Showing posts with label Peru journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peru journal. Show all posts

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Peru journal--Day 7

Day 7: Friday, July 22nd, 2011
More Cabana Adventures
So far, I think my favorite food  here is the bread. Kinda silly, you might say, since I can have bread anytime at home, and here I am in a place where I can try all kinds of new things...and I have...but the bread's just really good. For one thing, I'm mostly vegetarian, and Peru has a fairly meat-centered society. Ever meal (even breakfast sometimes) includes some kind of meat (pollo--chicken, or cuy--guinea pig, fish, or beef--not as often) The bread, although a bit dryer than that at home, is so good. It has this lovely taste, and when it's fresh, there's practically nothing better.


Today, some of us rode horses through a small section of the country near Cabana, including visiting the ruins of Pashas that date back to the Incans--they found mummies there. The riding was fun again. The horse I was riding was apparently still looking after her "teenage" foal of hers, who followed along after my horse and I (or sometimes went ahead--but then always eventually went back to following behind!)


We have two more full days in Cabana, before heading back down the Andes to Chimbote, a fishing village. From there, it's a six hour bus ride (during the DAY this time--ugh!) back to Lima, where we'll stay 'til Thursday. Sometime on Thursday, we'll be packing up to star the long journey home.


Although it's a bit nicer here than Lima, since Lima is a noisy city, it's been very loud around here, what with the St. James Festival, music being played over a boombox's speakers in the house, and the kids playing, so I'll be kind of glad to get away from all the noise. It's almost never quiet. The most quiet time is right now--siesta--which goes from around 1 or 2 P.M. to maybe 4:30. More tomorrow! :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Peru journal--Day 6

Let me just say I am so sorry it's taken me so long to post all of my Peru journal entries. I can't believe it's been a year since going to Peru--and I still haven't finished posting all of these! Yikes! Anyway, SORRY AGAIN!! Here's part 6!!!
Day 6: Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Third trip to Huambo
Today, it was back to Huambo for my mom & I. Once again, we took horses (the Bay & Dun as yesterday) and headed out of Cabana w/ Francesca ("Panchita"--nickname), the teacher of the little kids at the Huambo school.

The horses in Peru are pretty amazing. They are extremely sturdy, strong & surefooted, and very loyal, it seems. You hardly have to tie them up to make them stay in one place, & a lot of times, they aren't (same w/ donkeys)--just a halter with a rope trailing on the ground.

The St. James Festival continues. I hear it really gets going today & tonight. With bands going on every 15-20 minutes (about) & into the night and sometimes through the night, it can be hard to get adequate sleep. That, and, being away from home.

Speaking of which, I miss CT! And New England & the United States! I feel so far & isolated  from my country. Don't get me wrong--Peru is an amazing place--but I miss practically everything there is to miss! For instance, I wish I could eat one of Daniel's homemade cookies! And I miss my friends, and talking to them. I miss my family, my animals...& yes, even (sort of!) the sweltering CT weather. I can't pick up American pop music here (& you say, "and that's a BAD thing??") on my mp3 player. However, I have plenty of music (incl. lots of songs in English!) on my mp3 player, plus some videos. In short, I have pieces of home, but not home.

I am sitting here while St. James festivities continue in the streets of Cabana. It's a lively fiesta--a different kind of lively than we have in the United States of American. Man, I never knew I could miss my own country (& language) so much. IN another week we'll be starting the long journey away from the old, bustling Lima, & back to the familiar turf of NY, & then finally back home.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Peru journal--Day 5

Day 5: Wednesday, July 20th, 20ll
Second Trip to Huambo
A list of things I experienced for the first time in Peru:

  • Danced in St. James Festival with Cabana citizens
  • First time being in minority (my mom and I are the only white people for miles...which is probably an understatement...)
  • Heard a Justin Bieber song ("Baby") practically out in the middle of nowhere while riding back from Huambo (a couple of the little girls had a hand-held radio). Boy, did THAT seem out of place. But, I was glad to, out of the blue, hear my own native language in a song that seemed very familiar.
  • First time riding a horse in the Andes mountains.
Yep, today, we (my mom, Maria, and I) rode horses to the school in Huambo! What an experience! The rocky slop[es and drop offs, plus the panoramic views, made for quite an interesting time.
My horse was very pretty mare with a nice personality to match. On the way back from the school, she seemed to get kind of tired (I can hardly blame her).
Here, it's cold in the early mornings, and evenings, but when the sun is out between 9 A.M. and 3 P.M., it's very warm, unless you go into the shade, in which you feel chilly again! I hear it can get up to 90 degrees, even in winter, during the hottest part of the day!
At the Huambo school, I took more pictures and videos (we took some yesterday, too), and my mom and I taught the older kids a bit more English, through singing with them. We also did some more music with them, with musical instruments we bought for them in the States (6 recorders, some rhythm instruments, and a small drum) which all the kids thoroughly enjoy. We taught them some of our songs (both in English and Spanish) and one with just vocables and humming. All in all this trip is proving to be very interesting and educational, although I am really starting to miss home.

Me and my horse!


My horse! I would have taken her home with me if I could have!

Inside the older kids' classroom.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Peru journal--Day 4

Day 4: Tuesday, July 19th, 20ll
First Trip to Huambo

We went to the school in Huambo. All the kids were really sweet and obviously were really happy to see us. These kids are pen-pals to Sunday School children at my church. We brought them a lot of things, from stuffed animals, to visors, to school supplies (much is needed at the school in Huambo). The kids at the school range in age from really little to maybe 13? The mothers cooked a meal for us. Learned something interesting. Peru, of course, is home to the ancient civilization of the Incas. There are canals that the Incas made still in existence, and many of the ones we saw were still very much alive bodies of water, and they are still in use, too! I had hoped to take horses to Huambo. However, because of all the things (and people) going to the valley where Huambo is yesterday, we took cars. The St. James Festival is going on right now. The means...A LOT of music and parades and dancing, etc.--a general, but very LONG, party (or fiesta!) Cindy got me to take part in the dancing at Cabana's plaza yesterday, with a whole bunch of other teens, who, sort of surprisingly, excepted me right in even though I'd NEVER done anything like it before. It was chaotic at times but fun. There are bulls, (los toros) that are a large part of the parades. It becomes part of the fiesta, it seems, to run screaming if the bull comes near a group of people. At night, Cindy and I accompanied her younger brother, Leo, and three younger girls who are part of Maria's family, to a place where they had set up a trampoline and a couple other such things, and watched while the younger ones had a blast! I learned of two nicknames I have been given: the Cabana people call me and my mom Las Rojas (The Red-Haired Ones...because of our "red" hair!) and one person said to my mom that I'm a Cabanista (a girl of Cabana) now...I guess because I "fit in" here. Wow...some people still stare, though...but I can hardly complain since, for the most part, we're fitting in a pretty well for a couple of Gringas!

Me and Cindy! :)

Amazing mountains!

One of the Incan canals.

My mom with a bunch of the smiling, excited, and happy kids (as you can see, my Mom's really happy, too!)

Taken inside the courtyard at the house we stayed at in Cabana.

I was happy, too! :) Here I am outside the school with five of the girls.

The kids greeted us with signs when we got to their school.

One of the very little kids in Huambo. :)

The blue church in Cabana with a crowd and a band in front! (There were several different bands, and sometimes they played at the same time, but different pieces of music that sort of blended together! As you can imagine...an interesting...and loud...experience!)

Two of the little kids with their new visors! :)
Photos: Jeanne Allie and Katy Allie

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Peru journal--Day 3

Day 3: Monday, July 18th, 20ll
Arrival in Cabana, Peru
Finally, at about noon, we arrived in Cabana, after making two stops--one at a restaurant in the "foothills" of the massive Andes Mountains (where we saw adorable puppies, chickens, and guinea pigs! & a wild green parrot), and one stop at the home of Maria's aunt, who is really sweet and welcomed my mom and I as if we were part of her family.
A word about the Andes: however tall I thought they were prior to seeing them (and being driven up them!), I believe they are tall than I expected. As we ascended the mountains, going around windy (or, serpentine) roads, it steadily got cooler and scarier all the time! Unlink in state parks, there aren't tons of fences to keep you from crashing down into a a deep pit or chasm.
In Cabana, my mom and I are probably the only white people that have ever visited, or ever will visit. Consequently, people have been staring at us big time. But, when we walk around the town WITH one of the our friends we came with, they don't stare as much, and, as you might imagine, the staring thing is rather disturbing and makes one feel uncomfortable, as if you are under display.
Then, I met Cindy. She is the daughter of the family who lives at Maria's family's house in Cabana. They take care of it, and when Maria and her family come, they cook the meals. It feels rather strange to have servants. Anyway, Cindy is quince (fifteen). She is really nice and puts up with me even though I can't speak much Spanish (un poco!) Cindy knows some English, so we communicate as best as possible with what little we know of the other's language, and hand motions!
Tomorrow, we go to Huambo for the first time. Ciao for now!

A view of a section of the plaza in Cabana. It's such a small town that everybody knows everybody else. Notice how the houses are built on the slope: as they did in the days of the Incas, they still take advantage of the slopes and build houses behind and above the lower line of houses.

The blue building is the Catholic church in Cabana. The church and the large building next to it might remind you of Spanish architecture. See the mountains in the background? Makes a beautiful backdrop.

More buildings along the street of Cabana. The one with all the balconies is a hotel that belongs to some of Maria's relatives (although we didn't stay there, some of her relatives did, and we got to watch some of the St. James festivities from there!)

Peruvians make these cool animal pens out of bamboo. Inside you can see cuyes (guinea pigs!) and a hen. This is behind the restaurant in the Andes.

The only picture we got of me and my mom together. Here we are standing in front of the car that took us up the mountain (my mom didn't drive it though! We were traveling with Maria's brother, and one of her other relatives as we went up the mountain, and we had a driver who took us up).


A house on the way up into the Andes.

Some landscape as we're going out of Chimbote, and towards Cabana. Many of the trees you see way in the back are banana trees!
Photos: Jeanne Allie and Katy Allie

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Peru journal--Day 2

Day 2: Sunday, July 17th, 2011
Panama, Lima, and More Lima
It was around 11:00 P.M. by the time we got off the plane in Lima, gathered up all our luggage and got to the apartment that belongs to some of Maria's relatives. Not entirely sure about our friends, but my mom and I were dead on our feet, so we pretty much crashed once we got here.
This morning, we visited a United Methodist Church in downtown Lima, Peru. We weren't able to stay for the entire service...which was actually fine with me because it was going really long and I was having trouble with jetlag...I was doing ALL I could to keep my eyes from closing.
Lima is a busy, colorful place--that's for sure, but one of my favorite things is the palm trees and huge, tall cacti! Also, I caught my first REAL glimpse of the Pacific Ocean today (the glimpse I caught from the plane as it was growing dark outside doesn't really count!) Anyway, the Pacific is beautiful, with long, big waves. It is winter in Peru, which is kind of like Spring in Connecticut, only here, it's basically always cloudy and misting, sometimes changing to a slight drizzle, but, I think, rarely, actually raining. Which would be more like Spring in CT!
We did lots of shopping for the kids in Huambo today, and my mom and I tried more Peruvian food, a lot of which we liked, and a drink made out of blue corn, called chicha (turns out that name is used for many Peruvian drinks, not only for the alcoholic one), that was a deep purple color, and had a sweet, unique flavor. Also had more Peruvian desserts--my favorite was this one that was kind of ice-creamy in texture that tasted sort of like coffee, and had drizzled, hardened, chocolate on top, and some kind of crust on the bottom.
The markets here are like nothing (practically!) I've ever been to before. There are so many shops, most of which are crowded into tiny rooms--and they really are CROWDED! with narrow aisles and tons of merchandise.
More tomorrow. At 9:30 P.M., we will be heading off AGAIN to take a bus, starting at midnight tonight, that we will sleep in while we are driven to Chimbote, Peru. From there, it's a (three hour?) taxi ride up the Andes Mountains, which is where Cabana is. From there, it's a two and one half hour horse ride to Huambo. :) Later!

This is a picture of Chimbote, a small city that specializes in fishing (not really a very pleasant place to be in!)

See the mountains becoming visible?

Palm trees!!!!!

Kind of recently in Peru, there was a presidential election, so we saw many of these campaign slogans painted onto walls and buildings. This one guy, Keiko, had a LOT of walls painted with this name!
Photos: Jeanne Allie

Friday, August 5, 2011

Peru journal--Day 1

Hey, everyone! My mom and I got back from Peru a week ago, and have been resting up and getting used to our own lives again. While I was away, I kept a journal. I made an entry for each day...and if for whatever reason I didn't make an entry for one day, I would do it the next day. To give you a good idea of our trip, here is my journal, and a bunch of pictures! :) Each day, I will publish one day from my journal, and some photos. For today, however, I don't have any pictures for the first leg of our journey, but hope you enjoy the journal entry! :)
Day 1: Saturday, July 16th, 2011
The Start of a Journey
We left from my house at about quarter after one in the morning. I stayed up until then, as did my brother, Daniel, who wanted to see us off. He and I watched Star Wars Episode 3, which lasted nine to eleven thirty P.M.
We met our travel companions at their home: Maria, her husband, and their eight-year-old daughter.
From there, a limo bus service drove us to Newark, New Jersey in a matter of only about two and one half hours (the driver went frighteningly quickly).
With airports, you can always be sure SOMETHING will go wrong. At about 4:30 A.M. we arrived at the Newark Airport. We waited in line for a long time, while events of the past few hours seemed to stretch and fade, farther and farther away. Then came a problem with my mom's and my boarding passes. After what seemed like WAY TOO LONG! ;) they got it sorted out and we were on our way, now without the burden of many heavy suitcases.
After going through a (thankfully) uneventful security check, we came out onto Newark's main concourse, where we discovered the sun was beginning to rise, leaving a beautiful orange and pink sky. We found our gate, after my mom and I got some coffee, and I got a bagel with cream cheese. (Dunkin' Donuts is TRULY everywhere!--Not that I had any doubt that it was...although I think it is way more common in some areas of the U.S. than others.)
The gate on the other side of ours at Newark had a great view of the Manhattan, New York, skyline, as the big red sun rose. The Empire State Building was visible, and the entire skyline had a bit of a "postcard look".
At about 7:30 A.M. we were told that our Continental Airlines flight to Panama was about to begin boarding. By about twenty minutes or so later, we were on the large plane.
At 12:30 P.M. (Panama time!--which is one hour earlier than Eastern Standard Time) we arrived here at the Panama airport, after a long and rather uncomfortable flight (those chairs just don't stay comfy for that long!)
We've had a late lunch--shrimp soup, and I had chips and fruit juice, and my mom had a fruit salad.
At about 5:30 P.M. we have to be at our gate for a flight that will take us directly to LIMA, PERU! That flight will last, roughly, from 6:30 to 10:00. Tonight we will stay in Lima, one of the oldest cities in teh world. Until tomorrow, adios! :)
THERE ARE PALM TREES HERE!!!!