Lunahuana

August 5-7, 2011

Right after I wrote the last entry, Molly and I heard some shouting outside our room. We kind of gathered that we weren’t really at a hostel, we were at some guy’s house and the woman who rented us the room wasn’t the owner. He was mad because she charged us so little and let us use a lock. I thought it was probably time to just get the heck out of there. We headed into town for breakfast, and found a place that charged us $2 for two eggs, a fried plantain, lots of rice, and a soda. Nice. We went to an internet café for a while where it was fast enough to make Skype calls! I called my sister, Jeff, and Maggie. It was so nice to talk to people at home. We then headed up to meet the group.

The group is staying and working in Catapalla. That afternoon the job was to paint a large room used as a kind of theater, and fix up some chairs for the classrooms. The school is so nice, Rustic students have been working on it for several years. They actually could really use a projector, so I might see what I can do, I think GHHS has a few extra laying around gathering dust. I got to know a few of the kids and ended up sanding a few chairs. It was really weird not being a guide and not getting to know everyone right away. It is hard to turn off. The accommodations are definitely way better than in the Sacred Valley. Each room has electricity, a TV, bathroom/shower, beds, and the food is really good. They are living the life of luxury.

Saturday morning we went on a hike to visit some pre-Incan ruins. I haven’t seen any like this yet, and they were pretty interesting. I could see some things that the Incas stole from the previous civilizations to help create their amazing structures. After lunch we headed back to the school for more painting. The kids from the town were everywhere and wanted to play games with everyone. We had a lot of fun. In the evening, the parents from the town prepared a huge dinner for everyone and there was a talent show. Pepe asked a famous local singer and his son to come. The girls did a few dances, then the father/son team sang some classic Peruvian songs. It was amazing. After that, Dylan borrowed the guitar from the back-up musician and played a song. Then Monica and I did a few songs as well (One Semester of Spanish Love Song, I’m Yours, and Skinny Love). Alex got up and did a comedy song with a local woman, he was definitely entertaining. Dinner was great and exhausted we headed back to the bungalows.

Sunday is rafting and zip line day. I decided to skip out on those and catch up on some work for next week. I had to get some more information to my shipping agent, buy a little extra medical insurance, return emails, etc. I did manage to talk to my parents for a long time as well. This was long overdue, and I am so jealous my mom gets to watch Verlander wreak havoc all over the American League.

I did spend time the last few nights making several slideshows containing a bunch of pictures. I know everyone has been asking (yes Jay, I hear you…) and I can’t wait to put them up on YouTube for people to see. However, even the fastest internet yet this summer said I needed to wait 148 minutes for the smallest one to load. I guess I will have to wait until I am in a place with wireless and just let it load overnight.

On the way home from town was another classic mini-traveling story. I really like living on a strict budget, I think it will be the reason for many of my favorite stories throughout the trip. Instead of a hotel, couchsurfing with Chase and Amanda was one of my favorite moments on the way down. Today, instead of spending $1.80 on a cab, I piled into another Corolla hatchback as the 11^th person. Yes, 11 people in a five passenger vehicle. I curled up in the back with two other people, and the ride only cost $0.35. Heck yes.

Part II

August 4, 2011

Pulling out of the airport on Wednesday night in a taxi was a very strange feeling. Seven times I have pulled out late at night with a group of new students who were nervous and excited to be in a brand new country. This time, it was just Alex, Molly, and I headed to the same hotel (Yanina gave us a free room because of the drama). There were no names to learn, no rules to talk about, just a bed and a new adventure ahead.

For six weeks I had been working 24 hours a day with responsibilities and students to worry about. Waking up Thursday morning was such a strange feeling, my only responsibility was myself. My top priority was to get to the shipping office to fill out paperwork. I hopped in a taxi and Hotel California was playing. I told the driver that song was one of the reasons I learned how to play guitar in the first place. He didn’t even know what band sang it. Next, Under the Bridge came on by the Chili Peppers. I took these as good omens. (Not that I believe in omens, I´m just stealing a line from Santiago the shephard.)

Filling out paperwork at the office was smooth and easy. A guy from Ireland came in as I was leaving who is shipping his bike back across the pond. The agent Paul told me how most Europeans try to drive from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, but most hit Peru and get tired. They ship bikes back home all the time. Mine is the first one ever shipped there from my company. That explains why they were so nice but always seemed to not quite know what they were doing. He then told me the paperwork takes about four days to process! I walked with Oscar to the notary office to get all the papers notarized correctly and finish up. I hopped a taxi back to the hotel to meet Alex and Molly. I told him how I now had four days of chilling in Lima and Alex said, “Well, why don’t you just come as a guest guide on the Lunahuana trip!!!” It is only a week trip and gets back right when the bike would be ready. Hell yes! I get to do more service, see a new part of the country, and say hi to Dylan again. Guess I’m back on for a few more days.

Before we left we went to Lolo and Penny’s house (parents to my boss Juan from last year) to drop off my motorcycle gear and grab lunch. Holy lord it was good. It was the first real ceviche of my life. I can’t wait to go back. Getting to know Penny was excellent, she is British and her husband is Peruvian. They have a pretty crazy life story, and are such nice people. Then, it was off to the bus station to ride down to Lunahuana.

The first leg was a big charter bus to Canate. I love how when I travel I see how incredibly naive I am. That will be the biggest impact of the motorcycle trip home, I will constantly be forced to change and improve my impressions of places. I need this. The thought also crossed my mind of how so much of the world is based not on true reality, but our own personal view of reality. I know how small mine gets, and I wondered what life was like for all the people who live down in the desert. So much is hidden and only discovered if one truly becomes a part of a place. I am reminded of my famous story in New York City. My senior year in high school, National Honors Society took a trip there to sight see and go to a musical. I have a photo of my two best friends and me in front of the Disney Store on Broadway. Years later at GVSU I co-led a service trip to Harlem over spring break. We went out late at night to feed homeless people living on the streets. I distinctly remember handing a man a cup of soup and looking up. He was living in the entrance of the exact same Disney store in the photograph. In the space of 8 hours, that doorway went from a tourist attraction to someone’s home. I had no idea.

My impression of Peru is based solely from my three trips here, which all were in the Sacred Valley. South of Lima it is a total desert. Looking out over the desolate mountains and plains, I have never seen such complete lack of vegetation. The ocean was on our right, and off in the distance you can see the mountains on the left. A select few were topped by a deep, exotic green color. The humidity is so high that for a short time in the winter some vegetation grows on the tops of the dirt-covered mountains. The houses were different too, and everything had an unfamiliar feel to it. We switched from the bus to a taxi for the last 40 minutes from Canate to Lunahuana. Now this felt just like Morocco. We piled into a Honda Accord hatchback. There were three people up front, and four in the back of a five passenger vehicle. I rode with my head out the window. The scenery was amazing and I can’t wait to see it in full daylight. Molly and I stayed in the city so Alex could go up and meet his group first. Since we are guests we didn’t want to be in the way yet. He also had to make sure with the cooks that it was okay that two random people joined up for meals and such.

Our hostel in town was more classic traveling. We found a room with three beds, a broken toilet, and no lights. But, for $3.50 a piece it fits the budget. Dinner was a bottle of Sprite and a package of mint Casino cookies (my favorite). There was supposed to be a fiesta in town, so at 7 pm I lay down for a quick nap, using Dylan’s sleeping bag and my sweatshirt as a pillow. (The beds were hard and had no bedding.) I opened my eyes, wondering what time it was. Oh, my phone says 7 am. I have just slept for 12 hours straight; I think I was a little tired.

$3.50 in Peru

With Rustic this summer, I had a very good idea of what was going to happen each day, the students were what made it fun and different. But now, I kind of like this feeling of not having the faintest clue how the day will go or where I will end up. I suppose that is how some people get addicted to traveling. For now, I just have to get used to it and go from there.

Goodbye Rustic

August 3, 2011

Well, we landed about 15 minutes after the last blog entry. Now, Peru Air only flies to and from Cusco to Lima, and the flight is only one hour. Yet somehow they LOST OUR LUGGAGE! Oh man, Dusty almost lost it. Anyway, I had to take Dylan to the hotel to meet his Lunahuana group, so Alex was going to grab his luggage later (supposed to be on the next flight) and we took off. We had a great chat on the way there and I said goodbye. I hope he has a great final week in Peru. I saw his new group and realized that I would not be working with teenagers from the US until March. There is definitely a little sadness there.

I got to know the Yanina at the front desk of the hotel while waiting for a taxi back to the hotel. My driver was a cool guy and he asked me about what I was doing in Peru. I explained what I was doing, and he asked me “Why?”. I tried to explain how I thought it was a good thing to educate everyone, especially young women who had no access to education after 6^th grade. I also explained how I wanted to connect my students and community back home to what life is like down here. Then he asked, “Why a motorcycle? Es peligroso. (dangerous)”. This one was a little tougher. I started with the quote from the Motorcycle Diaries, “Let the World Change You, so You Can Change the World”. He asked me to teach it to him in English. We then had a little chat about Che, and he did a great job of correcting my numerous mistakes while trying to speak. I also tried to explain to him about my personal quote for this trip. “I don’t want to die, but I do want to live.” If you read it carefully it should make sense. I know it is dangerous, but the fear of going through life without fully experiencing the beauty of people and the Earth trumps the safety and comfort of my own life back home.

Anyway, back at the airport spirits were low. Alex was killing himself trying to rebook over 20 flights, get the money from Peru Airlines, and work with United. The kids had little information and were sick of airports. So luckily Peru Air bought us a van and a driver and said we could go anywhere in the city. Cool. I’ve always kind of wanted to check out Lima. We dropped off Molly and a representative at the United office and the final eight of us (Dusty and David had flights) set off. We started at the Plaza de Armas and the President’s house. It was pretty impressive. But shortly thereafter, we all crashed. My sister took her kids in the SUV when they were little to help them fall asleep, apparently it works for stressed out and tired teenagers as well. Haha. We went to the ocean and put our feet in the Pacific. The only other time I have touched the Pacific was in Sydney at Bondi beach. We then hit a chicken place for dinner. We really bounced back after that. It was incredible food and we all kind of bonded a little. Back at the airport, they all had rebooked flights by then so it was just a waiting game until the flight at 11:50 pm. Chris went to the special station that wraps luggage and asked if they would wrap him. Yes. So we carted a small, green, mummified Chris around on a luggage cart for a bit. Good times. It was then back to Starbucks for internet and President. At 8:00 pm, it was time. Yes, time for the famous McClutch that the last group introduced me to, so four of us ordered the Big Mac meal with a chicken sandwich on the side. The total cost was the same as the last group so everything seemed okay. But back at the tables we discovered that they gave us DOUBLE McChicken sandwiches. This was seen as a challenge. So we ate a sandwich that contained 5 buns, 2 meat patties, 2 chicken patties, toppings, and an entire medium fry. Yo. Chris named it the Double McCluck McClutch. Jonas finished in 3 min, 15 sec. I was last in 8 min, 10 sec. Then Julia asked about starting a club at her school to raise money for the dorm, and I got her email in order to send her my powerpoint about the Girl Effect and the Sacred Valley Project. Thanks Julia!!

Goodbye was tough but I think because we were so tired it was a little easier than usual. As the last group walked through that famous entrance to security, I didn’t know what to feel. What a run, an amazing six weeks that will stay with me forever. Thank you to every student this summer (and last) for making Peru an important part of my life story. I will definitely miss everyone.

Amusement Park Crowds at MP and Airline Drama

July 31 to August 3, 2011

Sunday we awoke at 4:30 am to grab breakfast and ride the bus up to Machu Picchu. The line was insane. I thought that with the new ticket restrictions that there would be less people, but wow. There were the most people I have ever seen. We began by climbing up to the awesome initial view. I love seeing it every time, it really is spectacular. But we had to hurry to make our entrance time into Wayna Picchu by 8:00 am. Wayna is the mountain you see in the background of all the pictures. It doesn’t even look like you can hike up there, but there is this intricate trail carved into the side of the mountain by the Incas. The hike is amazing and the view from the top is 360 degrees of beautiful valleys and rivers. We just sat and stared. It is impossible to describe what we saw. I’ve actually had this thought for awhile that I wanted to stand on the highest point of Wayna, stare out at the endless valleys, and listen to song “The Blood of Cuchulainn”. Call me cheesy, but I did. We hiked down (barefoot), grabbed some snacks, and went back in for the tour. I actually led much of the tour, after seven visits and four different tour guides I have picked up a few things. I know this was a big moment for Dylan, and I was glad I got to be there with him for his important visit. Back in town, we went to a Peru Cup game being played in Aguas between Machu Picchu and Pisac. Machu Picchu won 4-0, it was fun to watch. This group we had the late train back to Ollanta and had a quarter of a rotisserie chicken for dinner. I could see myself eating there when I move in.

Monday was supposed to be bungee jumping, but you guessed it, the new motor STILL was not installed. I feel bad for all the kids who really wanted to go. So we headed to Cusco early and at least the group got a lot of time to shop at the famous Red Market. We had another excellent dinner at Fusiones and afterwards we walked around the city. We hiked up a ways so we could look down at all the lights of the city. On the way back there was a basketball game going on in the city court! Yes. We had so much fun there last year watching Stratus put together a furious comeback. This time we could not read the team name on the jerseys so we kind of picked a team and cheered. The quality of play was about middle school level, we kind of wanted to challenge the winning team to a game. I think we could have won pretty easily.

Tuesday we started at the San Pedro market. Did we drink frog again? Of course, and all the kids tried some! Espiritu de Rana is good stuff. I had to leave quickly to go and organize my gear. I dropped off all my Rustic stuff and donations at Gabe’s apartment and picked up all my motorcycle gear. I haven’t seen it since Houston. It feels like an eternity ago despite it being only six weeks. I then had to track down motorcycle insurance. I went to a few different places until I found a company who sold it. So for $180 I am insured for a year. My Spanish has definitely improved, I was pretty proud of myself for buying insurance in another country in another language. It was actually quite easy.

We had Chinese (Chifa) for lunch and headed to the airport to catch the flight to Lima. It was delayed so we waited for an hour or two. It finally arrived at about five. But wait, Peru’s version of the FAA has a rule that no flight can leave Cusco after 5 pm. Ouch. We had 11 students with multiple international flights that they had to catch that evening in Lima. So we were stuck at the airport for seven hours waiting to get transportation to a hotel, trying to rebook flights, and notifying parents. I feel bad for Dustin who has been on Rustic trips for 6 weeks and all he wanted was to head home. We did get to stay at a very posh hotel though, so it wasn’t a total loss.

So now we are flying back to Lima on a 6:30 am flight. I look down at the mountains below, thinking about how in a few days I will be returning on the motorcycle. It makes me a little nervous, but it is definitely exciting. Ahead we have a ton of flights to rebook and a day of drama at the airport. I hope it all works out. I wonder if I will get paid for another day of work, haha. (Approx $7) So Rustic is not done quite yet, the adventure at customs will have to wait…