness that was both Culture Day (at the school) and Arequipa Day (for the whole city).
On Friday the 13th (my students told me that they had heard of the superstition but that belief in such things wasn't widely accepted in many parts of Peru), myself and the other volunteers all prepared meals/desserts/snacks related to our chosen country (though I had thought of representing my motherland the United States, I decided to choose Nigeria and prepare more interesting dishes).  Earlier that morning, I was able to scramble together and make fried platanos (plantains), which I love when they are hot and fresh but I also will eat well after they have gone cold.  Additionally, with the help and expert advice of my homestay sister Cecelia, I was able to throw together a Tres Leches Cake (a traditionally Peruvian cake) that I painted Green-White-Green (the colors of the Nigerian flag).

So it was indeed a fusion of cultures. We decided to save the cake for our final activities on the Cancha (the playground).  We let all the kids in around 3:30pm and our day of culture commenced. Each student went around to different tables and had to fill in worksheets related to that specific country while also listening to the country host talk about different aspects of their nation.  My goal for the day was to stress the fact that Nigeria was one of the many countries located in Africa, which happens to be a continent. Given that the map in our classroom originally did not contain any factual information on Africa (except that the continent's language was English???), I figured that we might be able to remedy this situation by repeatedly stressing Africa's status as a continent made up of many countries and that these countries all have a variety of different languages that, in many cases, are quite far from English (though Nigeria's official language does happen to be English). After about an hour of indoor activities and lots of snacks (I basically ate a fried platano each time one of the kids took one...), we made our way down to the Cancha for organized games and cake.  I opted to cut the cake. Given that there were 40+ kids and not that much cake available, I decided to start with relatively small pieces, so as to make sure all the kids got  some. Turns out that there was plenty left over after this process, but all of this ended up being divided between the 15 or so volunteers and staff. I thoroughly enjoyed the cake (which isn't saying much since I love milk and this cake is literally soaked in three different types of milk).  After the Cancha, we all returned to the classrooms and cleaned up our respective areas. Everyone concluded that the day was a success and that it should definitely be repeated in the future. Some pictures from the day are below.

 

 

Arequipa Day!

What an adventure.  It's really a whole weekend. Activities started on Saturday, August 14th. Myself and the other volunteers met up around 7:30pm at the main plaza (which, of course, is a bad idea on the day before Arequipa Day because the whole center is packed with people and it's incredibly hard to find people in such a mess, but we succeeded).  We attended the most bizarre concert, the setting of which was an old highway blocked off by police.  Large speakers and a medium-sized stage were moved in for the performers.  Nevertheless, the very strange and unusual parts of the show were the audiences reaction to everything happening on stage.  No one looked happy.  No one was dancing. Only a few people could be seen mouthing the words, and, even then, their faces looked expressionless. Myself and the other gringos attempted to liven up the party by dancing awkwardly (which is always fun), and, of course, we drew a fair amount of attention (it also helps that the large majority of Peruvians are short, such that I, at 6 feet exactly, can see well above the heads of everyone in front of me and Matt, the 6' 5'' Australian, receives points and laughter from all the people (kids AND adults) that see him walking around).  We left after a couple of hours and decided to retire in preparation for Arequipa Day.
Sadly, the ongoing festivities throughout the city (we went to one of the at least 4 concerts that night) thwarted our efforts to get a good night's sleep. We all could hear rather loud music blaring till about 6AM (I guess we were lame and went home before the REAL party started).

The whole afternoon affair of parades and dances started at 10am, and we all decided to book a place on the rooftop of a restaurant starting at noon and going till whenever (they told us it ends anytime between 8 and 11pm). After a scramble through the vicious and claustrophobic-inducing crowd at the corner, I slipped into the restaurant. After going upstairs, I discovered that the owner had sold too many tickets and our front row seats and view of the parade were taken. However, the next roof over was relatively empty and only cost 8 soles (under $3) to sit there (he had charge us 21 soles!).
Others got lost in the crowd, and, as I later found out, were stuck for almost an hour at a single corner. I didn't understand how this was possible till Debbie (another volunteer) and I ventured over to her hostel to grab the bottles of wine that all the volunteers has stored there for the night (since the stores were closed on Arequipa Day, we had to buy wine the day before). On the trip over, we were physically forced on top of the much smaller people in front of us and after 5 minutes decided to walk around the the block instead of trying to attempt another passage through a dangerous corner.  On the return trip, I thought that this same corner looked less traveled and that we could make it if we went quickly. Bad decision. Upon arriving at the corner, I discovered that people were only traveling in the opposite direction. All people forcing and pushing me backwards. I attempted to hold ground and on to my bag that contained our wine! Debbie pushed forward and we were all at a stand still. Then, the shouts in Spanish began. People looking at me (remember I'm taller than everyone in this crowd) and yelling random things that I cannot fully understand. I start to sweat and I'm wondering how exactly were going to get out of this. I ask Debbie if she can back up and she tells me that there is now a crowd behind her as well. I'm looking around and quite unsure if we will ever be free. And then...there it is! A small opening arises from a man who disappears and I use my entire body to make it into this gap. I feel my elbow hit some old guy in the face (sorry?) and then I use the momentum to barrel through the next four people and bam. I'm in the open. Free at last (to steal MLK's words). Debbie and I spent a few minutes recovering and recounting the event. Then we rallied and made our way back to the roof.   The rest of the afternoon was a mix of wine, oranges, chips, chifa, and sandwiches. For dinner, we stopped at a fantastic falafel place called Fez on the way home. Though it took a while (and I was already full), it was quite fantastic.  A great end to wonderful day.  Lots of pictures from the rooftop are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colca Canyon

Well, this post is a few days overdue, but I wanted to describe this wonderful past weekend in Colca Canyon.  Colca is only a little over 100 miles away from Arequipa, but given the mountainous terrain, it takes about five to six hours by bus to get there. Myself, Li, and four other volunteers (Emma, Michael, Nicole, and Kelly) booked our 3 day tour through TNT (the same organization that we all work for). Lucky for us, the whole adventure begins with a 3AM pick up from the volunteer house on late Thursday night/technically Friday morning.  After a sleepless busride (I think Emma slept through it all but I definitely didn't get more than an hour or so), we arrived in a small town (whose name I've already forgotten) located less than a mile from the beginning of our trekking adventure.  After a hour of roaming practically all the streets of this small town (and meeting the many dogs, donkeys, and horses that make up its inhabitants), we sat down for a nice lunch. We were lucky enough to try authentic coca tea (fresh coca leaves served with hot water as opposed to some processed or pre-mad teabags). Shortly afterward, we set out on our adventure.

30 minutes later, we were standing at the top of a gorge looking down at our destination: the bottom of the canyon. Technically, since we were thousands of feet above the next resting point, I couldn't see where we were headed until about an hour into the trek. Turns out that there is an amazing oasis at the bottom, complete with a pool, tiki bar, and camp site.  After a 2.5 hour downhill walk/jog/hike, we found ourselves amidst beautiful luscious greenery, fading sunlight, and a very blue pool. We sat down to consume the best-tasting oranges ever, but sadly the dream was only short lived as we had to continue our hike (this time uphill) to make to Malata (a small town in the canyon) by nightfall.  After about 2 more hours, we arrived at our hostel just in time for sunset and a wonderful and exciting dinner.

We were all exhausted from the long day of hiking so after a brief bit of star gazing (middle of nowhere + no pollution = great viewing), we all went to sleep.  About 11 hours later, I woke up. We spent the day eating, working on the local farm (and drinking some of the local corn brew), eating traditional food, visiting the one-room "museum," eating some more, and passing through the adjacent town to see the region's only school and one-room medical clinic (which I'm told is not adequately stocked with medications for anything more serious than the common cold). We all decided to go to bed early given our 4:30am wake up call the next morning...

At 5:00am, we set out on the long trek back the way we came (with no stop at the oasis this time...). Though we had flashlights, the moonlight was bright enough to offer guidance as we meandered our way down one side of the canyon. After roughly 30-40 minutes, we found ourselves at the bottom of the canyon and in preparation for a climb to the top. The next 2-3 hours were spent in a grueling, exhausting, and dehydrating climb to the top. Luckily I had my ipod and the Rocky soundtrack proved as inspirational as ever (my brother and I watched the five-part Rocky series more times than we can count...).  Around 7:30am, I found myself at the top and Nicole was already waiting and looking like she could do the whole thing over again. I, on the other hand, was exhausted, and I sat down to eat what tasted like one of the best oranges of my life. By 8:30ish, the rest of the party arrived, and we went back into town for a nice hot breakfast and a trip home.

Two fantastic surprises on the way home. First, a trip to a group of hot springs. A fantastic way to relax after a morning such as this one.  This was followed by a trip to an all-you-can-eat Peruvian food buffet! I decided to forego a beverage and saved all my room for food.  A decision I remained happy with after the feast.  Sleep and music describe the final parts of the bus ride home.  All in all, a fantastic weekend and a highly recommended excursion for anyone traveling to Peru.