picture bolivia

looking down over la paz, boliviatrying the local beer, pacena. tastes like natty light. bleh.

visiting the train cemetary. 100+ years old!
more old train action:checking out tons of salt in uyuni

leaping in salar de uyuni! kilometer after kilometer of salt.
isla incahuasi: coral and cacti
night one we stayed in a salt hotel! salt beds:

lots of ice in laguna colorada. brrr.
arbol de piedra: (rock tree)
rocks in animal shapes! what more could one want?

our group at laguna verde. teresa, laura, cristina, esteban, edu & amaia
not like the sky is blue here or anything.dr. seuss plants!ferry ride lake sparkle heaven.lago titicaca:isla del sol in lago titicaca:

attractive outfits to go mining in potosi:miners in the mines of potosi:

besos y abrazos!

you know you're in bolivia when...

Before I go on about the detailed trip, here is a snapshot into Bolivia living...

You know you're in Bolivia when:

1. A man blows his nose in his hands and wipes it along the building he is walking by.

2. A girl pulls down her pants in the middle of the plaza with tons of cars and people around and starts going to the bathroom in front of everyone, and her mom doesn't stop her, but merely shrugs.

3. A dog that is supposed to be guarding the store front of a refreshment place pees on the 2L bottles of pop it's supposed to be protecting. The owners see it and don't flinch.

4. Your guide just never shows up on the island she is supposed to be showing you around, and when she finally finds you the next day, she apologizes by giving you an assortment of yogurt/flavored milk in bags.

5. When on a bus ride, 10+ people that didn't by tickets are picked up in tiny towns along the way and squished in the aisle.

6. When on a bus ride, a women breastfeeds her child on your lap.

7. When on a bus ride, a man's knife falls from the overhead compartment, almost slicing your leg open, and he doesn't even acknowledge it.

8. When on a bus ride, a woman asks you to open your window to throw her bag of puke out it, dripping said contents on you.

9. Items 5-8 all happened on the SAME bus ride.

10. You order a restaurants "homemade cream of corn soup" and it comes out 3 minutes later, nothing more than just instant, packet made broth soup.

11. When #10 happens more than once, in different restaurants.


More later,

Besos y Abrazos

sigh

Being back in Minnesota is so wonderful I have had trouble trying to bring myself to post about Bolivia.

Now that I'm home I've gotten to share all the stories I couldn't tell my family about for fear my mother would have a heart attack...like:

1. Masked gunmen outside our house in "safe" Jesus Maria
2. Getting robbed at night during Semana Santa in Ayacucho.
3. Roomates and I Getting attacked by a gang of young guys in Lima Centro.

You know, the usual stuff.

No, in all reality, there was plenty of scary stuff that went on in Peru, and although my blog has focused on the beauties of the country, there definitely is an uglier side.

I promise to do Bolivia posts soon (mainly for you, Uncle B!)

B y A

Spirit Airlines: Fail.

I am currently in the Ft. Laud airport, getting Bolivia pictures together to put up here.
It has been an eventful (did I say eventful? I meant frustrating.) day thus far.

July 29:
Arrive to Lima airport at 8:10 pm
2 hours of waiting to check bags & customs in Lima.
I am told flight will be late. They won't tell me how late, or why. Just late.
Flight is supposed to leave at 10:54 pm.
Flight actually leaves at 11:50 pm.
During my time waiting for the flight, the entire crew; pilots, flight attendants and all were right behind me, gossiping. They were talking about their co-workers, along with making incredibly crude sex comments...while people were all around them...even small kids.
A few good lines include:

Pilot: Did you hear about the pilot for Spirit Air from Detroit Mike so-so? He's a registered sex offender.
(*wow. comforting.)
Flight attendant: Honey you should have come out with us last night. We drank so much. But this guy (points to co-pilot) left early to get a hooker. Again.
(*they all laugh. really!?)
Co-Pilot: Did you hear about so-and-so? She has slept with that pilot like three times
Flight att: Yeah, but who DOESN'T she sleep with?
(*SERIOUSLY PEOPLE?!?!)

July 30th:
Flight from Lima. No water/snack for 6 hr flight. Oh! But if you want you can BUY water for a nice $5. Cool.
Get into Ft Laud at around 7 am Florida time.
Hour in line for customs.
Go to do the "easy" rechecking of luggage for connecting flight, but no one from Spirit Air is there.
We are all directed upstairs. Those who missed flights because of delay are send to rebook.
I go to check my bags once again.

Spirit Robot Lady (in minnie mouse voice): Oh, you can't check your bags yet.
Me: But..I was supposed to recheck, but no one from your airline is down there.
Spirit Robot Lady: Your flight is not until 3:30 pm, so you cannot check your bags yet.
Me: When can I check them?
Spirit Robot Lady: 3 hours prior to flight.
Me: So...until then I can't enter the gates/restaurants...and have to lug my bags around?
Spirit Robot Lady: Yes. Or you can pay to store them.

Sigh. Of course. Paying more money is just what I want to do now, especially after paying 30 bucks for an extra bag, and then being told I'm not allowed to have another bag. Even though it was already paid for. Cooool.

So here I am, sitting in a chair next to construction area waiting for 12:30 to arrive. My food options are donuts and pizza.

I think I'll just fast.

Besos y Abrazos.

time to be sappy

...aaaaaaaaand here is the sappy emo post that you will all roll your eyes at most likely, but hey, oh well. I can't see you do it, thus I don't care.

I leave for the airport in 3 HOURS (bah!) and I thought I would do a quick post to say a huge huge HUGE thank you to all of you that have kept in touch during my time here. As was evident by my blog, and to those who I spoke to, there were definitely times here I was pretty bummed, and getting emails, letters, and packages from all of you completely kept me going. I've learned a lot here, not only about Peru and the culture, but also a lot about all of you back at home. A lot of you surprised me with your thought and kindness in sending packages and letters, and emails commenting about this here blog.

Quick special thanks to the people who took the time out of their days to send me my favorite thing (next to raspberries and cheese popcorn): REAL MAIL! There were many that promised they would send stuff and didn't, but the following people followed through!!
Mom, Daddy, Lou, Ann&Brooks(cough cough rubber chicken), Kari, Eric, Patrick, Sam, and Bri. I know it wasn't always cheap and took some time out of your busy days, but I can't express how much I appreciated it all.

My next few days include:
6-7 hour flight
10 hour layover
3 hour flight
4 hour layover
1 1/2 flight

HOME!

During this time I'll be posting about Bolivia, so stay tuned.

Besos y Abrazos

alive

i'm back from bolivia.

in one piece, believe it or not.


posts to come!

b y a

Cusco Trip POST #4

And now, finally,

Day 3: Machu Picchu/ Huayna Picchu

I could talk about this day for hours.

I have not been this moved or impressed by scenery in my life, even when I was at Masada in Israel.

I know some have gone to Machu Picchu and loved it for the fact that it is a cool hike to accomplish, or because it is one of the amazing 7 wonders of the world.

There are others, like myself, who are total nerds when it comes to MP, and are absolutely fascinated by the history. Just thinking about my time there gives me chills. MP is often called the Lost City of the Incas, because it was never found by the Spaniards. When the Incas in the city heard of Spanish invasion, they fled for the jungle, thinking it would be a safer place to situate themselves. Well, as we know, the Spanish conquerors ended up finding these people, but never this city on top of the mountain, which historians have called Machu Picchu (Old Mountain). The first person from outside of Peru to find the ruins was Hiram Bingham from Yale University, led by a small local boy.

The city itself is supposedly about 80% finished, and after 135 years of building it, it could not be finished because of the invaders coming their way.

We started our hike at about 4:00 am, leaving early in hopes to get one of the 400 tickets to go to the tall mountain next to MP, Huayna Picchu. We hiked up the 2000 steps in the rain and fog to reach the top, got our tickets for Huayna Picchu, and walked amongst the ruins with our guide, Ali. It was unreal to see all of the temples, the sundials, the sacred stones still completely intact, untouched by Spanish hands. Unlike most Inca cities that were found and either destroyed or converted into Christian towns with churches, MP is just as it was left.

At around 10 am we all hiked up the slippery rocks and through tight caves to get to the top of Huayna Picchu (young mountain). From this point, MP looks like a center for ants. (zoolander, anyone?) The girls and I sat with a few members of the group on a huge rock at the edge, dangling our legs over thousands of feet of mountain. Little by little we hiked down, enjoying the ruins that were on this mountain as well, drinking a little wine, and pouring some on the ground to salute Pachamama (mother earth). After a few hours we made our slightly scary trek down back to MP, where we took more pictures and hung out with some llamas. (only in peru..)

A train took us back to Ollantaytambo (after an hour delay because it evidently "slightly broke and derailed"...according to one of the train workers), where we met a bus bringing us back to Cusco. The girls and I got back to the hostel where we had a room reserved, only to find the night guard confused other girls for us, and had given it away. We spent the night allll squished together in two beds pushed together, that equalled the size of about a ping pong table. We were all so tired, you could have put us on a bed of nails and we wouldn't have cared.

I left the girls the next day to fly back to Lima, and my kind, young taxi driver home from the airport gave me his number and asked me to go salsa dancing with him. Sigh. You know you're in Peru when your TAXI DRIVER asks you out.

Here are only a few of the hundreds of photos taken (there are also a couple tiny ones to the top right of this page):

We made it to the top! Please note the long line to get Huayna Picchu tickets. And the intense fog.
Foggy ruins
Poles for hanging sacrifices on in a temple
Reflecting pools to see/read the starsAt the top of Huayna Picchu, looking over the edge.
Machu Picchu ruins, from the famous National Geograpic angle. the big mountain behind the ruins is Huayna Picchu, the other mountain we climbed that day.
Llama party '09

I will hopefully post more pictures later, but as of right now I am about to head to the airport to go backpack through Bolivia for the next 10 days!

Besos y Abrazos!

Cusco Trip POST #3

(once again, please check out the previous cusco posts for the beginning of the trip!)

So now, to continue on with our trek towards Machu Picchu!

Day 2: Hike it out.

After an early breakfast, the group followed our new guide Antonio to the edge of the mountain we were about to climb down. He gave us a brief explanation about the history of the town that used to rest in the valley below before a landslide completely wiped it out. Throughout our hike he told us numerous stories about Quechua beliefs of respecting Pachamama (mother earth) and all that she has given to the people of the earth. Once again, I'll save you the history lessons, but if you want to hear about it later, let me know.

This hike was pretty easy, only about 18 kilometers over a 7-8 hour span. We ate lunch in the middle of nowhere at a tiny restaurant with people who were baffled why Esya, Sophia and I were vegetarians. (What else is new??). We walked through parts of jungle, where we saw incredible amounts of orchids, banana trees, waterfalls, coffee trees, huge flowers, and of course, bugs. I have quite a nice collection of bug bites. I'm planning on bringing them back to the States, along with my new sexy socks-tucked-in-pants bike style...I figure I'll get lots of phone numbers that way.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes, all beyond ready for a shower or three, only to find out that we got there during a time of "mantenimiento" meaning the water in the whole city was shut off to preserve it. Coooool. When it did come on a few hours later, we all got to take nice ice cold showers before a huge, unreal dinner. Nothing like shower of icicles, I tell ya.

Half the group joined the German guy Andre in his room for some amazing Chilean wine to toast to good luck before Machu Picchu the next morning.

Here are some photos from the day, MP post soon to come!!:

COFFEE!! All those years at Caribou got me excited to see these berries/beans
Our guide for the day, Antonio

Cusco Trip POST #2

If you didn't see post 1, please check out the first few days in Cusco in my previous post!

And now, the 3 day trek to get to Machu Picchu:

DAY 1: Bike it out.

Esya, Sophia, and I woke up bright and shiny early to join our group: 1 woman and 2 men from England, 2 (very attractive) Israeli men, 1 man living in CA originally from France, and 1 man from Australia.

After a nice bus ride up to our 4,350 meter starting point at the top of a mountain in Abra Malaga, we were welcomed by fog so thick you could barely see a meter in front of you. (Oh god. I actually just used "meter" instead of "3 feet". Someone get me back to the States. Now.) After the guides checked to make sure the tires had air and that the brakes "sort of" worked, we jumped on our bikes and began down the mountain. I was blessed with a bike whose brakes "sort of" worked, which meant death grip on them the entire way down. We got to stop numerous times on the paved road section to take snaps of the valley below. After the relaxing paved road ended we were greeted by a rock road. No, not little gravel, ROCKS. Rocks that if you hit the wrong way, you and your bike tumbled to the ground, which although I managed not to fall, numerous people in groups did fall down. This includes someone from another group that fell off the edge of the mountain. When I finished that day, they still hadn't found him. Yeah. I'm not kidding either. (sorry mom, don't freak out, it wasn't me!).

We took a bus to Santa Maria, where the girls and I sadly had to leave our amazing group and guide to join our next group who was also only doing a 3 day trek. The 3 of us jumped into a cab (driven by what looked like a 14 year old boy) and took a terrifying hour long ride down the side of the mountain to Santa Teresa. The girls and I are now fondly calling that experience "Death Cab".

Arriving in Sta. Teresa we met our new group: 1 man from Belgium, 1 man from Germany, 2 guys from the Netherlands, 1 man and also a couple from France, and 2 boys from California.

After dinner we all went to a local club for drinks to numb the pain from 6 hours going over rocks on a bike. In hindsight, this may not have been the best idea since we had to get up early for a long hike the next day, but man, we all sure slept well.

Here's a few photos from the day, another post from Day 2 soon!:

Gloomy in Abra Malaga
The guide made me tuck my pants into my socks. Sooooo attractive.
"checking" the air in the bikes...
This picture isn't saturated. It's ACTUALLY that gorgeous here. Gah.
Sun finally out!!

Cusco Trip POST #1

I have so much to say about this amazing trip, I am sure I will need more than one post..

Day 1: CUSCO

I arrived in Cusco early the 9th and right away found a few unsure-looking gringas who didn't speak any Spanish outside the airport. These new friends (Sophia and Esya) and I left to find a hostal and some coca tea.

Day 2: SACRED VALLEY
The next day we got up early to do a tour of the Sacred Valley, alternating between hour long hikes to ruins and seeing local goods. We visited Pisaq, Urumbamba, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero. In Chinchero we got to watch a demonstration of the ancient process still used in this town to dye and weave textiles, which brought me back to the old Science Museum of Minnesota days (Lou, you remember that, right??)

A few shots from the day:

Colorful growths on ancient Inca walls in Pisaq
Inca ruins, the constant theme running through this trip...
On top of mountain ruins looking down at Ollantaytambo
Can you see the profile of a man with a beard and a crown of towers in the mountain?

Our guide this day showed us a drawing the Incas had of their sun god, which looks exactly like the face in the mountain (the towers were built atop to be his crown by the Incas). Historians believe that one of the reasons the Inca people let in the first Spaniards was because when they came with faces with large beards like this sun god, the Inca people believe them to be messangers from their god.

We learned ridiculous amounts of history, but I will spare you all the lesson for the day!

The next day we spent purchasing local goods to bring back, and explored Cusco and its Plaza de Armas before going to bed early, ready to start our trek towards Machu Picchu the next day!

The next post(s) will have more pictures from that hike!

so my mom can sleep tonight

i have arrived safely to cuzco!

i am staying with two lovely jewish vegetarians from boston, esther and sophia.

we booked our machu picchu hike for sunday monday tuesday!

love from the high altitudes!

terminada!

finally finally finally

I am done with all of my exams, presentations, and papers!

I've NEVER been so happy to be done with school. I can easily say I would never study at PUCP again, and can't wait to get back to classes at Madison!!!

Katie, Ash and I had a final lunch with our favorite Peruvians, and said our sad goodbyes before taking the last micro ride home from campus.

Now that we are done with school, we are all free to travel, and believe me, we all can't WAIT to get out of Lima and have some fun!

While Katie and Ash are going to Argentina, I will be travelling alone to Cuzco.

I will be doing a 3 or 4 day hike to Machu Picchu, and for the rest of my time..well...I have absolutely no idea! I've made no plans, and intend to just figure things out as I go, meeting people along the way to travel with.

I'll be back in Lima for a few days before my trip to BOLIVIA, so I'll try to update with a post and pictures!

Hope you all are happy & healthy!

Besos y Abrazos

Coundown:

Leave for Cusco: 12 hours

Leave for Bolivia: 9 days

Leave for USA!!!: 3 weeks

ahhhh folklore

Like I mentioned in my last post, Katie, Mary and I all went to Brisas del Titicaca, a folklore dance and music show. It was absolutely fantastic! Between acts popular cumbia or salsa music would come on and anyone from the audience could get up on the stage and dance!

Here are a few photos....

plumas tan grandes, chicas con botas, y hombres como monstruos!

"son guapas, bailando la marinera, nuestras mujeres peruanas!"

.... hope this video works, enjoy!

In other news, we now have 2 new girls living in the house with us, both from the east coast.

Also, Tuesday is the end of the school road for me (FINALLY) with 2 finals, a commentary, and 3 final papers (ouch). Wish me luck. I am going to need it.

Besos y Abrazos!

dia de independencia y amistad

HAPPY 4th everyone!

I've gotta say, being in Lima is a little bit of a bummer, but not quite as bad as in 2005 when I spent the 4th in Poland! It's Dia del Amistad here, (Friendship Day) so at least there's that!

To take a break from studying, and to celebrate the 4th the best we can, Katie and our friend Mary and I are going to a folklore dance show, at a place called Brisas del Titicaca.
It's multiple hours of different types of music, shows, and dancing!

So it may not be BBQs or watching fireworks on Bald Eagle, but it should be a good time.

Entonces, otra vez, Feliz Día de la Independencia!

Besos y Abrazos!

love affair

....with Skype.


Come on, how cool is it that I get to see my Mom, Dad and Uncle B who are 4000+ miles away, for FREE?


Countdown:
Last final exams: 4 days
Leave for Cuzco: 6 days
Leave for Bolivia: 14 days
Leave for USA: 26 days


Besos y Abrazos!

strike!

ah yes, i love strikes.

no, wait, i don't. unless we're talking bowling.

as i have mentioned before, our main transportation here is the combi (or micro) system. we find our that most of the combi workers have gone on strike because they want the fines the police charge them to be less.

um..yeah..that makes sense..."we did something illegal but we don't want to pay for it!"

also the government tried to mandate that the combis could not be more than 25 years old. which made everyone very angry evidently.

so because of this, we took a taxi home from school (and felt very carrie bradshaw about it).

yay peru.

besos y abrazos

one month

I am absolutely baffled as to where the time has gone.
In exactly one month from today I will be leaving South America to return to the USA!

To all of you back in White Bear and Madison, get ready for ridiculous amounts of...

Besos y Abrazos!

arequipa post II

A few photos from the Arequipa trip:

Church in Arequipa: Estilo Barroco Criollo

Andean Condors! (9 ft wing span. Like to eat donkeys. Good.)

Colca Canyon: Largest canyon in the world

Hiking day 1: 20 miles.

Aaaand getting lost for the second time. This time on the way to Cabanaconde Plaza.

Baby Lamb in Chivay! Ahhhhhhhh!
Ancient Inca terrazas. Holy. Amazing.

The whole group with our guide, Omar
4,900 meters. Insert inability to breathe here.