Wandering Angel

the andies

dragonflynambr — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:41:00 GMT

hi all ,

The bus is waiting for me. We are headed back down to the coast today. I will fill you in later on. I am ok and still healthy. I just had a small issue with altitude sickness. A bit dizzy last night ( like drinking techila)

The Naked Archeologist

dragonflynambr — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Ok ok so I am not naked, because if I was I would be a boiled tomato. We are definatly in South America! It was very hot here and even with LOTS of sunscreen I got a little toasted during our outing yesterday.

We went to a Site called Tucume today in the town of Lambayeque to see the Valley of the pyramids which where inhabited by 3 different cultures over time. Sican culture,Chimu and Inca. It was very interesting to go through the small museum and see the different pottery that had accumilated with the cultures all in one place.

In the center of the complex, there was a natural hill called Cerro Pergatory.The Spanish named it that because before all the erosion from El Nina's every 10 years, it was most difficult to climb. It was amazing when we got up to a high point, If you strip away the visual appearence of erosion you can imagine or visualize the city bustling with activity like it did when it was a prominent city in previous cultures. It was truely breathtaking. (The younger kids climbed the highest peak followed by vultures we figured they were looking for an easy lunch!)

Speaking of lunch, we ate a fabulous lunch in a local resturant. Every dish needed to be translated by our guide.

We ate:

Cheveche - fresh fish marinated in lemon and lime

Stingray omelete

Corn Tamale

Yucca

Goat

Duck

WhiteBeans and Sauce

Green Rice with corrinader

It was a fantastic lunch!

Just 22 miles west of the site there are over 700,000 people living in Chiclayo! We went to the central market which you would think the entire population was there. It was like a New York fleamarket on massive steriods!.

The amazing part of the market was the Shaman stall. The smell of herbs and medicinal plants float through the air. The energy is very powerful as you walk past some of these stalls. Some made me want to run and some pulled me in. When you dont know much about the meanings of what things are it can be intimidating. Healthcare is not government funded in Peru. So if someone gets ill they dont have the money to visit a doctor, they often go to the markets to seek their cure from the Shamans in the markets. I wanted to buy things but yet I was afriad to touch things. It was an experience I would love to have again with some good spanish and a personal guide!

After the market it was pool time. It was wonderful after our day out to relax by the pool and swim. I got approched by a woman who works in the spa and ended up getting a manicure and a pedicure which was fantastic.

You all are most likely shaking your heads but hey ....there were like 3 girls who ended up getting massages!! Girls will be girls even if we are nerds!

We are off to Cajamarca today to stay at the Posada de Puruay (an old Spanish Hacienda in the Andies) its a six hour bus ride and I am not sure if there will be internet if there is not I will return to a place where I know there will be access in 2 days. I am having an experience of a life time!

Love you all

I made it

dragonflynambr — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 13:18:00 GMT

Well we made it to Lima after many delays.My fellow passengers helped passed the time and are pretty interesting people. We have a big mix, the young student, the retired couples two DCC instructors and then there is me. I float back and forth among the groups I seem to be accepted among them all. We were supposed to catch a few hours sleep in Lima but do to the airport delays our plane to Chiclayo was only a few hours away so we decided to just wait at the airport. By the time we arrived in Chiclayo at the "Gran Hotel Chiclayo" it was 6am and thank the gods they let us sleep until noon!!!! After all it was very hot 90"s.( The hotel has a pool I think they made a big deal over this fact because its not a common thing around here)

After my nap I opened my balcony door and we have a veiw of the city. ( and the pool) The buildings are low, All made of earthy brick colors. Chiclayo is a pretty busy city. Among the horns of passing cars, you can hear the crows of roosters and dogs barking. What a combination.

We headed to a few museams yesterday, The Cultura Sican and the Lords of Sipan. Both are civilizations which many artifacts were found which give us an understanding of social order of these 2 groups. Both inhabited the dry arid coastal northern Peru area, settling and farming by chaneling canals from rivers to grow their crops. The social order is what grabbed me even during burial to secure "place" for the rulers and warriors in the afterlife .Specifically the burials. There was alot of of pottery and gold,silver,copper peices. The workmanship was astounding.

Traveling through the counrty side was pretty eye opening. alot of rice paddies. But there were almost no cars but they seem to utilize a motercycle with a covered buggy attached I assume they are for higher. There was mostly dirt roads, dry and dusty. Even though it was dry and dusty you can see green fields with the start of the mountians in the back ground. Spotted throughout the landscape were crooked carob trees and brush here and there. Many abandonded brick buildings too. We pasted a few brick making places scattered in the counrty side. they packed us a box lunch in the cutest wicker baskets! The food was great!

We had dinner at the hotel. Service does not move very fast around here and I dont think any of us got what we ordered but the food was good and cheap.We ate and laughed, I had 2 Pisco Sours ( a must have while in Peru) I was sleeping by 9:30 pm!

The night before

dragonflynambr — Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:56:00 GMT

We had our last meeting at DCC before the trip. Last minute details (many moans and groans from ladies feeling the need to smuggle in blowdryers!!!) There were many interesting stories being told by the seasoned travelers and directors of previous trips of DCC past. The topic of conversation was "Students gone wild (or the term they actually used was psycho). I have to admit I was looking around the room wondering if one of my fellow anthropological student/travelers would be the topic of the next psycho trip discussions. Although lack of blowdryers has made some high mantainance females scary at times ( I packed a hat because my hair is too short for matching scrunchies)I am not sure if I saw any with potential to make trouble but I assume we shall see.

6am the bus leaves the school parking lot I am sure some of us will be bright eyed or at least working on it with large caffinated coffees. I will be armed with reading material, MP3 player and enough snacks to feed Skye's entire preschool class. I also have a paper journal that I will be writing in so nothing gets lost while I conduct my cyber cafe searches.

We will be headed to Newark Airport for a 11:25 to Atlanta then a 4:45 to Lima.(I have plenty of reading material to keep me busy and I am sure I will have some time to see who will end up snapping under pressure from the long layovers) We should land in Lima 10:50pm.

Until next time **Adios my friends**

Getting ready

dragonflynambr — Fri, 7 Mar 2008 10:47:00 GMT

I have been exchanging emails with the director of my Peru trip trying to find out if I can bring my blowdryer on the plane or if my Milano cookies were going to be confiscated by Peruvian Customs Agents. After explaining the woes of lugging it around and that I would be the only one in Peru with a blow dryer, I have decided( reluctently) to leave it behind, and FYI, the Keebler Elves pose no threat the national security (however large amounts of hand sanitizer seems to be an issue.)I have to do a final pack tonight because I wont have much time tomorrow. The director wants to have one last meeting friday night. I will try to update as much as I can while I am away.