I just wanted to write this so I remember later. Tonight the three girls (me, Meghan, and Raysha [the girl from Cusco]) all ate dinner together, then ate many crackers with manjar blanco. Manjar blanco is dulce de leche, which is basically a lot of milk and sugar cooked together until it makes a sort of sweet paste. I bought the dulce de leche in Tarma in the Andes. Anyway, we had a short, fun little manjar blanco picnic in Meghan's room, and it was cool.
Chao
S
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Hola
I realized I didn't really talk much about my living situation! I'm living in a house (sort of more like a condo) with an older couple, Carlos (who is super super nice) and Chela (I've actually yet to meet my "mom"). Upstairs, I have my own room, and Meghan lives next door in the same house. There is also a great girl from Cusco, Raysa, who lives across from us, and she really knows what's up so we are lucky to have her. I'm posting a few pictures of the house (i.e. the bathroom haha), as well as a few pics from our tour of downtown Lima. We get to practice Spanish with our family and with Raysa, and Meghan and I have started to speak Spanish to each other as much as possible so we can practice speaking.
Lima itself is crazy in that there is a lot of traffic, cars don't stop for pedestrians (or sometimes traffic lights!), and it's kind of dirty. But, I honestly loooove the city. It has a lot of character, and there are some parts that are sooooo gorgeous, like Miraflores which opens up to the ocean. We live in Pueblo Libre, which is where la Catolica is, and it's very quiet and mostly residential. Lima (well, the parts I've been to) is a lot safer feeling than I expected. The guidebooks and such made it seem like I wouldn't be able to walk outside my house, but it's not like that. We are very careful, though.
It's also pretty cold here (plus no one has heaters) and always cloudy, which really doesn't bother me that much because I don't looove the sun like most people do. It's cloudy from March to December, so I probably won't see the sun in Lima while I'm here. It sounds depressing but I really don't mind it!
I haven't talked about the bus system here. It's kind of insane. There are a ton of buses (called micros or combis) that are privately run and compete for business. They stand in the door of the bus (while it's still moving) and scream where the bus will take you, trying to get you to use their bus and not someone else's. The awesome thing is that in the mornings it never takes more than a minute to get a bus, and the micros will stop for you at any point on the road, not just at the bus stops. Anyway, it's crazy but efficient. Almost no one has a car here. You either take micros or taxis, I guess sort of like many big cities in the U.S.
We've been out dancing a couple of nights which has been really fun. We've met some great people from la Catolica that we're getting to know pretty well. The school sets us up with "companeros," or people who help us get to know the school and the city. Our companeros are fantastic. Today we went to one of our friends, Edson's, play. It was a children's play, Pinocho (Pinocchio), and he played Pinocho. It was really really fun. We laughed a lot, and the little kids were so adorable.
I hope this entry made sense because I'm pretty tired.
:)
S
Lima itself is crazy in that there is a lot of traffic, cars don't stop for pedestrians (or sometimes traffic lights!), and it's kind of dirty. But, I honestly loooove the city. It has a lot of character, and there are some parts that are sooooo gorgeous, like Miraflores which opens up to the ocean. We live in Pueblo Libre, which is where la Catolica is, and it's very quiet and mostly residential. Lima (well, the parts I've been to) is a lot safer feeling than I expected. The guidebooks and such made it seem like I wouldn't be able to walk outside my house, but it's not like that. We are very careful, though.
It's also pretty cold here (plus no one has heaters) and always cloudy, which really doesn't bother me that much because I don't looove the sun like most people do. It's cloudy from March to December, so I probably won't see the sun in Lima while I'm here. It sounds depressing but I really don't mind it!
I haven't talked about the bus system here. It's kind of insane. There are a ton of buses (called micros or combis) that are privately run and compete for business. They stand in the door of the bus (while it's still moving) and scream where the bus will take you, trying to get you to use their bus and not someone else's. The awesome thing is that in the mornings it never takes more than a minute to get a bus, and the micros will stop for you at any point on the road, not just at the bus stops. Anyway, it's crazy but efficient. Almost no one has a car here. You either take micros or taxis, I guess sort of like many big cities in the U.S.
We've been out dancing a couple of nights which has been really fun. We've met some great people from la Catolica that we're getting to know pretty well. The school sets us up with "companeros," or people who help us get to know the school and the city. Our companeros are fantastic. Today we went to one of our friends, Edson's, play. It was a children's play, Pinocho (Pinocchio), and he played Pinocho. It was really really fun. We laughed a lot, and the little kids were so adorable.
I hope this entry made sense because I'm pretty tired.
:)
S
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
First week of classes=loco
So this has been our first week of classes (the Spanish speakers) and we´ve been going to a ton of Catolica classes to see which ones we like. It´s tough because we aren´t familiar with the professors, etc., but we also have some Catolica friends who have been helping us somewhat. It´s funny because here students start at la Catolica when they´re 16, then spend two years in Estudios Generales before they start their ´carrera´. And since Spanish is our second language, we´ve mostly been going to the general studies courses which are filled with 16 year olds. Haha. We´ve also met other foreign students who are in the same boat and are totally cool people so that´s been fun. But it´s also kind of stressful figuring out what classes to take.
So far I´ve been to 5 classes...Gender relations is an upper level Anthro class which reminded me so much of Professor McKinnon´s (my favorite Anth professor!) class. The teacher was fantastic, but as it was an upper level class, the readings were serious Anthro readings by important authors who are difficult to read in English, so imagine them in Spanish! I think I could handle the class and it would be interesting but it would be a ton of work and I´m mostly here to learn Spanish and experience Peru. I´ve also had a class similar to it before so I know most of the material. But I admit it´s strange trying to find easy classes because I´m used to really wanting to challenge myself intellectually and jump into school completely, but the language barrier is challenge enough!
I also went to Quechua 1, which was really really really interesting. We´ll be learning some basic Quechua and also Andean history and culture at the same time. Totally up my alley as an Anthropology major, but I have to figure out the scheduling so that´s a pain.
I went to Ecotourism yesterday, which seems really interesting and I really knew nothing about, but is related to Anthropology and Biology (the Ecology aspect of which I know little about actually).
I might take Andean Archaeology, which I didn´t go to but sounds really interesting and again is very related to my major and other courses that I´ve taken.
I also went to Culture of Peace and Urban Anthropology which were horribly boring. I´ll probably take 1 or 2 English UVa classes and then an upper level Spanish course as well.
I have some random thoughts about my stay so far:
*The classes here are so similar to those in the states. The format is very similar, and the dynamic is similar...for example, no one speaks but the professor insists that he or she wants the classes to be discussion-oriented. Haha.
*I´ve had more women professors that I expected.
*It´s really cool that here at Catolica and other places in Lima they have two trash cans...one for organic waste (like for compost) and the other for recycling. Didn´t expect that.
*I remember thinking when I was walking down the streets at UVa that in a couple of months I would be walking down the streets at la Catolica in Peru. It´s weird that it´s finally happening.
*One of the weirdest things is not doing everything for myself. For example, at the cafeteria we don´t bring our trays anywhere, someone comes and picks them up for us. Another weird thing is that there are always workers in the school buildings that carry desks around to different classrooms to accommodate overflow of students.
*The ´culture of service´ here after the earthquake reminds me a lot of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people are going down to help in Ica, and Raysa, our roommate from Cusco, said that Meghan and I could maybe go with her if she goes. We´ll see! But it´s interesting how much everyone bonds over their experiences with the earthquake and the stories coming out of Ica.
*It´s starting to get frustrating when I can´t express myself in Spanish...I really want to get to that point when it clicks and I start feeling more comfortable and my Spanish becomes more fluid...Ojalá that I get to that point. I haven´t heard or spoken Spanish this much, probably ever, but definitely not since elementary school. And I´m picking apart the Peruvian accent little by little and thankfully it´s one of the easier to understand. I think my ability to understand has been improving at a faster rate than my ability to speak, which I guess makes sense.
Oh...I forgot! We went out last night with the group from UVa and Paco (our amazing resident director) and had anticucho, which is a Limeño classic of grilled cow heart on a stick. It was surprisingly good but I mostly ate the chicken anticucho (NOT chicken heart).
OK, Chao.
S
So far I´ve been to 5 classes...Gender relations is an upper level Anthro class which reminded me so much of Professor McKinnon´s (my favorite Anth professor!) class. The teacher was fantastic, but as it was an upper level class, the readings were serious Anthro readings by important authors who are difficult to read in English, so imagine them in Spanish! I think I could handle the class and it would be interesting but it would be a ton of work and I´m mostly here to learn Spanish and experience Peru. I´ve also had a class similar to it before so I know most of the material. But I admit it´s strange trying to find easy classes because I´m used to really wanting to challenge myself intellectually and jump into school completely, but the language barrier is challenge enough!
I also went to Quechua 1, which was really really really interesting. We´ll be learning some basic Quechua and also Andean history and culture at the same time. Totally up my alley as an Anthropology major, but I have to figure out the scheduling so that´s a pain.
I went to Ecotourism yesterday, which seems really interesting and I really knew nothing about, but is related to Anthropology and Biology (the Ecology aspect of which I know little about actually).
I might take Andean Archaeology, which I didn´t go to but sounds really interesting and again is very related to my major and other courses that I´ve taken.
I also went to Culture of Peace and Urban Anthropology which were horribly boring. I´ll probably take 1 or 2 English UVa classes and then an upper level Spanish course as well.
I have some random thoughts about my stay so far:
*The classes here are so similar to those in the states. The format is very similar, and the dynamic is similar...for example, no one speaks but the professor insists that he or she wants the classes to be discussion-oriented. Haha.
*I´ve had more women professors that I expected.
*It´s really cool that here at Catolica and other places in Lima they have two trash cans...one for organic waste (like for compost) and the other for recycling. Didn´t expect that.
*I remember thinking when I was walking down the streets at UVa that in a couple of months I would be walking down the streets at la Catolica in Peru. It´s weird that it´s finally happening.
*One of the weirdest things is not doing everything for myself. For example, at the cafeteria we don´t bring our trays anywhere, someone comes and picks them up for us. Another weird thing is that there are always workers in the school buildings that carry desks around to different classrooms to accommodate overflow of students.
*The ´culture of service´ here after the earthquake reminds me a lot of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people are going down to help in Ica, and Raysa, our roommate from Cusco, said that Meghan and I could maybe go with her if she goes. We´ll see! But it´s interesting how much everyone bonds over their experiences with the earthquake and the stories coming out of Ica.
*It´s starting to get frustrating when I can´t express myself in Spanish...I really want to get to that point when it clicks and I start feeling more comfortable and my Spanish becomes more fluid...Ojalá that I get to that point. I haven´t heard or spoken Spanish this much, probably ever, but definitely not since elementary school. And I´m picking apart the Peruvian accent little by little and thankfully it´s one of the easier to understand. I think my ability to understand has been improving at a faster rate than my ability to speak, which I guess makes sense.
Oh...I forgot! We went out last night with the group from UVa and Paco (our amazing resident director) and had anticucho, which is a Limeño classic of grilled cow heart on a stick. It was surprisingly good but I mostly ate the chicken anticucho (NOT chicken heart).
OK, Chao.
S
Monday, August 20, 2007
Back in Lima...
I last wrote from Satipo, and now I´m on la Catolica campus in Lima. After spending the night in Satipo, we returned to Pichanaki. We went to visit a chacra (farm) and met an amazing man Jose Carlos who is a ´colono´as they call them, or a recent migrant to Pichanaki. We had to cross a river on a boat that was sort of like three kayaks put together with planks. After crossing the river we were a good 1 or 2 hour walk from the farm, so we hitched a ride with a family in a pickup truck and crammed all 11 of us plus the family in the bed of the truck. It was crammed, but also fun as we drove through the ´jungly´farm and smelled the amazing smell of the flowers that grow on the orange trees. It smelled like honeysuckle but better. We were greeted by Juan Carlos and had fresh squeezed orange juice, then he showed us around the farm. AMAZING. Then in the dark we got a ride back to the river on a tractor and had a fun, long, bumpy ride. Then we went back to our hotel in Pichanaki and went to a discoteca with our friend from Pichanaki, Gladys, and had a good time. Then we went to bed and woke up at 5 in the morning.
At about 6 in the morning we left for Tarma in the Andes again. We went to the sanctuary of the lord of Muruhuay and ate food cooked in a Pachamanca (in Quechua Pacha=food and manca=hole). They basically buried all sorts of foods in a hole with hot rocks. Then we had deep fried cuy, or guinea pig, which pretty much tasted like rubbery chicken but I was too grossed out by the feet to eat much of it. haha. Then we went to the main part of Tarma, then set off for 3 hours out to the Stone Forest, which is an area with beautiful rock formations. Then we drove back to Lima, another 8 hours, and arrived at 2am, about 18 hours later than planned. Then I had class at 10 this morning, so we are all cansados.
I think thats about it! Its been a crazy crazy week.
S
At about 6 in the morning we left for Tarma in the Andes again. We went to the sanctuary of the lord of Muruhuay and ate food cooked in a Pachamanca (in Quechua Pacha=food and manca=hole). They basically buried all sorts of foods in a hole with hot rocks. Then we had deep fried cuy, or guinea pig, which pretty much tasted like rubbery chicken but I was too grossed out by the feet to eat much of it. haha. Then we went to the main part of Tarma, then set off for 3 hours out to the Stone Forest, which is an area with beautiful rock formations. Then we drove back to Lima, another 8 hours, and arrived at 2am, about 18 hours later than planned. Then I had class at 10 this morning, so we are all cansados.
I think thats about it! Its been a crazy crazy week.
S
Friday, August 17, 2007
Hello everyone!
Okay I´m in an internet cafe in Satipo, which is in the Peruvian higher jungle. There´s so much that has been going on that I probably cant write it all in this entry. Some highlights...
The main highlight was of course the earthquake. We had been in Peru two days, and we went that morning to Callao which is a GORGEOUS relaxed seaport adjacent to Lima. Professor Secada told us a story about when he was teaching in Callao in 1974 and there was a big earthquake (there was more to the story but I dont have the energy or memory to write it all). My friend Meghan said, sounds like we´re due for another one. THAT VERY NIGHT was this recent earthquake, which was higher on the Richter scale than the one in 1974, and the first big earthquake since then. Does that count as irony? In any case it was crazy and we couldnt believe we had just been talking about it. I was in a nice restaurant in Miraflores with two of my programmates and we felt the ground move back and forth. Many people were getting pretty nervous about the situation. Anyway, LIma was not hit hard although the province of Ica was the hardest hit with about 500 dead. We are all completely fine.
Yesterday we headed out to Tarma which is a small town in the Andes. Because of the earthquake there had been two landslides and trucks were blocked on this road through the Andes for miles. We were on our bus from 7am and didnt arrive in Tarma until 2am! I also had a bout of altitude sickness (over two miles above sea level) but was OK and had some mate de coca (coca leaves!) which was probably the best tea Ive ever had. This morning we went to Pichanaki which is a small town int he Peruvian high jungle and talked to some 14 year old kids at a colegio in the town. They were so curious and asked some serious questions about America (and not so serious ones), from what do I think about George Bush to do we have problems with sexual abuse in the U.S. like they do here in Peru to whether I watch wrestling. Now we are in Satipo which is also the high jungle. We had chifa tonight which is Peruvian Chinese food...it was good. We´re staying the night here and the shower has warm water so Im excited. We go back to Pichanaki tomorrow, then back through the Andes and back to Lima on Sunday. Then classes start Monday! Whirlwind...exciting and disorienting at the same time. In the past two days Ive been in 65 degree Lima weather then hot Andes day weather then really really really cold Andes night weather and now jungle weather. So many ´microclimas´ as they call them. Also many altitudes. My body is very confused I think.
Okay, hasta luego,
Suzy
Okay I´m in an internet cafe in Satipo, which is in the Peruvian higher jungle. There´s so much that has been going on that I probably cant write it all in this entry. Some highlights...
The main highlight was of course the earthquake. We had been in Peru two days, and we went that morning to Callao which is a GORGEOUS relaxed seaport adjacent to Lima. Professor Secada told us a story about when he was teaching in Callao in 1974 and there was a big earthquake (there was more to the story but I dont have the energy or memory to write it all). My friend Meghan said, sounds like we´re due for another one. THAT VERY NIGHT was this recent earthquake, which was higher on the Richter scale than the one in 1974, and the first big earthquake since then. Does that count as irony? In any case it was crazy and we couldnt believe we had just been talking about it. I was in a nice restaurant in Miraflores with two of my programmates and we felt the ground move back and forth. Many people were getting pretty nervous about the situation. Anyway, LIma was not hit hard although the province of Ica was the hardest hit with about 500 dead. We are all completely fine.
Yesterday we headed out to Tarma which is a small town in the Andes. Because of the earthquake there had been two landslides and trucks were blocked on this road through the Andes for miles. We were on our bus from 7am and didnt arrive in Tarma until 2am! I also had a bout of altitude sickness (over two miles above sea level) but was OK and had some mate de coca (coca leaves!) which was probably the best tea Ive ever had. This morning we went to Pichanaki which is a small town int he Peruvian high jungle and talked to some 14 year old kids at a colegio in the town. They were so curious and asked some serious questions about America (and not so serious ones), from what do I think about George Bush to do we have problems with sexual abuse in the U.S. like they do here in Peru to whether I watch wrestling. Now we are in Satipo which is also the high jungle. We had chifa tonight which is Peruvian Chinese food...it was good. We´re staying the night here and the shower has warm water so Im excited. We go back to Pichanaki tomorrow, then back through the Andes and back to Lima on Sunday. Then classes start Monday! Whirlwind...exciting and disorienting at the same time. In the past two days Ive been in 65 degree Lima weather then hot Andes day weather then really really really cold Andes night weather and now jungle weather. So many ´microclimas´ as they call them. Also many altitudes. My body is very confused I think.
Okay, hasta luego,
Suzy
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
I´m here!
I don´t have much time right now but I´m in Perú and safe. So far it´s been great. I´ll try to update more. Also, I have a cell phone number, and it´s free FOR ME if you call me, because there´s a great law that you can´t be charged for phone calls that you receive, even on my cell phone. These are my numbers:
My cell: 98525692
The number of the home where Im staying is 4610356
I may not be able to get in touch with people from Thursday until Sunday morning because I will be traveling through the central Andes and into the jungle at those times. :)
I hope all is well with you all!
:)
My cell: 98525692
The number of the home where Im staying is 4610356
I may not be able to get in touch with people from Thursday until Sunday morning because I will be traveling through the central Andes and into the jungle at those times. :)
I hope all is well with you all!
:)
Friday, August 10, 2007
My Contact Info!
Here is my address and contact information:
GRACIELA DE CASTRO
Parque San Martín 266-C
Pueblo Libre
Telephone: 011-51-1- 461 0356
To call Lima from the U.S. dial:
011-51-1- and phone number
(011)=international access numbers, (51)=Peru's code, (1)=Lima's code
:-D
GRACIELA DE CASTRO
Parque San Martín 266-C
Pueblo Libre
Telephone: 011-51-1- 461 0356
To call Lima from the U.S. dial:
011-51-1- and phone number
(011)=international access numbers, (51)=Peru's code, (1)=Lima's code
:-D
Thursday, August 9, 2007
I'm leaving Sunday...
Hello!
I just wanted to let people know that I'm leaving Sunday at ~7pm for Miami, and then I leave from Miami (to San Salvador) to Lima at 5:30am on Monday! I arrive in Lima which I believe right now is just one hour behind us (!)--I guess the time will be the same when VA switches to standard??? It's late winter there, and the high temperature seems to be in the mid-60s which must be better than the triple digit weather we're having in VA!
;-D
I just wanted to let people know that I'm leaving Sunday at ~7pm for Miami, and then I leave from Miami (to San Salvador) to Lima at 5:30am on Monday! I arrive in Lima which I believe right now is just one hour behind us (!)--I guess the time will be the same when VA switches to standard??? It's late winter there, and the high temperature seems to be in the mid-60s which must be better than the triple digit weather we're having in VA!
;-D
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