Trabajo de Rotary para la Navidad

The last two weekends Ive been doing work with my Rotary club here helping to give presents to underprivileged children in Peru. About an hour outside of the city of Lima up in the mountains is a very poor part of Peru so we travelled up there in bus and began doing Santa's work! We worked from the kids' school and all of the kids came there while we spent the day entertaining them, feeding them, and keeping them out of trouble. Entertaining involved singing to them and me personally dressing up as a princess haha and feeding them involved a traditional fruitcake called panettone which I guess is popular in some parts of South America and Europe. Panettone is insanely popular here and you can find in in nearly every peruvians house during christmas time here. Theres four in my house right now, but thats another story! So, after the children were entertained by us, an actual company comes in and puts on a real show for them and the kids play games and win prizes and its a great time for them, and us because we can get a little break! It gets so hot up in the mountains and especially now that summer is beginning, the heat was killer! Once the show ends we corral all the little kids into different classrooms and watched over them until they got called out to go and finally receive their gifts, which is what these kids are really looking forward to. As we were waiting in the classroom the kids were telling me what they asked santa for and one kid told me that he had no toys in his house so he just asked for anything to play with, which broke my heart but I was happy because we were there to help him and now he would have a toy for christmas. After all the kids had been given their gifts and sent back home we helped clean up everything and when we finally got back on the bus we were all sleeping because we were so tired!  This was the first weekend and we worked with about 800 kids, the second weekend we had 1500 kids! It actually turned out easier the second weekend because they were all kept in bleachers watching some form of entertainment instead of running around us going crazy like the first time. It was nice to do some volunteer work during christmas time and i was really glad i got to help out and make some christmases better for these kids.

Fiesta de la Promocion

Wednesday night was my prom here!!!!  So lets start with what i wore, I was going to wear a really pretty blue prom dress sent to me from home but the package never got here!!! So, i had to improvise with a dress i already had here and borrow shoes, buy jewelry and all of that fun stuff. It ended up urning out alright though :)  I got ready with another girl from the states and we had a great time. I met with my prom date and his best friend and we headed off to the prom location. Here in Peru the boy gives the girl a corsage but the girl normally does not give one to the boy, so I have one with a fake flower which apparently is more popular here than real flowers. Anyway, we get there and there is a professional photographer out front and he takes a picture of everyone with their date and alone and then when we get inside its super pretty so we took a few more pictures ourselves before going in. The actual prom was held under like a giant tent with a dance floor and tables around it  on the grass, which was difficult because our chairs kept sinking into the dirt all night!  So when we for there at like 9 people just kind of socialized and took pictures and that fun stuff and then dinner was served around 11:30 or so -I was dying- and it was some really weird food that i didn't even really eat. After that the dancing began and there was an open bar which shocked me but hey, alright Peru. So from that point on into the wee hours of the morning we just kept dancing and talking and it was a great last night to be with all of my peruvian friends together. Prom here ends at 6 in the morning! That was actually hard for me because around 2 i was about done for the night. But I pushed on, and made it all the way to the end!! When it ended the majority of people took buses back to the villas, which is a place thats like a gated military community where most of the students of my school live, but a few just called taxis to come and get them. I went back in the bus to the villa with all of the exchange students and from there we separated and went back home.  I got home at like 8 and after some breakfast and changing out of my dress I slept and slept and slept. My goodness was I exhausted! But i really did have an amazing time even if everything didn't go according to plan :)  Too bad in peru you only get to go as a senior!!!

Elecciones

I know I haven't finished about my trip yet but today was election days and there was a few interesting things that I thought I should mention. First of all you HAVE to vote, there's no option here. If you don't vote you have to pay a fine of like $30-$60 depending on the importance of the election. Also, voting is very fast here and only takes like 5 minutes in and out. My mom here said that she hates voting and normally writes in "waste of time" on the ballot and votes for that because there's soooo many candidates and she does't know anything about any of them. It's not like in the states where there's coverage on tv of who the candidates are and what they want to do, if you want to know about them, you have to really do your research and a lot of people can't be bothered to do so. Finally, they do not sell liquor, and it is prohibited by law to have parties or gatherings on the day of and the days before election day. I guess they don't want any disturbances nor people going to vote drunk. The liquor law might be the same in the states but I'm not entirely sure. So yeah, just thought that was interesting :)

Machu Picchu

So the say we went to Machu Picchu began suuupppeeeerrr early and with an oddly terrible stomach ache. We ate breakfast, got all of our things together, and headed down the road to catch a bus up the mountain to the ruins.

The bus ride was about a half an hour zig zagging up the side of this mountain at scarily high speeds, and as we got higher and higher, I could feel the magic of Machu Picchu!! As we got higher we became enveloped in clouds, turning our view of the valley into a blank white slate. I noticed that the trees began to change too, from normal tree-y trees into twisty exotic plants that looked like they had come out straight from Incan times.  (not great pictures)

They made me get excited for the ruins that we were about to see even if my stomach was fighting every step I took. We all began to walk through the ticket booth and up the path, following this brick wall until we got to an opening and we saw the real life wonder of the world, Machu Picchu!!!

 first photo!

It was so crazy to think that I was finally seeing this thing that I had seen so many pictures of and imagined how it would be. It was totally different than I expected. First off this may sound a little odd but it seemed so much smaller than i imagined! But the feeling of it was so much more powerful than i expected. It was really crazy to think ancient people lived here and built this, that this was their world up here in the mountains and the clouds. So our climb started at mid level of the ruins so we began to climb up some stairs, and i puked, and then went to a natural platform to take pictures, and i puked, and then began touring the edges of the ruins until we stopped to see some  rocks, and i puked.

 me dying 20 seconds pre and post puking

  The tour ended after 3 hours and then we were free to explore Machu Picchu on our own. We were allowed to leave at any point and just take the bus back down and although the president of rotary told me to go down there was no way i was leaving, who knows when ill get to come back!!! So after walking a bit with an awesome Danish girl named Sascha we met up with some other students and they decided to do one of the 3 hour walks around the whole thing. I obviously couldn't do it so i decided to hang out in the shade where i could at least look at and take some pictures of the beautiful view and the ruins. After a little nap on Machu Picchu and my bug spray leaking all over my leg i decided to catch a bus back down the mountain to the hotel. On the way out though I met up with 3 other girls from rotary and we all took the bus down together. The rest of the afternoon consisted of soup, pills, and naps in the hotel lobby with everyone watching me. Oh and i can't forget planet of the apes on tv! Hahaha so even though it wasn't exactly as planned, I still had an amazing time  and got the pictures that i promised hahaha.

Viaje a Cusco y Puno

So I will start by saying that this was a really amazing trip and I'm so glad that I got to go on it and see all these really cool parts of Peru. This trip included going to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, along with a bunch of ancient ruins and other places. Our first day we flew in to Cusco and did some tours of the city, starting with an old church that was built around old Incan structures.

 One of the most notable characteristics of Incan structures are that they are built with square shaped stones that are cut to fit together so perfectly that they say the thinest piece of paper couldn't get between the stones. Another characteristic of these structures are trapezoid shaped windows and there is a very scientific reason for them. Peru is a country that has a lot of earthquakes and the shape of these windows worked to absorb all of the energy from the tremors instead of all of the energy staying in the walls and tearing down the structures. This is why places like Machu Picchu are still around, because the structure is so solid it has been able to endure countless earthquakes and years of damage.

Another thing that I found really interesting is that the Incans built well type structures that they filled with water and used as mirrors to track the stars. The used the well things because they were stationary and made recording constellation movement very easy.

 They also used the position of the sun to mark their new year which falls on June 21st by building structures like sun temples, and on this day the sun would shine on that specific spot and the new year would begin. We also got to see replica of an art piece that showed the order of important things to the Incan people, religion wise. They believed in a god similar to the modern christian god and that was the most important to the people and under this god was the sun and moon, who took the roles of father and mother to the earth and the people. The order continues with other things like the starts and clouds and water until finally it ends with the Incan people and minerals.

Our next stop was some more ruins which didn't have anything really interesting until we got to natural slides, like park slides made of rock. It was a little scary because you slide down reaalllly fast but it was a ton of fun. Also at this stop was a cave pathway which got completely dark and we had to use the flash on our cameras to see where we were going so we didn't run into walls.

We visited a third ruin site which really only had a fountain thing that they used to collect water, which was kind of cool but probably not worth walking up the mountain to see it haha. 

The second day we started out by going to a zoo! We saw a puma, condors, llamas, ducks, parrots, and a few other small animals.

Then we went to the sacred valley which is literally a valley which was very important to the Incan people and there's a river there that goes all the way to Machu Picchu. In the sacred valley we stopped in a silver shop and they showed us how to identify real silver (another night we did the same thing in an alpaca shop).

After that we went to two more ruins and one of them had a sun temple, which I mentioned earlier.

 To end the day we caught a train to the city of Machu Picchu which is where pretty much just where people stay on their way to see the ruins.

We went to hot water springs that night and then got ready for the next day which was Machu Picchu!!!!!   I'll add pictures to this later because its not working  and continue tomorrow :) 

Sabado

Thought I'd right a little about a typical saturday here in Peru with my family. So today I got up at like 7:30 and at 8:30 we headed out to the grocery store which of course is a lot different than back home. First off, it's ginormous. like a meijers on steroids. We started in the fruits and vegetables section where you put all of the food in bags and then go to a station in the center of it all where theres a guy inside a circle of electric scales and he just keeps going in circles printing off price stickers and sticking them on the bags to price them so when you go to the front it's already weighted and everything. After that we went around getting juice boxes for me to take to school, laundry soap, normal stuff like that. One thing that I'm not sure if we have are the juice flavors they have here. There's like apple and orange and normal stuff but there's also peach (which i hate), mango, and pear. So besides that I also thought it was kind of funny how my dad was organizing the cart like he was in a packing competition, stacking the fruit so nothing got squished, and then he just sticks a watermelon on top of it all! I was laughing a little at that :). After this we headed off to have "brunch" ( yes they call it brunch, not desayunmuerzo or something) with my mom's niece. It was nice and she was actually super nice and I really enjoyed talking to her. She lives in Iquitos too and we'll be heading there soon and she told me to call her when I go and maybe she can show me around or something which was really sweet of her. After this we came home and ate lunch which nearly killed me because I was so stuffed and then I headed out with my neighbor Mafe and we went to a fabric store for her to buy fabric for her Pre-prom dress which she is having special made because she's super particular about clothing and she knows what she wants. I wish I could be like that, I always end up buying two dresses because I'm so indecisive. Tonight I'll be going out with Mafe to a party which should be fun :) I'll get to meet her school friends. She says they all know about me because she talks about me but I have only actually met a few of them so far. I'm a little nervous but we'll see how it goes.

Fashion for Aunt Shannon

So I suppose I'll start with the thing that Peruvian fashion is most known for which would be the chullos, or the knit hats that cover the ears and have like braids or strings hanging down. People don't use them a ton, especially in Lima because it doesn't get super cold here like it does up in the mountains where the chullos are more popular. Another thing similar to the hats are alpaca hair sweaters and scarves. You can find them at pretty much any market in Lima or anywhere in Peru really. An alpaca sweater is one of the things that I definitely want to get while I'm here but I haven't gotten one yet. The winter is pretty much over here now though so I'll wait until it's back again :)    But thinking of buying things I could mention money here. They use the nuevo sol here and for an idea of what it's worth 20 soles is 7.23 dollars. And pretty much everything is 20 soles. Things are priced here as if they were dollars, like a sweater in the states would be like 35 dollars and here it's 35 soles ($12.65) It's funny because I think being here has made me cheap because 35 soles is like a lot to me now! But when you think 12 dollars that's nothing, especially for a really nice alpaca sweater! I've been working on the whole bartering thing too which is a fun time for me and my friends are sometimes impressed when I get a really good price and I give all the credit to spanish class mercado. When we went to the black market I was with my friend who doesn't speak much spanish and he wanted a watch and asked me to talk to the guy for him and get a good price. The vendor started at 50 and I said 40, he 45, me 40, he 43 and we ended at 42 which is a pretty decent deal for a (probably fake/stolen) underwater, light up, adidas watch. But aannnyywwwaaayyy back to fashion :) So besides the people who live in the mountain and use the chullos and the native women in their floor length colored skirts and traditional hats, people pretty much wear the same stuff as us on normal days. People go with jeans, a jacket, basic stuff.  :)    Hope this satisfies you Aunt Shannon hahahaha love you!!!

Primer Viaje parte 2

Ok so second day of the trip starts pretty early and we get in a bus and head back up the mountains. Eventually we get to this place called Colca Canyon where there are condors and it's super gorgeous. On this day it just so happened to be tourist day so there were a ton of people who live in the mountains there selling goods and giving out food and drinks for us to try. The condor isn't always there so we go really lucky when we got to see it a few times flying right by us. What wasn't so lucky is my camera died right before we got there so i could only use my phone to take pictures. After hanging out for a while at this spot we took an hour hike along the canyon which was gorgeous but i got a helluva sunburn which is still here.

From here we ventured on to Arequipa- the white city. Where we got a ton a free time which was nice. We stayed in a hotel which was walking distance to the plaza de armas and we took a few tours while we were there. In the plaza was the government building and a beautiful church which we ended up taking a tour of one day. A few of our other tours were to el convento de Santa Catalina, a llama farm, the mirador de yanahuara, and some famous historic houses.  

the church

the convent

the plaza

mirador 

volcano Misti

llama farm

look out they spit

casa de something

yup i rode a horse. We stopped and you could go to a museum or ride a horse so I chose Marshmallow here. He decided however that it would be fun to take me not to the end point, but to run off with me into the back of the stable thing and a small child had to come rescue me.

After all of these adventures we headed down south even more to a city called Tacna. It's a lot smaller than Arequipa and Lima and is the last real city before you get to Chile. While we were here we also had a bit of free time which i used to go to a black market and buy a really cute purse. There were a few tours that we took here as well to see the city. The main things that are in Tacna are historical sites from this giant war that happened between Chile and Peru which Chile won. I'm pretty sure it was over some land but truthfully i wasn't that interested so i'm not the best person to ask about that. We just saw some houses where some papers were signed and that was all fine and dandy. Besides these places we also went to a train museum, and tried Tacna sour, which is a drink that you can only get in this city. Pisco is a type of alcohol that is made mainly here in Peru but apparently Chile likes to claim it as theirs. Anyway, Pisco sour is like THE alcoholic drink of Peru and the city of Tacna has their own version which we went to go try- with Rotary so it's all good ma. It was pretty good and they didn't make it very strong so it was pretty sweet. Finally we also went to a museum in Tacna where they show old hieroglyphics and where the people used to live. We had to cross this pretty sketchy bridge but it was kinda cool though. I felt like shrek though because it would sway when we walked!

On our second to last day we continued south to Chile. This was mainly to renew our visas but also to see a bit of Chile. We went to a city called Arica and as we walked down the streets we literally ran into a parade! oddly enough a parade of older women dressed as disney characters but we all just kinda jumped in with them and danced and had a really good time. Our tour guide wasn't so happy about the unexpected delay but whatever  it was super fun :)  After that we had an hour to do some shopping on the streets but everything in Chile is a lot more expensive than in Peru. We also went to a museum there where we saw 300 mummies! (speaking of, I forgot that in Arequipa we saw the mummy Juanita that was found on the mountain where she was sacrificed by the incans-i believe- and her body froze into a mummy.) While we were headed back to the bus to go home I ended up slipping next to a fountain and hitting my head on the fountain and the ground. That was a greeeeeaaaattt time. So i headed off to the hospital and got a ginormous shot of pain killers in my arm and some motrin and pain pills to take for three days. I mostly stayed in bed for our final day of viaje where everyone else had free time but it was ok with me, i was suuupppeeerrr tired. The next day we packed up all of our stuff and headed home :)  A pretty successful first trip if i do say so myself.