Yo vengo a hablar por vuestra boca muerta

I decided today I would just give you a little taste of my Literature class. Today we read poems by Pablo Neruda and interpreted them. This is an excerpt I found from Los Alturas de Macchu Picchu, translated into English.

Canto XII from The Heights of Macchu Picchu

Arise to birth with me, my brother.
Give me your hand out of the depths
sown by your sorrows.
You will not return from these stone fastnesses.
You will not emerge from subterranean time.
Your rasping voice will not come back,
nor your pierced eyes rise from their sockets.

Look at me from the depths of the earth,
tiller of fields, weaver, reticent shepherd,
groom of totemic guanacos,
mason high on your treacherous scaffolding,
iceman of Andean tears,
jeweler with crushed fingers,
farmer anxious among his seedlings,
potter wasted among his clays--
bring to the cup of this new life
your ancient buried sorrows.
Show me your blood and your furrow;
say to me: here I was scourged
because a gem was dull or because the earth
failed to give up in time its tithe of corn or stone.
Point out to me the rock on which you stumbled,
the wood they used to crucify your body.
Strike the old flints
to kindle ancient lamps, light up the whips
glued to your wounds throughout the centuries
and light the axes gleaming with your blood.

I come to speak for your dead mouths.

Throughout the earth
let dead lips congregate,
out of the depths spin this long night to me
as if I rode at anchor here with you.

And tell me everything, tell chain by chain,
and link by link, and step by step;
sharpen the knives you kept hidden away,
thrust them into my breast, into my hands,
like a torrent of sunbursts,
an Amazon of buried jaguars,
and leave me cry: hours, days and years,
blind ages, stellar centuries.

And give me silence, give me water, hope.

Give me the struggle, the iron, the volcanoes.

Let bodies cling like magnets to my body.

Come quickly to my veins and to my mouth.

Speak through my speech, and through my blood. 

The poem is attempting to bring justice to those exploited in the building of this Incan wonder. It is recognizing that people suffered for this, and that people are suffering today. After reading the poem, we listened to this more modern use of Neruda's words.

This actually gave me goosebumps. I'm glad we read this poem a week before we go to Cusco. I might not have even thought about the fact that just like the Great Wall of China, slaves were used to build Macchu Picchu. How often do we praise those who have accomplished great things by robbing another of his rights?

Arriba Perú!

Yesterday was the Perú vs. Columbia soccer game. I'm not really big into soccer, but you know, when in Perú. 

So the game was at 3:30. Most people had class. There were about four of us who were free. And we all happened to be from Ohio State. 

We tried to go to a sports bar in Miraflores called The Corner Bar but when we got there it was full. So we wandered a bit, but eventually made our way to a "pizza bar." Basically, they served Italian food and also drinks. We were late, but we caught the last half of the game. It was probably good that we were late because a lot of people were leaving the area as we were getting there. We might not have found a place to sit. 

We ordered a round of pisco sours, which is the official drink of Perú, and cheered the team to a disappointing loss. It was worth it to be in that restaurant, though. Imagine the intensity of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, only that's what it's like every time. It was great.

Then we walked through Kennedy Park which is also known as "el parque de los gatos" or the cat park. There are stray cats everywhere. It was like a dream come true, except with more fleas and dirt. Cats will just walk up to you and you can pet them and play with them and probably only some of them have diseases. 

We walked over to Larcomar and stared out at the ocean for a while. It was a good night. After a bit we hopped in a taxi and ended up having a somewhat chatty taxi driver. He seemed like he knew about tourists; I assume he's driven a lot of them around. He was really concerned that we knew where we were and where we were going. So that was nice. 

Onwards and Upwards, I suppose.

Saturday night we went to a salsa club called Turatao. It was mostly fun. I laughed out loud a few times because I make fun of things a lot in my head. In those moments I was glad the music was loud. Captain Morgan was there and took pictures with everyone in the club. Many people got hats and shirts. I had a good time, but it wasn't my scene.

Sunday we toured Miraflores and Barranco. Both are on the coast and are the more upscale parts of town. Miraflores has many stores and a mall called Larcomar right on the coast where you can shop at upscale stores like Jimmy Choo's or Hush Puppies or Guess. They also had a KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Tony Roma's. 

In Miraflores, there is an archaeological site called Huaca Pucllana. It is a pyramid built by the Limas who are the earliest known civilization in Perú. The area was first used as a cemetery and then was more of a sacred center and political complex. Eventually the Lima were overtaken by the Wari and then the Wari were overtaken by the Incas. It was really cool to see an active archaeological site right after having worked on a dig in Columbus. I was thinking, "So this is what it would be like to find something!" The pyramid was originally hidden in a large hill. They had to do a lot of digging to get it to look how it does today. I don't know if anyone else in my group appreciated the tour quite as much as I did. But that is to be expected. Not many people are thinking about being archaeologists. 

I think one of the coolest things about the site was the intense juxtaposition of modern civilization and ancient civilization. From the top of the pyramid we could easily see Bembo's, a peruvian burger chain. The city was literally just outside the walls put up by the archaeologists. It was a strong reminder that people have been living here for over 1000 years and life has not remained stagnant. Human culture, unlike non-human animals, is constantly assessing and improving. Onward and upward, I suppose.

After lunch we went to a museum in Barrancos. An art collector once owned the house. He had no wife or children so his house and collection wound up belonging to the state. Unfortunately the group size for this tour was very large, so a lot of what our guide said was missed. He showed us some really interesting art, though. Apparently it was really common to paint over old portraits in order to reuse canvas. While the museum workers were restoring some portraits of viceroys and such, they found portraits of saints underneath. It was cool to have another reminder of how culture changes. Colonialism brought a change of focus in the world. Rich people were interested in getting richer. They sent people out in search of gold. They owned plantations and took chances on the "New World." In some cases, probably many cases, the saints were forgotten. Their portraits were replaced with those of the upper class. It's an interesting thought, for sure.

Despues de esto, we went to the shore in Barrancos. Obviously, it was beautiful, as most shorelines are.  We crossed a bridge called Puente de los Suspiros. The legend says that if you make a wish before you cross and hold your breath the whole way, your wish will come true. I didn't make it. I guess I won't be passing my classes. After seeing the coast, we ate picarones at a restaurant on the hill called Javier's. Picarones are like donuts, only made with sweet potato flour. They are doused in honey and oh so good. The sweet potato flour makes them healthy, right?

So there is a pretty comprehensive summary of my weekend. I'm way tired. We have four days of classes this week and then we are going to Iquitos. I can't wait. Tomorrow I only have one class and then I am going to meet the organization that I will be doing my internship with in July. Thursday I might go shopping with some other girls. Life is exciting, guys.

Cats and Combs

Today we toured historic downtown Lima. It was great. There is beautiful colonial architecture everywhere and so many little shops. 

First we went to La Plaza de San Martin. It is huge and surrounded by big beautiful buildings. I'm not entirely sure what happens there, but it is beautiful nonetheless. 

Then we walked a few blocks to La Plaza de Armas which is where the national buildings are. The Cathedral, and the President's Palace are there. We watched the changing of the guards at noon and then peeked inside the cathedral. It is also know as La Plaza Central. This is where all the national festivals are held, such as the independence day celebration on July 28. 

Then we went to Lima's Chinatown. It was kind of gross, but the food was delicious. We had some seafood and pork appetizers, rice, chicken and plenty of other things that were unnamed. It was served family style so we didn't learn the names of anything. But it was so good! We also had Chicha Morada which looks like grape juice but tastes like Christmas. It's kind of nutmeg-y/cinnamon-y and very good. We also got to try Inca Kola which is the typical soda pop. It's super sweet. 

After lunch we went on a tour of Saint Francis's Cathedral and Catacombs. It was awesome. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you should know that I was able to identify all the human bones that I saw in the catacombs. I got an A in Human Osteology, you know. It was really beautiful and really old. I think it was built in the 1500s, but most of it had to be rebuilt after an earthquake a few years later. The rectory part had this sweet painting of the Last Supper and on the table is a plate of cuy, or cooked guinea pig. Because of the time period and the way the cuy was cooked, historians were able to determine that the painter was from the Andes because Lima didn't have that type of cuy yet. So that was pretty sweet. Also, in the sacristy, they have paintings of famous martyrs on the walls. Hidden in some of the woodwork is the tomb of a modern day martyr (I think) from Mexico. So that's also pretty sweet.

Then we went to a little shop and had churros. I think I have only ever had churros from Disney World or Taco Bell, so this was obviously better. They had crema de leche filling which tasted like custard or vanilla pudding. It was so good. 

Tonight we are going salsa dancing in Miraflores and tomorrow we go on the official tour.

Oh yeah, there's more.

I realized that there were a lot of fun things that I didn't include in that last post. So here they are.

Street performers actually perform in the street in Lima. On our first day we saw a man doing magic tricks with a red rubber ball at a stoplight. And yesterday, at that same stoplight, we saw a lot of people spinning nun-chucks that were on fire. It seemed really dangerous because there was a gas station on the corner, but I'm sure they know what they are doing.

The bus system here is totes cray. My economics professor said that the bigger buses are 19 years old! They are old school buses sent here from the US. And they are being used as public transportation. The most common buses you will see are called micros. They hold around 25 people, but there are usually 45 people in them. These are also very old. Then there are convis which are smaller and not as old, but definitely dirtier. We aren't supposed to ride those because they are a bit more dangerous. There are tons of taxis that can be safe if you know what you are doing, but we are supposed to call a taxi if we want to go somewhere. It is safer to call a company that you trust.

Peru is on the San Andreas fault. So, my building is antiseismatico, meaning it will withstand an earthquake. It already held up in a level 8 earthquake a few years ago. There are green signs with a big S on them everywhere to tell you where to stand in the case of tremors. Also, painted on the ground are big yellow circles. Some say "Zona de Seguridad" but once you've seen one, you know what they all are. If there were an earthquake we would all have to run to the streets or find a security zone. There aren't many buildings more than 3 stories tall and I bet that is why.

My university is really nice. It focuses on business and economics so you know it's fancy. Every classroom has a projector and sound system in it, like you would expect in the states. They even have classroom furniture that I think my dad would find acceptable. There is a cafe and a restaurant in the main University and a small cafe/snack bar at the language center (which is where the majority of my classes are). I got a cup of coffee for 3 soles which is the equivalent of $1.20 or so. So that's nice. They even sell kekes de platano and other fruits, which looks like banana bread. I haven't tried it yet.

Today I learned how to salsa dance. It was really fun and the instructor was really helpful. We were a group of American girls who never move their hips and he helped us out a lot. He would teach us the steps and then make each of us dance with him until he was sure we got it. So now I can go salsa dancing! And when I get home, people will say, "Oh, Amanda, you move so well! Where did you learn to salsa?" And I will be able to say, "Oh, it's no big deal. I learned in Peru." What a day that will be.

I also learned how to make salsa verde. It is very similar to pesto only with a lot more spinach. At least that's what my host mom says. It is very good and had a fair amount of garlic. I will probably try to make it when I get home. So I learned about two different kinds of salsa today. How fun!

Also, I wanted to share the exciting story of how Peru got its name. This is all according to an excerpt we read by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and my understanding of what our professor said in very fast Spanish. So, in the 17th century, when explorers were all over, doing exciting and scandalous things, Vasco Núñez sailed down from Mexico to what is now Peru. Once they were on land, he sent a few boats back to Spain to let them know that they had found something. So the ships sailed off and when they were near modern-day Ecuador, they saw an indigenous man fishing. They snuck up on him and captured him. Once they had him on the boat, they said with words and gestures, "What land is this?" Obviously, the gestures used to ask that question could be confused with many other questions, like, "What do you call this dirt?" or "Have you ever found anything here?" or "Who does this land belong to?" You get the idea. The man answers with two words: Berú and Pelú. The Spaniards thought he understood completely and called this new land Perú (l's and r's sound very similar in Spanish and could have easily changed over time, or even on the boat). Pelú is actually the Quechuan name of the river he was fishing on. It was all just a big misunderstanding. So that's pretty awesome. 

Tomorrow we are visiting historic downtown Lima. I am very excited to learn more and also eat Peruvian Chinese food. 

Supertiernos

Today is Thursday so I have been in Peru for 3 full days. I got in late Monday night and have been a bit tired ever since. Culture shock can really take a toll on you.

My flight arrived at 9 pm on Monday. It took about 40 minutes to get through immigration and then baggage claim, and then customs. (Peruvian customs is awesome. You hand them your form and then press a button. Either a green or a red light flashes. Green means you can go, red means your bags get searched. I got green.) I met my program leaders outside customs and found out that I was the second to arrive and we were picking up a total of 19 students. So a couple more girls got there and then we went in search of the airport Starbucks to take advantage of the wifi. We didn't get the wifi to work, but we learned that the airport is just like, it's just like, a mini mall. (Sorry if you missed that obscure reference. I had to throw it in for Dana.) It's open 24 hours a day and there are great places to eat like Subway, Papa John's and McDonald's. There are also clothing stores and of course, your typical candy/perfume/souvenir airport shop. So we hung out for a bit, changed some US dollars to Peruvian soles and eventually got to our host homes at 1am.

Tuesday was full of fun as we had orientation. My host mom served me a delicious meal of scrambled eggs and juice from a peruvian fruit (I don't remember the name) and packed me a sandwich lunch with a mandarin orange. The ISA office is only a few blocks from my apartment so it's really convenient. The majority of the walk is around the Italian Embassy so there are guards and policemen everywhere. I live in a very safe neighborhood. We had a nice orientation from the university that was all in Spanish. On the first day in country I probably only understood 45% of what they told me. I was tired! Then the ISA part of orientation began which was in English, thank goodness. We eventually got kicked out of the room we were using so we went on a walking tour of the area. We saw one of the main streets of Lima that goes all the way to the coast one way, and historic downtown the other. We went to two grocery stores and bought cheap prepaid cell phones so we can keep in touch with each other and our host families while we are here. We eventually made our way back and had the internship orientation and finished the orientation from earlier. When we were finally done it was around 5, but it felt much later. I unpacked and took a small nap before dinner. We had arroz con pollo and salad. We watch a lot of Animal Planet which is great.

Wednesday we started classes. My first class is from 8:30 to 11:30. It is a Spanish Literature class and the professor is a young woman who is basically a genius. She is Peruvian and speaks English and French fluently. Anyways, she speaks very quickly but very clearly. The class seems like it will be fun. Then my second class was from 11:30 to 2:30. It is about the Social and Economic Reality of Peru. The professor speaks very quickly in that class too, but he is also kind of funny. Then I went home for lunch and did homework, etc. We had a Peruvian potato for dinner last night with a lot of vitamins and minerals in it. It was purple and we ate it with a yellow sauce. How colorful! We watched Supertiernos on Animal Planet which is Too Cute in espanol. It was fantastic.

Today I went to my lit class, had some cafe, hung out at the university and skyped my Dana. So far, my afternoons and evenings have been restful, which is what I need right now after a month of field school and no time to rest before going to a new country. I'm pretty pumped to be here right now, even though I'm also really homesick. It's strange to have friends all over the place because even when you feel at home, you miss someone who is not there. Living in Columbus, I miss my family and church family. I miss my friends who have moved away and my friends from high school. Living at home, I miss my school friends and my high school friends who have moved away. Even though I really want to be here and I'm sure I will have lots of friends who feel like family eventually, I really miss my family and friends in Ohio. And wherever else you are. It's just really hard sometimes to reconcile my love of family and close relationships and my love of travel and new and unique experiences. Gracias a Dios for Skype, Facetime, Facebook, email, and TextPlus. Oh and I guess blogs. Even though I still don't like this.

The view from my bedroom window.
The cars are very loud all day long.

Why am I even doing this?

Today I am traveling. Because it is a little scary, I feel it is necessary to remind myself and also let you know why I like to travel.

Reasons to travel:

1. It makes you brave. 

I hate doing things on my own. I'm way introverted but not very independent. Traveling, especially by yourself, makes you take initiative. I have to find my gate all on my own at the airport (scary). And if I can't, I have to talk to someone I don't know (scarier). But when you do it once, it gets less scary. I'm kind of a pro at maneuvering airports by now. TSA lines don't bother me. I only feel slightly uncomfortable lugging my very full duffel and sort of full backpack through the terminal on my own. And I only cried a little when I said goodbye to my family.

2. You meet new people.

Like I said, talking to people I don't know is terrifying. But everyone was someone I didn't know before I met them. To quote Regina Spektor, "People are just people, they shouldn't make you nervous. People are just people like you." So that might be my mantra. With some time, strangers can become friends.

3. You see things that other people see all the time.

Driving through the Danish countryside, I realized that it doesn't look all that different from Wayne County. It was new to me, though, and it was DENMARK. There are people who drive through that countryside everyday. There are people who live in the beautiful Haitian mountains. There are people who walk by the Eiffel Tower everyday. These are staples in the background of real people's lives, and I think it's really cool that I get to see that, even if they are famous landmarks as well.

Basically to sum all this up, by traveling you get to expand your life. Meeting new people opens you up to new ideas and new experiences. Seeing new places reminds you that there is life outside of your home. And having to take care of yourself makes you grow up. So I think that's pretty cool.