Fun Fact No. 49: Marching bands? Every Sunday in the main square, there are goofy, sloppy marching bands to accompany the police and military officers that parade around the square a few times. It's fun and funny and reminds me of a 4th of July parade in a tiny town in BFE USA.
Friday night Monica came over and she, Cesar, Jorge, Sandrine, and I sat around and drank wine and shot the bull. The second floor of my house has an open area to wash and dry laundry, and it looks over a good part of the city. We dragged a few mattresses up there and sat out under the stars to watch a movie, Blood Diamonds, a kind of cheesy but good flick about conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone. After the movie was through, we sat around and chatted and laughed about the different onomatopoeias from our different countries (Spain, Peru, France, USA). A duck in all four countries makes about the same sound, but the horse or pig sounds are completely different. It was a good laugh!
Yesterday during the day was a whole lot of nothing. I did internet in the morning, ran some errands in the afternoon, and worked on some interview questions in the evening. Then I went out with Monica, Cesar, Jorge, and Sandrine to grab a beer on the Boulevard, a kind of main drag with clowns, artisans, comedians, and other fun Saturday-night-type-stuff right on the River. I ran to grab a hamburger and who should I run into but Alfredo Guzman, a friend from UT who I haven't seen in at least 2 years. Alfredo got his master's in LLILAS at UT and played cajon in the Andean Ensemble, and is an all around great guy. He and his wife are back in Peru with their adorable 1.5 year old daughter and his new job as a consultant for the Peruvian court systems requires him to travel quite a bit. It was a very happy, exciting reunion and we sat around and shot the bull for some time. It was neat to have a friend from Austin here and he really likes Iquitos, so it was also great to see Iquitos through new eyes and drop the bitterness a bit. Hooray!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Clouds & Mountains
Fun Fact No. 48: Fanny packs. So if you're from England, you're already offended, but it's kind of funny that people in Peru (especially men) wear fanny packs EVERYWHERE. 1989? Nope. 2007. Granted, I'm no fashion plate, but it is kind of funny that fanny packs are the backpack or purse of Peru.
So after some more time off from blogging, I greet you again but this time I am refreshed! I got back on Thursday night from a 6 day vacation in Lima and Cusco with Kami and Shun and let me tell you, it was spectacular. Here we go:
Friday, April 13. Eva Ayllon in the HOUSE!
Eva Ayllon, perhaps the most well-known singer of Peru, was HERE in IQUITOS on Friday and she was amazing! She mostly sings Afro-Peruvian songs and she has a deep, rich, better-than-Aretha voice (if you can believe it) and she was absolutely electrifying. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the whole show because I had to catch my plane to Lima.
Saturday, April 14. 2am travels...
So my friend Zeudy spent the night at my house and I got home from Eva Ayllon at 2am. We grabbed a mototaxi to the airport for our 4am flight. I had been sleeping a good 9 hours a day for a few weeks now, which served me well for the next 48 hours of non-sleep. We got into Lima at 5:45 and headed straight to Zeudy's friend's house for breakfast. Her friend's mom was a lovely woman named Gloria who reminds me a lot of Esther Raizen, Michal's mom, and she was a delight. We went to Miraflores where Kami and Shun were staying in a gorgeous hostal that's actually a mansion divided into lots of little rooms. It's a neat place and imagine our surprise when we found out the next day that the owner had kidnapped his cousin and his cousin's son and starved them to death in one of the rooms. Spooky!
Regardless, after not sleeping now for over 24 hours, I was doing pretty well. We went to Punta Hermosa (see above photo) south of Lima and swam in the ocean all day. Mario was in Lima also, so we met up with him and just relaxed. That night we went to eat in Barranco, a very hip part of Lima and then Kami, Zeudy and I went back to the hostel. We slept for about 4 hours before we had to get up to catch a 6am flight to Cusco.
Sunday, April 15. Altitude?
Shun, Kami, and I got into Cusco at 8am and Lilia was there to meet us. What a reunion! It was so SO good to see her, and it was a gorgeous day in Cusco, sunny and warm. We went to the hostel and slept for a few hours to catch up a bit, and then Kami and I went to Lilia's house for lunch. Since I live practically at sea level in the Amazon and in Texas, I was really expecting the altitude (3,700 meters or 11,500 feet) to get to me, but I was completely unaffected. Kami, on the other hand, got pretty ill pretty quickly and had to rest. The extreme cold of anywhere in the shade and the night didn't help. Seriously, I don't do well in cold climates. AT ALL.
Monday, April 16. Hot Springs.
We woke up bright and early to catch the 7am train to Aguas Calientes, a small town just at the base of Machu Picchu. The train ride was glorious: 4 hours of amazing landscapes with mountains, rivers, villages, snow-capped peaks, bright blue skies. Aguas Calientes is the most touristy town I have EVER been to and it was quite expensive also. But our hotel was gorgeous and was right on the banks of a river with rapids which was the perfect music for a good night's sleep. Outside our window were the river and the steep cliffs leading up to the clouds. Just amazing! That evening we went to the hot springs and soaked for an hour or so. It was just heaven!
Tuesday, April 17. Man or nature?
We woke up early to catch the 5:30am bus to Machu Picchu. Thank goodness we did, because we were the first ones there. And what a sight. It was misty and rainy, which made it that much more magical because we were touching LITERALLY TOUCHING clouds! And I can't figure out what is more impressive: the brilliant nature that God created, with steep, moss-covered cliffs or the clever architecture that the Incas created out of those same cliffs. We climbed to Intipunku, the temple of the sun, where we could see the clouds coming and going, like curtains opening and closing on a gorgeous set. It was unbelievable. We were there until 3:30 in the afternoon when we finally caught a bus back to Aguas Calientes to grab the train back to Cusco.
Wednesday, April 18. Valle Sagrado.
The highlight of the trip for me was the Sacred Valley. Lilia came to pick us up with her cousin Saul at 9am and we went to various and sundry ruins throughout Cusco. They were all really neat until we drove out to the Sacred Valley. (And I got to drive! It was so nice to drive a CAR after driving a motorcycle for so long! I prefer cars!) This was completely awe-inspiring. If anyone doubts that there is a higher being out there somewhere, just head on out to Sacred Valley. Seriously, folks, I have never ever seen anything so beautiful in my life. And while I haven't necessarily seen that much, I have been around, and this beats the Grand Canyon, Tenarife Island, Bali, Ghana...wow. I was just awe-struck. I'll upload the pictures later. I'm still processing.
After our day-long tour of the valley, we took Lilia out for Japanese food. It was a kick to see her trying tofu, sushi, and teriyaki chicken for the first time. We had a ball!
Thursday, April 19. Homewardbound...
I left Cusco at 6:30am. Zeudy picked me up from the airport and we went to downtown Lima and then to her friend's house for lunch. I got back to Iquitos at 7pm to my housemates who were having a party for Monica. It was just wonderful to see them, although I do wish I had the chance to go to Puno with Kami and Shun, who will be coming here on Monday.
I have so much more to say than this blog entry, but I'll save it for later because I'm still processing. But it was a wonderful vacation. Completely wonderful. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and I'm ready to bring it on.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Leeches
Fun Fact No. 47: Houses are long and narrow. Houses from the outside here look really small, like about half the size of a little two bedroom in Hyde Park. But actually, even the poorest house is huge because the houses here are really long and narrow. So there might be five or six rooms because houses here are really deep; they often stretch back an entire block. Still disconcerting when I think I´m walking into a shack and it just keeps going and going.
This week has been the best week in a long time, despite the Leech. Ah, the Leech. And So It Shall Be That He Who Was Rude and Icky Shall Be Referred To As THE LEECH. I´ll start from the beginning on this one. This guy calls last Sunday saying that he met my brother in Bolivia and my brother gave him my number. Sure, I live in Iquitos and I can even pick you up from the airport, I say. His flight gets in at 1am so I tell him he can stay in my house that first night and the next day I can take him to a hostel. There´s a really nice hostel that´s $4 a night and it has a kitchen and private bathrooms. It´s fabulous but he said he was looking for something cheaper. !!!! Well, I get to the airport and it´s a slightly older-than-my-brother guy (39) who we´ll call Leech for his privacy and whatnot, who says he´s been living in Buenos Aires for the last three years producing music and inventing stuff. And from Iquitos he´ll be heading out to Corpus Cristi to work in oil making boku bucks. Turns out he´s half Native American (Ponca Tribe from OK), and he´s here to get in touch with his indigenous roots, etc. And he´s an expert reflexologist, physicist, and music producer, among other things (April, does anyone from our Fem Studies class ring a bell?). And is WAY too touchy feely and can´t seem to ride on the back of my motorcycle without grabbing my waist in an offensive and "getcher mitts off me" kind of way. After excessive cringing and flinching, he asked if I have a boyfriend and I said yes, and I´m rather uncomfortable with the way yee-who-has-known-me-less-than-12-hours feels at liberty to invade my bubble. A brief apology was feebly uttered and then began the rampage. He´s all about getting back to his native roots and whatnot even though he´s been exiled repeatedly from his tribe and he´s about to go bust out a job in the petroleum industry which, as you may or may not know, is enemies with most native peoples because they´re sitting on goldmines in their little villages or reservations. AND he doesn´t believe in personal responsibility, just personal happiness. So the rest of the world can go screw itself because the only thing that he or God cares about is his happiness. And to top it all off, in the four days he was here, he seduced a 16 year old girl and talked about how when he´s chief of his tribe he wants a Peruvian princess at his side. And he said that the United States is the most evolved country in the world. That´s right folks, he said evolved. So spake the leech, one of the less evolved species among us.
How I put up with this, you ask, in my own home for 4 days? Insane patience and a quest for tranquility. I have been unhappy and depressed for many moons and this past week I started to come out of it, feeling much more relaxed. So I stayed away from my house, kept busy with fieldwork, and attempted not to commit homicide. Despite Leechy, it was a great week with lots of good interviews, some great flute lessons, and a general peace. And this is when I ask myself what I think many of us who have been to the jungle ask ourselves: why does the Amazon attract the weirdest people? Obviously I have to be counted among the weirdos as I am a white girl living in the Amazon, but most of the gringos here are extreme. Extreme nuts, that is. I´ll share an analysis of the fruits and nuts who live in this area another day.
On a non-leech note, tonight there´s a velada (relgious dance) celebrating Easter. Veladas are always nice because they serve food and coffee and dessert, and the old ladies dancing with their hankerchiefs in front of the statue of the Saint of the Day is really sweet and relaxing. The folkloric group I´ve been working with is playing it, and so it´s part of the fieldwork, but I really love it anyway.
I travel soon. Hooray!
This week has been the best week in a long time, despite the Leech. Ah, the Leech. And So It Shall Be That He Who Was Rude and Icky Shall Be Referred To As THE LEECH. I´ll start from the beginning on this one. This guy calls last Sunday saying that he met my brother in Bolivia and my brother gave him my number. Sure, I live in Iquitos and I can even pick you up from the airport, I say. His flight gets in at 1am so I tell him he can stay in my house that first night and the next day I can take him to a hostel. There´s a really nice hostel that´s $4 a night and it has a kitchen and private bathrooms. It´s fabulous but he said he was looking for something cheaper. !!!! Well, I get to the airport and it´s a slightly older-than-my-brother guy (39) who we´ll call Leech for his privacy and whatnot, who says he´s been living in Buenos Aires for the last three years producing music and inventing stuff. And from Iquitos he´ll be heading out to Corpus Cristi to work in oil making boku bucks. Turns out he´s half Native American (Ponca Tribe from OK), and he´s here to get in touch with his indigenous roots, etc. And he´s an expert reflexologist, physicist, and music producer, among other things (April, does anyone from our Fem Studies class ring a bell?). And is WAY too touchy feely and can´t seem to ride on the back of my motorcycle without grabbing my waist in an offensive and "getcher mitts off me" kind of way. After excessive cringing and flinching, he asked if I have a boyfriend and I said yes, and I´m rather uncomfortable with the way yee-who-has-known-me-less-than-12-hours feels at liberty to invade my bubble. A brief apology was feebly uttered and then began the rampage. He´s all about getting back to his native roots and whatnot even though he´s been exiled repeatedly from his tribe and he´s about to go bust out a job in the petroleum industry which, as you may or may not know, is enemies with most native peoples because they´re sitting on goldmines in their little villages or reservations. AND he doesn´t believe in personal responsibility, just personal happiness. So the rest of the world can go screw itself because the only thing that he or God cares about is his happiness. And to top it all off, in the four days he was here, he seduced a 16 year old girl and talked about how when he´s chief of his tribe he wants a Peruvian princess at his side. And he said that the United States is the most evolved country in the world. That´s right folks, he said evolved. So spake the leech, one of the less evolved species among us.
How I put up with this, you ask, in my own home for 4 days? Insane patience and a quest for tranquility. I have been unhappy and depressed for many moons and this past week I started to come out of it, feeling much more relaxed. So I stayed away from my house, kept busy with fieldwork, and attempted not to commit homicide. Despite Leechy, it was a great week with lots of good interviews, some great flute lessons, and a general peace. And this is when I ask myself what I think many of us who have been to the jungle ask ourselves: why does the Amazon attract the weirdest people? Obviously I have to be counted among the weirdos as I am a white girl living in the Amazon, but most of the gringos here are extreme. Extreme nuts, that is. I´ll share an analysis of the fruits and nuts who live in this area another day.
On a non-leech note, tonight there´s a velada (relgious dance) celebrating Easter. Veladas are always nice because they serve food and coffee and dessert, and the old ladies dancing with their hankerchiefs in front of the statue of the Saint of the Day is really sweet and relaxing. The folkloric group I´ve been working with is playing it, and so it´s part of the fieldwork, but I really love it anyway.
I travel soon. Hooray!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Tourism
Fun Fact No. 46: You have to ask for permission when you walk into a house. OK, that sounds silly written out like that, but what I mean is this: You knock on someone's door and they let you in, which you would think would be good enough, but then you still have to say "permiso" when you cross the threshold.
So Kami and Shun will be here in about a week and a half. Kami Meighan is my dear friend from back in the day at Bowling Green State University. We were glassblowing partners and then she lived in my house for a while, and then she took over my old job at Glass Axis, a non-profit public access glassblowing studio in Columbus, Ohio. She has since gone on to get her master's in glass at Ohio State, and she works in one of the most prestigious glass galleries in the world, Hawk Galleries in Columbus. We went to Ghana, West Africa together five years ago, and we had a wonderful time traveling together. Since then, we have had many adventures together, and now she's coming to Peru with our friend Shunsuke Tsuchiya. Shun is perhaps the goofiest kid I know. He also went to BGSU for art, although for computer art and graphic design instead of sculpture like Kami. We had a wild summer in 2001. The three of us were inseparable and since then, the bond has been formed. Anyway, they'll be here on the 12th and I'll be heading down to Lima and then we'll go to Cusco together. And at this moment is when the word TOURISM enters.
I'm a bad tourist. I'm an uncomfortable tourist. I generally don't like being a tourist because I am SO aware of the inequalities between my wallet and the wallets of the people in the country being visited. Although I am seriously hard-pressed for cash these days, I am still American with a savings account and a $500/month apartment. I can't seem to get over the bad parts of tourism: ignorant consumption of culture, essentialized people / places, etc. It just stresses me out. The ground is uneven and my guilt is tremendous and it's only gotten worse in recent years. I know that my dollar is helping so-and-so's economy, but I just don't let that enter in my guilt calculations.
Now I've never been to Cusco. I know that Machu Picchu is one of the most wonderful things on earth, blah blah blah, but to be in a city with more geriatric Germans than anything else just makes me uncomfortable. As a result I'm nervous. I know I need to get the hell out of dodge because I am sad and unhappy in Iquitos and I need a break, but still, I'm not sure how much less stressed I'll be in Cusco. Luckily my good friend Lilia is there, and she'll be pretty great to have as our tour guide. Regardless, I need to learn to relax and enjoy.
So Kami and Shun will be here in about a week and a half. Kami Meighan is my dear friend from back in the day at Bowling Green State University. We were glassblowing partners and then she lived in my house for a while, and then she took over my old job at Glass Axis, a non-profit public access glassblowing studio in Columbus, Ohio. She has since gone on to get her master's in glass at Ohio State, and she works in one of the most prestigious glass galleries in the world, Hawk Galleries in Columbus. We went to Ghana, West Africa together five years ago, and we had a wonderful time traveling together. Since then, we have had many adventures together, and now she's coming to Peru with our friend Shunsuke Tsuchiya. Shun is perhaps the goofiest kid I know. He also went to BGSU for art, although for computer art and graphic design instead of sculpture like Kami. We had a wild summer in 2001. The three of us were inseparable and since then, the bond has been formed. Anyway, they'll be here on the 12th and I'll be heading down to Lima and then we'll go to Cusco together. And at this moment is when the word TOURISM enters.
I'm a bad tourist. I'm an uncomfortable tourist. I generally don't like being a tourist because I am SO aware of the inequalities between my wallet and the wallets of the people in the country being visited. Although I am seriously hard-pressed for cash these days, I am still American with a savings account and a $500/month apartment. I can't seem to get over the bad parts of tourism: ignorant consumption of culture, essentialized people / places, etc. It just stresses me out. The ground is uneven and my guilt is tremendous and it's only gotten worse in recent years. I know that my dollar is helping so-and-so's economy, but I just don't let that enter in my guilt calculations.
Now I've never been to Cusco. I know that Machu Picchu is one of the most wonderful things on earth, blah blah blah, but to be in a city with more geriatric Germans than anything else just makes me uncomfortable. As a result I'm nervous. I know I need to get the hell out of dodge because I am sad and unhappy in Iquitos and I need a break, but still, I'm not sure how much less stressed I'll be in Cusco. Luckily my good friend Lilia is there, and she'll be pretty great to have as our tour guide. Regardless, I need to learn to relax and enjoy.
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