Exploring Machu Picchu (Part III)

Unfortunately we were running out of time and we still hadn’t even explored the city yet! We entered through the main stone gate and we could immediately feel the ancient and powerful energy of the giant stones surrounding us. The Incans somehow were able to carve and move these massive stones and then piece them together perfectly like a puzzle. Furthermore, their architecture honored and highlighted the power of the existing stones, so many times the structures were built around or incorporated the natural stones of the mountain. As I mentioned before, it is this harmony and respect for the power of nature that makes this place so awe-inspiring. We explored the temples, we found the stone that was carved to be a sundial of sorts to determine the time of year to plant the crops and perform religious ceremonies and we ducked into rooms and alleyways.The city is a maze of stairs, terraces, walls and windows that were all intentionally engineered and created for some special purpose. One of the most remarkable things about the city is that the drainage system is was so perfectly designed that it still works today and we say the little streams of water running throughout the streets. We also came across an incredible rock face that was believed to look like a condor (just like in Ollanta). The condor was the spirit animal of the sky world for the Incans.

Every view and every aspect of the city is stunning, so we found ourselves alongside the rest of the tourists snapping pictures left and right. However, because its not tourist season and it was raining, there were definitely a lot less tourists than I expected. At once point, Bekah followed a path under a door and around a corner. There she found a little pedestal or rock podium that faced out to the mountains. She stepped up on to it, stretched out her arms and closed her eyes. Once again, she felt that strong spiritual energy pulsing through her. The city may have been abandoned, but there is something very powerful and magical that lives on in this sacred place that can only be experienced when feeling the ancient stones beneath your feet and the mist caressing your face. When humans and nature exist harmoniously together, each accentuating the beauty of each other, there is something sublime and deeply spiritual that occurs. I have never felt this so strongly as I did when I was at Machu Picchu.

The Mystery and Power of Machu Picchu

No only is Machu Picchu of the seven wonders of the modern world, but it is also one of the great mysteries of the world. People are still debating about whether is was a city built for a ruler, the Incan elite, religious ceremony or as the final destination of the Inca Trail pilgrimage from Cusco (which was the capital of the Incan Empire). They do know that it was built around 1450 and was never completely finished; work ended a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest. Bekah and I decided not to have a guided tour to both save money and have the freedom to explore on our own. Therefore, I still do not know a lot about the actual history of the site. However, my experience there has inspired me to investigate on my own and we ended up having a really fascinating and unique experience that we never would have had with a typical guide.

After taking in the view, we decided to explore the path headed away from the city and we found the llamas and alpacas that live at Machu Picchu. These lucky guys get to roam free and are probably the most photographed and lucky animals in all of Peru! I was then curious about the terracing along the mountainside and approached one of the park rangers nearby to ask him. He told us that the terracing below the pathway was to built to hold up the Inca Trail and above was for agriculture. We ended up talking to this guy (who was named Oedy) for a while and after hearing that we wanted to walk to the “la puerta de sol” (the sun gate) he offered to accompany us along the trail. Little did we know that this guy had spent years working on the Inca Trail and knew a lot about the history and wildlife of Machu Picchu. As he picked up garbage that people unfortunately litter (Peruvians are the worst litters!) he told us the names of the orchids, the trees and flowers and we even saw a hummingbird and a butterfly.

The most incredible part of the experience was when we came to a large, beautiful stone with dramatic black markings on it. He told us that it was a place where the Incas, and people today continue to make offerings to Pachamama, Mother Earth, who was a very important spiritual part of the Incan culture. We could immediately feel that there was a palpable and intense spiritual energy in this place and Oedy then offered us three Coca leaves each, the traditional offering to Pachamama, to place below this stone. He told us that we should sit and meditate and clear the mind to feel the energy. It’s hard to explain exactly how it felt, but as I sat there, I felt embraced by the earth and I felt a strong thirst to be connected with the earth. Especially after living in a polluted, dry and crowded city, I realized that my body and soul were starved for nature and I felt a strong desire to reconnect with nature. It was incredible that this sacred place still has such a powerful energy. As we walked along, we realized that we were retracing the pathway that the Incans who were walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu would take.

When we finally reached the Sun Gate, we looked back and had the most incredible view of the whole valley, mountain range and the city in the distance. This ruin is where people walking the Inca Trail first get their first glimpse of the city and sun rises between the windows of the structure. As we sat eating our snack, we could see how the clouds and the mist would quickly sneak in and hide the whole view, but then just as quickly disappear again exposing the view. Oedy then lead us down about 15 minutes of the “Real Incan Trail” and we could see the pathway zigzagging its way along side the mountains in the distance. This Trail has become extremely popular with tourists and I’m sure its not as magic as it used to be, but as we were walking along it, Bekah and I both found ourselves hoping that maybe one day we will return to Machu Picchu, but this time via this 4 day intense hike through the Andes. By this time it was raining steadily and we hiked back to Machu Picchu to finally explore the actual city. We said goodbye to Oedy, and thanked him for his time, knowledge and wisdom. Bekah turned to me and asked “How do you make friends with everyone everywhere we go???!!” I told her that often its because I ask lots of questions and people in Peru are so used to Americans who can’t communicate in Spanish, that they are excited to ask me questions too! However, I have also discovered that the most meaningful experiences when traveling for me happen when I make new friends, talk to new people and therefore gain an insiders perspective on the place and culture. The stories of those people always stay with me and become part of me.

We found a little overhang to escape the rain and we ate our bananas. I was determined to get a photograph of me eating a banana at Machu Picchu, which may seem like a strange goal but when my father was in Peru, my mother took a great photo of him eating a banana in the Andes and I wanted to recreate the moment for them! Besides, bananas are a great snack after a day of trekking the Inca Trail!

Our Journey to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was “discovered” in 1911 by the Yale professor Hiram Bingham and I can understand now why he had to go off the beaten track to find this “lost city.” The only way to access Aguas Calientes, the city located in the valley below the site and that only recently has been created to house the thousands of tourists that come through, is by train. And because you have to take a tourist train, it’s very expensive. In fact, don’t get me started about how expensive the trip is to Machu Picchu, because it makes me frustrated about what a rip off it is compared to everything else in Peru. However, it is one of the seven modern wonders of the world and I can say that its 100% worth the money and effort to get there. However, Bekah and I were especially aware of how much we were getting ripped off, after living in Huaycan where everything is super cheap. My Spanish certainly came in handy though and I think I impressed a number of Peruvians who are used to tourists who are clueless when I opened my mouth and could communicate easily in Spanish. Anyways, our train ride through the valley was stunning; the mountains became taller and taller and the river rushing by because more turbulent. Machu Picchu is actually located in the jungle, so the plants and trees changed and the air became thick with heavy clouds and mist. In the distance, we saw a rainbow arching over the mountain tops but it disappeared too quickly to even snap a photo. The town of Aguas Calientes was a bit of a let down after gorgeous Ollantaytambo; it felt artificial and extremely touristy. It took us a while to find an inexpensive “Menu” dinner for 7 soles. Menu is the cheapest way to eat in Peru- it usually includes a big bowl of soup, a drink and the choice of a main course such as grilled chicken, omelets, or meat.

Furthermore, we stayed in a grungy backpacking hostel and we shared the dorm with a group of guys. However, one of them turned out to be from Mexico and I had a blast talking with him about how much we miss Mexican food! Early the next morning, we awoke and prepared for our big day. To tell you the truth, both Bekah and I didn’t quite know what to expect. After seeing so many tourists and totally falling in love with Ollanta, we figured Machu Picchu would be cool but would be too crowded to really feel the magical energy of the place. Thankfully, we were proved very wrong! Anyways, as the bus climbed the side of the mountain to the site, our jaws dropped and we could hardly contain our excitement; it finally dawned on us what was actually happening! The views of the mountains and the valley below were unbelievable.

When we arrived at the summit, a steady rain was falling and we were very glad we had picked up the hideous colored ponchos for 2 soles each. After walking down a path crowded with tour groups, all of a sudden, BAM there was the famous, iconic view of Machu Picchu down below. It was more beautiful than any photograph, poem or movie could ever capture. What makes it so breathtaking is that the Incan city was engineered to rest on the top of a mountain located in the middle of a spectacular range of mountains and that it was constructed to beautiful harmonize with the landscape. Furthermore, the constantly shifting mist and swirling clouds make you feel like you are at the top of the world...or maybe that you have even reached the heavens.

The Magic of Ollantaytambo

After a crazy weekend filled with a field trip to Lima with the kids, a huge Christmas party for families and lots of tearful goodbyes, it was time for me to pack my suitcase and say farewell to Huaycan. However, although I had to say goodbye to my students and dear friends, I didn’t have to say goodbye to Peru quite yet. Bekah, one of my fellow volunteers and I set out on a whirlwind 5 day trip to Peru’s most well known destinations: Cusco and Machu Picchu. Two of our close friends from Huaycan accompanied us to the airport to say goodbye and as I said goodbye, I found myself promising that I would return to Peru again one day. It is much easier to say “hasta luego” (see you later) than adios (goodbye).

Embarking on this journey was quite ambitious considering that we wanted to do so much in such a little time and it turns out that its much more complicated to get to Machu Picchu than most people realize. However, I love a good travel challenge and thanks to my trusty lonely planet guide, we were able to navigate the whole trip on our own and find the cheapest options possible. Bekah and I were great travel companions because I was able to take control of the planning and she was perfectly happy to go with the flow and try anything. As we soared over the Andes mountain range on the way to Cusco, I already knew that it was going to be an incredible experience. All around us, big puffy clouds swirled and down below, the towering mountains were blanketed with green and etched with curving rivers. Once we landed in Cusco, we immediately set off for Ollantaytambo, a small village in the sacred valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Our eyes were glued to the window of the car as we saw the sun set over the Andes and donkeys and sheep grazing by the side of the road. When we arrived in Ollanta, we immediately felt like we had found ourselves in a different world. The town had been continuously inhabited since the time of the Incans and the streets are still paved with the smooth stones that the Incans set down more than 500 years ago. Small mounts of water carry streams of rushing water through every street and above the small town, the stars sparkled and the moon highlighted the silhouettes of the looming mountains embracing the town. We found our way in our hostel, called “hostel de wow” and immediately fell in love with the cozy, welcoming and magical hostel. The bunk beds in our room were made of pine logs, a beautiful dream catcher hung from the ceiling and outside our window, we could hear the water gurgling by. We slept very soundly that night!

In the morning, we awoke to the sound of tweeting songbirds and we immediately threw open the curtains to see the view- and it was more incredible than we could have imagined! On the mountainside we could see the ruins of the Incan fortress and down below us in the street, women wearing traditional hats and shawls. We had a delicious breakfast and sipped some coca tea (the coca leaf helps with the affects of high altitude and is also a big part of traditional Andean rituals and culture.) I fortunately did not feel the affects of the high altitude very strongly, accept when it came to hiking up hill and then I did feel short of breath. Wow, one of the owners of the hostel who grew up in Ollanta and is very connected to the culture and magic of the place, then offered to tell us about the legends of the mountains that surround the town. While we only saw beautiful rock faces, the Incans saw the shapes of the animals and faces that we so important to their folklore and religious practices. The condor is the animal that represented the sky world and in the one rock face he pointed out the shape of a condor. Well, it took a lot of squinting and point for Bekah and I to see it, but it was really cool to see how the Incans based so many of their legends on the natural world around them. He also pointed out a frog holding up a face, the mother earth (Pachamama) figure and a man holding up the sky with his huge fingers.

He also told us about how Ollanta was called el corazon de la tierra (the heart of the earth) because the water runs through the city like blood runs through our veins. The city of Cusco was called the bellybutton of the earth, because it was the center of the Incan empire and the life force. Finally, Machu Picchu was the head of the earth and the empire, because it was the center of power and wealth. Hearing him tell us all about this folklore in his calm voice was very special; we never would have felt this kind of connection to this place from a guide or a book.

For the rest of the day, we explored Ollanta and hiked up the side of one of the mountains to a ruin. The view was absolutely incredible and worth getting out of breath for. As we looked over the town, you could see the narrow alleyways, the tile roofs, the cornfields and the beautiful landscape beyond. We also did some shopping and found a store that sells traditional woven products made through a non-profit artisan cooperative. Through the organization you can learn weaving and volunteer- something to keep in mind if I return to Peru in the future! In the afternoon, we packed up and said goodbye to Casa de Wow, sure to leave a drawing and thank you in their big guest book. We were sad to leave and both Bekah and I felt like we could live there for a long time- relaxing, rejuvenating and getting to know the wonderful people. However, Machu Picchu was calling and we had a train to catch!

Thanksgiving in Peru!

Celebrating your culture's holidays can be a lot of work when you are in a foreign country, but there is something special about it that makes you rethink and appreciate where you are from. A couple weeks after I arrived in Peru, all of us American volunteers were already discussing how we wanted to cook a huge Thanksgiving feast here. Meg, a vegetarian, even suggested that we buy a turkey chick on Quince (the main street in Huaycan where you can buy anything), raise it on our roof and then kill it for our turkey dinner. However, this idea was quickly vetoed after we began naming this potential turkey (Pablo, el pavo of course) and realized how expensive it would be to feed. However, considering that there are chickens living on our neighbors roof it wasn't such a crazy idea. Anyways, we did attempt to find cranberries in Peru and discovered that its impossible to buy them. Anyways, we were not discouraged and decided to invite our Peruvian friends to join our Peruivan version of thanksgiving. Following in the tradition of playing football in thanksgiving, we started off the day with a game of Peruvian football- soccer and then volleyball. We each signed up to cook a dish and all of Thanksgving day, we took up the tiny kitchen boiling potatoes, cooking veggies and whipping up all sorts of delicious dishes (without the use of an oven!)

It definitely requires a lot of creativity and hard work. I mashed my potatoes by hand with a fork, Natasha made stuffing on the stove top and Bekah made cheesecake with a double boiler. The most impressive was that Sam made a pumpkin pie with Zapallo, the big yellow squash that they sell in the market here. However, she did have the help of her boyfriends oven! Kendra made a delicious broccoli salad that her grandmother makes, Veronica made a beet stir fry, Adriana made sweet potatoes, Elle made her grandmother's banana pudding and green beans...every single dish was special and delicious! To top it all off, we bought rotisserie chicken (pollo a la brasa) which is very popular here to add a Peruvian twist. To decorate out classroom, we put sheets on the table, flower bouquets from the market and spread out of feast.

We weren't sure what our Peruvian friends would think of the spread, but they all loved it and it was so special to share it with all of them! About 25 people showed up to join the feast! I decided I wanted to make a speech to thank everyone and explain what the holiday means to us. I was a bit nervous to give an impromptu speech in Spanish and I definitely stumbled on my words, but I think I was able to convey my general feelings of gratitude to our friends here for welcoming us and making our experience here so wonderful. Sonia, one of my adult students and a close friend of Elle's also talked and thanked God and us for everything. As usual, we all ate too much food, but we had some yummy leftovers for the next day. After the dinner, some of our friends joined us for a game of Mafia (a fun group game where you have to figure out who the "murderers" are.) And that is the beauty of holidays- is that they can be adapted and celebrated in new ways, but the spirit of appreciation, friends and family stays true. I definitely gained a new appreciation for the value of celebrating your cultural holidays away from home and sharing the spirit of the day with new friends in new places. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

La Huaca de la Luna

On our second day of our visit to Trujillo, we visit the archeological site of the Huaca de la Luna (temple/ tomb of the moon) which is a pyramid that was constructed by the Moche people that lived in the area before the Chimu civilization of Chan Chan. The Moche civilization lived in a valley outside of Trujillo between the 1st and 8th centuries AD and built two huge pyramids (the other one is the Huaca del Sol). When my parents visited in the 1980s, they saw two impressive and massive mounds covered with dirt, but they had no idea what lay hidden beneath them. Archeologists began excavating the Huaca de la luna in 1991 and uncovered incredible murals with the images and paint still intact, as well as incredible pottery and treasures. The pottery from the moche civilization is especially fine and unique and a beautiful museum was opened two years ago that holds many of the pieces found at the site. Many of the pots have very accurate faces sculpted on the top of them; there are sculptures of animals such as warrior ducks and priests chewing cocoa leaves with big puffy cheeks. In moche culture, artisans and specifically potters were very valued and considered higher in status then other workers. After visiting the museum, we took a tour of the site with a very knowledgeable guide who told us a lot about the culture of the people who lived there as well as the process of excavating and conserving the site. They site has received many grants from foundations to create a structure to cover the pyramid to protect it from the elements because unfortunately the government does not have money to support the site. The pyramid is unique because each generation of rulers not only built another new layer on top of the structure, but also built over the entire pyramid so it is like a layered onion. (The photo below is of the back of the pyramid that abuts the volcanic mountain and where human sacrifices took place.)

On top of the pyramid the priests would perform the ritual sacrifice of warriors, mix their blood with the juice of fruits and they even think that the ruler would drink this blood to show his power. Gross stuff, but common in pre-colombian cultures. Inside the pyramid there are many images of what they call "the god of the mountain" or the "god of decapitation." The image of this god is pretty crazy - he looks like a scary monster so no wonder they felt obligated to sacrifice their best men to him! The funny thing is that the murals depict him with different expressions- happy, mad, sad...and it seems like they definitely wanted to stay on the good side of this crazy creature of their imagination.

There are many mysteries that still exist about the moche culture, for example an incredible creation mural on the outside of the pyramid. However, without the funding its very difficult to continue this very costly research. The Huaca del sol which is even larger, is only excavated for 2 months out of the year because of lack of funding. The more Pre-colombian sites I visit, the more I realize how much we still have to learn about the incredibly complex and fascinating cultures that lived in the Americas. There are so many more cultures than just the Aztecs, the Mayas and the Incas and the Moche is definitely one of the most compelling.

(Above is an image of the murals on the outside of the pyramid which depict dancers, spider gods and a serpent.) Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside the museum because I really fell in love with the Moche pottery. I feel very lucky to see this mysterious and magical place and I found myself wishing I had a time machine go back hundreds of generations, but only if I could be a potter, not a warrior because I wouldn't want to risk getting sacrificed to the mountain god!

Chan Chan

After exploring Huanchaco, we took the bus to Chan Chan, an archeological site that was inhabited by the Chimú people from 850 AD to 1470 AD when it was conquered by the Incan Empire. It is considered the largest adobe city in the world and was extremely impressive because of the detailed architecture and decorative carvings. When the bus dropped us off at the entrance to the site, when found ourselves on a long winding road in the middle of a giant dessert with huge adobe walls towering over us. There were no signs or markers, so we began to think that were lost in the giant ruins with no signs of life anywhere around us. However, shortly we saw some European tourists walking towards us and we let out a sigh of relief! It turns out that Chan Chan has many enclosed adobe palaces that were each constructed by a different ruler each generation. We took a tour of the best preserved palace with a guide and learned a lot about the city! The funniest thing that happened was that about 5 minutes after we started the tour, someone came over and asked if we would be willing to be interviewed for a TV program about Chan Chan! We said yes, but when they asked us what we liked and what we had learned...we didn't have much to say! There is no way of knowing if we were actually on TV but it was our little moment of fame! Anyways, the walls of the adobe city are covered in carvings of squirrels, fish, birds and other natural symbols that were important to the Chimu people. The fish design was particularly interesting because archeologists think that the pattern of the fish swimming on the wall is supposed to depict the ocean currents in the pacific ocean by Chan Chan.

Other walls of the building were constructed in the design of a fish net with diamond shaped windows. Many of these walls have been worn down by weather over hundreds of years, but it is incredible to see how this delicate design has survived.

Inside this city, there is a main plaza, storage rooms for grains and other products, special rooms for the priests and rulers as well as tombs. Very tall walls- once all about around 15 feet tall surrounded and protected the city. The biggest surprise was that right in the middle of the fortress was a marsh with green plants growing, water and ducks!

What a surprise to find life in the middle of this dessert city! This is where the Chimu dug for a freshwater well and performed rituals. As in all of the other pre-colombian ruins that I have visited, the life and culture of Chan Chan circled around appeasing the gods and therefore the cycles of nature. What I really liked about this site was how it the streets and rooms inside the fortress felt maze like; it really felt like a miniature city. Furthermore, the carvings were so beautiful and distinctive; the repetition of the patterns almost has a modern aesthetic to it. The incredible thing about this site is that it is so massive; I can't imagine what other treasures lie beneath the desert sand.

Huanchaco, Trujillo

About thirty years ago, my parents traveled to Trujillo, about ten hours north of Lima with my mom's high school friend Hilary and I grew up hearing about their trip and looking at the pictures. So, as soon as I found out I was coming to Peru, one of my goals was to visit Trujillo and see how it has changed since they visited. This past week I took a short, but very sweet trip with two of my fellow volunteers Veronica and Natasha to Trujillo and the nearby fishing village/ surfer tourist town Huanchaco. We took an overnight bus and arrived in Huanchaco on Wednesday morning and it was so nice to feel the ocean breeze! I was very excited to see the traditional reed fishing boats called Caballitos de Totora that fisherman have been using there for more than 3,000 years! (there is evidence in the ancient pottery that the Chimu civilization used similar boats). Fisherman in Huanchaco line up their boats along the beach and I actually got to see the fisherman taking their boats out to sea. They sit on the front part of the boat and use a short paddle to maneuver the waves. However, according to an article, only about 45 fisherman still use these traditional boats in Huanchaco because the younger generation is not interested in learning and prefers surfing. Furthermore, the marshes where the reeds grow to make the boats are disappearing. I believe that when my parents visited Huanchaco, it was still more of a fishing village. Today it has become a tourist attraction filled with surfers, tourist trinkets and hotels lining the beach. However, it still has a feeling of a small, calm town and it was so nice to be somewhere more relaxing than Huaycan! We stayed in a really adorable hostel which had an outdoor kitchen, flowers and palm trees. We could see the waves crashing from the view outside our window! In the afternoon, Natasha and I explored the town. We met an amazing woman named Laura who was selling her handmade jewelry along the beach. Many people sell jewelry to tourists, but her pieces were incredibly artistic and beautiful! We struck up a conversation with her and learned that she has traveled all around Latin America, but she is from Trujillo. I bought a really lovely necklace pendant from her.

We also ate a cremelada- Peruvian version of Italian ice, walked along the pier and saw people fishing and put our feet in the water. Because its still spring here, the water is still pretty chilly. Furthermore, it was very sad to see how littered the beach was. At night, it was so lovely to hear the sound of breaking waves and sleep without the sound of a roaster crowing at all hours of the night!

A Spontaneous Parade

Last weekend, one of my students invited me to her school dance show and competition in Huaycán and it was so fun to see of the kids dressed up in all different kinds of traditional Peruvian costumes! I unfortunately didn't have time to see the dance performances because I had to teach a class, but I did get to join the schools parade! After I arrived at the school and took some pictures with Shayla in her beautiful skirt and outfit, one of the teachers shoved a banner into my hand and asked me to join their parade! I ended up marching down the main street of Huaycan with a bunch of children all dressed in elaborate traditional costumes and all asking me TONS of questions! I am sure any passerby was quite confused to see this "gringa" girl surrounded by school children, completely out of place! I had no idea where we were going, but we ended up just walking around the neighborhood, stopping traffic and giving the kids a chance to show off their outfits. For some reason, schools are really into parading in the streets of Huaycan, so I felt pretty lucky to finally be part of one of these events! Once we arrived back at the school, I took a bunch of pictures with the kids. Its really interesting to see how every class, from the kindergarten to the high school, learns a different dance from a different area of the country. There were costumes from the jungle, the andes, the coast, and more Spanish looking costumes and the classes all compete. It made me wish that we had Dance classes like that in my schools growing up! Before coming to Peru, I didn't really what a central role dance has in Peruvian culture and I find it really inspiring to see how these dances are being passed down to the next generation!

The Day of the Dead (and the Living!)

The day after Halloween is All Saints Day or "Day of the Dead" in many countries in Latin America. I have always been fascinated by this tradition. I'm not an expert on the holiday, but from what I can gather, it is the time when families return to the graves of their family members to clean and decorate them. Instead of a somber, dark event, the holiday is a celebration of their loved ones' lives and quite frankly, an opportunity to party! It just so happens that the cemetery in Huaycan is located right behind the classroom where we teach in English in Zone Z, so we were able to experience the holiday here in Peru in a very authentic setting. The morning of November 1st, I headed up to Zone Z to teach a student and I stopped on the way to check out the early morning preparations for this all day party (people stay late into the night and light candles on the graves.) Lots and lots of vendors selling food, flowers, candles, candy, beer and many other random things were lining the entrance to the cemetery.

People were already cleaning off the graves (most are made of cement or stone and are quite large- big enough to sit on top of!), painting them with a fresh coat of bright paint and decorating them with flowers. I ran into several of my students helping their families with the cleaning or taking advantage of the economic opportunity to sell food or water. When I returned in the afternoon with some of my fellow volunteers, the street was crammed with people and police were directing traffic! The cemetery was packed with people drinking beer, eating, brass bands playing music and people selling bright pink cotton candy displayed on poles. I could hardly believe that I was in a cemetery- my limited cemetery experience in the US has usually been pensive, sad and certainly much quieter and much less of a marketplace. Can you imagine people having a party in a cemetery in the US? Although it certainly felt foreign for me- and I think we all felt a little lost, with no family to join or grave to decorate- I really appreciate the fact that there seems to be a much different relationship with death and mourning here that in the US. As we climbed up through the cemetery and passed families sitting on the little benches incorporated into the graves, we got lots of whistles from the drunk revelers and many people asked to take their picture with us. It only makes sense- after all we were there to observe people practicing their traditions but they were just as curious in us. When we reached the top of the steep hill, we sat on some rocks and looked out at the incredible view. The sound of about five different brass bans tooting away all at different rhymes combined with the sight of a giant bouncy house down below to entertain the children and on top of it all, people carrying huge crates of beer on their shoulders was yet another reminder to me of how Peruvian culture, like all cultures, is filled with conflicting narratives and traditions. However, somehow, all of these things all occur alongside each other and create a reminder of the diversity of human experience and the value of celebrating life and death along side each other.

Hacienda San Jose: El Carmen pt 3

I am finally writing the last post in my series about our trip to Chincha a couple weekends ago. The morning after visiting the Ballumbrosio family (which I wrote about in my previous post), we woke up to a bright sunny day and headed off down the road to the Hacienda San Jose, the location of the previous slave plantation in El Carmen and now the location of a elegant hotel. We walked down the country road, passing huge fields of grapes and other crops on either side as far as the eye could see. I had read in my guide book that it was possible to have a tour of the old plantation despite the fact that it now costs around $200 US dollars to stay there. We had to pay about 8 dollars for the tour, but it was definitely worth it to see this incredible restored historical mansion and see this very different side to the Afro-Peruvian story. When we first caught sight of the hacienda we all let out a little gasp- it was absolutely gorgeous. The plantation had a central plaza, huge open porches, its own church and gardens. The building has been beautifully restored with portraits of the original slave owners (elite from Spain), traditional farming tools on the walls and other artifacts including a metal brand that was used to mark slave's bodies with an "S" for San Jose plantation.

The whole time I was there I felt very divided about the experience- it was such an beautiful, peaceful place but with such a gruesome and dark past. I don't know it I would feel comfortable staying there. However, I appreciated that they provide the tours and don't try to hide the horrible history. I would be interested to see how a similar plantation in the American south is portrayed today. This plantation was started in 1688 and by 1764 almost 1,000 slaves worked on this sugar and cotton plantation. There was an incredible painting displayed that was painted by a slave of the hacienda cerca the 1830s that depicted the daily life of the plantation including images of slaves being punished, but also slaves dancing in a circle. This was fascinating to see after our visit to El Carmen- to see that the Afro-Peruvian dance was allowed (although I think only Sundays and Catholic holidays.) I find it very interesting to see how the relationship between slaves and their masters varied depending on the location and the dominate culture throughout the Americas.

Anyways, on our tour of the hacienda, we climbed down into the dark basement of the building and we saw some of the cells where slaves were hidden or punished. There also existed a long tunnel to another nearby Hacienda in case the family wanted to escape slave rebellion or war. We also entered into the "Room of Punishment" for slaves which was below the entrance and saw where slaves were chained to a metal pole and forced to stand on one foot for days. It was very painful to see.

The hotel itself is very fancy and furnished in an historically accurate, but elegant way. However, I can't help but notice that the same cycle of inequality has continued to this day; the Hacienda, now a historical monument, makes thousands of dollars from tourism, while the decedents of the slaves still work in agriculture and live in poverty. Furthermore, while Afro-Peruvian dance seems to be foremost an expression of pride, strength and perseverance for the people, it seems that most of Peru still sees it almost as a spectacle and the narrative of Afro-Peruvian culture and identity has not yet been embraced or discussed very much as part of Peruvian history. However, several days ago, I did see a very interesting exhibit of photographs of Afro-Peruvians that was displayed in the National Museum in Lima. This exhibit displayed beautiful portraits of Afro-Peruvians from around the country and I think we even recognized someone from our trip to Chincha in one of the photographs! I definitely felt a very personal connection to the the exhibit after visiting El Carmen and having a small taste of this rich, but not widely known aspect of Peru's multicultural identity.

Visiting the Ballumbrosio family: El Carmen part 2

The highlight of the entire trip for me was visiting the home of the Ballumbrosio family which is essentially the heart of African-Peruvian dance and music, and where my friend Aaron stayed. The father of the family, Amador Ballumbrosio was born in El Carmen in 1936 and died in 2009. His passion for dance came from his catholic faith and he is known for continuing the tradition of the Afro-Peruvian dance called "hatajo de negritos" which is performed on December 24 in El Carmen in honor of baby Jesus. He also welcomed people from all over the world to his home to share Afro-Peruvian dance and music; he played the violin, cajón and danced Zapateo (foot work similar to tap, but with barefoot.) He had 15 children and passed down the tradition to them; currently many of them live around the world teaching dance but his daughter Lucy still lives in the house with her children and she grew very close with my friend Aaron when he was staying there. It was so amazing to be welcomed into the home and to see the walls of the house covered in photographs and paintings honoring their father and the family. The front room of the house is where the family performs dances, but has also become a kind of very authentic and personal museum celebrating Afro-Peruvian culture.

Lucy was very generous and talked to us for a while around her friendship with my friend Aaron, her father and the dances. She told us that her father always looked for the hardest part of the floor to dance on barefooted so that it would make the best sound when dancing Zapateo. She also expressed the fact that passing down the authentic dances and preserving this tradition is the legacy that her father left and that his children want to continue. Traditionally women were not allowed to play the cajón drum, but she showed us how to play a rhythm on the drum and how to play the donkey's jawbone, another instrument used in Afro-Peruvian music.

We also tried totuma, a special kind of pisco which is infused with the fruit of a local tree that is supposed to be a natural medicine. By this time, we were all ready to dance, so I asked Lucy to teach us the dance that goes with the rhythm that one of the volunteers named Natasha had learned how to play. So, right there, on the floor where generations of people have danced, we tried our best to move our hips to the music and follow Lucy and of course it was so fun! Several years ago I took a West African dance class in college which I loved and I could definitely see the similarities. After we had somewhat learned the danced and didn't look like complete fools, we took a video of us performing and Lucy's young daughter of about 7 years old joined us and of course was much better than any of us! She was shy at first, but but the time we left, she gave us a picture she had drawn and told us to say hi to Aaron for her- so sweet! Lucy told us that their door is always open and as we were leaving, I found myself hoping that I someday I will return to that house, so filled with pride, love and joy. Music and dance are some of the most powerful forms of expression, communication and community building that we have and it is incredible that despite years of oppression and suffering, this culture is still thriving and bringing people together to celebrate life.

Arriving in El Carmen

Last weekend, we took a much anticipated trip to El Carmen, a small town located about 3 hours south of Lima near the city of Chincha. El Carmen is known throughout Peru as the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture, and especially Afro-Peruvian dance. I probably never would have ever heard about this place if it hadn't been for a friend of mine from high school named Aaron Davis. Aaron studies dance at Connecticut College and discovered El Carmen when studying abroad in Peru last year. He returned to town this summer to live with the Ballbumbrosio family there and learn the traditional dances that have been passed down for generations. While African culture has clearly had a huge impact on all of Latin American as a result of slavery, I did not realize that there were slave plantations in Peru. However, this area of Peru is very dry, but flat and apparently had very good conditions for growing sugar cane and cotton. Therefore, Spanish colonists owned huge haciendas (plantations) with hundreds of slaves. One of the haciendas has been restored and converted to an elegant hotel, which we visited and I will describe later. Anyways, Aaron gave me the contact information for his friend Rolando, a man from the area who works with non-profit organizations there and is used to showing foreigners around. Rolando very graciously took us under his wing, brought us around the town and introduced us to people. When embarking for this trip, I had done some research about the area and talked with Rolando, but I honestly had no idea how the trip was going to go. I'm usually very concerned about planning trips, so this experience required me to have faith and let go, but this was definitely a challenge considering that 8 of my fellow volunteers were relying on me! I am very grateful that they were all willing to go with the flow and risk coming with me! Anyways, getting to El Carmen was an experience in itself. We first took a big coach bus to Chincha and a smaller combi to the town, which is located in the country, out in the middle of many massive agricultural fields. Today people in the area mostly grow asparagus, artichokes, and fruit, and agriculture still dominates the economy. El Carmen, has a beautiful plaza with palm trees and an elegant bright yellow church, but it very much feels like a small sleepy town, especially on the weekdays (we were told that some tourists tend to come on the weekends to see the shows.)

The majority of the people who live there are direct decedents from the African slaves that worked on the plantations. After meeting up with Rolando, we met someone who gave us a spontaneous dance lesson in the middle of the street and then we went to a restaurant to eat the traditional dishes called Carapulcra and sopa seca (A potato, meet, peanut, tomato stew with seasoned noodles). In the afternoon, we got to see the rehearsals for a local dance school that teaches teenagers the traditional afro-peruvian dances to pass them on to the younger generation. The girls dance using a lot of feet work and hip shaking and the boys learn how to play the Cajón. The Cajón is a drum that the slaves developed from fruit boxes that was based on a kind of drum they used in africa made from a hallowed out log. The drummer sits on the top of the box and then drums on different areas of the box for different tones and rhythms. I got to try playing one which was awesome!

Fruit, Fruit and more Fruit!

Several weeks ago, our wonderful security guard Tito invited us to visit the central fruit market in Lima early in the morning and I couldn't say no to this awesome opportunity even though it required getting up at 5:30am! We never would have ventured to this massive market that is way beyond the boundaries of the usual touristy circle of Lima, but with Tito as our trusty guide and fruit enthusiast, we were able to experience a truly authentic Peruvian morning ritual. The MASSIVE market is packed floor to ceiling with fruit stands selling bulk boxes of every kind of imaginable fruit. The bananas, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, etc are packed and displayed perfectly into wooden boxes, freshly harvested from the farms all around Peru. Fruit distributors come from all around Lima to buy their daily bulk quantities of fruit. Weaving in between all the fruit sellers was definitely an adrenaline rush because it was quite possible to get run over or bumped into by the many people balancing huge boxes of fruit on their shoulders or pushing big carts. As we scurried through the rows and rows of fruit, people were hawking their fruit and bargaining. I have never seen SO MUCH delicious looking, fresh fruit in my life! There were giant baskets filled with hundreds of pineapples...and they only cost about $2 each! Once we had taken in the scene a bit, Tito helped us to buy some fruit! We bought some incredible mangoes- so perfectly fresh and juicy! We also bought peaches, strawberries, a pineapple, avocados and a papaya for Tito as a thank you present for bringing us to the market. It is amazing to live somewhere where fresh, tropical fruit is so cheap and delicious...I'm definitely going to miss it when I return to the US! I feel very grateful that my experience here has allowed me to truly get to know Peruvians and see a window into their lives that I think very few foreigners see. Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera with me to the market, but one of my friends did so I'm going to try to get some pictures from her when she returns from her travels.

Mermaids and Magic: Day Two of Huacachina

This is the second post in a series about my trip to Huacachina with my friends a couple weekends ago. Our second day in Huacachina, we prepared to leave, but first we had to visit the lake and the statue of the mermaid on the banks. As I was walking there, a Peruvian guy started telling me the legend of the mermaid. The story goes that she seduces men and leads them to the lake where they drown. However, the guy decided to embellish the tale by telling me that the mermaid was blond and blue eyed...similar to me of course. The moment we reached the statue, we quickly realized that the mermaid was dark with brown hair, however my friends immediately named me the "cirenita" (little mermaid) and then I willingly took a lot of embarrassing photos posing in front of the statue. Needless to say, my Peruvian friends never get tired of calling me la cirenita. The day only got stranger. Our sand buggy driver from the previous day recommended that we check out a little town outside the city known for the brujas (witches.) It sounded intriguing so off we went and found ourselves in the midst of yet another bizarre Peruvian legend about a witch that supposedly lived in this area and a statue and park had been constructed in her honor. The nearby bar was advertising a drink called "orgasm of the witch" but other than that it was a bit of a letdown. However, when sitting in the park pondering this bizarre place, we saw the cutest little group of piglets come running through the park, with their little curly tails held high. Nearby someone was selling kitchen pots. Soon a couple little boys came by to bother us and try to get us to pay them to bring us to a supposedly bewitched tree with seven heads. Interestingly this strange palm tree, which did in fact have seven trunks and was extremely strange looking was located right next to a beautiful church in the middle of this tiny town. It all sounds like a crazy dream or someone rewriting Alice in Wonderland to take place in Peru. However, it made me realize that it only takes a legend or a strange natural phenomena to make a place significant and different cultures have a huge variety of reasons why they visit these "sacred" or "bewitched" places. Soon we were heading back to Lima, leaving a trail of sand behind us and marveling, but mostly laughing about how unreal the whole weekend was. (Unfortunately I have no photos of this bizarre day because my camera was broken due to the sand stuck in it, so ironically I could actually be making all of this up. But I will try to post one of my friends photos.)

Adventures in Huacachina

I'm still catching up on my blog posts because I have been so busy lately! Two weekend ago, I traveled to Huacachina which is near the city of Ica in southern Peru about 5 hours from Lima with some friends. I had heard about and seen pictures of it and I dreamed of going because it is a gorgeous desert filled with enormous dunes that look almost like the Savanna desert! Its a landscape completely different from anything I had ever experienced! Not surprisingly, the Oasis has become a backpackers paradise filled with cheap hostels, bars and sand buggy tours. We arrived and I was really strange for me to all of a sudden be surrounded by tourists and...white people! Anyways, let me backtrack. The first thing that we did when we arrived in Ica was visit a local vineyard that is well known for their sweet wine and Pisco. Pisco is a hard alcohol which is made from distilled fermented grapes and is used to make the delicious pisco sour- Peru's most famous and strong drink! Although the vineyard is a total tourist trap (we left with quite a bit of alcohol....I even bought I little bottle of pisco so I can prepare a pisco sour for some lucky friends) it was actually really interesting to go on the tour to see the places that were used traditionally to make the pisco- included a giant terrace where people stamped on the grapes to create the juice and the giant pots that they used to ferment the grapes (which were actually originally used by the Inkas to ferment chincha- corn alcohol and then we adapted by the Spaniards.) After learning about the process, we of course had to try some of the wine and pisco. Boy is it strong- pisco is something like 45% alcohol so it certainly warms up your belly. The pisco sour is pisco blended with lime juice, simple syrup, ice and egg whites which makes it foamy. It is kind of like Peru's version of the Margarita.

Soon we set off for Huacachina and I very quickly found myself buckled into a sand buggy (like a giant four wheel quad) about to have one of the the most terrifyingly amazing experiences of my life. Thank god I didn't realize what I was getting myself into (and I was still feeling a little warm from that pisco) or I never would have consented. We drove out on to the giant sand dunes and before I knew it, we were tearing across the sand, mounting the summits of the dunes and then tearing down the sides at crazy speeds. I have never screamed so much in my life. Our driver was an older man with a big smile, a warm heart and a love of making girls scream. We stopped at the stop of one dune to take in the incredible view and I breathed a sign of relief- I think I finally understand why people do crazy things for the adrenaline rush...I was never so aware that I was ALIVE! All around us were beautifully sculpted dunes as far as the eye could see and the sand I stroked with my hands was extremely soft and perfectly rippled. Before I knew it, we were off again and then we stopped at the top of a dune and our driver started getting out the sand boards which are similar to snowboards. He informed us we were going to ride down this massive dune on our stomachs and I freaked out. I have always been terrified of heights and snowboarding and basically everything. However, our driver, who by then had informed me that people call him "sonrisa" (smile) would not take no for an answer. He coaxed me to lie down on the board, use my legs as breaks and told me "si se peude Sarita!" (you can do it!) and gave me a push down the dune. I screammmmmmeeedddd for the entire 30 seconds or however long it was that I zipped down the dune. Then I reached the bottom and realized for the second time that day- wow, I'm alive and that was terrifyingly fun! I jumped to my feet with a big smile on my face and Smile gave me a huge thumbs up. There were so much sand in my shoes I could hardly walk. I am still finding sand in my clothes to this day. As we headed back to civilization, the wind whipped trough my hair, I crunched on sand in my mouth and I continued to scream for dear life. But the sun was setting over the top of the gorgeous dunes, I was in the company of amazing friends and I had found a Peruvian father- Smile had given me that push that I needed to accomplish something I never dreamed of ever doing.