After Puno I was tired of traveling and being a tourist, so I decided to go back to San Ignacio sooner than planned. That journey involved 3.5 days, 3,000 kilometers, 5 buses, and 4 more stamps in my nearly-full passport.
I left Puno on Friday night, but since I hadn't bought a bus ticket in advance I had to go to the terminal a bit early to make sure I would get a seat. As I was waiting I saw a group of people playing "truco," an Argentinian card game that I learned in San Ignacio. As I love games and all things Argentinian I got very excited and couldn't help but ask where they were from (Chile) and mention that I love truco. They invited me to play with them, so that helped pass the time until my bus came.
My return to San Ignacio started with a short (7-hour) overnight bus from Puno to Tacna, followed immediately by a quick (2-hour) ride across the border to Arica in Chile. I didn't think there was a direct bus to Argentina for another two days, so I was prepared to either wait around or take various buses to make it across, but I was happily surprised to find out there was a direct bus leaving that evening. I had all day to hang out in Arica (see awkward story below) before leaving at 10pm Saturday night (2 nights in a row on a bus), only to arrive in Salta (Argentina) 20 hours later. Luckily I ended up sitting next to a fun Argentinian guy, and we amused ourselves by taking silly pictures to help the time pass. I spent the night in Salta, and the next day went to an arts and crafts market to buy some souvenirs. Then I had another 20-hour bus ride (and another night sleeping on a bus) leaving at 4pm Sunday before FINALLY arriving in San Ignacio (after switching buses two more times) just before noon on Monday. Phew.
Awkward story from Arica: I had left some things with the family I had stayed with in Arica, so when I passed through I went to pick them up. Apparently they were angry that I left early, because Magdalena, who was only there for 2 days of my stay, wouldn't even let me in the house. I waited awkwardly in the doorway while they brought me my things, and then had to repack my bag in the corner of the store. When I had left going to Peru I wanted to take a picture, but Eusebio suggested I wait to take it with Magdalena. When I mentioned to Magdalena that I wanted to take a picture she informed me that they don't take pictures with volunteers because it violates their privacy. Mind you, the day I arrived they took a picture of the three volunteers and Cesar, and didn't seem concerned about our privacy being violated. I asked if I could at least say goodbye to Eusebio and the kids, but was informed that they were busy. Even creepy Cesar gave me the cold shoulder to my face, which I was quite happy about, until I started receiving an abundance of messages on facebook from him, despite having unfriended and unliked everything related to this whole crazy family. Locos. Speaking of which, I need to write a review of them on the volunteering website...
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Puno, Lake Titicaca, and the Floating Islands
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| A floating island |
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| Demo of how the islands are made |
When we got to the islands they gave us an explanation of how the islands are made. They use chucks of earth that are held in blocks by roots, tie the blocks together, and put reeds criss crossed over them. They are then anchored in place in the lake. Originally there were only about three islands, primarily used for fishing, but as they became a famous tourist attraction, more and more islands appeared. Now there are about 80, and none of them are for the purpose of fishing. Since the blocks of earth are just tied together, they can divide the island if the families start fighting (there are about 5-6 families that live on each island), or join their island with new friends.
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| Look! I live 100% on the floating islands too now! |
Completely unrelated, Rachael and I thought the crosswalk indicators in Arequipa were hilarious!
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| Walk, faster, faster, run! |
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Tacna and Arequipa
I met up with Rachael in Arica, and after showing her my interesting living situation, we set out for Tacna, Peru. I had forgotten how crazy the markets here are, with people constantly calling out what products they are selling, and carts, children, trash, sacks, cars, people, and everything else crowding the streets. After finding a decent place to stay for the night, we set out to the market for some lunch and shopping. Later that afternoon we went to the movies, which is the first time I've done that in about a year. We saw Divergent, dubbed in Spanish, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well I understood everything! I rarely have trouble understanding people, but often the radio and tv can be diffucult. I guess seeing it in a theater with proper sound techonology as opposed to on a bus or in a noisy restaurant makes a big difference! The next morning we did a little more shopping, and then headed off to Arequipa.
I had forgotten what it's like to be in a big city in a poor country, with having to ask police to help you flag a safe taxi, and being restricted to a small area that is deemed safe for tourists. If you need to ask for directions it's best to go in a pharmacy, or other store where people are well-paid, and never let someone show you where someplace is, because the possibility of ending up in an alley or basement, missing a few articles of clothing or some valuable items, is relatively high. The first day there we went to the plaza to see what tours or excursions we could do. After scouting out a few agencies to see which one seemed the least sketchy, we booked a rafting trip for Sunday, and an overnight trekking trip to the Colca Canyon for Monday to Tuesday.
The rafting was fun, and it was my first time doing it, but we had been told the rapids were class 2, 3, and up to 4. Turns out they were mainly class 1 and 2, with one little class 3. Oh well. After that we did a very good walking tour of the safe, tourist part of Arequipa. Many places here have free walking tours that students studying tourism lead so they can practice speaking English and dealing with foreigners. They are often quite informative and intersting, and well-worth a small tip at the end. On the way back from the Colca Canyon we stopped at some hotsprings, which felt really nice after the trek. I'm still pretty sore from the trek, although it's getting better. Yesterday I came to Puno, at Lake Titicaca, but I'll write a post about that after seeing the floating islands and doing other interesting things here.
I think tomorrow night I'll start the trip back to San Ignacio. I had been planning on spending a little more time in Peru, but I'm just tired of traveling around constantly and being worried about my things getting stolen and seeing and doing such touristy things, even though many of them are really fun and interesting. I much prefer spending longer periods of time in one place and getting to know the people and town and feeling at home. Too bad it didn't work out for me to stay in Arica a little longer, but I'm really excited to see everyone in San Ignacio again, and I'm also really looking forward to coming back to the US!
I had forgotten what it's like to be in a big city in a poor country, with having to ask police to help you flag a safe taxi, and being restricted to a small area that is deemed safe for tourists. If you need to ask for directions it's best to go in a pharmacy, or other store where people are well-paid, and never let someone show you where someplace is, because the possibility of ending up in an alley or basement, missing a few articles of clothing or some valuable items, is relatively high. The first day there we went to the plaza to see what tours or excursions we could do. After scouting out a few agencies to see which one seemed the least sketchy, we booked a rafting trip for Sunday, and an overnight trekking trip to the Colca Canyon for Monday to Tuesday.
The rafting was fun, and it was my first time doing it, but we had been told the rapids were class 2, 3, and up to 4. Turns out they were mainly class 1 and 2, with one little class 3. Oh well. After that we did a very good walking tour of the safe, tourist part of Arequipa. Many places here have free walking tours that students studying tourism lead so they can practice speaking English and dealing with foreigners. They are often quite informative and intersting, and well-worth a small tip at the end. On the way back from the Colca Canyon we stopped at some hotsprings, which felt really nice after the trek. I'm still pretty sore from the trek, although it's getting better. Yesterday I came to Puno, at Lake Titicaca, but I'll write a post about that after seeing the floating islands and doing other interesting things here.
I think tomorrow night I'll start the trip back to San Ignacio. I had been planning on spending a little more time in Peru, but I'm just tired of traveling around constantly and being worried about my things getting stolen and seeing and doing such touristy things, even though many of them are really fun and interesting. I much prefer spending longer periods of time in one place and getting to know the people and town and feeling at home. Too bad it didn't work out for me to stay in Arica a little longer, but I'm really excited to see everyone in San Ignacio again, and I'm also really looking forward to coming back to the US!
Colca Canyon
In early March a Canadian woman, Rachael, was staying at the hostel in San Ignacio, and we realized that we were planning on being in Northern Chile and Southern Peru around the same time, so we found each other on facebook to keep in touch about our plans. It turned out that since I left Arica earlier than planned, we were able to go to Tacna and Arequipa together. One of the things we just finished in Arequipa was a trekking excursion in the Colca Canyon.
Colca Canyon, near Arequipa, Peru, is the deepest canyon in the world. With about 2100 meters at its lowest point, it stretches all the way up to 6400 meters or so at its highest point. We obviously didn't hike that high, but we had a good trek starting at about 3400 meters, all the way down a 7k rocky, winding, switchback path to the river. It was quite steep at parts, with rock steps in some places, and sandy, dusty, slippery slopes in other parts. Then we trekked another 5k along a "Peruvian flat" path (which I would not have classified as flat) to the oasis at 2100 meters. We slept there for the night, and the next morning woke up at 5am to climb back up to about 3300. It took us just over 3 hours to complete the 5k path up, but keep in mind we started at a relatively high altitude, so we had to take frequent breaks.
When we first got there we looked down on some tiny villages, that looked like little more than shiny dots because of all the tin roofs. Climbing back up the next day we walked, and walked, and walked, and finally were even with the villages. It felt like we had come so far, but we still had a long way to go to make the villages look like tiny dots again. And the top of the mountain was so deceptive. We kept thinking we were getting close, but then we would realize there was yet another part to go up. So we walked, and walked, and walked, and it didn't seem to get much closer for a long, long time. It was really tiring, but also an awesome experience. I left my computer in Arica so I can't post any pictures now, but I will for sure in a few weeks.
It turned out that our guide was from one of the tiny villages we could look down on from the top, and we ate lunch at his family's restuarant. Hearing his stories about how everything had changed since he was a little boy was a really interesting bonus to the trek. We even got to see the house he grew up in! When he was growing up, the village was full of kids -many families had 7-10 children. In the 80's or so there was a push by the Peruvian government for families to have no more than 3 children, and if they reached 5 they were often forced to have visectomies or tubes tied. After that the divorce rate went up, and their traditional way of life fell apart.
Most excursions are interesting in and of themselves, but the guide and other people in your group can make a huge difference on the overall experience. In addition to Rachael and I, we had guy from Wales, Phillip, and a Swiss couple, Esther and Michel, in our group. We had a fun time comparing Welsch, American, and Canadian English after Phillip mentioned that his roommates used torches when they had come in late the night before. I've heard enough British English by now to know that a torch is a flashlight, but the first image that came to my mind was of some backpackers entering a hostel room with flaming branches. That became a running joke for the rest of the trek.
Colca Canyon, near Arequipa, Peru, is the deepest canyon in the world. With about 2100 meters at its lowest point, it stretches all the way up to 6400 meters or so at its highest point. We obviously didn't hike that high, but we had a good trek starting at about 3400 meters, all the way down a 7k rocky, winding, switchback path to the river. It was quite steep at parts, with rock steps in some places, and sandy, dusty, slippery slopes in other parts. Then we trekked another 5k along a "Peruvian flat" path (which I would not have classified as flat) to the oasis at 2100 meters. We slept there for the night, and the next morning woke up at 5am to climb back up to about 3300. It took us just over 3 hours to complete the 5k path up, but keep in mind we started at a relatively high altitude, so we had to take frequent breaks.
When we first got there we looked down on some tiny villages, that looked like little more than shiny dots because of all the tin roofs. Climbing back up the next day we walked, and walked, and walked, and finally were even with the villages. It felt like we had come so far, but we still had a long way to go to make the villages look like tiny dots again. And the top of the mountain was so deceptive. We kept thinking we were getting close, but then we would realize there was yet another part to go up. So we walked, and walked, and walked, and it didn't seem to get much closer for a long, long time. It was really tiring, but also an awesome experience. I left my computer in Arica so I can't post any pictures now, but I will for sure in a few weeks.
It turned out that our guide was from one of the tiny villages we could look down on from the top, and we ate lunch at his family's restuarant. Hearing his stories about how everything had changed since he was a little boy was a really interesting bonus to the trek. We even got to see the house he grew up in! When he was growing up, the village was full of kids -many families had 7-10 children. In the 80's or so there was a push by the Peruvian government for families to have no more than 3 children, and if they reached 5 they were often forced to have visectomies or tubes tied. After that the divorce rate went up, and their traditional way of life fell apart.
Most excursions are interesting in and of themselves, but the guide and other people in your group can make a huge difference on the overall experience. In addition to Rachael and I, we had guy from Wales, Phillip, and a Swiss couple, Esther and Michel, in our group. We had a fun time comparing Welsch, American, and Canadian English after Phillip mentioned that his roommates used torches when they had come in late the night before. I've heard enough British English by now to know that a torch is a flashlight, but the first image that came to my mind was of some backpackers entering a hostel room with flaming branches. That became a running joke for the rest of the trek.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Final awkward/angry stories from Arica
Luckily my last few days in Arica passed quickly. On Tuesday I went to a museum of mummies that were recently discovered (about 10 years ago) in Arica, and then I met up with a girl I found on CouchSurfing. We went for a walk to a lighthouse near the port, got ice cream, and had a nice time just hanging out. Too bad I only met her right before leaving!
Wednesday work got really awkward - Eusebio wanted me to spend two hours of my work time dancing salsa with him despite the fact that there was actually a lot of work typing up a paper for someone that I would have been able to do much faster than Cesar. We only danced for a little and I told him I was tired, so then we just sat in the kitchen and talked and he counted that as my work. But he talked about weird things, like his 12-year-old son going through puberty, and sex drives and things. It was really weird. And then he told me to spend as much money as I wanted on lunch. Again, weird. And then at night Cesar kept whispering my name when I was going to bed, and then he would walk by and poke me or move the blanket as I was trying to fall asleep, and in the morning he woke me up early doing that stuff and I got really mad and loudly yelled at him to stop being so creepy.
Monday night I also got kind of mad, and it was also awkward. I was tired of the fact that Przemek and I always had to do the shopping, prepare the meals, and contribute such a high percentage of the cost of purchasing food, so I told Eusebio that if I was paying that much I didnt want to cook all the time anymore, and since the volunteers had made lunch, I thought that he or Cesar should cook dinner. I even offered to do the shopping, and we talked about what he was going to make and what I needed to buy. At 9:00 no one showed any signs of getting ready to cook, so I asked Eusebio what the plan was. He and the boys had already eaten, but Cesar was going to cook, Eusebio told me. Cesar said Eusebio hadnt told him that, and that he didnt know how to cook anything. (We we having spaghetti!!) Long story short, I got a bit angry and told them that if I ended up cooking, I was ONLY making food for me and Przemek and that I was sick of them being lazy and taking advantage of our time and money. Needless to say, Cesar cooked dinner that night. And the next few days Eusebio offered many times to help with the food, so I didnt have to do much cutting and slicing after that.
Wednesday work got really awkward - Eusebio wanted me to spend two hours of my work time dancing salsa with him despite the fact that there was actually a lot of work typing up a paper for someone that I would have been able to do much faster than Cesar. We only danced for a little and I told him I was tired, so then we just sat in the kitchen and talked and he counted that as my work. But he talked about weird things, like his 12-year-old son going through puberty, and sex drives and things. It was really weird. And then he told me to spend as much money as I wanted on lunch. Again, weird. And then at night Cesar kept whispering my name when I was going to bed, and then he would walk by and poke me or move the blanket as I was trying to fall asleep, and in the morning he woke me up early doing that stuff and I got really mad and loudly yelled at him to stop being so creepy.
Monday night I also got kind of mad, and it was also awkward. I was tired of the fact that Przemek and I always had to do the shopping, prepare the meals, and contribute such a high percentage of the cost of purchasing food, so I told Eusebio that if I was paying that much I didnt want to cook all the time anymore, and since the volunteers had made lunch, I thought that he or Cesar should cook dinner. I even offered to do the shopping, and we talked about what he was going to make and what I needed to buy. At 9:00 no one showed any signs of getting ready to cook, so I asked Eusebio what the plan was. He and the boys had already eaten, but Cesar was going to cook, Eusebio told me. Cesar said Eusebio hadnt told him that, and that he didnt know how to cook anything. (We we having spaghetti!!) Long story short, I got a bit angry and told them that if I ended up cooking, I was ONLY making food for me and Przemek and that I was sick of them being lazy and taking advantage of our time and money. Needless to say, Cesar cooked dinner that night. And the next few days Eusebio offered many times to help with the food, so I didnt have to do much cutting and slicing after that.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Earthquake!
I finally felt my first earthquake today! Przemek was here for an 8.2 earthquake a few weeks ago, and the strong tremors after that, and he found it all to be quite exciting. I've been jealous listening to everyone's stories from that day. But today I got to feel one myself! It was a very weak one, but I happened to be sitting on the beach watching the sunset at the time, so I felt it. There are many small earthquakes every day here, but if you're someplace with a lot of noise/traffic/movement you don't usually feel them. There have been many since I've been here that I haven't noticed. I was sitting in the sand when it happened, and it just felt like someone had dropped something really heavy in the sand next to me, and I could feel the vibrations from that. I actually thought it was something along those lines for a second, and turned about to see who or what was behind me, and then realized it was an earthquake. Since earthquakes are so common here there is an official website that records them all, which is updated almost instantly. (http://www.sismologia.cl/seismo.html) Here is the recording of the one I felt:
I also took a video of my sleeping area, which my parents were lucky enough to see via Skype, but I'm not sure if it uploading correctly, so I've included a picture too. In the video first you see the bed, then the door that goes to the business, then the divider wall (top half see-through) of the kitchen, and then the hallway that goes to the bathroom. And it is just about as uncomfortable and it looks in the picture. The mess isn't all my fault (despite my reputation for messes), because Przemek switched spots with me last night so I could have his slightly more private couch in the business, so our things all over the place due to that.
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| My Earthquake |
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| The sunset I was watching during the earthquake. |
Frustrations
I've decided to leave here Thursday.
Another aspect of volunteering here that has frustrated me recently is everything related to meals and eating. First of all, the volunteers contribute 1000 pesos per person per meal, which isn't technically a contribution in my opinion because it's mandatory, and it makes me a bit angry that they don't tell you that online before you come. 2 volunteers x 3 meals per day = 6000 pesos of contributions. Yesterday for lunch and dinner the total spent was less than 7000. I know that because without Magdalena here it has fallen on the volunteers to do ALL of the shopping and cooking, which is all in addition to our 4 hours of work per day. I don't mind the actual acts of shopping and cooking because now we have control of what we eat (and the food has been really tasty!!), but I don't like that it has become basically an expectation. But back to the money. Volunteers contribute 6000, food costs about 7000. Which means that the other FOUR PEOPLE who live here and eat what we prepare pay for only about 15% of it. So basically we are paying for and preparing food for everyone who lives here AND working four hours per day for free, all in exchange for a makeshift sleeping surface.
I also think the use of volunteers in for-profit businesses is odd. For example, they charge 2500 pesos for a one-hour English class, and all that money goes directly to them, not to a community project or something beneficial. I usually associate the use of volunteers for the purpose of providing FREE English classes, or if you are going to charge for something a volunteer does, then I would think the money raised might go toward a community cause. They are planning a family trip to Australia in August.
Another aspect of volunteering here that has frustrated me recently is everything related to meals and eating. First of all, the volunteers contribute 1000 pesos per person per meal, which isn't technically a contribution in my opinion because it's mandatory, and it makes me a bit angry that they don't tell you that online before you come. 2 volunteers x 3 meals per day = 6000 pesos of contributions. Yesterday for lunch and dinner the total spent was less than 7000. I know that because without Magdalena here it has fallen on the volunteers to do ALL of the shopping and cooking, which is all in addition to our 4 hours of work per day. I don't mind the actual acts of shopping and cooking because now we have control of what we eat (and the food has been really tasty!!), but I don't like that it has become basically an expectation. But back to the money. Volunteers contribute 6000, food costs about 7000. Which means that the other FOUR PEOPLE who live here and eat what we prepare pay for only about 15% of it. So basically we are paying for and preparing food for everyone who lives here AND working four hours per day for free, all in exchange for a makeshift sleeping surface.
I also think the use of volunteers in for-profit businesses is odd. For example, they charge 2500 pesos for a one-hour English class, and all that money goes directly to them, not to a community project or something beneficial. I usually associate the use of volunteers for the purpose of providing FREE English classes, or if you are going to charge for something a volunteer does, then I would think the money raised might go toward a community cause. They are planning a family trip to Australia in August.
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