A Woman’s Value in a Man’s World:
‘You are lost in the world without education,’ Ruperta Salo Huaymanca tells me the second time I meet her. She is a plump but ebullient woman, and for being so small in stature, her personality and intelligence overwhelms everyone. And yet it is specifically her courage and determination in which she represents a new future for women in Peru. Currently residing in one of the poorest districts of Lima, San Juan de Lurigancho, Ruperta will hopefully be able to fulfill the dream of the projects of Progressio.
One of the many programs that Ruperta is involved with is the Comité Gestión; conducted by a Progressio cooperative. Diana Torres, its leader, has hopes to introduce women into the political world that is currently driven by a male force. They meet weekly to discuss issues facing women in the patriarchal society of Lima, Peru. The goals of the Comité Gestión include giving women the tools to break into politics and thrive in its male driven environment. Ruperta gave me the assurance that this hopeful goal of Porgressio’s will eventually be realized. However, it is Ruperta’s past that simultaneously shadows her future and encourages her success.
Ruperta was born in Cuzco. She is the eldest of her four siblings, consisting of three sisters and one brother. After the death of her father, at twelve years old, Ruperta migrated to San Juan de Lurigancho to live with her aunt and help raise her younger siblings. She began selling soup, which has been her main occupation throughout her long life; she is presently fifty-nine.
At a young age, Ruperta was plagued by the beatings of her aunt’s husband. Looking for solace, she took on another job; cleaning a modest house. The house lacked running water, so Ruperta would trudge every day to a well. After some time, she met a man at the well. She told him of her ill-treatment, including an incident where her uncle burned her cheek with a scalding spoon. He sympathetically, told Ruperta that he would never commit such atrocities because he loved her. With that, the couple escaped and moved in together.
Shortly after moving in with this man who became her husband, Ruperta discovered that this person she met at the well was a fraud. He was a heavy drinker and full of hate. Thus, he began to abuse Ruperta physically and emotionally. He would tell her that she was stupid and ignorant because she could not read or write. She was convinced that she lacked an identity because her signature was an X. The minute details of her life, such as going to the market to buy food, were everyday struggles.
The cruelty worsened a year later, when the couple discovered they were impotent. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ruperta’s husband blamed their childless union on her. She began to believe her partner’s hateful words; that she was useless. Many nights Ruperta would be thrown out of her own house and stood outside the door until her husband fell asleep and she could creep back into the house unnoticed. Her routine continued as she woke up and went to work every morning, being the bread winner of the family since her husband did not have a job. Ruperta was gradually sinking into an abysmal hole but somehow she was able to recover through her experiences with the church.
One afternoon, Ruperta was on the streets crying. A nun approached her and asked why she was crying. Ruperta answered, ‘Because my husband abuses and beats me.’ The nun suggested that Ruperta go with her to the church, asking, ‘Would you like to learn?’ And Ruperta eagerly followed into the church. Ruperta was introduced to teachers of EDUCA who told Ruperta to wipe her tears because they were going to help. Ruperta began the program of alphabetization, with the patience and understanding of the teachers. And gradually as time passed, Ruperta learned to read and write.
Ruperta can read but has problems retaining information most likely due to the traumas she suffered in her life. But her emotional disturbances do not hold her back. ‘Before, I couldn’t read or write, but at least now I can write my own name,’ Ruperta assured me. She has been studying for more than three years and has had much success with the programs from EDUCA and now Progressio.
Most importantly to Ruperta is her signature, which now allows her to have a documented identity. As a leader of Vaso de Leche and participant in Mujeres Líderes and the Comité Gestión, one of Ruperta’s favorite duties is to sign documents. Additionally, the groups help Ruperta forget her suffering.
As Ruperta had gotten heavily involved in community politicking, her home life worsened. In the afternoons, Ruperta would lie to her husband and tell him that she was going out for a walk and she would run to the community center or to the church to attend and/or lead meetings. But she always had to leave early, so her partner would not suspect anything. On one specific occasion, her husband was waiting for her. Immediately, he asked where she had been and without waiting for a response, Ruperta´s husband kicked her brutally in the leg. That night, Ruperta prayed to God, ‘Please God, I’m receiving this bruise for learning to read and write, so please help me, because it is worth it.’ The next morning she awoke and the pain in her leg was still there, but she found the strength to continue on. She went to work to sell her soup and later on to a meeting.
She came home afterwards, went to her husband and threatened him. She told him that if he continued to beat her, then she would go to her teacher who is a lawyer and they would put him in jail. Now without fear, Ruperta attends meetings. She spends most of her day outside of her home, working and then going to classes and programs. ‘In the groups, I am the most happy and I feel like I am capable of anything,’ she told me earnestly. Ruperta finds strength in her meetings and goes to church before each one to cry and ask God for help in finding this force.
Ruperta seems to walk the fine line between complete independence as a woman and the perfectly submissive wife. Somehow, it is this vacillation that makes her undying courage so apparent and helpful in a country lacking a woman’s voice. Because not only does she understand everything they have been through, but she too has experienced it firsthand.
She told me of a story where she was in the hospital and she saw a nurse mistreating an indigenous woman who only spoke Quechua. Ruperta, fluent in both Quechua and Spanish, interrupted the nurse and told her, ‘this woman has the right to be treated fairly at this hospital.’ Shocked, the nurse inquired about how Ruperta knew this and Ruperta responded, ‘Well, I am the leader of Mujeres Líderes.’ And the nurse turned around and began to treat the indigenous woman.
After this, it became evident to me, that Ruperta had found her role in life. She sees herself as a teacher and guide for those women who do not know they have equal human rights. She gave me hope that Progressio will succeed in their project of guiding women into the government, whatever scale that may be. Ruperta epitomizes the struggles that face every woman in Peru. She is an educated woman living in an incredibly poor district of Lima, and not for one moment has she become disillusioned. Ruperta’s husband may not appreciate her gifts, but she is the hope for every woman in her community.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tener Una Voz
Knowing Your Rights:
Yolanda Salazar Losada walks into the room, looking radiant. She has her hair pulled back and her earrings graze her shoulder blades as she talks with effervescent animation. She is full of charisma and especially pride. And throughout our time together at the community center in Huascar, which is a zone of San Juan de Lurigancho, her eyes never stray from mine. She is older than me, but Yolanda persistently addresses me as ‘Senorita,’ as if I have some sort of authoritative role, which I clearly do not. And with ease, Yolanda laughs, usually with her entire body, completely forgetting that at one time in her life, laughing was not so easy.
At the young age of 42, Yolanda has had a life more full of strife and struggle than many people will know in a lifetime. Yet she harbors no scars; emotionally. As she told me, ‘My past is in my past, I now live in the present and for the future.’
It is hard to imagine that a few years before she was involved with EDUCA, Yolanda was someone else completely.
She was born in Piura, in the north of Peru, and was raised by her two parents. She had some basic schooling until second grade, but nothing afterwards. And with her first love, at the mere age of 14, Yolanda’s life was turned upside down. She met a young man, who was much older than her (over 18 years old) and also married, but fell in love nonetheless and got pregnant. Her mother told her that as long as she separated from Carlos, the father of her child, then she would help and take care of the baby. Yolanda agreed.
Three years later, she met Luis. He was sweet and caring and Yolanda fell in love all over again. Her parents, however, heavily disapproved because while Yolanda thought Luis was a good man, he was also a drunk. She already had a three year old child at home to worry about, so her parents did not want any more problems. Yolanda wanted to live with Luis, since she would be having his child, but her parents disagreed. She and Luis escaped to San Juan de Lurigancho of Lima to live with his brother in order to start a life and a family together. They thought that by escaping the harsh realities of their past in Piura, Lima would be a safe haven. Yet, as Yolanda began to discover, her past was inescapable.
Luis began to come home intoxicated frequently. He was extremely jealous and would accuse Yolanda of betrayal and deception. He thought Yolanda was keeping up contact with Carlos because she was still in love with him. When he would scream accusations, Yolanda tried to explain that he was fooling himself; she would never leave him for Carlos – she loved him. Luis’ jealousy escalated for years and eventually he turned to physical abuse.
Unfortunately, there was no one for Yolanda to turn to. She could not turn to her parents for fear of worrying them. And she could not talk to anyone in Lima, because they were not her family and the fact that Yolanda had her first daughter out of wedlock with another man, was a secret. She could not bare the shame in her community. So she dealt with Luis’ mistreatment and abuse; she kept quiet. In order to appease Luis, Yolanda stopped leaving the house.
For many years, the behavior continued. Yolanda gritted her teeth and bore the weight of a violent household, while simultaneously maintaining all the daily chores and labors inside the home. She began to tire of Luis’ cruelty and inhumane treatment, so she suggested that they separate. She no longer wanted her children to be raised in the kind of environment where they were continually exposed to violence. What example was she setting for her children?
By then she had four children; two girls and two boys. And Luis was continuously punishing Yolanda for the mistake of her firstborn in front of the rest of the family. As far as she knew, in the patriarchal system; she had no rights as a wife, nor as a mother, and especially not as a woman.
After some years, Luis was severely injured in a car accident. None of Luis’ friends came to see him in the hospital nor did they help out with the hospital bills. Yolanda was the only one there for him. She left her kids at the house and stayed by Luis’ side during his entire recovery. Since there were no funds for his hospital bill and for his medicine, Yolanda picked up some spare money by helping out the nurses and cleaning the hospital. And Luis began to realize how lucky he was to have Yolanda.
Luis had three long months of recuperation. He could not work and make money for the family, so he took some initiative and had a friend lend him some money to buy boxes of candies so he could sell them from the door of their house. During this time period, Luis asked Yolanda for forgiveness for the past. And for the first time, Yolanda asserted herself. She told him that he should try and imagine what he has done to the family; he allowed her first child to grow up without a father figure, he transformed into another person when he drank, and he was abusive both mentally and physically. Yolanda told him, ‘I love you, but you hit me.’
A short while after this conversation, Yolanda began to notice that some people she knew in the neighborhood were spending their afternoons in the church. Curious to see what was going on, Yolanda, of her own accord, went to see what was going on. And there she found out about the program for alphabetization from EDUCA. She soon after took a test and started the program in the first level (she is now in the third). In the program she learned how to read and write; she found out that, ‘for studying, there is no age limit.’ Before learning to read and write, her children would ask her for help with their homework, but she was unable to because she had not had the schooling to help. When they were young, she would always tell them, ‘I want you to grow up to be better than me.’ She always wanted her children to have the advantage of being fully educated in order to open the gates of opportunity.
Yolanda became more and more involved in the programs of EDUCA and Progressio as she learned about her need for independence. Through many of the programs and meetings held, she learned that even though she is a woman, she too has rights. She has the same rights as her husband.
Yolanda prayed for the support and understanding of Luis and eventually, he too changed. As she bore her new knowledge as a shield, Yolanda went to Luis to explain that he could no longer abuse her or she would go to the police. Thus Yolanda began the transition from submissive wife to teacher. She began teaching her husband and children that women and men are born with equal rights and both genders must respect that. Luis thus saw that there were benefits to Yolanda’s autonomy.
Yolanda was then invited to participate in a group called The Comité Gestión,’ which is women’s group through a project at Progressio, which meets weekly to actively discuss women’s rights and their importance within the community.
The entire world had opened and welcomed Yolanda. She currently attends weekly meetings in the afternoon, almost every day of the week. Although, Yolanda is very quick to reassure that her work within the programs is not solely for the purpose of bettering herself, but furthermore for bettering her community. She wants to learn as much as possible because the more she learns, the more she is able to share with other women. ‘The women in the groups have become my family and my best friends,’ she said proudly.
Yolanda feels like she is setting a good example for her family. Dinners no longer are quiet meals; instead Yolanda starts the conversation, so the entire family is involved. Yolanda does not bear the weight of household chores alone. Her sons and husband accompany her to the supermarket and they help her clean the house. All her responsibilities are now shared amongst the entire household, which of course frees up more of Yolanda’s time to do what she loves to do: learn and study.
One time, her youngest son, who is now nine years old, asked her why there was such a drastic change in the house. He wanted to know why his father no longer yells at his mother, and why she is no longer beaten. She explained to him that, ‘the Yolanda that was hit and beaten and abused has died, and in her place there is a new woman, the new Yolanda.’
When I first met her, during a meeting of the Comité Gestión,’ the committee that meets weekly with Diana Torres, a cooperative from Progressio, Yolanda stood out in the group. Her passion was forefront and it was obvious that she was ecstatic to be there. She told me that Diana had taught her how to value herself. She has learned to be proud of herself and especially to be proud of her womanhood. It is clear for Yolanda that her future entails an involvement in politics. She has the tools and knowledge to forefront the new generation of women who are tearing down the antiquated walls of government down.
With each step towards this breach, Yolanda is most thankful for the fact that she lives alongside her husband as an equal partner. Yolanda goes to meetings and she feels comfortable sharing about her traumatic past life. Because she no longer sees herself as a victim. Yolanda is a survivor.
Yolanda Salazar Losada walks into the room, looking radiant. She has her hair pulled back and her earrings graze her shoulder blades as she talks with effervescent animation. She is full of charisma and especially pride. And throughout our time together at the community center in Huascar, which is a zone of San Juan de Lurigancho, her eyes never stray from mine. She is older than me, but Yolanda persistently addresses me as ‘Senorita,’ as if I have some sort of authoritative role, which I clearly do not. And with ease, Yolanda laughs, usually with her entire body, completely forgetting that at one time in her life, laughing was not so easy.
At the young age of 42, Yolanda has had a life more full of strife and struggle than many people will know in a lifetime. Yet she harbors no scars; emotionally. As she told me, ‘My past is in my past, I now live in the present and for the future.’
It is hard to imagine that a few years before she was involved with EDUCA, Yolanda was someone else completely.
She was born in Piura, in the north of Peru, and was raised by her two parents. She had some basic schooling until second grade, but nothing afterwards. And with her first love, at the mere age of 14, Yolanda’s life was turned upside down. She met a young man, who was much older than her (over 18 years old) and also married, but fell in love nonetheless and got pregnant. Her mother told her that as long as she separated from Carlos, the father of her child, then she would help and take care of the baby. Yolanda agreed.
Three years later, she met Luis. He was sweet and caring and Yolanda fell in love all over again. Her parents, however, heavily disapproved because while Yolanda thought Luis was a good man, he was also a drunk. She already had a three year old child at home to worry about, so her parents did not want any more problems. Yolanda wanted to live with Luis, since she would be having his child, but her parents disagreed. She and Luis escaped to San Juan de Lurigancho of Lima to live with his brother in order to start a life and a family together. They thought that by escaping the harsh realities of their past in Piura, Lima would be a safe haven. Yet, as Yolanda began to discover, her past was inescapable.
Luis began to come home intoxicated frequently. He was extremely jealous and would accuse Yolanda of betrayal and deception. He thought Yolanda was keeping up contact with Carlos because she was still in love with him. When he would scream accusations, Yolanda tried to explain that he was fooling himself; she would never leave him for Carlos – she loved him. Luis’ jealousy escalated for years and eventually he turned to physical abuse.
Unfortunately, there was no one for Yolanda to turn to. She could not turn to her parents for fear of worrying them. And she could not talk to anyone in Lima, because they were not her family and the fact that Yolanda had her first daughter out of wedlock with another man, was a secret. She could not bare the shame in her community. So she dealt with Luis’ mistreatment and abuse; she kept quiet. In order to appease Luis, Yolanda stopped leaving the house.
For many years, the behavior continued. Yolanda gritted her teeth and bore the weight of a violent household, while simultaneously maintaining all the daily chores and labors inside the home. She began to tire of Luis’ cruelty and inhumane treatment, so she suggested that they separate. She no longer wanted her children to be raised in the kind of environment where they were continually exposed to violence. What example was she setting for her children?
By then she had four children; two girls and two boys. And Luis was continuously punishing Yolanda for the mistake of her firstborn in front of the rest of the family. As far as she knew, in the patriarchal system; she had no rights as a wife, nor as a mother, and especially not as a woman.
After some years, Luis was severely injured in a car accident. None of Luis’ friends came to see him in the hospital nor did they help out with the hospital bills. Yolanda was the only one there for him. She left her kids at the house and stayed by Luis’ side during his entire recovery. Since there were no funds for his hospital bill and for his medicine, Yolanda picked up some spare money by helping out the nurses and cleaning the hospital. And Luis began to realize how lucky he was to have Yolanda.
Luis had three long months of recuperation. He could not work and make money for the family, so he took some initiative and had a friend lend him some money to buy boxes of candies so he could sell them from the door of their house. During this time period, Luis asked Yolanda for forgiveness for the past. And for the first time, Yolanda asserted herself. She told him that he should try and imagine what he has done to the family; he allowed her first child to grow up without a father figure, he transformed into another person when he drank, and he was abusive both mentally and physically. Yolanda told him, ‘I love you, but you hit me.’
A short while after this conversation, Yolanda began to notice that some people she knew in the neighborhood were spending their afternoons in the church. Curious to see what was going on, Yolanda, of her own accord, went to see what was going on. And there she found out about the program for alphabetization from EDUCA. She soon after took a test and started the program in the first level (she is now in the third). In the program she learned how to read and write; she found out that, ‘for studying, there is no age limit.’ Before learning to read and write, her children would ask her for help with their homework, but she was unable to because she had not had the schooling to help. When they were young, she would always tell them, ‘I want you to grow up to be better than me.’ She always wanted her children to have the advantage of being fully educated in order to open the gates of opportunity.
Yolanda became more and more involved in the programs of EDUCA and Progressio as she learned about her need for independence. Through many of the programs and meetings held, she learned that even though she is a woman, she too has rights. She has the same rights as her husband.
Yolanda prayed for the support and understanding of Luis and eventually, he too changed. As she bore her new knowledge as a shield, Yolanda went to Luis to explain that he could no longer abuse her or she would go to the police. Thus Yolanda began the transition from submissive wife to teacher. She began teaching her husband and children that women and men are born with equal rights and both genders must respect that. Luis thus saw that there were benefits to Yolanda’s autonomy.
Yolanda was then invited to participate in a group called The Comité Gestión,’ which is women’s group through a project at Progressio, which meets weekly to actively discuss women’s rights and their importance within the community.
The entire world had opened and welcomed Yolanda. She currently attends weekly meetings in the afternoon, almost every day of the week. Although, Yolanda is very quick to reassure that her work within the programs is not solely for the purpose of bettering herself, but furthermore for bettering her community. She wants to learn as much as possible because the more she learns, the more she is able to share with other women. ‘The women in the groups have become my family and my best friends,’ she said proudly.
Yolanda feels like she is setting a good example for her family. Dinners no longer are quiet meals; instead Yolanda starts the conversation, so the entire family is involved. Yolanda does not bear the weight of household chores alone. Her sons and husband accompany her to the supermarket and they help her clean the house. All her responsibilities are now shared amongst the entire household, which of course frees up more of Yolanda’s time to do what she loves to do: learn and study.
One time, her youngest son, who is now nine years old, asked her why there was such a drastic change in the house. He wanted to know why his father no longer yells at his mother, and why she is no longer beaten. She explained to him that, ‘the Yolanda that was hit and beaten and abused has died, and in her place there is a new woman, the new Yolanda.’
When I first met her, during a meeting of the Comité Gestión,’ the committee that meets weekly with Diana Torres, a cooperative from Progressio, Yolanda stood out in the group. Her passion was forefront and it was obvious that she was ecstatic to be there. She told me that Diana had taught her how to value herself. She has learned to be proud of herself and especially to be proud of her womanhood. It is clear for Yolanda that her future entails an involvement in politics. She has the tools and knowledge to forefront the new generation of women who are tearing down the antiquated walls of government down.
With each step towards this breach, Yolanda is most thankful for the fact that she lives alongside her husband as an equal partner. Yolanda goes to meetings and she feels comfortable sharing about her traumatic past life. Because she no longer sees herself as a victim. Yolanda is a survivor.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tina the pornstar: my thanksgiving turkey
So after an easy flight from New York to Los Angeles, I landed back in the comforts of Calabasas under the pretexts that my flight was paid for because I was to help cook for Thanksgiving. After going to Whole Foods with my mother and purchasing the organic Turkey we would have for Thanksgiving dinner, we brought her back to the house to put her in her brine. And this is where our Turkey´s life began to unravel....
Tina, the turkey, came to us after a long life of strife. Yes, she had a horrible childhood filled with neglect and abuse by her family in the streets of the Valley. She eventually was rescued by a rooster, Porky. He told Tina that he loved her and would save her from her harsh life. But he ended up introducing her into the porn industry in the Valley of Los Angeles so they could make some good money. In the beginning, life seemed to be getting better for Tina, she had money and she did not mind her job so much. Porky got involved with the porn industry as well, but grew tired of the over-dramatized and exhausting world of porn. So he turned to pimping. He began to pimp out Tina. Porky became a terrible drinker and ended up beating Tina as well. Eventually Porky beat Tina so badly that she left him and ended up killed by the organic Whole Foods Company. And that is where me and my mother met Tina. Her life as a pornographer was over and her life led by Porky had also come to a close, so no one felt any remorse eating her delicious meat for our Thanksgiving dinner. Although, I will add that on the morning of Thanksgiving, when Tina saw her old friend Tom as the main event for the Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, she felt somewhat left behind. But after a whole day in the oven and a lot of love and affection from the Kagel family, she was completely restored. And damn, after a terrible history, you´d think she would taste bad. Yet, in fact, she was juicy and tender in all the perfect ways. So thanks Tina.
Other than the meal for Thanksgiving, two very important events took place that night. The first being that my father, who every year plays bartender with some special drink, made Apple Martinis. And while initially, this does not seem like a large event because any time my family gets together for an occasion, it usually means we are all going to drink heavily...but this year seemed worse than any other. I, of course, being the only one who does not drink Vodka, there were ten of us total, was the only one sober enough to witness the Apple Martini disaster, other than my cousin Mark who only had one. Okay, and no I was not totally sober, but in comparison I was... By the time, the main part of the dinner was served, everyone was so liquored up that no one remembered how good the food was until they were reminded by the leftovers the next day. We also embarassingly, went around in a circle and said what we were thankful for which seems useless now. No one remembers what they said. And after the dinner, everyone said that the Martinis were a bad idea and nest year we should all stick to Scotch... They say that every year and somehow, I am the only one who can stick to it... But I´m hoping by documenting the affair, it will be stained in everyone´s mind.
The second event, which to me is quite amazing is that my name was changed from Jenna to Satan. (my sister uses the French pronunciation - Satan - long A´s) My father who for six years, I called endearingly Pops or Papa, told me in the midst of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, that he has hated that name for all these years and felt it was demeaning. So he proclaimed that he should be called by the name that he wants and that he wanted to be called ¨Dad.¨ ¨No problem,¨I said calmly, ¨but while we're at it, I would also like to be called by a name of my choosing. And I want to be called Satan.¨ So now my family calls me by my correct name. It is quite lovely, I think. Satan. I should have thought of this when I was 16, it would have tortured my parents more then.....
Tina, the turkey, came to us after a long life of strife. Yes, she had a horrible childhood filled with neglect and abuse by her family in the streets of the Valley. She eventually was rescued by a rooster, Porky. He told Tina that he loved her and would save her from her harsh life. But he ended up introducing her into the porn industry in the Valley of Los Angeles so they could make some good money. In the beginning, life seemed to be getting better for Tina, she had money and she did not mind her job so much. Porky got involved with the porn industry as well, but grew tired of the over-dramatized and exhausting world of porn. So he turned to pimping. He began to pimp out Tina. Porky became a terrible drinker and ended up beating Tina as well. Eventually Porky beat Tina so badly that she left him and ended up killed by the organic Whole Foods Company. And that is where me and my mother met Tina. Her life as a pornographer was over and her life led by Porky had also come to a close, so no one felt any remorse eating her delicious meat for our Thanksgiving dinner. Although, I will add that on the morning of Thanksgiving, when Tina saw her old friend Tom as the main event for the Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, she felt somewhat left behind. But after a whole day in the oven and a lot of love and affection from the Kagel family, she was completely restored. And damn, after a terrible history, you´d think she would taste bad. Yet, in fact, she was juicy and tender in all the perfect ways. So thanks Tina.
Other than the meal for Thanksgiving, two very important events took place that night. The first being that my father, who every year plays bartender with some special drink, made Apple Martinis. And while initially, this does not seem like a large event because any time my family gets together for an occasion, it usually means we are all going to drink heavily...but this year seemed worse than any other. I, of course, being the only one who does not drink Vodka, there were ten of us total, was the only one sober enough to witness the Apple Martini disaster, other than my cousin Mark who only had one. Okay, and no I was not totally sober, but in comparison I was... By the time, the main part of the dinner was served, everyone was so liquored up that no one remembered how good the food was until they were reminded by the leftovers the next day. We also embarassingly, went around in a circle and said what we were thankful for which seems useless now. No one remembers what they said. And after the dinner, everyone said that the Martinis were a bad idea and nest year we should all stick to Scotch... They say that every year and somehow, I am the only one who can stick to it... But I´m hoping by documenting the affair, it will be stained in everyone´s mind.
The second event, which to me is quite amazing is that my name was changed from Jenna to Satan. (my sister uses the French pronunciation - Satan - long A´s) My father who for six years, I called endearingly Pops or Papa, told me in the midst of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, that he has hated that name for all these years and felt it was demeaning. So he proclaimed that he should be called by the name that he wants and that he wanted to be called ¨Dad.¨ ¨No problem,¨I said calmly, ¨but while we're at it, I would also like to be called by a name of my choosing. And I want to be called Satan.¨ So now my family calls me by my correct name. It is quite lovely, I think. Satan. I should have thought of this when I was 16, it would have tortured my parents more then.....
Monday, December 1, 2008
Back to travel where all of your housekeepers used to live.....
I am now back in dreary Lima....
Obama-nation: I spent about a week in New York before Thanksgiving, which was, well - interesting. I learned to appreciate first off our plumbing system in the states.It is definitely a weird joy, but one I love - throwing my toilet paper down the toilet instead of placing it in a waste basket next to the toilet, since there is no infrastructure in Peru....so yay! And I definitely felt some weird sense of satisfaction because of my trip, since it is the best time to travel and NOT enter the disastrous and threatening job market of the states. Thank god I am not living in the recession. And while yes, South America does feel some apsect of the recession, it is much less, so I´m pretty happy.Was that smug? Well, that´s okay, I do feel like I one-uped some of you.
Otherwise, New York was good. I got to organize numerous groups of my friends, who apparently dont hang out with each other anymore since they all work and spend their free time at the gym! :) plus, since my blog is so daunting for them to read, other than Will and Tom,- thanks guys- I can make fun of all you since you wont be reading this....
Additionally I thought I would add that, while in New York, I learned about culture shock. Surprising, since I have not felt that much of a culture shock being in South America, but only on my return to New York did it slap me in the face. So the story goes as follows: I got proceedingly drunk through my second night in the city after I had assembled a weird group of people. People bought me drinks and eventually the bartender started giving me free PBRs. All my friends ended up ditching me at Cherry Tavern on 6th because they all work during the week. Somehow I remember not paying for a single drink that night... hm. Either way I ended up with a friend of a friend, in his west village apartment. I had just met him that night and of course, I was drunk and it was cold outside, so I just kept drinking. Eventually, it got to three in the morning and I had no interest in bundling up and getting back to Josh and Camille´s aprtment, where I was staying.He seemed to be itching to go to bed, but was not saying anything. So I initiated....
I asked this kid, who we´ll call, Ira, 'Hey, can you just get me a blanket, so I can crash on the floor. I´ll be out of here by six.' He had hard wood floors, but I am so used to sleeping anywhere that all I need is a blanket and I will sleep.
'Uh...No,' he blatantly said.
'Are you being serious?' I asked, totally unsure what he meant by no.
'Yeah, I´m serious. I don´t know you. You can´t stay here.'
And then it hit me. It was 3am and this New York kid, obviously did not trust me or maybe he was scared of me...I´m not sure which one it was. But he wanted me out.
'Oh my god,' I said as I put my hand over my mouth. 'I´m sooo sorry. I must have forgotten where I am. You're right. This is the city.'
And then after watching me struggle to get on my various layers, he put me out on the bitterly cold street to find my way home....
I guess New Yorkers are a lot more cowardly than they seem. :)
Obama-nation: I spent about a week in New York before Thanksgiving, which was, well - interesting. I learned to appreciate first off our plumbing system in the states.It is definitely a weird joy, but one I love - throwing my toilet paper down the toilet instead of placing it in a waste basket next to the toilet, since there is no infrastructure in Peru....so yay! And I definitely felt some weird sense of satisfaction because of my trip, since it is the best time to travel and NOT enter the disastrous and threatening job market of the states. Thank god I am not living in the recession. And while yes, South America does feel some apsect of the recession, it is much less, so I´m pretty happy.Was that smug? Well, that´s okay, I do feel like I one-uped some of you.
Otherwise, New York was good. I got to organize numerous groups of my friends, who apparently dont hang out with each other anymore since they all work and spend their free time at the gym! :) plus, since my blog is so daunting for them to read, other than Will and Tom,- thanks guys- I can make fun of all you since you wont be reading this....
Additionally I thought I would add that, while in New York, I learned about culture shock. Surprising, since I have not felt that much of a culture shock being in South America, but only on my return to New York did it slap me in the face. So the story goes as follows: I got proceedingly drunk through my second night in the city after I had assembled a weird group of people. People bought me drinks and eventually the bartender started giving me free PBRs. All my friends ended up ditching me at Cherry Tavern on 6th because they all work during the week. Somehow I remember not paying for a single drink that night... hm. Either way I ended up with a friend of a friend, in his west village apartment. I had just met him that night and of course, I was drunk and it was cold outside, so I just kept drinking. Eventually, it got to three in the morning and I had no interest in bundling up and getting back to Josh and Camille´s aprtment, where I was staying.He seemed to be itching to go to bed, but was not saying anything. So I initiated....
I asked this kid, who we´ll call, Ira, 'Hey, can you just get me a blanket, so I can crash on the floor. I´ll be out of here by six.' He had hard wood floors, but I am so used to sleeping anywhere that all I need is a blanket and I will sleep.
'Uh...No,' he blatantly said.
'Are you being serious?' I asked, totally unsure what he meant by no.
'Yeah, I´m serious. I don´t know you. You can´t stay here.'
And then it hit me. It was 3am and this New York kid, obviously did not trust me or maybe he was scared of me...I´m not sure which one it was. But he wanted me out.
'Oh my god,' I said as I put my hand over my mouth. 'I´m sooo sorry. I must have forgotten where I am. You're right. This is the city.'
And then after watching me struggle to get on my various layers, he put me out on the bitterly cold street to find my way home....
I guess New Yorkers are a lot more cowardly than they seem. :)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Mamapache
So so so....the work with Progressio and EDUCA - the NGO that works in correspondence with Progressio. The week before I left for Cuzco, which was about three weeks ago was mind blowing. On Monday, I went to San Juan de Lurigancho to see two zones where most of the people who are involved in the community programs with Progressio and EDUCA live. Roberto, a sociologist and pastor who works with EDUCA took Ryan and I around to get a sense of what life is like. The majority of the homes are built in the hills with no infrastructure.In Juan Pablo II and also in Huascar, the zones, you don´t buy land in order to live there. You basically burn out a plot of land, which is tiny, and then the families construct a home from tin or brick or rock, bascically whatever the family can accumulate in order to build a home.I only went inside one home so I cannot exactly say for sure, but from what I saw, most of the homes have one room, which would hold a kitchen, mostly consisting of a stove and multiple mattresses for a family ranging fron four to eight to live in. The rooves are mainly made of perforated tin and the families do not get access to water until they have lived on their land for five years. After the five years, they are given a tank that is filled by a truck that comes by and pours water, that is supposedly clean, so the family can use it for washing, cleaning, and cooking.It is a very minimal life and it also seems extremely dificult since the houses are built on these hills, so to reach the houses, families walk up concrete staircases every day to bring food or other necessities. There are communal toilets, which are mainly outhouses, or some families use buckets if necessary.There are dogs, chickens, and cats that mill around everywhere and I saw only one area for recreation for kids, which consisted of two posts at the ends of a dirt field. But it seems that the children have little time for recreation as they are either in school or helping out the family.
After this first day of seeing the broken down homes, some of which barely have walls that meet and look unbearable to live in, I was to start the next day with my actual work with Progressio. I went, with a Mexican girl Lorena, who is making a documentary about San Juan de Lurigancho to interview four women who are actively participating in the programs of both EDUCA and Progressio. The four women; Andrea, Victoria, Yolanda, and Ruperta were elected by their group to be the representation for the article I would write for Progressio. I am working on two articles which will be published in the newsletter for Progressio about the progress these women have made in the programs. The four women have all been through a program of alphabetization, so they can learn to read and write in Spanish - one of which, her first language is Quechua. I conducted an interview separatedly with each woman, learning about their personal histories and the impact the programs and projects from Progressio have had on their lives. After the programs of alphabetization, the women are currently learning about their rights as women and as civilians of the state. Eventually, the goal of the project I have been mostly involved with, is to get the women to actively participate in decisions of the community and ultimately of the government. It is hard to gage from a perspective of the United States, where women know they have rights to not be beaten by their husbands, or to know they have rights to be treated at a hospital, but for these women in San Juan de Lurigancho, the small details of their lives have changed because they now understand that they are not inclined to do the dishes solely and do all the shopping for the family They are learning how their husbands can also help in the daily chores and as well, that they cannot use their wives as punching bags. This may sound harsh but the women I interviewed have had unbelievably harsh lives full of neglect and abuse and I am so happy to get their voices out to the public. So while I have finished one article thus far, I have one more to go and I plan on finishing it within the next week. Once I am done, I will probably send it out - it may help you all understand the objective of the programs from Progressio in changing the lives of these women....
Other than the work, which I have been heavily involved in - I spent a week working and going to San Juan de Lurigancho which is about two hours away from Miraflores in Lima. So other than that I went on a trip to Cuzco so I could spend some time there and eventually get to Machu Picchu. Cuzco is an amazing quaint colonial city that is surrounded by multiple Inca ruins, my favorite being Sasqewayman (my spelling is off, but it is a Quechuan word, most of the tourists remember it as 'sexy woman'). I went with two Isrealis, Yael and Gal on horseback to see some ruins around Cuzco, el templo de la luna, la zona X and of course Sasqewayman.It was beautiful and awe inspiring considering how we have no idea how they built these monstrous temples and landscapes.
Flor had a friend who also works for Progessio in Cuzco and I stayed at her place while I was there. And eventually I headed to Machu Picchu. Its strange because everyone thinks that Cuzco is the starting point to get to Machu Picchu, where in fact Aguas Calientes is really the starting point to get to Machu Picchu. I went with four Israelis I had met the night before and on the way we picked up a girl from Spain, Sole, who I actually spent most of the time with. So this is the trekk we took to get there: we left from Cuzco in a bus early in the morning on Friday because the bus supposedy takes four hours to get to Santa Maria. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on the way and we didn´t end up getting in to Santa Maria until about 2 in the afternoon. And we were told that from Santa Maria we had to get in a van to get to Santa Theresa, or rather Hidroelectrico, where the railroad tracks were. This route was supposed to be about an hour and a half, but when we were at Santa Maria, we discovered that the bridge which is the main route was blocked off and we had to take a round about way through the mountains in order to get to Hidroelectrico. So this took about three hours and by the time we got to the railroad tracks it was 5. The idea is that this is the cheapest way to get to Aguas Calientes, which is the bottom of the hill to get to Machu Picchu. So from Hidroelectricoo it is supposed to be an hour and a half walk along the railroad tracks to get to Aguas Calientes. Unfortunately, though since we got there so late, we had to do most of the walk at night and it was unbelievably dark, so it took us three hours to get to Aguas Calientes. But eventually we made it....
Once we arrives we got a cheap hostel in the center of town and I bought my entrance into Machu Picchu for the following day. One of the Isrealis had gotten sick since he had not given himself enough time to acclamate to the altitude, so they were going to stay another day in Aguas Calientes before climbing Machu Picchu. So Sole and I woke the next morning at 4:30 to get some breakfast and snacks to bring with us before we hiked up to Machu Picchu- we didnt want to take the bus up like most people do. So we hiked up, which took us about an hour and twenty minutes, which is awesome, since it was just straight concrete stairs the whole way up... But we made it to the top, legs shaking and all, and we entered into Machu Picchu. Once we were in the glorious Machu Picchu, we raced over to go to Waynapicchu, which is the tall mountain where most of the vista points are to see the entire Machu Picchu. (we had to race over there because they only let in four hundred people a day to Waynapicchu and we wanted to make sure we could get in). So after about an hour and half we reached the tallest point of Waynapicchu to see all of Machu Picchu, which of course is indescribable. We hid and ate some of the snacks we brought with us, to give us some energy to get down, they dont let you bring in food or anything... and then we headed down. By the time we got to the bottom to explore Machu Picchu, my legs were shaking and my body was definitely giving out, so we sat on the grass of the ruins and relaxed a little. Sole went on to explore a little more and climbed up to see some other vista points and lamas, but I just walked around the lower area and waited for her to get back. Eventually we were both exhausted and called it a day at around 1:30. She, being the trooper she is, walked back down the way we came up, but I was pretty sure my knees wouldnt last the descent, so I hopped on the bus and got the bottom in about twenty minutes.
We were extremely lucky because it was a beautiful day the whole time we were there and we got there early enough so there wasn´t an insane amount of tourists. Actually as we were leaving, it was starting to fill up and by the time I got to the time, it started to torrentially rain, so Im pretty happy I took the bus down.
Later in the day I hopped on a train, which is way too expensive to be worth is- plus it is owned by a Spanish and English company who is giving no money to the Peruvians, so if you ever decide to do the Machu Picchu trekk, please try not to endorse these companies. As well, the bus the goes from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu is also not owned by Peruvians, so I didn´t want to endorse it either, but I was dead by the time we were finished. The companies give a small portion of money to the government, but with all the corruption, the Peruvians never see a cent of this money, nor are they helping to conserve Machu Picchu.
Otherwise, after the trip I headed back to Cuzco, to buy a couple things in the artesano markets and after a day of rest, since I had a bit of a cold I headed back to Lima, so I could finish up all my work here and see an REM concert on Friday and an electronic concert on Saturday....
Hope all is well with everyone. Some of which I will see soon, since I am taking a bit of a vacation from my vacation and so on the 18th of this month until the 30th, I will be in the states. First New York, to visit fam there, and then off to LA to celebrate thanksgiving with my real fam. Call me during that time to check in, because I will have my old cell phone back. Miss you all and I will see most of you soon!!!
Besitos.
After this first day of seeing the broken down homes, some of which barely have walls that meet and look unbearable to live in, I was to start the next day with my actual work with Progressio. I went, with a Mexican girl Lorena, who is making a documentary about San Juan de Lurigancho to interview four women who are actively participating in the programs of both EDUCA and Progressio. The four women; Andrea, Victoria, Yolanda, and Ruperta were elected by their group to be the representation for the article I would write for Progressio. I am working on two articles which will be published in the newsletter for Progressio about the progress these women have made in the programs. The four women have all been through a program of alphabetization, so they can learn to read and write in Spanish - one of which, her first language is Quechua. I conducted an interview separatedly with each woman, learning about their personal histories and the impact the programs and projects from Progressio have had on their lives. After the programs of alphabetization, the women are currently learning about their rights as women and as civilians of the state. Eventually, the goal of the project I have been mostly involved with, is to get the women to actively participate in decisions of the community and ultimately of the government. It is hard to gage from a perspective of the United States, where women know they have rights to not be beaten by their husbands, or to know they have rights to be treated at a hospital, but for these women in San Juan de Lurigancho, the small details of their lives have changed because they now understand that they are not inclined to do the dishes solely and do all the shopping for the family They are learning how their husbands can also help in the daily chores and as well, that they cannot use their wives as punching bags. This may sound harsh but the women I interviewed have had unbelievably harsh lives full of neglect and abuse and I am so happy to get their voices out to the public. So while I have finished one article thus far, I have one more to go and I plan on finishing it within the next week. Once I am done, I will probably send it out - it may help you all understand the objective of the programs from Progressio in changing the lives of these women....
Other than the work, which I have been heavily involved in - I spent a week working and going to San Juan de Lurigancho which is about two hours away from Miraflores in Lima. So other than that I went on a trip to Cuzco so I could spend some time there and eventually get to Machu Picchu. Cuzco is an amazing quaint colonial city that is surrounded by multiple Inca ruins, my favorite being Sasqewayman (my spelling is off, but it is a Quechuan word, most of the tourists remember it as 'sexy woman'). I went with two Isrealis, Yael and Gal on horseback to see some ruins around Cuzco, el templo de la luna, la zona X and of course Sasqewayman.It was beautiful and awe inspiring considering how we have no idea how they built these monstrous temples and landscapes.
Flor had a friend who also works for Progessio in Cuzco and I stayed at her place while I was there. And eventually I headed to Machu Picchu. Its strange because everyone thinks that Cuzco is the starting point to get to Machu Picchu, where in fact Aguas Calientes is really the starting point to get to Machu Picchu. I went with four Israelis I had met the night before and on the way we picked up a girl from Spain, Sole, who I actually spent most of the time with. So this is the trekk we took to get there: we left from Cuzco in a bus early in the morning on Friday because the bus supposedy takes four hours to get to Santa Maria. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on the way and we didn´t end up getting in to Santa Maria until about 2 in the afternoon. And we were told that from Santa Maria we had to get in a van to get to Santa Theresa, or rather Hidroelectrico, where the railroad tracks were. This route was supposed to be about an hour and a half, but when we were at Santa Maria, we discovered that the bridge which is the main route was blocked off and we had to take a round about way through the mountains in order to get to Hidroelectrico. So this took about three hours and by the time we got to the railroad tracks it was 5. The idea is that this is the cheapest way to get to Aguas Calientes, which is the bottom of the hill to get to Machu Picchu. So from Hidroelectricoo it is supposed to be an hour and a half walk along the railroad tracks to get to Aguas Calientes. Unfortunately, though since we got there so late, we had to do most of the walk at night and it was unbelievably dark, so it took us three hours to get to Aguas Calientes. But eventually we made it....
Once we arrives we got a cheap hostel in the center of town and I bought my entrance into Machu Picchu for the following day. One of the Isrealis had gotten sick since he had not given himself enough time to acclamate to the altitude, so they were going to stay another day in Aguas Calientes before climbing Machu Picchu. So Sole and I woke the next morning at 4:30 to get some breakfast and snacks to bring with us before we hiked up to Machu Picchu- we didnt want to take the bus up like most people do. So we hiked up, which took us about an hour and twenty minutes, which is awesome, since it was just straight concrete stairs the whole way up... But we made it to the top, legs shaking and all, and we entered into Machu Picchu. Once we were in the glorious Machu Picchu, we raced over to go to Waynapicchu, which is the tall mountain where most of the vista points are to see the entire Machu Picchu. (we had to race over there because they only let in four hundred people a day to Waynapicchu and we wanted to make sure we could get in). So after about an hour and half we reached the tallest point of Waynapicchu to see all of Machu Picchu, which of course is indescribable. We hid and ate some of the snacks we brought with us, to give us some energy to get down, they dont let you bring in food or anything... and then we headed down. By the time we got to the bottom to explore Machu Picchu, my legs were shaking and my body was definitely giving out, so we sat on the grass of the ruins and relaxed a little. Sole went on to explore a little more and climbed up to see some other vista points and lamas, but I just walked around the lower area and waited for her to get back. Eventually we were both exhausted and called it a day at around 1:30. She, being the trooper she is, walked back down the way we came up, but I was pretty sure my knees wouldnt last the descent, so I hopped on the bus and got the bottom in about twenty minutes.
We were extremely lucky because it was a beautiful day the whole time we were there and we got there early enough so there wasn´t an insane amount of tourists. Actually as we were leaving, it was starting to fill up and by the time I got to the time, it started to torrentially rain, so Im pretty happy I took the bus down.
Later in the day I hopped on a train, which is way too expensive to be worth is- plus it is owned by a Spanish and English company who is giving no money to the Peruvians, so if you ever decide to do the Machu Picchu trekk, please try not to endorse these companies. As well, the bus the goes from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu is also not owned by Peruvians, so I didn´t want to endorse it either, but I was dead by the time we were finished. The companies give a small portion of money to the government, but with all the corruption, the Peruvians never see a cent of this money, nor are they helping to conserve Machu Picchu.
Otherwise, after the trip I headed back to Cuzco, to buy a couple things in the artesano markets and after a day of rest, since I had a bit of a cold I headed back to Lima, so I could finish up all my work here and see an REM concert on Friday and an electronic concert on Saturday....
Hope all is well with everyone. Some of which I will see soon, since I am taking a bit of a vacation from my vacation and so on the 18th of this month until the 30th, I will be in the states. First New York, to visit fam there, and then off to LA to celebrate thanksgiving with my real fam. Call me during that time to check in, because I will have my old cell phone back. Miss you all and I will see most of you soon!!!
Besitos.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
hasta the big city
After a long day of transit, we all finally arrived in Iquitos on Friday night. I stayed with the four girls from the NGO´s and the boys stayed at another hostel together since there wasn´t enough room at ours. Friday night we all went out to taste a bit of the nightlife in Iquito which was interesting. We even invited the tour guide, Wilder, to come out with us, but he didn´t last that long. Ryan and I passed the night debating in the discoteque with Flor, the extremely passionate Argentinian, about various political sentiments from South Americans towards people in the EE.UU...Wow. When you are so completely immersed in US culture it is almost impossible to view the states from an alternative perspective. And being a proclaimed liberal, it has been hard for me to find a sense of patriotism for my country as I travel abroad. We have met so many people that truly support and love their countries, but I often find it hard to defend and support the country I come from. For Ryan and I; we sometimes view ourselves as a reflection of our country, but we often times catch ourselves hoping that people think we are from somewhere else.Not that we travel as representatives, but we are from the states, and most people outside the US do not think highly of estadounidenses (people from the states - not Americans. American implies south and north.). But Flor reminded us both that night, not to worry about the perspective so much and focus rather on what we are doing here, now.
The next day, a group of us went to the mariposarillo, which is a refuge for animals and of course a sanitarium for butterflies. We walked around and the monkeys freely grab onto you or try to take off your earrings.The parrots squaked and we watched a leopard knaw away at some meat. There were some fiesty crocodiles, too. They rushed along our tour, since we had arrived at closing time and they were doing us a favor by even giving us the tour to begin with. So we headed back to our boat to head back to Iquitos. The driver of our thatched roof motor boat, told us about a serpentario, that he could take us to to see some anacondas, so we headed there. These animals, which looked like they were not as well kept as in the mariposarillo. Nonetheless, they were being fed and while they didn´t look content, at least I didn´t see any abusive behavior while we were there.... But we saw some amazing animals there - most of which I dont know the names of. But there were a bunch of monkeys flailing around, an anaconda, a boa constrictor, some turtles, the largest rat I have ever seen, an eel, an adorable sloth, and even a baby alligator that I got to hold. All in all, a pretty interesting day. We headed back to Iquitos for our last night before we would all fly into Lima.
Sunday, the boys and myself took a flight to Lima, Peru. Flor, had offered to let us crash at her house for as long as we wanted. She has a beautiful apartment in Miraflores - an upper class and super wealthy district of Lima, that borders the ocean. I´ve been staying at her place now for about three weeks. It is amazing how accomodating Flor has been to us all. She is unbelievably inspiring and passionate, and super easy going. So the fact that we all stayed at her place - doesnt bother her at all. Its great especially since Lima is much more expensive - being a big city and all.
So since we have been here, a lot has happened... Ryan took off for a week to go to visit is family in Buenos Aires for his grandmother´s 80th birthday. I stayed here with the two Israeli boys - Dennis went to Cuzco to do Machu Picchu before he ran out of time. We mostly just got to know the area of Miraflores. And one of the days, I went and stayed with Veronica (the peruvian who we met with Flor in the jungle). She is a preschool teacher at a private school and she took me with her when the class went on a fieldtrip to the zoo. Her class was adorable. She has about 10 students that are between the ages of 4 and 5. So helped out for the day as we scaled the zoo, which for Veronica and I, after just getting back from the jungle, was a little sad. The animals were all kept in small cages and seemed to be stuck out in the sun with very little food and water. It was pretty upsetting, so I mostly put my focus on the kids. Later that day, Veronica took me to La Universidad Catolica de Peru, which has a gorgeous campus- it´s private. It has an enormous amount of security, which was necessary after some horrible acts of terrorism a couple years back. But once you walk in, there are deer and ducks and birds, laying on the grass and sun tanning(the sun really never shines in Lima, it is cloudy almost every day)...The buildings are pristine and new and the class I went into with Veronica was great. We learned pantomime - something I never thought would be taught in a university class about education for children. But it was definitely fun, and it made me miss college in a way I didn´t think would happen just yet.
Otherwise, Ryan got back and for the past week, we´ve been getting to know Lima more and more. We spent a day at el museo de la nacion, which had an amazing exhibit called Yuyanapaq about the terrorism in Peru from the 1980´s until 2000. I learned about the exhibit in one of my classes, so I thought it would be a good experience to see it in person. And I really enjoyed it. Otherwise, Ryan and I did some shopping in the market Polvos Azules and the surrounding area of Ayucucho. So we´ve been spending a lot of time hanging around and going out with Flor and Veronica and their group of friends here - which are all amazing. Most of them are involved in the NGO with Flor, but they are work in separate apects of the organization.
Throughout last week, Ryan and I had been talking to Flor about possibly doing some work with Progressio, the NGO, while we are staying in Lima. So after she talked to her boss, and then we met with her boss, Ryan and I are now volunteering for Progressio. It is a UK based non-profit organization, that has sites throughout the world. We were lucky enough to stumble upon Flor, because she has definitely opened the doors to the world of NGO´s.
The site, which I advise you all to check out is this: www.progressio.org.uk
There is a part that talks about one organization in Lima called EDUCA. That is the specific organization that Ryan and I wil be working for and with.
The poorest district in all of Lima, San Juan de Lurigancho, houses the largest population of the city - one million. There, EDUCA has cooperatives with various projects. Ryan and I will be working with a cooperative named Diana who works with an amazing group of women. We went Friday to meet them and get to know them before we start our project. Nela, the head of Progressio, told us that she wants our help in terms of documenting the current projects. Ryan will be photographing and I am going to write some articles that hopefully will be published in their newsletter. There is no guarantee of anything right now, but I think Progressio is happy to have some volunteers in any case. And Ryan and I are ecstatic that we can finally use our talents or skills for something. Plus, I love the idea of having a job. In some weird way I was missing a bit of structure in my life. But either way, we will be doing something good for these women in the community of San Juan de Lurigancho, for Progressio and EDUCA, and also for ourselves. So I am definitely excited to start. I will write more when I know more about what we will be doing exactly - we are working every day this week so hopefully by the end of the week.
Otherwise, sorry for the short and choppy entry, but its been pretty hectic every since we got here. Hopefully, now with a bit of structure, I will get my bearings back - and maybe even my writing skills as well.... :)
Miss you all.
The next day, a group of us went to the mariposarillo, which is a refuge for animals and of course a sanitarium for butterflies. We walked around and the monkeys freely grab onto you or try to take off your earrings.The parrots squaked and we watched a leopard knaw away at some meat. There were some fiesty crocodiles, too. They rushed along our tour, since we had arrived at closing time and they were doing us a favor by even giving us the tour to begin with. So we headed back to our boat to head back to Iquitos. The driver of our thatched roof motor boat, told us about a serpentario, that he could take us to to see some anacondas, so we headed there. These animals, which looked like they were not as well kept as in the mariposarillo. Nonetheless, they were being fed and while they didn´t look content, at least I didn´t see any abusive behavior while we were there.... But we saw some amazing animals there - most of which I dont know the names of. But there were a bunch of monkeys flailing around, an anaconda, a boa constrictor, some turtles, the largest rat I have ever seen, an eel, an adorable sloth, and even a baby alligator that I got to hold. All in all, a pretty interesting day. We headed back to Iquitos for our last night before we would all fly into Lima.
Sunday, the boys and myself took a flight to Lima, Peru. Flor, had offered to let us crash at her house for as long as we wanted. She has a beautiful apartment in Miraflores - an upper class and super wealthy district of Lima, that borders the ocean. I´ve been staying at her place now for about three weeks. It is amazing how accomodating Flor has been to us all. She is unbelievably inspiring and passionate, and super easy going. So the fact that we all stayed at her place - doesnt bother her at all. Its great especially since Lima is much more expensive - being a big city and all.
So since we have been here, a lot has happened... Ryan took off for a week to go to visit is family in Buenos Aires for his grandmother´s 80th birthday. I stayed here with the two Israeli boys - Dennis went to Cuzco to do Machu Picchu before he ran out of time. We mostly just got to know the area of Miraflores. And one of the days, I went and stayed with Veronica (the peruvian who we met with Flor in the jungle). She is a preschool teacher at a private school and she took me with her when the class went on a fieldtrip to the zoo. Her class was adorable. She has about 10 students that are between the ages of 4 and 5. So helped out for the day as we scaled the zoo, which for Veronica and I, after just getting back from the jungle, was a little sad. The animals were all kept in small cages and seemed to be stuck out in the sun with very little food and water. It was pretty upsetting, so I mostly put my focus on the kids. Later that day, Veronica took me to La Universidad Catolica de Peru, which has a gorgeous campus- it´s private. It has an enormous amount of security, which was necessary after some horrible acts of terrorism a couple years back. But once you walk in, there are deer and ducks and birds, laying on the grass and sun tanning(the sun really never shines in Lima, it is cloudy almost every day)...The buildings are pristine and new and the class I went into with Veronica was great. We learned pantomime - something I never thought would be taught in a university class about education for children. But it was definitely fun, and it made me miss college in a way I didn´t think would happen just yet.
Otherwise, Ryan got back and for the past week, we´ve been getting to know Lima more and more. We spent a day at el museo de la nacion, which had an amazing exhibit called Yuyanapaq about the terrorism in Peru from the 1980´s until 2000. I learned about the exhibit in one of my classes, so I thought it would be a good experience to see it in person. And I really enjoyed it. Otherwise, Ryan and I did some shopping in the market Polvos Azules and the surrounding area of Ayucucho. So we´ve been spending a lot of time hanging around and going out with Flor and Veronica and their group of friends here - which are all amazing. Most of them are involved in the NGO with Flor, but they are work in separate apects of the organization.
Throughout last week, Ryan and I had been talking to Flor about possibly doing some work with Progressio, the NGO, while we are staying in Lima. So after she talked to her boss, and then we met with her boss, Ryan and I are now volunteering for Progressio. It is a UK based non-profit organization, that has sites throughout the world. We were lucky enough to stumble upon Flor, because she has definitely opened the doors to the world of NGO´s.
The site, which I advise you all to check out is this: www.progressio.org.uk
There is a part that talks about one organization in Lima called EDUCA. That is the specific organization that Ryan and I wil be working for and with.
The poorest district in all of Lima, San Juan de Lurigancho, houses the largest population of the city - one million. There, EDUCA has cooperatives with various projects. Ryan and I will be working with a cooperative named Diana who works with an amazing group of women. We went Friday to meet them and get to know them before we start our project. Nela, the head of Progressio, told us that she wants our help in terms of documenting the current projects. Ryan will be photographing and I am going to write some articles that hopefully will be published in their newsletter. There is no guarantee of anything right now, but I think Progressio is happy to have some volunteers in any case. And Ryan and I are ecstatic that we can finally use our talents or skills for something. Plus, I love the idea of having a job. In some weird way I was missing a bit of structure in my life. But either way, we will be doing something good for these women in the community of San Juan de Lurigancho, for Progressio and EDUCA, and also for ourselves. So I am definitely excited to start. I will write more when I know more about what we will be doing exactly - we are working every day this week so hopefully by the end of the week.
Otherwise, sorry for the short and choppy entry, but its been pretty hectic every since we got here. Hopefully, now with a bit of structure, I will get my bearings back - and maybe even my writing skills as well.... :)
Miss you all.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Amazonia
So we left at around 9am the next morning - we usually have a hard time leaving on time for anything, mostly due to the Israelis and Dennis. But either way we went to the agency a few blocks from our hostel and they had rented cars to bring us to a town Nauta, two hours away.In Nauta we got in a thatched roof canoe with motor.Throughout the entire jungle experience there were various types of boats we went in.They were all made out of wood, and while I am not exactly positive about this, I will say that they all looked like some form of a canoe.This first one was pretty comfortable, with a thatched roof and room for all of our backpacks, cushioned seats, and a fast motor.It was also pretty large to fit the five of us and spare room. But after leaving Nauta, there was no more room for this type of luxury.
This first boat took us down stream along a fairly large river for over two hours. After this we docked in a pueblocito where we climbed some deathly stairs to walk across to a small little river.There we all got into a tiny little canoe, where we sat one to a seat so we could go to the "lodge." This canoe, with a much smaller motor, was the one we spent most of our time in.The first trip with all our luggage was pretty treacherous since the boat was so deep in the water, that it felt like we might sink if anyone leaned in one direction.Plus the wooded and flat seats, definitely wear on your ass after time. Oh my god, that first night out on the canoe, my ass was sore for days....
No worries though, after a half an hour, along the river, we reached our lodge in the middle of the jungle. The river is wide enough but it is completely flowered with fallen trees.Trees fall and you can see where they have fallen close to the embankments but sometimes, when the motorized canoe goes over an area where the tree is hiden underneath the muddied water, the boat gets stuck - also happens if we are just drifting...without the motor because we ran out of gasoline and/or we are rowing.This happened multiple times while we were out in the canoe. And sometimes it can be much worse at night, when we would drift along in the complete darkness, with two guides who have memorized the route - they KNOW the river by heart. One night we got stuck and the whole boat has to be rocked in order for us to be unstuck. We all lean left, right, left, right...and usually one of the guides gets in the water and eventually we start moving again. Either way, when you enter the jungle, you enter into the land of chance. Anything can happen and it is just dealt with. La Naturaleza.You put your life in the confidence of the two guides who take you out in the canoe or walking around in the jungle.I felt pretty confident, although I think Dennis was somewhat in a constant state of fear of capsizing.Hey - if I was 6´6 I probably would have felt a little out of my element too.
So we stayed in these lodges, that look like a wooded version of a small house in a beach community. The lodges are all on stilts because the river gets so high in the rainy season and they are completely covered in netting to block out the mosquitoes- the enemy! There are so many mosquitoes, you catch yourself slapping every part of your body.And we never did anything without reapplying our repellent. I was pretty lucky and didn´t get bitten that much, but I think Ory was covered in bug bites by the time we left.
That first day we put our stuff down in the lodge and took the canoe out to look at birds; white herring, falcon, black falcon, and also some bats and monkeys - I´m probably missing a bunch. So we drifted around until late so we could see the lighting of the moon, because if the moonlight was low, we could got out in small canoes, three at a time, and spot crocodiles. By the way - the sunsets in the jungle are unbelievable. The sun sets and the entire sky lights up in various shades of pink and purple until it gets to a blue and then dark blue. I have never seen anything like it. It was truly gorgeous. And when you hear the chirping of birds, the calls of monkey, crickets and frogs all rustling through the trees, the serenity of the jungle just completely overwhelms you.
The moon that night was too strong to see crocodiles, so we headed back to the lodge in the black of the night to eat some great dinner. At the lodge, two girls, both working for NGO´s (non profit) in Lima - one is Peruvian and one is Argentinian, were staying with at the lodge with us. We spent the night sitting around and playing cards.
The next morning we awoke to a great breakfast and to get ready for a jungle excursion.We crossed the river, to the other side, and led by two guides Ollie(a native from the one of jungle pueblos who gets paid 20 soles a day, the equivalent to 6 dollars a day, to lead around these jungle tours.He lives in the little town we went to with his wife. Hes 27 and supporting his wife and two kids. The company pays him so little to show tourists around the land he grew up in - this is a whole other story - the bad treatment and exploitation of the natives of the jungle) and Wilder(a manager of the tour company - the one who keeps all the money and lives in the city and just came along to help on our trip). Ollie led the way with his machete and we walked in various directions through the muggy and tree filled jungle.They showed us medicinal plants that natives use as cures or as supplements.We hacked down a palm tree (we all had our chance with the machete) to get the fruits so we could have hearts of palm in our salad at lunch. The boys swung on vines like Tarzan.And we trecked to find some cool insects - including the grub that Dennis ate. We put our hands on a termite nest because it is good repellent from mosquitoes and then you shake the termites off and rub your hands together and all over your body. After heading back and eating lunch, the five of us along with the two girls and the two guides headed upstream to fish.
Being my first experience fishing - I only started eating fish a few months back- I was somewhat, well, no I was terrible. Plus I somehow couldn`t get the whole taunting the poor fish with a tiny piece of meat and then pulling them out with our sticks of rods. So I let someone have my stick and watched the rest catch sardines, catfish, and piranhas. They told us we would eat what we caught but of course, things aren´t always exaclty as they seem. So while we ate catfish for dinner that night I am pretty sure that it was not what we caught.Oh well.
After fishing, all of us went to a pueblo nearby to go to a bar and drink some beers.The pueblo has somewhere ranging from 60 to 80 families.And this actually makes it seem bigger than it is because you have to realize that a lot of the time these families live 3 or 4 families to one house. So it is tiny. There is really no electricity, other than on the weekends and definitely no running water. If you have to go to the bathroom, it is aways away from the pueblo and it is just a bamboo covered hole - at night you bring a flighlight to find it or you just go outside.
So we had some warm beers in the bar and then headed back to the lodge to have dinner, play some cards, and chat.
Our final day, we woke and headed to a swamp area which is said to be guarded by a black boa since any chickens that are on the land nearby, end up disappearing. We took a bit of a walk in the hot sun and then got back in the canoe. While were going, we stopped in front of a ritzy "lodge" and some monkeys climbed aboard our boat looking for food - they are so used getting papayas or food from tourists, that they willingly climb aboard the boat and let you hold them and pet them.Quite the friendly kind of monkeys.Check out the pictures for these on Ryan's website.Very cute.
Eventually we packed our things and all nine of us piled into the bigger canoe to leave the green and tropic jungle. Whatever you imagine of the jungle - it is a thousand times wrong and a thousand times right. The tall trees jutting from any direction and the strange plants that brush against your leg...but there aren´t anacondas tracking your path to jump out at you or panthers waiting to eat you. The jungle is much more quiet than I thought it would be and also much louder. At night, you feel like you are right next to the speakers at a strange music concert.It`s crazy. The amazon. A huge part of it was surreal but that may be just because we spent too little time in the jungle. It was truly a unique experience.
Eventually though, our time ran out and we had to head back to Iquitos......
This first boat took us down stream along a fairly large river for over two hours. After this we docked in a pueblocito where we climbed some deathly stairs to walk across to a small little river.There we all got into a tiny little canoe, where we sat one to a seat so we could go to the "lodge." This canoe, with a much smaller motor, was the one we spent most of our time in.The first trip with all our luggage was pretty treacherous since the boat was so deep in the water, that it felt like we might sink if anyone leaned in one direction.Plus the wooded and flat seats, definitely wear on your ass after time. Oh my god, that first night out on the canoe, my ass was sore for days....
No worries though, after a half an hour, along the river, we reached our lodge in the middle of the jungle. The river is wide enough but it is completely flowered with fallen trees.Trees fall and you can see where they have fallen close to the embankments but sometimes, when the motorized canoe goes over an area where the tree is hiden underneath the muddied water, the boat gets stuck - also happens if we are just drifting...without the motor because we ran out of gasoline and/or we are rowing.This happened multiple times while we were out in the canoe. And sometimes it can be much worse at night, when we would drift along in the complete darkness, with two guides who have memorized the route - they KNOW the river by heart. One night we got stuck and the whole boat has to be rocked in order for us to be unstuck. We all lean left, right, left, right...and usually one of the guides gets in the water and eventually we start moving again. Either way, when you enter the jungle, you enter into the land of chance. Anything can happen and it is just dealt with. La Naturaleza.You put your life in the confidence of the two guides who take you out in the canoe or walking around in the jungle.I felt pretty confident, although I think Dennis was somewhat in a constant state of fear of capsizing.Hey - if I was 6´6 I probably would have felt a little out of my element too.
So we stayed in these lodges, that look like a wooded version of a small house in a beach community. The lodges are all on stilts because the river gets so high in the rainy season and they are completely covered in netting to block out the mosquitoes- the enemy! There are so many mosquitoes, you catch yourself slapping every part of your body.And we never did anything without reapplying our repellent. I was pretty lucky and didn´t get bitten that much, but I think Ory was covered in bug bites by the time we left.
That first day we put our stuff down in the lodge and took the canoe out to look at birds; white herring, falcon, black falcon, and also some bats and monkeys - I´m probably missing a bunch. So we drifted around until late so we could see the lighting of the moon, because if the moonlight was low, we could got out in small canoes, three at a time, and spot crocodiles. By the way - the sunsets in the jungle are unbelievable. The sun sets and the entire sky lights up in various shades of pink and purple until it gets to a blue and then dark blue. I have never seen anything like it. It was truly gorgeous. And when you hear the chirping of birds, the calls of monkey, crickets and frogs all rustling through the trees, the serenity of the jungle just completely overwhelms you.
The moon that night was too strong to see crocodiles, so we headed back to the lodge in the black of the night to eat some great dinner. At the lodge, two girls, both working for NGO´s (non profit) in Lima - one is Peruvian and one is Argentinian, were staying with at the lodge with us. We spent the night sitting around and playing cards.
The next morning we awoke to a great breakfast and to get ready for a jungle excursion.We crossed the river, to the other side, and led by two guides Ollie(a native from the one of jungle pueblos who gets paid 20 soles a day, the equivalent to 6 dollars a day, to lead around these jungle tours.He lives in the little town we went to with his wife. Hes 27 and supporting his wife and two kids. The company pays him so little to show tourists around the land he grew up in - this is a whole other story - the bad treatment and exploitation of the natives of the jungle) and Wilder(a manager of the tour company - the one who keeps all the money and lives in the city and just came along to help on our trip). Ollie led the way with his machete and we walked in various directions through the muggy and tree filled jungle.They showed us medicinal plants that natives use as cures or as supplements.We hacked down a palm tree (we all had our chance with the machete) to get the fruits so we could have hearts of palm in our salad at lunch. The boys swung on vines like Tarzan.And we trecked to find some cool insects - including the grub that Dennis ate. We put our hands on a termite nest because it is good repellent from mosquitoes and then you shake the termites off and rub your hands together and all over your body. After heading back and eating lunch, the five of us along with the two girls and the two guides headed upstream to fish.
Being my first experience fishing - I only started eating fish a few months back- I was somewhat, well, no I was terrible. Plus I somehow couldn`t get the whole taunting the poor fish with a tiny piece of meat and then pulling them out with our sticks of rods. So I let someone have my stick and watched the rest catch sardines, catfish, and piranhas. They told us we would eat what we caught but of course, things aren´t always exaclty as they seem. So while we ate catfish for dinner that night I am pretty sure that it was not what we caught.Oh well.
After fishing, all of us went to a pueblo nearby to go to a bar and drink some beers.The pueblo has somewhere ranging from 60 to 80 families.And this actually makes it seem bigger than it is because you have to realize that a lot of the time these families live 3 or 4 families to one house. So it is tiny. There is really no electricity, other than on the weekends and definitely no running water. If you have to go to the bathroom, it is aways away from the pueblo and it is just a bamboo covered hole - at night you bring a flighlight to find it or you just go outside.
So we had some warm beers in the bar and then headed back to the lodge to have dinner, play some cards, and chat.
Our final day, we woke and headed to a swamp area which is said to be guarded by a black boa since any chickens that are on the land nearby, end up disappearing. We took a bit of a walk in the hot sun and then got back in the canoe. While were going, we stopped in front of a ritzy "lodge" and some monkeys climbed aboard our boat looking for food - they are so used getting papayas or food from tourists, that they willingly climb aboard the boat and let you hold them and pet them.Quite the friendly kind of monkeys.Check out the pictures for these on Ryan's website.Very cute.
Eventually we packed our things and all nine of us piled into the bigger canoe to leave the green and tropic jungle. Whatever you imagine of the jungle - it is a thousand times wrong and a thousand times right. The tall trees jutting from any direction and the strange plants that brush against your leg...but there aren´t anacondas tracking your path to jump out at you or panthers waiting to eat you. The jungle is much more quiet than I thought it would be and also much louder. At night, you feel like you are right next to the speakers at a strange music concert.It`s crazy. The amazon. A huge part of it was surreal but that may be just because we spent too little time in the jungle. It was truly a unique experience.
Eventually though, our time ran out and we had to head back to Iquitos......
Monday, October 13, 2008
Demasiado
I´m so overwhelmed by the past week and half I am not sure where I should start - chronological seems right. but theres a lot here. so forgive me....
When I last left you all I was in a small and quaint port town, awaiting the embarkment of our boat, Eduardo IV, from Yurimaguas to Iquitos. I think we were the only gringos the whole town of Yurimagaus or so it felt. After the three days there, most people knew our faces and some knew us by names. The owners of the hostel we stayed at (Hostel Linares - if you ever go to Yurimagaus, you have to stay here!) were unbelievably welcoming to us.They showed us around on their motorcycles, allowed us to cook dinner in their kitchen, and showed us how to drink a beer the Peruvian way - you pour yourself a glass of beer 3/4 of the way and hand the bottle of beer to the person on your left. As you finish, you then pass the glass to the person who has the bottle so they can serve themselves and they pass on the bottle afterwards. Then you continue on around the circle.
One of the days there, we spent the afternoon horsing around with the kids of the town on the roof of the hostel. The kids ranged from a few months to probably 12 years old. Look at Ryan´s pictures - these kids were amazing. They were hypnotized by all of us - and at one point we had to run sneak away because they were so attached. Another day, some locals took us to a river, so we could swim and cool off. It was pretty relaxed, but it was nice to hole up in the town and relax after being in transit for so long.
Eventually, on Saturday, we got our things ready and headed to the boat. Wow. Im not even sure I can accurately describe the boat. The lower floor is for cargo. And on our boat, the cargo ranged from fruit and vegetables, to livestock - there were about 5 cows that traveled along with us.The next floor up is the hammock section. There were rows upon rows of hammock strewn up on this floor. Families, travelers, and the dueños of cargo stay on this floor. It is usually pretty noisy, and miserably hot, even though the floor is open on the sides. The next floor up - where we all stayed - is the luxury floor. We bought spaces for 5 hammocks and also a room, so we could keep our stuff locked in the room, since we heard that there are a lot of thieves and pickpockets on the boat. The rooms are tiny; they fit bunkbeds, but we had plenty more space to put up hammocks, better food than the lower level and the bathrooms were usable. So we were all happy we paid for the super hammock section.
The boat ride was somewhat relaxing. we spent the three days and two nights, mostly reading, playing cards, eating, watching movies, eating more, and making friends with some other passengers.During the nights, the bugs and the hammock got to me, so I actually slept in the room, even though the hammocks were more comfortable. It was a pretty lax ride; and slow. We had to port at a dock one night because we got stuck in a strong thunderstorm storm, so our arrival was delayed for a whole day.So we were very ready to disembark when we actually made it to Iquitos.
Luckily, throughout the journey, we had become friendly with a very young married couple, Jomer and Rosa and their baby Jomer Jr. Jomer grew up in Iquitos, he and his family were heading back there to visit during their vacation from school (both him and his wife are studying the same thing in Chiclayo).They invited us and some other passengers, a father and daughter from Sweden and a couple from inland Peru, to come to their house and disembark with the family since it is so dangerous in Iquitos.So we all got off and headed to their house, which is like a three minute walk from the dock - which is no dock.When we were trying to dock on the mud bank, our boat pushed over several other boats to squeeze in, so we could walk off.So we headed into their house so we could put down our stuff and figure out where we would stay while we in Iquitos and everything else....
The family offered to let all of us stay in their house, and the tempting idea of free housing, won us all over and everyone agreed.Afterwards, Jomer took us to his molina ( a little farm) where they keep chickens, a goat, sheep, and some dogs and cats - and tons of rice and wheat. They were incredibly hospitable and made us a corn drink for dinner and let us all shower when we got back to the house.There was no running water however, and we all took turnings standing in a bathroom and pouring a bucket of water over our heads.Pretty funny, considering the fact that backpackers pride themselves on roughing it, and none of us wanted to spend more than one night roughing it in the house with the family. We were definitely very happy that they wanted to help us out and do so much for us, but the downstairs of their three story loft house, was filled with cockroaches and mice, and after one night of sleeping on the floor, we all wanted a bed and running water. So the next morning, we had an egg drink breakfast with them and told them we felt like we should get a hostel - we got our stuff and left. (We took most of the family out that night to a very nice and very Peruvian dinner later that night to thank them for their generous hospitality).----Im leaving out a part here; where we went out that night and the three boys came back later than the rest of us, and they knocked on the door but no one answered so they couldn`t get in.Ryan, Yair, and Dennis headed to a hostel to try to sleep there - a two dollar hostel. From what I`ve heard it was unbelievably disgusting. And while Ryan, the great sleeper he is, fell asleep, the other two did not.The rooms were all connected, so they heard coughing, babies crying, and a couple having sex.The walls were covered in every color of liquid imaginable. And eventually the boys returned in the early morning hours to try and get some sleep at the house. Luckily someone was awake and let them in.
Either way, we all moved to Hostal Maflo the next morning, to take hot showers and be in near the city center. Iquitos is quite a large city, even though there are barely any cars - only motorcycles and mototaxis.Since Dennis was pressured for time - he has a flight out of lima on Oct 23 and he wanted to do the jungle, lima, and cuzco, before he left- there was a lot of pressure to figure out the jungle tour and buy flights from Iquitos to Lima that day.
Ryan and Yair, as the good little soldiers they are found a travel company and figured out everything that day. The next morning we would leave at 8 in the morning for a three day, two night jungle adventure, getting back to Iquitos Friday night and we all bought flights to Lima, leaving Sunday day.
When I last left you all I was in a small and quaint port town, awaiting the embarkment of our boat, Eduardo IV, from Yurimaguas to Iquitos. I think we were the only gringos the whole town of Yurimagaus or so it felt. After the three days there, most people knew our faces and some knew us by names. The owners of the hostel we stayed at (Hostel Linares - if you ever go to Yurimagaus, you have to stay here!) were unbelievably welcoming to us.They showed us around on their motorcycles, allowed us to cook dinner in their kitchen, and showed us how to drink a beer the Peruvian way - you pour yourself a glass of beer 3/4 of the way and hand the bottle of beer to the person on your left. As you finish, you then pass the glass to the person who has the bottle so they can serve themselves and they pass on the bottle afterwards. Then you continue on around the circle.
One of the days there, we spent the afternoon horsing around with the kids of the town on the roof of the hostel. The kids ranged from a few months to probably 12 years old. Look at Ryan´s pictures - these kids were amazing. They were hypnotized by all of us - and at one point we had to run sneak away because they were so attached. Another day, some locals took us to a river, so we could swim and cool off. It was pretty relaxed, but it was nice to hole up in the town and relax after being in transit for so long.
Eventually, on Saturday, we got our things ready and headed to the boat. Wow. Im not even sure I can accurately describe the boat. The lower floor is for cargo. And on our boat, the cargo ranged from fruit and vegetables, to livestock - there were about 5 cows that traveled along with us.The next floor up is the hammock section. There were rows upon rows of hammock strewn up on this floor. Families, travelers, and the dueños of cargo stay on this floor. It is usually pretty noisy, and miserably hot, even though the floor is open on the sides. The next floor up - where we all stayed - is the luxury floor. We bought spaces for 5 hammocks and also a room, so we could keep our stuff locked in the room, since we heard that there are a lot of thieves and pickpockets on the boat. The rooms are tiny; they fit bunkbeds, but we had plenty more space to put up hammocks, better food than the lower level and the bathrooms were usable. So we were all happy we paid for the super hammock section.
The boat ride was somewhat relaxing. we spent the three days and two nights, mostly reading, playing cards, eating, watching movies, eating more, and making friends with some other passengers.During the nights, the bugs and the hammock got to me, so I actually slept in the room, even though the hammocks were more comfortable. It was a pretty lax ride; and slow. We had to port at a dock one night because we got stuck in a strong thunderstorm storm, so our arrival was delayed for a whole day.So we were very ready to disembark when we actually made it to Iquitos.
Luckily, throughout the journey, we had become friendly with a very young married couple, Jomer and Rosa and their baby Jomer Jr. Jomer grew up in Iquitos, he and his family were heading back there to visit during their vacation from school (both him and his wife are studying the same thing in Chiclayo).They invited us and some other passengers, a father and daughter from Sweden and a couple from inland Peru, to come to their house and disembark with the family since it is so dangerous in Iquitos.So we all got off and headed to their house, which is like a three minute walk from the dock - which is no dock.When we were trying to dock on the mud bank, our boat pushed over several other boats to squeeze in, so we could walk off.So we headed into their house so we could put down our stuff and figure out where we would stay while we in Iquitos and everything else....
The family offered to let all of us stay in their house, and the tempting idea of free housing, won us all over and everyone agreed.Afterwards, Jomer took us to his molina ( a little farm) where they keep chickens, a goat, sheep, and some dogs and cats - and tons of rice and wheat. They were incredibly hospitable and made us a corn drink for dinner and let us all shower when we got back to the house.There was no running water however, and we all took turnings standing in a bathroom and pouring a bucket of water over our heads.Pretty funny, considering the fact that backpackers pride themselves on roughing it, and none of us wanted to spend more than one night roughing it in the house with the family. We were definitely very happy that they wanted to help us out and do so much for us, but the downstairs of their three story loft house, was filled with cockroaches and mice, and after one night of sleeping on the floor, we all wanted a bed and running water. So the next morning, we had an egg drink breakfast with them and told them we felt like we should get a hostel - we got our stuff and left. (We took most of the family out that night to a very nice and very Peruvian dinner later that night to thank them for their generous hospitality).----Im leaving out a part here; where we went out that night and the three boys came back later than the rest of us, and they knocked on the door but no one answered so they couldn`t get in.Ryan, Yair, and Dennis headed to a hostel to try to sleep there - a two dollar hostel. From what I`ve heard it was unbelievably disgusting. And while Ryan, the great sleeper he is, fell asleep, the other two did not.The rooms were all connected, so they heard coughing, babies crying, and a couple having sex.The walls were covered in every color of liquid imaginable. And eventually the boys returned in the early morning hours to try and get some sleep at the house. Luckily someone was awake and let them in.
Either way, we all moved to Hostal Maflo the next morning, to take hot showers and be in near the city center. Iquitos is quite a large city, even though there are barely any cars - only motorcycles and mototaxis.Since Dennis was pressured for time - he has a flight out of lima on Oct 23 and he wanted to do the jungle, lima, and cuzco, before he left- there was a lot of pressure to figure out the jungle tour and buy flights from Iquitos to Lima that day.
Ryan and Yair, as the good little soldiers they are found a travel company and figured out everything that day. The next morning we would leave at 8 in the morning for a three day, two night jungle adventure, getting back to Iquitos Friday night and we all bought flights to Lima, leaving Sunday day.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Never Arriving....
So I am now in Peru. Yes, Ryan and I initially had plans to do much more in Ecuador, and after we left Montañita we were headed down the outlined path. The original plan was to continue heading south. Ryan and I would meet up in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, because Ryan had left a day earlier than me to stay at Kahyda´s house (the woman from couchsurfing). Ryan left and I came the day after with the Israelis- Yair and Ory. We met up in the bus terminal of Guayaquil with Dennis - the tallest Dutch man I have ever seen - to say our goodbyes. The boys were going to head into Tumbes, Peru, a border town, because they wanted to go to Iquitos and do a jungle tour. So we said goodbye and Ryan and I stayed a night with Kahyda, a very sweet Ecuadorian who housed; me, Ryan, an older man from trabajadores por la paz, a Swedish woman, and the French Canadian, Veronica.
Guayaquil definitely felt like a big city. The buildings were taller and much more modern and the whole city felt like it was being built up. The next day we all went out and walked around the Malecon 2000, a long strip of playgrounds and little gardens, it also has some restaurants and a new IMAX theater. Its basically a boardwalk that was built in the year 2000 and is maintained and kept clean. We walked past the boardwalk and headed into an area called las peñas, so we could climb the stairs to the light tower that overlooks all of Guayaquil. The houses that outline the stairs are European in style and are all painted in bright colors. The houses, though, are facades. Behind arch ways and little streets, there are dirt roads, trash filled streets, hungry dogs, and filthy children running around. Ryan and I met a girl who was carrying a five month old baby - she was sixteen years old.She told us she had the baby at fifteen and there was definitely no sign of a father, since she was asking persistently for Ryan´s phone number so they could go out together. It was pretty scary to realize how run down the whole area was since it looked so pristine on the outside. Ryan gave her his number but we never heard from her...
After the light tower, Ryan and I raced back to Kahyda´s house so we could catch the bus to Cuenca, a very quaint and colonial little town on our way to Vilcabamba. Since we took the bus at night, we didn´t get into to our hostel until 2am, so we slept in and woke up the next morning for a late breakfast. It was the Friday before the election in Ecuador and they told us that starting at noon on Friday and lasting through Sunday, the day of the election, Ecuador was a completely dry country. Because of the vote, no one can sell or buy alcohol for the entire weekend. Apparently, Ecuador wants to make sure that sober minds are making the right decision. Well I hope they did. Vota si.
After lunch Ryan and walked around the town a bit - cobble stone streets and a beautiful river right near our hostel, with a woman washing her clothes. Ryan tried to talk to her and she called him the anti-christ. Some locals are more friendly than others... As we were debating about renting the bikes for the afternoon, Ryan offered that since we missed our little traveling band so much, that we could just go meet the boys; Ory, Yair, and Dennis, in Tumbes and go with them to the jungle and we could come back to Ecuador after to do the farm in Vilcabamba. Immediately we got online to figure out where they were and luckily they were still in Tumbes, since Yair had gotten sick and needed time to recover. So that night Ryan and I hopped on a five hour bus to Machala and in Machala we got a bus that took us across the border and into Tumbes.
Peru-
Border crossing was easy, which was great since all the tour books had said that we should not cross at night. We got off the bus in Ecuador so they could look at our passport and then 20 minutes later we got off in Peru, so they could stamp our passports. Pretty simple. Eventually at 2am we arrived at the hostel of the boys and woke them up so we could drink a little and figure out plans for heading towards the jungle.
Here starts the never ending bus tour that we have been on for about a week now. Since Guayaquil we have not spent more than one night in any place and twice we did overnight buses, so we didn´t stay anywhere.But Im skipping ahead so here goes...
We got into Tumbes late and woke up early to head to Chiclayo, a bigger city, because people had told us that we could catch a bus from there to Cajamarca to take a boat to get to Iquitos to head into the jungle. So stupid as we were, we believed whoever told us this information and we hopped on a 6 hour bus to Chiclayo. We had an enormous amount of land to cover before getting to Iquitos, where the basin to the Amazon is, so we wanted to cover as much as possible, as fast as possible. We got to Chiclayo in the evening and hopped on another 7 hour bus to Cajamarca. The buses aren´t normally comfortable, the seats recline pretty far back and they usually play a movie, and no one has had anything stolen. They seem safe enough and with the windows open, each ride has been pretty maneagable. And for Ryan they are a breeze, since the second he gets on any bus his mouth opens and his head falls back, and he is in a deep sleep for the whole ride. I haven´t seen Ryan awake for more than one bus trip yet...
So we arrived in Cajamarca, a tiny town, and when we got off the bus at 6 in the morning and asked one of the taxi drivers to take us to the boat- there was an uproar of laughter from all of the locals. Apparently, there were no boats in Cajamarca and we could not even take another route to get to Tarapoto, where we could get to Yurimaguas to get the boat. So we realized we had no option other than to turn back. So we slept the morning in a hostel and then spent the afternoon meandering around the small town trying to figure out exactly how we would get to the jungle. So the next morning we got up to take the 9am bus to go back to Chiclayo, which of course didnt exist. Instead we took the one at 10:30 and got into Chiclayo at 6 at night. The buses seem to always take longer than they actually say. So when we arrived we found a 13 hour bus that would take us to Tarapoto, so we hopped on that at 6:30 and headed to Tarapoto, another small town, full of mototaxis and motorcyles - no one wears helmuts and kids dangle on the bikes with their parents. Super unsafe.
When we got to Tarapoto the next morning, Ryan had somehow contracted what Yair had been sick with, so we knew we couldnt go on to Yurimaguas, which is only 3 hours away. So we got a hostel, so Ryan could relax and sleep and try to get better. Throughout the day his fever went down and his stomach started to feel somewhat better, so it was decided that the next day we would forge on and head to Yurimaguas.
So here´s the deal with getting to Yurimaguas. For the past two years they have been doing construction on the one road that connects the two cities. It used to take about 6 and half hours to get from one to the other because the roads were unpaved and extremely dangerous. It goes through a mountain range, so it is basically a canyon for a majority of the journey. But now since they are doing construction, the roads are closed during the day. There are buses that leave at 3 and 4 in the morning, but we all wanted to sleep in a bed, so we figured we would take a bus at 5 in the evening when the roads opened up again. So at 3:30 in the afternoon we all got into these mototaxis and told them to take us to the bus terminal that goes to Yurimaguas. But little did we know, there are no buses that leave in the evening- only pick up trucks. So as our mototaxis dropped us off near the end of the town of Tarapoto, about ten men swarmed us, yelling numbers and pulling our bags to get us to go in their truck. Finally we decided on one and they told us that it leaves at 5. Ryan and I were going to sit inside the truck next to the driver, there was an Ecuadorian family and another woman in the back, and the boys sat under a tarp - it was raining- in the bed of the
truck- either sitting on the floor, standing and holding on, or sitting on a little bench.
At 5 we left and about 20 minutes into our drive we got behind all the other trucks stopped at a point where everyone waits until 7pm and the police open the roads. I hopped out and sat in the back with the boys while we waited. There were no other gringos doing this treck.All the locals, who were piled sitting, standing, and crunched in their trucks stared and looked at us.We were definitely a sight for them. Me and Ryan, two Israelis - one of which is blonde and a bit Fabio-esque, and Dennis - a 2 meter tall blonde Ducth guy.
So we passed the time hunched over in the tarp, listening to music, dancing for some of the locals, and waiting for the road to open.We were lucky by the way - no other truck put tarp over any of the passengers in the back or over any of the luggage - I guess the locals know how to treat us gringos.....
Eventually at 7, the line of cars began to move and I decided to stay in the back with the boys for the three hour ride. In the beginning it was frightening. It was raining and the driver drove fast. With the tarp over us, we could only see the slick road descending behind us and occassionally the lights of a passing car. The road was windy and narrow and it felt like a roller coaster ride, where you question the security of your life. But the rain began to let up and the ride seemed to smooth a bit. We passed through the areas where they were doing construction and I peeked through a whole in the tarp- it was almost like something out of a movie scene. The mountains were covered in fog and the clouds seemed to hang like they were placed there by some creepy director.The trees jutted out at us we passed and I tried to figure out what horror flick I was in.
After an hour or so, we got to the area where the road ended and we drove along the bumpy and diveted dirt roads.The rain had let up enough so we took off the tarp and stood in the back facing the head of the car. Its an amazing rush.Ive never felt anything like it. Its completely dark except for the headlights and the road ahead and the air just sweeps you along. There was tons of vegetation and greenery- we were getting closer to the jungle .
We picked up some more passengers for the back, and two of them were locals from Yurimaguas that said they would help us get a hostel and take us out. So we arrived last night and the locals took us out for some drinks.
Today we figured out what boat we are going to get on: Eduardo 4. It leaves this Saturday and we spend 3 nights on the boat. We bought hammocks today because you sleep outside on them and hopefully it wont be too grimy. Although Im sure all of us without showers for three days will be grimy and disgusting either way. So we leave Saturday and we will get to Iquitos, and from Iquitos we will take some kind of jungle tour. So we are almost there!
Its been a long week and a lot of bus rides. And Im looking forward to heading to Lima after the jungle so we can spend substantial amount of time in one city and I dont have to pack up my pack every morning. But that might be a long way off. Hope all is well with everyone. I´m thinking of you all.
xoxoxoxox
Guayaquil definitely felt like a big city. The buildings were taller and much more modern and the whole city felt like it was being built up. The next day we all went out and walked around the Malecon 2000, a long strip of playgrounds and little gardens, it also has some restaurants and a new IMAX theater. Its basically a boardwalk that was built in the year 2000 and is maintained and kept clean. We walked past the boardwalk and headed into an area called las peñas, so we could climb the stairs to the light tower that overlooks all of Guayaquil. The houses that outline the stairs are European in style and are all painted in bright colors. The houses, though, are facades. Behind arch ways and little streets, there are dirt roads, trash filled streets, hungry dogs, and filthy children running around. Ryan and I met a girl who was carrying a five month old baby - she was sixteen years old.She told us she had the baby at fifteen and there was definitely no sign of a father, since she was asking persistently for Ryan´s phone number so they could go out together. It was pretty scary to realize how run down the whole area was since it looked so pristine on the outside. Ryan gave her his number but we never heard from her...
After the light tower, Ryan and I raced back to Kahyda´s house so we could catch the bus to Cuenca, a very quaint and colonial little town on our way to Vilcabamba. Since we took the bus at night, we didn´t get into to our hostel until 2am, so we slept in and woke up the next morning for a late breakfast. It was the Friday before the election in Ecuador and they told us that starting at noon on Friday and lasting through Sunday, the day of the election, Ecuador was a completely dry country. Because of the vote, no one can sell or buy alcohol for the entire weekend. Apparently, Ecuador wants to make sure that sober minds are making the right decision. Well I hope they did. Vota si.
After lunch Ryan and walked around the town a bit - cobble stone streets and a beautiful river right near our hostel, with a woman washing her clothes. Ryan tried to talk to her and she called him the anti-christ. Some locals are more friendly than others... As we were debating about renting the bikes for the afternoon, Ryan offered that since we missed our little traveling band so much, that we could just go meet the boys; Ory, Yair, and Dennis, in Tumbes and go with them to the jungle and we could come back to Ecuador after to do the farm in Vilcabamba. Immediately we got online to figure out where they were and luckily they were still in Tumbes, since Yair had gotten sick and needed time to recover. So that night Ryan and I hopped on a five hour bus to Machala and in Machala we got a bus that took us across the border and into Tumbes.
Peru-
Border crossing was easy, which was great since all the tour books had said that we should not cross at night. We got off the bus in Ecuador so they could look at our passport and then 20 minutes later we got off in Peru, so they could stamp our passports. Pretty simple. Eventually at 2am we arrived at the hostel of the boys and woke them up so we could drink a little and figure out plans for heading towards the jungle.
Here starts the never ending bus tour that we have been on for about a week now. Since Guayaquil we have not spent more than one night in any place and twice we did overnight buses, so we didn´t stay anywhere.But Im skipping ahead so here goes...
We got into Tumbes late and woke up early to head to Chiclayo, a bigger city, because people had told us that we could catch a bus from there to Cajamarca to take a boat to get to Iquitos to head into the jungle. So stupid as we were, we believed whoever told us this information and we hopped on a 6 hour bus to Chiclayo. We had an enormous amount of land to cover before getting to Iquitos, where the basin to the Amazon is, so we wanted to cover as much as possible, as fast as possible. We got to Chiclayo in the evening and hopped on another 7 hour bus to Cajamarca. The buses aren´t normally comfortable, the seats recline pretty far back and they usually play a movie, and no one has had anything stolen. They seem safe enough and with the windows open, each ride has been pretty maneagable. And for Ryan they are a breeze, since the second he gets on any bus his mouth opens and his head falls back, and he is in a deep sleep for the whole ride. I haven´t seen Ryan awake for more than one bus trip yet...
So we arrived in Cajamarca, a tiny town, and when we got off the bus at 6 in the morning and asked one of the taxi drivers to take us to the boat- there was an uproar of laughter from all of the locals. Apparently, there were no boats in Cajamarca and we could not even take another route to get to Tarapoto, where we could get to Yurimaguas to get the boat. So we realized we had no option other than to turn back. So we slept the morning in a hostel and then spent the afternoon meandering around the small town trying to figure out exactly how we would get to the jungle. So the next morning we got up to take the 9am bus to go back to Chiclayo, which of course didnt exist. Instead we took the one at 10:30 and got into Chiclayo at 6 at night. The buses seem to always take longer than they actually say. So when we arrived we found a 13 hour bus that would take us to Tarapoto, so we hopped on that at 6:30 and headed to Tarapoto, another small town, full of mototaxis and motorcyles - no one wears helmuts and kids dangle on the bikes with their parents. Super unsafe.
When we got to Tarapoto the next morning, Ryan had somehow contracted what Yair had been sick with, so we knew we couldnt go on to Yurimaguas, which is only 3 hours away. So we got a hostel, so Ryan could relax and sleep and try to get better. Throughout the day his fever went down and his stomach started to feel somewhat better, so it was decided that the next day we would forge on and head to Yurimaguas.
So here´s the deal with getting to Yurimaguas. For the past two years they have been doing construction on the one road that connects the two cities. It used to take about 6 and half hours to get from one to the other because the roads were unpaved and extremely dangerous. It goes through a mountain range, so it is basically a canyon for a majority of the journey. But now since they are doing construction, the roads are closed during the day. There are buses that leave at 3 and 4 in the morning, but we all wanted to sleep in a bed, so we figured we would take a bus at 5 in the evening when the roads opened up again. So at 3:30 in the afternoon we all got into these mototaxis and told them to take us to the bus terminal that goes to Yurimaguas. But little did we know, there are no buses that leave in the evening- only pick up trucks. So as our mototaxis dropped us off near the end of the town of Tarapoto, about ten men swarmed us, yelling numbers and pulling our bags to get us to go in their truck. Finally we decided on one and they told us that it leaves at 5. Ryan and I were going to sit inside the truck next to the driver, there was an Ecuadorian family and another woman in the back, and the boys sat under a tarp - it was raining- in the bed of the
truck- either sitting on the floor, standing and holding on, or sitting on a little bench.
At 5 we left and about 20 minutes into our drive we got behind all the other trucks stopped at a point where everyone waits until 7pm and the police open the roads. I hopped out and sat in the back with the boys while we waited. There were no other gringos doing this treck.All the locals, who were piled sitting, standing, and crunched in their trucks stared and looked at us.We were definitely a sight for them. Me and Ryan, two Israelis - one of which is blonde and a bit Fabio-esque, and Dennis - a 2 meter tall blonde Ducth guy.
So we passed the time hunched over in the tarp, listening to music, dancing for some of the locals, and waiting for the road to open.We were lucky by the way - no other truck put tarp over any of the passengers in the back or over any of the luggage - I guess the locals know how to treat us gringos.....
Eventually at 7, the line of cars began to move and I decided to stay in the back with the boys for the three hour ride. In the beginning it was frightening. It was raining and the driver drove fast. With the tarp over us, we could only see the slick road descending behind us and occassionally the lights of a passing car. The road was windy and narrow and it felt like a roller coaster ride, where you question the security of your life. But the rain began to let up and the ride seemed to smooth a bit. We passed through the areas where they were doing construction and I peeked through a whole in the tarp- it was almost like something out of a movie scene. The mountains were covered in fog and the clouds seemed to hang like they were placed there by some creepy director.The trees jutted out at us we passed and I tried to figure out what horror flick I was in.
After an hour or so, we got to the area where the road ended and we drove along the bumpy and diveted dirt roads.The rain had let up enough so we took off the tarp and stood in the back facing the head of the car. Its an amazing rush.Ive never felt anything like it. Its completely dark except for the headlights and the road ahead and the air just sweeps you along. There was tons of vegetation and greenery- we were getting closer to the jungle .
We picked up some more passengers for the back, and two of them were locals from Yurimaguas that said they would help us get a hostel and take us out. So we arrived last night and the locals took us out for some drinks.
Today we figured out what boat we are going to get on: Eduardo 4. It leaves this Saturday and we spend 3 nights on the boat. We bought hammocks today because you sleep outside on them and hopefully it wont be too grimy. Although Im sure all of us without showers for three days will be grimy and disgusting either way. So we leave Saturday and we will get to Iquitos, and from Iquitos we will take some kind of jungle tour. So we are almost there!
Its been a long week and a lot of bus rides. And Im looking forward to heading to Lima after the jungle so we can spend substantial amount of time in one city and I dont have to pack up my pack every morning. But that might be a long way off. Hope all is well with everyone. I´m thinking of you all.
xoxoxoxox
Monday, September 22, 2008
traveling band
After some painless convincing, Ryan and I, along with two Israelis, a gigantic Dutch guy and an amazing French Canadian, left Baños late Tuesday night and headed to Riobamba... The plan was to head to Riobamba and wake up early Wednesday morning to hike up the tallest mountain in Ecuador, Chimborazo. We got into to Riobamba and stayed at the Hotel Imperial for $5 a night.It was pretty grimy but we went to bed early and woke up the next morning at 6:30 for the hike. A driver came at 8 to drive us to breakfast and then he drove up the hour and half it took to get to the beggining of the treck.
The mountain is actually an extinct volcano and supposedly the peak of Cimborazo is the furthest point from the center of the earth.So the drive up the lower parts of the mountain is beautiful; there are many small villages and waterfalls.But at one point, the entire landscape changes because you get to a point above the treeline.Mud and giant lava rocks cover the ground and the sky was completely grey the day we did it, so there was an incredible eery feeling.The driver dropped us off at this wooden cabin, where we sat and played cards and drank coca tea for about an hour to get used to the altitude, 4800 meters.If you dont have a guide or hiking equipment, you are supposed to hike from this first wooden cabin, or refuge as they call it, to the next one about 200 meters up.It seems like a short distance but the second I started hiking, I could feel this immense pressure in my chest cavity.We filled up on waters and chocolate to help along the way, but even with all of this I constantly felt the altitude. We must have stopped every ten minutes or so to catch our breath and relax our hearts.After 40 minutes we reached the second summit and sat in front of a small fire to warm up, since it was freezing - and I was wearing almost everything I had in my backpack. we played some more cards (Taki - an Israeli card game similar to Uno) and tried to figure out the route to go higher.Snow was mostly at the highest peaks, so we figured that we would try to get to the snow and head back down.
After the second refuge, there was not much of a trail and the mountain was much steeper.It started snowing right after we left refuge and the mountain was completely encompassed in these pale grey clouds.I turned around a bit after we had left and realized that you could not see the cabin anymore, the mountain was just come completely isolated and mysterious.Eventually, though, I was overwhelmed by the altitude and everyone sat on one of the cliffs to take Chimborazo in before we turned back.The walk back was easy and by the time we got the bottom where the car was, it was 4 and we were all exhuasted.
When we got back to Riobamba, Ryan and I wanted to figure out our plans, since we had previously arranged to stay with this girl in Guayaquil who we had found on couchsurfing.com - a website that helps connect people who are traveling and/or want to share their own town or city with others. It is amazing. Check it out.It is truly a safe and smart way to travel.Anyway, Ryan and I were supposed to go to stay in Guayaquil, but the rest of our 'traveling band' were heading straight to Montañita, the beach town with great surf. So Ryan and I talked to Kahyda, our host from Guayaquil and decided to go along with the others to Montañita.
After four long bus rides, we all got to Montañita late thursday night and headed straight for the hostel.Veronica, the French Canadian, was here some weeks back so she took us to where she stayed when she was here before. Its called Centro del Mundo and we are all staying on the third floor, its completely open except for the roof of course, but it is right on the beach and a block from the center of town, which is both good and bad..We sleep on the mattresses on the floor and wake up to the sound of the ocean - a bit of paradise with the additive of loud music and heavy drinking.On the weekends, this is like a smaller version of Costa Rica or Cabo San Lucas but more like like a hippie colony with non-stop partying and tons of Israelis.People walk around barefoot and most everyone is here for the surf, partying, or to enjoy the carefree life.The town is congested between a few streets and the real pueblo lies just around those streets.The beach is vast and clean.It was probably once a very serene place.But we've been told its getting built up fast and the tourism has just been growing.On the weekends here it is packed and this is the low season, the high season is from January on.It is somewhat surreal here and I can see why so many people stay - its a beach town where you can live on $2,000 a year. So many people come as a tourist and never leave...
Its amazing how Montañita is this haven for Israelis.The main restaurant in town is owned by Israelis and the first morning we were here, the owner invited us to his house for Shabbat dinner.He came here about five years ago and it seems like he has been investing in it ever since.He has a hostel and a restaurant, with plans for a newspaper and a gym and his employees are really taken care of...Either way, the dinner was beautiful.The men prayed first and then some 40 of us sat down at a long table to welcome shabbat and eat.I hadn't eaten a meal so appetizing since Ive been in Ecuador. There was an enormous amount of food, which was all delicious.After dinner, the electricity in the house was turned off, I think from the concert that was about to start next door.So we all sat around in a candlelit circle while some of the guys played guitar.Eventually the electricity came back and the concert of three Ecuadorian bands, began, so we headed out to watch it from Tomer's property. (Tomer is the owner of the restaurant and hostel.) He has a beautiful home with tons of land, cabanas in the back, direct access to the beach, and plenty of space for guests.
Since the dinner, we have have not been doing much.The town of Montañita is pretty small and if the weather is bad there is not much to do but sit around.So Saturday was a lazy day, but finally yesterday we got some sun, which is abnormal for this time of year, so we all headed to the beach.The water is fairly warm here, even if the sun is not out, and the waves aren't too large unless the tide comes in super strong.I played a bit of soccer on the beach and then attempted some surfing unsuccessfully.
And otherwise, Ive mostly done a lot of lounging - lounging in a hammock, lounging on the beach, lounging in a restaurant, lounging in the hostel, lounging in someone elses hostel.Its strange since mostly everyone here is at the end of their trips, since they came from Brazil and went down to Argentina and up to Ecuador. So they really want to be here and relax. But Ryan and I are at the beginning of our trip, so we juxtapose all of them.One guy told me that you will feel like you are in the beginning of your trip until you hit the half year mark and then your whole pespective changes. So I dont know, I guess Ill just have to wait and see.But its amazing to think what Ryan and I have ahead of us.
And it looks like we may leave tomorrow along with the rest of our little group even though I was somewhat offered a job here.But Im sure many more jobs and opportunities will come, and I'm not sure how I would fare in a party city that never sleeps. So we will go to Guayaquil and finally check out the largest city in Ecuador for a few days and probably on to Cuenca and someday Peru....
Un beso muy fuerte a todos.xoxo
P.S. Mom- you would be so proud, Ive even praticed a little of my Hebrew.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
cellular
here is my phone number in case you need to reach me while I am in Ecuador. The country code is 593 and my numbed is 98158726. It is easy to buy a $5 calling card online to call from the US to a cell phone in Ecuador. Hope to hear from you.
Also, sorry for all the mispellings, the keyboards here are a bit funky.
Also, sorry for all the mispellings, the keyboards here are a bit funky.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Al principio
So I am definitely sorry that it has taken me so long to get started on this.I have sat down before at many a computer and not been able to start the blog, but since it is a rainy and cold day in Baños and we have free internet, I can´t really pass up the opportunity....
Ryan and I got into to Quito in the afternoon of the 10th, and it was surprisingly sunny since weather.com had informed us that it was going to rain all week there. We got in and easily hopped into a taxi and went to the Secret Garden Hostel.The hostel was in the old part of town, the centro histórico, which is the area with most of the churches, plazas, federal buildings and or course El Panecillo.
The first day, Ryan and I settled into our cozy little room of the hostel and then took a walk around to get a bit more oriented.They have these communal dinners on the terrace roof at the hostel that Ryan and I joined in on that first, but I got a headache from the altitude and had to sleep. No worries though, I told Ryan to make some friends at dinner and of course, he made many.He said the food was good and that we had been invited to see the Basilica del Voto Nacional the following day.
The hostel made it incredibly easy to meet people; some from the US, a lot of Aussies, a lot of Brits, and some Germans and Dutch.Other than that first day, Ryan and I traveled in these giant Gringo packs with a bunch of kids traveling like ourselves.The Ecuadorians on the streets definitely stared, but I´m not sure what they thought was more bizarre - the giant gringo pack or the three blondes that were with us.Either way, people stare.Less in some parts than others, but in Quito I always felt like I was being watched.Never specifically harassed, but they know we are different.
We did mostly sightseeing/touristy stuff in Quito. We hiked up the gothis towers in the Basilica del Voto Nacional.It has amazing views of the vast city of Quito, but it was unbelievably scary to climb.There are mostly ladders that go to the top and there are these pieces of chicken wire behind the steps, but somehow the chicken wire never felt like it was any kind of security as you climb.Although, that is extremely common here.There are no railings and no real sense of security when it comes to doing something like that.It is your choice to hike up to the top, so therefore it is your responsibility to take care of yourself as you do it.There was an open ledge at the top of the tower and you can crawl through a tiny window and risk sitting on this ledge to view the city.Let me just say that I usually consider myself pretty gutsy when it comes to that kind of stuff and I refused to even go close to the window.But no one died or got robbed, so it was a good day for us tourists.
While we were in Quito we also spent some time at the Museo Guayasamín which houses his hude collection of extremely religious pre-Colombian art, which seemed to be many variations on the crucifix.The guide then took us through the vast difference between European art and Latin American art from the 16th Century up to 18th Century.She explained that the art in South America heavily relies on the re-interpretation of European ideals and how the is a combination of Europe and the mestizo.The Museum is also home to his own paintings - Oswaldo Guayasamín, who is world famous for his images that have been likened to that of Picasso.
A friend, Morgan and I went up to El Panecillo, which is this beautiful Angel standing on top of a serpent on top of globe.She is the Virgen de Quito and she is atop a beautiful hill to the South of the Old Town.We went up and were there to catch the end of the sunset.Quito is unbelievably vast.These rectangular shaped houses and small apartment buildings, all with box-like windows, color the Andes Mountains and the surrounding volcanoes.The streets seem to magically weave in and out with just enough room for a car in each direction - there is none to spare.But the views are amazing and for being a city of a little over 1 million, you would never know it because from the mountains, the city seems to go on endlessly.But unlike New York, Quito is built out and not up.
On our way down, our driver asked me my opinion of the political situation in America.He was curious who I was going to vote for and once I said Obama, he was shocked.He asked me about the racism in the States and if we had ever had a black President before.It was amazing to learn how much Ecuadorians follow American politics.But being here, it seems obvious.They use American currency and so their entire economy relies on the States.Ecuadorians themselves are in a crucial time in their lives.On September 28th, the people are to vote yes or no on weather they consitution should be re-written.It is obligatory to vote here - after the 28th, if you want to buy anything in a store or supermarket you have to show your ID and also a voucher that says you have voted.It seems that because it is obligated, many have strayed from the entire political system.But everyone I talked to in Quito, is hoping for change.They want the constitution to change to lessen the corruption that currently exists in the government and it seems like the current President has been better in helping the poor and indigenous.And theday is ever approaching, so hopefully Ryan and I will get to see some of a change in Ecuador while we are here.
Otherwise, Quito, was quite a big city, so Ryan and I were somewhat eager to leave.It is always harder to get a sense of culture in the bigger cities, people are colder and things are more expensive - like our hostel (for $8 a night).
So Saturday we left for the day with a gringo pack again and headed 2.5 hours away to Otavalo, known for its massive market on Saturdays.All the Otavaleños wear traditional dress and stand under a tent selling everything from bags, to gloves, to panama hats, to traditional cuisines, to all kinds of clothes.The market dates back to pre-Inca time and is the largest craft-market in all of South America.But I can only take so much shopping and standing around so we only stayed for a couple of hours.Luckily we left when we did since we had to race back to Quito to get our packs to get on a four hour bus to Baños.
It was an extremely long day by the time we arrived in Baños, but it was cheaper to sleep here a night than stay in Quito for anymore time.Plus I have a friend of my cousin´s here, Eyal, who lived in Quito for the past three months through an engineering internship and it was his last few days in Ecuador so we thought we would head down to meet him.He set Ryan, me, and two others - Morgan and Jay, in a hostel down the street from him.Eyal is here with about ten others, some from his program, some visiting from Philly, and some hes met along the way.We all partied Saturday night and wokr up bright and early Sunday to go Canyoning.
Canyoning - which is incredible, is basically cascading down waterfalls. There were 13 of us and there are three guides that take you up to a part in the jungle and they give you a wetsuit and some $2 tennis shoes and some kind of harness and helmut.There are five waterfalls, the first one is 8 meters so we can all practice and then they range and get all the way up to 45 meters.There is nothing comparable to this.I stopped in the middle going down the biggest one and looked around.Its just gorgeous.The water gushes down over you and you cant hear anything else.Im not sure how safe it was and the water was almost unbearbly freezing, since it was raining and the sun was not out, but it was definitely worth it.Its an incredible adrenaline rush and totally worth the $20 splurge. (Ryan and I could probably eat like 10 meals on that amount) After the canyoning some of us headed to the thermal baths, which is what Baños is famous for. They funnel the water from the volcanoes into these baths; they have different temperatures and at night its beautiful because you are right under these waterfalls, watching them come down while relaxing in the hot baths.I think it was probably good for my muscles after shivering all day, but it definitely wasn´t as hygienic as it would have been if it was in the States.
And today Ryan and I slept in finally and caught up on our sleep and relaxed.We are thinking about heading to Riobamba, then Guayaquil, then hole up for a couple weeks in the beach town of Montañita so we can rent surf boards and chill out for a bit before heading to our first farm.But of course, none of this is really planned out, I´m sure we´ll decide the day of and just head somewhere.
Otherwise, were doing well and staying healthy and I think Ryan is in heaven because he is finally not the shortest guy around.All the natives seem to be even shorter than the both of us. :)
I miss you all and think about you constantly. Adios para ahora.
Ryan and I got into to Quito in the afternoon of the 10th, and it was surprisingly sunny since weather.com had informed us that it was going to rain all week there. We got in and easily hopped into a taxi and went to the Secret Garden Hostel.The hostel was in the old part of town, the centro histórico, which is the area with most of the churches, plazas, federal buildings and or course El Panecillo.
The first day, Ryan and I settled into our cozy little room of the hostel and then took a walk around to get a bit more oriented.They have these communal dinners on the terrace roof at the hostel that Ryan and I joined in on that first, but I got a headache from the altitude and had to sleep. No worries though, I told Ryan to make some friends at dinner and of course, he made many.He said the food was good and that we had been invited to see the Basilica del Voto Nacional the following day.
The hostel made it incredibly easy to meet people; some from the US, a lot of Aussies, a lot of Brits, and some Germans and Dutch.Other than that first day, Ryan and I traveled in these giant Gringo packs with a bunch of kids traveling like ourselves.The Ecuadorians on the streets definitely stared, but I´m not sure what they thought was more bizarre - the giant gringo pack or the three blondes that were with us.Either way, people stare.Less in some parts than others, but in Quito I always felt like I was being watched.Never specifically harassed, but they know we are different.
We did mostly sightseeing/touristy stuff in Quito. We hiked up the gothis towers in the Basilica del Voto Nacional.It has amazing views of the vast city of Quito, but it was unbelievably scary to climb.There are mostly ladders that go to the top and there are these pieces of chicken wire behind the steps, but somehow the chicken wire never felt like it was any kind of security as you climb.Although, that is extremely common here.There are no railings and no real sense of security when it comes to doing something like that.It is your choice to hike up to the top, so therefore it is your responsibility to take care of yourself as you do it.There was an open ledge at the top of the tower and you can crawl through a tiny window and risk sitting on this ledge to view the city.Let me just say that I usually consider myself pretty gutsy when it comes to that kind of stuff and I refused to even go close to the window.But no one died or got robbed, so it was a good day for us tourists.
While we were in Quito we also spent some time at the Museo Guayasamín which houses his hude collection of extremely religious pre-Colombian art, which seemed to be many variations on the crucifix.The guide then took us through the vast difference between European art and Latin American art from the 16th Century up to 18th Century.She explained that the art in South America heavily relies on the re-interpretation of European ideals and how the is a combination of Europe and the mestizo.The Museum is also home to his own paintings - Oswaldo Guayasamín, who is world famous for his images that have been likened to that of Picasso.
A friend, Morgan and I went up to El Panecillo, which is this beautiful Angel standing on top of a serpent on top of globe.She is the Virgen de Quito and she is atop a beautiful hill to the South of the Old Town.We went up and were there to catch the end of the sunset.Quito is unbelievably vast.These rectangular shaped houses and small apartment buildings, all with box-like windows, color the Andes Mountains and the surrounding volcanoes.The streets seem to magically weave in and out with just enough room for a car in each direction - there is none to spare.But the views are amazing and for being a city of a little over 1 million, you would never know it because from the mountains, the city seems to go on endlessly.But unlike New York, Quito is built out and not up.
On our way down, our driver asked me my opinion of the political situation in America.He was curious who I was going to vote for and once I said Obama, he was shocked.He asked me about the racism in the States and if we had ever had a black President before.It was amazing to learn how much Ecuadorians follow American politics.But being here, it seems obvious.They use American currency and so their entire economy relies on the States.Ecuadorians themselves are in a crucial time in their lives.On September 28th, the people are to vote yes or no on weather they consitution should be re-written.It is obligatory to vote here - after the 28th, if you want to buy anything in a store or supermarket you have to show your ID and also a voucher that says you have voted.It seems that because it is obligated, many have strayed from the entire political system.But everyone I talked to in Quito, is hoping for change.They want the constitution to change to lessen the corruption that currently exists in the government and it seems like the current President has been better in helping the poor and indigenous.And theday is ever approaching, so hopefully Ryan and I will get to see some of a change in Ecuador while we are here.
Otherwise, Quito, was quite a big city, so Ryan and I were somewhat eager to leave.It is always harder to get a sense of culture in the bigger cities, people are colder and things are more expensive - like our hostel (for $8 a night).
So Saturday we left for the day with a gringo pack again and headed 2.5 hours away to Otavalo, known for its massive market on Saturdays.All the Otavaleños wear traditional dress and stand under a tent selling everything from bags, to gloves, to panama hats, to traditional cuisines, to all kinds of clothes.The market dates back to pre-Inca time and is the largest craft-market in all of South America.But I can only take so much shopping and standing around so we only stayed for a couple of hours.Luckily we left when we did since we had to race back to Quito to get our packs to get on a four hour bus to Baños.
It was an extremely long day by the time we arrived in Baños, but it was cheaper to sleep here a night than stay in Quito for anymore time.Plus I have a friend of my cousin´s here, Eyal, who lived in Quito for the past three months through an engineering internship and it was his last few days in Ecuador so we thought we would head down to meet him.He set Ryan, me, and two others - Morgan and Jay, in a hostel down the street from him.Eyal is here with about ten others, some from his program, some visiting from Philly, and some hes met along the way.We all partied Saturday night and wokr up bright and early Sunday to go Canyoning.
Canyoning - which is incredible, is basically cascading down waterfalls. There were 13 of us and there are three guides that take you up to a part in the jungle and they give you a wetsuit and some $2 tennis shoes and some kind of harness and helmut.There are five waterfalls, the first one is 8 meters so we can all practice and then they range and get all the way up to 45 meters.There is nothing comparable to this.I stopped in the middle going down the biggest one and looked around.Its just gorgeous.The water gushes down over you and you cant hear anything else.Im not sure how safe it was and the water was almost unbearbly freezing, since it was raining and the sun was not out, but it was definitely worth it.Its an incredible adrenaline rush and totally worth the $20 splurge. (Ryan and I could probably eat like 10 meals on that amount) After the canyoning some of us headed to the thermal baths, which is what Baños is famous for. They funnel the water from the volcanoes into these baths; they have different temperatures and at night its beautiful because you are right under these waterfalls, watching them come down while relaxing in the hot baths.I think it was probably good for my muscles after shivering all day, but it definitely wasn´t as hygienic as it would have been if it was in the States.
And today Ryan and I slept in finally and caught up on our sleep and relaxed.We are thinking about heading to Riobamba, then Guayaquil, then hole up for a couple weeks in the beach town of Montañita so we can rent surf boards and chill out for a bit before heading to our first farm.But of course, none of this is really planned out, I´m sure we´ll decide the day of and just head somewhere.
Otherwise, were doing well and staying healthy and I think Ryan is in heaven because he is finally not the shortest guy around.All the natives seem to be even shorter than the both of us. :)
I miss you all and think about you constantly. Adios para ahora.
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