Last Full Day in Peru : August 26, 2009

Hello Dear Readers,

Today is one of those "ending" days. Valerie and the girls left for Connecticut this afternoon. It was much harder than I thought to say goodbye. I have grown so close to these girls, and it's terribly sad to realize I won't be working with them again. Endings are a reminder of how memorable people/places/experiences can be, and how surprisingly deep they can affect you.

I've met and been lucky enough to work with some absolutely fabulous people. I can definitely say I've been blessed with the "luck'o'the Irish." haha. How else can I explain the amazing experiences I've had and people I've met? I definitely feel changed, but how those changes will manifest, you, Dear Readers, will have to assess yourselves; i can't pinpoint them myself.


In summation, a few reflections:

Archaeology:

You know, I'm not really sure what I expected for the field school. I had no idea that Sacsaywaman was a massive Archaeological Park, or that it was a park at all. I thought we'd be excavating at the base of the fortress itself. The fortress was my laptop background for a few months. Haha! I also thought the trowels would be larger, not sure why. I mean, you'd think I'd have googled an archaeological trowel before I left, but no, I didn't; and was surprise at how tiny they are.
Excavation was definitely more tedious than I expected, and I had anticipated tedium. it was definitely dirtier than I expected. It's much easier to dig as a kid, when you have no purpose but the digging itself. We you're actually digging with the secret hopes of uncovering something hugely exciting, it really dampens the excitement. I mean, I loved digging in the dirt as a kid. Now? It's definitely lost all child-like glamour, if dirt can have glamour, that is.
We rean into a big problem with our original site as well. Basically, the ISIC wouldn't give us the appropriate permits we needed to break ground at the site we're were supposed to excavate, El Balon de Diablo (the Devil's balcony). I guess that's politics for ya. Talk about a bummer. I walked to the site one weekend, and it was absolutely beautiful. So, we were working on a friend of Alexei's site, at Qochapata, which is still in The Sacsaywaman park. It was an Inca ceremonial site. several structures had already been uncovered which was cool because one of the reasons I chose this projet was because I thougth I'd be working near some still-standing architecture. I thought it'd feel like I was really there, not excavating in some empty field.
I also definitely came to this field school with the Indiana Jones ideology.I expected to find something on the Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark-scale. In actuality, it was the exact opposite. I did one week of digging in a trench & the last 2 weeks excavating an Inca burial. I got set up with the burial because I had a background in human osteology, and as I want to pursue a career in Forensic Anthropology, this was a great opportunity to gain some experience with bones in the field. There was a team of three of us: Me, Christina, & Jose. I'd say it was even more tedious than working in the trench for obvious reasons. We had to go very slowly to avoid damaging the human remains, and to avoid moving anything out of it's original context (we already knew that this had been a severely disturbed burial, totally out of it's primary context, but there are protocols to follow.) Unfortunately, it was a 2ndary burial and the bones were in despicable condition. there were no articulated bones.

In my own personal ruminations about Archaeology, I've decided it's about digging for the truth in the dirt, - oh yea, i know that sounds cliche - digging up the truth about past civilizations and answering questions and maybe finding that those people weren't as different from us as our preconceived notions might have led us to believe. Or, conversely, that they were radically different. I can to Peru with the intention to find "stuff." It sorta blew my idea of what archaeology was when on the first day at the dig site Tom, the T.A., said that Archaeology is about gathering information, not about finding "stuff." Stuff isn't necessarily going to give us the information we want, or need.
Archaeology is also about patience. If you don't have patience, I don't see how it's possible to be an Archaeologist. I also believe that Archaeology is about making connections with the past, and finding "lost" information. To quote Lara Croft, "Everything lost is meant to be found." ( I'm a total Tomb Raider geek.)




over & out.
meg...

2nd to last day in Peru: August 25, 2009

Hello Dear Readers,

Today, Adriana, Diana, Megan, & I wandered around Cusco for the last time. Endings are always sad, but it was great to just walk around with them for a last time with no agenda. We wandered in to the hip barrio (neighborhood) San Blas, which is off the Plaza de Armas. We ended up in this little coffee shoppe called La Paccha. The other girls had lattes, and I had iced tea. it was so refreshing & my first glass here in Peru! It actually had foam, definitely not like iced tea in the USA. Diana and Megan played chess, and Adriana and I played several games of Rumi. It was so fun to just hang out. The place had some great Ambient music, and a charming atmosphere. It was a great way to spend one of my last days in Cusco, relaxing in a country that has come to feel like home.

Last Day in the Lab : Monday, August 24, 2009

Today was our last day in the lab! We were done with our last burial, and had everything packed up by 10:30am. We finished a whole day and a half earlier!! We're all really proud of ourselves with our progress. It was exciting to finish, but sad at the same time. I've enjoyed this project so much. I wonder what I'm going to do when I get back home...i mean I've been working with bones for 8hrs a day for 4 weeks...I'm going to be really bored. haha. It's weird to be done. Analyzing bones has been my entire life, and I'm happy to find that I'm eager to pursue more endeavors like this. It makes me realise that I'm heading in the right direction with my major and future career. After switching my major multiple times, and feeling the anxiety that comes with indecisiveness, it's a relief to have found the right path for me.

We finished the research with a subadult. The picture associated with this post is the last burial we analyzed. As you can tell from the cranium, it's been modified. This is an extreme example of cranial vault modification at a young age.

I feel such a huge sense of accomplishment now that I'm done with the research. We analyzed over 60 individuals, and washed/ did bone inventory on an insane amount more!! Talk about a busy summer. This is such a huge part of Andean Bioarchaeology, and to realise that I've contributed a significant amount to furthering our knowledge of how past Andean peoples lived and died, is such an excitig feeling. And, to be able to participate in this as an Undergraduate is even more staggering. If you had asked me a year ago what I thought I'd be doing, I couldn't even being to formulate an answer, much less an answer involving Osteology research.
W

Working in the Lab : Sunday, Aug 23, 2009

Well, today we worked in the lab again. This makes 7 days in a row. Not that I'm complaining; on the contrary, I'm trying to illustrate just how dedicated we all are to this research! Since our time in Peru is coming to an end rather quickly, we're all a little worried about getting all of the burials analyzed before Wednesday. Honestly, us girls might be more anxious than Valerie, which is saying something! haha.
We made some serious progress though, and just whipped through several burials. We've all improved so much over these past weeks, that instead of doing 3-4 burials a day, we're hitting 8 burials a day!! That shows fantastic progress. It's exciting to realise how much we've improved, especially for me. I feel like I was at a disadvantage at the beginning of this research. I mean, I hadn't taken Osteology for awhile, and I didn't know how to identify various pathologies...and now, I'm an expert! haha, just kidding, but I'm an expert compared to where I was at the beginning of August.

August 21 - 22 2009

August 21, 2009

Today we were back in the house-lab, analyzing as many individuals as possible. We had a full day, working from 9am – 6pm! We, of our own volition, decided to stay more than a half hour later. We are the best students a professor could ask for. ☺ Us girls are, honestly, slightly anxious about finishing all of the analyses on time. We have a lot of individuals to get through.

August 22, 2009

Today we worked a half-day in the lab. What?! Working on a Saturday!? I know, but that’s how dedicated we all are. We decided to do some photo-ing of various pathologies (i.e. fractures, bone infections, etc) & do the Data Analysis of 2 individuals, just to get a bit ahead…we ended up doing 3 individuals! We just blew through them. We all have improved so much; everything is becoming second nature.
Arranging Bones anatomically? PuhLezzz. As easy as breathing
Siding bones? I could do it blindfolded.
Distinguishing perimortem vs. Postmortem fractures? No problem.
Identifying bone infections & diseases? Eazy peazy.
Personally, I’ve advanced from a 1 to a 10 as far as my bone knowledge is concerned. It’s exciting for me to realize how much more I know after only 3.5 weeks of doing this research. But, it’s exactly what I needed to do to become better- immerse myself in Osteology for 8hrs a day for 22 days.

August 20, 2009

August 20, 2009

Today, Thursday, we had the day off! This was because Valerie was getting interviewed for a program that National Geographic is filming about Machupicchu, called “Machupicchu: Decoded.” Yea, it’s definitely cheesy. But that’s not the point. So, Valerie talked about the Machupicchu burials she’s worked on and the trepanations found in those individuals, etc. The program will air in February I think. It’s so exciting! I can’t wait to see her when it airs!
Also, Elva, the head of the INC bone lab – the one we worked at for about a week and a half – took us out for tea as a thank you for all of our hard work. Without us, she’d be left to wash and inventory the bones with just one other person, so she was definitely grateful that we were there. We went to The Tea Rooms, this really neat restaurant here in Cusco. The restaurant was divided in to several adjoining “rooms” that were differently themed. It was so unique! The tea we had, Darjeeling, was absolutely wonderful. We also had a three-tiered dessert tray filled with mini sandwiches, cookies, regular&chocolate cheesecake, carrotcake and strawberries! (see picture. Warning: Pavlov response might be triggered.) Everything was PERFECTION. It made for a great, unexpected end to our work in the INC Lab.

August 17 - 19 2009

August 17, 2009 – August 18, 2009

Monday and Tuesday of this week we were still at the INC washing and inventorying more bones. We were supposed to return to the home-lab on Monday, but there were more burials that we had to get through at the INC first.

August 19, 2009

Today we were back at the home-lab. I’m not going to lie, it was nice not having to wash bones for 8 hours a day. After awhile, my back would start to ache from bending over all day.
The goal for the rest of the time in Peru is to finish analyzing the Chokepukio burials. We have about 35 more to do…and it takes awhile to get through each one… we’re going to have to work rapidly.
Today I also tried my hand at cranial reconstruction. The picture associated with this blog is the result of my hour of labor. It's much harder than it looks.

August 14, 2009

August 14, 2009

Today, we “got the day off” from working at the INC. Instead, Me, Adriana, and Megan accompanied Tofa and Melissa to Chokepukio – the site of the burials that we’re analyzing in the house-lab. They basically devoted half their day to walking us around the site! Take about two awesome women.
Melissa and Tofa are ceramic experts that are sharing lab space with us at the lab-house. They’re colleagues of Valerie. Tofa, I found out, is an author, who has her first book coming out in October! How exciting! We had a fun chat in the car to Chokepukio about the Writing-World. Melissa was one of the lead excavators at this site, and the site had been excavated for the past 10 years.
It was about a 35min car ride – we rode in an old VW van, driven my our resident “chauffeur” Froy – to the site. It was amazing to be able to actually walk around the site the burials we’re analyzing are from. What’s more, we essentially got a private tour of the ruins from one of the excavators WITHOUT all the tourists! It was just us 5 out there. Melissa took us through all the rooms/units, explained everything, & showed us where the burials had been found…and an area where the found the remains of several sacrificed children!! It was determined that they were child sacrifices based on the fact that all interred children were of the same age & buried at the same time. I guess it’s possible that there was a plague/disease that struck the area, but the fact that several children of exactly the same age were buried communally, makes that hypothesis less plausible. She was such a wonderful tour guide.
One of the characteristics of this site were all the burial niches in the ruin walls. Some were high up, well above my head! We each took turns getting our pictures taking in one of the burial niches, crouched like the mummies that were found in them. I will say the niches weren’t that large, so I, being 5’11’’, did NOT fit comfortably into it. Lol.
Being at the burial sites of these individuals sort of “humanized” them more. As bad as it sounds, it’s easy to ignore that the bones we analyze belonged to people who walked the earth 500 years previously. It does much for shaping your perspective on ethics when dealing human remains, and served as a strong reminder for me that these are people, not disassociated skeletons, and should continue to be treated with respect. They were also interred with – most likely – some ceremonial rites. They were loved and their deaths were something the Inca did not take lightly. Sometimes I wonder if some Inca were alive now, and knew that their ancestors had been removed from their place of rest, if they’d be upset….
Anyway, it was an excellent day filled with excellent sights & information. What better way to explore ruins than with the excavators themselves.

Also, several of the burials contained bones that were so well preserved, the soft tissue was still attached! In some cases, some bones were still articulated ( meaning attached as they are in your living body) vis-à-vis the associated soft tissue (i.e. tendons, muscles)!! There was one individual that had the pelvic area still articulated! The thoracic & lumbar vertebrae, sacrum, and both pelvic bones were connected as they are anatomically in the body my the preserved soft tissue! They were basically mummified.
The most exciting one was a crania that had cervical & thoracic vertebrae, and both clavicles attached by the soft tissue. PLUS you could see the ears!!! I kid you not, imagine a stone bust of some Greek god…now imagine that statue is made of bone and dried muscle tissue. That’s what it looked like. The preservation is THAT good most likely due to the climate around this area of Peru. Also, I believe the individual was found in a cave. So, the air in the cave was likely dry, coupled with the naturally dry air and protection the cave gave from the elements…you have a wonderful combination of factors to aid in exceptional preservation.

The work we did at the INC is different what we did at the Lab across the street from the house I’m living in.
At the house-lab, we are doing an in depth data analysis of different burials.
Like I stated before, the Skeletal Data Analysis sheets are about 12 pages long.

Aug 10 – 14th 2009 INC

Many of the burials we inventoried at the INC Lab that had associated cranial also had trepanations. Valerie said that she hasn’t seen this many trepanations in one site before. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, a trepanation is the surgical removal of part of the cranial bones, usually in a circular disk-shape. The interesting thing with trepanations is that many of the ones that we saw, and many that Valerie has previously studied & published an article about, were healed, meaning that the bone had started to remodel around the hole left from the surgery. This means that the individual survived the procedure. This sheds light on how advanced the Inca were. The Inca who performed the trepanation were skilled, they were specialized. In short, they knew exactly what they were doing. Most were clean, neat cuts. Some individuals even had several HEALED trepanations!! It’s really mind blowing, especially when you consider that Novocain & other anesthesia did not exist. They had coca leaves, and whatever the common alcoholic beverage was at the time ( it was likely Chicha: corn beer). So, if you can imagine the scalp being cut & peeled back, and then some sort of knife cutting a circular disk out of the cranium, while the person was likely conscious….yea, it sends shivers down my spine.

Aug 10 – 14th 2009 INC

Aug 10 – 14th 2009 INC

All of us were at the INC for the second week of the research. The INC office is located a short distance off the Plaza de Armas (government square).
Our job this week was to wash and do inventory on burials from Patallacta & Ccotoccotuyo , Peru. We washed and inventoried over 60 burials!
Here’s a brief overview of how to wash bones. It’s pretty simple.

BONE WASHING:
Tools: basin, toothbrushes, dental tools (to pick out dirt), gloves, trays

Part one: WASHING
The burials were in individual bags. This did not mean that there was only one individual in the bag. We had burials from caves and tombs. The tumbas (tombs) & cuevas (caves) were co-mingled, so there would be more than one person per tomb, or cave. Obviously, the bones were covered in dirt, and the first step was to dry brush off as much of the loose dirt as possible. Then, using toothbrushes, we’d wet the toothbrush in the water, and scrub the bones. Then we’d lay them out on trays to dry. Pretty simple, eh? Well, yea, but monotonous. Imagine washing bones for 8hours. Yea, that’s what we did for 4 days.
Since there were 4 of us students, we generally washed in teams of 3. One person dry brushed, while the other 2 washed. This was the most efficient and speediest way to get the job done. We rotated daily. The 4th person did Bone Inventory on other burials with Valerie. This consisted of laying out each burial on trays and doing a basic one-over of all the bones. We’d log how many bones were present, how many crania were present and if there were any sub-adult bones. With the crania present, we looked to see if any exhibited trauma: fractures, cranial vault modification, or trepanations. We’d also determine the sex from the crania. In summation, we’d log the MNI: Minimum Number of Individuals present in each tomb from the long bones and the crania. The long bone MNI was determined by whatever bone had the most duplicates. So, if there were 8 Left femurs, and that was the bone that had the most duplicates, then, logically there’d be [at least] 8 individuals present in that tomb. Crania MNI was – obviously – determined by the number of complete crania/partial crania present.
All of the 60+ burials that we washed/inventoried will be looked at in depth next summer.

First week of research Aug 3-7 2009

August 3 – 7th 2009

My first week of working with Val and the girls was really exciting. Well, exciting for me because I like everything that has to do with bones, as morbid as that may sound.
Monday – Wednesday we worked on individuals from Chokepukio, Peru. Since Valerie’s overarching goal is to create an extensive data base, we do data analysis on each individual.
We start by choosing an individual and laying the bones on a tray in anatomical position. Then, using the approx12 page packet for Human Skeletal Data Analysis, we fill out each page. We start with inventory: we log every bone that is present. Then we sex the individual based on various standards: shape of mandible, size of certain features on the cranium and pelvic bones, long bone lengths & diameters. Next, we age the individual based on suture closures, and various epiphyses fusions of the bones, and dentition: I.e. if the third molar has erupted, we know the individual is at least 18 yrs. Then we go through and look at all of the vertebrae present and see if there is any evidence of spinal joint disease. Finally, we go over the bones again carefully, picking up and examining each one to see if any Skeletal Pathologies are present: i.e. :trauma, fractures( (un)/healed), periostitis, osteomyletis, hypoplasias, Harris Lines, etc…

I also worked with Beth, the physical anthropologist who is going to be doing Isotopic Analysis on the teeth and ribs of the individuals to determine diet and possible evidence of immigration when compared with the provenance of the individuals. I would look at the teeth of the individuals, filling out a Dental Pathology & Inventory sheet. I’d fill in all the teeth present, determine the extent of wear and plane of wear, look for carious lesions (cavities), calculus, alveolar resorption, etc. Beth needed to take a tooth to sample. She preferred the first mandibular molar or the first mandibular incisor, (although the maxillary/upper first molar and first incisor were acceptable) because they are some of the teeth that form first. If these teeth weren’t present, another tooth would be used. Then, using a purple casting “goo” made out of a vinyl silicone derivative, she coated the tooth in it, let it dry, and removed the cast, which makes a perfect impression. Sometimes if all molars were present, a cast would be made of the occulsal surfaces of the teeth, to later look at the cast for the extent of microwear of the teeth. She also sampled rib fragments. Ribs are good for giving evidence of the last 10 years of a person’s life. They are fairly stable, as they are not weight bearing bones, and will not be affected by that type of wear and use.

Thursday and Friday, Adriana and I went to the INC, Instituto National de Cultura, to take samples from the Lucre and Wari individuals that are housed there.

JULY 17 - 18 2009

July 17 2009
Today, the group went to see the ruins at Ollantaytambo. I'd been there before, but did not go into the ruins. Ollantaytambo is one of the most beautiful towns. It's nestled in the valley of the Andes. Ruins speckle the mountain sides all around. The main ruins are HUGE. They consist of seemingly neverending terraces. When I get better internet and can upload pictures, I will, but until then, you'll just have to take my word when I say they're impressively massive. We wandered around for awhile, and stayed the night in a little hostel, Hostel Tambo.

July 18 2009

A few of us hiked up a mountain with some other ruins on it. You didn't have to pay to get into these ruins; it's probably because it's a hike and not child-safe. It was fantastic because we 4 were really the only ones on the mountain side at these ruins. The view from them is fantastic. you can see all of Ollantaytambo and the main ruins. I got to sit ontop of a building...something you definitely couldn't do if you needed a tourist ticket to get in.
Then, Georgia and I went Pisac, another town in the Sacred Valley that has ruins.
We took a bus there, and wandered around the HUGE open market they have every Sunday. Then we took a taxi to the ruins. The ruins were fantastic! They were spaced out pretty far, so it took us about 1.5hrs to get through them all. They spaced out along a mountian. We got there around 4pm. so the sun was beginnig to set. it was the perfect time to see these ruins. There weren't that many tourists, which made the trip that much better. At one point, we got sorta lost in part of the ruins, and it was rather funny trying to find our way out of the maze-like structures.

August 1st - 2nd 2009

August 1, 2009

Today I left the villa to move to the Peruvian house that I’ll be staying at for the next 4 weeks to do the Osteology research. It was bittersweet leaving the villa. It had become like a home to me.
The Peruvian house was only a few min cab ride from where I had been staying.
THE HOUSE:
The man who owns the house I’m in, Romero, basically owns all the houses on the little cul-de-sac that we’re on. The house is gorgeous! It has tile and hardwood flooring…something I never thought I’d see in Peru. I’m living in one of the houses of one of the richest families in Cusco. They even have servants. We’re served breakfast and dinner at the house. It’s weird to be served. I mean, obviously you’re served in a restaurant, but it’s different when it’s in a house; it’s more formal.
The house I’m in is 3 stories. The living room, kitchen, bedroom where Valerie – my new field director – sleeps, and the dining room are on the first floor. The second floor has about 4 bedrooms, and a sun room, that opens up onto the roof of the first floor. We eat our lunches out there.
I’m on the third floor and share a bedroom with another girl who’s working on the project. We have our own private bathroom, like I did in the villa, which is nice. The rooms are nice sized, and have large windows that have stunning views of cusco.

HOW I GOT INVOLVED:

I had talked to Alexei several times before I left for the archaeological field school back at UCLA. I had wanted to find out a little more information on it. We then chatted about my academic interests, and I told him about my interest in Osteology and Forensic Anthropology. He mentioned that he had a colleague, Valerie Andrushku, who was working on an Osteological project, shortly after the Sacsaywaman field school ended, here in Cusco. He said that she might have room for another undergrad. So, he gave me her contact information and I sent her an email expressing my interest. And, to be brief, I was accepted. This is actually a very small field school, as the other undergrads are getting college credit for this.

THE PEOPLE:
Valerie : She is Alexei Vranich’s colleague, and a professor at Southern Connecticut University with a Ph.D. in Archaeology. She teaches Human Osteology, Ethics in Anthropology, Forensics, and other courses at the university. She has been working in Peru for the past 10 summers, or thereabouts. Firstly as a student in a field school excavating some of the remains that we’re analyzing, then as a T.A., then as Field Director. She essentially inherited the project from her professor. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer professor to work with.
Diana & Adriana: Both are 4th years like me at Southern Connecticut University and students of Valerie. They are sweet and fun girls.
Megan: My roommate at the house, and recent graduate of Southern Connecticut University and former student of Valerie. She’s a super nice person.
Beth Turner: She’s a professor at Georgia State and friend of Valerie. She is here working with the human remains that we are, taking teeth and rib samples, and casting teeth to do isotopic analysis on them. She’ll be looking at diet and evidence for migration based on the results. She’s really funny and great to work with.
Romero: Owner of the house we’re staying at; a very large man, for a Peruvian and very accommodating.
Edgar and Alex: The servants who clean our rooms daily and serve us food. They ‘re very sweet young men.
Seraphina: The cook. Her food is 5 Star quality. I’ve yet to have a meal I dislike. Her soups are TO DIE FOR!

THE PROJECT: We’re doing data analysis on three groups of people: Wari, Inca, and Lucre. Valerie’s main goal is to create a large data base with these people where lots of factors can then be further analyzed. A smaller goal is to determine the extent of empire-organized migration among the places these people occupied in Peru.
A TYPICAL DAY:
We have breakfast at 8am, and meet in the foyer at 8:50am to walk across the small cul-de-sac to one of the other houses Romero owns, to work with the bones. We work in a room on the second floor, and share the house-workspace with two other women who are doing analysis on ceramics.
We have boxes of human remains to go through.
We take one box, and set up the bones of one individual on trays on tables in the room. We organize the bones anatomically, and fill out a Skeletal Remains Data Analysis packet. There’s about 10pages. We go through inventory of the bones that we have, then age and sex the individual based on very factors. We do dental pathology, assuming there are teeth. We’ll look to see the extent of wear on the teeth, if there are any abscesses, carious lesions, etc. We take measurements of the long bones, determine the completeness and condition of the skeleton. The last 2 things we look at are spinal joint disease (only if the individual is an adult) and skeletal pathology: so, evidence of periostitis, extensive porosity, trauma, fratures, eburnation, cranial vault modification, etc. Then we’ll color in the bones that are present on an outline of the skeletal system, and if there’s a modified cranium, we’ll draw the different shape over an outline of a “normally shaped” cranium. Then we put it back into its bag, box it, and move to the next one. We usually end around 5:30pm.

Another long day in transit to Cusco: July 31 2009

July 31st 2009

I left Machupicchu today after lunch. But before I left, I played a card game with some of the geomatics group called, “I Hate Paul Harmond”. It’s a name that Alexei gave to the card game awhile ago because the group he played it with couldn’t remember the game. It was actually really fun and very easy to pick up.
While I thought that the living conditions at the museum were… well, undesirable, the food was excellent! They had cooks to make homemade food every day. As some people know, rice is my favorite food, and I didn’t think I could love it more, but Andean rice is delicousss.
I basically spent the entire rest of the day in transit. I took the Vistadome train back to Ollantaytambo. The Vistadome has part of the roof in glass, so you can see the tops of the terribly tall Andean Mountains. It was a picturesque ride back. Unfortunately, I had to sit to a very annoying young man who basically sulked for the entire trip. I’ve no idea what was eating him.
I arrived back at the villa in Cusco around 9pm, and basically crashed. I was pretty tired.

Second time at Macupicchu- July 29 2009

July 29th 2009

I ate breakfast at 7am with the geomatics group and went up to Machupicchu with them in a bus. It was great to get to go there again, as we didn’t get to go many places the first time because the rain increased as the day wore on. So, I basically wandered solo through the ruins. I first trekked to the Inca Bridge. It was a decent length walk and very beautiful.
Machu Picchu is glorious on a sunny day, but as Alexei told me, it doesn’t change. I found that to be true. The ruins look the same from every angle, essentially. But, it was nice not to be trekking around in the rain.
Then I decided I was going to try to hike up Montana (Mount) Machupicchu.
I hiked uphill on these stone stairs for about an hour. I was unfortunately only about ¾ of the way up. The view of the ruins and Andes Mountains from that height were beautiful. But, I had to make it down to meet the geomatics group for lunch, so I had to turn around. I made good time down, due mostly to the yellow jacket that chased me down the mountain. I was booking it, let me tell you. I’m surprised I didn’t fall and hurt myself; the stairs are very steep in places.
After lunch, I wandered around a little more, and then, deciding I didn’t want to wait until 5:30pm for the group to leave, walked down to the Museum from Machupicchu. That was an interesting walk. I sort of felt like I was in the jungle. And the stairs were something else! They were SO steep! It was a silent and long (40min) walk, with only the occasional bird chirp, or rumble of a tour bus bringing yet another load of tourists to the ruins.
The weather was also very different from Cusco. Machupicchu is about…700m lower, I want to say, so breathing was MUCH easier. That worked well for me as it helped me recover from my cold. It was also humid. It all reminded me of South Dakota in the summer, actually. The climate had that feel to it.

A long day in transit to go to Machupicchu

July 28th 2009

Alexei, my field director, needed help getting some computer equipment up to Machu Picchu, so I went with him to help get the electronics there safely. He was working in Machu Picchu with another field school – Geomatics - that is doing a laser scanning of Machu Picchu. The laser scanner, and other expensive equipment had been held up in Customs in Lima for about a month…yeah…Customs is not the most accommodating of travel channels.
We took a night train, which was interesting, but definitely not as scenic.
The group was staying at the Machupicchu museum, in dorms right behind the museum. The dorms left….much to be desired. Let’s just say that I immediately missed the villa.

July 24 2009 - - MACHU PICCHU!

July 24th – Machu Picchu!
first time:

Today the group went to Machu Picchu. We left at 6:30am, bright and early, to get into the Mercedes Van that took us to the train station – Perurail – in Ollantaytambo. The train was really cool; it’s a beautiful ride to Machu Picchu. It took about 2hrs. When we arrived at Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs) – the town below the ruins – we had to get ponchos…because it had started to drizzle. We ate our packed lunches, and boarded tour buses that took us up the 25min, switchback mountain ride to Machu Picchu.
We were basically let loose into the ruins, to go in whatever groups we desired, and were at our leisure ( or 3hrs ) to peruse the ruins. I went off with Colten, Whitney and Georgia.
Machu Picchu was definitely not what I expected; it was more. I mean, I’ve seen pictures, but it’s different when you’re there. If you have enough of an imagination, you can picture the Inca walking amongst the ruins as you pass your had along the well lain stone walls. The heavy clouds and drizzle made it that much more mysterious, I think. The clouds constantly moved among the ruins, and it appeared like the ruins morphed; they changed. While this made the experience thrilling, it made picture-taking somewhat of an art. Once the clouds moved, uncovering some parts of the ruins, you had to quickly span a photo before the clouds moved in swiftly to engulf them in a blanket of grey. It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget. There’s something to be said about ancient architecture that still stands today, and being able to walk, as the Inca must have, through these structures. I think it’s as close to time travel as we can get.

July 25 – July 27st. I didn’t do much except hang around my apartment at the villa. Due to the fact that I was feeling pretty ill. Movement was painful. So, those days weren’t very exciting.

Final Week of Digging

July 20th, 2009

Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Excavators: Meg, Christina, Jose

Continued excavating the burial at unit 14. We began by cleaning the area of dirt and rocks that fell into the burial from the weekend. After we cleaned the unit, we began taking the bones out. first we started with thte skull fragments and put them all in a bag. Next, we began pulling the other bones out and organizing them categorically (i.e. hands/feet, long bones ribs, shoulder girdle, etc). After we excavated all of the loose, exposed bones we began digging deeper to take out the 2 long bones that are lodged in the matrix of the pit. Unit measurements were also taken. Some ceramics were found in the burial pit as well.

July 21th, 2009

Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Excavators: Meg, Christina, Jose

We began by extending the pit on the Wester side of the unit to see how far the long bones extend we found a large ceramic piece on the western side of the unit near the tree root. This might possibly be an indication that we are finally reaching the primary burial area. Jose uncovered an innominate (pelvic) bone. We later uncovered another ceramic piece in the center of the pit, and I identified the corpus sterni, or body, of a sternum.
Interpretation: from what I can see of the innominate bone, - which isn’t much - it appears to be a young adult male, based on the thick subpubic ramus, the robust mandible fragment, and the billowy texture of the pubic symphysis. However, much more analysis needs to be done before a substantial sex can be determined.


For July 22 & 23rd, unfortunately, I was sick and unable to make it up to the site. But, essentially, they closed up the units and did final drawings. Jose, the Peruvian University student who worked with Christina and I on the burial, continued to excavate it, as we did not finish when the project ended for us.

Week 2 at the Dig Site

The second week of digging, another girl, Christina and I moved units to work on a burial because we both have taken a Human Osteology class and therefore have experience with bones.
So, here’s the deal with this tomb/burial. It was –apparently- first excavated last season. However, whoever was doing the excavation, didn’t have time to complete it before the end of the field season, so they essentially threw the bones into a pile, and covered it up until the next field season. Also, a giant tree root disrupted the burial. This is what is called a secondary burial, AND an example of BAD archaeology. A unit containing a burial, or any unit, for that matter, should never be left partially excavated. That’s just horrible professionalism. And leaving the bones in the condition in which I found them is completely disrespectful of the interred individual.

The following are my archaeological field notes for the Inca burial I excavated.



July 14, 2009
Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Capa (layer) 1
Excavators:, Meg, Christina, Jose

We cordoned off a square unit where the tomb is suspected to be located. We drew a picture of the surface layer, measuring various rock/plant points in the unit. We then removed one inch of the surface layer.
We then ran into a problem. We “hit” the metal covering of the tomb, but it was in the NE corner of the unit, not in the middle like it was believed to be. Then, it was also brought to our attention that there was a second burial nearby to the NE of the first burial unit, and directly at the base of some large Wacca stones. The 2nd burial is extremely shallow, and a portion of the cranium was visible. It has been extensively broke – more like pulverized ; small cranial fragments litter the area surrounding the cranium. The nature of the burial is unknown (i.e. whether it’s been disturbed, partially/poorly excavated). We then had to extend our unit out 50cm N and 50cm E. We then began removing the surface layer surrounding the believed tomb “entrance”
We found several large pottery shards and several bone fragments while excavating the superficial layer. This does not bode well for the possibility that this burial hasn’t been disturbed.

July 15, 2009
Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Excavators : Meg, Christina, Jose

We began by cleaning up the profile and leveling the unit off to the level of the metal circular tomb covering. NE of the tome cover, we uncovered a piece of wood, 2x4in that appeared to extend underneath the metal cover – likely for structural support - We also found several bone fragments, 8 fragments – 2 of which were identified as cranial. Potshards were also unearthed. Once all the loose dirt surrounding the tomb cover in our unit had been cleared away, we slowly lifted the circular cover off from the east end to the west end and lifted it off.
There were 3 stones visible on the edge of the tomb cover. It was unclear whether or not the stones were structural or placed there by the peple who discovered the burial last field season and placed them there for support. The wood went all the way under across the diameter of the tome. We lifted that off and discovered that more stones lined the matrix of the burial in a well shape.
We began slowly scraping through the moist dirt. A canine tooth was uncovered and I uncovered several bone fragments and a tooth. The tooth is either a premolar. The tomb is filled with a lot of clay that is a mauve-y colour and yellow and green. A metacarpal was found and several bone fragments after lunch.

July 16, 2009

Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Excavators: Meg, Christina, Jose

We began by cleaning the sifted dirt from around the tomb, which had been placed over the tomb as a cover for the night. We then took a picture of the tomb as it was left yesterday afternoon. The next task is to section off a smaller portion of the unitl, so it just surrounds the tomb.
Task 4: we will remove the wood chunks and rocks lining the tomb, as they are not Inca construction, but were placed there last field season after the bones were discovered. We removed all the man-placed rocks. On the N end, there appears to be natural rocks, we have left it in place and have decided to excavate around it, as it might be part of the original structure of the Inca tomb. -→ interpretation
A plastic bag was placed over the bones from last field season, in some terribly poor attempt to shield the bones from the elements. It has filled with compact clay. This has made removal of the bag difficult and lsow since several bone fragments are lying directly underneath the plastic bag.
We continued to widen the circular pit created by the contemporary stones, and found many bone fragments in the matrix of the pit.
The compact cay is moist and has a mauve tint to it. We were able to unearth a significant amount to loosen the bag and place less stress on the underlying bones. We then ended for the day and covered the bones.


July 17th, 2009 - Friday

Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 3
Unidad: 14
Excavators: Meg, Christina, Jose

We continued to attempt to remove the plastic bag sitting atop the pile of bones. I removed the first bag, and we realized that there were a total of 3 bags used to cover the bones.
The soil surrounding the bones is very moist and compact, mostly due to the extensive clay deposits surrouding the bone and on the layer above the bones. We were able to – after loosening the clay and expanding the matrix of the pit – remove all 3 pieces of the plastic bags.
LIST OF IDENTIFIED BONE FRAGMENTS FOUND [AS IS] IN THE BURIAL PIT:
1. proximal end of a Tibia
2. distal end of a right femur
3. proximal phalange
4. 2 distal phalanges
5. cranial bones (4 visible)
6. 2 mandible fragments
7. Left Maxilla
8. possible head of a femur (fragment)
9.transverse process of thoracic vertebra

First week of Digging

July 6- 10th

This was the first week of digging. We started by sectioning off 3 spaces for 3 trenches. One was 1x10m, and the other 2 were 1x5m. We prepared the units with levels, string, and plumb bobs. It wasn’t terribly exciting, but we were just setting up. We then took photos of the surface layer, and then promptly cleaned off the superficial layer. The units were oriented North to South. We were excavating at the Sacsaywaman Archaeological Park at the site, Qochapata. The Inca built a ceremonial edifice there, at the base of some sacred Wacca stones. The Peruvian team that has been working on that area for awhile had already uncovered a lot of the buildings of this plaza-like structure. So, it was really neat to be working right next to standing structures. Of the three units, 2 units were expected to contain part of an Inca wall. My unit was one of them.
Archaeology is a very slow process, tedious, and definitely not Indiana Jones-glamorous.
The following entries are the entries in my field notebook for the first week of digging. This will give you an idea of what we are expected to record, and the not-so-exciting finds of the superficial soil layers.

July 7 2009
• Today we excavated at Unit 3 of Qochapata in P.A.S., subsector 2. We prepared the unit, took pics, cleared vegetation and cleaned the superficial layer. The superficial layer of unit 3 is made of hard-packed clay with small rocks distributed equally. Unit 3 slopes from the N-S. A marking stick protrudes from the ground at meter 1. This stick was placed to mark a possible wall prior to excavations. In the NW portion of unit 3 there is an area of organic soil with hair coming out of the ground. In the S part of unit 3, two area of carbonous ground exist.

July 8, 2009
Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 2
Unidad: 3
Capa (layer) 1
Excavators: Buzz, Meg, John, Christina

We begain excavating layer 1. Found a dark spot of dirt in NE corner of the unit. We found a small piece of carbon in the S section of the unit. Small, sharp rocks were found int eh SW corner. in the middle of the units we found a large section of very compact dirt; it was a lot like the surface soil. There are many roots in the midsection casuing the soil to become compact.
Artifacts found: carbonized plant, pottery shard.

July 9, 2009
Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 2
Unidad: 3
Capa (layer) 1
Excavators: Buzz, Meg, John, Christina

First task: we begin by excavating level 1 and getting to the darker, softer dirt that was partially uncovered yesterday. We have to remove the compact laye of dirt still found in level 2 and remove all roots, which are believed to be the cause of the compact dirt portions we use large pick axes first. Layer one is very rocky.
Interpretation: the rocky layer coincides with a theory that possibly all the small, sharp rocks are flakes left over from stone-cutting when the Inca made the wall adjacent to our unitl. The roots are proving difficult to remove but we’re starting to make progress with the compact/rocky layer.
Task 2: In the south part of the unit are many small rock fragments. We are removing the small roots around the rocks and are going to uncover them ore but not unearth the rocks. We cleaned the unit and tooka photograph. Rocky inclusions are ine the North and South edges of the unit. After break, we removed large roots. They’re creating a hole in the Northern end of the unit. A noticeable soil change has emerged in the N corner of the unit; it’s much darker. Few rocks are in the NW corner of the trench.
We also found our first pottery shard, about 2inches in diameter.
(all of these entries include corresponding drawings of the trench)*****

July 10. 2009
Sitio: P.A.S.
Sector: Qochapata
Subsector: 2
Unidad: 3
Capa (layer) 1
Excavators: Buzz, Meg, John, Christina

Today we excavated capa uno at unit 3 and removed compact dirt layer along the NW and NE corners of the unit. Surrounding our feature 1 – which is the dark, circular area of soft soil surrounding the marking stick – to see if this darker, softer dirt continues underneath. It really doesn’t. We created a border, demarcating the feature one form the rest of the unit. Potshards were found on the E edge of the middle section of the unit. We left them and excavated around them becaue there may possibly be a concentration in that area of the unit. A camelid bone was found in the S portion of the unit.
SOUTHERN SECTION: I found an interesting small mound of unfired clay and black organic matter. This led to the discovery of the compact, fine, most Southern part of the unit, and how it slopes down significantly into the soft, dark soil I uncovered. I followed the slope of this hard layer 1 down into the soft soil and leveled it out for the day. It might have been a compact walking surface.

July 5 2009 - Crazy horseback riding

July 5 2009
Today we went horseback riding. A group of about 13 went. It started with a pick up truck coming to the villa door, expecting only a few passengers…so, we hopped into the cab and took an exciting and slightly terrifying ride up the mountain to Q’enko, where the horses were waiting for us. Q’enko is near Sacsaywaman. The pickup could barely get us up the mountain!
When we finally got there, we waited around for a bit and finally were let to the horses. These were some horses, too. They were definitely not excited to be where they were, and most were wearing questionable saddles.
My horse, was too small for me really, and looked anorexic.
Finally, everyone got there horse and we started off, we were literally on the horses for 3 minutes when the guide, who was following on foot, told us to get off; we had come to the first (and only one we saw) ruin site, The Temple of the Moon. After wandering around for 5min, we got back on the horses, and basically toured the Sacsaywaman Archaeological Park for 2 more hours. My horse and another girl’s horse were trouble. My horse’s name, I found out toward the end of the ride, was Solitario (Solitary one). For most of the ride, I was a good 50 meters ahead of everyone else…hence the horse’s name. If my horse wasn’t in front, it started biting the other horses to push to the front… not the nicest of creatures. The other problem horse was Johanna’s. Hers, ironically named Sunflower, decided to trailblaze most of the time, plowing over small bushes and tearing off up the mountain and off the trail. It was extremely entertaining to watch as she had absolutely no control over this horse. The guides were fairly absent for the trip…occasionally tearing through bushes and trees at a run to prevent us from going the wrong way. Mostly I was alone, with my horse Solitario, in the lead, where he liked to be. It was definitely fun, and for $10US, totally worth it. Another girl, Kim, had a horse, she named SeaBiscuit, who would poop, and then turn around and eat his poop. EW. So, those were the kind of horses we were on. Haha. Definitely an adventure of a horseback ride.

Fourth of July in Peru

Hello Dear Readers,

So, last Saturday was the 4th of July, and we American did not miss the chance to celebrate & represent the USA abroad! On of the guys in my group, Colten, organized the entire party. We had, as you can see from the pictures, Red,white, and blue streamers, balloons, flowers, tablecloths, etc. We even had an American flag! (which is still hang in the courtyard.)
Colten was also able to find a Piñata in the shape of a mug of Cusquena, which is their local beer.
Another group of students in a Geomatics program that Alexei is also associated with arrived today, so it was a great way to introduce ourselves to all of them. Now the mansion is full.
We BBQ'd hot dogs and burgers, and had soda and a cake in the shape of an American flag!
Colten, had to draw a diagram of the USA flag, labeling the correct colors and # of stars in spanish so they would get it right. That's some patriotism! We had a blast, it was a great day to meet new people and be American. There were even some famous South American Archaeologists that are Alexei's colleagues that came! The owner of the mansion, Mercedes, even bought us Sparklers! Unfortunately we didn't have any other exciting fireworks, but we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

Elena

So, this is just too cute of a picture to not upload.
The little girl in the picture is Elena. She is the niece of someone who works at the mansion. She is adorable and the cutest girl in Peru; we've all decided that. The guy is Aaron, he's a member of my archaeological group.

Doesn't she look like Boo from Monster's Inc. ?

A Quick Synopsis

Hello Dear Readers,

It's been awhile. I'll try include all I can.

So, last Sunday, the 28th several of us plus Alexei hiked up to the 2 sites by Sacsayhuamán. One was a ritual site, which is being worked on by some Peruvians, and had what is thought to be a temple there. Then we hiked to el Balcon de Diablo, which is another Incan site that we are supposed to be utilizing. It was beautiful. There's a giant cave with a stream running through, and no one has looked at it. We went exploring through the cave, came out the other side, and could see an Incan aquaduct carved into the rock! It was pretty fantastic.
Monday the 29th, nothing really happened. It was a holiday ( the Peruvians love their holidays) so we just hung out around the mansion & cusco.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we were at a Convent in Cusco. It's been renovated by teenagers, and they've turned it into a school. There were 3 projects that the students there were working on that we could also work on : stoneworking, woodworking, and restoration.
Tuesday I was with the woodworkers. It was definitely interesting and fun, but also a lot more difficult that I thought it could be. I made three designs out of 3x1 pieces of wood.
Wednesday, I worked the Art Restoration. I worked on a statue that had 4 layers of paint on it. Blue, white, gold, and red. When the Jesuits had possession of the monestery, they decided that gold was, essentially, sacreligious and painted over the gold statues. The picture I've included is of these golds statues that have been restored. My job was, using a scapel and a yellow goo to help lift the paint off, to remove the blue layer and get to the white layer of paint. I was to stop there, so as not to scratch off any gold, or worse, scrape too deeply and hit the intermost red layer. It was a painstaking process. I sat for hours chipping microscopic blue bits of paint off. I did enjoy it. We also cleaned 17th paintings. This was also a slow process. A small part was sectioned off, and using water-based solution and a stick with a cotton ball wrapped around it, we slowly wiped in a circular fashion to get the dirt off. And that was my week until July 3rd.
My next post will be about the weekend. Stay tuned.
Over and out.
Meg

Dia Once

Hello Dear Readers,

So, Saturday was supposed to be a hiking adventure day. The key word here is "supposed." We essentially split into 2 groups. One group went to Puno, to Lake Titicaca; and the other was set to go to Calca, and hike to some aguas calientes (hot springs). I went with the latter group, essentially because since I am going to be in Peru for awhile, I'll have other chances to go to Lake Titicaca, which is more of a leisurely visit. I wanted to do some hiking with a group that wants to do hiking.
So, Saturday starts off late. We had slight difficulty finding the bus terminal, which wasted some time, but we finally found it & paid s/3 each for a ride to Calca. I sat next to this girl named Allison from Notre Dame who just finished a study abroad program in Santiago, Chile, and is traveling for a bit before going to do research in Nicaragua with Political Art. We had a really great 1.5hr chat for the duration of the bus ride. The ride was really nice, kinda bumpy, but it was cool in the tour-like bus. We went slightly lower in elevation, and into the valley, so the gorgeous Andean mountains were surrounding us. The scenery was fantastic.
We finally get to Calca, around 2pm. and stop for lunch, unintentially ordering the dish of the day - which was potato soup - when we solely wanted the Menu. We then wandered around the city, which was quite different from Cusco. It's MUCH quieter. There weren't that many people around, we were essentially the only tourists, and no one was really working. There were lots of puppies, too, which I thought was interesting. ( pics will be on facebook)
The hike to the hot springs was supposed to only be 2k ...but was actually 8k.... So, by the time we figured that out, the sun was starting to go down, - earlier b/c we were in the valley - and we still had a 1.5 hr ride... SO, essentially we just got back on the bus and went back; then had dinner, ice cream, and a movie. It was a bummer. I was under the impression that the girl who organized it knew what she was doing...but apparently not. Oh well; we know know how to get to the hot springs, and found out how not to go about it.
K, dinner time.
Over & out.

dia diez

Hello Dear Readers,
Posts will be sporadic, as I've said, when I have the time and inclination.
I'll start with Friday's activities.
We started the day again with the llama and alpaca skeletons that we had defleshed on Thursday. We congregated in the courtyard of the villa we live in, and arranged ourselves at tables that were set up, in teams of about 4. Each table received a bag of archaeological llama/alpaca bone fragments that had been excavated from the Qorikancha/ Santo Domingo monestary. Our task was to identify as many bone fragments as we could, and determine if there was any evidence of their ritual use based on bone markings (i.e. butcher/cut marks, evidence of burning, various types of fractures). Each group had to present their finds after a certain period. I definitely enjoyed it. Zooarchaeology is an exciting field that I hope to be able to become more familiar with.

After lunch, we went straight to a renovated convent in Cuzco. The included picture is one I took of the convent. More will be on facebook. This convent is unique, in that it was renovated by 18-20 year old teens! They've done some pretty fantastic work. Also, the convent is used as a school for local cusqueña teens, who learn various trades; Specifically: stonework, woodwork, and how to restore paintings. We saw examples of excellent craftsmanship by these teens. There were stone pillars that were nearly exact replicas of the original pillars from the Convent!
Also, an exciting part of this trip was that we learned that we (my group) will be able to learn some of these crafts too! I haven't decided what I'd like to work on yet. I'm torn between the woodwork and 16th painting restoration. I'll let you know what I decide to learn.

Then, we returned to the villa and had a Ceramics lecture. A local researcher, Jose, came by with samples of Inca ceramics that had been excavated, and we spent some time perusing the different types of ceramic styles.
Dinner followed shortly, and then several of went to the local club, Mythology, to dance. El fin.
And that was my Friday.

dia nueve

Hello Dear Readers,
Thursday was "class day." We had an Osteology lecture in the morning, then lunch, then we had a "lab" that involved defleshing a llama and alpaca. it was AWESOME. this was part of our zooarchaeology lecture portion of the trip. When we start excavating on Tuesday, we'll encounter llama y alpaca bone fragments, so we need to be able to identify them. Turns, out I LOVE zooarchaology ( the study of animal bones in an archaeological context). Well, gotta go. More on Friday's excitement later.
over and out.

dia ocho

Hello Dear Readers,
Ok, just to be straight, I'll be blogging sporadically. It's too much effort to blog daily.
So, let me try to remember the INSANE amount of things i've done. Day 4: kevin, miguel, georgia, and I hiked up to Sacsayhuamán. it was the 2nd time i'd done it (i hiked it the 3rd day too) but it's definitely HARD for us low sea level dwellers. the view from the site is awesome, and the site is awesome. I know it's repetive, but I can't 100% put into words it's amazingness. I haven't taken pictures yet, but i will be doing that soon. I have posted a significant amount of photos on my facebook for those who want to see. Tandem to the site, is a large hill with a white Jesus statue on it. it's a short, but relatively steep hike up, but once again, the view is spectacular. you can see everything. They light the statue up at night, so it's this white beacon, almost, in the sky. Looking at it at night, it's amazing that we hiked that high. The night of day four, we did some club hopping: Mythology & Mama Africa are the best, that we've been to so far. Dancing at this altitude is much harder, fyi.
I've done a lot of exploring & walking around. There's this huge indoor market that sells everything, from pig's heads to sweaters; and you can eat there for like 4soles. which is insanely cheap. However, it's not a great idea for foreigners to eat there, as there are likely much flora and fauna that we haven't had time to adapt to yet. There is a big, & safe market on Saturdays, where I'll be eating lunch for about 4 soles.
Day 4, we also went to the monestario de santo domingo, which was built on top of the Inca Temple of the Sun, which was called Qorikancha. Photos are up on facebook.
Day 5... honestly, I can't remember. haha. I've done so much. we did more walking around, and went to some clubs to dance at night.
Day 6...Most people had arrived. I believe about 15 were here. Once again, we went to the plaza de armas, where i have been going since day 1, so see all the processions and dances from the parade for corpus chirsti.
day 7 : aka sunday, everyone had arrived. We had an intro dinner at this place called Two Nations; one of the 2 restaurants we'll be eating at for the next 4.5 weeks. The food is 150% safe & fantastic. it's owned by this aussie guy named matt, so the courses are hearty.
Monday, we went to 2 Incan museums; the museo del inca, and the Larcma. They were awesome, but no photos, so i have none. We had lunch at one, in this amazing courtyard.
After dinner at Don Esteban's we went to Mythology for salsa lessons. about 12 decided to learn. it was so much fun, & a great work out! I picked up on it really quickly, and will continue to keep taking salsa lessons everynight after dinner. I'm sure i'll be tired after digging, but will definitely have energy to salsa!
Tuesday, we went to the monestary, and a Spanish Christian art museum, both were fantastic. After dinner, a group of us went down to the Plazas to see the festivities for Inti Raymi (Held wednesday). There was a fantastic graffitti artist, and lots and LOTs of people, and dancers. I mean, the plaza was FULL; definitely thousands of people were there.
Today:
was ... magical almost. Today is the Inti Raymi festival, or festival of the sun. It's an Inca ceremony that happened on the winter solstice. the purpose was rejuvination, and to call back the sun. They have a modern authentic rendition that they do every year on june 24. THe procession starts at the plaza de armas, and goes up to Sacsayhuamán. there were 1000s of people there, and the ceremony was amazing. the Leader Inca was standing at the top of a stone altar-like place, speaking quechua and there were lines of Incans around the altar, wearing traditional clothes, dancing, lighting fires, and there was a simulation of a llama sacrifice ! It definintely was a sight I am glad I was able to experience. Others took photos, so when they post to facebook, I'll get some of them. Well, we're about to go to dinner, then salsa! adios.
over & out.

Dia siete

Hello Dear Readers,

Sorry it's been awhile since I've blogged. I've been pretty busy all day, and just too tired at night to blog. Well, we're about to go check out a monastery, so I WILL blog tonight, and catch everyone up on my experiences so far. they've been pretty amazingggg.
Hasta luego.
over & out.
meg

Dia Dos

Hello Dear Readers,
Well, day 2 was even more exciting and fun. I really love Peru. Also, we got a new addition to the group, Miguel, a recent UCLA grad, who arrived yesterday morning. This morning, another student arrived, Georgia, from Ireland! We're going to have a diversified group. SO, back to day 2:
we 3 started our day with breakfast at Cafe Tinku. I had the porridge. It had ( i think chocolate/cocao drizzle) with apple slices & real sugar! It was light and a fantastic way to start the day. Then we decided to wander around more. We've decided to walk as much as possible. There were HUGE festival going on in the Plaza de Armas, lots of the various catholic school students dancing. We tried to get into one of the many beautiful cathedrals, but you had to pay and none of us had our cameras on us, so we'll go back later. We did manage, however, to get into one of the universities that is tandem to a cathedral. It was really neat, and set up courtyard style. We then walked to a local barrio (neighborhood) San Blas, where we walked up lots of stairs, and realized just how hard that normally easy task was. after 2 flights, we had to stop and sit! Then we came back down and at dinner at Crossiant and walked around more. there's just so much to see! and so much to familiarize ourselves with. We were back in our room at 8pm and tired. ! Alright, it's time for breakfast at Cafe Tinku again! adios!
over and out

Dia Uno

Hello Dear Readers,
Well, it's the end of day one in Cusco. I took a looong "nap," which really qualifies as a sleep. But I felt refreshed and much better acclimated to the altitude. Kevin, who also arrived early for the Inca Fortress project, and I both went looking for food after our naps. We ate at this little cafe right off the plaza, I can't remember the name, but the sandwiches and fresh mate de coca (coca tea) were awesome! Then we walked around for a bit, watched some young people practice their dances for the Festival of the Sun God that is coming up, they were pretty awesome as well. Then we continued wandering through the plaza de armas (government square) and we followed by some kids who wanted to sell up alpaca hats. we each got one for 5 sol...which is like $2 US. then we did some more walking, just trying to orient ourselves with the city, which can be confusing, as streets and just end and become a new street for no apparent reason. also, driving laws...peru doesn't seem to have any. haha. cars just go and pedestrians have to be aware of them, but everything seems to work. and you just cross the street anywhere. jay-walking? not a word in their lexicon. Then after all the walking we were hungry again. haha. and so we went to another little cafe. we both had pisco sour, which is the "signature" alchoholic drink here. it was $3US. and VERY delicious. (don't worry mom, it was one small drink). we also tried this soda called Inka Kola which was like a combo of bubblegum+sprite+splash of mountain dew. and was less than a $1US. Not everything is cheap, you have to barter, and be aware that they will overcharge if they can. but, they're all nice people. the kids that were trying to get us to buy stuff were hilarous. they were probably about 8 and a girl and boy were both trying to sell me the same hat, and calling each other their competition. haha. well, it's been a long day, so i'll end here.

** the picture top left is a picture of houses on the mountain next to cuzco..they look awesome at night with all the lights

SO, below are pictures I took from the taxi as we were driving to the villa.....actually, the internet connection is being slow, so I'll try tomorrow, or I'll post an album on facebook. it's time for bed.

over and out.

I´ve arrived in one piece!

Hello dear readers,
I arrived safely with all my luggage in Cuzco, Peru at 7.05am local time. Baggage claim was a jiff, and a delightful young man named Daniel (he got a kick outta my last name) was waiting for me holding a sign with my name on it when i exited the airport. He then drove me to the villa in the Plaza de Armas (gov´t square) to the refurbed colonial mansion i´m staying at. it´s just wonderful and has a rustic charm to it. i took a few pics on the taxi ride to the villa,and will upload when i have a chance. cuzco is an interesting city, VERY different from california. i drove by a feral llama eating grass...haha. cuzco has a lot of dogs too. also, I DID need my spanish! praise be that i can still remember a sufficient amount to converse. Daniel didnt know any english, and thankfully i was able to understand him about 90% of the time. we had a wonderful chat about the dancing that will happen in the square in a few days.
ok, im going to finish my cocoa tea and take a nap! adios!
over and out.

Introduction: testing 1,2,3...

Hello Readers!
This is my first blog post. Nothing exciting is happening here; it's just an introduction. Whenever I have time, I will post pictures and corresponding text about the things I do and and see. This is the simplest way for all those who are interested to stay informed. That way, when I return to the U.S. at the end of August, I won't have 2 months worth of stories to recount when someone asks,
"So, what did you do?" My flight leaves tomorrow, June16 at 2:35pm and I arrive in Cuzco at 7:05am on June17...it will be a LONG trip, but I'm excited!!Ok, time to finish Transformers and get a good night's sleep, assuming I CAN sleep.
Over and out.


Meg~