Peru Day 2

Sunday, March 3rd; first full day

Carnival

Most of the group went to spend the day hiking up Rainbow Mountain. If you look up the hike online, you will see that it is one of the most strenuous hikes you can take in Peru. The peak is at about 16,000ft and I opted out of this excursion knowing my body would much rather take a day to acclimate in Cusco. It just so happened that this day was the Carnival celebration, so it worked out well. I ate my breakfast of fried egg, toast and fresh mango* alone and had a chance to ask my host questions, mainly about the restaurant. He used to run it, but he doesn't have time anymore. His daughter used to have a restaurant by Plaza De Armas but that one is closed down too now. They have been hosting people from all over the world for many years now and he loves meeting and learning the stories they have to tell. He spoke moderately good English and he told me about how used to working around language barriers he was, he had had some visitors from Russia and other countries that barely spoke English and no Spanish at all. I think it brings him great joy to cook and share his food with so many people from so many places. As I finish my breakfast he reminds me not to keep belongings like my phone in my back pockets or they will get stolen. He also makes sure I take a jacket, even though it was in the 70s (F), it was the rainy season.

After breakfast, I headed to the other homestay across the street to meet up with the other two from the group that also stayed behind. This house had the same sort of American home entryway, but as you went further in, there were purposely unroofed portions of cobblestone hallways and tight iron stairs to different rooms. the top floor had a small terrace with clothing lines and a wash basin. Their host was Maria; she, her husband and three-year-old son spoke no English. I was able to make my way with the polite small talk I knew in Spanish while the other two got ready. We then walked through a short ally beside the house full of bright overhanging flowers, to get to the main street where we got a cab to Avenida el Sol, (Avenue of the Sun).

He dropped us off at Qorikancha, a large grassy park underneath a cathedral and across the street from the Maximo Nivel offices. Here we ran into a couple sisters wandering in their indigenous clothing with a baby alpaca. We paid them two soles each for a photo with them holding a baby alpaca. There are quite a few locals that do this as their source of income from tourists. I tried to ask the name of the baby alpaca by pointing at it and saying  "esta llama?" (llama means Name, I was guessing on the "estate"). The little girl said "No llama, baby alpaca," before taking him back.

We headed up the stairs to Plaza De Armas the same way we were shown the previous day. Stairs are hard at 12,000ft. The plaza had some policemen in groups of four around the perimeter; I always try to take note of if law enforcement in other countries have guns. As far as I could tell, these ones only had tasers and nightsticks.
Music engulfed us as the bands in the parade warmed up their instruments and more people wandered the streets selling goods than usual. I bought a hat from one to help fend off the sun and was immediately washed with relief at the shade over my face. Artists came up to us to show us their portfolios, sometimes calling out "Hey Chikas! Want to see my sexy llamas?"** this was not a euphemism, they all had some long skinny paintings of a llamas head and neck. They were truly fabulous. We browsed and bought some art while we waited for the celebrations to start. I got two thin watercolor pieces, one of an alley in Cusco, the other of Manchu Picchu.

Plaza De Armas: The Cathedral

The parade was full of colorful indigenous dancers with broad smiles. Each group of dancers had their own small band and paraded around the plaza. Many people sat on the stairs to the cathedral to watch the celebration. The center of the plaza around the fountain was starting to fill with people armed with water balloons and spray foam in aerosol cans. I bought a small can from a girl selling them. After watching the dancers for a while we wandered into a couple stores in an alley to get away from the heat. One shop keeper was listening to what sounded like Spanish Hamilton music.

Plaza De Armas: The Temple

When we got back to the plaza, Carnival was in full swing with massive spray foam and water balloon fight. Of course I immediately joined in. The locals are hesitant to spray the tourists at first, (The adults are, kids will spray anyone) but once they see you have a can of the foam as well, they gang up on you a bit. We were by far not the only tourists in the mix; among the Spanish, I recognized French, German, Arabic, and some Australian accents. I was having the time of my life getting sprayed at from all directions, wading through a crowd and trying to keep my grinning mouth shut (only had to learn that lesson once!). After so many months of polar vortex cold and darkness in Marquette, here in the sun I finally felt like myself again.
When I ran out of foam I bought another can and headed into the fray, this time spraying at groups of pre-teen boys that would sneak up behind girls, spray them in the back of the head and run away. I would spray them, then hide the can and act like an innocent tourist. One group caught on and came after me with water balloons; I emerged from the fray laughing and soaked. The other two who were staying well away from the chaos found me again and we wandered down a side street that was only slightly less hectic. I had put the cans into the side pouches of my backpack and as we passed a couple men, who I think were Sikh from their turbans, sprayed me with foam. Whipping out my own I turned heel and sprayed them back, all of us laughing as they ran away.

It was this experience that made me realize just how much laughter connects us. There were so many people from different cultures and religions, with different histories and languages; it was enthralling to experience how fun and laughter brakes down these barriers. It was suddenly okay that I didn't know Spanish. There are so many other ways to communicate and connect with people all over the world. That isn't to say that you shouldn't try to speak the language as much as possible, you should still try your best. This is why it is so important for people not only to travel but to immerse themselves as much as possible to bring a mutual love and understanding each other; we are not so different. You don't have to know a language to communicate, there are so many people that I felt touch me, even for the briefest moment: locking eyes, smiling, nodding, spraying each other in the face with foam. It's amazing what so little can say.

We found an out of the way cafe to eat lunch at, I had an empanada. Empanadas were pretty much the pasty of Peru. it was flaky, full of chicken and some form of cheese. (in other words, fabulous). After lunch, we went back to the homestays to rest for a bit. I found out that the key I was given didn't work in the garage door, and someone I didn't recognize let me into the house. She didn't speak any English and had trouble communicating that my key didn't work and needed to be let in. She let me in and I felt bad for bothering her lunch. I went up to my room and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. An hour later, around 2pm the rest of the group came back from Rainbow Mountain. They said the hike was hell, they were glad they went but they wouldn't go again. Some even needed to get oxygen from a tank on the way up. Apparently, you could also rent a horse to take you part of the way. I told them about my experience and they told me I looked like I was glowing with the positive energy from the day's events.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; I slept for another hour and the other two girls and I went out to the tree bifurcation to see where it would lead us. It ended at a snack kiosk and no extra charges ATM where we met a girl from Alaska who had volunteered with Maximo Nivel and was now looking for a job teaching English. we went a little farther down the street and found a large bridge that went over the busy street. on one side of the bridge was what I thought was a large pharmaceutical research building with a beautiful mural. we took our time admiring the view and I let the pleasant happy feelings form the day wash over me with the warm breeze. It felt so good to be in warm weather, to laugh and have childish fun again. Traveling is who I am, I don't feel like myself when I take too long between trips. I crave adventure and the flavors of different cultures.

The Tree Bifurcation

*This mango was the most amazing mango I have had in my life, it was plump and juicy and somehow melted in my mouth without any of the starchy texture that you get from the mangoes in Michigan. I asked my friend from Peru about this and she said that in Michigan we get our mangoes from Mexico (which I knew), but Peru has its own mangoes. In markets, they are absolutely huge, green and red with juice running out of the stem. If you have a layover and can do one thing in Peru, eat fresh mango.
**I google searched sexy llamas to see if I could post an example of the art; no art, just weird memes..and llamas having sex but hey nothing you can't see on a postcard from Cusco.

Peru day 1

This past spring break I went to Peru with a group of others from NMU on an international service project. Saturday we arrived in the warm, sunny city of Cusco and were greeted a smiley face flag swung by our project manager form Maximo Nivel, the local organization we would be volunteering with. They took us to our homestays, nine others and I went to one homestay, our three leaders got a hotel room and the rest stayed in the second homestay across the street. Our host was Effrain, an exceptionally welcoming and kind man living with his wife Ruth and son Diego. when you entered the house it looked like a normal American home, thought the stacks of movies by the television were in Spanish. I later found this house to have many more stairwells, hallways, and rooms than I had originally thought, Including another family, presumably relatives living there that I only saw once. As we were shown into our tidy assigned rooms with bunk beds and warm clean blankets, altitude sickness slammed into me. Cusco is 12,000ft high; I felt light-headed, dizzy, my vision started spinning and blurring at the edges. The bed was a welcome place to lie down for a few minutes while the altitude sickness medication kicked in and I enjoyed not moving. I had been traveling for at least 17 hours; one bus and two planes. I normally don't get motion sick on planes, but we had hit a lot of turbulence over the Caribbean and my stomach was not happy.

Two hours after settling in, our program manager came and showed us how to call for taxis down by the main street, a short walk out of our quiet neighborhood. The main street had a beautiful tree bifurcation along the middle of it, almost like a garden. people were walking dogs and street vendors were selling food from carts along it. I remember glancing a newspaper stand and one of the covers standing out to me, the headline read "DICTATORS" (In Spanish) and the cover held the photos of several world leaders, the biggest one, front and center being the angry, finger-wagging face of Trump. I had no local money on me at the time, otherwise, I would have grabbed a copy, curious of what the other countries had to say on the subject.

After getting taxis we were off to orientation at the Maximo Nivel headquarters. we got our project assignment, we would be working with an animal shelter called "Colitas sin Techo" or "Tails without a home." Monday and Tuesday afternoon we would be building a fence for the shelter so the dogs had more room to roam, and Thursday we would split our group into two teams to run an animal campaign in a more impoverished area of Cusco. One team in the morning, one in the afternoon. The orientation also covered more general getting around the city tips, like how to know the difference between legitimately registered taxis and fake ones, some common need to know Spanish phrases, and other safety tips. During the orientation I drank a ton of Coca tea; not chocolate, this is the leaf they make cocaine out of but don't worry, unprocessed it's perfectly safe! (Just don't try to bring any back home, the TSA dogs will sniff you out.) Coca tea is drunk a lot by new arrivals because it helps with adjusting to the altitude. Incas used to chew the dried leaves to supplement vitamins in their diet, get an energy boost and suppress hunger.

Orientation was finished with a walking tour of the area of the city around the office which included where ATMs were, stores and the main Plaza De Armas (Probably spelled wrong but that's how I learned to say it). we went up a set of stone stairs and through a couple, back alleyways to get there. stairs are HARD at 12,000ft, I sure was sucking on my inhaler. the cobblestone streets made me feel like I was back in Europe. I looked through an archway in one of the alleys and saw a large grassy yard. I laughed to myself and remembered one of my favorite books as a kid, The Secret Garden. I found it, I had found the secret garden! Spoiler alert: it contains many colorful alpacas... glances through other similar archways reveled beer gardens, restaurants, basketball courts, and soccer fields.

 Plaza De Armas is the central square of Cusco; The cathedral and temple take two sides. It's close to a lot of nice shops and restaurants. the middle of the square has a giant fountain with I forgot who on top of it. locals wander around the plaza, trying to get tourists to buy hats and sweaters from them, artists wander with their portfolios to try and sell their art. The city is littered with stray dogs, one of which knew our program manager and adopted our group for the tour, following us around and rubbing his ears on our legs. at the end of the tour, he followed us back into the office. We named him Max, short for Maximo.

Max at Maximo

Back at the headquarters, we exchanged money and were free to do with the rest of the day what we pleased. Some people who weren't feeling so good took a taxi back to the homestays, the rest of us followed the lead of the guy who said, "Hey, let's walk back, It'll be fun! trust me, I downloaded Google Maps!" yeah, we got lost. For the record, I was prepared to talk and haggle with the taxis to get us to where we needed to go. But it wound up being one of those fun adventures where you explore the city while really fucking hungry because we didn't eat lunch. On the way, we stopped at a convenience store for snacks and I got to try the legendary Inca Cola soda that every travel guide told me to try. It tastes like pineapple bubble gum and was much too sweet for me. I also tried Inca Corn which was not the same as we get in the states, it was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. think inverse popcorn. I am glad we went through, I have always appreciated the road less traveled and this one got a baby alpaca shoved in my arms by a local who wanted me to take a picture with it for a sole ( 1 USD = 3.2 Soles).

Back at the homestay we entered through the garage door with the keys we were given. Through which was an area of the house I hadn't seen yet and It blew my mind. Their car was parked in the entryway to a beautiful restaurant. There was a stocked wooden bar in front of the car, the glasses covered in dust obviously hadn't been used in a while. the entry turned past a coca-cola cooler to a gorgeous high ceiling room filled with chairs stacked on tables. the floor was a simple blue mosaic and there was a professional kitchen to the side that hadn't seen use in a while. During my whole stay, the room remained dark and the chairs never left the tops of the tables. The house kitchen was also to the side of the restaurant and through it we accessed the rest of the house, going up a set of stairs in the entryway to get to my room I shared with two other girls. Going through the doorway into the rest of the house was like stepping through a portal. Throughout the whole house, I was made to feel safe and welcome.

Dinner was served at 7pm, an amazing meal of what could be described as a Peruvian tuna casserole on yucca fries and a side of rice. Our hosts never dined with us, but this was more due to custom and at orientation, we were told not to take offense. Peruvians have large lunches as the big meal of the day and eat little to no dinner. While our homestay provided us with breakfast and dinner, we were on our own for lunches during the week. Our hosts were careful to ask about dietary restrictions and they never had any problems accommodating my lactose intolerance. It mostly just meant that I needed my meals without cheese mixed in, and on the couple occasions we had yogurt at the breakfast table, I was provided with dairy-free yogurt.

After dinner, we all pretty much passed out in our rooms. Some people (not me) had a mountain to climb tomorrow. I was going to Carnival.

I will upload pictures later, I need sleeeeeeep.