Day 15- Lima

Today, we had our four hours of classes at El Sol. I went out to lunch with a small group of friends (but I brought empenadas with me to save some money and just ordered a salad at the restaurant) and met up with everyone at 3pm to head to Pachacamac. Pachacamac is an archaeological site of ruins dating from 800-1450 C.E., shortly before the Inca Empire arrived. So far, archaeologists have discovered 17 pyramids at the site as well as a large number of temples, the main one called the Temple of the Sun. The cemetery contained the remains of over 600 people, but the site was primarily a religious center used to honor Pachacamac, the God of Earthquakes and the son of the God of Sun.  

The site was much larger than Caral and was very impressive. We walked up the top of one of the pyramids, and the view contained the ruins, the city and the ocean all at once. We were also excited because we saw some llamas and alpacas outside of the small museum there.

 

After Pachacamac, I went home briefly then headed out again. My friend Kat planned to get her first tattoo here and wanted something representative of Peru. Her host father is an artist, so she asked him to create a design. He drew a Puma, 1. Because it’s a type of cat, 2. Because it’s a well-known animal here and 3. Because he says Kat shares some qualities with the puma.

I went with Karlayne and Kat to a tattoo shop right at Kennedy Park. Kat was very nervous, but Karlayne held her hand while I took pictures and kept talking to her since she said that helped. The process took maybe 30-45 minutes and now she has an authentic Peruvian tattoo on the back of her neck.

I had heard from a few Peruvians, including my host brother, that the cine has a 2 for 1 deal on Tuesdays, so we took a cab over to Larcomar, an open shopping center, to see Hangover 2. First we got some gelato (we all ordered tiramisu) then walked to the theater for the 10:40 showing. At that point, though, I was too tired to watch the movie, so I took a cab home to study and sleep.

For my culture class, our professor assigned each of us a short story to tell in class (some people told the story alone; I presented mine with Rachel). The point of the assignment was not so much to memorize it verbatim, but to listen to the audio of the story and tell it theatrically. I memorized about a paragraph from my 1 ½ pages and went to bed afterward.

Day 14- Lima

Today, we began our second week of classes at El Sol. The first week, I was the only Northeastern student in my classroom. However, there are other students who were placed in a lower level than they should have. Kris joined my class that day (though there were still a few other students who needed to be in my class but weren’t able to switch…), and we had our culture class together afterward.

We taught English at the FAP School again, so I grabbed a quick lunch from Metro Supermarket and ate it in the cab ride over. Our itinerary was to go over shopping in America: articles of clothing and what you need for different seasons, what types of shops we have, prices, etc. We had a beginner group, but they seemed to understand the lesson.

We always have a culture lecture at the school after we teach, so I went to the lecture room and learned about the emancipation and independence of Peru. 
It was a pretty relaxed day; after class, some girls headed out to get manicures, but I was tired and spent the majority of the time hanging out at home and relaxing with my family.

Day 13- Lima

Today we had a much needed free day. Many people decided to go paragliding at the beach, and while it sounded like a lot of fun, it cost 50USD (which is a huge chunk of change for someone on a tight budget). I went parasailing when I was younger once, and I've decided that if I'm okay on money by the time we get to Cuzco, I can go paragliding there and possibly fly over the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

I woke up around 11:30, worked on my blog, and headed out at 2pm to meet up with a few people at Holly's Coffee. We all brought our computers there and worked.

I headed back at 7pm and continued to do more work for the rest of the night, including reading my book for my weekly summary and my homework assignments for classes here.

Day 12- Caral/Lima

Today we met at Youth Hostel to get into our bus and drive to Caral, the oldest civilization in America and one of the oldest in the world. I left my house at 7am and took a cab to the hostel, and we left around 7:30 or 7:40. We had a four hour ride to Caral, and I was able to sleep for almost an hour. When we got out of the van, we saw beautiful streams and trees on the ground surrounded by tall cliffs and desert. 

Paul Kosok discovered Caral in 1948, but not until 1994 was the site excavated and deemed ancient. Its inhabitants lived there from 2600B.C. to 2000B.C., and archaeologists are still exploring why its citizens left. In the whole village, they have only found 4 adult skeletons and 2 infants. It's possible that they had a special funeral custom, such as burying the bodies in another village or cremating them. They implemented an irrigation system to plant beans, squash, potatoes and more.

When the site was first discovered, all of the pyramidal structures, including houses and temples, were covered on the top by clay. This was removed during the excavation process, proving that the mounds were, in fact, houses. The public architecture has stairs, rooms, and courtyards and there is also an amphitheater. Some jewelry was discovered in one mound, as well as a knotted textile piece called a quipu. They believe that Caral's inhabitants followed an Incan record keeping system, involving knots tied in rope, though there is no evidence to support its purpose either way.

After hiking back down the mountains for just over a mile, we got back in the van and drove about 30 minutes to a nice restaurant along the way back to Lima. I ordered duck with fried rice and a salad; the duck was very hard to cut but was very tasty. They gave us a pear for dessert, and Monica surprised us by paying for the whole meal, which we all really appreciated.

We drove another four hours back... I couldn't sleep and had no ipod so I was bored but enjoyed the gorgeous beaches we passed. Once I got back to my house, my host father and sister were home, and the rest were out with their extended family. I took a shower and went downstairs to eat a light dinner (we had lunch at 2 or 3pm and they served us a lot of food, so I wasn't very hungry).

Renzo returned to the house. I told him he could come out with me the other night, but he was sleeping when I left, so he wanted to join me that night. I went online and read that people were planning to meet at Murphy's Pub at 11:30pm, so we got ready and left at 11. We grabbed a beer at a German bar right by Murphy's and walked over around 11:45 or so. However, once we got there, nobody from Northeastern was there. They had a live band and a cover charge of 10 soles, so I assumed people didn't want to pay for that and went to a discoteca. Renzo told me he was already planning on going to his friend Sergio's house for some pisco, so we took a cab there. I went on Facebook once we arrived and tried calling various people's numbers to see where everyone had gone; only Rosanna's worked, and she was sleeping and told me not to call her. Apparently, nobody had gone out that night since they were very tired.

We hung out with Sergio and Carlos, one of Renzo's best friends, for about an hour and took a cab to the club. Renzo asked me if I'd ever gone to a gay bar, and I told him I hadn't but had always wanted to. His friends are gay, so we went to Lola's Bar. They charged us 20 soles to get in, but that included a beer. The place was a lot of fun but very, very packed with barely enough room to dance. We stayed there until about 5am, at which point Renzo and I decided to go back home and eat. On the way back, though, we kept running into more of his friends and they wanted to go to a different club. There was more room to dance in the second place, and we stayed until 7am before walking home. I had a really fun night and got to bond with my host brother. Also, I spoke in Spanish pretty much the whole time (Carlos is studying English and wanted to practice with me, but we only spoke a sentence here and there) and met some new people.

Day 11- Lima

Today, I went to class after breakfast. Each Friday, I have a grammar exam during my language class. My professor at the school wasn't aware I was supposed to take a test and told me that we only had culture exams there. I was nervous because I hadn't prepared for a culture exam, but fortunately another teacher brought me my exam during class. I made a few careless errors because it's hard for me to concentrate while other people are talking, but we graded it in class and I did okay. 
After my culture class, we had a brief toast with pisco sours; apparently, we do this every Friday at El Sol. I was nervous about time, since we had to grab lunch quickly and eat our food in the cab ride over to El Polo for our second day of teaching. We ended up getting there with no time to spare, and were directed to a different classroom than the first time, switching from advanced English to basic. We had to adjust our lesson plan based on their language abilities and the fact that we hadn't already taught them anything. We discussed their favorite foods and introduced different places/ways to eat in America, such as restaurants, diners, drive thrus, take out and more. They presented us with local food; I can't remember what the dish is called, but it had potatoes, eggs and a spicy yellow sauce. 
We all felt like celebrities walking outside of the classroom, because everybody wanted to meet us Americans. They asked us to write down our names; I think this was mainly out of curiosity, but others wanted to add us on Facebook.
We walked to the same lecture room, where we learned about local food, costumes and culture. We learned the difference among different races, such as mestizos (a general term for mixed races) and mulatos (a person with one white parent and one black parent). 
After our history lecture, I was very tired and waited for a ride home. I didn't leave until two hours later because everybody was socializing with the students and playing volleyball and basketball. When I got home, I ate dinner and had bread, chicken, rice, carrots and peas. I told my family I had to get ready to go out because Monica was taking us to a Peña, a different type of club in Peru where people sit down and see a show (I learned that some Peñas only let you watch, while others let you dance, too. Monica chose that particular one because we could dance). Peñas feature famous Peruvian singers, including "musica criolla" (typical Peruvian music) and afro Peruvian music, which gained its roots from black slaves who worked in the mines along the Peruvian coast, and features. We went to Peña Rompe y Raja and listened to live performances and dancing from all over Peru.

It was a lot of fun and I stayed out until 2am, then went straight to bed.

Day 10- Lima

Today, I woke up and had breakfast, then went to class from 9am-1pm. As part of my culture class, I have to listen to a short story (which my professor sent to me as a music file) and present it with Rachel next week.

After school, my classmates and I headed over to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia, e Historia del Peru.

We decided to eat at a nearby restaurant, where I ordered chicken, rice a salad and a beer. We had to meet at the Museum at 3pm for a tour, which lasted an hour and a half. We saw various sculptures, pottery, textiles, metals and replicas of Macchu Picchu and more.

Mummies! They were buried in the fetal position so that they'll be reborn in the next life.

ceramics with sex positions... pretty much the kama sutra of Peru

The National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru is the oldest state museum of the country and is constituted in the headquarters of the National System of Museums of the State. It contains information about the Preincan, Incan, Colonial and Republican eras. 

Afterwards, some of my classmates and I walked to Avenue Brasil, which we were told had lots of cheap souvenir shops. Once we got there, though, we realized there was nothing there. The closest tourist place was 16 blocks away in total, so we decided to walk to a nearby bakery instead. I ordered tres leches cake, which was probably the best desert I've had here. I had tried it once before from a Mexican bakery in North Carolina, but that paled in comparison.

It was almost 6pm by that time, so I got into a cab and went back to my hotel. I ate dinner with my family. My host father's niece (sobrina) was visiting, and she cooked us some steak and noodles, which was very delicious. I felt bad because I had to do homework and couldn't spend too much time with them. I went to sleep and tried to catch up on some rest.

Day 9- Lima

Today we had language class from 9-11am and culture class from 11-1pm. We always have a short break between the two to use the restroom or grab some free coffee and tea. After class, we had to grab lunch quickly and take a cab over to El Polo for our first day of teaching. I went to the supermarket to grab some noodles and chicken but the line was really long. Tara was the last person in line and I waited for her; when I got my food, plenty of people from our group were still there, but by the time Tara got hers, everyone had left. We didn't have an address for the school, only the name, so we tried catching a cab. However, every single cab we asked had no idea where the school was. After running around frantically, we decided to walk to Tara's apartment (she lives right by El Sol school) to ask her parents where the school is. Once we entered the main lobby, we saw Brielle, who also lives there, and a few other classmates. They had a map so we looked for a cab. Since there were 6 of us, we didn't take a cab together. Tara and I showed a few cab drivers the map but the other group took off in the other direction with it soon after. We ended up getting in a cab in which the driver had no idea where he was going. After a long drive, he took us to the main Air Force base, not the Air Force high school. The workers at the Air Force had us sit down for about 20 minutes while they tried to figure out where we needed to go. Fortunately, somebody there ended up driving us to El Polo (if we had taken another cab, we probably would've gotten lost again). However, our classes had already ended at this time. I was really nervous about being late during the cab ride and felt really bad once we missed the class altogether. My classmates told me it wasn't a big deal and since it wasn't my fault, I shouldn't worry too much.
We attended a history lecture where we learned about Pizarro, who conquered Peru for the Spaniards. He was captain of the expedition, along with Almagro who oversaw supplies and Luque. His first trip was from 1524-1525 to Panama with 40 other men. They explored the Colombian coasts. His next trip was from 1526-1528, when the men suffered from lack of food and supplies as well as poor conditions. Almagro went in search of provisions and was captured by Pedro de los Rios, the new governor of Panama. His final expedition was from 1531-1532. They left from Panama to San Mateo. Atahualpa was taken prisoner in the Plaza de Cajamarca but offered Spaniards gold and silver in exchange for his freedom.
After the history lecture, some of my classmates played soccer with the students while I played volleyball with some others. I went home and had dinner, then got ready to go out for Dana's birthday. We went to Murphy's Irish Pub close to El Sol school and stayed there for a few drinks. After, we headed out to a discoteca in Barranco, a district just outside Miraflores. We had written down the name of a bar we wanted to go to, but apparently it was closed, so we walked around and found a halfway decent place with good music. I stayed out until about 1am and caught a cab with a few other girls.

Day 8- Lima

Today, I woke up at 7:30 to get ready to begin class by 9am. We only had our language class from 9-10 and no culture class since we had a day full of activities planned. Our itinerary:

11:00 am- Tour in the Government Palace, including watching the changing of the guards, a half hour ceremony for when the guards clock out.

12:30 - 1:00pm- Lunch time

1:00pm- Museo de la Iglesia San Francisco (catacumbas)

2:30 pm- Congreso

4:00 pm- Museo de la Santa Inquisición.

5:30 pm-  Walk around the Plaza de Armas o Plaza Mayor, including La catedral de Lima, Palacio Arzobispal de Lima, el Jiron de la Unión, etc.

The night before, I had a fever and very bad stomach pains. When I woke up this morning, I felt better starting around 8am. When class ended, I hadn't been sick for 2 hours, which was actually really good so I decided I should try to see the city. We got on a 20-minute metro ride and my stomach started hurting really badly again, so I told Monica I should rest. Her mother took me to the pharmacy once we got off the train, and I bought some pills and a bottle of Frutti Flex, which contains electrolytes and other nutrients. I wasn't feeling good enough to walk around the Government Palace, so I sat down with Tara, who was also sick, while the others attended the tour. Monica told us we should wait an hour until they were all done, but I knew I needed to go home and rest so Tara and I took a cab back to Miraflores. I had already told my host family I might be back early, depending on how I felt, so I went home and rest. Once I slept for a few hours, I felt much better. The medicine also seemed to help a lot, too. However, I was still sick and needed to take it easy. I was upset that I had missed out on a full day of activities, as well as the Plaza de Armas and many famous buildings in Lima. I hope that I'll be able to go back with Tara another time and explore.

I obviously didn't do much for the rest of the night, but I had a wonderful conversation with my host father about music. We have almost the same taste and both love rock and blues the most. I also learned that he's seen the Beatles in concert (as well as many other great bands, including Santana), which is probably the coolest thing ever. I played cards with him and Alvaro and took it easy the rest of the night.

Day 7- Lima

Today I woke up around 7 and had a small breakfast of bread, ham and cheese as well as more hot chocolate and juice. We were told classes started at 8:30, so I left around 8 to wait for the bus. However, by 8:15 it hadn't shown up yet, so I hopped in a cab for 5 soles and arrived at El Sol. When I first got there, I was required to take a placement test. The first part was a written exam, for which we were allotted 30 minutes. Most of the questions were multiple choice but there were some short answer responses as well. The next part was an oral exam, which was really just a casual conversation with one of the administrators (or maybe teachers) at the school and lasted a few minutes. The school offers free coffee and tea every morning in the upstairs cafe (you can also purchase pastries) and I was told to wait there until they placed me in my class. My fellow students were Eddy and Elisa, who both go to the University of Texas, and Bernd, who is from Germany (though he speaks English) but currently works in Miraflores since his fiancée moved here. I was expecting to be in a classroom with fellow Northeasterners. However, there are 4 levels of classes at the school. Only a handful of my classmates are in level 4 and I soon realized I'm the only one in level 3 from Northeastern (NOTE: I now realize that other people were in my level that week... either they got moved up after a few days of school or had already been placed in level 3. Only Tomas, who lived in Argentina for 6 years, and Diana, who is from Columbia, are in level 4). My Spanish grammar is definitely more advanced than my speaking abilities, so I feel comfortable in my classroom. The first day, we had a conversation about the upcoming election in Peru as we waited for our books. Once we got the, we went over passive voice and did other activities in the textbook.

The class lasted from 9am-11am. Afterwards, I was told to stay in the same classroom for the next part of our day, Spanish Conversation with a different professor. However, I soon learned that Northeastern isn't taking that class and I went into a different room for our culture lecture. Classes ended at 12:40 and we walked down the street to wait for a bus to take us to Manuel Polo Jimenez High School. This local air force school has about 3,000 students. We will be teaching English to a small portion of them as well as telling them about life in America, such as typical restaurants and eating customs. We didn’t go to teach today, but rather to attend a reception and meet the students. Once we arrived at the school, we walked through the main gate and ate lunch at the cafeteria. For 5 soles, I had spaghetti, salad, bread and juice.

Afterwards, we stepped outside the café to begin the reception. Students carried our nametags around as a way to greet us; I found mine and started conversing with the children there. In Peruvian high school, students attend grades 1-5, with 5 being the highest. (My host sister is 15 years old and in grade 4.) They typically graduate between the ages of 16-18 years old.

The high schoolers were so excited to meet us and learn about our culture. They also love Americans in general and go crazy over my blonde hair and blue eyes. For our reception in an upstairs classroom, the school administration greeted us with kind words and local foods, such as some sort of tuna sandwich and potatoes with cheese sauce. My favorite part was a speech that two students gave; they took turns speaking in English and Spanish and expressed their sincere gratitude for having us teach. We went around the room and introduced ourselves to the students formally, then had an informal conversation with them all. I talked to a few students, including Daniel, a 16-year-old boy who is very smart and eager to learn. He has only been studying English for one year but is almost fluent; his English is much better than my Spanish and in such a short time. In general, I was very impressed with everybody’s language skills there and so happy to see how much our time there means to them. I also learned that some students there wear different colored rope to signify their duties in the school, from security to watering the plants.

I talked with the students for a while then headed back to my host family. I immediately started feeling sick and spent the rest of the night in bed. I probably ate something bad, but my host family said it’s normal to get sick the first week there until you adjust to the food. I did my homework and went to bed early.

Day 6- Lima

Today,  I "slept in" until around 10am and went out to breakfast with a group of girls. I ordered fried eggs, fried bananas and pineapple juice... muy delicioso y barato! I packed my backpack and took a cab to my host family. I was nervous because I'd never met them, plus I'll be leaving alone and was unsure about the language barrier. However, as soon as they opened the door I felt so welcomed. There are 5 people in this family. Manolo, the father, is a doctor's assistant. His job is to inform physicians about certain medications so they can give prescriptions to their patients. He's very funny and charismatic. The mother, Miriam, is a dentist and actually has a room on the main floor of her house where she works everyday. She explained to me how every Tuesday she works for a program that offers every type of health care to people who can't otherwise afford it.

Renzo is my age (well, he's 22 and I'll be 22 next month) and is studying architecture at a local university. Ximena is 15 and, like her 12-year-old brother Alvaro, goes to high school about 3 streets away.

Around 3pm, my host mother made lomo saltado for lunch. I had tried it in a restaurant already but hers was so fresh and rica that it couldn't compare. We also had a peach and Inca Cola. I offered to help clean up but my host mother told me I didn't have to do anything. It turns out the woman I met the other day was, in fact, a maid who comes every morning to clean and cook a bit.

Manolo told me there's a bus that runs near El Sol School. The stop is less than a minute walk away so he went with me and explained which bus to look for, how often it ran, and other necessary details. He then drew me a map and drove me through the route to familiarize me with it. Renzo and Miriam went with us in the car, and when Miriam stopped at the local grocery store to pick up a few things, she handed me a chocolate bar.

Once we got back, we talked a bit more and I then went upstairs to unpack and unwind a bit. It was nice to have more than a backpack full of dirty clothes and to finally have a closet with some shelves to get organized/settled.

Later that evening, we had dinner and I gave my host family my gift: a dish towel with a lobster and the word "Boston" printed below (which is currently hanging in their kitchen). Because Peruvians eat a large lunch and small dinner, we had an omelet, rolls with ham and cheese, and hot chocolate. I went to sleep early that night to prepare for my first day of classes the next morning.

Day 5- Nazca/Ica/Lima

Today we headed out around 7am to go to Nazca and see the famous Nazca lines. We didn't book our tickets far enough in advance to see everything (nor did we go up in a plane), but we walked up a watch tower to see las manos y el árbol.

I bought some rocks with the Nazca line designs and we only stayed long enough to take pictures and hear a short description of the lines. Nobody knows how they appeared; they say that a UFO created them, and even though it's very windy in Nazca, the lines remain. The surrounding landscape was breathtaking: huge cliffs and mountains and randomly dispersed trees.

Afterwards, we drove a short distance to a different part of Nazca to learn how gold is mined. One of the workers gave a demonstration, and it was really interesting. The workers are paid very well but have to work extreme hours in very dangerous conditions, including mixing mercury with the gold. Each worker averages only one gram of gold per day.

We then went to a local pottery where we saw another short demonstration of how ceramics are made. The woman there works only with her hands, no tools, just as the gold miners use tools but no machines. The pottery was beautiful, and it was surprisingly very light and hollow.

We drove to another beautiful area of Nazca and saw the aqueducts where they collect fresh water. The aqueducts are 1500 years old and there are 30-40 of them there.

After, we stopped very briefly to see pre-Incan ruins and the Plaza de Armas, the main plaza in Nazca. 

We drove two hours back to Ica for just enough time to grab dinner. I bought another hamburguesa royal at the same place as the karaoke night. Then we had another four hour drive to Lima. We arrived at our hostel at 10pm and headed out around 12 or 12:30 to celebrate Andrew's birthday in a big club. I stayed out til around 2:30 and went straight to bed afterwards.

Day 4- Ica

Today was a free day. I woke up earlier than I had wanted because the traffic on the street was very loud, but I was able to eat breakfast at the hotel. I worked on my blog (which I had to type on Word since I didn't have internet access at the hotel except for the first night) and went out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. The food was really good and cheap, and I got a dish with rice, chicken and lots of vegetables, which included chicken noodle soup.

I had such a great time at the sand dunes that I decided to go back. It was only 40 soles (about 13 dollars) and included transportation, so I had to do it. I asked other people to join me and ended up going with Tara, Kat and Carlene. Our driver wasn't nearly as crazy as the first one (who went up a hill, reversed, and curved around the place; he went really fast the whole time and went down lots of big hills and curves), but we still had a great time. We met a Canadian couple who decided to go backpacking across South America for 5 months and had some interesting conversations with them. It was also nice to be in a smaller group and see the sunset again. Yesterday, my camera ran out of memory after I had taken only a few pictures of the sand dunes, so I took a video of our buggy ride and more pictures this time.

We met back at the hotel and went over our plans for the next day. We also got ready to go out to a local discoteque called The Who; we went with Monica, who told us it was one of the best clubs in Ica. We went out at 10pm, but most clubs don't start getting crowded until 1 or 2am. We were the only people on the dance floor for a while, but the locals joined us later. Since Andrew turned 21 at midnight, Monica and Priscilla asked the DJ to play "Happy Birthday" for him, which was really nice. I didn't stay out very late since we had to wake up early again the next morning, so I headed back around 12:30 and went to sleep.