Saturday, May 21, 2011

Today was another monumental day! We got up early to tour Nazca, Peru and then head back to Lima. We arrived first at the Nazca lines and climbed a small observation tower, ten at a time, to see two figures: los manos y el arbol (the hands and the tree). Two theories exist for how these figures appeared in the desert. The first, that extraterrestrial life forms came to our planet and created them. This theory is supported by the existence of an alien-like figureamong the numerous Nazca lines. The second, and much morelikely theory, is that the carvings were created by pre-Incan civilizations in Nazca. This theory states that removing the dark colored, iron-coated pebbles that coat the surface of the Nazca desert to expose lighter colored sand is the process that created the lines. The extremely dry, windless climate of the Nazca desert has helped keep the lines visible for centuries.

Our next stop was a gold mining/production site. We had a brief tutorial about the 15-18-hour process. The men start their day by hiking up the mountains to search for stones from which they later extract gold. Our guide told us it was a more labor-intensive, arduous process than at a factory and also a bit more difficult because the chemicals are quite toxic and are handled by humans instead of machines. From one stone, about size of an apple, one gram of gold would be extracted. I couldn’t believe that such and intense (and seemingly dangerous) process yielded such minuscule results! After the tutorial, we popped in their jewelry shop with items that had been made on the premises from start to finish. It was crazy to think about! My favorite part of the gold production site was by far my trip to the bathroom. I met an elderly woman who was watching her two grandchildren. She introduced us to her youngest grandchild, a little girl who was two years old. Her older brother soon ran out and said, “Tengo cinco años!” andimmediately did a handstand. A-freaking-dorable.

We walked shortly down the street to sit for another tutorial, this time about ceramics (I love crafting!). The woman showed us the process that her grandfather had taught her which mimicked the process used in ancient Nazca. The paint used to decorate the finished ceramic was extracted from different minerals and soils. This place also had a gift shop with some rather interesting pieces. One in particular depicted a woman giving birth. I’m fairly positive every single one of us took a picture of it. Easily amused Americans, I suppose! Aside from the colorful ceramics, it was quite nice to see this woman carrying on her grandfather’s traditional ceramic work.

Next we stopped at a series of ancient aqueducts that still work to this day (although they are not in use). They were very large and spiraled deep into the ground. Our guide, Miguel, passed water around for us to try and it was surprisingly refreshing! From the aqueducts, we could see the world’s largest sand dune. (I was very skeptical that the world’s largest sand dune was in Peru. I though for sure it was in Africa. After wiki-confirming, I was totally stoked to have gotten a picture!)

Lastly, we toured ancient Incan ruins that were built on the side of a small mountain, which overlooked the entire valley. Our guide said that the Incans wanted to keep watch over their newly conquered valley and from this location they had a perfect view. The stones were very soft and many, many people had carved their names into the ruins. I found that to be a bit lame. I think that those tours really show me the importance of remembering and preserving the past. We should feel lucky to be standing on such ancient ruins instead of carving “Joe was here!” on a rock.

We headed back to Ica to eat dinner. I got some fantastic Chinese food with Andrew and Vinny. After about two hours, we boarded the bus and went back to Lima. I tried falling asleep on the bus with no luck. A bunch of us sitting in the back of the bus played games and told stories to better get to know one another. Upon returning to Lima, we went out to a discoteca and had a blast! It was our last night all together in the hostel before we all split up to go to our host families the next day.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Thank god for free days! I woke up today at about 9:00am to eat some breakfast with my wonderful roommates. We went back to our rooms to grab our computers to do some homework and blogging. I had every intention of spending my day relaxing by the pool and reading, but when I got back up to my room, I sat briefly on my bed to look for Dayquill. The next thing I knew I had been asleep for five hours. I was not feeling good at all! I woke up around 2:30 and felt much better. I was so hungry when I woke up (another sign I was feeling better!) and got some incredible Chinese food! Who knew Peruvians had amazing comida Chino!?!

Our only activity for the day was to meet in Ica’s Plaza de Armas to conduct interviews with three people. It was a bit uncomfortable at first but everyone we interviewed was very nice. I had trouble staying on track with the list of questions because I really enjoyed just talking to the people. I found it was easier to have a regular conversation, as the people we interviewed didn’t know the answers to some of our more specific questions. They responded really well when we asked them what their favorite tourist spots, festivals and foods were. We approached and older man for an interview and then his daughter joined us and we were able to chat with them both. She was a nurse and had two kids that were 15 and 20. He was retired and was visiting his daughter in Ica. We spoke with a younger woman who was 28 and a waitress. Everyone was really nice and very willing to share their experiences with us gringos!

That night a few people went out to the discotecas but since I wasn't feeling good, I stayed in and hung out with Andrew and Rosana and did some homework.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

This date will go down in history. Best day of my life, by far. Where do I begin?

We woke up today at 6am, drove to Paracas to take a boat tour of Las Islas Ballestas, protected islands off of the cost of Paracas. We all filed into a small speedboat named Pinguino IV (I love boat rides!) and strapped on our life vests. After about ten minutes we arrived at an enormous island sand dune with an ancient engraving in the sand of a candelabra that points toward Nazca. No one knows how or why its there but it acts as a symbol of Peru’s ancient, mysterious history.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at a seemingly desolate and uninhabited cluster of islands. This observation could not have been more inaccurate! Thousands, maybe even millions of birds (piqueros, guanay y pelicanos) live on these islands. The islands are protected because, although the amount of birds seems endless, they are all in danger of becomingextinct. They are important to Peruvians because of their guano, which is exported to other countries for use as fertilizer and is very, very expensive. Guano is exported from these islands once every six years because it takes this amount of time for the birds to produce enough for exportation. The rocks appear to be white, but upon closer inspection, they are actually covered in bird poo! My favorite bird by far was the flightless Humboldt Penguin.I have loved penguins since I was a little girl and was so excited to see them in theirnatural habitat (instead of the Boston Aquarium)! Overhead, there flew an endless flock of big, black birds. Our boat floated underneath them and everyone covered their heads for fear of incoming presents. It was an incredibly peaceful scene to watch.

Lastly, we sailed close to a rocky beach covered in sea lions, or lobos. Our tour guide told us that it was approaching mating season for the lobos, which is why we saw many seals fighting one another to win the affections of a mate. In a few months, he told us, the island would be full of baby seals. There were, however, some younger, smaller sea lions that I wished I could have taken home (so cute!). I could keep one in the bathtub, no? After our tour of Las Islas Ballestas, we sailed back to the harbor to eat lunch and I was able to purchase some souvenirs for my mother and oldest sister.

Next on our tour of the Ica region, we went to an old pisco distillery to see the process of making pisco and most importantly, to try some! The pisco distilling process is very similar to the making of wine in that pisco is also made from grapes. The grapes are stomped by feet and then by machine and then it ferments for two weeks in ceramic jugs. This information, however, may or may not be correct. Our tour guides spoke very quickly and I had some trouble following the process. The tasting was fantastic! I enjoyed the first two piscos, but the second two were much too strong! Gloria, our second tour guide suggested we swish the pisco in our mouths. That was the worst ever. My mouth was on fire! At least I know now not to ever order pisco straight up…

Next stop… SAND DUNING!!! What a thrill! I am always up for an adventure and THIS, my friend, was it! (The ONLY thing I would have changed about this was the fact that my camera battery died! Que horrible!) We arrived at Huacachina, Peru and immediately boarded the sand boogies and took off! Our driver, Jesus, was EL HOMBRE. We sped through the desert, up and over sand dunes and around in circles; it was like a roller coaster in the desert! Our first stop was for picture taking (boo, my camera!) and the views were fantastic. It was late afternoon, just an hour or so before the sun would start to set. We kicked off our shoes and climbed to the top of the nearest sand dune for the most opportune views. Sand duning tip: take off your sneakers because they will quickly fill with sand. On second thought, just prepare to be covered in sand. After a photo shoot, we arrived at our first dune. It was very high and had quite a slant (little did I know, the dunes only got bigger and steeper). There are two ways to boogie down a sand dune: first, with your feet as if snowboarding and second, on your belly. Since I’ve never been snowboarding (successfully) I decided to fly down on my stomach. This proved to be much easier, faster, and more thrilling than standing. We went to two more dunes and in between each one, Jesus took us on another sand boogie roller coaster ride. At our last dune, the tallest and steepest of them all, we watched the sunset and it was breathtaking. Jesus took us for one more ride around the desert before we returned to our bus. Upon exiting Huacachina, we stopped to relax at a beautiful desert oasis that was located in the center of the sand dunes.

We boarded the bus and ended our tour at La Pueblo de Brujas. In all honestly, I had a very difficult time understanding what this story was about. I think our guide could tell we were very tired and in turn, she spoke very quickly. Secondly, it was very dark and I had trouble seeing the snake-like tree that the story was based on. The tree was an enormous palm tree that snaked in and out of the ground. It got like that because many years ago, the city was plagued with witch craft and in order to stem it’s growing popularity, townspeople captured a witch to sacrifice. I’m not clear on how the tree became involved in this, but from what I understood they tried to cast a spell on the witch but she moved at the last minute and the spell hit the tree instead, which is why it snakes so eerily today. I would have loved to go back and see the tree during the day. The story reminded me of Peruvian Salem Witch Trials!

We got back to the hotel that night for some serious descansando! I could feel myself getting a bit sick and run down (So soon on the trip! Pull it together, Raskin!) so I was very happy to have a free day the next day!

…Stay tuned!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Today, we drove from Lima to Ica (about four hours) and I slept most of the way. I woke up about an hour and a half before we arrived in Ica. What I observed from the bus was rather interesting. Acres and acres of crops and farmland in what appeared to be desert. How could they cultivate such dry land? One side of the highway would be covered in row after row of lush, green plants being harvested by hardworking groups of about twenty. The other side of the road was dry, rocky, uninhabited desert. Sporadically, along both sides of the highway, there were small, church-like houses, some adorned with flowers and crosses.I asked Henry what they were for and he told me they are in memorial of people who had died while crossing the highway. He said the accidents normally happen at night because the cars don’t see crossing pedestrians until its too late. I found this so interesting. In the states, all highways have lights every few hundred yards and in most places, it’s illegal to walk along or near highways unlessyour car broke down.

We arrived at our hotel around 4:30 and relaxed by the pool. The side of our hotel is covered in paper-thin pink and red flowers. The furniture is made of tree trunks and I want it for my porch!

Since our rooms weren’t ready, we went in groups to hunt down some food. About eight of us went together and got caldo de rez, and chicharron de pollo con arroz y ensalada. The chicharron was so juicy and delicious. Peruvian food agrees with me, for sure! The caldo de rez was made with spaghetti, rice, chicken and corn (the biggest corn kernels I have ever seen… muy rico!!)

caldo de rez

After lunch, we settled into our rooms. I’m rooming with Syeda and Kaitlyn (chicas fantasticas!). The group met outside for some cerveza and vino before heading out to karaoke. We met an adorable turtle that lives at the hotel! I called him "novio" and tried to pet him but everyone laughed at me because apparently turtles cant feel petting. We shall see. That turtle LOVED me.

We went out to karaoke tonight and had an absolute blast! I could barely speak the next day but it was totally worth it. We started our set by serenading Monica with the Celine Dion classic “My Heart Will Go On.” We had such a fun time and I really think we have a great group dynamic! After karaoke, Kris and I got some french fries and sliced hot dogs to share before bed. We went right home after karaoke because Thursday is going to be a BIG day.

…..Stay tuned!