Peru: Day 6

Hola!
Ah- This morning we were able to sleep in after our late night last night. Then we took it pretty easy and slow in the morning. I went to the panadaria and bought some bread, butter, mild and eggs. then we had scrambled eggs with ham, and bread and butter. We also made a fruit salad- Oranges, apples, bananas, mangoes, and papayas and pineapples. Then had a tree honey called Agrobina  on the fruit. Great breakfast, and very delicious. We then cleaned up and got ready to leave. We hopped on the bus and headed to the central plaza. We saw the presidential palace and several other government buildings. We walked around a bit, tried some local desserts from the vendors, churros etc. . .  Stopped and watched a duet between a Cajon and a Djembe, fue muy bien. Afterwards we hopped on the "Mirabus" which is a open air double-Decker tour bus, and took about an hour to tour the city centre. It was really cool. After the Mirabus tour we did some more walking around and stopped at a food fair for supper. I had duck with rice and potatoes. It was really good, and some other people had dishes such as chicken, lamb, cuy, and cow heart. then we all got some desserts. I got Mazamorra morada. It is like this base of a rice and milk stuff, with a purple corn sauce on top. Very delicious! Then we waked down the mall. It was an open air mall, complete with tile flooring. It reminded me of the Nicolate mall in Minneapolis except no cars, and many many more stores. Then we stopped at the cinema on the mall and saw MI3, Hombres en Negro Tres. It was kinda difficult, but fun. Then we started for Stella Maris. We used a municipal bus for the first part, then had to wait about 45 minutes for the next bus, the verde B 73 autobus. We all arrived safely around midnight. then I started writing. This account might not be as good as the others because I am not in the roof tonight, I am relaxing in the living room. Buenos Noches!
En Cristo,
Miguel

Peru: Day 5

Hola! Today we did some cleaning around the house. Then worked a lot on our stories. I did a lot of work on the blog. For breaky we had the usual ham and cheese sandwiches. For lunch we headed into he market and went to a really ritzy place. Dimas ordered the Bistec for all, and we got to try chicha morada. The Bistec literally translates as beef steak- but I wouldn't have translated it like that. . . I have found that all of the beef down here is has a great flavor, but is super tough. This particular dish was a bed of rice, french fries, a mini salad, and a very thin (about a quarter inch), very tough piece of beef, it tasted great, but was very difficult to eat. Chicha morada is a very interesting drink. It is a very dark purple, almost black drink made from the juice of purple corn. Then they add cinnamon and pineapple juice. It has a very distinct flavor. Very Delicious! AH, I almost for got about the soup! It was kind of weird, but very good. It was a yellow soup served with a beef bone,- it tasted like both beef and chicken soup, had rice and corn. It was tasty. After lunch we exchanged more money, then headed back to Stella Maris. We waited here while Dimas, Blanca, Joel, Gamble and Emily went to visit with a person from Rauma to plan a visit up there. They returned, and Dimas said we would leaved a 9:15 for Las Brisas. 10:00 came and left. We finally left at around 10:15 and used a taxi, only 4 people this time, and arrived at 10:50. Only about an hour after it started. It was an amazing cultural experience. They had a very large dance floor in the middle, with a band in front on a stage. And there was seating all around the outside. They would have traditional and cultural dances in the middle that we would watch while eating our dinner comprised of a plate of fried chicken and french fries. Yes, it seams like everything in Peru is fried. . . Then they would clear the dance floor and the band would continue to play while people would fill up the floor. They alternated between cultural and free dances. IT was a very good experience, and I loved seeing and watching all of the cultural dances. Very nicely done.It ended at around 2:45 so we headed out, but for the return trip, Dimas needed to pick up Dheibarl (their son), so we had to have 5 in the taxi for the return trip. So another squished ride. Although this time Emily sat in the back, so it wasn't too bad. . . We all pretty much just went to bed right away. . . So I actually wrote this the next morning. Gracias! In Cristo, Miguel

Peru: Day 4

Hola, sorry it has taken me so long to get another update up, I have been traveling to some different places, and didn't have internet access. Here is Day 4 as recorded on May 24th. This morning we woke up and did our usual morning routine of showers etc. . . Then we joined their weekly Karate class at 8AM. This first class was for the little kids, I think that they were about 4-6 years old. We started with about 40 minutes of intense stretching. It was interesting to observe his (the instructors) use of a variety of ballistic and static stretching, and which muscles he used only static stretches on, and which ones he incorporated ballistic stretching. After a very painful time watching 5 year old's show us up in their ability to stretch, we moved on to the next activity, running and kicking. This was fun, but very difficult. After one of the activities that we were especially bad at (frog leaping, not leap frog. . .) all of the kids burst out laughing, after a hearty laugh himself, the instructor said to the kids "If you were that tall, you shouldn't be able to do that either!" It was a lot of fun though. We then went downstairs and had breakfast which was fresh bread, butter and jam. This was a weird concept for Dimas and Blanca, to put Jam on your bread, and they didn't like it so they stayed with ham and cheese. We also had Fruit Juice made with the fresh fruit from the market. After breakfast we went to the second class of Karate for the older students, 7-10 years old. This one was more focused on stationary kicking and punching. The instructor really liked to "show off our weaknesses" and ask us to do stuff that we couldn't, like kick over his head. . . It was fun, and very funny for those of us who decided not to join. After the Classes, we headed down to the party for the First day of Kindergarten (I think that that is what the party was for, I got different reasons depending on who I asked, so I don't really know.) We then made our way to the supermarket to buy tickets to Las Brisas del Lago de Titicaca, which we will be going to tomorrow. After purchasing our tickets, we stopped at a McDonnald's kiosk and got some McFlurries. They tasted exactly the same as the US versions, except for the Orange flavored one. . . The plan was then to head out to Ancon, a "city" to the north of Lima. So Dimas starts to look for a bus to take us there. He finally finds one that is satisfactory. We end up getting a "MicroBus," Which lives up to its name. Very small, and packed full with people. All of the chairs were taken, and the ceiling of the Microbus was about 5'5", so it was a little difficult to stand. . . But after a long ride and a painful neck, we arrived in Ancon. We went to the Beach, the Pacific Ocean, and some people jumped into the fridged waters. We then headed to the pier and watched the fish salesmen try to sell us everything from strangely coloured fish to even a stingray. Then we went to have lunch, or do you call it supper because it was already 4PM? No se. . . We had a mixed plate from the ocean, each person got the same menu item, but there were all sorts of objects, all of them completely unidentifiable. I have some guesses as far as some of the "meat." I think there was fried Calamari, a random fillet of a fish looking thing that tasted like a mix of ocean water and that dead fish smell. Also there was a piece of "fried roe." That was pretty weird, it was just straight up fried fish eggs. Eating them proved to be a challenge. . . this was all served with fried yuka, which is a kind of potato. I have learned that EVERY dish in Peru is served with some kind of potato, most of the time in french fry form. On this trip there was a tray dog that started following us, so we named him Conan from Ancon. Later in Ancon a German Shepperd joined our group, so he was named Aleman (Germany). The two dogs stayed with us for about 2-3 hours and were VERY protective of us, if anyone or anything would come near us, they would let them have it. WE then got to experience an Anconetta, which is a bicycle with a basket in the front to sit in. We used this to go to the top of a hill where we had a great view! Afterwards, we headed back and hopped on another Microbus for Lima. On the way back, we stopped by a pastelaria and bought 2 cakes for Jacobs birthday. We arrived at Dimas' house and ate cake while talking about our day and trying some of Peter's Grapefruit Seed Extract. It was supper bitter. Then we came up to the roof and are writing. The weather is beautiful and all is well. I love it down here, although I have learned that everything is built for short people. I have to duck to get through most doors, and I can't stand stand up in some of the buses, and the chairs and tables, I just plain don't fit in them. I have also learned that Lima could survive a Zombie attack- as every house and shop is outfitted with thick, heavy steel gates, with several locks on them. Also, Dimas is very laid back, but when we are done, it is time to leave. Another great day gone by, this trip is going so fast! It is Crazy! One last thing that I have learned today, is that Dimas has friends everywhere! Everywhere we go we get discounts because Dimas is their friend. Also, copy fakes are everywhere, the streetsides are lined with the stuff, its crazy. It was a great night- but it is time to say goodnight. Adios! En Cristo, Miguel

Peru! Day 3

Hola! Como esta? Here comes the recount of day three as written on the 23rd of May. What a great day! Today d by going across the street o the local panadaria, (bread shop) buying lots of bread, ham, and cheese along with more milk. we ate our traditional, but really delicious breakfast of Ham and Edam cheese sandwiches. We then sat in on and helped with the religion classes in the school here. After our feast, we went down into the school, and taught English. After teaching about colours and heights, sizes and shapes, ages and what you did today, what your hobbies are, we got ready for the parade. We all lined up and prepared ourselves. After only one practice we were all kind of nervous. But it was super fun- and went off with out a hitch. We marched around for about 45 minutes to an hour- then came back for P.E. class, which consisted of stretching and jumping, up on the roof. after school had finished and we had said the customary goodbyes the the kids (Si, incluyo bezes y brasos traditional) we headed out for lunch at our normal lunch time, 2:30. We went to the same place as yesterday- Rosas. We had their shrimp and rice cream soup (sopa de camarones) and split 2 different main dishes, I don't remember their names, and I don't really know what they were. . . But I think that one might have been chicken and the other pork. They were both served over rice and of course- french fries. They also plated it with a weird type of banana, called a plantain. It tasted kinda like a sweet potato. The meal was very good. After returning form lunch we went to the fruit market. It was about a 20 minute bus ride to a "random" street which there were tons of vendors. Everything from chicken to corn to mangos. Every square inch of the space on the sidewalk was used and filled full with food, and stuff. Most of which I have never heard of. We bought and ate some morada and leche arroz, which is kind of like a rice and mild combo with a weird purple corn based syrup that was sweet poured over it all, and served hot. It was kinda odd, but good. We tryed various kinds of fruit including some thing that looked like snot, but was really sweet and tangy. We also tried sugar cane juice. We bought lots of different types of fruit then headed back on the bus. We waited about 20- 30 minutes for a not completely full bus, with no avail. If you want to know the meaning of a full bus, just visit Peru. In rush hour every other vehicle was a bus, and was filled so full, that all of the windows were literally smashed full with people. Finally we found one with about 7 people getting off, so the 8 of us and 4 other random Peruvians tying to get on, we all made it safely- except for Jacob. He was helping the kids on first. As the bus starts moving, he grabs the door, and puts a foot on the already full outer step. Joel and myself were on the step, and both put an arm around him, and pull him in as the doors try to close, but get stuck on his shoulders, so we pull harder, and he finally squeezes through. We all made it safely on the bus. Whew! But we were still packed like Peruvians on a bus. I am always amazed at the money collectors on the bus, who slip in an out between the many people and collect their money, all while remembering who paid and who didn't. After a LONG trip, we finally arrive at Dimas' house and entre, and the feast of the rare fruit begins. We had everything except one bag of fruit that got stolen on the bus. Later I will list what fruit we got to try, but it was all very good. I am on the roof again writing this, it[Lima] is amazing- and beautiful in its dusty, dirty, sad way. I think that I could live here! Hasta Pronto, Miguel

quick explanation

Just a quick explanation, Day one was on the 21 of May, day two on the 22 of may, etc. . .

Peru: Day two

Seven AM comes with conversations and sunlight as I roll out of bed, grab my stuff, stumble down the stairs to ask Dimas "puedo duchar?" He points to a bathroom on down the hall on the third floor. Something is really striking, and that is that all of the Peruvians are really, really short, but all of the light switches are all up at my chin hight, so around five feet and ten inches off the ground. How does that work? Also, the showers are something different, they have the only hot water in the house- and the water is not adjustable. Just on or off- and quite hot for a few minutes, and a very little, small single stream of water which makes it difficult to wash. . . (Later, as of this morning- so the 25, day 5, I figured out that there is a small dial on the pipe which which you can control how much hot water mixes with the cold water.) Also, because all of the Peruvians are short, the windows come down pretty low in the bathroom. . . Next Dimas runs to the market and gets some fresh bread and milk. We then head over to the market together and pick out some Edam Cheese and weird looking ham- along with butter. The bread was some of the best bread that I have ever had, with butter and really good cheese and oddly spicy ham. . . The milk was really intiresting, it tasted like un-skimmed milk or half and half. But had a very strong taste. In the words of Daniel "La leche es muy fuerte. . . " (ya, the milk is VERY strong) The next several hours were spent trying to plan our next two weeks. After planning, we went to the roof to help and observe the games at recess. Then we got out a mini green soccer ball and played a little roof top soccer, until we learned that if you kick the ball off of the roof, it does not get retrieved, so after that lesson, we played hacky-sack. Next we went down to join the "marching" band. I played the snare drum, Joel played the cornet and everyone else played tambourines. It was fun and the name of the song was Lima Chorillos. After the band session, we said goodbye to the students as they left for their homes, then we headed down the road for lunch. We went to a restaurant run by a friend of Dimas, the restaurant is called La Rosa. Dimas told us we have to listen to him, and he will tell us whether or not something is safe to eat. He ordered a Peruvian favorite, Lomo Saltado, for all of us. He then instructs us to use napkins to wipe down everything, the plates, cups, silverware, etc. . . as they were washed with Peruvian water. The first course is sopa de sustancia (soup of sustenance), and comes in a huge bowl. We are pretty much full after the soup, when they bring out the Lomo Saltado. It is a bed of rice with pieces of tough beef on top, onion, french fries, tomatoes all with a kind of light cilantro sauce. This is all served with Inca Kola, Peru's coke product, which tastes like a cross between coke and bubble gum. it is weird, and oddly addicting. And bright neon yellow. Best meal I have had for $2.50! Next plan of action is to exchange some of our money into soles. the exchange rate today was 2.64 soles per dollar. the money traders examine each bill very carefully before giving you your soles, which you also should examine very carefully, because sometimes they try to rip you off. To get to the money trader that Dimas likes, we had our first experience on a a Peruvian bus. The buses are, at very best, a ride and a half. Between the hair pin turns and the unexpected use of the brakes combined with the petal hitting the metal, they are certainly exciting. Not holding on is not an option. When we return, we played some card games and had some free time until we left for dinner- a place downtown called Roky's Karaoke. It was a blast! We had fried chicken with a salad and french fries, all while singing karaoke to our hearts content. It was super fun! When we returned- we did more trip planning- then called it a night. Tonight Jacob and myself are going to sleep in a tent on the roof- so that will be exciting. Although I must say that it is very interesting as I sit on the roof of the roof (the fifth floor), writing this at 1:30 AM, the rosters are crowing, the many wild dogs are howling and there is a general din between the constant honking of the cars, and the random noisy animals. The temp is perfect, I am sitting on the roof with athletic shorts and flip-flops, and I am just right. It is very comfortable. Another observation is that although during the winter it is almost always cloudy, and you never can see the sun, during the day it is really bright outside. Tomorrow we will be helping teach in the school, so that should be a lot of fun, also there is a parade for some festival of the kindergardeners, which Dimas wants us to play in. (With the Marching Band) We have also been told to wear a white shirt and blue pants. One final closing remark, even though it is extremely dusty here, Dimas' floors are always shiny clean. (Later I found out from Daniel, that they are actually really dirty, but they use a wax that make is look shiny even though it is dirty.) Also, even though the streets are filled with trash, the people dress very nicely. They also wear a lot of soccer garb. You rarely see tee-shirts down here. En Cristo, Miguel

Day one parte dos

Here is the next installment from my journal: Next we head over to the baggage claim to see a regular looking conveyor belt carrying the luggage around. While waiting for our luggage to come around on the very long belt, we get sniff "searched" three times by police dogs. After getting our packages we had to claim them with our baggage claim tags at yet another scary-looking Peruvia guard. The time is 11 pm when we head over to customs, where another fast moving line awaits. We show our documents and customs claim, and get directed to push "the button of decision," basically a big green button that you push- if it lights the pole above you green, you are free to entre the country, but if the lights turn red, then you have to go into the search room, where they x-ray all of your bags and search "random" people. Out of all of us travelers, Joel was the only one who got the green light, the rest of us were subjected to a search and had to try to figure out what the annoyed security guard, who didn't speak English and spoke very fast, wanted. Finally, after finishing customs, we headed out and met Dimas Vivanco and Daniel Pfieffer. We then had to wait for Peter to come through as he was on a later flight that got delayed. So when we where all rejoined in the center of the airport with about 200 peruvian eyes staring at us, Dimas instructs us to wait while he bartered with the taxi's before they saw we were "Gringos." Ten minutes later Dimas returned and beckoned us to follow him. We got to our taxi, and it is a regular sized Volvo style hatchback station-wagon weird thing with four doors. So four of us climb in, and the driver gets in after packing the back with our luggage. However not all of it fits in the back, so we have our laps very full. next thing we know, the driver of the the taxi is motioning and telling us to pile all of our luggage from our laps into Joel, who is riding shot gun. We didn't realize what is happening and tried to say that we were fine, that we were comfortable. But the driver became more insistent, and completely buries Joel in duffels and backpacks. We enjoy the space until the driver starts saying "uno mas, uno mas!" (one more, one more). Then we realize, what was a tight fit with Jacob, Dalton and myself became and impossible game of sitting of each others laps as Daniel tries to squeeze in. The driver had to physically help us push the door closed. We soon figured out that if Jake sat backwards facing us, it worked slightly better. Ten minutes of laughter turned into hysterical laughter when we passed Dimas' car, and say that Emily Marzofka was sitting in the front seat, with Elijah and Peter in the back. After a fifteen minute ride, we arrived at Dimas' house. We were then very promptly told to go into the house and let Dimas and the taxi driver get all of the stuff because it was not super safe in the street at one in the morning. We get settled in, and get introduced to Blanca, Dimas' wife. We chat for an hour or so, drink a "special" drink which turned out to be Coca-cola. After much conversing, and some comprehension, Dimas broke out the guitar and started playing and singing several songs including something having to do with the flower of canola and the National Anthem. After more musical enlightenment and talking we head upstairs to our sleeping quarters. Being two AM, I am very surprised while walking up the stairs to find that I am out side- on the roof. There are two rooms and a Bano on one side of the roof, and an open roof on the other side. We very quickly fall asleep after being instructed to use bottled water even to brush our teeth. This concludes day one, sorry it took so long to post this. But it is finally up. Enjoy and feel free to comment, subscribe, share, etc. . . Gracias! En Cristo, Miguel