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 :)

Por eso me encanta Perú

Here's a list of some quirky things that make me love Perú...

Crosswalk and Stoplights

At many intersections in downtown Lima the crosswalks and stoplights count down from one minute. You'd think the standard 10-20 seconds we get in the states would be sufficient, but not in Peru. In fact, they count down in green for how much time you still have to pass through the intersection and in red for how much longer you have to wait. I don't know if people in Peru are super impatient or if there's a higher risk of people running a red light if they don't know exactly how much longer they will be waiting or what. Thoughts anyone? All I can think of is how my dad would totally take advantage of this system... "Oh, I only have 5 more seconds before the lights turns red. I better gun it!" He's going to have so much fun driving here. It's quite an adventure. I swear that every day I take the microbus I witness at least ten "almost accidents." It's a bit crazy!

My view as I patiently wait 55 more seconds to cross the street.

Slippery Sidewalks

Speaking of crossing the street...I thought that the wet crosswalk lines in Madison were bad, but they are nothing compared to the wet sidewalks in Peru. At least one can avoid a crosswalk, but how does one avoid an entire sidewalk? I just don't understand why Lima would make their sidewalks so smooth that they become deathtraps when wet. It rains A LOT here! At my school they actually put up "Caution: Wet Floor" signs in the outside walkways when it rains! Someone needs to come up with a better solution to this problem. ASAP.

Tequeños

Tequeños are basically a taste of home away from home... They are essentially the Peruvian version of mozzarella sticks! Aka a perfect remedy for any Wisconsinite who is sorely missing all things cheesy and deep fried! They start with a wonton wrapper, fold it around some cheese, and then deep fry it. The main difference is the sauce they are served with. You will find no ranch or marinara sauce here. Instead the Peruvians whip up a tasty guacamole based sauce. Feast your eyes on this...

One of many plates of tequeños I've ordered while in Perú.

Prices

The conversion rate is about 2.70 soles to every US dollar. The majority of everyday items in Peru are cheaper than in the United States. For example, my new favorite cookies (basically the peruvian version of mint oreos) only cost $1 for a pack of 24 cookies! Crazy, right?! Or here's a healthier way to spend a dollar... buy a whole kilogram (2.2 pounds) of carrots at the local farmer's market! Even lunch at PUCP that includes a full plate of rice, meat, bread and juice only costs $1.50! Other ways I like to spend my money have been buying Peruvian artisan crafts. Even though the Peruvians haggle for better prices, the prices I manage are still very reasonable! The exception to this rule is luxury items. Especially those that are imported... I looked into buying some soccer cleats here and noticed a pair that I saw in the states for $50. Here they cost 700 soles or about $250!! I guess I'll be going without cleats... or at least with out that particular pair. I generally try to stay away from imported items, but yesterday I couldn't fight my craving for peanut butter any longer! I caved and bought a $7 jar of peanut butter.

Maid Service

At my house in Lima there is a housekeeper who cleans my room and makes my bed every day. Anna lee and I have become friends though so I keep my room really clean. I hate to have her waste her time organizing my things. However, I do still appreciate when she makes my bed. Every night I feel like I'm at a hotel crawling underneath the pristinely made covers for the first time. I love it!

My room with my freshly made bed.

The Abundance of Parks in Lima

Really, there are way too many parks in Lima than I know what to do with. But hey, what a problem to have in a large city... Too much green space. No. such. thing.

Parque de Reservas is a beautiful park in Lima that features 13 unique water fountains. My favorite fountain was an interactive fountain that consisted of a series of circles (in a target shape) that rise and fall randomly. We (and many other passersby) had a blast trying to make it to the center circle without getting wet! Another cool fountain was a tunnel (pictured below) that you can walk through! To top it off, every hour or so the park puts on a laser show in which images are projected onto a misty water wall created by, you guessed it, more fountains! I'll definitely return to this park in the future!

Parque Acosta is the park very near my house where I go for runs. The peruvians use this park to do a variety of things ranging from walking their little (usually sweater clad) dogs, snogging their significant others on one of the many benches, attending Tai Chi class, playing soccer, or just catching up with friends. It's a gorgeous location and because it's always busy I have something to entertain me while I run. How nice!

Journals with grids

I don't know why, but nearly all of the Peruvian students at PUCP take notes in journals with grids, like the grid paper we use for math class in the states. I wondered why I had a hard time buying lined paper, but didn't really think much of it until I started class. Perhaps, the grid paper is cheaper. Perhaps, it's easier to be neat when writing in grids. All I know is that during the first week of class when I would look around and see only grid paper notebooks I would worry that I was in the wrong classroom!


Being able to blend in as a Peruvian

I was totally surprised by this fact, but twice now I've been mistaken as a Peruvian. This is bittersweet, because after finding out that I'm not Peruvian (aka the second I open my mouth) I am met with mixed responses. One lady repeatedly apologized for apparently asking too hard of a question and another just laughed because she felt foolish for being "tricked" by my appearance! I seriously need to work on my accent. Although getting laughed at sucks, I do benefit from blending in when I'm walking to class by myself. I receive far fewer cat calls and I very rarely get honked at by Taxis which is not the case when I'm walking with my other North-American friends. 

So that's just a taste of why Peru is so uniquely awesome! Here's a word that should be pretty easy to remember and maybe you already picked up on what it meant...

el parque= park

Hasta Luego,

Katie

Máncora

This past weekend some of my housemates and I went to Máncora, Peru. We had heard a lot of great reviews for this resort town on the Northwest coast of Peru so last Wednesday night we made plans to spend the long weekend beaching in Máncora. What a weekend!

We started out our trip Thursday afternoon with a "16 hour" bus ride to Máncora. I say "16 hour" bus ride, because when all was said and done we really spent 20 hours on the bus. It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I slept for at least half of it. The rest of the trip, I was entertained either by the lovely landscape of Peru, one of the many scary and/or wildly inappropriate movies playing, or listening to the life stories of my housemates! Before I knew it, we had arrived in Máncora.

 Here are some pictures my friends Amelia and Natalie snapped on the way to Máncora!

Unfortunately, my camera had already died by this point of the trip...

What a way to pass time!

Once in Máncora, we got off the bus and started looking for a hostel to stay at. Luckily, my housemate Kati had done some research and we easily found a hostel with a room the perfect size for our group! I had never stayed at a hostel before and didn't really know what to expect, but I sincerely enjoyed by time at Kokopelli! We shared a room with four sets of bunk beds and each person had a lock box to keep all of their things secure. The staff was incredibly friendly and they kept the hostel in tip top shape. I'd definitely stay at Kokopelli again!

Here's a shot of the pool that I nabbed from their website.

This is the view of the hostel outside of our room.

After settling into our room, we all changed into our swimsuits and headed out to the beach. We proceeded to enjoy our first full day of sun since arriving in Peru. In fact, we enjoyed it a bit too much and all got burnt. Opps! I guess I forgot how close Peru is to the equator... that's pretty easy to do when you're living in a city that is CONSTANTLY covered by clouds. It's a good thing we left Lima actually, because I was beginning to become Vitamin D deficient! 

Some of my housemates and I relaxing on the beach!

Our first day in Máncora was pretty low key, but the second day was action packed! Four out of the eight girls in our group decided to do a tour with Ursula Behr of Iguanas Tours. First off, I'd like to say what a cool chica this lady is! She has an incredibly interesting life story and her thirst for adventure is contagious! Needless to say, we had an absolute blast on her tour!

Here's a picture of Ursula holding a crocodile from the sanctuary we went to. 

(Sorry it's so small, but once again I had to borrow the picture from her website.)

Before going to the crocodile sanctuary, we went to a National Park so far north in Peru that we were almost in Ecuador. Literally, we were a few blocks away from Ecuador! But alas, that wasn't our final destination... Hopefully once classes are over I'll make it to Ecuador!

Our first activity was kayaking in a National Park to admire the well-preserved wildlife and mangrove trees. We encountered numerous iguanas, dozens of birds, and countless crabs! It was quite an adventure, but more than that it was an eye-opener to see the difference between the preserved park and other unpreserved areas where the biodiversity can't thrive as much.

We finished out the day in a little town called Zorritos where we went for a swim in a pool fed by hot springs. That was definitely my favorite part of the day and possibly of the whole trip to Máncora. The pool is only used by locals, but lucky for us Ursula was let in on the secret too! For me it was incredibly satisfying to think of who first discovered this work of nature and what they thought of it and its supposed healing powers. 

Here's a picture of my friends Mari, Natalie, Kati and I in the pool. 

The pool was as warm as a hot tub and the fountain on the left was even hotter!

After a day full on fun, Ursula invited us to help supervise a swimming competition in the ocean the next day. Our "job" was to kayak with the swimmers, provide water, directions, encouragement and whatever else they needed. So basically, all eight of us got a free 5 mile long kayak ride in the ocean! It was a blast and my other favorite activity. After we finished the race, the swimmers and hosts were all very grateful and actually gave us free t-shirts and certificates of participation!

My free t-shirt with the Travesía Máncora-Vichayito logo! I wish I had pictures of the event, but we were all too afraid to bring cameras. Turns out that it was a good choice because the waves were pretty big and we were all drenched by the end of the race!

All in all, Máncora was a success! I had a blast, soaked up some sun, went swimming in a hot spring, kayaking the ocean, and stayed in my first hostel! I cannot wait to return and next time I'll definitely check out the mudbaths!

To go with the Máncora theme I picked two words of the week...

la playa= beach

quemado por el sol= sunburnt 

Hasta Luego,

Katie