Cusco and the Sacred Valley

So by now I'm sure you've all heard about the wonderful time my parents had while in Perú, but here are some pictures and a few highlights of my own to go along with their stories! Here goes!...

We started our trip in Cusco. Despite being a bit inhibited by the high altitude in Cusco, we still managed to do some exploring our first day there and downtown Cusco quickly became one of my favorite cities in all of Peru! The ancient Incan walls mixed with the new stone work and seemingly uniform blue doors throughout easily make Cusco one of the most charming cities I have encountered. The ancient walls, which the locals pass every day without a thought, are a marvel by themselves. Here's a picture of my dad proving that the Incas constructed the walls so well that not even a piece of paper can fit between the stones! Incredible, right?!

Our next taste of ruins in Cusco did not disappoint either! On our second day in Cusco, we went to the Sacsayhuaman ruins (otherwise known as the "Sexy Woman" ruins) that sit upon a nearby mountain with a view of the main plaza of Cusco. What a great view!... 

Here's a picture of my parents next to one of the tallest stones in Sacsayhuaman. It's pretty amazing to think what the Incas were capable of moving using just man power... The big rock shown here is 17 feet tall and weighs over 200 tons!

Once the weather started to turn, we decided it was time to go. But the storm clouds sure made for some great pictures...

After taking shelter for the night, we started our trip towards Ollantaytambo where we would board the train to Aguas Calientes, the town nearest Machu Picchu. The trip should have seemed long, but with the beautiful scenery and occasional pit stops (to feed alpacas and such) it flew by!

The first city we stopped in was Chinchero. We had a great time walking through the market where they still barter instead of exchanging money! Before heading on to our next destination (ruins), we saw some more ruins. Go figure! 

The ruins we encountered in Moray were used for... Well, I'll let you guess once you've seen them...

If you guessed a giant amphitheater then you are WRONG! But that's ok, I thought the same thing when I saw the terraced land that seems to provide seating around the center circle. However, the Incas actually used the land as an agricultural laboratory to determine at which altitudes certain plants grow most efficiently. It's clear that the Incas had flare if even their agricultural sites look so divine! Our next stop was at the salt farms in Maras. 

The pools above are filled by a natural water source that happens to pass through a salt reserve underground. Being luke warm, the water holds great amount of salt in solution and once the water evaporates all that's left is a great tasting, all-natural salt. Then the locals harvest it. With there feet, hands, whatever... Apparently salt can't be contaminated by dirty feet. You learn something new everyday...

Uncle Tom, if you're reading this we were thinking of you a lot at the salt farm! Mom wanted to make sure the salt was comparable to Cargill's so she tried the river water. And she was caught in the act...

  

Finally we made it to Ollantaytambo, but we didn't board the train before seeing some more ruins! It may sound like I was sick of seeing ruins, but actually each area had it's own style and story to go with the ruins so it was all very interesting. On top of that, we had a guide named Walter to help explain the extensive histories behind each set of ruins. For example, Ollantaytambo was the sight of the last Inca battle victory before they were wiped out by the Spaniards.

Finally, it was time to board the train to Aguas Calientes. Once we arrived, it was clear by the terrain that we were close to Machu Picchu!!

The Latest and Greatest...

So it's been quite a while since I've blogged last, but here's a quick study break summary of what I've been up to... I'd like to start of with the latest and greatest of this past month.

The latest (or most recent) fun thing that I've done was to go to the Pearl Jam concert in Lima!!! I went with my friends Mari and Erin and it was the BEST! We were so far from the stage that we could hardly see the band, but that didn't stop us from dancing and singing our hearts out! It was an absolute blast! 

The greatest would be my 10 day trip to Cusco, Machu Picchu, Puno, and Lake Titicaca with my parents! However, I have soooo much to tell you about that trip that I'm going to save it for when finals are done and I have more time to write! In the meantime, here's a picture of the three of us at Machu Pichhu!

There's a whole lot of stuff that fits in between the latest and greatest... For example, the other weekend I went surfing for the first time! That was pretty sweet! I was pretty nervous at first, but my friend Kati helped me with some mantras and soon enough they came true! I ended up having a really fun time, despite swallowing waaayy to much salt water. Here's a picture of the gang stretching in our wetsuits before we jumped into the cold water!

Other activity that falls between the latest and greatest is going to Huancayo. My friends Kati, Mari, Morgane, and I all took the World's Second Highest train to Huancayo. It was spectacular. Here's a picture of the train on the turn table. Some of the turns were so sharp that we would have to take switchbacks where the direction of the train would change while we zigzagged up the mountains.

 Here are a few pictures of the breath-taking scenery that we saw along the way to Huancayo!

Once in Huancayo we spend some time in the main plaza, went on an all day tour, and finished off our trip at the local market. Here's a picture of my gals in the plaza....

Here are a couple of the stops on our tour:

1. La Laguna de Paca

2. Trout fishing at El Encanto restaurant. 

Guess what we had for lunch....

The restaurant also happened to have a way cool treehouse! Sa-weet!

Well I'd say that was a pretty good study break! I hope that this blog can tide you over until I can get around to posting the next one!

Until then,

Katie :)

Blame it on the Altitude (Huaraz, Perú)

A few weekends ago some of my housemates and I went to Huaraz, Perú. It's eight hours north of Lima and there's a lot of hiking to be done in the mountains. However, we were a bit caught off guard by how strongly the high altitude affected us. My friend Mari and I made a song to help explain the serious effects of altitude sickness... Altitude sickness is no joke! Well, here goes...

Blame it on the trail that got you looking pale,
blame it on the height that's givin' you a freight
blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-altitude.

Blame it on the hill that got you filling ill,
blame it on the view that makes you wanna spew,
blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-altitude.

That's all I can remember right now, but it was pretty shocking how much more challenging hiking is in such a high altitude. The tough hiking was well worth it, because the scenery was so spectacular.  We were in Huaraz for a total of three days and the highest altitude we reached was around 15,000 feet! Our first day consisted of a lot of sleeping, trying to acclimate to the altitude, planning our hikes for the next two days, and relaxing in a nearby hot spring. Mari and I watched some half of the Peru vs. Paraguay soccer game in our hostel and then went to bed. The next morning we woke up bright and early to go to Pastoruri.

We left Huaraz and drove for almost two hours until we reached our first stop. The ride flew by as we gawked at the lovely scenery.

Our first stop was at a bubbling fountain of youth! We all drank from the fizzy, iron colored spring which apparently is full of minerals... It mostly just tasted like iron to me.

Our next stop was where we encountered giant flowers called "Puyas Raimondi". Apparently they only flower once every 10 years or so and are HUGE! Here's a picture of my friends Kati, Mari and I doing our signature "Kati(e) Sandwich" pose with the monstrous flowers.

We continued our bus ride to where we began our hiking to the glaciers of Pastoruri in Cordilleras Blancas, otherwise known as the while mountain range for the snow that dusts the top.

So this slight incline may not look very challenging, but put it at 15,000 feet in altitude and you'd be surprised how fast you'll be out of breath.   

Closer....

WE DID IT!!! 

Our hike uphill was complete and we started to go back the mountain, 

but the altitude sickness was far from gone.

What was a pleasant two hour ride to Pastoruri became a two hour battle with my body if I was going to throw up or not. Not fun. Luckily, by the time we had gotten back to our hostel in Huaraz we were in a lower altitude and the sickness wasn't as strong. I still felt horrible though and spent the rest of the day contemplating if I could put myself through that again. In the end I decided to suck it up and go on the tour to Lake 69 the next day with my friends. I was told it would be higher, harder, and longer than the first trek. All of that was true, but it was totally worth it.

A few minutes in and feeling good!

Whomping Willow we encounter!

Friends we made along the way.

Which mountain are we going up??!

Final destination: Lago 69.

Getting there may have been one of the most challenging three hour hikes of my life, but all the way I was surrounded with some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen! I'd even go so far to say that hiking to Lago 69 was my favorite trip so far in Perú!... However, I'm going to Machu Picchu this weekend so we'll see how long Lago 69 can hold its title!

El lago= lake

Hasta Luego,

Katie :)

Lomas de Lúcumo

As promised I told you I would tell you more about the new finds I have discovered in Lima. First, we'll start with Lomas de Lúcumo.

I think the best way to start describing Lomas de Lúcumo is with a picture...

Does anyone else feel like singing songs from the Sound of Music after seeing this sight? Well, we did! The hills were definitely alive with the sound of music whether the other hikers liked it or not!

Here's a picture of some of the lovely ladies I went hiking with!

We spent all day at Lomas de Lúcumo soaking up some sun, chilling on big rocks we climbed up on to, and hiking of course. It was definitely worth the slightly tricky two combi and one taxi ride to get there! I'd go back in a heartbeat, but there are so many other places I want to explore as well!

So I'm sure you're all wondering how such beautiful green hills are located within the desert region of Lima... Or not, but it's actually very simple so I'll tell you anyways! As I experienced during my first month here, winter in Lima is simultaneous with a constant light mist and depending on how close you are to the ocean, a sea mist too. Lomas de Lúcumo are kept in this luscious green state from both of these factors, despite their desert status! 

In fact, for being in a desert Lima does a surprisingly good job at maintaining green space... which in my opinion brightens any city. One of my favorite additions of green space can be found in areas that double as yards and parking lots. Having alternating stripes of grass and concrete seemed unnecessary to me at first (and probably very time consuming to pour concrete for), but now I have grown to love it! Isn't this so much nicer than just having a slab of solid concrete?....

Try not to be distracted by my SWEET future car and peruvian sweater... 

Below both of those you can see the half grass/half concrete yards I'm talking about. Nifty looking, huh?

Anyways, as I mentioned in my last blog I want to tell you more about random things I've discovered in Lima that have made me feel more connected to such a big city... It's just like finding your own place within any city and I've started to do just that within Lima!

One of my new favorite things to do is go to Parque Kennedy in the Miraflores district of Lima. There is always something going on there whether it's an art exhibit, a small market, or my most recent find... Every Friday night a bunch of people gather to watch sassy "viejos", or older peruvian men and woman, shake it to tradition peruvian dances. It makes me so happy to not only experience part of their culture through dance, but also see how much energy they all still have! If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will...

Another great find is el Peruanito in Miraflores. This sandwich shop is a bit off the beaten path, but well worth it. The constant crowd speaks for itself. The sandwiches, fresh fruit juice, and deserts are out of this world! I'll definitely be going back...

This final activity isn't something I discovered in Lima, but it sure helped pass time the other day when I didn't have much to do and no one to travel with... I decided to get creative and try a nail painting technique I found online the other day. If you look very closely you'll be able to see little letters on my pink nails. Don't try to read the words too hard because not only are they in spanish, but they are also backwards. The technique I used entailed dipping my already painted and dried nails into hydrogen peroxide and holding a newspaper cutting (in my case, a clipping from a recent Perú soccer game) on the drying nail for 30 seconds. When all was done I not only had nifty looking nails, but also could remember stats from the game! :P

That's all for now, but I just got back from a weekend trip with some friends so you can expect a blog all about Huaraz soon! In the meantime, here's some spanish vocab just for fun...

Las lomas= hills

Hasta Luego,

Katie :)

Mi primer mes en Perú!

So as of September 8th I have officially been in Perú for a month! I have finally started to settle more into the everyday things such as going to school, chatting with my host family (without being so overwhelmed by how fast they talk), and just hanging out with the friends I've made here.

I go to school at PCUP in Lima, aka the only school in South America to have a squirrel for its mascot. For some reason, when I think about Perú the last thing I think about is squirrels, but luckily PUCP gave all the exchange students bags as a reminder of our new awesome mascot.

Some of my friends and I showing off our school-spirited backpacks! Go squirrels!

I am taking four classes that total up to 12 credits... the minimum number of credits I can take and still be considered a full time student. That may sound a bit lazy, but 12 credits all in a foreign language is no cake walk. My favorite class is a basic anthropology class that has an emphasis on case studies in Perú. The class is interesting and very relevant to my study abroad experience. My professor is a sweet little man who is really understanding towards any struggles we exchange students have had. Most importantly, I can understand his accent perfectly! Woo!

My "Cine"  class and literature classe are tied as my second favorite classes... In cine we watch internationally acclaimed films and discuss them afterwards. The movies are not always in spanish, but definitely always have subtitles in spanish. It can be a bit difficult to analyze a movie when the dialogue I hear is in french, but the subtitles I read are in spanish. I felt like my brain was about to explode, but this past week we watched Erin Brockovich (in english!) with spanish subtitles. I felt a bit like I was cheating the system, but due to the fact that I didn't have to focus so hard on comprehension of the movie I was able to pay more attention to the cinematography.

In my literature class we analyze poems from peruvian authors like José María Eugren and César Vellajo. My professor is super passionate about the class so it's pretty easy for me to be passionate about it too! It should by all means be an easy class, but I have found that analyzing poems in Spanish is a long process for me... First, I have to look up all the words that I don't know in the poem, reread the poem with the words I now know, gather the overall meaning of the poem, then finally analyze what the real message is and decide whether or not the words I just looked up are actually symbolic of something else! At times it's hard to keep up with the professor, because all of these hidden meanings are very clear to him. Nonetheless, the class is interesting and I've definitely expanded my vocabulary because of it!

My final, and least favorite, class is Ecoturismo. The class is all about Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism in Perú. Now there's nothing wrong with the subject, I'm all about being an eco-friendly tourist, but my professor is absolutely horrible. The worst part is that I can tell that he's passionate about the subject, but is unable to convey the information to the class in an interesting and non-oversimplified way. He repeats the same BASIC points over and over. This is particularly excruciating for me, because his accent is difficult for me to understand. So I have to commit so much energy to understand him only to have him repeat the same thing over and over. After I realize that he's repeating himself it becomes 10 times more difficult to motivate myself to translate the next repetitive thing he says. Needless to say, I have made some pretty solid "To Do..." lists in his class. There is a perk to the class though... We are taking a field trip to Pachacmac this Sunday! I can't wait to tell you all about that!

My housemates and I haven't done much traveling outside of Lima in the past few weeks, but there is plenty happening in Lima to keep us busy. For example, last week Kati, Mari, Erin and I went to a festival called Mistura where we tried dozens of tradition peruvian dishes. I can't remember all of the dishes that we tried, but we definitely tried...

Anticucho (cow heart) served with potatoes (of course),

Cebiche: fish cooked only by the acid of lemon juice,

Chicha morada: a purple colored juice made from a special type of purple corn,

Lamb and potatoes (that were cooked in a traditional underground stove),

 A variety of potato chips (made from a few of the THOUSANDS of types of potato that Perú has),

Cremelados : a yummy frozen slushie drink,
(The pear flavor was the best!)

and one GIANT hamburger "A Lo Pobre" that came with one burger, a fried egg, little french fry crisps, cheese, a fried plantain, lettuce, and tomatoes.

We didn't try all of the "standard" peruvian dishes at Mistura because our host family does a wonderful job of serving us a wide variety of peruvian cuisine. One of my favorite dishes my mom, Cecilia, serves is papas de huancaína. I'd compare it to potato salad because it has potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, but the sauce if far superior. "Salsa de Huancaína" is the yellow sauce made with a combination of spicy peppers (ají), garlic, onions, milk, and cheese. We're actually planning a trip to Huancayo (the city where this dish originated) and I'm going to go to town trying all the papas de huancaína dishes I can!

Papa de Huancaína with the typical garnish of a hard-boiled egg and olives.

My other favorite dish is ají de gallina. Once again it has a cheesy/ spicy sauce... probably the same sauce actually. The difference is that this dish is garnished with hard-boiled eggs and olives, Oh wait... I guess it's not really all that different except for the fact that it's served with chicken and rice. Here's a picture...

So if you can't tell by now, my family has been feeding me well to say the least. Overall, my host family is extremely accommodating. The other day I was talking with Cecilia and she called me "hijita" which directly translated means "little daughter." I just about melted! She even makes me chicken noodle soup when I'm feeling sick. I think it's pretty safe to say that I officially have a Peruvian mom now!! 

Speaking of being sick that's why I haven't posted in a while... I've been feeling a bit homesick and writing in my blog just made me miss you all even more! Not only did I have my first real taste of homesickness, but sickness in general. I'm not sure what I had, but I literally slept for two days straight! All is well now though.

I've found that singing (anywhere and everywhere I get a chance) has been helping me feel more at home in Peru because singing is just something I love to do. In fact, this new realization led me to find my new blog title...

"Bienvenidos a Llamaland" or "Welcome to Llamaland"

The other week while I was making sure to get my daily dose of music I stumbled across "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra and was overjoyed to hear the lyrics...

"Come fly with me, let's float down to Perú,

In Llamaland there's a one-man band,

And his toot his flute for you,

Come fly with me, let's take off in the blue."

I've also found that exploring Lima more has made me feel more at home in the city. Although I still ache for Madison there are little things in Lima that I've discovered brighten my day. My friends Mari, Kati and I have been exploring Miraflores (a nearby district of Lima) and have found many enjoyable activities. First off, they were sweeties and went to Glee 3D in the theaters with me.

Here's a picture of Mari and I blending in with the Glee cast!

The movie theater was located within a shopping complex called Larcomar. It's actually built into the side of the cliff that runs into the coast. The first time we went there we had a hard time finding the actual entrance. We literally looked right past the mall to the ocean because most of Miraflores is level with the top of the cliff, whereas the mall is carved into the cliff. Here's a picture Kati and I on the top level of Larcomar/ ground level of the rest of the city.

I'll tell you more about other things we've discovered in my next blog! I'm finally going to finish off this blog. Here's you new vocabulary word!...

El cine= cinema

Hasta Luego,

Katie :)