So Vermont. Yeah its really green. And really bare. And there is no civilization for a good portion of the state. And every time we want to go somewhere we have to go to NH (sigh.... NH :-) )
Session 1 of Camp Akeela was not what i had in mind. It wasn't as much fun as i thought it would be. I really didn't have a ton of friends there, our bunk was 14-16 year old caddy girls, one in particular was EXTREMELY difficult to handle EVERDAY. It's also weird being there. In Peru, yes i was cut off from communication with my friends and family in the US, but i was not cut of AT ALL from the world. We had interenet. Thiugh shitty, we still had it. I was imersed in the news ans politics of Peru and Latina America. I had so much knowledge at my fingertips, and my mind was bursting with new questions and knowledge everyday. At my Camp in Vermont, there is NO connection to the outside world. The internet is ALMOST as bad as Perú's. And there is only a 5 minute limit on compy time. No cell phone service, and the one land line we can use also has a 5 minute limit on it. I WANT my friends and Peru and life outside of camp, but i really, CAN NOT get it.
Session 2 has been much better, My best friend from Camp Livy, is one of my co counselors. I'm with the 10 and 11 year old girls, I have met some other GREAT people, one who also goes to UNH so we will be hanging out much in. But still. All those things i realized and lived for in Perú..... can't do them ay camp.
17 days till my next adventure to Keuka lake, then i will FINALLLLLLLLYYYYY move into my apt and see MEGAN and other people i LOVE.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Creer
Maybe it's because i had an absolutely 1.5 hour skype conversation with Laura about the world and our ideas and goals today. Maybe it's because my cousin Frank and I and Andy had beautiful talks and shared our stories of our past experiences. Maybe because i read V for Vendetta in 3 days and my head is swimming with its message as I think also about Watchmen and what an amazing impact that had on my life as well. Who knows. All i know is that my head hasn't been this full and this confused since I was in Perú, and i need to write.
I think I am done writing about Perú. I know i had a few more bullet points on that list, and maybe one day i will get to it, but i don't like saying "today was monday. andy and i went to lima. we went to a museum. it was interesting." If you like reading that, you have picked the wrong girl's thoughts to read. I like writing about how i feel, what i have realized about myself and the world, what i have learned. I like saying things like "Out of all of our time in Lima, we only saw 10 people dressed in traditional peruvian quechua clothes. 2 of them were clearly hired by a restaurant to lure in tourists. 5 of them were either coming out of the airport or entering it. the other 4 were with people not dressed in peruvian clothes, but mondern clothes covered in english words."
But thats not why i am writing today. I am writing because of the words wanting to burst out of my head. The words that i don't know how to form right now, but will try with my terrible grammar and spelling.
What are we living for? What do we, as people in the united states, the wealthiest, most opportunistic, and most technologically advanced nation in the world, have to live for? There are many answers to this question. I'm pretty sure every person i know has a different answer. We live for our family, our friends, our passions wether it be a job or a hobby. there are so many things to live for! But really... think about it. WHAT is it that makes us GO, that makes us THINK and DO? What is that internal mechanism that makes us wake up and go everyday and LIVE. The answer to this is simple. Ourselves. I live for me and by me and you life for you and by you and she by herslef and him for himslef and it for itself. This quote from V for Vendetta describes what i am trying to describe
"How. How did i get here, to this stinking place: my job, my life, my conscious, my prison. The answer is here written on the floor for me to read, but i don't UNDERSTAND it. Why can't I? I look at this mad pattern but where are the answers? Who imprisioned me here, who keeps me here? Who can release me? Who's controlling and constraining my life, except........ Me?
Me.
I'm free."
There is also another part of the book that talks about values and principles. I am a person. I have beliefs and ideas that i live by, that i believe so strongly in that i would do anything for them. I am my own controler of my own dystany and if i can't live for what i believe in, what is the point of living? I'm not saying this to sound sad or depressiong or mean, but there are to may united statesians who live without drive, passion, and beliefs. They would sell out for money, power, or societal pressures in a second. Many people assume that we live in a time of democracy and free will, "Yay America!" When I came back from Perú one thing was clear, we DO have wars to fight. We are not and i don't think (sadly) there will ever be a time when we have no wars to fight. Just because there is more freedom in our lives now then ever before, it doesn't me that A)everyone is like us and B)there is no room for more freedom. We live in a society that is bound by consumerism and materials and WANTS not NEEDS. And if i want freedom from that, i get weird looks and judgments.
Right now, i have no idea where our life goes. If i close my eyes and look 5 years down the road... i see nothing but possibilities, nothing concrete. But i know i will ALWAYS stick to what i believe in, hold tight to my dreams, and live for myself. Just doing that will better the world in more ways than i will be able to see.
I think I am done writing about Perú. I know i had a few more bullet points on that list, and maybe one day i will get to it, but i don't like saying "today was monday. andy and i went to lima. we went to a museum. it was interesting." If you like reading that, you have picked the wrong girl's thoughts to read. I like writing about how i feel, what i have realized about myself and the world, what i have learned. I like saying things like "Out of all of our time in Lima, we only saw 10 people dressed in traditional peruvian quechua clothes. 2 of them were clearly hired by a restaurant to lure in tourists. 5 of them were either coming out of the airport or entering it. the other 4 were with people not dressed in peruvian clothes, but mondern clothes covered in english words."
But thats not why i am writing today. I am writing because of the words wanting to burst out of my head. The words that i don't know how to form right now, but will try with my terrible grammar and spelling.
What are we living for? What do we, as people in the united states, the wealthiest, most opportunistic, and most technologically advanced nation in the world, have to live for? There are many answers to this question. I'm pretty sure every person i know has a different answer. We live for our family, our friends, our passions wether it be a job or a hobby. there are so many things to live for! But really... think about it. WHAT is it that makes us GO, that makes us THINK and DO? What is that internal mechanism that makes us wake up and go everyday and LIVE. The answer to this is simple. Ourselves. I live for me and by me and you life for you and by you and she by herslef and him for himslef and it for itself. This quote from V for Vendetta describes what i am trying to describe
"How. How did i get here, to this stinking place: my job, my life, my conscious, my prison. The answer is here written on the floor for me to read, but i don't UNDERSTAND it. Why can't I? I look at this mad pattern but where are the answers? Who imprisioned me here, who keeps me here? Who can release me? Who's controlling and constraining my life, except........ Me?
Me.
I'm free."
There is also another part of the book that talks about values and principles. I am a person. I have beliefs and ideas that i live by, that i believe so strongly in that i would do anything for them. I am my own controler of my own dystany and if i can't live for what i believe in, what is the point of living? I'm not saying this to sound sad or depressiong or mean, but there are to may united statesians who live without drive, passion, and beliefs. They would sell out for money, power, or societal pressures in a second. Many people assume that we live in a time of democracy and free will, "Yay America!" When I came back from Perú one thing was clear, we DO have wars to fight. We are not and i don't think (sadly) there will ever be a time when we have no wars to fight. Just because there is more freedom in our lives now then ever before, it doesn't me that A)everyone is like us and B)there is no room for more freedom. We live in a society that is bound by consumerism and materials and WANTS not NEEDS. And if i want freedom from that, i get weird looks and judgments.
Right now, i have no idea where our life goes. If i close my eyes and look 5 years down the road... i see nothing but possibilities, nothing concrete. But i know i will ALWAYS stick to what i believe in, hold tight to my dreams, and live for myself. Just doing that will better the world in more ways than i will be able to see.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
ya viajando...
I write this post from Durham, NH. In the last week I have been in Durham, the beaches of maine on the atlantic ocean, mass, bow nh, portsmouth, keene, and newmarket. In 8 days i will be in chicago, and in 19 days i will be in vermont. Thats the thing about traveling. Once you start you can't stop. I don't mind living out of my car, and there is something nice knowing your can house/cough surf over large parts of the United States because your friends are amazing people.
My first stop on this travel was Maine. Where i was reunited with the most amazing people in the world: The nicaragua group. Rachael's grandparents have a very old hunting lodge on Georgetown island of Maine. It is RIGHT ON THE OCEAN. And it was more beautiful than i could have ever imagined. Rachael, Hannah, Sarah, Andy, and me were there for most of the time, then Edmoundson joined us for just a night and Charlie who was going to just stay with us for once day, ended up staying with us for 2, when he lost his keys in the ocean... tehehe. It was wonderful to be in the presence of these people again. The energy, and the silent understanding we have of eachother and what we say. These are some of the only people i know that i can say ANYTHING too, and i know that not only will i be judged or made fun of, but they will UNDERSTAND because they have been there, and they know what im going through. So day 1, rachael got the worst sunburn of her life because all we did all day was frolic and walk. Day 2 was 1000 piece puzzel day (never again) and day 3 we headed on back.
Then Andy and I went to my grandma's house in melrose MA to pick up some furniture and listen to her tell stories of when she went to italy but when she showed us her pictures from italy... she had no idea where there were from. Then we drove to Bow and hung out with Andy's family/cats, visited TONY!!!, i went to Evan's house, and now im in durham, I have to say, i really do Love nh, especially when compaired with NY. Yesterday i went to the beloved town of portsmouth and talked for 2.5 straight hours with estephanie. And today i'm moving into my apartment.
But of course, i still have much to write about in the Perú story. There are many bullet points that i have not covered, so here is a few in one.
What we did from the Incan trail-the return to the US:
When we came back from the Incan trail, we only had 1 full week of class left (oh man, this seems like forever ago). Not many of us went to our internships that week. I know for me, that was the week i realized i only had a short period of time left with my mother. I spent that week learning to cook some peruvian dishes, and hanging out with the people from our group. Laura and Erich brought me to their friend's house, Irma and Tim. Irma is a fantastic artist, and i bought some beautiful peruvian art from her. Spencer and Erich had their joint b-day bash at their house (there mom is a professional cook... we were all in heaven). That night Laura and I went to her house and put hairwraps in eachothers hair. It was so much fun!! We just talked and braided...so wonderful We all went to our favorite places to eat throughout the week, and on thursday night we had our going away party. All of the families had to bring some kind of food (my mom baked pie de manzana) and we had a pot luck dinner. Then Andy volunteered us to dance salsa infront of everyone for some entertainment. We did ok. My mom was actually really proud of us, she kept on saying "Ella es MI hijita! Mi hija!" That weekend was our last double project weekend, where like i said they had a HUGE party for us for all the help we did, and the very next day Andy and i went water rafting, then we had our last classes and goodbyes to almost everyone. Then a handful of us (Maria, Adam, Andy, Alyssa, Kat, and Crystal) went to our desert adventure. Nazca was our first stop, were we flew over the incredible Nazca lines is a 6 seater plane and DID NOT fall out of the sky, saw some mad awesome mummies and bones and graves in the middle of the desert, and chilled in a really differnt Plaza de Armas de Cusco. the next day was Ica, were we explored the city a tad, went on a tour of a winery where we might have been discriminated against (look at Raciscmo? post) and went to Huacachina (that was the oasis) where we walked around for 2 hours looking for a place to sleep. There was no hotel that could hold 7 people. So.... we went to a hostel that had places to camp out back, and borrowed a man's 7 person tent, put it up using nothing but electrical wire, trash, ductape and belts, and slept there. When i say slept, i mean the music from the back of the hostel where there was a party did not stop. ALL NIGHT. Thank god for earplugs. The next day we sand buggied and sand boarded for 2 whole hours. Then we made our pilgrimage out to Paracas, where we explored a beach town. The next day was out boat tour out to the Balistas Islas, islands only inhabited by sealions penguins and birds, and old buildings where they used to take bird poo and use it to make explosives. Then we just palled around paracas and ica till we took a 9pm which didn't show up till 11pm bus home.
Back in Lima, andy and i did some souvenir shopping, said buy to jennie and kelsey, and hung out with our families for 2 days before leaving for Lima.
Ok more later. i just finished the post and then blogger deleted it.... and this is why i dislike computers
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Uhhhhhh......¿como?......¿donde estoy?
And.......it just hit me. I’m home. I’ve been home for about...2 weeks now and it just now hit me. I was moving my collected Peruvian money into it’s permanent home (the coin purse I used in Peru) and it suddenly hit me...holy **** (trying to cut out the swearing, I can’t really do that anymore now that people understand English)....I’m home. I mean, I used to use these coins just two weeks ago. Now I look at Unitedstatian Money and it looks completely foreign to me. I from now on refuse to call myself an American because America encompasses two continents and 35 states. Obviously I didn’t know how many countries were in the Americas, so I wikapediad it and found that out. As I was searching I saw that Americas is used to talk about North and South while America is used to talk about the United States. I feel like after my experience North and South America should be referred to as one sole entity, America. Now I know what you’re thinking, Andy, you can’t just change English just because you want to be more fair and look past the idea that there is no America besides the United States- but I think I’ll give it a try. The reason why I choose to do this is because in español, hay una palabra para una persona de los Estados Unidos (estadounidense) y una otra para el continente de américa. There is one word in Spanish for a person from the United States specifically; to say you are an American means nothing, because in Spanish, America is North and South combined.
That was quite a rant, but I feel like when I want to talk about something, it always comes out like that. Back to the Peruvian money (and why I started blogging in the first place). I just couldn’t believe that I was holding currency, which two weeks ago I lived on and it was completely useless now (well, I collect money so it’s useful for my memories and all that sappy goodness). It all of a sudden hit me like a giant wave. I used to live in another house, have a different bed, a different family, etc....... Now I look around at my house and I realize what that funny feeling was when I arrived here. It was like I was in someone else’s house. Yes, my family was here, the fluffies, Chester and S’mores were all here, but it was the house that felt weird. It wasn’t the people (it was like I just left them) it was the material items all around my house that felt weird. I don’t really know how to explain it (I think I’m still figuring stuff out myself), but soon I’ll be able to describe how I’m feeling.
I’m now thinking of all the things I used to do in Peru. Walking to the Combies, passing Friendly Dog, taking a combi....everything. If I were to list the things going through my head it would be longer than all of Libby’s posts put together (well, they might be close). It was just a shock to me when it all of a sudden hit me. Right after that sudden rush, I plugged in my computer and it sparked. It made me think about how every time I plugged anything in to a socket in Peru, it would spark. I miss those couple melted sockets I saw. I miss the sparking (it’s really quite friendly when you get used to it). What I don’t miss.....Electric showers. Worst invention ever. Honestly, who thought “hey I got a great idea! Let’s heat the water with electricity! Those two elements are completely compatible right?!” what’s even worse is that you know there were multiple people around him or her who said, “that’s an awesome idea!!, no one will ever get hurt!”. I didn’t even have an electric shower in my house (well, actually I don’t really know how my shower worked, I just know it never shocked me). The only time I used one was at my host grandparents’ house. I got shocked twice in the span of about 20 seconds. The first time I wasn’t quite sure what happened, so I did the smart thing and I put my hand back to the very spot where I felt that weird tingly sensation. Needless to say, I got shocked again....
Well, that’s all for now. If you couldn’t follow it, don’t worry, I didn’t even read 99% of what I wrote. Para ahora, chau. Voy a publicar más in el futuro. Espero que vaya a publicarla muy muy pronto. Quiero escribir más in español, pero no tengo más para decir. Las niñas tienen dos bicicletas. Je suis la jeune fille (esta es francés).
That was quite a rant, but I feel like when I want to talk about something, it always comes out like that. Back to the Peruvian money (and why I started blogging in the first place). I just couldn’t believe that I was holding currency, which two weeks ago I lived on and it was completely useless now (well, I collect money so it’s useful for my memories and all that sappy goodness). It all of a sudden hit me like a giant wave. I used to live in another house, have a different bed, a different family, etc....... Now I look around at my house and I realize what that funny feeling was when I arrived here. It was like I was in someone else’s house. Yes, my family was here, the fluffies, Chester and S’mores were all here, but it was the house that felt weird. It wasn’t the people (it was like I just left them) it was the material items all around my house that felt weird. I don’t really know how to explain it (I think I’m still figuring stuff out myself), but soon I’ll be able to describe how I’m feeling.
I’m now thinking of all the things I used to do in Peru. Walking to the Combies, passing Friendly Dog, taking a combi....everything. If I were to list the things going through my head it would be longer than all of Libby’s posts put together (well, they might be close). It was just a shock to me when it all of a sudden hit me. Right after that sudden rush, I plugged in my computer and it sparked. It made me think about how every time I plugged anything in to a socket in Peru, it would spark. I miss those couple melted sockets I saw. I miss the sparking (it’s really quite friendly when you get used to it). What I don’t miss.....Electric showers. Worst invention ever. Honestly, who thought “hey I got a great idea! Let’s heat the water with electricity! Those two elements are completely compatible right?!” what’s even worse is that you know there were multiple people around him or her who said, “that’s an awesome idea!!, no one will ever get hurt!”. I didn’t even have an electric shower in my house (well, actually I don’t really know how my shower worked, I just know it never shocked me). The only time I used one was at my host grandparents’ house. I got shocked twice in the span of about 20 seconds. The first time I wasn’t quite sure what happened, so I did the smart thing and I put my hand back to the very spot where I felt that weird tingly sensation. Needless to say, I got shocked again....
Well, that’s all for now. If you couldn’t follow it, don’t worry, I didn’t even read 99% of what I wrote. Para ahora, chau. Voy a publicar más in el futuro. Espero que vaya a publicarla muy muy pronto. Quiero escribir más in español, pero no tengo más para decir. Las niñas tienen dos bicicletas. Je suis la jeune fille (esta es francés).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Los Españoles y su objectivo: Oro, Gloria y Dios
Ok so here it is, the dirty, what i have learned about the Spanish Conquistadores and the aweful AWEFUL way they took control of the Inca empire and people. The first thing that the spanish wanted to do was to conquer new lands in the new world. Everyone else was doing it, so why not the spaniards? Once they had conquered the NEW land in the name of THEIR land they started on their main quest: Gold. And if not gold, Sliver. Or aluminum or jewels or natural resources. A very informative book "The open veins of Latin America" that i am currently reading basically said that the spaniards took EVERYTHING they could possibly get their hands on took it back to the mother land. They treated the indigina like absolute crap. They sent them into coal mines with nothing and the indigina would die withing a couple years due to the 1001 complications of coal dust or gas fumes. And they didn't care. When one died they would just take an 11 year old from the arms of their mother and send the off to their death. And for once in my life, i am not exaggerating. This is exactly what happened. The spanish took everything they could grab with their small greedy hands while sleeping around with any indigina they saw to dilute the indigina blood. Did you know the Inca were on average 6ft (roughly)? Now, the Peruvian people are the shortest in the world. Where did that come from.
Ok so that covers the "glory" and the gold... now the god. Now i just want to say before I begin this section that religion is wonderful. I think Jesus is a very wonderful man who came to this world preaching of Loving thy neighbor and peace to all nations, two VERY meaningful and important issues that we still deal with today. And you know, if those spanish would have once listened to one word that came out of what Jesus said, they would not conquer a country for "God". "God" doesn't want land. "God" doesn't care what kind of god or goddesses of gods the people on this earth believe in. If the catholic "God" is really as Loving and patient and kind as they claim him to be, why did the pope of the catholic government bless the boats and the conquistadores when they said "we are going to make these people be something theu don't want to be." Did the incans force people to join their religion? No. Its true that the incans made the people the took over to become and Incan, but that didn't involve gold, glory, or god. That involved land to plant crops and people to fight for their army. From the mouth of my very peruvian mother "The spainars killed everyone who wasn't going to be catholic. They would cut out their tongues, gouge out their eyes. The people were scared. And that's why so many people in Peru are catholic today." Did you know that the first cross that the spainards brought over to Peru to try to convert their barbarians or savages was just a cross, no Jesus in sight? Do you know why? It is because the preist thought the Inca would see the catholic religon as barbaric and savige like.
Freddy, our tour guide on the incan trail, said that the worst people to bring on the incan trail were the spanish. Anytime he brings up the spanish taking control of the Inca empire, they alwasy jump to spain's defense. "We brought civilization to this country!" they would say. "Without us Perú would have nothing." Excuse me? Perú would have everything if you loosers hadn't of come in!!!!! Did anyone take over your country and take everything that could have made you profitable in the world market? The spainish stole everything from Perú. Why is Perú so poor and why is it so hard for them to raise up? Cause the Spanigh, and the US for that matter, and Britian too took EVERYTHING from them.
If this is what it means to he rich, proud, and religions than i want NONE of that. Gold does not mean you are rich, Love does. Glory does not mean you are powerful, Love does. And as for God, i want nothing to do with the catholic church. Yeah, as of now most peruvians would not like me if i was not catholic, but i want nothing to do with an institution that kicks other people into the ground just to become more powerful. I believe in Love, and pachamama. Jesus was a great guy and i believe in everything he said. Whatever kind of god there is looking down on us, i believe in him her or them. But i do not want anything to do with the catholic church.
Ok so that covers the "glory" and the gold... now the god. Now i just want to say before I begin this section that religion is wonderful. I think Jesus is a very wonderful man who came to this world preaching of Loving thy neighbor and peace to all nations, two VERY meaningful and important issues that we still deal with today. And you know, if those spanish would have once listened to one word that came out of what Jesus said, they would not conquer a country for "God". "God" doesn't want land. "God" doesn't care what kind of god or goddesses of gods the people on this earth believe in. If the catholic "God" is really as Loving and patient and kind as they claim him to be, why did the pope of the catholic government bless the boats and the conquistadores when they said "we are going to make these people be something theu don't want to be." Did the incans force people to join their religion? No. Its true that the incans made the people the took over to become and Incan, but that didn't involve gold, glory, or god. That involved land to plant crops and people to fight for their army. From the mouth of my very peruvian mother "The spainars killed everyone who wasn't going to be catholic. They would cut out their tongues, gouge out their eyes. The people were scared. And that's why so many people in Peru are catholic today." Did you know that the first cross that the spainards brought over to Peru to try to convert their barbarians or savages was just a cross, no Jesus in sight? Do you know why? It is because the preist thought the Inca would see the catholic religon as barbaric and savige like.
Freddy, our tour guide on the incan trail, said that the worst people to bring on the incan trail were the spanish. Anytime he brings up the spanish taking control of the Inca empire, they alwasy jump to spain's defense. "We brought civilization to this country!" they would say. "Without us Perú would have nothing." Excuse me? Perú would have everything if you loosers hadn't of come in!!!!! Did anyone take over your country and take everything that could have made you profitable in the world market? The spainish stole everything from Perú. Why is Perú so poor and why is it so hard for them to raise up? Cause the Spanigh, and the US for that matter, and Britian too took EVERYTHING from them.
If this is what it means to he rich, proud, and religions than i want NONE of that. Gold does not mean you are rich, Love does. Glory does not mean you are powerful, Love does. And as for God, i want nothing to do with the catholic church. Yeah, as of now most peruvians would not like me if i was not catholic, but i want nothing to do with an institution that kicks other people into the ground just to become more powerful. I believe in Love, and pachamama. Jesus was a great guy and i believe in everything he said. Whatever kind of god there is looking down on us, i believe in him her or them. But i do not want anything to do with the catholic church.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Camino Inka
OK so thing number 1 i promised to talk about is: The incan trail. The pure amazingness of the incan trail, and arriving to machu piccuh. So it all started with a 5am very smelly bus ride (the porters were on the bus with us) with our amazing tour guide freddy zapata to KM-80. And it was beautiful. We started on a bright sunny day with blue skies and fluffy coulds. We got our passports stamped and starting walking for 2 easy hours, looking at the scenery, rejoicing in the excitment of what we were about to do. Freddy was an amazing tour guide and told us all about the many ruins, plants, and snow peaked mountains we passed along the way. Right before we got to the first less than easy part, Freddy stopped us all and gave us one of the most amazing pep talks of all time. I wish i had recorded it! It was something like.
"Ok, please guys, life, guys, is like the inca trail. You will go up and you will go down. You will be happy and you will be sad. You will laugh and you will cry. Sometimes you will meet mean people and other times you will meet the nicest people. There will be times that you will not think you can make it to the end, the nice comfortable end of machu piccuh, where we all want to get to. You need to keep trying and keep going. Never give up. Lets go guys."
Freddy has done to Camino Inka 323 times (more by now since he did more after us.) His first language is Quechua, and he is also fluent in Spanish and English. He Loves meeting people, his country, his people, and his life. i don't think i would have enjoyed the hike as much if he wasn't our guide.
So we kept walking for a few hours, then stopped for lunch at a camp site. Now, walking along with us, or should i say running along ahead of us, were the porters. Now these men work like horses basically, carrying 25kg of materials with them on their back, running to the next campsite to set up the tents and cook the food for all of us, then they pack up and head out before any of us. It's crazy what they can physically do, and i can't believe a job like that exists in the world. They are mostly quechua speaking men, like the ones we have worked with in occoruro. Actually one day in occoruro a family corey and i were working with were joking about porters they said "well we may be poor but at least we arn't porters." How interesting that they see that job almost the way i do too. Back to Lunch, among the porters is a chef, who cooks all the meals for everyone. I was expecting for lunch some rice and meat or poataoes, something usual like that for hiking. nope. we got a 3 course meal. 3 COURSES! and Juice to drink during the meal and tea after. It was unbelieveable, and completely unexpected. It was like that for every meal, even breakfast. AND we would have a tea time in the middle of the day as well. Matt said to me, after i said so many times i can't believe this, "This is Perú's star tourest attraction. Of course it is going to be like this."
We started up again, this time going up hill most of the time. It wasn't bad, just long. And it took a while to warm up too hiking with all your stuff for 4 days on your back, but by the time we got to the camp site for the night i wasn't hurting too bad.
Day 2 is the hardest day, and that was very true. We woke up, ate gourmet food, and hiked uphill for 3 hours. all stairs that are called the gringo killers. It was definitely hard, and i definitely enjoyed my break we we got to the top of dead woman's pass. The hardents part though was yet to come. stairs. for the next 4 hours all we did was walk (run) down and up stairs. It was killer on the joints and legs. i was sweating buckets and we were all panting. i personally enjoy going down the stairs more than going up, but that doesn't mean they feel any better on the legs. Our group was so fast that freddy said if we were willing to wait a little longer for lunch, we could countinue walking all the way to the campsite and eat lunch there, that way we wouldn't need to stop and start up again. When we got there, it was pretty dreary and gray and foggy, just like the whole day had been, but i felt good. and soar. I had carryed my back all by myself and gotten through the longest hardest day of hiking. Everything else would be easy after this for the next two days. We all sat around and slept and ate three meals (tea time is pretty big). After dinner that night Freddy told ghost stories about spirits who have followed him on the incan trail, which made me stay up a little longer that night.
Day 3= not to bad. down hill alot and more tome for Freddy to do some more explaining of ruins plants and the incans. The Ruins were wondeful that we saw. Th ebest part of this day was... apparently our group was moving almost faster than any group of his previously. So he gave us the option of walking to machu piccuh today not TOMORROW but TODAY!?! and then we would spend the night in aguas calientes, wake up tomorrow morning and go up to machu piccuh and get tickets to hike huaina piccuh, the big mountian you see in all the famous machu piccuh pictures. If we were to do the regular 4 day incan trail, getting tickets to hike huaina piccuh would be near impossible, since only 400people can hike it a day and by the time we woudl get there all the tickets would be gone. We all said yes to this plan. We ate lunch and started walking to machu piccuh while all the other groups around s stayed behind. We were doing something that was never usually done! It was so unexpected. We literally RAN there. A 2.5 hour hike turned into a 1 hour one. We were all just so hyped up on adrenalin and excitement and food that we couldn't help but run the whole way there. Right before we got to the view of machu piccuh, we got the the sun gate. on every summer solstice (june 21) the sun will rise right over the sun gate and cast a perfect ray of light into the window of the temple of the sun. It is a stone structir of pillars, and can be seen from a distance while in the town of machu piccuh. It was INCREDABLE to walk through that gate and look down at one of the most amazing sights in the world. One of the 7 wonders.
We couldn't stay long in Machu piccuh that day cause we only had a one day pass, so we hiked closer to it, than out of the park. Some of us also only had the funds for one bus ride and we wanted to save that for tomorrow, so we climbed the stairs down to Aguas callientes we we found a cheep hotel and stayed the night.
Day 4. We rose at about 430 to get up to the top by 530 to get tickets and climb to the top of one of the most famous mountains in the world. It was awesome. The view from the top of huaina piccuh was spectacular, and we sat up there for quite a while. We then walked the ruins, sat, walked, talked about the incas, eventually walked down to aguas callientes (again) and sat for the train to leave.
Machu piccuh was a town made by the incas in the 1500s. It was a special town made between to Apus for suport and protection. People would walk there and make a pilgramge, just like we did. They hid it on purpose when the Spaniards came so there woudl be some city to come back to, that the spainairds didn't distroy. When it was discovered in 1914(?) by hirum bingam (did you know that indiana joans is based on him) it started being uncovered and researched immediately. Now it is the biggest attraction of all of Perú, and thousands of people go there a day to see it. And that is Machu Piccuh's biggest problem. Apparently the city is sinking due to the weight of the thousands of people who visit a day. The city was only built to hold 600, and many more than that walk the grounds of this place everyday. This got me thinking... how can it be that the Perú government hasn't done something about that yet? This is one of the most valuable ancient site in all of south america. What would happen one day if its gone? It it sinks between the mountains and into the rio urubamba below? If the lost city of the incans really becomes lost? And i saw it.
"Ok, please guys, life, guys, is like the inca trail. You will go up and you will go down. You will be happy and you will be sad. You will laugh and you will cry. Sometimes you will meet mean people and other times you will meet the nicest people. There will be times that you will not think you can make it to the end, the nice comfortable end of machu piccuh, where we all want to get to. You need to keep trying and keep going. Never give up. Lets go guys."
Freddy has done to Camino Inka 323 times (more by now since he did more after us.) His first language is Quechua, and he is also fluent in Spanish and English. He Loves meeting people, his country, his people, and his life. i don't think i would have enjoyed the hike as much if he wasn't our guide.
So we kept walking for a few hours, then stopped for lunch at a camp site. Now, walking along with us, or should i say running along ahead of us, were the porters. Now these men work like horses basically, carrying 25kg of materials with them on their back, running to the next campsite to set up the tents and cook the food for all of us, then they pack up and head out before any of us. It's crazy what they can physically do, and i can't believe a job like that exists in the world. They are mostly quechua speaking men, like the ones we have worked with in occoruro. Actually one day in occoruro a family corey and i were working with were joking about porters they said "well we may be poor but at least we arn't porters." How interesting that they see that job almost the way i do too. Back to Lunch, among the porters is a chef, who cooks all the meals for everyone. I was expecting for lunch some rice and meat or poataoes, something usual like that for hiking. nope. we got a 3 course meal. 3 COURSES! and Juice to drink during the meal and tea after. It was unbelieveable, and completely unexpected. It was like that for every meal, even breakfast. AND we would have a tea time in the middle of the day as well. Matt said to me, after i said so many times i can't believe this, "This is Perú's star tourest attraction. Of course it is going to be like this."
We started up again, this time going up hill most of the time. It wasn't bad, just long. And it took a while to warm up too hiking with all your stuff for 4 days on your back, but by the time we got to the camp site for the night i wasn't hurting too bad.
Day 2 is the hardest day, and that was very true. We woke up, ate gourmet food, and hiked uphill for 3 hours. all stairs that are called the gringo killers. It was definitely hard, and i definitely enjoyed my break we we got to the top of dead woman's pass. The hardents part though was yet to come. stairs. for the next 4 hours all we did was walk (run) down and up stairs. It was killer on the joints and legs. i was sweating buckets and we were all panting. i personally enjoy going down the stairs more than going up, but that doesn't mean they feel any better on the legs. Our group was so fast that freddy said if we were willing to wait a little longer for lunch, we could countinue walking all the way to the campsite and eat lunch there, that way we wouldn't need to stop and start up again. When we got there, it was pretty dreary and gray and foggy, just like the whole day had been, but i felt good. and soar. I had carryed my back all by myself and gotten through the longest hardest day of hiking. Everything else would be easy after this for the next two days. We all sat around and slept and ate three meals (tea time is pretty big). After dinner that night Freddy told ghost stories about spirits who have followed him on the incan trail, which made me stay up a little longer that night.
Day 3= not to bad. down hill alot and more tome for Freddy to do some more explaining of ruins plants and the incans. The Ruins were wondeful that we saw. Th ebest part of this day was... apparently our group was moving almost faster than any group of his previously. So he gave us the option of walking to machu piccuh today not TOMORROW but TODAY!?! and then we would spend the night in aguas calientes, wake up tomorrow morning and go up to machu piccuh and get tickets to hike huaina piccuh, the big mountian you see in all the famous machu piccuh pictures. If we were to do the regular 4 day incan trail, getting tickets to hike huaina piccuh would be near impossible, since only 400people can hike it a day and by the time we woudl get there all the tickets would be gone. We all said yes to this plan. We ate lunch and started walking to machu piccuh while all the other groups around s stayed behind. We were doing something that was never usually done! It was so unexpected. We literally RAN there. A 2.5 hour hike turned into a 1 hour one. We were all just so hyped up on adrenalin and excitement and food that we couldn't help but run the whole way there. Right before we got to the view of machu piccuh, we got the the sun gate. on every summer solstice (june 21) the sun will rise right over the sun gate and cast a perfect ray of light into the window of the temple of the sun. It is a stone structir of pillars, and can be seen from a distance while in the town of machu piccuh. It was INCREDABLE to walk through that gate and look down at one of the most amazing sights in the world. One of the 7 wonders.
We couldn't stay long in Machu piccuh that day cause we only had a one day pass, so we hiked closer to it, than out of the park. Some of us also only had the funds for one bus ride and we wanted to save that for tomorrow, so we climbed the stairs down to Aguas callientes we we found a cheep hotel and stayed the night.
Day 4. We rose at about 430 to get up to the top by 530 to get tickets and climb to the top of one of the most famous mountains in the world. It was awesome. The view from the top of huaina piccuh was spectacular, and we sat up there for quite a while. We then walked the ruins, sat, walked, talked about the incas, eventually walked down to aguas callientes (again) and sat for the train to leave.
Machu piccuh was a town made by the incas in the 1500s. It was a special town made between to Apus for suport and protection. People would walk there and make a pilgramge, just like we did. They hid it on purpose when the Spaniards came so there woudl be some city to come back to, that the spainairds didn't distroy. When it was discovered in 1914(?) by hirum bingam (did you know that indiana joans is based on him) it started being uncovered and researched immediately. Now it is the biggest attraction of all of Perú, and thousands of people go there a day to see it. And that is Machu Piccuh's biggest problem. Apparently the city is sinking due to the weight of the thousands of people who visit a day. The city was only built to hold 600, and many more than that walk the grounds of this place everyday. This got me thinking... how can it be that the Perú government hasn't done something about that yet? This is one of the most valuable ancient site in all of south america. What would happen one day if its gone? It it sinks between the mountains and into the rio urubamba below? If the lost city of the incans really becomes lost? And i saw it.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
por vuelto
The following was written yesterday on the plane from Lima to Bogata:
Sometimes I feel traveling looses its lust after a while. Not the kind of traveling when you go to different places, but the kind of traveling when you are in an airport with 50kgs of luggage waiting in line for 2 hours to get in a plane where you will sit for 3 hours to have another 2 hour layover to get on another plane where it will be hard or imposible to sleep inly to go back to NYC, a miserably gray city where the people are everything but Peruvian.
I guess what I'm trying to say is. I don't wanna go back to the US. I wanna go home, to Cusco. I would gladly return to my life in cusco without os much as a second thought. I had a home base in Cusco where i slept, left my stuff. A plce where i could come back to becasue I had keys to this house. My mother cooked me meals everyday. I could travel anywhere with my starting point being in cusco and it was so safe and so secure. Starting the third weekof march i traveled somewhere every 5 days at the most. First was spring breakin Arequipa and Mollendo, then Manu, el glacier chicón, incan trail, doble project weekend, white water rafting, Nazca/Ica/Paracas, then Lima/Iquitos.
Now I'm sitting ona plane to Bogata throught the wonderful Avianca and my mind is full of thoughts, pecemistic, scared, and worried. Please excuse me while i eat my last cocoa candy.
I have learned so much since January 13th. SO MUCH. MUCHISIMO. And the things i have learned here did not com like a slap in the face, but over a long period of time which was slow, thoughtful, full of research and discussions and with some one in a million people. Here is what i have learned (and these arre just the BIG ones.)
-Español
-Patience
-Pride
-Trust
-Ican religion/PACHAMAMA
Sometimes I feel traveling looses its lust after a while. Not the kind of traveling when you go to different places, but the kind of traveling when you are in an airport with 50kgs of luggage waiting in line for 2 hours to get in a plane where you will sit for 3 hours to have another 2 hour layover to get on another plane where it will be hard or imposible to sleep inly to go back to NYC, a miserably gray city where the people are everything but Peruvian.
I guess what I'm trying to say is. I don't wanna go back to the US. I wanna go home, to Cusco. I would gladly return to my life in cusco without os much as a second thought. I had a home base in Cusco where i slept, left my stuff. A plce where i could come back to becasue I had keys to this house. My mother cooked me meals everyday. I could travel anywhere with my starting point being in cusco and it was so safe and so secure. Starting the third weekof march i traveled somewhere every 5 days at the most. First was spring breakin Arequipa and Mollendo, then Manu, el glacier chicón, incan trail, doble project weekend, white water rafting, Nazca/Ica/Paracas, then Lima/Iquitos.
Now I'm sitting ona plane to Bogata throught the wonderful Avianca and my mind is full of thoughts, pecemistic, scared, and worried. Please excuse me while i eat my last cocoa candy.
I have learned so much since January 13th. SO MUCH. MUCHISIMO. And the things i have learned here did not com like a slap in the face, but over a long period of time which was slow, thoughtful, full of research and discussions and with some one in a million people. Here is what i have learned (and these arre just the BIG ones.)
-Español
-Patience
-Pride
-Trust
-Ican religion/PACHAMAMA
-Nature and Natural
-Sustainability
When i come back, i know how i need to live. How i have lived in college for the last 2.5 years has not been very sustainably, and I'm not just talking about saving Pachamama sustainability. Since freshman year, I have been getting up before 6 to workout every morning, going to class usually w/o food where i would obsess about getting nothing but a 4.0 4.0 4.0 and beat myself up about not getting it, come back to the dorm and worry about getting into a show or my social life or my job, do my work, go to bed late and eat junk because i was so hungry, eventually get sick from this lifestyle and promise myself i would never do that again, than start all over. "Oh the life of a college student," some would say. Well, not me. This is it. No more. I NEED to sustain myself before i can begin to sustain the environment and the world. But right now, I am so afraid that the old me will take over the me i have desarrollado en Perú. The me that i need to be. I have this amazing chance to start all over again, too add into my life the spanish language, patience, trust, living with strangers that will later turn into my best friends, and most important, being and living and loving like and with Pachamam: naturally.
-Sustainability
When i come back, i know how i need to live. How i have lived in college for the last 2.5 years has not been very sustainably, and I'm not just talking about saving Pachamama sustainability. Since freshman year, I have been getting up before 6 to workout every morning, going to class usually w/o food where i would obsess about getting nothing but a 4.0 4.0 4.0 and beat myself up about not getting it, come back to the dorm and worry about getting into a show or my social life or my job, do my work, go to bed late and eat junk because i was so hungry, eventually get sick from this lifestyle and promise myself i would never do that again, than start all over. "Oh the life of a college student," some would say. Well, not me. This is it. No more. I NEED to sustain myself before i can begin to sustain the environment and the world. But right now, I am so afraid that the old me will take over the me i have desarrollado en Perú. The me that i need to be. I have this amazing chance to start all over again, too add into my life the spanish language, patience, trust, living with strangers that will later turn into my best friends, and most important, being and living and loving like and with Pachamam: naturally.
As I fly over Perú for the last time for a long while. I look at the Andies mountains below. The setting sun at the other side of the plane makes the sky and clouds over the Andies, my home, pink and blue, and those two colors side by side blow my mind. Thank you, Perú, ProWolrd, and Pilar. I hope I can live up to everything you have taught me. I've lived and learned form you, and now i mist do so for and from myself.
The following i wrote right now:
And now I am home, and still full of stories and energy from Perú. For the next however many days it takes, i will be writing all the stories and thoughts that i have not written as of yet. See you all tomorrow!!!
The following i wrote right now:
And now I am home, and still full of stories and energy from Perú. For the next however many days it takes, i will be writing all the stories and thoughts that i have not written as of yet. See you all tomorrow!!!
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