Picchu Pics

I'm just back from yet another amazing Peruvian adventure. I, along with brother Ted, DC friends Emily and Kevin, and a whole mess of PC volunteers + friends, successfully hiked the Inka Trail! It was a grueling four-day trek through some seriously high Andean mountains, made all the more grueling by the freezing rain/snow we encountered while summitting the highest point (4200 meters!). But we arrived, only slightly worse for the wear, at Machu Picchu and the views more than made up for the tough hike. It was absolutely incredible. I am hoping to post a guest blog in the coming days, providing additional details and alternate perspectives from my intrepid visitors. For now, here are a few pictures to quench your Jess craving. Enjoye!

All smiles at the trail head.

Day one: bright, warm and having fun.

Team Jess! (Ted, Jess, Emily, Kevin)

Day two: embarking on a very steep, very cold ascent to 4200 meters (to be followed by a very steep, very cold descent).

Emily and Jess exploring Machu Picchu.

Looking a little tired, but happy, at the Sun Gate.

The clouds part, revealing an incredible sight.

Proof that I made it!

Found: one lost brother wandering one lost city.

Being silly on the train ride back to Cuzco.

Plaza de Armas, Cuzco

Plaza de Armas, Lima

Loving Language

Break out the champagne flutes, pop open the bubbly -- I’ve reached another landmark in my Peace Corps service. August 25th marked one year living in Huaca Rajada. I have lived in my little room in the middle of the Peruvian desert for longer than I have lived in any other apartment or house in the past five years. Weird, right? And I still have another year to go – when all is said and done here, the only place I’ll have lived longer is the house I grew up in Charlotte, which I haven’t lived in since I was 17. Who knew the Peace Corps would actually help me put down roots?

Now I had a lot of goals for myself when I set out on this grand adventure, and chief among them was to become fluent in Spanish. I assumed that after a year of living among Peruvians, not one of whom speaks any English, I’d be well on my way to crossing at least one goal off my list. But, it turns out that being really and truly fluent in a language is a lot harder than you think. I can get by in Spanish. I go days without speaking a word of English (other than the running commentary in my head) and I even have the occasional dream in Spanish. But just getting by is not the same as being able to eloquently and succinctly express your thoughts, your ideas, your sense of humor, especially for someone who has such a love of words and good conversation. In a foreign language I am stripped down to the barest of myself. It is humbling to say the least.

On the flip side, I find my English getting worse. When I am talking to friends and family back home I find myself grabbing for words, unable to think of the English equivalent of gaseosa (soda), chisme (gossip), malecon (boardwalk) and other seemingly random words. The life I’m living here exists somewhere between languages – we volunteers communicate in a pidgin language of English/Peruvian/Peace Corps. Basically, I’m fluent in no language, which has led me to think a lot about the meaning of words, their origins and how living across languages trips up our brains. So I present to you some of my linguistic observations:

• Embarazada means pregnant. I’ve started working on a sexual health project, so this word comes up a lot but I still can’t say it or read it without thinking of the English word embarrassing. I have a feeling this has a lot more to do with my personal views on reproduction than any sort of linguistic derivative.


• When you ask a Peruvian to repeat themselves, they repeat the requested question or statement followed by “digo.” Digo translates to I say. So they’re repeating something they just said followed by the proclamation, “I say.” As in, “what time does the next car leave, I say.” This always makes me think of Elmer Fudd. I say, I say, I say pass me the rice.


• Peruvians love to make words diminutive by adding –ita to the ends of words. I find this endearing and can not say a number of words without adding that cute, little ending (aguita, bolsita, pancito). It also softens the blow when someone calls you a gordita, as in, hey cute, little fat girl. It seems no word is immune from this trend, including my name. Somehow Jessicacita doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.


• Playa means both beach and parking lot. For some reason I find this endlessly amusing, envisioning a crowded beach packed with broken down cars.

There are countless more examples of words and phrases that confuse and amuse me, but I can't seem to articulate them right now. I originally wrote this post a few weeks ago and reopened it today to edit and publish, but in those intervening weeks, I’ve spent a great deal of time with English speakers. Non-Spanish-speaking English speakers, which has made my head spin even more. Translating from Spanish to English, carrying on rapid conversations in English, forgetting who speaks Spanish and who speaks English, trying to listen in on conversations in multiple languages. I don’t even know how to think anymore, let alone how to post a witty and bilingual linguistic analysis. Really, is language learning supposed to be this jumbled?

Expert Em

Hello to anyone and everyone who reads this blog. Jessica has asked me to do a guest blog entry after recently traveling to Peru. After our nine-day rendezvous around Northern Peru it goes without saying how much respect I have for not only Jessica but all Peace Corps volunteers.

Having traveled around parts of Peru before, through a high school program back in 2006, I thought I had a pretty good idea on what the trip would be like -- I was wrong. Before I had traveled around the "ritzy Peru," going to cities like Cuzco, Arequipa and Macchu Pichu, staying in tourist friendly homes and hotels, believing I was becoming more worldly, when really I was still situated perfectly in my comfort zone. This time around was different. Jessica was able to show me the real Peru. A filthy yet gorgeous country blessed with so much history but poisoned by visible poverty everywhere.

Our trip started out like any other trip, I got in late and we quickly got to catching up and hanging out like it had only been a few days since we had last seen each other, not 14 months. We toured Lima, had an embarrassing night at one of Lima's more glamorous restaurants and wound up eating at good ole' Chili's, talking about the latest American gossip. After scheming our way into buying some knock-off DVDs and checking out the catacombs, we were off to Mancora, a small surfing town located on the Northern coast close to the Ecuadoran border.

Being in Mancora was awesome! The beach was right there, the mountains were right behind you, everyone had such a laid back attitude, and I was lucky enough to have been able to spend some time with one of Jessica's best friends, Steph. One night, after hanging out with some of the other backpackers at the local surf bar, Jessica quickly became famous after performing her original take on the Michael Jackson's classic "Thriller" dance. The next day, we all three had one last trip to the Mexican restaurant and then Steph went home. From there, Jessica and I were off for our romantic date. But before our romantic date at the natural hot springs, we had to get in our workout. We were led by two teenage Peruvian boys up the side of a dry rustic mountain with an 75 degree incline. We strapped on our helmets and harnesses and ziplined our way down the mountain only to be welcomed by goats! And lots of them. Once I get all of my pictures developed I'll be sure and include some of our hiking pictures to the blog, that is if Jessica allows them. Once we made friends with the goats it was off to the natural hot springs where we watched the moon rise and enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine and chicken and mayo sandwiches (mmm). Another overnight bus and boom! we were almost to Jessica's site. I was so nervous about going to meet Jessica's 'new' family. However, they were so welcoming and kind about another gringa staying with them. We enjoyed our first, and my last, meal together -- a chicken that Jessica and I supplied and a house salad. Now, I'll spare everyone the details, but after that meal I was down for the count until my flight left 2 days later.

Not too many "oh my gosh" memories stand out about my trip to Peru, yet I still had the best time of my life! Being able to finally see where my sister lives, what she does, who her friends are and how she is living was what I hoped to gain from my trip. The last day before I left, as Jessica and I were sitting and enjoying our Snack Wraps from KFC at the mall, Jessica told me what she thought she had learned about Peru and Peruvians after being there for over a year. While my time there doesn't even begin to compare to her, I did fall in love with the contradictions that seem to make up Peru. For example, in Jessica's site running water turns on at 11:00 am and shuts off at 3:00 pm yet satellite TVs and cell phone reception were always available. I could continue to share more of the things that I love about Peru, but I don't want to spoil the excitement of Peru. I strongly encourage that everyone pay Jessica and Peru a visit. Jessica is a FANTASTIC guide and really does show you the real Peru, whether you are ready for it or not!

I hope you all enjoyed my take on Peru and my visit. Visit Jessica! I know she would love the distraction!

Emily

Editor's Note: Everything you read above is Emily's original post. For once, this editor resisted the call of the red pen -- not that Em needed it, great job! Emily was a great guest; a real trooper. Being exposed to "my" Peru is not the easiest or most relaxing vacation, but we definitely made the most of our time together. Oh, and she's right, I would love visitors. In the immortal words of Rod Roddy: "Come on down!"