Pictures!

Hey all,

Nothing much to report here except that I finally got the chance to upload all the pictures from the last few posts- including those of Holy Week in Ayacucho, my vacation to Macchu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, and my brief foray as a bullfighter. All of those can be found here-

http://picasaweb.google.com/zijerem/AyacuchoCuscoPunoAndBullfighting#

Enjoy!

Bullfighting

Well, I did something a little dumb but exhilarating this week. I bullfought, toreador style, in the next town over.
We´ve been celebrating the festival of San Isidro this weekend, which seems to revolve round bulls more than anything. The people of the town brought their yuntas, or plowing pair of bulls, to the church to get them blessed on Friday, followed by the usual marching around with a band and dancing that all festivals here seem to feature. On Saturday, the next town over, Lari, had a bullfight. I had heard that they would let whoever felt like it enter, and had been mulling it over, because as experiences go it would be one of the more unique I´d likely have to boast of in my lifetime.
It turned out that indeed amateurs were allowed in the ring. I decided to check out the first bull and see how that went. One guy got knocked out and as I was taking a picture of that the bull turned and threw another one about five feet up and out. These two were drunk, as were the majority of the amateur talent out there. After that a real toreador showed up, in costume and all, and I figured that that was the end of amateur night, but as it turned out a few folks jumped in anyways. In one of the less thought out decisions I´ve made I hopped right in as well.
At first I just intended on using my coat as a kind of makeshift cape, but the mayordomo, or the guy financing the festival, took off a decorative cape he was wearing and let me use it. The first bull I tried was a pretty mad one (or maybe it was a cow- as it turns out they get just as pissed off when goaded and their horns are just as sharp, so there were a few mixed in with the bulls) I soft-stepped up to it and got it to paw the earth at me, but I was a bit surprised (I have no idea why) when it actually charged. I was able to misdirect it with the cape and hightail it to one of the board set up for toreadors to duck behind when a bull is right on their tail. The next few I was more daring on and I even faced off a group of three who in the end didn´t do a whole lot. All-in-all I fought four bulls (not including that lame group of three) with increasing confidence and walked out of the ring without a scratch and a lot of enthused drunk folks (who had a habit of falling of the wall surrounding the ring and having to be helped up in the middle of fights) yelling for the gringo toreador.
So, I´ll get those pictures up this next Friday when I´m in the capital and the internet can handle it. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries half way through so I only have pictures of the first couple of bulls and the group of three, but you´ll get the idea. And mayhap I´ll try it again at my town´s bullfight in July...

Trips and such

Well, it’s certainly been awhile since I’ve written, which seems to be becoming a habit lately. I’ve been on the road lately, going to the sierra cities of Ayacucho, Cusco, and Puno over the last month.
First off I went to Ayacucho for Semana Santa, or holy week. Ayacucho boasts the second biggest celebration of this week in the world, after Sevilla, Spain. The big highlight of the week is the large number of parades and processions carrying saints and icons during all hours of the day and night. However, my favorite part was the jalatoro, or, literally, bull-pull. I originally understood this to be a legit running of the bulls like in Pamplona, Spain, but I should have paid attention to the name. Instead of running free and wrecking havoc along the way, the bulls were pulled one at a time by horses and riders and frankly looked more scared than the crowds running with them. I went ahead and ran alongside a couple of them, but actually got closer to a goring working in the chacras several months back, which in retrospect should half been enough bull-related danger for a lifetime.
Also during this week I got to wander up to the battlefield of Ayacucho where the final Spanish army of any size in South America was defeated by an army made up of nationals of several South American countries, sealing the independence of virtually the entire continent. Oh, and the day before we went to a state fair-type event and ate tons of samples of fresh cheeses and exotic fruits from Ayacucho’s more tropical lowland regions. There was also a competition for caballos de paso- trained horses that walk in a very distinct and uncomfortable looking manner.
After a week back in site taking care of business and preparing the test that the majority of my students are failing this week (really need to work with them on study habits, or simply just paying attention in class- feel like I’m back in the good ‘ol hometown school system) I was off to Cusco and Puno. These two cities are the most touristed in Peru, due to the nearby attractions of Macchu Picchu and Lake Titicaca.
I only stayed in the city of Cusco for one day, and found it much too touristy. For one thing, all prices were extremely inflated and when you are a volunteer you need things as cheap as you can get them. I was lucky enough to get Peruvian prices for many of the attractions due to my residence card, but even then they were priced to the point that it’s literally impossible for the majority of Peruvians to visit these important pieces of their patrimony. I’m trying to increase tourism in my site, but like the highly controversial mines, one has to serious think about the costs before counting the benefits. On the plus side, the ruins around Cusco, particularly the huge fortress of Sacsayhuaman, are spectacular. The ability of the Incas to fit together huge stones so precisely is stunning, especially compared to the nearby Spanish stonework, which is good enough to have lasted for hundreds of years but is obviously not even in the same class of craftsmanship.
After Cusco I headed down into the Sacred Valley of the Incas, stopping first at the ruins of Pisac and Ollantaytambo. Pisac is a bit overrated, but the views of the river valley are quite nice. Ollantaytambo is very impressive, but also claimed my Ipod, likely by a little crapper that worked at the place I had watch my baggage. I hope he goes hiking with it, trips and breaks his leg, and the battery runs out two minutes into the four hour ordeal, which is likely because he was too dumb to also steal the charging cord. It was on its last legs anyway, and if one of my trips goes completely right (got really sunburned in Ayacucho) it means that I’m due a bus or plane crash at the end of it. Still, the ruins are worth the look.
And then there was Macchu Picchu. I’m not sure I can write anything that hasn’t already been said and said again, but there is a reason why it is a consensus wonder of the world. Almost as impressive is the drive up, through tropical mountains shrouded in mist. I hadn’t realized how tropical the area was. Everything is a lush green that I have yet to run into (although I intend on getting to the Amazon at some point here). I’ve got some pictures forthcoming that hopefully do it a bit of justice, but I’m not sure that is possible. I also made sure to get there early enough to be one of the four hundred allowed to climb Wayna Picchu, the spear-like mountain you see in most pictures of the area. It was a really, really difficult climb, but worth it. From there you could see the condor shape of the ruins as described, as well as a great view of the area as a whole.
After Macchu Picchu my friend and I made a quick run to Puno. The town itself is nothing to write home about, so we stayed the night on one of the islands dotting Lake Titicaca. Before doing that we visited one of the isles de totorra, or reed islands. These islands are made completely of reeds by their inhabitants, who also make houses, mattresses, and even boats out of them (which I got to ride as well). The pulpy center of the reed is also eaten, which tasted a bit like sugar cane meets fresh coconut to me. After a brief visit we went to the island of Amantani, where we stayed with a local family. It was possibly the quietest night of my life, and I live in a secuestered town in Colca Canyon and have slept in Amish homes. We ate and read by candlelight there being no electricity and just enjoyed the calm and clear night sky.
The next day we stopped by the neighboring island of Taquile on our way back. This island was also beautiful, and had developed a cooperative to share the tourist profits coming in. Still, the prices were only what Americans or Europeans would find acceptable, and not being paid like them I decided to subsist on crackers until I could get back to 2.50 (about 90 cent) menus on the mainland. The customs of the island are very unique, with the dress being the most noticeable. Everything is woven and embroidered, and the number and type of women’s skirts and the positioning of the men’s hats communicated all the social information you would want to know.
Well, I had better sign off. Tests are to be given in the morning and as I wrap up a giant brown recluse-lookin spider is crawling around behind my computer. I hesitate to kill him because he might eat the fleas that the stupid chickens bring in my room, but he’s big enough that I think I’ll grab him and take him outside where he can wander around without making me paranoid. So, off to that…

It´s been awhile...

Hey all,

I just realized it´s been roughly a month since my last post. That´s pretty lazy of me, I guess, and I´ll try and make it a little more frequent. The good news is I should have some interesting things to report. I´m heading up to Ayacucho for the world´s craziest Semana Santa (holy week) celebrations and should have some pretty cool cultural stuff to report from that. I also plan on getting to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu this month if I´m approved to do it, and that should be highly describable as well.
As for what I¨ve been up to the last month- work. That is a very, very good thing, because it means that people are waking up again in my town and starting to do some things I can help with. I¨m still teaching English in all the schools and working with some community groups with their computer skills. However, bigger fish to fry are starting to hit the pan, like an environmental committee within the municipality that is warming up to a landfill project and the high school starting to make a reforestation project to combat erosion. The health post is starting a garden project with the old folks and some high school students are looking into working with them to make a recycling small business. Also, some people interested in tourism development are starting to pop up again and I¨ll be working with them to make project plans and see if we can get some of them moving. All-in-all it´s an exciting time to be around because things are actually getting done...
Other things of interest I guess would be that even as high as we are we´re not safe from mosquitos. My system doesn´t take to them all that well, so I get some pretty impressive swelling once in awhile. Benadril is my third most prevalent food group at them moment. I also got a q-tip end stuck in my ear recently, due to some shoddy local q-tips. It wasn´t that big of a deal but I had to jaunt down to the capital to get it out so I was half-deaf for a week. I definitely appreciate people with reduced hearing and their plight a lot more now. Felt like I was living in a swimming pool. So, that´s the update. Take care all and watch some baseball for me.

Photos!

Hey all,

Here´s the photos I got from the disastrous Argentina trip as well as some I took at a ceremony held at our Incan fortress in the valley, giving a pretty good idea of what it looks like where I´m living now. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.es/zijerem/ArgentinaAndColcaInSpring#

I¨m back! and such

Hey all,

Well, it´s been awhile since the last, fairly depressing post, but it´s all good. The vacation was a complete disaster but it won´t stop me from seeing what I want to of this continent- it just means that I¨ll have to put off the northern portion until my trip home.
The last few weeks have been pretty stale. I planned this trip in the first place to cover the dead period of the rainy season, when everyone is either away or partying (which I´ve done enough of the last few months) but most certainly not working. Since I had to be back I´ve pretty much just sat around and watched movies on the laptop and planned for when stuff started happening again, which should be this week. The last party of the season is raging around me right now and today is the last day. Also, school starts again tomorrow. I´ve heard that most people aren´t back for the first week, so I´ll pretty much just be setting my schedule and trying to re-open dormant projects.
I did take part in the last party, carnivales, over the last week since I was in town anyway for my final week of Quechua classes. I´m still processing all the info I got this week, but I think I can get along in the language o.k. and with studying can even get fairly proficient at it.
As for carnivales, the holiday has been more or less going on all month as a lead-up to Lent. Mardi Gras is the peak of the holiday in Brazil and New Orleans, but we wrap up a little earlier here. It´s characterized by people chasing around with water balloons, squirt guns, and spray foam going after the opposite sex. Bands also roam in the early hours picking up the solteras, or single girls, from their houses and dancing into the morning. Another custom is that all single males have flutes and try to ¨rob¨ solteras with them, playing to them I guess to win them over. I missed out on that part. For the most part it all devolves into drinking and dancing like most parties here.
Oh, a final interesting touch is that they ¨plant¨ trees in the town square. These are laden with presents and balloons and danced around. Periodically someone takes a chop at it with an axe until finally it falls, provoking a frenzied rush to grab the stuff that was in the branches. The catch for the chopper is that if you are the successful one you have to pay for the tree in the next year´s festival, so everyone takes little chops and it usually takes all night.
Well, that´s all for now. I should have some work stuff to report next time as well as a different topic than town parties to expound upon...

Yep

Yeah, that was 1 p.m. in the last post. Gettin sloppy...

Anyway, there comes a time when one has to look at the signs and follow the message they are coming together to create, which in my case was ¨go home or die¨. Home of course, being Madrigal, Peru for the moment.
I lost my debit cards- both of them- thanks to a handy little carrying case that was supposed to help one keep from losing one of them. I´ve been all over to no avail, and being that I deliberately kept it in the opposite pocket than my money to keep from accidently slipping out when I went for it and because it was a heavy enough little contraption that I should of felt it fall out and because I hadn´t used the cards for two days I´m pretty much flabbergasted by how it got lost, and how all this stuff has been happening to me in the first place. Let´s recap.

1. Get stopped at the Chilean border because passport I´m carrying makes me look like an illegal immigrant into Peru- have to go back and retrieve the right one.

2. Buy a plane ticket to Buenos Aires that thanks to taxes (30 $ airport tax?)is more expensive that it should have been and find out that Peru doesn´t have automatic debit. Need to run from bus to bank to deposit cash into the airline account, after the deadline, but still get the ticket.

3. Said airline loses my luggage (it ended up not getting on the plane at all in Lima). I find this out during my stopover in Santiago, neatly killing the thrill of being in Chile for a brief moment.

4. Day one is sitting in limbo for said luggage, but still seeing all the Buenos sites I was interested in. Oh, and getting from the airport to downtown is hell, because it´ll either cost money or earn you a nose in the air for trying to buy something to get coins. You see, for some reason this country has a coin shortage, but most everything public is run on coins. Only in South America... Oh, and I get woken up in the middle of the night by an angry never-heard-that-accent-before dude who claims I´m in his bed. Turns out the hostel overbooked our room, and dude´s idea of saving a place was pulling back the covers and leaving a piece of scrap-paper on the bed. Apparently that is the way they do things in Unidentifiable Accentlandia.

5. Day two- email says the luggage is coming in the morning! Unchecked joy becomes listlessness and then outright anger because luggage does not come in the morning and said airline apparently doesn´t answer phone calls or emails until halfway through their regularly scheduled hours. Finally give up and go see a movie, and when I get back there´s the luggage!

6. Hey, we´re off to destinations different! Goin´ to Iguazu and finally gettin´ this trip started! Bought a ticket and just have to wait, which is cool. Rifle through my pockets and what´s this? No debit card? Well, fuck me. A frantic retracing of steps brings me not a thing, as one might expect and I go to get my ticket refunded (losing 30% in the process- but what´s money to a guy who just lost all access to it?). I then go to the international portion of the terminal and find that the only bus going to Peru leaves in three days... and passes through Bolivia. And yes, I would need a visa. When throwing my bag against a wall and then punching it until blood comes yields neither visa or VISA, I look around to find children staring at me with their jaws dropped. Nice. I decide then and there to stop giving a shit. Life is too long and horrid to try and while away the time like this.

Well, I ended up finding out that a company that inexplicably wasn´t located in the international portion of the terminal has tickets to Peru tomorrow. And since I was carrying around some Hamiltons to pay for Chilean entry fees down the road, I luckily had just enough to get the ticket. So I´m going home before I get a limb taken from me, because that is the loud and clear message I´m getting... go home or die. Should be there in three days and can´t wait.