Welcome to the Jungle!

Another busy weekend, full of adventure has come to an end yet again. This time a group of us decided to go to the Peruvian jungle, called Manu. This is part of the Amazon jungle that spreads across a few countries in central South America. There are 3 different zones within Manu, the cultural zone, the reserved zone and the intangible zone. Because we were only going for 3 days we were only able to see the cultural zone but on longer trips people are able to go deeper.

We booked with a company call Manu Adventures (which had been recommended to us by some other girls) and they picked us up by at the casa at 5:30am Saturday morning. There were 6 of us plus 2 other ladies, a cook, our guide and the driver all packed into a van. We drove for 9 hours up and over mountains and on the side of cliffs. I thought the ride to Paucartambo was bad, but that was nothing! This was much, much worse. We had lunch and bathroom breaks along the way as well as walks to see birds, plants and the pretty views. Finally we made it to our first lodge which was quite nice, it had a kitchen and dinning room, 2 different bunk houses with double rooms as well as bathrooms and showers. There's no electricity in the jungle but lights were needed to prepare and eat dinner, so I believe there was a generator that ran for 3 or 4 hours until 9pm. We had a 3 course dinner including soup, main meal and desert plus delicious bread, after this feast I was ready for bed. Sleeping was so nice because of the sound of running water (from a near by river), all the little animal sounds and the pitch blackness.

The second day was extremely busy. We woke up, had breakfast and headed back down to the vans where we were able to see monkeys in the trees overlooking the road. We then drove another 2 hours to a small village where we would start our white water rafting adventure. It was only class I and II rapids, so nothing compared to the Kennebec but still a lot of fun. We beached at a small river community where the van was waiting for us with all of our belongings. We boarded a typical, jungle looking boat and motored down the river to our second lodge, which was right on the water. We ate lunch and then headed out for our canopy tour (aka zip line). It was quite a hot, sweaty hike up to the beginning platform while carrying all our gear for the zip line. At the top we had a break and an info session and then it was time to go! One of the guides was the first to go, then it was my turn. I was literally hugging the tree for dear life as they were strapping me in and my tour guide was giving me a pep talk. But then I had to sit down with my legs cross and away I went. It was so scary and I screamed like a baby at first but then I got really into it. There were 4 lines that we all went on through different parts of the canopy, it was gorgeous and so much fun. But then when we got to the last platform I was looking around and saw no ladder, no steps but just a bungee with a a j hook. I then learned that we had to repel down this tree using a rope and a figure 8, I almost shit my pants once again. I ended up doing and it though and it was fine, not that bad at all.

It was almost dark when we got back so we relaxed and waited for dinner. At this point I hadn't showered in almost 2 days and was extremely stinky, but we were going on a night walk so I planned to shower when we got back. After another delicious 3 course dinner I had to go to the bathroom so I head to the back of our bunk house opened and closed the door, wiped some ants off the toilet seat and went to sit down. This is when I noticed a MASSIVE, HUGE spider on the wall, I am not exaggerating here. I ran out with my pants down and went to tell the others. Our guide came and looked at it and told us it's called the Scorpion Spider, the largest in the Amazon. Great, just great the bathroom I choose to go into and there's a spider the size of Texas on the wall. Needless to say I did not take a shower or use the bathroom again that night. I did go on the night walk and saw some more nasty spiders, huge ants and frogs.

The third morning we got up at 5:30am to take the boat and view the blue-headed macaws (I think) eat the clay off the side of a cliff. This is good for their digestive system. After that we came back, had breakfast and the 6 of us packed up because the rest of the people were staying for an extra day. On our way back on the boat we stopped at an island and went to a pond to view more birds and butterflies. We arrived at the town we had stopped at with the rafts and boarded the hot van. It was then time to make the long journey back to Cusco. We arrived around 8ish Monday night, which wasn't too bad. Even though I spent most of the time scared out of my mind, I'm still glad I did it.

On the tour we met 2 ladies, 1 from Greece who spoke Spanish, some English and I'm assuming Greek, 1 from Ganada who only spoke French and Spanish as well as a very nice Norwegian man. It was interesting to talk to him especially because he was a junior high school teacher, who taught PE, religion and Social Studies. Everyone in Norway has to take religion as well as English beginning at grade 2 then Spanish, French or German in high school. The last thin he said to us was try not to start a war in Cusco, I'm so glad that's what the US is known for.

Peruvian Donuts

The past couple of days have been pretty normal, classes, meals and homework. Yesterday during my art class we went to a pottery studio where Mary (the other girl in my class) and I had a chance to spin a pot. Yes I did take pottery in high school, but even then I couldn't center it and now they expect me to do it with instructions from a man who only speaks Spanish! So although he did most of the work, I'm still going to take credit for it:) We're planning on going back next Tuesday to maybe do some painting. Then today our professor took us to the Inca Museum close to the University. Here we were able to see pre-Hispanic artwork, that we had been studying as well as some Inca and Spanish artifacts. It was interesting and much better then just him lecturing to us, especially because his English is choppy. Spanish is super easy, I mean yes my speaking skills are still not where I want then to be but in class we are going over numbers, verbs in the present tense and some common vocab. Although it's easy, its nice to be refreshing my memory on stuff I haven't learned since my freshman or sophomore year in high school. Tomorrow we have midterms which I'm not that worried about, right now I have a 19/20 in Spanish and in art I should be able to come up with something to write since we've talked a lot about what's going to be on the test.

Absolutely, the highlight of my week has been finding this little bakery close to La Casa that serves what are called donnas. They looked very much like a piece of fried dough and since I've never been known to give up the chance for fried dough, I got one. When ordering I asked if it was dulce (sweet) and I was told yes and that they are highly addictive. So I took my little package of powered sugared, fried dough to the street where I sunk my teeth into the pastry. To my surprise it had a filling! I believe it was apple, but whatever it was it was delicious!! When I left the man told me that he'd see me again, and he was definitely right.

This weekend we are going to Manu, part of the Amazon here in Peru. 5 of us are going on the trip which starts Saturday morning and ends Monday night (I'm skipping classes Monday). During our time in the Jungle we will be whitewater rafting and going on a zip line. I'm really excited to go and experience all this, what I'm not excited about it the ride yet again on the side of a mountain.

One, Very Busy Weekend

Again, I know it's been a while since I've blogged but I think after reading this post you'll understand why.

Although I wasn't in Bethel to attend Mollyockett Day (my first time ever) last Saturday I still was able to go to a festival. Some of us went to Paucartambo, a well known city in Peru for it's festival for the Virgin Carmen. So last Friday Lauren, Lindsy and I, as well as the photography professor at the University climbed into a taxi. The city is about 3 hrs away from Cusco and the next time anyone complains about the roads in Maine please be thankful that you have pavement, guard rails and aren't on the side of a mountain. We road in a taxi, on a very small, two lane, dirt road, meeting buses along the way. I guess Peruvians have something against creating tunnels or bridges because we literally wove our way up and around mountains. After having this experience we arrived in Paucartambo and ended up sleeping on the floor of a primary school classroom. Although we didn't sleep much because we arrived at 11:30ish and then had to wake up around 3am to climb yet another mountain to go see the sun rise. This is part of the festival, the town pilgrimages (by car today) their way up the mountain to a place called Tres Cruces. There were hundreds of people just staring towards the sky, waiting for the sun. Here we were at the edge of the Andes and while we were all looking east waiting, we could see the jungle, Manu (which I happen to be heading to next weekend). It was amazingly beautiful to be at the top of an Andean mountain, watching the sun rise. This place is famous because just as the sun is coming up, if you look directly at it bounces up and down. It is extremely hard to describe, it's like the sun is dancing in front of you. This optical illusion has something to do with the altitude and the sun reflecting off the atmosphere, how it works I'm not quite sure.

When we got back into town around 10am, we went to the church and saw the Virgin Carmen. There was a procession in the morning along with the dancers which represent the different people of Peru. There were the nurses/doctors, the rich, the jungle people, the black slaves (who were brought over by the Spanish but weren't able to cope with the altitude) as well as many other groups. The large procession was to begin at 3pm, so in between we had soup for lunch and walked around the town. At quarter to we found places to watch as the Virgin was brought out of the church and accompanied by the band and the dancers. As she made her way through the streets she was threatened by dancers dressed as the devil who were on the rooftops. This festival was much different than small town Bethel's Mollyockett Day where children can't even ride on the top of the fire trucks nor can there be any sirens. Here there were crowds of people, a huge band and people dancing on the roofs of houses.

After a long ride back to Cusco we got dropped off at the Plaza and were able to drop off the sleeping bags we rented. We got back to La Casa and I took a shower and went to bed. Because the next day we had to be ready to go 8:15am for our tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The tour bus picked us up at and we again found ourselves winding up mountains but fortunately these were paved and much wider. The ride itself was worth the experience but we also went to the Inca ruins of Pisac and Ollantaytambo and the church at Chincero. The tour was amazing, the mountains and views were incredible, but I wish we had had more time to explore the ruins. It was only a one day thing and I understand that, so we were back in Cusco around 6:30pm. We decided to go and have pizza, this was my first experience with avocado on pizza and it was delicious!

It's like I've stepped back in time here. As we were traveling through the valley we saw the Andean people herding sheep and cows as well as using them to plow their fields. The 21st century has yet to hit these people and I'm sure nothing much has changed in the way they do things in a hundred years. In Chincero we watched a traditional weaving demonstration. And here the women showed us how they used a root which they added to water to create a natural shampoo. As she shook her hand in the water it immediately turned bubbly like foam soap. It's incredible and fascinating to me that these people are still following the ways of the Incas.

And after a long tiring weekend, I have classes all week and midterms Friday.

Peru a Wedgie-less Country

I know I haven't blogged in a couple of days, partially due to the fact that the internet is loco and also because I'm lazy:)

The past couple of days have been pretty quiet. I go to art class in the morning, which isn't hard but extremely boring. Then I head back to La Casa or to the supermarket or do other errands, but I usually have a couple of hours at least to hang out and each lunch. Then I go back to the University for Spanish at 3. I look forward to this class everyday because we all get along so well and the teacher is really funny. He thinks his girlfriend is Shakira and he says Jesus Christ and fuck. Today somehow we got on the topic of wedgies and he had no idea what a wedgie was even though his English is really good we thought maybe he just doesn't know the English word. So he looked it up on the internet and still really didn't understand, he's never seen anyone give another person a wedgie. People here don't do that, which I thought was really interesting. Also today we talked about gestures in America as well as here in Peru. It got quite dirty, really fast. He keeps telling us that after this course he's going to loose his job. After class we were going back to La Casa for dinner and someone asked him if he wanted to join and he said sure. So he came back with us, had dinner and got to listen to some pure American rap music (I don't think he liked it).

Breaking News!! I have my luggage, finally!! Yesterday I called Cusco and Portland through skype and found out that my luggage was in Lima (but I was told that last Friday). Then Mom called NY and Lima and LaGuardia told her that my luggage was due to arrive in Cusco on the 3pm flight. I had class a 3 so I had to wait till 6 when I got out of class to see if my bag was at the hotel. I didn't want to get my hopes up since I had been told many times that my bag would be here today or tomorrow. But when I got back to La Casa the guy at the front desk, Julio, I believe told me that my bag was in my room. YAH!! I was so happy, I hugged and kissed him (which isn't uncommon here) and almost burst into tears. This was such a relief after after almost a week of stressing. Last night I unpacked and put my stuff into the wardrobe I share with my roommate, Paola and then took a shower and shaved my underarms which were probably an inch long. I got on clean clothes and went to bed. It was so nice and then I woke up this morning and was able to have choices as to what I wanted to wear.

The staff here does your laundry for you, which is nice and all but it makes me nervous because I don't want them to steal anything. I'd rather just do it myself but unfortunately all the places in town are just like that. There's no laundromats like in the US. So I'm going to do as little as possible and maybe get some laundry detergent so I can wash some of my nicer things in the sink in my room.

I'm just so happy that my bag arrived and hopefully I've used up all my bad luck so that the rest of my time here in Peru goes smoothly!

The start of a new week....

Today being Monday, I had my art and design class at 8am. This sucks because without my suitcase (which I still don't have) I have no alarm clock so I have to make sure and watch my clock. Fortunately there's quite a few others who also have 8am class. During my 2 hr art and design class we talked about Inca and Spanish culture and how the two butted heads when the Spanish arrived. We then went out into town to look at a imitation, baroque artwork on a store front then we went across the street to the textile museum. A woman started this because she believed original weaving and the use of natural dyes were becoming sparse with the increase of tourism. So in the museum there were 2 women dressed in traditional clothing weaving as well as shelves of handmade goods.

During the middle part of the day I went to lunch and also got a passport type photo done in order to get both a library and international student card. Back at la casa I had some time to kill so I turned on the tv and found a channel in English with Spanish subtitles. I watched Ghost Whisper but also saw a number of American shows advertised like Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy and America's Got Talent.

I then went back to the university for my Spanish class at 3pm. This is my favorite class out of the 2 because the professor is really funny (almost as cute as senora) and I feel like a smarty pants. Like I said in an earlier post there's 2 other girls and me who are more advanced and so we did an activity as a group today and during class the teacher talks to use in Spanish.

After the 3 hrs of class some girls from my class and I headed over to the Mega (the supermarket) in order to get dinner. We made pasta with veggies and had bread and cheese. It was quite yummy and much less expensive then eating out!

Sexy Woman

Today being Sunday and many of the other students being in Puno, Mary and me only had 1 thing on the docket, see Sacsayhuaman (pronounced Sexy Woman). I got up around 8am and took a shower then headed down to breakfast, I knew Mary had gone to mass early this morning so I decided not to bother her. When I got back I knocked on her door and she said she was tired but ready to go see Sacsayhuaman. So we packed up and hailed a taxi outside our hotel to take us, the walk is around a half an hour but all up hill so we decided to take taxi up and walk back down. The taxi rides here are always a little crazy since there aren't many lines in the roads and there's no real yielding, its just go for it. Also when getting a cab there's no real limit on the number of people it's however many you can fit, sitting on peoples laps is perfectly acceptable here. When we got up to the entrance we had to get out and buy our tickets and then ride a bit further to the parking lot. We paid the driver and headed into Sacsayhuaman, some sort of ancient Inca structure. Historians don't really know what it was used for but when the Spanish came they removed some of the stones to use in their own buildings. What remains are the largest stones that the Spanish were unable to move. The walls are in great condition and have survived hundreds of years of weather and earthquakes. The stones are perfectly fit together even though the Incas didn't have fillers, you can't even fit a piece of paper between them. It was really beautiful to walk around the ruins and take in the views of the city and mountains, because Sacsayhuaman was built over looking the city. This is also the site for Cristo Blanco which resembles Christ the Redeemer in Rio and overlooks Cusco.

Our ticket included 4 different sites within walking distance of Sacsayhuaman so we decided to take a stroll to a site called Q'engo. Mary and I had read that these ruins included zig-zag trenches carved into the stones which once flowed with llama blood during rituals. We walked around the site and through caves and tunnels but unfortunately weren't able to see any of the trenches.

In order to get back down to Cusco we had to walk back through Sacsayhuaman to the other side and exit that way. After about 20 mins we were back in Cusco and on our way there we picked up a friend. This dog who had just had puppies walked all the way down into town with us. While we were trying to find a restaurant we lost her. We finally found Jack's Cafe but there was a line out the door so we got in line and sat down on a conveniently located step. All of a sudden Mary turns around and there's the dog! She was precious:)

After a satisfying lunch we took a taxi back to the hotel. Since then I've been reading, downloading pictures and trying to figure out my luggage situation.

Day 2 & 3 of wearing the same clothes.....

So last night I wrote this whole post about what happened and what I did but unfortunately when I went to post it it disappeared:( So tonight's blog includes yesterday and today.

Yesterday was the first day of classes for international students. I am taking an art and design class as well as a Spanish class. Art and design which only has 2 people in it, including me, was from 9 to 10am and although the teacher's English is sometimes hard to understand the class seems like it's going to be a lot of fun. Spanish was from 3 to 6pm and that one has 6 people in it. Although I didn't place into the Spanish class that I had wanted to and yesterday was really easy, it's nice to get back in the swing of things and increase my confidence. There's 2 other girls who have had Spanish experience and during our breaks the professor made it a point to talk to us and ask us questions because we're more experienced.

Between classes, Christian (our leader or babysitter, as he calls himself) took another student, Ethan and me to the airport to look into our luggage. Supposedly both of ours were in Lima yesterday and they said it was possible that it could come in on the last flight at 4pm or this morning. Needless to say I still haven't seen my luggage. I would literally pay money to get my suitcase and be able to change out of the clothes I've been wearing for 3 days.

Last night there was a big soccer game between Peru and Mexico and some friends and I went to a bar to watch the game. We had some really gross shrimp empanaditas but some of my other friends got desert which was really good. We had to leave during half time because 3 of the people with me were getting on a bus to Puno and Lake Titicaca at 9:30pm. I wish I could've gone but Puno is actually higher in elevation than Cusco and it gets much colder there and because I have not luggage I have no pants, so I'm staying in Cusco for the weekend.

This morning my friend Mary and I went to the Mega which is the supermarket here because we needed some food and drinks. You can't drink the water here so I stocked up as well as getting some Sprite and juice, that tastes much like Sunny Delight. Many of the juices here are thick and are called nectar instead of juice. I also bought some snacks and ramen, which I'm not proud of but the cooking facilities in my apartment are limited. Mary bought this really tasty roll that had just come out of the oven it was called pan de yema, I think.

After we came back from the market we met Gustavo, who is the director for the international students here and 3 other people and I went on a city tour. We first went to a statue of Pachacuteq, a great Inca Emperor who built the main cities as well as Machu Picchu and Sacsayhuaman, where I plan to go tomorrow. We then walked north toward the Plaza de Armas where we stopped at a open air market. They're all over the city and sell everything. The fruit selection is awesome, they have pineapple, grapes, bananas, mangos and other fruit we have in the US. But also they have fruit special to South America or Peru, one is the Cherimoya which has a shell and then white flesh that is quite delicious. It also has many health benefits supposedly being 10x more powerful than radiation when treating cancer but unfortunately hospitals are discouraging and fighting against the use of it. At the market there is also a meat section which is repulsive, I have no idea why have the population of Peru isn't dead. There is no refrigeration, all the meat is just laying out or hanging up. The smell is horrible!!

We ate at this really cheap place for lunch, there's a set menu but for 10 soles you get 3 courses. We had potato salad which had ham, cheese and I think yuca then a traditional Peruvian soup with meat and veggies and for the main meal rice and lamb in a yummy sauce. After our bellies were full, we all got pretty tired so we walked back to La Casa where I took a short siesta.

In my guidebook I had read about a cafe that had really good hot chocolate in the San Blas area near La Plaza de Armas. So me and Mary decided to take a stroll to the Plaza and then on to get some hot chocolate. While we were trying to find the cafe we stumbled upon the famous 12 angle stone, why the Incas felt it necessary to fit a 12 angle stone into one of their perfectly built walls no one knows. Mary and I then found the cafe and ordered 2 hot cocoas. This was the best hot chocolate on the planet, it was frothy and dusted with cocoa on top, delicious!!

After 17 hrs and many miles I'm finally here!!

I arrived in Cusco around 9am this morning and I couldn't be more relieved to finally be here. I started my journey the day before, leaving the Portland Jetport in Maine at 4:15pm. I landed in LaGuardia and after switching terminals to find American I was told the flight from LGA to Miami was cancelled, WHAT??? So I was re-booked on a flight leaving from JFK (in NY) directly to Lima at 11:15pm. I then had to find the shuttle service to JFK (which American conveniently doesn't cover the cost of). The shuttle dropped me at my terminal and I then had to check in. I found my gate and waited, this is where I swear I saw a contestant on Top Chef or another cooking show but I can't remember his name. He wasn't on the same plane as me so I boarded the plane and prepared for the 7 hr journey to Lima. Mind you I left JFK at 11:15pm so I was planning on sleeping for most of the flight, hopefully, but for some reason the flight attendants served us dinner at like 1am and then breakfast around 5am. Fortunately the flight went by quick and I was able to get some hours of shut eye. In Lima I had to go through immigration and customs which wasn't bad at all, then check in for the flight to Cusco. I went through security for the third time and went straight to my gate because it was almost time to board. This flight was amazing, it was only an hour long but I was lucky enough to have a window seat where I could stare at the amazing mountains all I wanted. When we landed and got off the plane I was scared I would fall ill to altitude sickness because I had heard horror stories but I seemed to be doing alright. Of course all the baggage was unloaded and mine was not there so I had to go to the check in area for LANPeru and file a claim. The man said that I should have my baggage tomorrow, which I'm praying for. The leader of my program was supposed to be at the airport but I couldn't find him so I ended up taking a taxi to my hotel.

After this long and stressful night of traveling I was hoping to have some relaxation but when I got to La Casa de Don Ignacio I was told I had around 40mins to get settled in my room before I had to head out for an orientation. My room which I share with a girl named Paula, who is from Peru, has 2 twin beds, a bedside table, a wardrobe and it's private bath. There's a common room with couches, a tv, dinning table, microwave, fridge and sink. This area I share with 2 other girls who have a room next to mine. It's not the Ritz but it's clean and comfy.

Included in my tour are 2 weekends trip, one to the Sacred Valley and the other to Machu Picchu. The other people in my tour and those living in the house are super friendly and we all want to do more weekend trips maybe to the jungle and/or Puno and Lake Titicaca. I'm excited and nervous but I start classes tomorrow so we'll see how it goes:)