Yeah so um... I'm going to the beach tomorrow at 7:00 am... I'll be there for New Years... and then for January... and then for February... then in March I'll come back......
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Love,
Jack
Friday, December 28, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Weekly Report Dec 20-23
Weekly Report Dec 20-23
Thursday December 20
Lazy day because of all the traveling the previous days. Ended up going out at night with some friends. Good time.
Friday December 21
Ally's birthday! Called her at around lunch time but wasn't there. Called later and got a hold of her. In the evening I went to see a play with Lizzie, her boyfriend and a friend of theirs. We went to see Cinderella because one of her friends from highschool was in it. It was... interesting. The girl that was Cinderella had the same expression on her face the entire play, one girl was mouthing the lines of the other characters the whole time, and at the end they accidentally did one scene twice.
After the play we went to this place called "Los Jugos", The Juices, for a smoothie and to grab a bight to eat because I didn't have a chance to eat earlier. This place is pretty cool, they have tons and tons of types of fruit to pick from so you just pick anything and they make a smoothie out of it. Other than that I had a little sandwich with chicken and avacado. I'm starting to like avacado a lot. I'm also trying to get used to fruits cause I was never much of a fruit eater but here they have lots of nice fresh fruit. The have this one that I like, you peal it open and on the inside there is this weird looking mass of seeds that seems to be held together but... well... it
looks like mucus :) you just throw the whole mucusy mass thing in your mouth and swallow. It's very good.
Then we went and watched a movie. Relatively early night, a one-o'clocker.
Saturday December 22
Did absolutely nothing today. I bought a couple of calling cards to call the States tomorrow to talk to the whole fam. But other than that... nothing. Tonight I might go out or something but as of now I have no plans.
Sunday December 23
Merry Christmas Eve! That is of course because my family is celebrating the annual part a day early this year. I called at 8:30 to talk to everyone and to wish them a Merry Christmas. It was nice to talk to them all, but it was also kind of hard listening to all the sounds of people and singing and fun that I so enjoy every year. My Christmas will be much more mellow this year. Most likely no presents, different family speaking in a language that is still hard to understand sometimes, different traditions, and a little fake Christmas tree that doesn't shed even but a tiny scent of Christmasy goodness. We will have family arriving at around 9 o'clock tonight and between then and 12 midnight we will have dinner. Then right at 12 we will open presents. After that I don't think that we do anything. I'll be going to a lunch with Lizzie's family the day of Christmas but other than that my host mother said that we don't do anything. It's gonna be a very weird Christmas and New Years this year.
Earlier in the day I went to the center with the family to see the Cathedral and eat Bunuelos. They are like these donut/fried dough things that we put something like molassas on. They are good. The Cathedral was nice, but there were Christmas Carols being sung and it made me think of home, that at the very moment my family was probably singing the exact same song in English.
I'm actually glad that the weather is the way it is, because for the most part my mind doesn't dwell on thoughts of the family for too long. Tonight when we are "celebrating" it might be a little harder but well just have to see.
I hope that everyone had a nice early Christmas Eve party, has a very Merry Christmas, and has a wonderful New Year.
-Jack
P.S. Photos will now be posted on Myspace.com . I save hours putting up photos there instead of on here.
Thursday December 20
Lazy day because of all the traveling the previous days. Ended up going out at night with some friends. Good time.
Friday December 21
Ally's birthday! Called her at around lunch time but wasn't there. Called later and got a hold of her. In the evening I went to see a play with Lizzie, her boyfriend and a friend of theirs. We went to see Cinderella because one of her friends from highschool was in it. It was... interesting. The girl that was Cinderella had the same expression on her face the entire play, one girl was mouthing the lines of the other characters the whole time, and at the end they accidentally did one scene twice.
After the play we went to this place called "Los Jugos", The Juices, for a smoothie and to grab a bight to eat because I didn't have a chance to eat earlier. This place is pretty cool, they have tons and tons of types of fruit to pick from so you just pick anything and they make a smoothie out of it. Other than that I had a little sandwich with chicken and avacado. I'm starting to like avacado a lot. I'm also trying to get used to fruits cause I was never much of a fruit eater but here they have lots of nice fresh fruit. The have this one that I like, you peal it open and on the inside there is this weird looking mass of seeds that seems to be held together but... well... it
looks like mucus :) you just throw the whole mucusy mass thing in your mouth and swallow. It's very good.
Then we went and watched a movie. Relatively early night, a one-o'clocker.
Saturday December 22
Did absolutely nothing today. I bought a couple of calling cards to call the States tomorrow to talk to the whole fam. But other than that... nothing. Tonight I might go out or something but as of now I have no plans.
Sunday December 23
Merry Christmas Eve! That is of course because my family is celebrating the annual part a day early this year. I called at 8:30 to talk to everyone and to wish them a Merry Christmas. It was nice to talk to them all, but it was also kind of hard listening to all the sounds of people and singing and fun that I so enjoy every year. My Christmas will be much more mellow this year. Most likely no presents, different family speaking in a language that is still hard to understand sometimes, different traditions, and a little fake Christmas tree that doesn't shed even but a tiny scent of Christmasy goodness. We will have family arriving at around 9 o'clock tonight and between then and 12 midnight we will have dinner. Then right at 12 we will open presents. After that I don't think that we do anything. I'll be going to a lunch with Lizzie's family the day of Christmas but other than that my host mother said that we don't do anything. It's gonna be a very weird Christmas and New Years this year.
Earlier in the day I went to the center with the family to see the Cathedral and eat Bunuelos. They are like these donut/fried dough things that we put something like molassas on. They are good. The Cathedral was nice, but there were Christmas Carols being sung and it made me think of home, that at the very moment my family was probably singing the exact same song in English.
I'm actually glad that the weather is the way it is, because for the most part my mind doesn't dwell on thoughts of the family for too long. Tonight when we are "celebrating" it might be a little harder but well just have to see.
I hope that everyone had a nice early Christmas Eve party, has a very Merry Christmas, and has a wonderful New Year.
-Jack
P.S. Photos will now be posted on Myspace.com . I save hours putting up photos there instead of on here.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
woops!
Haha sorry Mike I wrote this past report at the end of the week and accidentally put your bday on the 10th. Sorry! Did you end up going out to Chinese food?
Weekly Report Dec 10-19
Monday December 10
Mike's birthday! Called in the evening to wish him a good one. Volunteered at a different hospital today. Went pretty smoothly. Today was apparantly a slow day, but it was still
alright. It was nicer than the other hospital because there were kids there to play with and costed me twenty US cents to get there... as opposed to the two US dollars that it takes me to get to the other hospital. Went to the Plaza with another exchange student to do a little shopping but didn't end up getting much. Overall good day I guess.
Tuesday December 11
Went to class today. I decided that I want to finish at the University with my friends and then continue with volunteering. It is only this week and maybe a day or two the next so I won't miss much volunteering. Went to class and gym. Pretty boring day.
Wednesday December 12
Thought that I had class today. Went to a friends house where we always meet then head to class, but when I sat at the table her parents said that she was still sleeping and that she didn't have class today. She ended up being awake and came out to tell me that she had forgotten to tell me. I ended up staying there for a while and helping set up their (fake) Christmas tree. While we were setting up the tree I was invited to stay for lunch. It was still early and my friend had to study for her exam that was the next day so I went to the gym for a couple
of hours. After I ate with them and talked for a bit then went home. I didn't sleep well last night and my cough came back to I'm not feeling to great today. I really hope that I get better before the weekend though because Lizzie comes Friday and Saturday we made plans to go out with a bunch of friends. Went to the mall for a bit with a friend. Planning on going to bed relatively early tonight, feeling pretty tired.
Thursday December 13
Class. Gym.
Friday December 14
Lizzie arrived today. Didn't get to talk to her but we had already made plans for Saturday so it's all good. Nothing else... Normal day.
Saturday December 15
Found out today that I would be going to Tacna, a city even further south than Arequipa, and for a day that I might even go to Chile. Sounds very cool can't wait. Went and say Lizzie today. It was really nice to see her again. I went over to her house and hung out for a bit and met some of her family. A little while later her boyfriend came, we all ate a bit, and left for a party with some friends. After that we went to a club in the center until around two o'clock in the morning. Went to bed not looking forward to waking up at five the next day.
Sunday December 16
To Tacna we go! Left at six in the morning hoping to arrive in Tacna within five hours. We arrived and found our hotel then headed out to see a bit of Tacna. Went for ice cream that was pretty amazing I must say. The reason that we went to Tacna in the first place is because there was a soccer game that was for the I believe the National title. We were rooting for Bolognesi and the competition was Melgar. It was a pretty exciting game that ended in a 2-0 win for Bolognesi. Before the game I had gotten to meet and shake hands with the goalie of Bolognesi, that was pretty cool. After the game we went to the hotel then back out again for some festivities. Went to bed relatively early.
Monday December 17
To Chile we go! We were headed to the city of Arica, Arica the city just across the border where one can find lots of nice cheap contraband, a beauty beach, and where most exchangers who don't go to school and can't get the proper papers go to get their Visa renewed for another three months. We looked around for a bit at the beach and at a few places along the way then headed for shopping. I bought a swim suit because my host mom said that I would want at least two for the beach in February. Went into several other places and then went out to eat at a pizza place. Walked around for a while after that and ended up getting ice cream. Back to Tacna for the night.
Tuesday December 18
First we went to a couple of markets that are always really cheap and have decent stuff. The only things that I was looking for were sunglasses and plain white shirts, but unfortunately I didn't find anything. Back to the house, and then to the beach! We went to a place called Boca del Rio, the Mouth of the River. The little town was completely deserted. We and a couple of other people were the only ones on the beach. There were lots of rocks where we were so the water has lots of yellowish foam on top but it was still nice be at the beach. There for a couple of hours, out to eat, then headed to Ilo to find a place to sleep. We didn't end up finding anywhere there in Ilo to sleep so we headed out to Moquegua. There we found a hotel and relaxed for the night.
Wednesday December 19
Left very early this morning. My host brother wanted to get to his school as soon as possible because there was something going on. It was a two and a half or three hour drive back to Arequipa. We arrived at nine due to some traffic. Shower, breakfast, and making some plans for today.
It was a pretty boring week until Saturday when I finally got to hang out with Lizzie and I found out that I would be going on vacation with my family for a few days. Now I can say that I have been to Chile too! I still want to go down and visit Giorgio though. Homesickness hasn't been much of a factor at all yet. When I happen to think of family for some reason yes, all of
the memories do come back and it pains a little to know what I am missing back home, but with the weather being so different here my body and mind just don't feel like it is Christmas. And my host parents already gave me my gift, just to make this Christmas just a little weirder. They gave me the equivalent of about 35 dollars, enough to get two pairs of jeans and help with new shoes, all of which I was in dire need of. So this is going to be a very odd Christmas. No party, real family, Xmas food, carols, presents, brunch, all of that stuff I love about Christmas.
Sorry about this report being late. I didn't find out till Saturday that I would be leaving at six in the morning Sunday for vacation. The next one will be short, and then the one after that will include... Christmas. That is so weird to say. Christmas is next week. My body and mind are so screwed up because of the weather here. When I do leave Peru by body will just feel like I've had a very very long summer and now everything is back to normal. I left on the first of September and haven't a clue when I'll get back, but it will be sometime during the summer,
and the weather here is just like summer everyday. So basically, it is just one long summer.
Anywho, I hope that everyone is doing well.
Love,
Jack
Mike's birthday! Called in the evening to wish him a good one. Volunteered at a different hospital today. Went pretty smoothly. Today was apparantly a slow day, but it was still
alright. It was nicer than the other hospital because there were kids there to play with and costed me twenty US cents to get there... as opposed to the two US dollars that it takes me to get to the other hospital. Went to the Plaza with another exchange student to do a little shopping but didn't end up getting much. Overall good day I guess.
Tuesday December 11
Went to class today. I decided that I want to finish at the University with my friends and then continue with volunteering. It is only this week and maybe a day or two the next so I won't miss much volunteering. Went to class and gym. Pretty boring day.
Wednesday December 12
Thought that I had class today. Went to a friends house where we always meet then head to class, but when I sat at the table her parents said that she was still sleeping and that she didn't have class today. She ended up being awake and came out to tell me that she had forgotten to tell me. I ended up staying there for a while and helping set up their (fake) Christmas tree. While we were setting up the tree I was invited to stay for lunch. It was still early and my friend had to study for her exam that was the next day so I went to the gym for a couple
of hours. After I ate with them and talked for a bit then went home. I didn't sleep well last night and my cough came back to I'm not feeling to great today. I really hope that I get better before the weekend though because Lizzie comes Friday and Saturday we made plans to go out with a bunch of friends. Went to the mall for a bit with a friend. Planning on going to bed relatively early tonight, feeling pretty tired.
Thursday December 13
Class. Gym.
Friday December 14
Lizzie arrived today. Didn't get to talk to her but we had already made plans for Saturday so it's all good. Nothing else... Normal day.
Saturday December 15
Found out today that I would be going to Tacna, a city even further south than Arequipa, and for a day that I might even go to Chile. Sounds very cool can't wait. Went and say Lizzie today. It was really nice to see her again. I went over to her house and hung out for a bit and met some of her family. A little while later her boyfriend came, we all ate a bit, and left for a party with some friends. After that we went to a club in the center until around two o'clock in the morning. Went to bed not looking forward to waking up at five the next day.
Sunday December 16
To Tacna we go! Left at six in the morning hoping to arrive in Tacna within five hours. We arrived and found our hotel then headed out to see a bit of Tacna. Went for ice cream that was pretty amazing I must say. The reason that we went to Tacna in the first place is because there was a soccer game that was for the I believe the National title. We were rooting for Bolognesi and the competition was Melgar. It was a pretty exciting game that ended in a 2-0 win for Bolognesi. Before the game I had gotten to meet and shake hands with the goalie of Bolognesi, that was pretty cool. After the game we went to the hotel then back out again for some festivities. Went to bed relatively early.
Monday December 17
To Chile we go! We were headed to the city of Arica, Arica the city just across the border where one can find lots of nice cheap contraband, a beauty beach, and where most exchangers who don't go to school and can't get the proper papers go to get their Visa renewed for another three months. We looked around for a bit at the beach and at a few places along the way then headed for shopping. I bought a swim suit because my host mom said that I would want at least two for the beach in February. Went into several other places and then went out to eat at a pizza place. Walked around for a while after that and ended up getting ice cream. Back to Tacna for the night.
Tuesday December 18
First we went to a couple of markets that are always really cheap and have decent stuff. The only things that I was looking for were sunglasses and plain white shirts, but unfortunately I didn't find anything. Back to the house, and then to the beach! We went to a place called Boca del Rio, the Mouth of the River. The little town was completely deserted. We and a couple of other people were the only ones on the beach. There were lots of rocks where we were so the water has lots of yellowish foam on top but it was still nice be at the beach. There for a couple of hours, out to eat, then headed to Ilo to find a place to sleep. We didn't end up finding anywhere there in Ilo to sleep so we headed out to Moquegua. There we found a hotel and relaxed for the night.
Wednesday December 19
Left very early this morning. My host brother wanted to get to his school as soon as possible because there was something going on. It was a two and a half or three hour drive back to Arequipa. We arrived at nine due to some traffic. Shower, breakfast, and making some plans for today.
It was a pretty boring week until Saturday when I finally got to hang out with Lizzie and I found out that I would be going on vacation with my family for a few days. Now I can say that I have been to Chile too! I still want to go down and visit Giorgio though. Homesickness hasn't been much of a factor at all yet. When I happen to think of family for some reason yes, all of
the memories do come back and it pains a little to know what I am missing back home, but with the weather being so different here my body and mind just don't feel like it is Christmas. And my host parents already gave me my gift, just to make this Christmas just a little weirder. They gave me the equivalent of about 35 dollars, enough to get two pairs of jeans and help with new shoes, all of which I was in dire need of. So this is going to be a very odd Christmas. No party, real family, Xmas food, carols, presents, brunch, all of that stuff I love about Christmas.
Sorry about this report being late. I didn't find out till Saturday that I would be leaving at six in the morning Sunday for vacation. The next one will be short, and then the one after that will include... Christmas. That is so weird to say. Christmas is next week. My body and mind are so screwed up because of the weather here. When I do leave Peru by body will just feel like I've had a very very long summer and now everything is back to normal. I left on the first of September and haven't a clue when I'll get back, but it will be sometime during the summer,
and the weather here is just like summer everyday. So basically, it is just one long summer.
Anywho, I hope that everyone is doing well.
Love,
Jack
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Weekly Report Dec. 3-10
Monday Dec. 3
Found out last night that I will be volunteering at a hospital for the next month. I heard Sunday that we would be volunteering. I thought it was just going to be for a day. As the rotary officials that brought us to thehospital were talking to the head doctor I overheard them saying that "these students are at your disposal everyday for the month of December." It isn't a bad thing, but it would have been nice to know beforehand. Plus theplace that we are volunteering at is really far away, a two US dollar taxi ride which is crazy for here. I needto talk to Rotary about this because I don't have that money to spare. Things at the hospital went alright. It was a bit unnerving at first. It is located in the outskirts of the city.As we walked into the office I didn't notice that many of the peopel that we saw had something in common. As wecame to the first doctors office I noticed that the sign on the door said "Gynocologist"... I then noticed what most of the people around me had in common. They were either pregnant or holding their newborn babies. Commentary:
Me: (In my head) WHAT THE **** ARE WE GONNA BE DOING HERE?!?!?!
That day we ended up just going to this other place where we distributed packets of food and milk to people on the hospital's welfare plan. It was nice but they really didn't need our help so it was boring. Oh yeah and I learnedthat we would be doing this volunteering from 7:30 to 1:30 every day for all of December.
Tuesday Dec. 4
Hospital again today. Got a tour of the place. First we walked into a room where they were reading off reportsof the status of the births that had taken just the night before. Then we went to several other rooms. We basically just walked around for a while seeing all of the rooms of the hospital so that we would have an idea of where everything was. That was about all we did. They really don't have much for us to do there, but since Rotary "Knows the people who run it we have to go there". I am going to ask about working somewhere closer because there is a place where I could volunteer. The taxi ride costs me two dollars a day just to go there,which sounds like very little but when I could spend 20 cents to get to the place that is closer it puts it morein perspective. A two dollar taxi ride here is a half an hour, and a half an hour in a city is a lot. That isone thing that I have gotten used to a bit here. If I have to ride in a taxi for more than 10 minutes somethingis "really far away". In the states 15 minutes to anywhere was a regular thing. Anywho, normal day.
Wednesday Dec. 5
Boring. Hospital, didn't have anything for us to do so we were assigned to be with a doctor for a few hours beforeheading off to get to know some of the area around the hospital. I went into my doctors office, she told me towait there for a minute, and came back half an hour later. Then she left again for about ten minutes. After she had a couple of patients, nothing serious because she deals with minor illness, and after that it was over. We walked around Mariano Melgar, the area that the hospital is located in, up to a white statue of Christ on the top of a small hill. From there we had a nice view of the city. It was a different kind of view though. From where we were we saw much more of the poor community. Houses without a roof or water, some with limited electricity,all walls made from random rocks.
Thursday Dec. 6
Lame day, except for that I got to go to the gym again. With volunteering at the hospital it's hard to get to thegym now.
Friday Dec. 7
Volunteering at the hospital, did an event with lots of kids today to promote brushing their teeth. Went with some friends from the University to eat and chill. Ended up being a really good time. Bday BBQ of another exchanger.Didn't stay out too late because I was tired, and I knew that I would be going out Saturday too.
Saturday Dec. 8
Lazy day. I'm going to go to a BBQ type thing tonight at around five o'clock. I bet that will be a good time. Other than that just a normal Saturday. While I was writing this a friend called and reminded me that his family had invited me to lunch! So guess what... I finally ate guinnea pig. It was... an experience to say the least. So we pull into this place and start walkingup to the eating area. It's really full because it is Saturday, the day when the guinnea pigs are fresh. So wewalk to a different eating area, and we pass this wire line where about 8 or 9 skinned guinnea pics are hanging.That was a little weird. So then we go in and order, and the food comes just about right after we order. You really can't prepare yourself for it all. I had heard that the head was still on and all of the feet and all, butit was still a little weird to see. I was thinking that it would be pretty thick, between 4 and 6 inches, but no...it's pretty flat. Literally everything is there minus the fur. Head, teeth, claws, everything. Including the inside. All of the organs are still there. It's really difficult to eat with a fork and knife so you've got to just grab it and eat. It tasted good, but there isn't that much meat on it and it's difficult to get off, so there is a lot of work involved and after you really aren't that satisfied. However, my appetite wasn't quiteas large throughout so it wasn't too much of a problem. Anyway after that little experience I went to a BBQ. That ended up being really fun. Me and some friends all pitched in a few bucks for a bunch of meat, potatoes, and drinks. We invited a whole bunch of girls from this oneschool and all had a really good time. Once they arrived we threw on the meat and potatoes and made some amazingfood. We talked, ate, and played a bunch of games. Then at around eleven o'clockwe went to the center. There I met some other friends from the University. We made a few different groups and parted. I went to this club that I hadn't been to yet. It was great, definately the best one that I have been to in Peru. Lizzie arrives in about a week so I'm sure that I will be back there before too long.
Sunday Dec. 9
Very lazy Sunday. Didn't really do anything all day but rest and get caught up with a few things on the puter. I went to the mall to buy mouthwash but that was about it.
Pretty good week. Uneventful but still a very good week. Saturday and a couple hours in the wee hours of Sunday morning really made the week. Friday too. The fact that friends called me to go out to eat and invited me to a BBQ really meant a lot. I told them that we should do things like that more often. It costed me three dollarsand thirty cents for the BBQ, which was an amazing time and the food was incredible, and going to the center costedme five dollars. A crazy and amazing night for less than ten dollars? That's pretty good I'd say. I'm hopingthat I'm really busy for the next few weeks especially so I can't think about what I'm missing in the US. Sure, I'm doing things for the first time and shouldn't think too much about home, but it's not that easy.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Jack
Found out last night that I will be volunteering at a hospital for the next month. I heard Sunday that we would be volunteering. I thought it was just going to be for a day. As the rotary officials that brought us to thehospital were talking to the head doctor I overheard them saying that "these students are at your disposal everyday for the month of December." It isn't a bad thing, but it would have been nice to know beforehand. Plus theplace that we are volunteering at is really far away, a two US dollar taxi ride which is crazy for here. I needto talk to Rotary about this because I don't have that money to spare. Things at the hospital went alright. It was a bit unnerving at first. It is located in the outskirts of the city.As we walked into the office I didn't notice that many of the peopel that we saw had something in common. As wecame to the first doctors office I noticed that the sign on the door said "Gynocologist"... I then noticed what most of the people around me had in common. They were either pregnant or holding their newborn babies. Commentary:
Me: (In my head) WHAT THE **** ARE WE GONNA BE DOING HERE?!?!?!
That day we ended up just going to this other place where we distributed packets of food and milk to people on the hospital's welfare plan. It was nice but they really didn't need our help so it was boring. Oh yeah and I learnedthat we would be doing this volunteering from 7:30 to 1:30 every day for all of December.
Tuesday Dec. 4
Hospital again today. Got a tour of the place. First we walked into a room where they were reading off reportsof the status of the births that had taken just the night before. Then we went to several other rooms. We basically just walked around for a while seeing all of the rooms of the hospital so that we would have an idea of where everything was. That was about all we did. They really don't have much for us to do there, but since Rotary "Knows the people who run it we have to go there". I am going to ask about working somewhere closer because there is a place where I could volunteer. The taxi ride costs me two dollars a day just to go there,which sounds like very little but when I could spend 20 cents to get to the place that is closer it puts it morein perspective. A two dollar taxi ride here is a half an hour, and a half an hour in a city is a lot. That isone thing that I have gotten used to a bit here. If I have to ride in a taxi for more than 10 minutes somethingis "really far away". In the states 15 minutes to anywhere was a regular thing. Anywho, normal day.
Wednesday Dec. 5
Boring. Hospital, didn't have anything for us to do so we were assigned to be with a doctor for a few hours beforeheading off to get to know some of the area around the hospital. I went into my doctors office, she told me towait there for a minute, and came back half an hour later. Then she left again for about ten minutes. After she had a couple of patients, nothing serious because she deals with minor illness, and after that it was over. We walked around Mariano Melgar, the area that the hospital is located in, up to a white statue of Christ on the top of a small hill. From there we had a nice view of the city. It was a different kind of view though. From where we were we saw much more of the poor community. Houses without a roof or water, some with limited electricity,all walls made from random rocks.
Thursday Dec. 6
Lame day, except for that I got to go to the gym again. With volunteering at the hospital it's hard to get to thegym now.
Friday Dec. 7
Volunteering at the hospital, did an event with lots of kids today to promote brushing their teeth. Went with some friends from the University to eat and chill. Ended up being a really good time. Bday BBQ of another exchanger.Didn't stay out too late because I was tired, and I knew that I would be going out Saturday too.
Saturday Dec. 8
Lazy day. I'm going to go to a BBQ type thing tonight at around five o'clock. I bet that will be a good time. Other than that just a normal Saturday. While I was writing this a friend called and reminded me that his family had invited me to lunch! So guess what... I finally ate guinnea pig. It was... an experience to say the least. So we pull into this place and start walkingup to the eating area. It's really full because it is Saturday, the day when the guinnea pigs are fresh. So wewalk to a different eating area, and we pass this wire line where about 8 or 9 skinned guinnea pics are hanging.That was a little weird. So then we go in and order, and the food comes just about right after we order. You really can't prepare yourself for it all. I had heard that the head was still on and all of the feet and all, butit was still a little weird to see. I was thinking that it would be pretty thick, between 4 and 6 inches, but no...it's pretty flat. Literally everything is there minus the fur. Head, teeth, claws, everything. Including the inside. All of the organs are still there. It's really difficult to eat with a fork and knife so you've got to just grab it and eat. It tasted good, but there isn't that much meat on it and it's difficult to get off, so there is a lot of work involved and after you really aren't that satisfied. However, my appetite wasn't quiteas large throughout so it wasn't too much of a problem. Anyway after that little experience I went to a BBQ. That ended up being really fun. Me and some friends all pitched in a few bucks for a bunch of meat, potatoes, and drinks. We invited a whole bunch of girls from this oneschool and all had a really good time. Once they arrived we threw on the meat and potatoes and made some amazingfood. We talked, ate, and played a bunch of games. Then at around eleven o'clockwe went to the center. There I met some other friends from the University. We made a few different groups and parted. I went to this club that I hadn't been to yet. It was great, definately the best one that I have been to in Peru. Lizzie arrives in about a week so I'm sure that I will be back there before too long.
Sunday Dec. 9
Very lazy Sunday. Didn't really do anything all day but rest and get caught up with a few things on the puter. I went to the mall to buy mouthwash but that was about it.
Pretty good week. Uneventful but still a very good week. Saturday and a couple hours in the wee hours of Sunday morning really made the week. Friday too. The fact that friends called me to go out to eat and invited me to a BBQ really meant a lot. I told them that we should do things like that more often. It costed me three dollarsand thirty cents for the BBQ, which was an amazing time and the food was incredible, and going to the center costedme five dollars. A crazy and amazing night for less than ten dollars? That's pretty good I'd say. I'm hopingthat I'm really busy for the next few weeks especially so I can't think about what I'm missing in the US. Sure, I'm doing things for the first time and shouldn't think too much about home, but it's not that easy.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Jack
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Weekly Report Nov. 29- Dec. 2 (Half week)
Thursday Nov. 29
Now that I have actually had some interesting things to write about just the normal days seem so boring. Today I went to class till about 10:30 then went to the gym. Started doing "superseries". Meaning I do two exercises rightafter each other. Today I did back and chest. It felt good to go to the gym again. After lunch and a nap I met a friend at their house then went to Saga, the small mall about ten minutes from myhouse. We just walked around for a bit before they were going to eat pizza and play cards at a friends house. Ididn't want to go to pizza, but I ended up going to play cards with them and eating their leftovers. Home, dinner,getting tired and ready for bed.
Friday Nov. 30
No classes today because of the... I don't really know, some holiday at the college. I didn't do much until about ten when I went to the gym. Bi's and Tri's today.
Saturday Dec. 1
Three months. What? Three months? Where did that come from? Overall this was a good month. The Cusco trip was...amazing. It was nice to be busy for those ten days. Still here in Arequipa I don't have enough things to do. Finally Rotary has said that we can start volunteering. The place that I had started volunteering at they vetoedbecause they didn't know personally who ran the place. Anywho...Interesting thing happened today. As I was writing this entry my host mother called up the stairs and said thatwe are going to cook. "Cook?" I said to myself? It was just kind of a random thing. So I went downstairs and Me,my brother and my mother cooked this really simple stirfry-ish dish that came out really well. It was pretty fun too, and after doing just that 15 mintue thing with a couple members of the family I felt a little more of a partof the family as a whole. I still have a ways to go to really being comfortable and feeling as if I am part of thefamily, but it was still nice to spend some time with them. At about four o'clock I went downstairs for some water and saw that my host mother, sister, and cousin were settingup Christmas stuff in the living room. Living Room as in the room that we only use for lunch and guests. The fancyone that always looks perfect and makes it seem like you have money. So I helped them set up the tree and put on all of the ornaments and change the table cloth. The Christmas tree is fake by the way... my first Christmas without the nice smell of a pine tree in the house, and all of the little pine needles all over the floor. Nowas I am writing this I can imagine the smell of pine, and it makes me think so much of Christmas. As we were setting up I was reminded of all of our traditions and how all of those traditions will be changed this year; replacedwith all new ones. This year on the 24th we will stay up and at 12:00 we will open presents. We will have a latedinner with the family. This year only the family on my mothers side will be here. No Murphy's, Duffy's, Judges,Smith-Murphy's or any other relation that happens to find it's way to our festivaties. No spinach balls or CherryJubilee, no Secret Santa or Yankee Peddlar, Christmas Carrols, Pinata, Dance Dance Revolution Wars or Guitar Heroe battles. All of that will change this year. At least I know that next year I'll be able to experience that once again, but my appreciation for what we have will have doubled from the absence of just one year from Christmas at home. I should probably finish this because the more I write the harder it becomes to stop. Christmas carols are playing in my head all along, and I hear them being sung by all of the voices of the family and the sound of the Murphy's piano. "ooooohhh OOOOHHHH Star of wonder star of might, star of wonderous beauty bright, westward leading still proceedingguide us to..." and so on, and so on.
Sunday Dec. 2
Boring but relaxing day. Did nothing until six. Had a rotary meeting where I received my monthly allowance. Afterwent to a movie with some exchange students. The new Ben Stiller movie. Can't remember the name in English, in Spanish it's "La Mujer de mis Pesadillas" (The woman of my nightmares) but it doesn't translate directly, the namein English is completely different.
Besides the Christmas setup really nothing happened this week. It was actually nice to have a relaxing week afterthe Cusco trip. Tomorrow I'll be volunteering somewhere. I found out today about volunteering and still don't knowwhere it is... just one small taste of the ridiculously unorganized rotary program that I am a part of here in Peru. Some big decisions are to be made about traveling in the weeks to come. I would love to visit Giorgio in Chile,it would be great to see Mike Epchook in Argentina, the one month trip for Rotary is coming up, many possibilitiesbut limited funds. I recently found out that the one month trip is now scheduled for February instead of January,and my family goes to the beach for the whole month of February, so I might opt to stick with the family at the beachand save the money from that trip and put it towards other travels. We'll just have to see how everything works out.I send good tidings, health and safety to everyone during this holiday season. I'll be thinking of you more and moreas my favorite family holiday approaches.
Love,
Jack
Now that I have actually had some interesting things to write about just the normal days seem so boring. Today I went to class till about 10:30 then went to the gym. Started doing "superseries". Meaning I do two exercises rightafter each other. Today I did back and chest. It felt good to go to the gym again. After lunch and a nap I met a friend at their house then went to Saga, the small mall about ten minutes from myhouse. We just walked around for a bit before they were going to eat pizza and play cards at a friends house. Ididn't want to go to pizza, but I ended up going to play cards with them and eating their leftovers. Home, dinner,getting tired and ready for bed.
Friday Nov. 30
No classes today because of the... I don't really know, some holiday at the college. I didn't do much until about ten when I went to the gym. Bi's and Tri's today.
Saturday Dec. 1
Three months. What? Three months? Where did that come from? Overall this was a good month. The Cusco trip was...amazing. It was nice to be busy for those ten days. Still here in Arequipa I don't have enough things to do. Finally Rotary has said that we can start volunteering. The place that I had started volunteering at they vetoedbecause they didn't know personally who ran the place. Anywho...Interesting thing happened today. As I was writing this entry my host mother called up the stairs and said thatwe are going to cook. "Cook?" I said to myself? It was just kind of a random thing. So I went downstairs and Me,my brother and my mother cooked this really simple stirfry-ish dish that came out really well. It was pretty fun too, and after doing just that 15 mintue thing with a couple members of the family I felt a little more of a partof the family as a whole. I still have a ways to go to really being comfortable and feeling as if I am part of thefamily, but it was still nice to spend some time with them. At about four o'clock I went downstairs for some water and saw that my host mother, sister, and cousin were settingup Christmas stuff in the living room. Living Room as in the room that we only use for lunch and guests. The fancyone that always looks perfect and makes it seem like you have money. So I helped them set up the tree and put on all of the ornaments and change the table cloth. The Christmas tree is fake by the way... my first Christmas without the nice smell of a pine tree in the house, and all of the little pine needles all over the floor. Nowas I am writing this I can imagine the smell of pine, and it makes me think so much of Christmas. As we were setting up I was reminded of all of our traditions and how all of those traditions will be changed this year; replacedwith all new ones. This year on the 24th we will stay up and at 12:00 we will open presents. We will have a latedinner with the family. This year only the family on my mothers side will be here. No Murphy's, Duffy's, Judges,Smith-Murphy's or any other relation that happens to find it's way to our festivaties. No spinach balls or CherryJubilee, no Secret Santa or Yankee Peddlar, Christmas Carrols, Pinata, Dance Dance Revolution Wars or Guitar Heroe battles. All of that will change this year. At least I know that next year I'll be able to experience that once again, but my appreciation for what we have will have doubled from the absence of just one year from Christmas at home. I should probably finish this because the more I write the harder it becomes to stop. Christmas carols are playing in my head all along, and I hear them being sung by all of the voices of the family and the sound of the Murphy's piano. "ooooohhh OOOOHHHH Star of wonder star of might, star of wonderous beauty bright, westward leading still proceedingguide us to..." and so on, and so on.
Sunday Dec. 2
Boring but relaxing day. Did nothing until six. Had a rotary meeting where I received my monthly allowance. Afterwent to a movie with some exchange students. The new Ben Stiller movie. Can't remember the name in English, in Spanish it's "La Mujer de mis Pesadillas" (The woman of my nightmares) but it doesn't translate directly, the namein English is completely different.
Besides the Christmas setup really nothing happened this week. It was actually nice to have a relaxing week afterthe Cusco trip. Tomorrow I'll be volunteering somewhere. I found out today about volunteering and still don't knowwhere it is... just one small taste of the ridiculously unorganized rotary program that I am a part of here in Peru. Some big decisions are to be made about traveling in the weeks to come. I would love to visit Giorgio in Chile,it would be great to see Mike Epchook in Argentina, the one month trip for Rotary is coming up, many possibilitiesbut limited funds. I recently found out that the one month trip is now scheduled for February instead of January,and my family goes to the beach for the whole month of February, so I might opt to stick with the family at the beachand save the money from that trip and put it towards other travels. We'll just have to see how everything works out.I send good tidings, health and safety to everyone during this holiday season. I'll be thinking of you more and moreas my favorite family holiday approaches.
Love,
Jack
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Weekly Report Nov. 19-28
Monday Nov. 19
Cusco! Things began at about 5:30 am as we arrived in the city. We wearily got off of the bus, grabbed our bags, and waited for our other bus to arrive. The morning had a nice chill. I was very thankful for that because my seat on the bus was right behind the heater. A ten hour bus ride behind a heater through the night when you're trying to sleep isn't much fun. Once the bus arrived we loaded up our things and headed for the hotel.
At around eleven o'clock we were scheduled to take a tour of the city. We went to the Cathedral in the Plaza and to several other places around Cusco. In the night not many wanted to go out because we were so tired from the bus ride and city tour, so the night ended early.
Tuesday Nov. 20
We got up at 7:00 o'clock today to go rafting. The busride there took a couple of hours but the sights that we saw along the way kept us entertained. The mountains were really tall and green. On the slopes of some there were designs of shields and different sayings; a pretty typical sight in Peru. I stayed awake for the whole ride, thanks to my new found addiction to lemon candy. Along the river we went, up the winding road to where our basecamp was located. I couldn't wait to get there. It would be my first time white water rafting. The conversation that I had with a girl from Australia named Georgia made the ride go by pretty quickly. We were following a river that looked pretty calm on our way to camp. "That can't be the river that we are going to raft on," I told myself as I peered down through the bus window. I was dissapointed to find that this river was the one which we would be rafting down for two and a half hours. We all got changed into our wetsuits and got ready to brave the icy water. Fortunately I got along with everyone that was on my team, and found that there were several places scattered along the river that supplied a sufficient adrenaline rush. We had several commands to follow: Forward, backpeddles, left back, right back, get down (get down into the boat) and stop. At first it was a little confusing with the right and left commands because most focus going through the rapids was spent on the water and making sure that you stayed in the boat. Then once the rapids got a little harder it was hard to hear in the front of the boat so I missed a few commands. The sights that we saw along the rafting tour were even more amazing than those from the bus earlier. The mountains all around us were enormous.
When we got back to the base camp we were all very happy to be supplied with a sauna and hot showers. There were so many people there that I didn't get to take a shower but the sauna felt great. After the sauna I changed into some warm clothes and sat down for a nice cup on instant coffee. It was really nice to have a hot drink after the chilly water. It was overcast as well during our tour so the water chill really reached the bone. Lunch was a pretty typical Peruvian meal. A nice big bowl of hot soup with a second of BBQ chicken with fries and a bit of salad. The sun came out sometime during the meal so after I was done with my food I was able to sit in the sun for a few minutes and take a few pictures.
Wednesday Nov. 21
Sacred Valley today. Had to leave at around nine o'clock to catch the bus. The bus that we took was pretty comfy.There were extra seats because there weren't any other people with us so I was able to stretch a bit. The early morning was beautiful. It was raining just a little and had rained the night before extensively so there was a bit of fog over parts of the city. The air was cool and refreshing. Having become accustomed to the air in Arequipa I appreciate much more the pure and clean air that we have in Vermont. The air this morning in Cusco resembled the air from back home. Everyone with their rainjackets and backpacks piled into our tour bus at around nine thirty after a short walkup from the hotel. I felt prepared; point and shoot in the pocket, SLR in the hand, and tripod in the backpack. I felt good. Nice clean crisp air, technology at my dispense, and stunning scenory to capture. We headed up from the city headed for the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The views as always were amazing even along the way to our destination. There is so much more green in Cusco than there is in Arequipa. With much more rain the land is much more ferutile and still used for farming. One of the reasons that the Sacred Valley was so sacred to the Incas is because in that day to be rich was to work the best land and make the most produce. As the Sacred Valley comes into view you realize why it was named what it was. Green. Life.
We stopped to take pictures at one of the touristy spots. After about five miutes of taking photos and fighting off merchants we headed for our next destination. We were headed for the only Inca graveyard left standing. The others had been destroyed to create routes for buses to get to Machu Picchu. Again, the sights that we saw along the way gave our destination a run for its money. Most of what made all of our destinations what they were was simply their historical significance. The Inca graveyard was positioned on top of a hill overlooking a long and wide valley. There were ruins all about,which at first sight I thought held the tombs of the Incas. But no, they were just buildings. We looked around for a bit in the first set of ruins then took a path over to another set of ruins and the Inca graveyard. When I thought of graveyard I was expecting something different than what the tombs actually looked like. They were pretty much a bunch of holes in the side of the face of a cliff. I don't remember the exact number but I think there were something like 2000 graves in total.
Thursday Nov. 22
Free day! The day actually started out badly on our free day. It took forever to get everyone ready to go. And our rotary oficial had to get a bunch of things done before anyone could leave. We ended up not getting out until about two o'clock in the afternoon. Once we finally got out it was a good day. I went with a group of five; myself, Adam,Kelli, Andrew, and Paul. We walked around for a bit and ended up going to a place to get massages. That was great. I've never got a massage before. I felt so good afterwards. There were only two beds so while Kelli and Andrew got their massages Paul and I did some souvenir shopping. Adam didn't want to pay fourty Soles (about 13 bucks) for the hour massage so he left to find a better price somewhere else. While we were waiting we also went to a place called "Jack's Cafe". I had a chocolate milkshake and Paul had a beer. Then after our massages we went back with Andrew and Kelli to chill out for a bit before we had to go back to the hotel.
Friday Nov. 23
First day of Machu Picchu. It went pretty well I think. For most of the hike I was among the first of the pack in hopes of gettting some photos without any people in them. There were a couple of places along the way that we stopped either for ruins or for resting. The four guys: Andrew, Paul, Adam and I were in front of everyone. Carlos, our Rotary oficial, said that tomorrow we have to have two guys in front and two in back because a few of the girls were so slow. Just in case something happened he didn't want to be the only one back there. In the morning Paul and I would be in the back and for the second half of the day we would be in front. This is very frustrating. For all of Cusco Paul and I have been told that we have to stay behind for "protection". I missed what the guide was saying on the Cusco tour because a couple of the girls would always wait until we were about to leave and then decide that they wanted fifteen pictures. We'll just have to see how it goes.
Saturday Nov. 24
Long day to say the least. Today we were to be in the back of the group. We had made a deal the night before, the four guys,that Paul and I would be in the back for the first couple of checkpoints then Adam and Andrew would be in the back for the remainder of the day. It didn't exactly end up that way. Zoe has a problem with her heart and is also very out of shape, Stephanie has asthma and Jesse is just plain lazy and out of shape. So Paul and I are behind these girls with Carlos and one of the guides following. This is the second day of the Inca Trail, the hardest day, the day that is almost completely uphill and stairs for miles and miles. To start things off, to get to the first checkpoint, about a half and hour's hike, took us about an hour. Then it started to sprinkle. The rain only lasted for a minute or two, and after about fifteen minutes of rest and getting passport issues worked out we left our first checkpoint. To the next checkpoint should have taken about and hour and a half. It also should have been the place that we switched with the other boys so that we could hike at our own pace.
It took FOREVER.
Carlos and I were carrying Stephanie's backpack as we got to the first checkpoint and continued to carry it after we started for our next checkpoint. I switched with Paul for a bit and then we found a porter to carry the bag. If you want a porter to carry your things you have to barter with them until you find a price that you can both agree on. It is expensive, about 40 dollars for the whole trip. The porters are already carrying a ridiculous amout of weight, but still they don't turn down another 40 dollars if they can take it. They are the ones that are taking all of our tents, food, everything that we need. All that we have to carry are sleeping bags, mattress, cameras, and any food or water that you want. Anyway, we hiked through the jungle a bit, all stairs in high altitude don't forget, stopping literally about every 30 feet for the girls to rest and catch their breath. We finally reached the point where the boys should have stopped, but we grumpilly found that they hadn't stopped. After a few minutes rest we headed out again to our next checkpoint, again, should have taken about one hour and a half. This section took even longer than the one before. And to add to it all, it started pouring, and just wouldn't stop. It was unbearable how slowly the girls were walking. It was nice sometimes to get to see scenory for a long period of time, but only to a certain point. So Paul and I were really hoping that Adam and Andrew would stop at the third and final checkpoint, but as we came to the highest point that we would hike to on the Inca trail we found that yet again we would be following the girls for a few more hours until camp. This point was the highest point that we would hike to on the Inca trail at 4125 meters. For the next few hours to camp it would be all downhill. At the top I was unhappy to find that even though I had asked if my pancho was covering all of my things, and even though everyone said that everything was covered, that my sleeping back was completely soaked. All of these things added together just... pissed me off. So we walked down, down, and down. Finally we reached camp. The night was the worst night of the whole trip. We had been told that this night would be the coldest of all of the nights. So my sleeping bag was soaked, my mattress (about quarter inch thick and didn't help much) was soaked, and a bad mood made it horrible. I ended up getting into a tent with three other people to try to be warmer, but that didn't go well either. I was on the edge so didn't have any room and I was still freezing. Earlier one of the guides tried to help out everyone that had wet things by putting them next to the cooking fire. It was a nice gesture but it didn't help much.
Sunday Nov. 25
Paul and I were in front today. It was so nice to be able to hike at our own pace. For the beginning of the hike I wasn't hiking very fast, but fast enough to stay ahead of most people. We stopped at a small lake to pick up a few rocks that we were going to use to perform a little ceremony at one of our checkpoints. The ceremony was a tribute to the 3 mountains that were the most important to the Incas. We took three coca leaves and places them under a stone at the highest point that we could find.
Much of the hike today was throught the jungle. The path was very cool looking with overgrown bushes and all different kinds of plants. At one point in the hike a porter passed me jogging. I was trying to catch up to Paul, so I figured that I'd jog with him for a bit. He stopped eventually to rest, but I was feeling good and wasn't even breathing hard so I decided that I would keep going. I got steadily faster and faster, and eventually I was sort of running. It was downhill and the altitude was becoming more and more easy to breath in, so running just felt good. There was a fork in the road about half an hour before camp. You could either take the right, shorter and straight to the camp, or take the left, longer with another set of ruins. I opted for left. I thought that Paul might do the same but even if he didn't I wanted to see the other ruins. So I continued to run, almost tripping on my walking stick once because I had to duck for some branches. I got there and found that Paul had gone the other way. I took a bit of time to climb the long steep staircase of the structure and found a view that was the best I had seen so far. I was at a high point and could see for miles and miles. I took a couple of pictures of myself by setting my camera in one of the windows of the structure, forgetting that I had been carrying a tripod on my back for just this reason. After I had finished at this set of ruins I once again set off running. Down the winding path towards our encampment I went. I arrived to find Paul sleeping in a tent. I was tent buddies with him so I set up all of my stuff and asked him if he had taken the left or the right. Like I had thought he had taken the right, straight to camp. I figured since I had taken a longer trail that there would be more people that had arrived before me, but to my surprise it was just Paul. He had gotten there about half an hour before me. He had begun to run too, that's why I never caught up to him before the fork in the path. I changed my clothes and waited around for a while to see when everyone would arrive. My UVM sweatshirt was soakedwith sweat, along with my other clothes so I put them on top of the tents to dry a bit. About an hour later the next person from our group showed up. It was Nicole, the girl that had arrived first among the girls everyday of the Inca Trail. Every 20 minutes or so more people arrived from our group. The last group of people arrived about anhour and a half after I got there. I was happy to see that Andrew and Adam had been bored out of their minds waiting for the girls. As they arrived in the camp my eyes met with Andrew's and he put an imaginary pistol to the bottom of this throat and pulled the imaginary trigger. But they had arrived three hours before us the day before AND had got to camp before the rain, so they had nothing to complain about. I ended up being the only person of the entire group to see the other ruins. I'm proud and glad to have gone, because I got to see some of the best views on the whole trail.
This was our last night with the porters and our last big meal as a group, so we had a special ceremony after dinner to thank the porters for carrying all of our stuff. We also gave them their tips (a mandatory tip) after thanking them. This night was much more comfortable than the previous, apart from waking up at midnight to the heaving and crying of Zoe, who had apparantly become dehydrated and sick.
Monday Nov. 26
Finally, the day comes that we would arrive at Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of this world. We awoke early to get a good start on the other groups. At four o'clock my alarm went off, and I was surprised to find that soon after I heard other groups already heading off into the darkness. We got ready as quickly as possible. We ate our usual breakfast of bread, crackers and instant coffee and at quarter after five headed out for Machu Picchu. Paul and I were once again forced to stick behind. We only had one checkpoint today though, and there Andrew and Adam told us that if we wanted we could go ahead because we wanted to hike Waynapicchu, the mountain directly behind Machu Picchu. I really wanted to hike it, because I had heard that they only let 400 people in a day. I ended up being wrong; they let only 400 people in at a time, but still it was nice to go at my own pace again, which today was a powerwalk. We got a couple of nasty looks from other groups because we had passed them everyday and they were getting sick of us, but I wasn't too worried about them. I was determined to get there early enough to get some pictures without 1500 people in them and to hike Waynapicchu too. Paul and I arrived at Machu Picchu at seven o'clock. We could have seen it earlier at our checkpoint, La Puerta del Sol, but it was so overcast that we weren't able to see it. Coming into the ruins of Machu Picchu made all of the dumb crap that happened on the Trail worth it. The sun started to come out, there weren't many people there... it was perfect. We sat on a rock, where we saw a couple of Dutch people that we had seen rafting and in Cusco, so Paul talked to them for a bit and I just soaked in the view. It really couldn't have gotten much better. We were at Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the world. It had taken four days of hiking to get there. We had walked up and down thousands of stairs, trekked through the pouring rain, sweat enough to lose about 10 pounds, run, crawled, laughed, fought.... and we were finally there. The experience cannot be the same if you go on the train. It just can't be the same. All that you work through be hiking the InceTrail makes you appreciate what you are seeing so much more. We waited about an hour for the rest of the group to get there. The guide said that we had time before we needed to go to the checkpoint for Waynapicchu, so we went with them to drop off our bags before our tour of the ruins. We walked around, heard talks of the most important people to discover Machu Picchu and just enjoyed where we were. At ten o'clock the guide said that we should head to the checkpoint for Waynapicchu. I was number 107 to enter. Just the four boys decided that they wanted to go. The trail to Waynapicchu made the Inca Trail look like it was for little girls. Without backpacks we were panting and had to stop for breaks several times. But once again once when we reached our destination it made all the work worth it. At the top of Waynapicchu we could see all of the ruins of Machu Picchu, along with a 360 degree view of all of the surrounding mountains. We met a woman from Miami there who shared water and some trail mix with us. It was very generous of her. We thanked her a lot, especially because we had to leave our backpacks down at Machu Picchu and didn't have any water or food. Once we got back down off of the mountain, we walked around a bit, and then it was time to go. We loaded onto our bus and headed for Aguas Calientes (Hot waters). I thought that it was going to be something like the thermal springs that we visited in Colca, but it was just a city. We ate at a little restaurant in the city and then headed out back to Cusco. We took a train for a couple of hours that was pretty comfy until Ollantaytambo, then a bus to Cusco.Pretty quiet night, everyone was so tired that they just went to bed.
Tuesday Nov. 27
Nice day. Didn't have anything planned to do so we just walked around for a bit. We ate, then I went to an Irish Pub to watch the Champions league soccer games. Paul, Andrew and I were there for 4 or 5 hours just watching the games. It was really nice to hang out with them for a while and relax.
At six thirty we were back at the hotel leaving for the bus station. Really long bus ride back. And it was unbearably hot too. I was trying to sleep but it was too hard with the heat. I slept for a little while, but then for a while I was just sitting trying to sleep in the dark.
Wednesday Nov. 28
Arrived at 5:00 in Arequipa. Tired but safe. Took a shower and slept for a few hours. Ate lunch with the family and talked about the trip a bit. Now I'm just sorting and loading photos and trying to organize all my clothes and stuff.
Amazing week. Now I can say that I have seen one of the wonders of this world. I have hiked the Inca Trail, I have been to Machu Picchu, I have hiked Waynapicchu, I have seen Cusco. I hope that everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I didn't get to do anything for Thanksgiving this year but hey, we'll just have to make up for it next year. I'll post another report at the end of this week, but just a short one. Then it will be back to one every week for a while.
Love you all, can't wait till we see each other again.
-Jack
p.s. Mom the hiking shorts were amazing, I don't know what I would have done without them.
Cusco! Things began at about 5:30 am as we arrived in the city. We wearily got off of the bus, grabbed our bags, and waited for our other bus to arrive. The morning had a nice chill. I was very thankful for that because my seat on the bus was right behind the heater. A ten hour bus ride behind a heater through the night when you're trying to sleep isn't much fun. Once the bus arrived we loaded up our things and headed for the hotel.
At around eleven o'clock we were scheduled to take a tour of the city. We went to the Cathedral in the Plaza and to several other places around Cusco. In the night not many wanted to go out because we were so tired from the bus ride and city tour, so the night ended early.
Tuesday Nov. 20
We got up at 7:00 o'clock today to go rafting. The busride there took a couple of hours but the sights that we saw along the way kept us entertained. The mountains were really tall and green. On the slopes of some there were designs of shields and different sayings; a pretty typical sight in Peru. I stayed awake for the whole ride, thanks to my new found addiction to lemon candy. Along the river we went, up the winding road to where our basecamp was located. I couldn't wait to get there. It would be my first time white water rafting. The conversation that I had with a girl from Australia named Georgia made the ride go by pretty quickly. We were following a river that looked pretty calm on our way to camp. "That can't be the river that we are going to raft on," I told myself as I peered down through the bus window. I was dissapointed to find that this river was the one which we would be rafting down for two and a half hours. We all got changed into our wetsuits and got ready to brave the icy water. Fortunately I got along with everyone that was on my team, and found that there were several places scattered along the river that supplied a sufficient adrenaline rush. We had several commands to follow: Forward, backpeddles, left back, right back, get down (get down into the boat) and stop. At first it was a little confusing with the right and left commands because most focus going through the rapids was spent on the water and making sure that you stayed in the boat. Then once the rapids got a little harder it was hard to hear in the front of the boat so I missed a few commands. The sights that we saw along the rafting tour were even more amazing than those from the bus earlier. The mountains all around us were enormous.
When we got back to the base camp we were all very happy to be supplied with a sauna and hot showers. There were so many people there that I didn't get to take a shower but the sauna felt great. After the sauna I changed into some warm clothes and sat down for a nice cup on instant coffee. It was really nice to have a hot drink after the chilly water. It was overcast as well during our tour so the water chill really reached the bone. Lunch was a pretty typical Peruvian meal. A nice big bowl of hot soup with a second of BBQ chicken with fries and a bit of salad. The sun came out sometime during the meal so after I was done with my food I was able to sit in the sun for a few minutes and take a few pictures.
Wednesday Nov. 21
Sacred Valley today. Had to leave at around nine o'clock to catch the bus. The bus that we took was pretty comfy.There were extra seats because there weren't any other people with us so I was able to stretch a bit. The early morning was beautiful. It was raining just a little and had rained the night before extensively so there was a bit of fog over parts of the city. The air was cool and refreshing. Having become accustomed to the air in Arequipa I appreciate much more the pure and clean air that we have in Vermont. The air this morning in Cusco resembled the air from back home. Everyone with their rainjackets and backpacks piled into our tour bus at around nine thirty after a short walkup from the hotel. I felt prepared; point and shoot in the pocket, SLR in the hand, and tripod in the backpack. I felt good. Nice clean crisp air, technology at my dispense, and stunning scenory to capture. We headed up from the city headed for the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The views as always were amazing even along the way to our destination. There is so much more green in Cusco than there is in Arequipa. With much more rain the land is much more ferutile and still used for farming. One of the reasons that the Sacred Valley was so sacred to the Incas is because in that day to be rich was to work the best land and make the most produce. As the Sacred Valley comes into view you realize why it was named what it was. Green. Life.
We stopped to take pictures at one of the touristy spots. After about five miutes of taking photos and fighting off merchants we headed for our next destination. We were headed for the only Inca graveyard left standing. The others had been destroyed to create routes for buses to get to Machu Picchu. Again, the sights that we saw along the way gave our destination a run for its money. Most of what made all of our destinations what they were was simply their historical significance. The Inca graveyard was positioned on top of a hill overlooking a long and wide valley. There were ruins all about,which at first sight I thought held the tombs of the Incas. But no, they were just buildings. We looked around for a bit in the first set of ruins then took a path over to another set of ruins and the Inca graveyard. When I thought of graveyard I was expecting something different than what the tombs actually looked like. They were pretty much a bunch of holes in the side of the face of a cliff. I don't remember the exact number but I think there were something like 2000 graves in total.
Thursday Nov. 22
Free day! The day actually started out badly on our free day. It took forever to get everyone ready to go. And our rotary oficial had to get a bunch of things done before anyone could leave. We ended up not getting out until about two o'clock in the afternoon. Once we finally got out it was a good day. I went with a group of five; myself, Adam,Kelli, Andrew, and Paul. We walked around for a bit and ended up going to a place to get massages. That was great. I've never got a massage before. I felt so good afterwards. There were only two beds so while Kelli and Andrew got their massages Paul and I did some souvenir shopping. Adam didn't want to pay fourty Soles (about 13 bucks) for the hour massage so he left to find a better price somewhere else. While we were waiting we also went to a place called "Jack's Cafe". I had a chocolate milkshake and Paul had a beer. Then after our massages we went back with Andrew and Kelli to chill out for a bit before we had to go back to the hotel.
Friday Nov. 23
First day of Machu Picchu. It went pretty well I think. For most of the hike I was among the first of the pack in hopes of gettting some photos without any people in them. There were a couple of places along the way that we stopped either for ruins or for resting. The four guys: Andrew, Paul, Adam and I were in front of everyone. Carlos, our Rotary oficial, said that tomorrow we have to have two guys in front and two in back because a few of the girls were so slow. Just in case something happened he didn't want to be the only one back there. In the morning Paul and I would be in the back and for the second half of the day we would be in front. This is very frustrating. For all of Cusco Paul and I have been told that we have to stay behind for "protection". I missed what the guide was saying on the Cusco tour because a couple of the girls would always wait until we were about to leave and then decide that they wanted fifteen pictures. We'll just have to see how it goes.
Saturday Nov. 24
Long day to say the least. Today we were to be in the back of the group. We had made a deal the night before, the four guys,that Paul and I would be in the back for the first couple of checkpoints then Adam and Andrew would be in the back for the remainder of the day. It didn't exactly end up that way. Zoe has a problem with her heart and is also very out of shape, Stephanie has asthma and Jesse is just plain lazy and out of shape. So Paul and I are behind these girls with Carlos and one of the guides following. This is the second day of the Inca Trail, the hardest day, the day that is almost completely uphill and stairs for miles and miles. To start things off, to get to the first checkpoint, about a half and hour's hike, took us about an hour. Then it started to sprinkle. The rain only lasted for a minute or two, and after about fifteen minutes of rest and getting passport issues worked out we left our first checkpoint. To the next checkpoint should have taken about and hour and a half. It also should have been the place that we switched with the other boys so that we could hike at our own pace.
It took FOREVER.
Carlos and I were carrying Stephanie's backpack as we got to the first checkpoint and continued to carry it after we started for our next checkpoint. I switched with Paul for a bit and then we found a porter to carry the bag. If you want a porter to carry your things you have to barter with them until you find a price that you can both agree on. It is expensive, about 40 dollars for the whole trip. The porters are already carrying a ridiculous amout of weight, but still they don't turn down another 40 dollars if they can take it. They are the ones that are taking all of our tents, food, everything that we need. All that we have to carry are sleeping bags, mattress, cameras, and any food or water that you want. Anyway, we hiked through the jungle a bit, all stairs in high altitude don't forget, stopping literally about every 30 feet for the girls to rest and catch their breath. We finally reached the point where the boys should have stopped, but we grumpilly found that they hadn't stopped. After a few minutes rest we headed out again to our next checkpoint, again, should have taken about one hour and a half. This section took even longer than the one before. And to add to it all, it started pouring, and just wouldn't stop. It was unbearable how slowly the girls were walking. It was nice sometimes to get to see scenory for a long period of time, but only to a certain point. So Paul and I were really hoping that Adam and Andrew would stop at the third and final checkpoint, but as we came to the highest point that we would hike to on the Inca trail we found that yet again we would be following the girls for a few more hours until camp. This point was the highest point that we would hike to on the Inca trail at 4125 meters. For the next few hours to camp it would be all downhill. At the top I was unhappy to find that even though I had asked if my pancho was covering all of my things, and even though everyone said that everything was covered, that my sleeping back was completely soaked. All of these things added together just... pissed me off. So we walked down, down, and down. Finally we reached camp. The night was the worst night of the whole trip. We had been told that this night would be the coldest of all of the nights. So my sleeping bag was soaked, my mattress (about quarter inch thick and didn't help much) was soaked, and a bad mood made it horrible. I ended up getting into a tent with three other people to try to be warmer, but that didn't go well either. I was on the edge so didn't have any room and I was still freezing. Earlier one of the guides tried to help out everyone that had wet things by putting them next to the cooking fire. It was a nice gesture but it didn't help much.
Sunday Nov. 25
Paul and I were in front today. It was so nice to be able to hike at our own pace. For the beginning of the hike I wasn't hiking very fast, but fast enough to stay ahead of most people. We stopped at a small lake to pick up a few rocks that we were going to use to perform a little ceremony at one of our checkpoints. The ceremony was a tribute to the 3 mountains that were the most important to the Incas. We took three coca leaves and places them under a stone at the highest point that we could find.
Much of the hike today was throught the jungle. The path was very cool looking with overgrown bushes and all different kinds of plants. At one point in the hike a porter passed me jogging. I was trying to catch up to Paul, so I figured that I'd jog with him for a bit. He stopped eventually to rest, but I was feeling good and wasn't even breathing hard so I decided that I would keep going. I got steadily faster and faster, and eventually I was sort of running. It was downhill and the altitude was becoming more and more easy to breath in, so running just felt good. There was a fork in the road about half an hour before camp. You could either take the right, shorter and straight to the camp, or take the left, longer with another set of ruins. I opted for left. I thought that Paul might do the same but even if he didn't I wanted to see the other ruins. So I continued to run, almost tripping on my walking stick once because I had to duck for some branches. I got there and found that Paul had gone the other way. I took a bit of time to climb the long steep staircase of the structure and found a view that was the best I had seen so far. I was at a high point and could see for miles and miles. I took a couple of pictures of myself by setting my camera in one of the windows of the structure, forgetting that I had been carrying a tripod on my back for just this reason. After I had finished at this set of ruins I once again set off running. Down the winding path towards our encampment I went. I arrived to find Paul sleeping in a tent. I was tent buddies with him so I set up all of my stuff and asked him if he had taken the left or the right. Like I had thought he had taken the right, straight to camp. I figured since I had taken a longer trail that there would be more people that had arrived before me, but to my surprise it was just Paul. He had gotten there about half an hour before me. He had begun to run too, that's why I never caught up to him before the fork in the path. I changed my clothes and waited around for a while to see when everyone would arrive. My UVM sweatshirt was soakedwith sweat, along with my other clothes so I put them on top of the tents to dry a bit. About an hour later the next person from our group showed up. It was Nicole, the girl that had arrived first among the girls everyday of the Inca Trail. Every 20 minutes or so more people arrived from our group. The last group of people arrived about anhour and a half after I got there. I was happy to see that Andrew and Adam had been bored out of their minds waiting for the girls. As they arrived in the camp my eyes met with Andrew's and he put an imaginary pistol to the bottom of this throat and pulled the imaginary trigger. But they had arrived three hours before us the day before AND had got to camp before the rain, so they had nothing to complain about. I ended up being the only person of the entire group to see the other ruins. I'm proud and glad to have gone, because I got to see some of the best views on the whole trail.
This was our last night with the porters and our last big meal as a group, so we had a special ceremony after dinner to thank the porters for carrying all of our stuff. We also gave them their tips (a mandatory tip) after thanking them. This night was much more comfortable than the previous, apart from waking up at midnight to the heaving and crying of Zoe, who had apparantly become dehydrated and sick.
Monday Nov. 26
Finally, the day comes that we would arrive at Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of this world. We awoke early to get a good start on the other groups. At four o'clock my alarm went off, and I was surprised to find that soon after I heard other groups already heading off into the darkness. We got ready as quickly as possible. We ate our usual breakfast of bread, crackers and instant coffee and at quarter after five headed out for Machu Picchu. Paul and I were once again forced to stick behind. We only had one checkpoint today though, and there Andrew and Adam told us that if we wanted we could go ahead because we wanted to hike Waynapicchu, the mountain directly behind Machu Picchu. I really wanted to hike it, because I had heard that they only let 400 people in a day. I ended up being wrong; they let only 400 people in at a time, but still it was nice to go at my own pace again, which today was a powerwalk. We got a couple of nasty looks from other groups because we had passed them everyday and they were getting sick of us, but I wasn't too worried about them. I was determined to get there early enough to get some pictures without 1500 people in them and to hike Waynapicchu too. Paul and I arrived at Machu Picchu at seven o'clock. We could have seen it earlier at our checkpoint, La Puerta del Sol, but it was so overcast that we weren't able to see it. Coming into the ruins of Machu Picchu made all of the dumb crap that happened on the Trail worth it. The sun started to come out, there weren't many people there... it was perfect. We sat on a rock, where we saw a couple of Dutch people that we had seen rafting and in Cusco, so Paul talked to them for a bit and I just soaked in the view. It really couldn't have gotten much better. We were at Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the world. It had taken four days of hiking to get there. We had walked up and down thousands of stairs, trekked through the pouring rain, sweat enough to lose about 10 pounds, run, crawled, laughed, fought.... and we were finally there. The experience cannot be the same if you go on the train. It just can't be the same. All that you work through be hiking the InceTrail makes you appreciate what you are seeing so much more. We waited about an hour for the rest of the group to get there. The guide said that we had time before we needed to go to the checkpoint for Waynapicchu, so we went with them to drop off our bags before our tour of the ruins. We walked around, heard talks of the most important people to discover Machu Picchu and just enjoyed where we were. At ten o'clock the guide said that we should head to the checkpoint for Waynapicchu. I was number 107 to enter. Just the four boys decided that they wanted to go. The trail to Waynapicchu made the Inca Trail look like it was for little girls. Without backpacks we were panting and had to stop for breaks several times. But once again once when we reached our destination it made all the work worth it. At the top of Waynapicchu we could see all of the ruins of Machu Picchu, along with a 360 degree view of all of the surrounding mountains. We met a woman from Miami there who shared water and some trail mix with us. It was very generous of her. We thanked her a lot, especially because we had to leave our backpacks down at Machu Picchu and didn't have any water or food. Once we got back down off of the mountain, we walked around a bit, and then it was time to go. We loaded onto our bus and headed for Aguas Calientes (Hot waters). I thought that it was going to be something like the thermal springs that we visited in Colca, but it was just a city. We ate at a little restaurant in the city and then headed out back to Cusco. We took a train for a couple of hours that was pretty comfy until Ollantaytambo, then a bus to Cusco.Pretty quiet night, everyone was so tired that they just went to bed.
Tuesday Nov. 27
Nice day. Didn't have anything planned to do so we just walked around for a bit. We ate, then I went to an Irish Pub to watch the Champions league soccer games. Paul, Andrew and I were there for 4 or 5 hours just watching the games. It was really nice to hang out with them for a while and relax.
At six thirty we were back at the hotel leaving for the bus station. Really long bus ride back. And it was unbearably hot too. I was trying to sleep but it was too hard with the heat. I slept for a little while, but then for a while I was just sitting trying to sleep in the dark.
Wednesday Nov. 28
Arrived at 5:00 in Arequipa. Tired but safe. Took a shower and slept for a few hours. Ate lunch with the family and talked about the trip a bit. Now I'm just sorting and loading photos and trying to organize all my clothes and stuff.
Amazing week. Now I can say that I have seen one of the wonders of this world. I have hiked the Inca Trail, I have been to Machu Picchu, I have hiked Waynapicchu, I have seen Cusco. I hope that everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I didn't get to do anything for Thanksgiving this year but hey, we'll just have to make up for it next year. I'll post another report at the end of this week, but just a short one. Then it will be back to one every week for a while.
Love you all, can't wait till we see each other again.
-Jack
p.s. Mom the hiking shorts were amazing, I don't know what I would have done without them.
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