Back from Machu Picchu and the Jungle and back in the states in about a week!!!

I just returned from the jungle at about 1pm today and am back in Cusco. I have not updated my blog in a really long time and a lot has happened since I was last on. On the 9th of July took the train to Aguas Calientes which is the city nearest to Machu Picchu. The train ride is about four hours from Cusco and is absolutely amazing. We spent the first day hanging around the city and then on the 10th we went to Machu Picchu on the earliest bus which was at 5:30am (3:30am) in California and made it to the actual Machu Picchu at about sunrise. It is probably the most overwhelming place I have ever been to. You go right around the corner and up a staircase and you overlook the entire ruins which are incredibly expansive. I will upload some pictures here in a bit. We also climbed up Wayna Picchu which is the mountain right next to Machu Picchu which is basically one gigantic staircase going up the side of a mountain. It was an awesome hike and then you are just standing on the top and all around you are mountains and Machu Picchu. Then after returning to Cusco we went to the jungle on the 11th through the 15th. After flying to Puerto Maldonado which is the city that is right next to the jungle, which also turned out to be one of my favorite cities in Peru so far, we contracted our guide named Omar who took us about two hours up the Madre de Dios River to the entrance of the Tamopata reserve. We then walked another hour to the lodge we were staying at. We did a whole bunch of hikes and tours including a boat ride during the evening when all of the caimans were out, caimans are like small crocodiles. Our guide then caught two of them and let us hold them. The safety of that move could be questioned but it was quite fun. We then flew back to Cusco today and are getting ready to possibly go to the coast tomorrow...still not sure. Then I will be in Cusco for a couple days and then back to the States. I am sorry to those who wanted me to call them from the top of Machu Picchu. I did not have access to phones and this last week has been crazy running around the city. This is seriously the first time I have had time to sit down and use communication services in a couple weeks. I miss you all and I cannot wait to catch up when I get back in the states in about a week. I will arrive at SFO on the 24th at about 11:30am. I cannot wait. Also, Happy Birthday to my dad and my Uncle Paul.

Out of Chijnaya/Going to Machu Picchu

After six weeks of volunteering in the community of Chijnaya the rest of the volunteers and I have left the community and said our final goodbyes to our families. We left a day early due to the fact that strikes in the altiplano began to paralize the roads leading out of Chijnaya and toward places like Puno and Cusco, something you may have all read about, I heard it was in the U.S. news. Besides for being a nuisance for travelling the strikes have not harmed us in anyway and we are all safely in the city of Cusco. Outside of the cities, and even in the cities, frustration with the government of Alan García is great so the strikes may not diminish for a while. However, in Cusco the only strike we have to worry about is that of the teachers who are striking against new laws affecting their job security. I keep getting more and more stories to tell, however, I will save them for when I return on July 23-24. I am leaving Cusco on the 9th to take a train to Machu Picchu, where I will be for the 9th and the 10th, something I am really excited about. I know some of you are expecting a call from the top of Machu Picchu, I am still working on the logistics of it all. After that I might be flying to the jungle and staying for a few days to see what a jungle is like. Peru is an amazing country because you have amazing coastlines, some of the largest mountains in the world, and then a jungle. Its geography is absolutely incredible. Then I am going to Arequipa, hopefully seeing the coast and Colca Canyon. Then back to Cusco for a couple days and then I will be going back home. I had an incredibly rewarding experience in Chijnaya and will tell you all about it soon. For now since I am short on time. I am doing excellent, am in great health, and am extremely safe. Also, do not forget to root for Peru in Copa América. They play Argentina on Sunday. Finally, Happy Birthday to Christine!!!

Back from Bolivia!!!

I just returned today from Cocacobana, Bolivia and am now back in Puno. I have some awesome pictures that I took but I do not know when I will have the opportunity to upload them because I am headed back to my village, Chijnaya, tomorrow to catch the livestock show. It is a big deal and my family has two bulls they entered and I am pulling for a Yucra Quispe victory (the name of the family I am staying with.) Anyway, we came to Puno on Thursday, ate a nice dinner and had a nice warm shower. Then the next day we took a bus around the lake to Copacobana, which was about a three hour drive. We stayed at this really nice hotel for the night and went to Isla del sol (the biggest island on Lago Titicaca) and hiked to a laberinto and ate french fries and went back to Cocacabana where we enjoyed how cheap everything is in Bolivia. The exchange rate is about 7 bolivianos to 1 dollar, while in Peru it is 3 soles to 1 dollar. They also had great food and launched fireworks all night long. It was really fun and the lake/island is incredibly beautiful and worth seeing. I cannot wait to show you all pictures of it. Iam headed back to Chijnaya tomorrow and will not be doing any more travelling until I go to Machu Picchu in July. That means I will not have great internet for the next two weeks as I will be in Chijnaya for that period before leaving for Machu Picchu. I have less than a month left and look forward to meeting back up with you all in the upcoming weeks.

Hope all is well!

Pictures

Back in Puno/Pictures coming soon!!!

I have returned to the city of Puno for the weekend and will be returning to Chijnaya on Sunday at some point. This week has been quite eventful. This week was the celebration for the anniversary of the school which in Peruvian terms means that Monday is used for pickaxing the grass to prepare for the bonfire, Tuesday is all day volleyball/soccer tournament for the students, Wednesday is all day volleyball/soccer tournament for the parents and Wednesday night is the party where all the students make faroles, which are candlelit objects that they than parade around the village with until returning to the bonfire where the sixth graders dance around the bon fire. They then decided that we also needed to dance which was really fun until you breathed in the smoke. There has not been power during the day in the village because they are doing electrical work in the district capital of Pucará. Thus, we haven´t had english classes...or any classes for that matter since Monday, although the adult classes have been going on. Also, there is a livestock festival on the 23rd and 24th so to prepare they had to dehorn various cows to pacify them, which was quite a gruesome experience...and they wanted me to take pictures...so I will have those to show you all as well. Today was the anniversary party for the neighboring village of Tuni Requena. So we left Chijnaya at about 9 and then the party began with lots of dancing and elaborate costumes...much more elaborate than I was expecting...it was quite crazy. Then we took combis, which are like taxi vans more or less, to Juliaca and then to Puno, found a place to stay and now are using the internet. We are going to dinner soon at our favorite place here in Puno called El Buho, The Owl, which has amazing pizza, something that Puno is really big on, and great garlic bread. This internet place I am at now has easily accessible usb ports, so I hope to upload pictures tonight or maybe tomorrow. As for me, I am doing quite well and am in good health and am getting more used to the Andean lifestyle everyday. It is pretty far removed from the comforts of the US. However, the people here are so welcoming and excited that we are there it makes for a fun time. Another newsy bit, next weekend we are planning to head to Copacabana, which is an island on the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca. I will be sure to report on how that all goes. Until then I will be here in Puno enjoying the city life and the hot water, showers, beds, and great food. Keep posted for some of my awesome photos. I look forward to talking with you all soon.

Sorry for the long delay!

I know that a lot of you have been anxiously awaiting the next entry in my blog in Peru. However, since I have been in Chijnaya instead of Cuzco internet has been incredibly slow and unreliable and my time has been sparse so this is the soonest I have been able to get on to update my blog. I have been in Chijnaya for about 2 weeks now. I am leaving with the Zea family, their claim to fame being the winning bull in the 2005 livestock show. Besides for the Hugo, the father and Geronima, the mother, and Maximo the uncle, there are two younger daughters I am living with, Yaquilyn who is 4 and Nayda who is 11. They are incredibly fun and we spend out evenings drawing various fruits, vegetables and other objects and practice our English. They are an incredibly awesome and welcoming family and they wanted to make sure that I sent you all back home well wishes while I am in Peru. The living conditions are quite different than those found in the states. I do not have a shower, or any sort of warm water, except for that I set out in the sun for most of the day. Also, my bathroom is more of an outhouse than anything else, however after a while you get used to it. We started teaching English classes this week, I am teaching 3rd and 6th grade, surprisingly the 6th graders are the best behaved students in the school. The school is a mess and teachers drink Coca Cola and play volleyball as much as they actually teach. Right now I am currently in the city of Puno, which is a welcome change to the Chijnaya life. We arrived yesterday afternoon and cruised around the city and had amazing dinner, Puno is known for its excellent pizza which was a welcome change from Chijnaya cuisine. Then today a few of the volunteers took a boat out onto Lago Titicaca and stopped at the Uros, which are the reed floating islands. Then we took a boat to Isla Tiquile which is an indigenous community on an island. It required quite a jaunt up a rock staircase, which was quite a feat considering the altitude. However, it was an amazing view and we ate at a great restaurant with Lago Titicaca fish and hung around the island until we headed back to Puno where we went out again for another amazing dinner. So much has happened since I last updated my blog that it is hard to remember everything there is to tell. I will be sure to let you all know everything when I return to the states. Things are going quite well here and after making a few adjustments I am getting by quite well. I have had the excellent fortune of good health while I have been here, which other volunteers have not had the same luck. I am returning to Chijnaya tomorrow after my excellent weekend here in Puno. Peru is quite an interesting country. Most everyone in Chijnaya speaks Quechua and Spanish and are trying to learn some English. They are all incredibly welcoming to us all. We had an amazing welcome ceremony and have been welcomed on several other occasions at various other locations throughout the altiplano. I have even been interviewed by Peruvian national television about the volunteer experience in Chijnaya. Thus, I have been having myriad opportunities to practice my Spanish skills which has been really fun. I have lots of excellent pictures to share with you all, however, I do not have the ability to upload them right now, I will try to do so as soon as possible. I have already taken well over 100 and cannot wait to return to the states to share them all with you all. Well this is already a long blog entry and it is 9:12pm here and the sleeping schedule is a lot different, as in we all go to bed a lot earlier. I hope you all are well and I hope to start blogging more regularly. Thank you all for all of your support. I had a great time here in Peru celebrating my 20th birthday on June 5th. It basically consisted of my family cooking me much improved food and then the volunteers came over in the night and some sleptover and I had a great time. Thank you to you all and I will see you all soon!

Update from Peru/Last Day in Cuzco

It is 12:57am here and I have to get up at 5:30am tomorrow as we are going to depart the amazing city of Cuzco in order to travel to Chijnaya, the village I will be staying in for the next six weeks, so this entry might be a little short. Hopefully, in the next entry pictures will be included. I have been having lots of fun hanging around the city of Cuzco. It is such a historic city and has so many sites to see. Yesterday we went to Incan ruins called Sawaksyroman (sorry if my Quechuan spelling is not perfect) and took a tour to this other ruin and got to see how amazing of a civilization the Incans were. It was an awesome experience. Cuzco is such a fun city I could spend weeks here seeing everything. I am in great health and great spirits as I leave Cuzco for a four plus hour bus ride to Chijnaya where I will meet my host family and have celebrations and start my work on Tuesday. I will be teaching english and also trying to get a tourist project off the ground (something that could really go a long way for the self-sufficient goal of this community.) I am excited to actually get down to business, although being a tourist in Cuzco is hard to beat. The city is filled with amazing cathedrals, monuments, ruins and has yet a modern aspect to it as well. I have so much more to tell but I really need to get some sleep so I can be ready for tomorrow. I am sorry that I have not individually emailed some of you but if you send me an email first I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can. The internet in the village I am staying at is currently out of service but hopefully will be up and running soon. Therefore, my messages might not come as often. I hope that you all are well and are having a great summer.

Finally In Peru!!!

I started off my trip at San Francisco International Airport at about 7:30am and eventually flew out to LAX at 9:20am. Once I got to LAX I met up with other people that were talking the same flight to Lima and we hung out at LAX for a while. Our flight to Lima was supposed to leave at 1:20 but after busing us to the plane and then getting us on the plane they told us we had to get off and await further instructions (I never actually found out what the problem was). So, we did not actually leave LAX until about 6:15. International flights are quite festive. I watched a couple movies, the food was not too bad and had a row to myself and a window seat. Seeing the sunset as we passed over Baja, Mexico was priceless. I probably did not get as much sleep as I should have but I just took a nap for a couple hours and am feeling much better. So, after getting to Lima I had to reschedule my connecting flight to Cuzco because my original connection was at 4am and we did not arrive at Lima until 4:15. I made it off on a flight to Cuzco at 6:10 Lima time, which is three hours ahead of California just like the east coast. It was a cloudy flight so I missed getting to see the snow capped peaks that I had hoped for, I will probably catch them on my way back up to Lima in July. After arriving at Cuzco Airport I was picked up and met with the other people in the group. After chatting a while we made the taxi ride up to our hotel which is about two blocks from the main square. It is a really nice place and has really warm sheets. Cuzco is an amazing city with colonial architecture mixed with its Incan heritage. I will be staying in Cuzco until the 27th of May when I will be moving onto Puno and eventually Chijnaya. Hopefully next time I will have some pictures or something to show for my adventures. So far things are going fantastically, the people are great and it should be a great trip. I hope to get to tour some of Cuzco today with its amazing cathedral and other architecture. It is a little chilly here in Cuzco but I will adjust. I have not been feeling much of the effects of the altitude yet, we are currently at about 10,500 feet but will be getting higher up next week. The trip has already proven a great test for my spanish as manuevering through airports is much easier, especially the ones in Peru, if you know spanish. It also helps with the flight attendents on my international flights who typically speak Spanish, although know English. Everyone is going to try to make arrangements to visit Macchu Picchu so I will have to update you all on whether or not I will be going. I hope everyone is well and I send my best wishes to you all on a great summer.

Departing for Peru on May 23rd

I am leaving for Peru tomorrow. I am staying near SFO for the night at the lovely Vagabond Hotel with a sliver of a view of the bay. I leave tomorrow at 9:20am for LAX where I will then transfer to LAN Airlines flight 605 to Lima. I will be in Peru as of 11:40pm on Wednesday night. I will be enjoying the festivities of Lima International Airport at 11:40pm to 4:00am, when my flight for Cuzco will leave. I should actually arrive in Cuzco at about 7am on Thursday morning when I will then go to my hotel room and crash for a long time while attempting to breathe the oxygen-lacking air at 10,500 feet. Then off to Chijnaya on Friday after I recover from altitude sickness. I am not sure how reliable the internet access will be while I am there, but I will make an attempt to update everyone on my travels and maybe even upload some pictures. I will be returning on July 23 and will arrive at SFO at 11am. I will be crashing at home until I return for Pomona for OA. More to come soon!!!