Islands in the sun

I'm a little behind on posting, but a week ago I went to Puno and Lake Titicaca. What's great about my study abroad program is that we all live separately in Cusco but get to go on trips and excursions together all over the country. Transportation, meals, and lodging is all arranged for us so it makes traveling really stress free. We even get stipends for the meals that we don't eat together.

Another bonus of the trip was the hot shower and internet that we get in the hotels. It is so funny everybody immediately checks their emails and facebook upon getting the password from the hotel worker. It is amazing how much I take these things for granted at home. Never again.

But those were not the highlights. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and it also happens to be the pretty beautiful to look at. We were lucky to have such great weather(hard to come by in the almost rainy season) and the floating island of Uros and the island Taquile were unforgettable. The man-made Uros Islands are over 300 years old and constructed entirely of reeds. There are 48 islands and the people on them uses these reed boats as transportation. Take a look:

I think that I would like to use those as my primary form of transportation too.

We also went to Taquile, which is a much bigger island. Everybody there is required to wear their traditional clothing that indicates their marital status. For example, married men wear red hats and single ones wear white. This seems useful and must eliminate a lot of guessing.

That's all for now, take care!

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountain

The past few weeks here have been a complete blur. So much has happened that I am struggling with choosing something to write about. I will start with my bout of salmonella and an intestinal parasite upon our return from the jungle. I hadn't been feeling well for a few days and I went to the hospital. Along with eight others in my group, I have been blessed with the disease that comes from eating raw egg/uncooked chicken. Five antibiotics later I think that I am healed (almost, cross your fingers). Here is my hospital roomie, Beth, and I post hospital. I think we look pretty good:


On a slightly more happy note, my friends and I all went to Moray last weekend. Moray is an Incan agricultural experiment. It was well worth the two hour hike it took to get into the site. Hiking here for me means panting all the way uphill and then being so thankful and full of energy on the downhill. I'm not in the Adirondacks anymore.

Tomorrow my lovely group and I leave for a 17 day excursion to Puno, the Colca Canyon, Lima and Arequipa. I am beyond excited, mostly for Colca Canyon where I will be living in a rural home-stay. Hoorah!!

Welcome to the jungle

Hello everybody, I know it's been a while. Almost two weeks!! Well, in this time I have came and gone to the Amazon jungle and celebrated my 20th birthday. We visited the indigenous towns of Huacaria and Los Queros. It was quite the experience, and I would love to go back to the jungle under one condition- no more yuca. You see, the Amazon is beautiful, green, and the air is warm, which is a welcome change from Cusco. However, the food is limited and I ended up eating yuca for 3 meals a day for 5 days. These kinds of setbacks have to be tolerated when there is a river as beautiful as this to swim in-
It was the best thing to do before starting my day after a hot night's sleep in my tent. We also didn't really have showering opportunities, so the cleanliness the river provided was more than necessary.
The last day in the first village we all went through ceremonial hair washing to restore balance in our system. It was great, but I had leaves in my hair for the next two days. Check it out-

Besides this I was able to do so many interesting things like going night fishing with the town president. It was so much fun casting the net in the river and then pulling the tiny fish out of it. We ate them for breakfast the next day. I also worked on a banana farm and used a machete. I even have a blister to prove it, I swear.
Some of the most exciting time of our jungle trip came in the form of transportation. We all had to stand or sit in the bed of this truck to go anywhere. The novelty of this wears off after an hour and whenever the rain comes. It's not surprising, but in the rainforest there is a lot of rain.

Look at this truck and imagine crossing a three foot high river in it. It was like the modern day version of the Oregon trail. Well I must be off, after all I still have homework to do!

No cars go

So my jungle trip has been delayed due to a city wide strike. It turns out that the people in Cusco aren't too happy with water privatization. School, stores, and roads are closed down indefinitely. I thought I would show you all what it looks like here in the Plaza.

It is just so strange because I have not ever seen anything like this in the United States. When the protesters would walk by stores would slam their doors and close the blinds.
Police are everywhere in the streets standing where the cars should be. It is very eery. Well my internet isn't so great but I thought I would keep you all updated!! Take care!

I'm feeling the pull

I have officially been in Cusco for two weeks (more than that actually) and in Peru for three. I can't say that the time has flown by, but the days are definitely passing by more quickly. I thought it was a good time to fill you all in on some of my new favorite Peruvian/Cusquenian things.

1. La Plaza de Armas: So close to my classes, this beautiful plaza is home to our group's favorite cafes, restaurants and discotecas (which have a HUGE following in Cusco). There are usually about a million tourists here, but it is so beautiful I hardly care. See what I mean:


2. La comida: I was so suprised by the abundance of potatoes in Cusco, there are more than 60 kinds! I think that Peru is probably Ireland's biggest potato competitor. My new favorite food is platano con leche. My host mom tells me its juice, but it sure tastes like a banana milkshake to me. ¡Que rico! (this means how delicious).

3. El molino: Also known as Cusco's black market, el molino is home to everything you could possibly imagine. After listening to my Spanish professor talk about it for two weeks, I finally went yesterday. I got a camping mattress for the jungle, a towel, and an entire season of Friends all for less than 50 soles, which is about 20 dollars. What a find!

4. Hiking: There are so many places to explore less than an hour away from the city. This weekend I went to Pisac, which was a 3 hour hike with beautiful ruins around every corner. It is about 13,000 feet high and when I would stop to catch my breath I felt like I was sucking air through a straw. Here I am about to climb the stairs up the mountain:

I'm heading to the Amazon basin on Wednesday, so the next time I write will be about the jungle! Until then!

It's all uncharted

So it has finally happened, I have succumbed to illness. I was in bed most of Sunday and Monday. My study abroad advisor said that it is a cruel joke that the first thing that happens when you enter a new culture is getting sick because you are out of your comfort zone and feel awful. My host mom was really great though, giving me tons of tea and strange pink corn mush that is supposed to be the cure for everything. I also was able to use a rubber hot water bottle, the last of which was probably seen in 1970.

However, my strangest experience happened when I went to tell my professor that I didn't feel well. There just happened to be a shaman (natural healer) in her office who was going to give us a lecture that day. Before I knew it he had taken out cedar wood and rosemary essences and began rubbing them on my head. At first I was quite uncomfortable, but after a few minutes I did feel better (and I smelled like a tree).

From instinct, the healer could tell that I needed to eat more healthy fats, drink more water, and relax more. He wanted to put acupuncture needles in my ears but I told him that it wouldn't be necessary and that I probably just needed some advil. After two days of sleep and about a million cups of tea, I do feel better. Who knows, maybe it was the alternative medicine that did the trick! Until later!

Put your hands in the air

I have been in Cusco for more than a week. I'm experiencing the strangest combination of feeling like I've been here forever and no time at all. I should have written a post about my trip to MACHU PICCHU last week so here it is:

We went last Wednesday and the day started wonderfully and I couldn't get over the view (and the llamas). I learned that Machu Picchu is pronounced Mah-chu Pik-chu, and if you say it Mah-choo Pi-choo it means something completely different (and might I add quite inappropriate). However, the day took a turn for the worse when it started downpouring on us. Steep stone steps plus rain and mud do not make for an easy trek. My lovely raincoat couldn't even keep out the water and I was forced to don a white poncho that made me look like an Incan ghost. All I have to say is that sometimes comfort and style do not coincide.
Here is what the great ruins looked like when I saw them:

The ruins were so great that I hardly cared that I struggled to see them and almost died going down the stairs. I don't know how people over the age of 35 can do this stuff. Hasta tarde amigos!