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~