That´s Merry Christmas to those English speakers :)
Well, Christmas in Peru is not like Christmas in the states. It´s not as commerical and you would not know it´s Christmas if it were not for the random decorations up.
The government sponors parties for kids and gives out hot chocolate, a present and a bag full of sweets. You have to go to the government and request to have it and make a list of the kids you are inviting and take care of the arangments. So we at a party for the kids on their street. Santa made an appearance (oh santa here wears a mask and looks like a Disney character), but only after the clown made the kids and adults laugh for a couple of hours. It was fun to watch all the kids laughing and dancing even though I had no idea what the clown was saying.
Christmas eve is the party date for everyone here. And Christmas is when you give presents to children not to adults. So the kids get decked out in new clothes and spend the evening setting off fireworks while music blasts onto the streets and moms are cooking feasts in the kitchen.
The market reminded me of going to the malls Christmas eve in the states. You could hardly move through the narrow stalls. Vendors jack up the prices and they think giving you a discount of 1 soles is a deal off something that cost 25 soles (FYI 1 sole is about .30 cents).
The countdown to midnight is almost as exciting as waiting for the New Years countdown and when the clock strikes midnight everyone shouts Feliz Navidad and gives hugs and kisses while fireworks light up the sky. Everyone then sits down to eat the feast. After eating, the kids light off more fireworks and the adults stay up all night talking and drinking. I called it quits by 3 a.m.
Pisco on Christmas day in quieter than normal, I think because everyone is hungover or asleep. But the market is still busy and the fruit shake vendors are selling shakes like hot cakes (the fruit shakes are amazing!)
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas with lots of snow and cold (I´m wearing flip flops, a t'shirt and capris), no snow in Pisco. I´m off to grab some ceviche (yes I´m bragging, it´s only like $2).
Hasta Luego
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sweet Sweet Sand
Yes, I realize that I am not posting as often as I did on my last trip and that is because I have kinda just been taking it easy, hanging out, not doing much.
This past week, we went to Huacachina, the desert oasis about 1.5 hours from Pisco. There really isn´t much to Huacachina expect hotels and sand dunes, oh there is a small lake. Huacachina is the place to go for sandboarding which is what I tried. I can´t say that I won the battle with the sand dune, it was victorious. Now sandboarding is similar to snowboarding, minus the cold, hard snow and lift. So if one wants to try sandboarding they must climb to the top of the sand dune (or pay $15 to have some guy take you for a spin in doon buggies that destroy the environment which I passed). So my tour guide and I rented sandboards for a whopping $1.25 each, mine was the finest in sandboarding equipment complete with velcro straps to hold my feet in place.
I had visions of my feet flying off of this sandboard as I ride the sand...
So my fabulous friend & guide Ademir points to the dune that we are going to climb and I told him where he could go (and I wasn't being polite). We weren´t starting on small dunes, the grand daddy 200 meter dune he expected me to climb. And I did. And I almost died.
I thought climbing the mountains during the Inca Trail was hard, and they were. But have any of you tried to climb a sand dune that looks like a mountain....meaning it´s not rounded at the top, but pointy. It is not easy and certainly not fun. But up we climbed.
Ademir made it to the top in about 15 mins, I on the other hand did not. With each step it felt like my feet were sinking into the depths of the earth. Picture walking on a stair climber - you don´t go anywhere, but you feel the burn in your calves. Well after one collapsed lung, I could hardly walk and with each step I felt like I was going to fall down this sand dune. On one side was the valley of about 20 other dunes just as tall, the other side was the back of a hotel. Either I was going to crash into the side of a building or die in the valley. It wasn´t my day to die.
I made it to the top, looking like who knows what. So after about resting for an hour, I am ready to put my feet in this board to maybe go down this dune. We walk to the launching point and as I peered over the edge, I could not see the ground, it was a straight down drop to the bottom . and people went down this thing. My teacher gave me some pointers and said he´d meet me half way down and goes flying off soaring down the dune like an eagle in flight. I was memorized by the grace and agility he exemplified while gliding down this dune. Then it was my turn...
I am sure I do not have to tell you that I did not express the same skill as Ademir and if only he had a video camera to record me and my lack of skill on the sandboard. It was actually easier for me to go down the dune than I thought, on the sandboard not my butt. However, the turning was a bit difficult and when I started going too fast and could not turn, I made myself fall. Then I started to tumble and flip over which I'm sure was very amusing for Ademir to watch and by the time I got to the bottom he was laughing his ass off. It took longer than 20 seconds to get down this dune because I kept falling and the last 50 feet I rode down with my butt on the sandboard - Hey it was hard!!
Did we climb up the dune for round 2 - I think you already know the answer...no.
I did save about $300 in spa services because the sand exfoliated every part of my body.
I am back in Pisco now and tomorrow I think I am going to start working with Hands On and helping with some clean up. I am meeting them tonight to find out what projects everyone is working on.
Chau
This past week, we went to Huacachina, the desert oasis about 1.5 hours from Pisco. There really isn´t much to Huacachina expect hotels and sand dunes, oh there is a small lake. Huacachina is the place to go for sandboarding which is what I tried. I can´t say that I won the battle with the sand dune, it was victorious. Now sandboarding is similar to snowboarding, minus the cold, hard snow and lift. So if one wants to try sandboarding they must climb to the top of the sand dune (or pay $15 to have some guy take you for a spin in doon buggies that destroy the environment which I passed). So my tour guide and I rented sandboards for a whopping $1.25 each, mine was the finest in sandboarding equipment complete with velcro straps to hold my feet in place.
I had visions of my feet flying off of this sandboard as I ride the sand...
So my fabulous friend & guide Ademir points to the dune that we are going to climb and I told him where he could go (and I wasn't being polite). We weren´t starting on small dunes, the grand daddy 200 meter dune he expected me to climb. And I did. And I almost died.
I thought climbing the mountains during the Inca Trail was hard, and they were. But have any of you tried to climb a sand dune that looks like a mountain....meaning it´s not rounded at the top, but pointy. It is not easy and certainly not fun. But up we climbed.
Ademir made it to the top in about 15 mins, I on the other hand did not. With each step it felt like my feet were sinking into the depths of the earth. Picture walking on a stair climber - you don´t go anywhere, but you feel the burn in your calves. Well after one collapsed lung, I could hardly walk and with each step I felt like I was going to fall down this sand dune. On one side was the valley of about 20 other dunes just as tall, the other side was the back of a hotel. Either I was going to crash into the side of a building or die in the valley. It wasn´t my day to die.
I made it to the top, looking like who knows what. So after about resting for an hour, I am ready to put my feet in this board to maybe go down this dune. We walk to the launching point and as I peered over the edge, I could not see the ground, it was a straight down drop to the bottom . and people went down this thing. My teacher gave me some pointers and said he´d meet me half way down and goes flying off soaring down the dune like an eagle in flight. I was memorized by the grace and agility he exemplified while gliding down this dune. Then it was my turn...
I am sure I do not have to tell you that I did not express the same skill as Ademir and if only he had a video camera to record me and my lack of skill on the sandboard. It was actually easier for me to go down the dune than I thought, on the sandboard not my butt. However, the turning was a bit difficult and when I started going too fast and could not turn, I made myself fall. Then I started to tumble and flip over which I'm sure was very amusing for Ademir to watch and by the time I got to the bottom he was laughing his ass off. It took longer than 20 seconds to get down this dune because I kept falling and the last 50 feet I rode down with my butt on the sandboard - Hey it was hard!!
Did we climb up the dune for round 2 - I think you already know the answer...no.
I did save about $300 in spa services because the sand exfoliated every part of my body.
I am back in Pisco now and tomorrow I think I am going to start working with Hands On and helping with some clean up. I am meeting them tonight to find out what projects everyone is working on.
Chau
Friday, December 14, 2007
Vive Pisco
Hola amigos!
I have been in Peru for almost 5 days now and I know some of you are upset because I haven´t written. That is because I have been having a blast!
So Sunday I arrived in Lima and bummed around Lima on Monday and Tuesday taking the colletivos (mini buses) everywhere. The hotel was in a residential section of the city so when we were in the center or in Miraflores (the rich part with nightlife and tons of restaurants), no buses would go back to the area of the hotel. So it was a lot of fun trying to guess which bus was correct. Needless to say we saw just about every section of Lima.
We found a bowling alley and I taught my friend how to bowl. Bowling is a new sport to Peru and they are slow to pick up on the fun. Ademir either hustled me or is lucky, his first game he bowled a 95, his second a 155! I have never bowled over a 100 (well maybe once), perhaps that says something about my bowling ability or lack of. We got three games in and had a blast. The bowling alley attendants bring balls to the lane for you, and they are all color coded. 8 pounders are pink, 9 lbs green. They looked at me weird when I went to grab my own ball.
Wenesday I made my way to the town of Lunahauna, south of Lima for some white water rafting. We arrived about 6:30 to a ghost town. Seriously no one was out walking around, it was really creepy. So Thursday we headed out to the Cañete river for some sweet rafting. For me it was really easy because it was only class 2 rapids with a couple of 3´s. It was just the two of us with a guide and some other Peruano on the river with the mountains around us - breathtaking views.
Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Pisco, the center of the 8.0 earthquake in August. As soon as we got off the bus I could see the difference in the area. I am going to warn you that if you get depressed easily you might want to stop reading, but there is a happy ending.
About 70% of Pisco was destroyed in the earthquake, there are only 4 hotels left, from about 20 before. As we were driving the 1 km to town from the PanAmerican Highway all you see are piles of rubble. I did not recognize the town as we were driving through. It looks like a city during a war that has been bombed. Some people have been lucky to have houses built, they are more like sheds than houses. Made from wood paneling, they are about 8 x 10 sq feet, with a plywood door. To lock the house when you leave you put a padlock on the outside. Electricity is non-existent for most and there is not indoor plumbing.
Walking from the hotel last night to eat dinner we pass rows of these houses and rows of tents. The people who have not received a wood house yet, have 8 - 10 people tents they are living in. They are on the property where their former house stood. Piles of debris are lined up on either side of the streets and it is like an obstacle course navigating your way through. They apparently take the debris from the buildings to the street, then a truck comes and takes it away. As we walked closer to the Plaza de Arms (the center of the city), I start to recognize some of the few remaining buildings, and notice others are gone. We pass the area where the church once stood, the final place for almost 250 people who died inside. All that remains is one bell tower, a cross has been placed in front.
Amazingly the Plaza was not destroyed, not even a crack, but 60% of the building surrounding it are gone. The main strip where most of the shops were, gone, 10 buildings remain. Store owners now sell things from tents. The streets have a layer of dust on them, cracks and potholes are everywhere. There is still a military presence in the town and you can see soldiers walking around.
Despite the destruction that surrounds the people, the town is not dead. There are still tons of people walking around the plaza. Salsa music still belts from the wood houses, children are still playing futbol in the streets. The tuk tuks are still pimped out like 1995 low riders from South LA. The food is still amazing and the people are still laughing. They joke about Pisco being no more, but they have started to rebuild. The government is finally giving supplies and money to families so they can rebuild their houses. They have lost all material objects, but they still have their health and for most, their families so they still dance and laugh and eat.
I have been in Peru for almost 5 days now and I know some of you are upset because I haven´t written. That is because I have been having a blast!
So Sunday I arrived in Lima and bummed around Lima on Monday and Tuesday taking the colletivos (mini buses) everywhere. The hotel was in a residential section of the city so when we were in the center or in Miraflores (the rich part with nightlife and tons of restaurants), no buses would go back to the area of the hotel. So it was a lot of fun trying to guess which bus was correct. Needless to say we saw just about every section of Lima.
We found a bowling alley and I taught my friend how to bowl. Bowling is a new sport to Peru and they are slow to pick up on the fun. Ademir either hustled me or is lucky, his first game he bowled a 95, his second a 155! I have never bowled over a 100 (well maybe once), perhaps that says something about my bowling ability or lack of. We got three games in and had a blast. The bowling alley attendants bring balls to the lane for you, and they are all color coded. 8 pounders are pink, 9 lbs green. They looked at me weird when I went to grab my own ball.
Wenesday I made my way to the town of Lunahauna, south of Lima for some white water rafting. We arrived about 6:30 to a ghost town. Seriously no one was out walking around, it was really creepy. So Thursday we headed out to the Cañete river for some sweet rafting. For me it was really easy because it was only class 2 rapids with a couple of 3´s. It was just the two of us with a guide and some other Peruano on the river with the mountains around us - breathtaking views.
Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Pisco, the center of the 8.0 earthquake in August. As soon as we got off the bus I could see the difference in the area. I am going to warn you that if you get depressed easily you might want to stop reading, but there is a happy ending.
About 70% of Pisco was destroyed in the earthquake, there are only 4 hotels left, from about 20 before. As we were driving the 1 km to town from the PanAmerican Highway all you see are piles of rubble. I did not recognize the town as we were driving through. It looks like a city during a war that has been bombed. Some people have been lucky to have houses built, they are more like sheds than houses. Made from wood paneling, they are about 8 x 10 sq feet, with a plywood door. To lock the house when you leave you put a padlock on the outside. Electricity is non-existent for most and there is not indoor plumbing.
Walking from the hotel last night to eat dinner we pass rows of these houses and rows of tents. The people who have not received a wood house yet, have 8 - 10 people tents they are living in. They are on the property where their former house stood. Piles of debris are lined up on either side of the streets and it is like an obstacle course navigating your way through. They apparently take the debris from the buildings to the street, then a truck comes and takes it away. As we walked closer to the Plaza de Arms (the center of the city), I start to recognize some of the few remaining buildings, and notice others are gone. We pass the area where the church once stood, the final place for almost 250 people who died inside. All that remains is one bell tower, a cross has been placed in front.
Amazingly the Plaza was not destroyed, not even a crack, but 60% of the building surrounding it are gone. The main strip where most of the shops were, gone, 10 buildings remain. Store owners now sell things from tents. The streets have a layer of dust on them, cracks and potholes are everywhere. There is still a military presence in the town and you can see soldiers walking around.
Despite the destruction that surrounds the people, the town is not dead. There are still tons of people walking around the plaza. Salsa music still belts from the wood houses, children are still playing futbol in the streets. The tuk tuks are still pimped out like 1995 low riders from South LA. The food is still amazing and the people are still laughing. They joke about Pisco being no more, but they have started to rebuild. The government is finally giving supplies and money to families so they can rebuild their houses. They have lost all material objects, but they still have their health and for most, their families so they still dance and laugh and eat.
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