Advertisement
Published: March 1st 2006
OK, we're really sorry that it has taken this long for us to write...between travelling and our crazy lives, we've been a bit delayed. Anyways, this is our attempt to encapsulate the last two months in one entry. Take a deep breath and here we go....
. we celebrated the new year with much excitement. we made jellow shots, went dancing out in the streets with our peruvian friends and their families, and watched the traditional new year's dolls burn away. we had a really great time and felt very accustomed to our new surroundings, passing one beer among us all until it was finished and needing to walk two blocks away to find a house that had a "bathroom" we could use. (by "bathroom" i mean a hole in the floor with a cement block that you slid off in order to pee...we felt like first class guests when the family actually brought us toilet paper to use). all in all, the bringing in of the new year was a great success.
the next morning, however, as we walked home from the other volunteer's apartment, where julie and i had spent the night, i felt quite un-at home in this city. it was about 12:30 in the afternoon (still feeling like morning due to our late night partying). i had thrown pajama pants into the bag i normally carry around, making it more crowded than usual, and therefore, deciding to strap my camera over my shoulder instead of putting it inside my bag as i usually do. we were tired and HOT, the sun had already begun to burn our skin, even though it was only a 10 minute walk from their apartment. we were three blocks from our house when someone jumped on my back. my first reaction was to throw some elbows and beat down whoever it was, but my mind caught my reflexes, and i convinced myself that it was probably just a friend being a little too rough in their greeting. (earlier in the year, i had almost punched a friend who came up behind me in a crowd and jokingly tried to pick pocket me and i did not want to make that mistake again). as i turned to see which friend it was, however, there was a 6 ft man (very rare in our part of peru) and his friend calmly walking away with my camera.
after a moment's shock, julie and i were hot on his tail, chasing him down the street. unfortunately, he had a bit longer leg spanse than the two of us and had a head start. nevertheless, as we rounded the corner, i saw salvation. it was new year's day, so almost every person who lived in the neighborhood was out on the street celebrating. there were speakers and tents set up. i screamed, "Ayudame, el hombre me robó" (which means, help me, the man robbed me)and looked expectantly at the people who sat on the sides of the street. the only thing that one of them would have had to do was stand up in front of this man and it would have slowed him enough for us to catch him... except, not one of them moved. i couldn't fathom what i was seeing, and as i ran, started crying out in the most desperate voice i have ever heard leave my body, "AYUDAME AYUDAME!!!" it almost felt like the voice had to have been coming from someone else. finally, once the man was well past him, one guy around our age got up and began chasing him with julie. as i ran, my sandal had fallen off and because the peruvian sun is scorchingly hot, as i ran, the steaming pavement had begun to burn the bottom of my foot. my screaming for help finally alerted a man driving by on his motorcycle, who let me jump on and we began chasing down the thief (and looking for julie, who i had lost sight of by this point). by now, the entire neighborhood was alert to what was going on, and as we drove past, i would ask huge groups gathered on the corners which direction they had run towards. the group would point a certain way and we would speed off in pursuit. the kicker here is that i had decided not to put my contacts in that morning because my eyes were tired and i did not have my glasses with me, so my motorcycle samaritan and i drove right past julie (who had given up the chase after the guy had disappeared into a house) as she marvelled at the sight of me riding by on moto with some random man, wearing only one sandal. it must have been quite amusing and i kinda wish someone had been videotaping the events. eventually, i asked the guy to let me off, giving up hope and wincing from the pain in my foot. julie caught up to me, showing that she had gotten back the case, after the guy threw it down, but that the camera was gone.
as we chatted, a circle of about 20 concerned kids gathered around us. they were looking up at us with horrified eyes as they shared amongst themselves that we had been robbed. i felt guilty for all the profanities escaping from my mouth, but hoped that those wouldn't be the first english words they pick up. then i asked the kids if any of them had seen my sandal, the burns on the bottom of my foot had already started to badly blister, and i was hurting. the kids looked from one to the other, shaking their heads. no one had seen my sandal. i sighed as i realized i would have to walk across the still burning hot streets to search for my sandal. then one of the little kids put her fist up in the air and yelled "Vamos a buscarla" or "Let's go look for it!" and suddenly the entire group of chidlren were out scouring the streets for my sandal. it was really cute. They found it quickly and proudly brought it to me. I took heart in the fact that at least i could still rely on kids.
Anyways, after a ridiculous meeting with the police to make a report, in which the officer who took my report pulled down a 1940s type writer on which he wrote down a few random facts and told me he'd let me know if they found anything. meanwhile, the entire town could probably have easily pointed out who had taken the camera, but i doubt the police ever actually investigated. ahhh, corruption.
shortly after that lovely incident, brian came to visit. it was AWESOME to see him. it definitely helped alleviate some of the missing home feelings. we stayed in a bungalow on the beach one night (which was absolutely beautiful) and then came back to chulucanas where he helped us build two adobe stoves. yeah, i totally put him to work during his vacation. poor kid, he even found a lizard in his sheets one night as he went to bed and was kept up by the wild dog fights that went on all night. i think he had fun though and it's awesome to have someone at home who has a different level of understanding to go with all our stories.
then at the end of january, we headed off on our long anticipated vacation. we went to Cuzco, a culturally rich city in the south of peru. we spent a couple of days exploring the local ruins and adjusting to the high altitude (it's up in the Andes mountains). then we headed on a four day hike to Machu Picchu (which is the site of famous Incan ruins). there were five of us volunteers and ten other hikers from england, ireland, and australia. and we had two peruvian guides. we just had a blast with everyone and camping was quite an adventure. the hike itself was one of the most physically challenging and exhausting things kerry has ever done in her life (climbing at one point to 4, 300 meters), but it was well worth it. the beauty of the mountains and rain forest and the views of the sunsets, sunrises, and stars were unbelieveable. Machu Picchu itself is phenomenal. it's insane how advanced the ancient Incans were and that their structures are still standing. there really aren't words good enough to do it justice, so you're just gonna have to look at our pictures once i get them online.
after we returned from our hike, we took the train down to Puno and Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world). We spent a few days resting and relaxing in our hotel and visitng the floating islands there.
Then Julie and I parted from the other volunteers because we needed to leave the country to get our stays renewed on our passports. So, we went to Copacabana, Bolivia. It's just over the border of Peru and it's a cute little hippie town. we stayed in a hostel overlooking the lake, which was quite pretty. The town was in the middle of celebrating the festival of Candelaria so every night the streets were filled by the drunkest people i have ever seen. it was completely normal to walk past at least ten people passed out face down on the street. it was weird. but while there, we met up with a couple of other people from our Machu Picchu group and had dinner with them a few times. It was nice.
After two nights, we headed back to Lima on a bus that we were told had nice reclining seats and would be going directly to Lima. However, the bus ride ending up being 26 hours. We were crammed into these tiny seatsand only fed a spoonful of rice and a bite of meat. The bus stopped at least 14 times, during which customs police came on and thoroughly searched the bus, including under our seats. Apparently a bus had been hijacked recently, so they were making more of a security effort. We also had the joy of sitting next to a little boy who puked for several hours of the trip. Oh, did i mention that our window didn't open and we were sitting close enough to smell everything from the bathroom at the back of the bus? yeah, it was quite a trip.
nevertheless, we made it to lima safe and sound and after a day or two of rest, we had a nice retreat wiht one of the sisters there. then it was back on a bus to return to chulucanas. the 16 hours it took us to get back here seemed like a flash after that 26 hour bus ride.
coming back to chulucanas was full of surprises. while we had been travelling, the rainy season had begun. with the rains, came all sorts of green things. what had been vast expanses of barren desert were suddenly rolling green hills. there is water in the river. and thankfully, the people have more hope for the coming year. rain to them means crops, which means food, money, and maybe a little less poverty. it is truly a blessing. yet, the rain has brought more than just color to our little desert town. we have some new creatures in the house these days. first is the moths. the people here call it a plague. they are everywhere. they almost block out the street lights they swarm them so completely and when they descend they fly into our faces and hair and ears. when we undress, moths fall out of our clothing.
we also had to go buy poison and spray this horde of little wormy caterpillar things that had taken over and killed the garden in the front of our house and were working their way into our front door. it was random unnamed poison, which i'm sure was great for us to be breathing, but it did rid us of the awful little creatures.
and our final new house guests, which definitely cannot be described as little, and are most certainly my least favorite thus far, are the TARANTULAS. yes tarantulas. there have been eight so far. three babies and five full grown. the first one we saw had been killed earlier by one of the sisters. the second i encountered during an awful spout of stomach sickness from the bacteria that always seems to find a way into my food and water. at 2 in the morning i went in to use the bathroom and there was a lovely tarantula hanging out by the toilet. suffice it to say, it scared my poop away for a while. that one got a way before we could kill it. but i think there might be a nest behind the cabinet in our bathroom. So yesterday, getting prepared to cook a feast for fat tuesday, we opened up the spice cabinet to find a baby tarantula who had made his home inside. So no we are not spared the thought of them entering the insides of the house! We naturally took him out on a frying pan and beat him with a pick ax, which we are skilled at using from cocinas. And then later on that night, we found antoher (hopefully the mom) outside our other bathroom. These guys just dont want us to be clean or let us pee in peace. oh and i had looked up tarantulas online, thinking that i should be well informed about my adversary, only to find out that most north american tarantulas are as harmless as wasps, but that south america has the deadly kind.
oh, phew.
so now, before i enter the bathroom my eyes are WIDE OPEN. on the bright side though, we have not yet seen any scorpions, which i hear are also in the area.
To continue with the drama last night (because really, there never is a dull moment), the volunteers were supposed to come over for dinner last night, but on their way they got into a moto accident. Now, moto accidents aren´t very surprising because there are really no rules that these drivers follow, but the circumstances behind this accident are just ridiculous. The moto that collided with them was coming up from behind at unbelievable speeds with no lights on and an entire family in the back, while it was raining. The moto tried to fly by them where there clearly was no room and hit the back where, one of the volunteers, roger was sitting and then proceeded to hit a car and just kept on going. Roger rolled off the back into the street, El sort of jumped off managing to get only minor scrapes on her knees, brendaen also could jump off, but unfortunately the moto flipped over and katie´s leg got trapped underneath. She was left with what we think is just a very bad bruised bone and some scrapes. Her shin is swollen and she probably wont be able to put pressure on her leg for a while. roger also had some cuts and street burns from his fall. So yeah, it was a pretty scary and frustrating experience for them.
as for work, we are getting back into it, slowly but surely. the rain makes some of our projects difficult (like building stoves made of adobe) but things are starting to pick up.there is a group of student nurses from villanova coming down at the beginning of march and we will be translating for them, which i'm really looking forward to. we´ve also taken some time to do some online job hunting for next year and are starting to send out our resumes. other than that, not too much is new. oh except that the heat has gotten more intense. it is ridiculous. the other day, it was well over 125 degrees in the sun. here, just breathing actually makes you sweat.
Well we think we have kept your attention for long enough. We miss you guys and love reading about your adventures (meg and nancy) and the rest of you need to get on posting blog entries!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0664s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
MVP 2005 2006
Marist Volunteer Program
crykee....there's no comment that can do justice to that entire entry, so i'll just say good for you two for surviving peru!!