My title really has nothing to do with the general theme of this post but I had to put SOMETHING. And it's true that I love aji. That red hot flavor goes with everything and is absolutely delicious! If the food is good it accents the flavor and makes it even better, if the food is bad it's a fixall solution. Ahhhhhhh how I am going to miss you my dear aji!!! It's a bright red sauce made from special rocoto pepers called aji verde. Rather ironic I know... still haven't figured out who in their right mind would name a red peper "aji verde." But it doesn't matter because I love it!
Anyway, here's the news from my last three weeks...
I am officially a high school graduate! (for the second time :)) I think I am probably one of the only people in the world who can say they have graduated two time in six monthes. Once in the US and once in Peru. Once in Spanish and once in English. Once in the lovely purple gowns of WHS and once in the all white garmets of Santa Rosa de Lima. I literally felt like an angel with my white cap, gown and of course glaringly pale skin. haha The entire process was surprisingly familiar despite the fact that it is a private, catholic school in South America. We all lined up and marched into the auditorium with the traditional graduation music. Of course I was in the very back of the line because, well it was by height. When we got to our seats we remained standing for the national anthem and the school song in Spanish and then AGAIN for the english version. I can tell you that when we finally sat everyone was quite happy to rest their feet. I don't know if its a passing fad or a cultural thing to make up for the lack of height, but everyone down here wears HIGHheels! The rest of the ceremony was fairly standard with a student speaker, words from the principal, presentation of the diploma, passing of the little ball on the cap and of course tons and tons of photos. The student speaker did a great job combining funny comments with nostalgic memories with words of wisdom. This graduation means a LOT to my classmates and just about everyone was crying by the end of his speech. There is a deep connection and a lot of memories when you are together for 11 years... Which is why I feel so special to be included in the Promo of 49- San Juan de Macias. They made me feel part of the group from the very beginning and I will always appreciate that. For example, the principal wasn't originally going to let me graduate but my friends and teachers convinced her that I deserved to wear the robe and walk side by side with my classmates. And, when we put the plack on the wall with the 75 names of the promo, my name was included!!! Now my name will remain forever inscribed on the walls of Santa Rosa de Lima. I can come back in 20 years and show everyone that I really did go to school for a year in Peru :)
I think I mentioned before that I have been taking a native dance class for the past 10 weeks with a friend from school. Every Tuesday we would go to the center of Lima to dance for three hours and learn two tipical dances- Caporales and Diablada. The studio where we were learning is called Brisas de Titicaca and is actually a fairly prestigious school of dance here in Lima. Anyway, last Saturday was the final presentation. It was a HUGE event where they sold entrance tickets and served food and we were the cultural entertainment- a demonstration of 20 typical dances with live music and colorful costumes. We danced in front of an audiance of 500 and I must say it was rather nerve racking! They put a new floor in two days prior and despite our best attempts to gain traction by pouring Cocacola on the bottom of our shoes it was a bit of a disaster. One lady even fell during the first dance it was so slippery... But overall in was a very fun experience :) I got to put on two incredibly elaborate costumes and paint my face with about 500 pounds of make up. This alone was quite the experience. If it weren't for all the help from my new friends I would never have been ready on time. In Caporales we wore three different skirts, two blouses, long fake braids wound in with yellow ribbons, little hats and lace up high heels. YIKES! The hardest part was definitely dancing in heels but getting those braids securely attached was a close second. And in Diablada my costum was even more complicated if you can imagine. There is a fight scene between the devil and the angel and this time I literally got to dress like an angel. :) I had a huge head piece, wings, a spade and armor. Plus the high heels again. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Another new experience was Prom in Peru. Yes it's a big deal in the US but it is NOTHING like prom over here. There is only one dance in highschool over here, and that is Prom. To start with we arrived in limo. A group of 14 of us all met up in one friend's house and we arrived at the hotel Melia with style. Now the limo turned out to be a bit of a ripoff but that doesn't matter, we still went in limo. I can say that my first (and probably last) experience in a limo was riding through the streets of Lima Peru. :) The main problem with the limousine is that the company told us it seated 16 when it was really a limo for 10. Oooops! We were packed in there like sardines in a can with two kids sitting practically in the bar and one across the laps of the others. jajajaja And they didn't pull out the red carpet or serve champain like advertised. But it doesn't really matter because we still had a ton of fun sticking out heads out the sun roof, blasting music, and stopping in all the gorgeous parts of Lima to snap photos. When we arrived at the hotel we got to make the big entrance with more pictures, music, bright lights and an anouncer naming each couple. There was even a bubble and fog machine for effect :) It was held in one of the super fancy ballrooms where you find 15 utencils on either side of your plate and have no idea what to use first... Anyway, we spent the next 8 hours eatting super delicious food, drinking pisco sour (not me), and dancing dancing dancing. That is one of the best things about peruvian parties is that EVERYONE dances! And legit dancing too. Salsa and cumbia and of course the popular american music as well... One of my friends is excellent salsa dancer and I was able to follow his lead and actually dance!!! :) Yayyyyyy I must say I was quite proud! jaja We finally left at about 5:30 in the morning and my friend and I slept until 2 the next afternoon! Woooooooow!
It's officially the first day of summer today. And boy can I can feel it! The sun is out with super strength and on my run home today I almost died. (not really... but I was very, very sweaty. jaja) I can already hear the beach calling my name and now that it's summer vacation I am ready to hit the water. As I sit here in shorts and a tanktop, I can see the advantages to Christmas in the summer... :)
Which reminds me, MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I wish you all the best and hope you have a fabulous 25th with lots of friends and family and good food. I'll be thinking of everyone back home and just imagine I'm giving you a big huge peruvian hug! :)
Lots of love from South America,
Chelan
PS. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the lovely care package from home! I have already started making my way through the GIANT bag of chocolatechips (yep, Costco sized :)) I spent all day yesterday in the kitchen baking and took cookies to my friends at school. A little bit of US holiday spirit and a new experience for them!
PPS. I had a lovely visit from some Wenatchee folks (the Dappen family and Vicki Monreal) the other day and got to play tour guide :) It was great to see those familiar faces again and speak english for two days and best of all I didn't feel like a giant anymore. Yayyyyyyy! Thank you guys for a GREAT visit! :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thanksgiving
As I'm sure all of you guys know, Thanksgiving was last Thursday. The day when everyone goes to grandma's house to eat turkey and pumpkin pie and watch football. It is something that happens every year without question. We see the gorgeous leaves scattering the ground and lots of rustic decorations and know its time to give thanks. The thing is, it's an AMERICAN holiday and im not in america!!! For the first time in my life there was no fourday weekend or cornstalk decorations. Instead I got to initiate, explain and prepare Thanksgiving. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about cooking the turkey and slightly homesick for all the aunts and uncles and cousins but in the end it was an absolute success. I stayed home from school and spent the day in the kitchen. With the help of both my parents, my exchange friend Savannah, and Dina (my neice's nanny) we pulled off a delicious feast! We had the typical American thanksgiving with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and apple pie but then we added a Peruvian twist. We also had asado, lemon pie, rice and pallares. Mmmmmmmm mmmmmm good! We didn't end up eatting until 9:30 or 10 because everyone gets off work late but it was fabulous. :) There were 22 of us all crowded round the table eatting and laughing and generally feeling the good vibes. Savannah and I made awesome turkey decorations and explained the history of Thanksgiving. And then we went in a circle and each person said something they were thankful for. To tell you the truth I think I appreciated the significance of the holiday a whole lot more over here than I ever did in the states.
So, both of my past two weekends I got to spend camping – two very different experience but each one fun in a different way. The first weekend was a Rotary service project called handicamp. I went with my couselor to a colegio in the middle of Lima without knowing exactly what to expect. We showed up at 10 and found various groups of youth sitting with their piles of sleeping bags and backpacks. We went to say hi and talk with each group and everyone was full of positive energy. You see, this was a very special group of 60 people. They had Downs Syndrome or were mentally retarded but they were also some of the most enthusiastic, genuinely happy people I have met. I was lucky enough to spend all of Saturday and Sunday dancing, eatting, doing art projects, and playing games with these new friends. The camp wasn't terribly well organized so I got to practice my leadership and spanish skills and lead a lot of the activities too. The great thing is that they all have the spirit of champions and loving playing sports. One boy had even gone to China for the special olympics! The whole weekend was incredibly rewarding and my favorite group of students even invited me to their school dance next week. :)
The second weekend was with my good friend Valeria in the outskirts of Lima. We went to a "club" called Kankay and camped with about 20 of her extended family. When I say "club" I am refering to something more or less like a state park in the US. It has a restaurant, BBQ's, picnic tables, climbing toys, a pool, horses, four wheelers and lots of green grass and trees. Since Lima is both a extremely dry desert and a huge city going to clubs is the only opportunity to find greeness. Anyway, Valeria's family is fabulous and treats me just like their own exchange student. We played with all the cousins and ate tons of yummy food and stayed up until 4 in the morning talking and laughing by the fire. At night it was rather chilly and I had to put my sweatpants over my jeans but during the day the sun was FUERTISIMO! I managed to burn my scalp and currently have a lovely red line running down the top of my head. I’m not sure if it was all the time in the swimming pool or playing volleyball but it definitely taught me my lesson. I have to say I am a little bit scared for my poor skin this summer. I think I’ll turn out like an overcooked tomato!
So, both of my past two weekends I got to spend camping – two very different experience but each one fun in a different way. The first weekend was a Rotary service project called handicamp. I went with my couselor to a colegio in the middle of Lima without knowing exactly what to expect. We showed up at 10 and found various groups of youth sitting with their piles of sleeping bags and backpacks. We went to say hi and talk with each group and everyone was full of positive energy. You see, this was a very special group of 60 people. They had Downs Syndrome or were mentally retarded but they were also some of the most enthusiastic, genuinely happy people I have met. I was lucky enough to spend all of Saturday and Sunday dancing, eatting, doing art projects, and playing games with these new friends. The camp wasn't terribly well organized so I got to practice my leadership and spanish skills and lead a lot of the activities too. The great thing is that they all have the spirit of champions and loving playing sports. One boy had even gone to China for the special olympics! The whole weekend was incredibly rewarding and my favorite group of students even invited me to their school dance next week. :)
The second weekend was with my good friend Valeria in the outskirts of Lima. We went to a "club" called Kankay and camped with about 20 of her extended family. When I say "club" I am refering to something more or less like a state park in the US. It has a restaurant, BBQ's, picnic tables, climbing toys, a pool, horses, four wheelers and lots of green grass and trees. Since Lima is both a extremely dry desert and a huge city going to clubs is the only opportunity to find greeness. Anyway, Valeria's family is fabulous and treats me just like their own exchange student. We played with all the cousins and ate tons of yummy food and stayed up until 4 in the morning talking and laughing by the fire. At night it was rather chilly and I had to put my sweatpants over my jeans but during the day the sun was FUERTISIMO! I managed to burn my scalp and currently have a lovely red line running down the top of my head. I’m not sure if it was all the time in the swimming pool or playing volleyball but it definitely taught me my lesson. I have to say I am a little bit scared for my poor skin this summer. I think I’ll turn out like an overcooked tomato!
Friday, November 19, 2010
La Vida
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how wonderful is the life of an exchangee! I can feel spring rolling around and the sun is out more and more often. I'm not sure exactly why but the last week was ESPECIALLY great. There was nothing super huge but all the little things just added up to make me happy. A perfect balance of time with friends and family, in the house and on the street, busy but not stressed. Here's a general overview of the week.
Saturday- I went to "apostulado" which is basically community service hours for my school. It may not sound all that exciting but I REALLY enjoyed it! We rode in bus to a very poor elementry school and spent three hours helping teach the kids. I was assigned three 10 year old boys all of whom were rather easily distracted. Luckily I am a foreigner and have stories to tell about the US. With this and oragami as bribes they were pretty well behaved... We spent half the time working on math and the other half was communication. What irony that I of all people was teaching grammar in Spanish... haha but it worked out and I had fun. I got to play with them during recess and buy them little treats from the store and be a generally good role model :) In the evening we had a fiesta for my uncle's birthday with tons and tons of family. All of the sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was the typical Peruvian party where everyone sits outside eatting BBQ, listening to music, and generally having a good time. We got there around 7 and stayed until 1 or 2 in the morning laughing and playing charades.
Sunday- We had a big fundraiser lunch for Rotaract and each person brought a typical dish from their country. ALL of the food was fabulous and it was buffet so I got to try different dishes from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Canada and of course lots of yummy things from the US and Peru. I brought a cesaer salad with homemade crutons and dressing and everything. mmmmmmmm Although in reality it was a very peruvian version of a cesaer salad. The biggest reason is that it took about 2 hours to put together. jajaja We cooked bacon, toasted bread to make garlic crutons, chopped eggs, squeezed limes, and made the entire dressing from scratch. WOW! And after the almuerzo I came home and started cooking for an English project so my entire day was devoted to food. The assignment was to make a video explaining how to cook some type of food so I chose chocolatechip cookies. My sister and I spent about 4 hours in the kitchen filming, fighting technology and dying from laughter. You really don't know how hard it is to keep a straight face and remember the lines at the same time... !
Monday- my first bike ride in Lima! My dad and I went to get bread from an especially tasty panaderia. It was CRAZY! We were on the sidewalk dodging dogs and kids and people and random cracks in the cement...
Tuesday- Dance class in the center of lima!
Wednesday- I met up with one of my exchange friends and we went to explore the national library and Barranco ( an old district with LOTS of history)
Thursday- Two friends and I went to an art institute for a class in the evening. But first I ate lunch in my friends house and tried cows stumach...! It's uuuuh a little bit less that my favorite dish but not too bad. Its just the texture that is very, very chewy. Anyway, the class was an example of what you do if you chose to major in interior design. We basically got to play with cardboard and glue and paint and design a new "art room" for the university.
Friday- School talent show. Very intertaining!
A few random comments...
Christmas is cominggggggggggggggggg! All of the stores pulled out the christmas decorations and trees right after halloween. It's kind of crazy... without Thanksgiving the Christmas season goes all of November AND December. Two monthes of green and red and Papa Noel (yes, he's exactly the same as Santa Claus :) ) Our house has been decorated for over a week and right now I'm sitting listening to the electronic christmas carols blasting from the plastic tree in the other room. I must admit it is rather strange to see all of the decorations and cheesy Christmas stuff exactly the same as in Wenatchee. It may be the middle of summer but Papa Noel still goes to the mall in his red suit and they still drink hot chocolate!!! I just can't quite get the idea of Christmas and beach towels straight in my head but I'm sure it will sink in sometime soon. :)
We have a Camaro. It is pretty much the coolest car EVER! It just came out of the garage for the first that I have been here and I'm in looooooooooove! It is a 67 and it is gray and it is gorgeous. No questions asked, it is now my favorite way to travel in Lima. Besides running of course :)
There was a HUGE drama about the trip to Cuzco which I'm not going to get into but the final outcome is we are NOT going to Machu Picchu for Thanksgiving. We will probably end up going in May...
In every language there are certain words that go perfectly together. They express exactly what you want to say and are impossible to translate. I am continually running into things that I want to say in English or Spanish that just don't work. For example, the prase "I'm glad" does not cross and it happens to be something that I want to say about 5 times everyday. grrrrrrrrrrrr. And in Spanish the words "pasear, conocer, disfrutar, and saludar." These are four of my new favorite words because they express so perfectly the concepts that I could never quite describe before.
I finished my first legit novel in espanol this morning. It was 243 pages and I read it alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. Its a book that my class read earlier in the year and its pretty much a spin off of Twilight. Yeah, a little embarrasing to say my first book was a vampire love story but I'm still proud. And the vocabulary is easy enough that I can follow the plot but complex enough that I learn lots of new words. Yay!
My friend from France taught me how to make crepes yesterday. We figured out that two of the exchangees go to school really close to my house so we can meet up and have exciting adventures. The crepes were AMAZING and I ate tons and tons of them with chocolate and icecream and honey and sugar and fresh cheese and whatever else we found that seemed tasty. While making crepes we got to talk a lot and I am once again in awe of the super cool people from Europe. My friend speaks English, Spanish, French, and Arabic and has traveled to about a million and one different countries. So JEALOUS! Annnnnd they have trains that go 400+ km/h. Crazy huh?
There was a Black Eyes Peas concert in Lima the other day. I didn't go but I'm sure someone will be excited by the news that they came to Peru... :)
I was a little homesick for McGlinns so I made BEER BREAD with my family on Saturday!!!! Yummmmmmmmmmmmm :) It wasn't quite the same but with anticuchos (BBQ'ed cow heart) it was tasty as ever!
I went to see HARRY POTTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 77777777777777777. Yes, I am still a die-hard fan while living in another country... I even borrowed the 7th book (in spanish) from a friend so I could re-read. Unfortunately with all my good intentions, I haven't gotten around to actually reading it, but still. :) And the movie is fabulous and everyone should definitely definitely go see it.
Saturday- I went to "apostulado" which is basically community service hours for my school. It may not sound all that exciting but I REALLY enjoyed it! We rode in bus to a very poor elementry school and spent three hours helping teach the kids. I was assigned three 10 year old boys all of whom were rather easily distracted. Luckily I am a foreigner and have stories to tell about the US. With this and oragami as bribes they were pretty well behaved... We spent half the time working on math and the other half was communication. What irony that I of all people was teaching grammar in Spanish... haha but it worked out and I had fun. I got to play with them during recess and buy them little treats from the store and be a generally good role model :) In the evening we had a fiesta for my uncle's birthday with tons and tons of family. All of the sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was the typical Peruvian party where everyone sits outside eatting BBQ, listening to music, and generally having a good time. We got there around 7 and stayed until 1 or 2 in the morning laughing and playing charades.
Sunday- We had a big fundraiser lunch for Rotaract and each person brought a typical dish from their country. ALL of the food was fabulous and it was buffet so I got to try different dishes from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Canada and of course lots of yummy things from the US and Peru. I brought a cesaer salad with homemade crutons and dressing and everything. mmmmmmmm Although in reality it was a very peruvian version of a cesaer salad. The biggest reason is that it took about 2 hours to put together. jajaja We cooked bacon, toasted bread to make garlic crutons, chopped eggs, squeezed limes, and made the entire dressing from scratch. WOW! And after the almuerzo I came home and started cooking for an English project so my entire day was devoted to food. The assignment was to make a video explaining how to cook some type of food so I chose chocolatechip cookies. My sister and I spent about 4 hours in the kitchen filming, fighting technology and dying from laughter. You really don't know how hard it is to keep a straight face and remember the lines at the same time... !
Monday- my first bike ride in Lima! My dad and I went to get bread from an especially tasty panaderia. It was CRAZY! We were on the sidewalk dodging dogs and kids and people and random cracks in the cement...
Tuesday- Dance class in the center of lima!
Wednesday- I met up with one of my exchange friends and we went to explore the national library and Barranco ( an old district with LOTS of history)
Thursday- Two friends and I went to an art institute for a class in the evening. But first I ate lunch in my friends house and tried cows stumach...! It's uuuuh a little bit less that my favorite dish but not too bad. Its just the texture that is very, very chewy. Anyway, the class was an example of what you do if you chose to major in interior design. We basically got to play with cardboard and glue and paint and design a new "art room" for the university.
Friday- School talent show. Very intertaining!
A few random comments...
Christmas is cominggggggggggggggggg! All of the stores pulled out the christmas decorations and trees right after halloween. It's kind of crazy... without Thanksgiving the Christmas season goes all of November AND December. Two monthes of green and red and Papa Noel (yes, he's exactly the same as Santa Claus :) ) Our house has been decorated for over a week and right now I'm sitting listening to the electronic christmas carols blasting from the plastic tree in the other room. I must admit it is rather strange to see all of the decorations and cheesy Christmas stuff exactly the same as in Wenatchee. It may be the middle of summer but Papa Noel still goes to the mall in his red suit and they still drink hot chocolate!!! I just can't quite get the idea of Christmas and beach towels straight in my head but I'm sure it will sink in sometime soon. :)
We have a Camaro. It is pretty much the coolest car EVER! It just came out of the garage for the first that I have been here and I'm in looooooooooove! It is a 67 and it is gray and it is gorgeous. No questions asked, it is now my favorite way to travel in Lima. Besides running of course :)
There was a HUGE drama about the trip to Cuzco which I'm not going to get into but the final outcome is we are NOT going to Machu Picchu for Thanksgiving. We will probably end up going in May...
In every language there are certain words that go perfectly together. They express exactly what you want to say and are impossible to translate. I am continually running into things that I want to say in English or Spanish that just don't work. For example, the prase "I'm glad" does not cross and it happens to be something that I want to say about 5 times everyday. grrrrrrrrrrrr. And in Spanish the words "pasear, conocer, disfrutar, and saludar." These are four of my new favorite words because they express so perfectly the concepts that I could never quite describe before.
I finished my first legit novel in espanol this morning. It was 243 pages and I read it alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. Its a book that my class read earlier in the year and its pretty much a spin off of Twilight. Yeah, a little embarrasing to say my first book was a vampire love story but I'm still proud. And the vocabulary is easy enough that I can follow the plot but complex enough that I learn lots of new words. Yay!
My friend from France taught me how to make crepes yesterday. We figured out that two of the exchangees go to school really close to my house so we can meet up and have exciting adventures. The crepes were AMAZING and I ate tons and tons of them with chocolate and icecream and honey and sugar and fresh cheese and whatever else we found that seemed tasty. While making crepes we got to talk a lot and I am once again in awe of the super cool people from Europe. My friend speaks English, Spanish, French, and Arabic and has traveled to about a million and one different countries. So JEALOUS! Annnnnd they have trains that go 400+ km/h. Crazy huh?
There was a Black Eyes Peas concert in Lima the other day. I didn't go but I'm sure someone will be excited by the news that they came to Peru... :)
I was a little homesick for McGlinns so I made BEER BREAD with my family on Saturday!!!! Yummmmmmmmmmmmm :) It wasn't quite the same but with anticuchos (BBQ'ed cow heart) it was tasty as ever!
I went to see HARRY POTTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 77777777777777777. Yes, I am still a die-hard fan while living in another country... I even borrowed the 7th book (in spanish) from a friend so I could re-read. Unfortunately with all my good intentions, I haven't gotten around to actually reading it, but still. :) And the movie is fabulous and everyone should definitely definitely go see it.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Overview
Ok, so for Rotary we have to send a general report to our club every three monthes on how the exchange is going and general impressions of the country. I wrote my first "rotex roundup" last week and I figured I would share it with you guys. It may seem a little bit out of context but consider it an overview of everything you have read in my blog thus far.
_____________________________________________________
Peru. This country opened its arms wide and wrapped me in a big huge bear-hug from the moment I arrived. My spirit has intertwined with the rich culture and loving people and now we are one. Stuck, unbreakable like the strength of my new pet turtle. (Honestly, I have a little friend that I brought back from the AMAZON!) Every aspect, from the weathered women in their traditional bright skirts to the honking taxi drivers and crowded buses is part of the attraction. From the street vendors selling Mazamora and Anticuchos to the pounding rain in the selva, Peru has truly captured my heart.
When I arrived I came with eyes wide and mind open, ready to soak up every new experience. The sights and sounds of Lima, the throbbing energy that you find in a city of 8 million are incredible. Everyday is an adventure and around each corner I find a surprise. Perhaps it is learning a jump-rope game from little girls in the street or biking to the panederia with my dad, but there is always something new, something that brings a smile to my lips and lights up my face. During the day I do my best to live every opportunity and at night I fall asleep smiling about what I have seen and heard and felt. The people. The music and dance. The nature. The art and history. The food. Yes the FOOD! Peruvians are ridiculously proud of their food and spend hours preparing, eating and talking about food. But, it deserves the attention because all of it, from the potatoes and rice to the fruits and deserts, is mouth-wateringly delicious!
I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world because these months have been so full of smiles and laughter and exhilarating experiences. I have THE BEST host family I could possibly ask for and a fabulous group of friends at school. Everyone has reached out to welcome me into their lives and treats me like I have always been part of the family. I love my parents and sisters and never ending number of cousins and aunts and uncles. Together we talk about the differences between cultures and they have taught me to be Peruvian. I have learned to eat a huge almuerzo in the middle of the day and buy freshly baked bread for breakfast and dinner. I have learned to arrive 1 or 2 hours late to everything. I have even learned to mobilize myself with public transportation. (Yes I´m overly proud of that fact but hey, Lima is BIG!)
These months as an exchange student have been a time for learning on a deeper level as well. Not only am I learning about culture and language, but I am learning about life and myself as a person. I have new perspective. New eyes to see the world around me and more understanding about what is truly important. I can feel myself changing with every day that passes and it makes me happy. Immersed in an environment entirely different from the one I know, this is my chance to expand and grow and define myself as a person.
So, I would like to say THANKYOU to everyone who has helped me to get this far. Thank you for this opportunity to live out a dream. For helping me to find Peru. Now I am part of two families, two cultures, two different worlds but my love for you guys has only grown stronger. You have been in my heart every step of the way- from the busiest intersections of Lima to the breathtaking reaches of the Andes Mountains to the shores of the river Nanay in the Amazon basin.
Living every moment!
Chelan Pauly
_____________________________________________________
Peru. This country opened its arms wide and wrapped me in a big huge bear-hug from the moment I arrived. My spirit has intertwined with the rich culture and loving people and now we are one. Stuck, unbreakable like the strength of my new pet turtle. (Honestly, I have a little friend that I brought back from the AMAZON!) Every aspect, from the weathered women in their traditional bright skirts to the honking taxi drivers and crowded buses is part of the attraction. From the street vendors selling Mazamora and Anticuchos to the pounding rain in the selva, Peru has truly captured my heart.
When I arrived I came with eyes wide and mind open, ready to soak up every new experience. The sights and sounds of Lima, the throbbing energy that you find in a city of 8 million are incredible. Everyday is an adventure and around each corner I find a surprise. Perhaps it is learning a jump-rope game from little girls in the street or biking to the panederia with my dad, but there is always something new, something that brings a smile to my lips and lights up my face. During the day I do my best to live every opportunity and at night I fall asleep smiling about what I have seen and heard and felt. The people. The music and dance. The nature. The art and history. The food. Yes the FOOD! Peruvians are ridiculously proud of their food and spend hours preparing, eating and talking about food. But, it deserves the attention because all of it, from the potatoes and rice to the fruits and deserts, is mouth-wateringly delicious!
I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world because these months have been so full of smiles and laughter and exhilarating experiences. I have THE BEST host family I could possibly ask for and a fabulous group of friends at school. Everyone has reached out to welcome me into their lives and treats me like I have always been part of the family. I love my parents and sisters and never ending number of cousins and aunts and uncles. Together we talk about the differences between cultures and they have taught me to be Peruvian. I have learned to eat a huge almuerzo in the middle of the day and buy freshly baked bread for breakfast and dinner. I have learned to arrive 1 or 2 hours late to everything. I have even learned to mobilize myself with public transportation. (Yes I´m overly proud of that fact but hey, Lima is BIG!)
These months as an exchange student have been a time for learning on a deeper level as well. Not only am I learning about culture and language, but I am learning about life and myself as a person. I have new perspective. New eyes to see the world around me and more understanding about what is truly important. I can feel myself changing with every day that passes and it makes me happy. Immersed in an environment entirely different from the one I know, this is my chance to expand and grow and define myself as a person.
So, I would like to say THANKYOU to everyone who has helped me to get this far. Thank you for this opportunity to live out a dream. For helping me to find Peru. Now I am part of two families, two cultures, two different worlds but my love for you guys has only grown stronger. You have been in my heart every step of the way- from the busiest intersections of Lima to the breathtaking reaches of the Andes Mountains to the shores of the river Nanay in the Amazon basin.
Living every moment!
Chelan Pauly
Sunday, October 31, 2010
A few stories, a purple parade and a campout!
I feel like I'm falling behind!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess it's a good thing because my life is so full of new experiences that I can't possibly begin to relate them all here. But its a tad bit frustrating to play catch up everytime I open my blog. Maybe just maybe I'll get in the habbit of blogging a little more often. Anyway, I have three big adventures to write about and about a million and one other little things that I would love to describe but don't have time to do so. I'll start with an example adventure from Iquitos. I truly had all the good intentions to write about each day or atleast the most exciting things that happened over there but there is no way that's going to happen now. So I'll give you a taste of my experience in the jungle and you will just have to come visit me in Peru to hear more :)
On Friday (day 7 of the Jungle adventure) we got up without a real plan for the day. We had explored pretty much all of the standard tourist sites and were ready to step a little outside the box. Rosy and Edwin were working so our only limitations were the distances we could travel with motortaxi and/or riverboat (basically everywhere in a 4 hour radius of Iquitos) While we were eatting breakfast with Luz I brought down a scrap of paper with a list of things to do in Iquitos. We had done a little bit of research on the internet before we left Lima... We started quizing Luz on the places from my list and even though she hadn't been to the majority of them, she had heard something of each one. We finally agreed on Playa Santa Clara and decided to leave around 12 so each of us could spent the morning doing something different. Luz hurried with all house work so she could go out with us and my mom did some laudry and dyed her hair. I decided to go on a running adventure to the Plaza de Armas. The Plaza de Armas exists in every town or city and always has the municipalidad on one side and the church on the other. It is the central plaza where everyone goes at night and generally in the middle of downtown as well. It's about two miles from their house and the entire route has interesting things to see. It's definitely not a route you take to really get in shape though; the whole time is stop, go, dodge a flipped over motor taxi, jump over a dog sun bathing on the sidewalk etc... Plus Iquitos is really really hot so I was running slowly to begin with. Anyway, I made my way from the Plaza de Armas to the bank to take out money, and then got distracted by the stores along Prospero. Prospero is the main comercial street and has a ton of stores with clothes for ridiculously cheap prices!!! I'm actually a little embarrased by the number of shirts, tanktops, shorts and dresses I bought during my stay in Iquitos. But, when you can buy a GAP shirts for 5 soles (less than 2 bucks) its rather difficult to resist! haha So I ran back home with my new treasures and got caught by the RAIN! The wind blew, the motorcycles disappeared from the streets and within 30 seconds I was soaked. It is one of the best feelings in the world to run up a muddy street/river with rain pouring off your skin and the sound of water pelting down all around. I got to the house, took a quick shower and we all piled into Luz's son's motortaxi to explore Santa Clara.
It was a beautiful drive with fresh air smelling of rain and green trees on all sides but I was very glad to arrive when we did... 40 minutes is a long time to bounce along a dirt road full of potholes and splash through giant puddles. There were honestly a few times when I thought we wouldn´t make it out of the mud! Plus, motortaxi's only fit 3 people across so I got to sit with the 30 kg Gonzalo on my lap. Needless to say it felt very good to stretch my legs. We walked all around the little town and a very generous lady let us use the bathroom in her house. I was extatic because I had been wanting to see inside one of the houses and I finally got my chance in Santa Clara. This one had a dirt floor and wooden walls but it was organized and clean as can be. The woman showed us to the back door which looked out on the river and pointed to a muddy trail that led to the outhouse about 100 m away. But then she said we were welcome to just pee right there on the back porch with the chickens and trash. So we did. haha After the bathroom stop and a ten minute lesson from some little girls on a new jumprope game we went down to the river. A boat was leaving right then and only cost 1 sole so we jumped on. This is obvioiusly the best type of adventure when you don't know exactly where you are going :) The river was smooth as could be and we spent the whole ride taking pictures standing on the bow and oohing and awwing over the greenness all around us. We stopped once to let someone off on the side of the river bank and the trip ended in a little dock at the town of Juliana. The driver of the Peke-peke promised not to leave without us so we set off carefree to explore. One of the two motor taxi's took us the whole length of the town in about 5 minutes and dropped us off where the sidewalk ended. The street is a five foot wide sidewalk and runs in a straight line with houses on either side. That's it. There is no more to Juliana. It is literally one line of houses, all of which are on wooden stilts and have little kids and chickens and dogs in the front yards. Definitely one of the cutest little towns I've seen. After paying the 12 year old boy who drove our motortaxi, we continued walking down "mainstreet" which quickly turned into a dirt path. It was INCREDIBLE! I found myself on a little muddy trail in the middle of the jungle of Peru; I was surrounded by huge trees and birds singing and the sun shining was shining. Talk about heaven! I was wearing my five finger shoes and there was absolutely no way I could leave that place without running. So, I took off and yelled that I'd be back in 10 minutes. I jumped from side to side avoiding puddles and did my best to split my attention between the trail and the gorgeous scenery. It was a challenge not to just follow that little trail forever and loose myself in the green wilderness. It was one of those moments that can't be shared with anyone because you feel so totally alive and happy and perfect. Surely I was the happiest person to ever run through that forest and definitely the first gringa. =) But, my conscious eventually turned me around and I returned out of breath to find a VERY VERY angry mom. It turns out that she didn't hear me and thought I had just disappeared into the jungle never to be heard from again. Ooops! When I had been sufficently chewed out for scaring her half to death and promised to never-ever-ever do something like that again, we were able to laugh about it. Thank goodness my host mom is so loving and kind and good natured. I assured her that I had not been attacked by any creepy jungle men and when her nerves were sufficently calmed I asked permission to run a little more. This time I ran through town behind the motor taxi and by the time we arrived at the docks I had a little parade. Some of the boys and a couple dogs joined me for the last bit and ALL the heads turned to see such a strange sight. I guess its not very often that gringas go running through their little town. :) But when I got to the river I just couldn't leave the beautiful banks untouched so I jumped across and ran along the beach. For the third time that day I found myself running in a gorgeous place never before touched by man. My five finger shoes whisked along leaving perfect prints in the sand and it could have been a "rave run" from Runners World. In the end my river bank turned into an island and I had to wade out and jump on our Peke-peke to head back to Iquitos.
So, that is just one example of my loverly jungle adventures :) Now I'll describe briefly my other events and then its time for BEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD!
I went on a three day trip to Huacho and Caral with 12 of the other exchange students last weekend. It was a FABULOUS adventure and I absolutely love all of the other exchangees!!! No matter what we do together we also have fun and it is just like a big huge family. <3 We got to visit the oldest ruins in America (5000 years), the Castle of Chancay, the place where Peruvian Independence was originally declared and a hindu eco-friendly village. We camped in the back yard of the grandparents of one of the exchangees. They have an incredible house, it is like a mansion/ museum/ zoo all in one! The zoo is because they have an alpaca, three giant turtles, 4 parrots and some other animals all right there in the yard. And the artifacts from ancient peruvian cultures make it feel like a museum. But the best part was definitely the hammocks and teeter-totter. When we weren't eatting delicious food or getting to know some new aspect of Peru we were playing on the toys. :) Here are a few random highlights from the trip.
1) Running through Huacho with another XC exchangee from Yakima
2) Buying 4 kilos of strawberries for 4 soles. (that is a huge monster box for $1)
3) Swimming and playing on the beach in jeans and a t-shirt
4) Fresh tamales for breakfast
5) Learning peruvian games during the BBQ with the Rotaract kids from Huacho
6) Singing the Peruvian National Anthem, happy birthday, and disney songs in Spanish, French and English at the top of our lungs on the bus
Also, we had an exchange student halloween party and I CARVED A PUMPKIN!!!!!!!! Yayyyyyyyyy :) Halloween isn't really big over here... They don't really do the whole pumpkin thing, there are hardly any trick-o-treaters and nobody has decorations on their houses. Needless to say I was really really excited to find pumpkins in the Metro. :)
I'll get to the purple parade next post...
On Friday (day 7 of the Jungle adventure) we got up without a real plan for the day. We had explored pretty much all of the standard tourist sites and were ready to step a little outside the box. Rosy and Edwin were working so our only limitations were the distances we could travel with motortaxi and/or riverboat (basically everywhere in a 4 hour radius of Iquitos) While we were eatting breakfast with Luz I brought down a scrap of paper with a list of things to do in Iquitos. We had done a little bit of research on the internet before we left Lima... We started quizing Luz on the places from my list and even though she hadn't been to the majority of them, she had heard something of each one. We finally agreed on Playa Santa Clara and decided to leave around 12 so each of us could spent the morning doing something different. Luz hurried with all house work so she could go out with us and my mom did some laudry and dyed her hair. I decided to go on a running adventure to the Plaza de Armas. The Plaza de Armas exists in every town or city and always has the municipalidad on one side and the church on the other. It is the central plaza where everyone goes at night and generally in the middle of downtown as well. It's about two miles from their house and the entire route has interesting things to see. It's definitely not a route you take to really get in shape though; the whole time is stop, go, dodge a flipped over motor taxi, jump over a dog sun bathing on the sidewalk etc... Plus Iquitos is really really hot so I was running slowly to begin with. Anyway, I made my way from the Plaza de Armas to the bank to take out money, and then got distracted by the stores along Prospero. Prospero is the main comercial street and has a ton of stores with clothes for ridiculously cheap prices!!! I'm actually a little embarrased by the number of shirts, tanktops, shorts and dresses I bought during my stay in Iquitos. But, when you can buy a GAP shirts for 5 soles (less than 2 bucks) its rather difficult to resist! haha So I ran back home with my new treasures and got caught by the RAIN! The wind blew, the motorcycles disappeared from the streets and within 30 seconds I was soaked. It is one of the best feelings in the world to run up a muddy street/river with rain pouring off your skin and the sound of water pelting down all around. I got to the house, took a quick shower and we all piled into Luz's son's motortaxi to explore Santa Clara.
It was a beautiful drive with fresh air smelling of rain and green trees on all sides but I was very glad to arrive when we did... 40 minutes is a long time to bounce along a dirt road full of potholes and splash through giant puddles. There were honestly a few times when I thought we wouldn´t make it out of the mud! Plus, motortaxi's only fit 3 people across so I got to sit with the 30 kg Gonzalo on my lap. Needless to say it felt very good to stretch my legs. We walked all around the little town and a very generous lady let us use the bathroom in her house. I was extatic because I had been wanting to see inside one of the houses and I finally got my chance in Santa Clara. This one had a dirt floor and wooden walls but it was organized and clean as can be. The woman showed us to the back door which looked out on the river and pointed to a muddy trail that led to the outhouse about 100 m away. But then she said we were welcome to just pee right there on the back porch with the chickens and trash. So we did. haha After the bathroom stop and a ten minute lesson from some little girls on a new jumprope game we went down to the river. A boat was leaving right then and only cost 1 sole so we jumped on. This is obvioiusly the best type of adventure when you don't know exactly where you are going :) The river was smooth as could be and we spent the whole ride taking pictures standing on the bow and oohing and awwing over the greenness all around us. We stopped once to let someone off on the side of the river bank and the trip ended in a little dock at the town of Juliana. The driver of the Peke-peke promised not to leave without us so we set off carefree to explore. One of the two motor taxi's took us the whole length of the town in about 5 minutes and dropped us off where the sidewalk ended. The street is a five foot wide sidewalk and runs in a straight line with houses on either side. That's it. There is no more to Juliana. It is literally one line of houses, all of which are on wooden stilts and have little kids and chickens and dogs in the front yards. Definitely one of the cutest little towns I've seen. After paying the 12 year old boy who drove our motortaxi, we continued walking down "mainstreet" which quickly turned into a dirt path. It was INCREDIBLE! I found myself on a little muddy trail in the middle of the jungle of Peru; I was surrounded by huge trees and birds singing and the sun shining was shining. Talk about heaven! I was wearing my five finger shoes and there was absolutely no way I could leave that place without running. So, I took off and yelled that I'd be back in 10 minutes. I jumped from side to side avoiding puddles and did my best to split my attention between the trail and the gorgeous scenery. It was a challenge not to just follow that little trail forever and loose myself in the green wilderness. It was one of those moments that can't be shared with anyone because you feel so totally alive and happy and perfect. Surely I was the happiest person to ever run through that forest and definitely the first gringa. =) But, my conscious eventually turned me around and I returned out of breath to find a VERY VERY angry mom. It turns out that she didn't hear me and thought I had just disappeared into the jungle never to be heard from again. Ooops! When I had been sufficently chewed out for scaring her half to death and promised to never-ever-ever do something like that again, we were able to laugh about it. Thank goodness my host mom is so loving and kind and good natured. I assured her that I had not been attacked by any creepy jungle men and when her nerves were sufficently calmed I asked permission to run a little more. This time I ran through town behind the motor taxi and by the time we arrived at the docks I had a little parade. Some of the boys and a couple dogs joined me for the last bit and ALL the heads turned to see such a strange sight. I guess its not very often that gringas go running through their little town. :) But when I got to the river I just couldn't leave the beautiful banks untouched so I jumped across and ran along the beach. For the third time that day I found myself running in a gorgeous place never before touched by man. My five finger shoes whisked along leaving perfect prints in the sand and it could have been a "rave run" from Runners World. In the end my river bank turned into an island and I had to wade out and jump on our Peke-peke to head back to Iquitos.
So, that is just one example of my loverly jungle adventures :) Now I'll describe briefly my other events and then its time for BEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD!
I went on a three day trip to Huacho and Caral with 12 of the other exchange students last weekend. It was a FABULOUS adventure and I absolutely love all of the other exchangees!!! No matter what we do together we also have fun and it is just like a big huge family. <3 We got to visit the oldest ruins in America (5000 years), the Castle of Chancay, the place where Peruvian Independence was originally declared and a hindu eco-friendly village. We camped in the back yard of the grandparents of one of the exchangees. They have an incredible house, it is like a mansion/ museum/ zoo all in one! The zoo is because they have an alpaca, three giant turtles, 4 parrots and some other animals all right there in the yard. And the artifacts from ancient peruvian cultures make it feel like a museum. But the best part was definitely the hammocks and teeter-totter. When we weren't eatting delicious food or getting to know some new aspect of Peru we were playing on the toys. :) Here are a few random highlights from the trip.
1) Running through Huacho with another XC exchangee from Yakima
2) Buying 4 kilos of strawberries for 4 soles. (that is a huge monster box for $1)
3) Swimming and playing on the beach in jeans and a t-shirt
4) Fresh tamales for breakfast
5) Learning peruvian games during the BBQ with the Rotaract kids from Huacho
6) Singing the Peruvian National Anthem, happy birthday, and disney songs in Spanish, French and English at the top of our lungs on the bus
Also, we had an exchange student halloween party and I CARVED A PUMPKIN!!!!!!!! Yayyyyyyyyy :) Halloween isn't really big over here... They don't really do the whole pumpkin thing, there are hardly any trick-o-treaters and nobody has decorations on their houses. Needless to say I was really really excited to find pumpkins in the Metro. :)
I'll get to the purple parade next post...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Iquitossssssssss!
I am officially in love with the SELVA!!! The greenness and animals and rivers and people and every single little aspect about it! Yep, even the heat and humidity and bugs added to the charm. My host mom and I spent 10 days in Iquitos living the jungle life together. Talk about paradise! It's funny because at first living in Peru was complete isolation but now I have so many friends and activities that it's starting to feel like a busy senior year all over again. Yikes! It was fabulous to disconnect for a week and just relax. Observing and thinking and living in the moment. For more than a week my life was all about getting to know the SELVA! Anyway, we stayed with my cousin and spent our time exploring the city and the surrounding rainforest. I enjoyed every minute of it... Iquitos is the capital of Loreto (one of the 24 departments of Peru) and the largest city in the Selva. It has around 500,000 people and is bustling 24 hours a day. The two most distinctive aspects of Iquitos are the greeness and the motorcycles. The first does not refer to enviornmentally frinedly stores or recyling but to the literal green tinge. The abundance of trees and flowers and random vines popping up in the yards and streets is incredible! When you drive to the top of a hill and look out over the city its like seeing one of those awesome screensavers. Green green treetops stretch out below as far as the eye can see and are broken only by the shiny tin roofs or leafy malocas. These are a common sight in Iquitos and consist of a roof made of huge leaves supported by wooden poles. They lack walls and are multipurpuse structures... can be used for restaurants, stores, research stations or random sunshades. The second peculularity about Iquitos is the motorcycles. I swear I have NEVER seen so many in my life and certainly not with the diversity of people driving them. From teenage girls in miniskirts and four-inch heels to pregnant moms with three kids clinging on behind to fat old men, there is no discrimination. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE rides them! Motorcycles or threewheeled motortaxis (motocycle with a cart behind it) are the most popular mode of transportation and easily make up 95 % of the traffic in Iquitos. The only time that the streets are not jammed with motorcycles is during a rainstorm . Im not sure exactly how but with the rain starts, all of the cyclists magically disappear from the streets and leave only the motortaxis with their waterproof roofs. And for good reason too, the rains of Iquitos pour down fast and furious. The wind blows... WOOSH... right before the torrent begins and then there is no escape. If you stand for 30 seconds in the middle of a hard rain you might as well have taken a shower. One day the rain caught me during a run about 5 minutes from the house. I felt like one of the hardcore models in the Runners World ads who are drenched and splattered with mud and smiling like a maniac. I don't think I can possibly describe how much fun it is to run in rain like that... its FABULOUS! I couldn't see a thing and I was running up this dirt road which was practically a river. Wahoooooooooooooooooo
Anyway, I'm a big fan of the climate in Iquitos because you get to wear the least number of clothes possible. It's always summertime and even when it rains it's warm. Tanktops, shorts and flipsflops are the norm and nobody questions your right to wear a hat. To prove how warm it is, hot showers don't exist. Even the nicest houses don't have hot water because nobody would EVER want to bathe themselves with anything but cold. The temperature outside vary's between permanant sweating and mildly warm but never drops below the red zone. On cold nights you sleep with sheets but most of the time its much more comfortable without. I am quite proud to say that I managed to protect myself from the sun and was never more than pleasantly pink. I did however spend a good number of days looking like a crazy tourist with my safari hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen perfume. :) Lets see, what else about the city? Due to the heat it has a very relaxed feel and the culture is a whole lot more "go with the flow". All of the neighbors have the habit of sitting in the doorway and spend hours just sitting and trying to stay cool. Muy tranquillo... The people are super friendly and always seem to be smiling too. Maybe its the sun or the delicious food or perhaps the gorgeous people. I don't know how but there is a definitly an uneven proportion of beautiful Peruvians in Iquitos. That coupled with the scanty clothing leads to a whole lots of catcalling and whistles. Honestly though, I felt like I was surrounde!d by models wherever I went... the market, the plaza, even the neighborhood BBQ!
So, I'll describe the house and family I was staying with and then we can get on to some random anecdotes... Like I said, we stayed with my cousin and her husband and their 6 year old son. Rosy and Edwin are both lawyers and moved to Iquitos ten years ago for work. Yeah, thats right, more lawyers! I don't understand exactly what it is about this family and lawyers but there are a ton of them! Between my two sisters, max, and all my cousins I'm pretty sure I have 10+ family members that can bail me out if I get in trouble with the law. haha Anyway, Rosy and Edwin are wonderful people and hosts and made us feel totally at home. Their son Gonzalo had the week off for vacation as well so we got to go on a lot of outings with him. He is a hilarious little kid but rather spoiled too. He loves soda and detests walking and spends lots of time throwing water on himself to cool off. All habits to stay cool in a hot climate like Iquitos. He's picked up this singsong form of speaking as well and it was a bit of a challenge for me to understand him. Between Rosy talking super fast and Gonzalo's accent I'm sure my language skills bumbed up a notch during the week! And even harder to understand was the accent of Luz, their employee. She was born in Columbia and has a fascinating life story but that accent takes some serious getting used to! Still, by the end of the week I was able to understand and she taught me all about the typical foods and different aspects of Iquitos. She joined us on outings to the market and a few of the random villages and offered a inside look and totally different perspective to life in Iquitos. So now a little about the house. Like all peruvian houses it has a huge metal door and impenatrable cement walls and from the outside it doesn't look all the nice. Its set on a dirt street and all to the right is just swampy greenness. My cousin and her husband have been living in Iquitos for 10 years but built the house relatively recently. The top floor still lacks some finishing and you can see straight through to the tin roof but the bottom is GORGEOUS! It's painted with greens and orange and all of the pictures were done by my dads sister. She is a fabulous artist and I would love to decorate my house with her work... The house has lots of windows to let in light and air and is always open to the patio in front and back. The open doors let in the much needed breeze to cool off but the downside is that they allow full access to the aunts and flies and whatever random insect cares to enter. The only thing that doesn't get to come inside is Fito, the little white fluffball puppy. He is 6 monthes old and totally LOCO! But, to tell you the truth I would rather let the dog in and keep the cochroaches out...
And now the most important part... the food. Everything was delicious (like always in Peru) and lots of it was fried (also a common theme). The three most typical dishes that I ate were cecina with tacashno, juanes, and pescado a la parrilla. Yummmmmmmmmy! Juanes are my favorite food from the jungle and are basically specially prepared rice with chicken and egg all wrapped in a huge green leaf. The are specific to the fiesta of Saint Juan but you can buy them on almost every corner too. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Oh, and of course bananas. People in the Selva eat bananas with EVERYTHING! It's basically a replacement for potato. Fried banana, boiled banana, BBQ'ed banana, mashed banana, and of course fresh banana. It's served for breakfast, lunch and dinner and can go with pretty much anything. Banana with egg? or rice? or chicken? Of COURSE! Its not bad but I'm pretty sure if given the choice I will still choose the potato over banana. I don't know, maybe I need a few more weeks in the jungle before the banana really wins me over. haha
Hmmm, that's all for tonight. I know I'm lacking that actual stories and exciting adventures but I promise I'll get to that in the next post. For now you can just use your imagination. Chauuuuuuuu
Anyway, I'm a big fan of the climate in Iquitos because you get to wear the least number of clothes possible. It's always summertime and even when it rains it's warm. Tanktops, shorts and flipsflops are the norm and nobody questions your right to wear a hat. To prove how warm it is, hot showers don't exist. Even the nicest houses don't have hot water because nobody would EVER want to bathe themselves with anything but cold. The temperature outside vary's between permanant sweating and mildly warm but never drops below the red zone. On cold nights you sleep with sheets but most of the time its much more comfortable without. I am quite proud to say that I managed to protect myself from the sun and was never more than pleasantly pink. I did however spend a good number of days looking like a crazy tourist with my safari hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen perfume. :) Lets see, what else about the city? Due to the heat it has a very relaxed feel and the culture is a whole lot more "go with the flow". All of the neighbors have the habit of sitting in the doorway and spend hours just sitting and trying to stay cool. Muy tranquillo... The people are super friendly and always seem to be smiling too. Maybe its the sun or the delicious food or perhaps the gorgeous people. I don't know how but there is a definitly an uneven proportion of beautiful Peruvians in Iquitos. That coupled with the scanty clothing leads to a whole lots of catcalling and whistles. Honestly though, I felt like I was surrounde!d by models wherever I went... the market, the plaza, even the neighborhood BBQ!
So, I'll describe the house and family I was staying with and then we can get on to some random anecdotes... Like I said, we stayed with my cousin and her husband and their 6 year old son. Rosy and Edwin are both lawyers and moved to Iquitos ten years ago for work. Yeah, thats right, more lawyers! I don't understand exactly what it is about this family and lawyers but there are a ton of them! Between my two sisters, max, and all my cousins I'm pretty sure I have 10+ family members that can bail me out if I get in trouble with the law. haha Anyway, Rosy and Edwin are wonderful people and hosts and made us feel totally at home. Their son Gonzalo had the week off for vacation as well so we got to go on a lot of outings with him. He is a hilarious little kid but rather spoiled too. He loves soda and detests walking and spends lots of time throwing water on himself to cool off. All habits to stay cool in a hot climate like Iquitos. He's picked up this singsong form of speaking as well and it was a bit of a challenge for me to understand him. Between Rosy talking super fast and Gonzalo's accent I'm sure my language skills bumbed up a notch during the week! And even harder to understand was the accent of Luz, their employee. She was born in Columbia and has a fascinating life story but that accent takes some serious getting used to! Still, by the end of the week I was able to understand and she taught me all about the typical foods and different aspects of Iquitos. She joined us on outings to the market and a few of the random villages and offered a inside look and totally different perspective to life in Iquitos. So now a little about the house. Like all peruvian houses it has a huge metal door and impenatrable cement walls and from the outside it doesn't look all the nice. Its set on a dirt street and all to the right is just swampy greenness. My cousin and her husband have been living in Iquitos for 10 years but built the house relatively recently. The top floor still lacks some finishing and you can see straight through to the tin roof but the bottom is GORGEOUS! It's painted with greens and orange and all of the pictures were done by my dads sister. She is a fabulous artist and I would love to decorate my house with her work... The house has lots of windows to let in light and air and is always open to the patio in front and back. The open doors let in the much needed breeze to cool off but the downside is that they allow full access to the aunts and flies and whatever random insect cares to enter. The only thing that doesn't get to come inside is Fito, the little white fluffball puppy. He is 6 monthes old and totally LOCO! But, to tell you the truth I would rather let the dog in and keep the cochroaches out...
And now the most important part... the food. Everything was delicious (like always in Peru) and lots of it was fried (also a common theme). The three most typical dishes that I ate were cecina with tacashno, juanes, and pescado a la parrilla. Yummmmmmmmmy! Juanes are my favorite food from the jungle and are basically specially prepared rice with chicken and egg all wrapped in a huge green leaf. The are specific to the fiesta of Saint Juan but you can buy them on almost every corner too. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Oh, and of course bananas. People in the Selva eat bananas with EVERYTHING! It's basically a replacement for potato. Fried banana, boiled banana, BBQ'ed banana, mashed banana, and of course fresh banana. It's served for breakfast, lunch and dinner and can go with pretty much anything. Banana with egg? or rice? or chicken? Of COURSE! Its not bad but I'm pretty sure if given the choice I will still choose the potato over banana. I don't know, maybe I need a few more weeks in the jungle before the banana really wins me over. haha
Hmmm, that's all for tonight. I know I'm lacking that actual stories and exciting adventures but I promise I'll get to that in the next post. For now you can just use your imagination. Chauuuuuuuu
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Lions, tigers, and bears OH MY!
Ok, so you may be wondering exactly what this title refers to... did I watch the Wizard of Oz or go hunting in the oh so abundant forests of my city of 8 million? And the answer is NEITHER! Ha, what a surprise. I actually went on an adventure with a rotary friend to explore the zoo. Park of Legends to be precise. We left from school early at 1 so as to have sufficient time and that was just the first part of a GREAT day. :) Don't get me wrong, I really do like school and I hardly ever skip but on this particular ocasion it worked out perfectly. What happened is that the next day was a half day in honor of the principals birthday. When I was planning to go to the zoo my mom messed up and told me we had a half day so I arranged to leave at 1:00 and she was sooooooooooo generous as to let me leave anyway. Yayyyyy! So, Parque de las Leyendas... It is one of the coolest zoos ever because not only does it have all the regular animals (yes thats where the lions and tigers and bears come in) but it has the three ecological regions of Peru as well. We walked through the entire park (its ginormous!) and got to see monkeys from the jungle, vicuna and condors from the mountains and sealions and penguins from the coast. Each region is landscaped with the plants native to the area and I even carved my name into a bamboo in the jungle part. Obviously its not as good as the actual region but it is pretty darn realistic. Also, mining is a really important aspect of the economy in Peru, so we got to go through a whole simulation mine with info about the silver and gold and minerals etc. Very interesting and full of awesome photo ops too. :) After the zoo we went to a place where they sell tons and tons of cultural peruvian stuff and I got to act like an awesome tourist again. I bought some of the classic striped pants and a bag and a few yummy Peruvian deserts. The excess of delicious typical foods over here is incredible... I think I will be able to try new sweets every single day this year without repeating!
So the zoo WAS fabulous but it's really just a pretext to start this blog post. An example of all the fun adventures I've been having over here. I guess I should probably try to blog a little more often and keep you guys up to date but thats easier said than done. I'll give you a couple highlights to share a taste of Lima and you will just have to imagine the rest because I can't possible recount everything. Basically its finally spring and I can feel it! The sun shines a whole lot more often and I wore my jumper and blouse without the red sweater for the first time a few days ago. It's amazing how strong the sun is when you are close to the equator. When it shines is REALLY shines! I can already feel the sunburns coming and I'm preparing to be one of those people who's perfume is Banana Boat. haha
Anyway, I have started running almost everyday outside after school. The air may not be perfectly fresh but it feels great to get out. I get to explore the streets of Lima and exercise at the same time. It's not the same relaxing experience running in the city because I have to be a whole lot more alert but its really fun. I do lots of dodoging of people and dogs and street vendors and there is always something exciting to look at. Plus the fact that I have to pay attention to where I'm going and what the traffic is doing. Lima traffic is rather insane and the drivers definitely have the right of way... not pedestrians. Anyway, I have about 5 or 6 different routes that I like to take and I am learning more and more. One of my favorites follows the metropolitano and then drops down to the beach to run along the Costa Verde. I get to smell the ocean, watch all the people and be in the company of other runners. Its a very popular site for recreational type people. People play soccer on the beach or walk or run or use the cool mini gyms with bars for pull ups, sit ups and dips.
I am learning to love the freedom of public transportation... I am starting to mobilize myself and getting really well oriented in Lima. Yeah thats right, Chelan actually knows her way around. haha The other day I left the house all by myself to go out with friends and it was a success. I used the metropolitano and micros and didn't get lost once. Yayyyyyy!
I learn new things everyday but usually they are about culture or the spanish language. A few days ago I learned something about English. I learned that in British english you can say "got". You know how teachers HATE it when we use got in the wrong place and its a huge gramatical error? Well the reason is that when we came from England we changed a few things to be different... and that was one of the changes!
Other exciting news and random comments that I don't have time to explain in lots of detail...
1) I am going to take dance classes with a friend! Its a 10 week session and we learn two native Peruvian dances and then perform them at the end with extravagant costums and everything. Super Super excited about that!
2) Today is election day! Its obligatory to vote in Peru so its a huge deal... Technically you aren't really even supposed to go out so that the traffic isn't as bad. Everyone votes in a specific school assigned to them by the government and the streets are full of people going to vote. If you don't vote you get fined. I got to accompany my sisters to their school and took lots of picture to record how the Peruvian election system works. It's been pretty fun following the elections in a different country and trying to understand the political drama. Anyway, we don't have school tomorrow because they will be cleaning the huge mess from today.
3) Im going to the SELVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! My mom and I are going to go for a week and stay with my cousin and then my sister is going to join us for a few days at the end. It's going to be fabulous!!!
4) I got my first care package from HOME!!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
5) Peruvian breakfasts are amazing. Usually we go to the market on saturdays and buy fresh cheese and fruit and tamales and random little sweets and then sit down together to gorge. Last weekend I got to help cook this stirfry thing with tomatoes and steak and onion and peppers and lots of spices and it was incredible. But today I made WAFFLES! I new experience for my family... :)
So the zoo WAS fabulous but it's really just a pretext to start this blog post. An example of all the fun adventures I've been having over here. I guess I should probably try to blog a little more often and keep you guys up to date but thats easier said than done. I'll give you a couple highlights to share a taste of Lima and you will just have to imagine the rest because I can't possible recount everything. Basically its finally spring and I can feel it! The sun shines a whole lot more often and I wore my jumper and blouse without the red sweater for the first time a few days ago. It's amazing how strong the sun is when you are close to the equator. When it shines is REALLY shines! I can already feel the sunburns coming and I'm preparing to be one of those people who's perfume is Banana Boat. haha
Anyway, I have started running almost everyday outside after school. The air may not be perfectly fresh but it feels great to get out. I get to explore the streets of Lima and exercise at the same time. It's not the same relaxing experience running in the city because I have to be a whole lot more alert but its really fun. I do lots of dodoging of people and dogs and street vendors and there is always something exciting to look at. Plus the fact that I have to pay attention to where I'm going and what the traffic is doing. Lima traffic is rather insane and the drivers definitely have the right of way... not pedestrians. Anyway, I have about 5 or 6 different routes that I like to take and I am learning more and more. One of my favorites follows the metropolitano and then drops down to the beach to run along the Costa Verde. I get to smell the ocean, watch all the people and be in the company of other runners. Its a very popular site for recreational type people. People play soccer on the beach or walk or run or use the cool mini gyms with bars for pull ups, sit ups and dips.
I am learning to love the freedom of public transportation... I am starting to mobilize myself and getting really well oriented in Lima. Yeah thats right, Chelan actually knows her way around. haha The other day I left the house all by myself to go out with friends and it was a success. I used the metropolitano and micros and didn't get lost once. Yayyyyyy!
I learn new things everyday but usually they are about culture or the spanish language. A few days ago I learned something about English. I learned that in British english you can say "got". You know how teachers HATE it when we use got in the wrong place and its a huge gramatical error? Well the reason is that when we came from England we changed a few things to be different... and that was one of the changes!
Other exciting news and random comments that I don't have time to explain in lots of detail...
1) I am going to take dance classes with a friend! Its a 10 week session and we learn two native Peruvian dances and then perform them at the end with extravagant costums and everything. Super Super excited about that!
2) Today is election day! Its obligatory to vote in Peru so its a huge deal... Technically you aren't really even supposed to go out so that the traffic isn't as bad. Everyone votes in a specific school assigned to them by the government and the streets are full of people going to vote. If you don't vote you get fined. I got to accompany my sisters to their school and took lots of picture to record how the Peruvian election system works. It's been pretty fun following the elections in a different country and trying to understand the political drama. Anyway, we don't have school tomorrow because they will be cleaning the huge mess from today.
3) Im going to the SELVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! My mom and I are going to go for a week and stay with my cousin and then my sister is going to join us for a few days at the end. It's going to be fabulous!!!
4) I got my first care package from HOME!!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
5) Peruvian breakfasts are amazing. Usually we go to the market on saturdays and buy fresh cheese and fruit and tamales and random little sweets and then sit down together to gorge. Last weekend I got to help cook this stirfry thing with tomatoes and steak and onion and peppers and lots of spices and it was incredible. But today I made WAFFLES! I new experience for my family... :)
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