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Published: January 26th 2009
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Never had I been killed nearly a thousand times trying to cross the street! Ok, slight exaggeration. Arequipa is the capital of crazy drivers who really don´t care about pedestrians. Cross at your own Risk!
Today, I ventured off to go see the Museo Recoleta, only about a 15 min walk from where i´m staying, but it proved to be a tough venture. Not only are the sidewalks tiney, they are crowded, omni´s zoom past whiz within inches of you and taxi´s look like lil worker ants trying to get to their queen ant.
Getting to the museum was pretty easy. I payed and to my suprise, the museum was closing in 30 min. Oh crap I thought. The lady reassured me that I could go in for the 30 min and later come back at 3 when it opened again. With 30 min, I headed to the most important part of the museum, it´s library which had several hundred books and a few that dated back to the 1400´s. It´s sad to know that the government does not give money to maintain these historical books. The library´s ceiling has evidence of water damage and I
can only imagine with time it´ll affect the books.
The museum closed and I was off in search of food. I found a lil whole in the wall place. The menu, like all, included an appetizer (this time it was soup) and a segundo (main meal) and a refresco (usually a fruit juice or Chica, a grape tasting juice). The place was bustling with hurried people, coming and going, several waiters going up and down the stairs hurridely trying to feed it´s custmers. The place was super tiney and you had to share a table with someone. Which, I don´t mind but I picked a table where a lil old man sat quiet and did not want to be bothered, (ie by me ). I kept to myself, slurped my soup, and just people watched, while a man across from me with his two children sat and people watched me. I know now what it feels like when someone stares at you. My sister always got mad at me for staring, lol. But it´s a habit hard to break and unlearn. Maybe with time.
I awaited my Frijeolada con chuleta but instead a fried chicken plate with
rice came. AW, I was so excited to eat something new but i guess it´s chicken AGAIN! For three soles, I can´t complain!
I was then off to see the market. Everyone sells baby alpaca clothing. But i have yet to buy me something made out of alpaca.
Wanting to climb El Misti and trek the Colca Canyon. I stopped at the visitor center where I got informed on hopw to the canyon by myself. Which is esay, take a series of buses, get off, walk, spend the night in Chivay, visit some thermals, hopefully see some condors, spend the night, then catch a bus back. For El Misti, I have to go on a guided hike. It´s a volcan of about 5,800 meters and of course i´m not experienced. Hopefully, I ´ll be trekking with a tour company called Zarate. I just now have to get 5 people to join me so that the trekking costs can be cheaper : )
The Unmarked hostel i´m staying at is sketchy. Yesterday, at around 7pm, I returned but noone was there to open the door. I rang the door bell, knocked and knocked. 30
min passed and noone one came. I started to think that maybe the lady had had a heart attck or something. I waited patiently, eating a peach. A man about in his 7o´s saw me and decided to stop and talk to me. The conversation was going well until he asked what I had studied in the university. I told him, he smerked and with a big smile he said, ¨Isn´t amazing, us humans, we can turn ourselfs into spiders¨....Perplexed, I chuckled, and quickly got up from where I was sitting. I guess I looked uncomfortable, he got the hint and left. I attract crazy people like myself, I suppose.
Earlier that day, I had lunch at another whole in the wall place. An older couple, sporting typical Peruvian attire, sat besides me. The owner of the place offered the old man a beer. It was refused. The owner, whispered in my ear ¨these old couples, they are stingy, what the hell is he going to do with his money when he dies, he can´t take it with him. Why can´t he just enjoy a good damn beer¨? I laughed and agreed that we don´t take anything with
us when we die, So it´s best that we appreciate what we have and enjoy our hard earned money on things that make us happy. My lunch turned into a two hour epic. With the owner telling me about his Love life woes. This 40 yr old man that looked 60, did not have faith in love. He had given up. His first love of four years, left him for another. He swore to never fall in love and decided that women were to just be enjoyed ¨para pica flor¨. He then fell in love several years later but her time was cut short with a tragic bus accident. His sad eyes told a story of a man who was going to live life alone. I talked to him, sharing my short stories and tried to inspire a bit of hope in him. Life can be sad but it can be a good one too and it can be one where we can share it with someone. When the time is right, that´s what I think.
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Dee Buehring
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Always fun to read your updates + see where the journey is leading. Please have a drink for me. :) Dee