MKRC

Cajamarca - Carnaval From the humid jungle to the mountainous, dairy capital, and largest Carnaval celebration in Peru we went. Cajamarca is definitely my favorite spot in Peru. It is absolutely beautiful and the people there are very kind. It is surrounded my green mountains, full of day hikes and pre inca ruins. It has an awesome plaza de armas, that is absolutely wild during Carnaval. Carnaval was full of parades, elaborate costumes, reynas, dancing, live music, parties in the plaza that went on all night long for 4 days with people singing and dancing while passing around bottles of warm, homemade liquor mixed with maracuya juice. The last day of Carnaval is a "mourning" celebration. Las viudas (widows), which are actually men dressed as old woman from each barrio compete to see who does the ... read more

Floating down the amazon There are two ways to get to the northern amazon in Peru - flying or by boat because the city Iquitos is surrounded by water. The cheaper route is by boat so that was our obvious choice. However, it is not as glamorous as one may think. It was not a river boat cruise - it was a cargo ship packed to the brim with cows, pigs, chickens, tons of bananas, motorcycles, hundreds of Peruvians who live in villages along the river and 10 crazy tourists. After an intense 23 hours of traveling by bus and combi, we arrived to Yurimaguas, the port town that the cargo ships leave from. We arrived with an hour before departure, which also happened to be smack in the middle of the siesta. We quickly ran ... read more

I have been travling throughout Peru since January first and it has been a whirlwind of adventure. It all started in Cuzco, Peru. Here Emily, Melissa and I met up with Dan and Yamini. It was so nice to have friends awaiting your arrival! We spent three days just exploring Cuzco, soaking up its beautiful mountains and scenary, going to the infamous Pisac market and trying to catch our breath from the altitude. Walking a couple blocks was quite the cardiovascular activity! We were hoping to acclimate before the real phyiscal part of the trip began - the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. The Salkantay Trek - sort of... DAY 1 We left Cuzco at 5 am where we took a rather scary, but very exciting five hour bus ride that took us through various rivers ... read more

After being on a small island for four months, traveling for 30 hours, which included sleeping in the Lima airport, arriving to Buenos Aires was definitely a little overwhelming. However, after eating my first Argentine steak that melted in my mouth, all was good! We stayed with my friend Jezmin, who had moved to the city about three months ago. Luckily she had some days off work so we were able to explore the city together. It was great to spend time with her and to have her knowledge of Argentine vocab. If you think you know Spanish, just come to Argentina and you will become lost all over again! So many different words and an accent that takes some time to get use to. We spent hours walking around all the different neighbors, artesians markets, ... read more

Time has definitely flown by in the Galapagos. This past weekend was full of despedida (good-bye) dinners and lunches. It is hard to believe that I leave here in 2 days to begin the next the leg of my South American adventure - I will be heading to Argentina to spend Christmas in Miramar, a little beach town where my friend Melissa has family. Since my last blog entry, which yes, I know has been way too long ago, I have had the opportunity to be more immersed in the culture and community here in the Galapagos. I also was lucky enough to have two friends come visit, which was a blast. Their visits also made me really appreciate my time here and rejuvenated me about the things that had become common to me - ... read more

Learning about and participating with other cultures is always an eye opening experience that can change one’s personal outlook on life and the world, give light to other perspectives and enhances one’s appreciation of cultural similarities and differences. These experiences can sometimes leave you rolling with laughter, feeling frustrated, lost, appreciative, speechless and amazed all at the same time. Here are some noteworthy aspects/experiences of Galapagean life I have noticed and hope that I always remember.... • ya mismo can signify right now or sometime next week (usually the latter) • at five o’clock most men can be found either playing basketball or volleyball in teams of three, using a soccer ball and basically just throwing it over the net - you can guess where all the women are...ugh • on Saturday everyone wakes up ... read more

Once again we voyaged across the rough seas to get away from “city life” for a weekend at Isabella. This time, we stayed with our Isabella volunteer friends, Heather and Daniel. Being able to cook our own meals strangely felt like a luxury! The goal of this weekend trip was to take the “shit your pants boat ride” to los tuneles. Heather had gone on this day trip before and said that it was amazing, but one of the scariest things she has ever done. Los tuneles, is a difficult area to get to, which is why it can be scary. It is about a 45 minute boat ride from the main dock in Isabella. Once you arrive to the area, your boat essentially has to surf the waves into the shallows waters of los tuneles. ... read more

I love food! However, there is definitely a love/hate relationship developing with Galapagean food. Let me explain… The day usually starts with a pan dulce and a cup of coffee. The pan dulces are absolutely amazing. There is a bakery right down the street from our house where Norma buys the bread. The baker is Luis, a very old man, with a gold star embedded in his front tooth, and is a big flirt with every woman that walks by. If you chit chat with him for a bit, he will give you free bread. Emily and I even got a tour of the bakery, but when he tried to tell us that his name was Amador Constante (Constant Lover), we decided that even though he is a harmless old man, we should probably not stop ... read more

For 60 cents you can take a water taxi to la Playa de los Alemanes. It only takes five minutes to arrive at this somewhat small and secluded beach. Since I don’t work on Fridays, it has become my Friday hang out. On our first visit to the beach, the tide quickly rose, only leaving us with one foot of sand before running us into a small wooden dock. However, there happens to be a fancy hotel with a gorgeous pool/bar that sits right behind the dock. With no beach left, we decided to finagle our way into the hotel area. Somehow we were successful. So successful that this Friday, Emily, Sienne and I will begin tutoring the hotel employees in English and in exchange we have full access to their pool everyday, a free lunch ... read more

There are 16 islands that make up the Galapagos, which means that there are lots of adventures to have, but unfortunately being sea sick is going to be part of each one! On September 10th (sorry I am behind in blogging), Emily and I and two other volunteers here took a weekend trip to Isabella. Isabella is the largest island, but only 1400 people live there because it is almost completely dedicated as a national park. Boats go back and forth between Santa Cruz and Isabella daily, departing Santa Cruz at 2pm and departing Isabella at 6 am. It is about a 2.5 hr trip, but let me tell you, it felt like a lifetime. The boats that go frequently between the islands are rather small, holding only about 18 people max. There were swells that ... read more