After a long absence, I have returned with the very thing for which you have all been waiting: AN UPDATE.
Unfortunately, I have nothing extraordinarily exciting to report because I have not traveled, but I can tell you why said traveling has not occurred. If you all remember, I was set to go to Huaraz with a friend of mine, but we had yet to purchase the tickets because we assumed the Peruvian Megabus system worked the same way everything else does here: last minute. As such, we didn't plan on purchasing our tickets until about 5 hours before departure time. Sadly, upon arrival at the bus station, we were informed that all of the tickets had been sold out, forcing us to make a difficult decision: either pay another 5 dollars (currency converted) to go to another bus station where they had more buses or to spend the weekend in Lima. We chose the latter option, and let me tell you, it was FUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. After a weekend of shopping, dancing, good conversation, and general goodness, I can guarantee I do not regret that trip not happening. That being said, I still want to go to Huaraz.
Now to the main point of this blog post: THE WORLD IS SO SMALL. In the last several weeks, I have had multiple experiences that support this statement. I will share the most appropriate and the most recent story. Last night, Thursday, we received word that one of the British men we met in Trujillo during our mini-vacation was in town, so we decided we would meet up with him for conversations and drinks. We walked into his hostel and waited in the lobby for a little bit while the receptionist went to find our Briton, when I suddenly see a really tall man walk down the stairs. Nope, it wasn't the British guy. It was Jason, a classmate from high school who I have not seen for three years. I was shocked. Of all of the hostels in all of Lima, we happen to be in the same one at the same time? Impossible. But true! I love this city - it never ceases to amaze me.
Academic update: Exams went well. So well, in fact, that some of my friends in my Structure of Language course called me a "nerd" because my grade was higher than all of theirs. What's my native language? Oh right, English. Holla at yo' boy!
My memory card for my camera is broken, so I'm going to have to purchase a new one from Radioshack...so no pictures in this post!
Much love from Lima.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A quick update
I just ate cow hearts (anticuchos) and they were delicious. This is the most interesting thing I can share with you for the moment. :)
Busy week, update next weekend, I promise!
Busy week, update next weekend, I promise!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Trujillo y Huanchaco (True-he-yo and Wan-cha-ko)
At long last I got the vacation for which I have been pining. That is, of course, after a long week of midterms and essays. Let me tell you, I definitely think they should readjust the way our grades transfer because the classes here are definitely more difficult than they are at the UW (though that's probably mostly due to the language difference). Nevertheless, I believe my exams went decently, but I'm not going to even guess my grades for fear that my thoughts and reality turn out to be two different things. (Can we sense the stress? If not, you should now.)
On a more relaxing note, I had a marvelous time in Trujillo. For those of you who don't know, Trujillo is a town on Peru's northern coast (I can't recall if I've explained this already) and had an important role in Peru's independence movements during the age of colonialism in Latin America. The town itself is fairly small, but is well-known for a nearby (and very touristy) beach town called Huanchaco. Huanchaco is a premier surfing spot in Peru and surfers from all over the world frequent its beaches - it is, after all, the land of the eternal spring. Spring, however, was not with us, as much of the days were overcast, making it a bit colder than usual. The sun, however, did make several appearances, making our trips to various ruins and the beach enjoyable.
To provide a quick summary of the places we visited:
First, we went to Huaca de la luna and Huaca del sol, which are ruins of the ancient Moche tribe of Peru. Huaca is an indigenous word (of the tribe, I assume), meaning "temple," so we saw the temples of the moon and the sun. Huaca del sol, however, was closed while archeologists continued excavating artifacts.
Second, we stopped for lunch at a touristy restaurant that also featured Marinera dancing. Marinera is traditional dancing from the coast of Peru that is based, as you could probably guess from the name, on the ocean and generally tells a story. In this case, the dance was between a man and a woman, and the man attempted to win the affection of his female dance partner. The food was also delicious. I had an avocado salad, which was literally a plate of the biggest avocado I've ever seen, a piece of lettuce, two slices of tomato, and dressing. No complaints here. Below you will see a photo of the dancers. Note my amazing photography skills.
Afterwards, we went to Chan Chan, more ancient ruins of Peru. The architecture was amazing and our tour guide was very knowledgeable, which made the experience a lot more interesting than just looking at an ancient pile of rocks.
The next day, the girls I traveled with met some Englishmen and we ended up tagging along with them to the beach and around the town. They were quite fun and I loved mimicking their accents. Turns out British people also like imitating the American accent. Who knew? After a wonderful lunch of ceviche (raw fish cured with lime juice so we don't get sick) and other dishes, we headed back to Trujillo to go see the Plaza de Armas, which gets illuminated at night and is really a beautiful sight.
Most of us ended up coming home a day earlier than anticipated simply because we had accomplished so much sight-seeing in such a short time. The 9.5 hour bus ride passed quickly, however, as I was unconscious from exhaustion. I did, however, remain awake long enough to watch the bus company's safety video, which was sure to emphasize that we were not allowed to defecate in the bus' facilities - we could only do number 1. I thought it was HILARIOUS. :)
Here are some additional photos from the weekend:
This is a colorful photo I snapped as our tour van was driving by the neighborhood. There are lots of old-fashioned VW Bugs in this country.
And this is a photo of the gorgeous sunset we saw on our first night in Huanchaco. Please be jealous.
Finally, I leave you with the public link to my album on Facebook so that even those of you without this cursed social media tool may partake in photo-viewing.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036436&id=1599810067&l=10a2bbb969
Until my next post!
On a more relaxing note, I had a marvelous time in Trujillo. For those of you who don't know, Trujillo is a town on Peru's northern coast (I can't recall if I've explained this already) and had an important role in Peru's independence movements during the age of colonialism in Latin America. The town itself is fairly small, but is well-known for a nearby (and very touristy) beach town called Huanchaco. Huanchaco is a premier surfing spot in Peru and surfers from all over the world frequent its beaches - it is, after all, the land of the eternal spring. Spring, however, was not with us, as much of the days were overcast, making it a bit colder than usual. The sun, however, did make several appearances, making our trips to various ruins and the beach enjoyable.
To provide a quick summary of the places we visited:
First, we went to Huaca de la luna and Huaca del sol, which are ruins of the ancient Moche tribe of Peru. Huaca is an indigenous word (of the tribe, I assume), meaning "temple," so we saw the temples of the moon and the sun. Huaca del sol, however, was closed while archeologists continued excavating artifacts.
Second, we stopped for lunch at a touristy restaurant that also featured Marinera dancing. Marinera is traditional dancing from the coast of Peru that is based, as you could probably guess from the name, on the ocean and generally tells a story. In this case, the dance was between a man and a woman, and the man attempted to win the affection of his female dance partner. The food was also delicious. I had an avocado salad, which was literally a plate of the biggest avocado I've ever seen, a piece of lettuce, two slices of tomato, and dressing. No complaints here. Below you will see a photo of the dancers. Note my amazing photography skills.
Afterwards, we went to Chan Chan, more ancient ruins of Peru. The architecture was amazing and our tour guide was very knowledgeable, which made the experience a lot more interesting than just looking at an ancient pile of rocks.
The next day, the girls I traveled with met some Englishmen and we ended up tagging along with them to the beach and around the town. They were quite fun and I loved mimicking their accents. Turns out British people also like imitating the American accent. Who knew? After a wonderful lunch of ceviche (raw fish cured with lime juice so we don't get sick) and other dishes, we headed back to Trujillo to go see the Plaza de Armas, which gets illuminated at night and is really a beautiful sight.
Most of us ended up coming home a day earlier than anticipated simply because we had accomplished so much sight-seeing in such a short time. The 9.5 hour bus ride passed quickly, however, as I was unconscious from exhaustion. I did, however, remain awake long enough to watch the bus company's safety video, which was sure to emphasize that we were not allowed to defecate in the bus' facilities - we could only do number 1. I thought it was HILARIOUS. :)
Here are some additional photos from the weekend:
This is a colorful photo I snapped as our tour van was driving by the neighborhood. There are lots of old-fashioned VW Bugs in this country.
And this is a photo of the gorgeous sunset we saw on our first night in Huanchaco. Please be jealous.
Finally, I leave you with the public link to my album on Facebook so that even those of you without this cursed social media tool may partake in photo-viewing.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036436&id=1599810067&l=10a2bbb969
Until my next post!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Two Months
I can't believe I have been in Peru for two months. Paraphrasing my host sister, time really does seem to move faster in this country.
It's kind of surreal to think about how much my life has changed in the last two months, but I believe I have the perfect story to share that will put it into perspective. With exactly one week until I left for Lima, I was making a late-night walk towards the Lakeshore area on campus when I got a phone call from one of my friends. I remember telling her that in seven days' time I would be walking the exact same way in an entirely different country. New buildings, new neighborhoods, new people. Now, two months later as I sit in my bedroom writing this post as a way to not study for my looming Literature and Linguistics midterms, I get the feeling that I've finally become a part of Lima. As I walk through my neighborhood, I see the same people going about their lives. I see the guy who cuts my hair every now and again, and we always stop to chit chat between haircuts. When I go running, I pass the same neighborhood watchmen (called watchiman here). I guess what I'm trying to say is that Lima has now become familiar to me and I'm prepared to see what else it has to offer.
That being said, I offer my loyal readers some updates regarding life here. First, I have decided not to move out of my current homestay. It's really odd, but ever since this past Wednesday, everyone has been a lot more social, a lot more inclusive, and a lot more conversational. Last night, I went to Jockey Plaza, the nice mall here, to go to Pizza Hut with two new students who are moving into our house, their Peruvian friend, and my host sister. The company was great, but let me tell you about this Pizza Hut. It was the classiest Pizza Hut I've ever seen in my life. Nicely decorated, well-lit, LCD televisions. It served red or white wine, beers, more traditional alcoholic drinks, sodas, and delicious appetizers. I was really taken aback by its beauty. Also, the pizza was a lot less greasy (yet still equally delicious!) than the Pizza Hut pizza in the US.
As far as my Spanish-speaking goes, I'm not sure what to say. My host sister told me yesterday that my Spanish has improved a lot - I'm using expressions that are common in Peru, my fluidity has increased, and I'm a lot more confident and natural when I speak. I'm still not sure if I believe her, but I think that's probably just me being hard on myself. Regardless, I have seven more months to accomplish my goal, and I am confident that I will do just that.
I haven't any new pictures to share. After exams, a couple of friends from the UW Program and I are planning on going to Trujillo, a town in the north of Peru that has a lot of ancient ruins and other fun things to see. Although I only have two midterms and an essay, there still seems to be a lot standing between me and my mini-vacation. I guess I should get crackin'. Send me some love and luck, I could really use it.
It's kind of surreal to think about how much my life has changed in the last two months, but I believe I have the perfect story to share that will put it into perspective. With exactly one week until I left for Lima, I was making a late-night walk towards the Lakeshore area on campus when I got a phone call from one of my friends. I remember telling her that in seven days' time I would be walking the exact same way in an entirely different country. New buildings, new neighborhoods, new people. Now, two months later as I sit in my bedroom writing this post as a way to not study for my looming Literature and Linguistics midterms, I get the feeling that I've finally become a part of Lima. As I walk through my neighborhood, I see the same people going about their lives. I see the guy who cuts my hair every now and again, and we always stop to chit chat between haircuts. When I go running, I pass the same neighborhood watchmen (called watchiman here). I guess what I'm trying to say is that Lima has now become familiar to me and I'm prepared to see what else it has to offer.
That being said, I offer my loyal readers some updates regarding life here. First, I have decided not to move out of my current homestay. It's really odd, but ever since this past Wednesday, everyone has been a lot more social, a lot more inclusive, and a lot more conversational. Last night, I went to Jockey Plaza, the nice mall here, to go to Pizza Hut with two new students who are moving into our house, their Peruvian friend, and my host sister. The company was great, but let me tell you about this Pizza Hut. It was the classiest Pizza Hut I've ever seen in my life. Nicely decorated, well-lit, LCD televisions. It served red or white wine, beers, more traditional alcoholic drinks, sodas, and delicious appetizers. I was really taken aback by its beauty. Also, the pizza was a lot less greasy (yet still equally delicious!) than the Pizza Hut pizza in the US.
As far as my Spanish-speaking goes, I'm not sure what to say. My host sister told me yesterday that my Spanish has improved a lot - I'm using expressions that are common in Peru, my fluidity has increased, and I'm a lot more confident and natural when I speak. I'm still not sure if I believe her, but I think that's probably just me being hard on myself. Regardless, I have seven more months to accomplish my goal, and I am confident that I will do just that.
I haven't any new pictures to share. After exams, a couple of friends from the UW Program and I are planning on going to Trujillo, a town in the north of Peru that has a lot of ancient ruins and other fun things to see. Although I only have two midterms and an essay, there still seems to be a lot standing between me and my mini-vacation. I guess I should get crackin'. Send me some love and luck, I could really use it.
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