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.