Christmas and New Year's Eve

So this year’s Christmas was an interesting time. This is the second Christmas I’ve spent away from family and both times seem to have very similar themes…family and relaxation is replaced by friends and alcohol.

The first Christmas spent away from the family was down in New Zealand with my friend John Dundon. Luckily, we knew a good amount of other “orphans” (Other vagabonds working in Queenstown). We spent the Christmas on a rooftop/balcony showing kegs that we were in fact, the dominate species on the planet. However, after our conquest of all that barley, ironically we can also act like the dumbest. (Pic on the left is Queenstown, New Zealand...just a little shout out)

Christmas in Peru is a little different than the States. Primarily, Christmas Eve is the more important day. During the night, most attend mass. This part is very similar to the States because it seems that most Peruvians don’t really attend church or abide by the regulations of the Catholic Church (except maybe their reluctance to use contraceptives), most are holiday saints, going on the important dates.

At midnight, everyone sets off fireworks, toasts Jesus, and settles down for a family meal. If you have presents to give, here is an appropriate time to unwrap. Unfortunately, 60 or 70% of the population can’t really afford presents; hence the commercial aspect of Christmas has not yet appeared where I’m living. After dinner, most people get drunk and dance until the sun rises. Then the guys wake up and start drinking again. (Pic: Lucho and I. Lucho is the owner of the bar we frequent most often)

I spent the night at a friend’s bar with other people who do not have family in the area. Everyone cooked something and brought it to the bar. We ate dinner around 9ish, then we all drank and danced the night away. The dinner was a schmorgishboard of nationalities. There were people from Holland, Columbia, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Peru (of course), and I was the only American.

On Christmas day I had a relatively relaxed time, recovered from the night before, and prepared for a 4-day trek that I was setting off on the 26th. The brother of another volunteer was visiting and we were going to do one of the more popular trails. Unfortunately, after the first day we turned back because my friend’s brother wasn’t handling the altitude very well. (Pic: Ben, Libby, and me. One of my favorite married couples, New Year's Eve)

New Year’s Eve was a crazy time, as one would expect. The tradition here is to wear gold. Most can’t afford gold, so they wear yellow somewhere on their body. Most wear yellow underwear. You toast with champagne, but no one kisses at midnight, so I had the opportunity to share my culture… Due to the Spanish influence, some eat 12 grapes at midnight. Or, you act out something that you hope to do in the following year, for example, if you hope to travel in the upcoming year, some people will run around the block with a suitcase at midnight.

I spent the night with the volunteers where I’m living…we are a small group compared to most other areas, but that just means we’re closer with one another. The holiday season was a great time, full of new experiences. Of course I missed my family and friends dearly, but I love the opportunity of experiencing new cultures. (Vishal and me rocking out)

Next up: Carnival is a very popular event in Peru, so Vishal and I will be going up Cajamarca, the city with the largest and rowdiest fiesta. It’s a very wet time, water balloons and paint (yes, paint) are thrown all over the place. Stay tuned…

Much love,
Jake

Here are some pics of New Year's Eve and the first day of the 4 day hike we were going to do.

Vish and me - campsite.

Jeff, me, and crazy old dude in thermal baths near Machu Picchu.

Hopscotching around Peru - The Gringo Trail

The month of December was a blast. One of my best friends, Jeff Pradhan, came down with his brother and a few of his friends from law school (hopefully the first of many friends to visit). Coincidentally, a friend of mine from Washington DC, Jennifer, was in Lima for work the same weekend I was meeting Jeff in Lima. The friends I have in Peru through the Peace Corps provide great comfort and you wouldn’t know that we’ve only recently met each other. But…seeing one of my best friends of 12 years after being here for over 6 months makes Peru seem more like home and not so strange.

Unfortunately, we made the plans before we knew I would be living in the Cordillera Blanca – so they did not get to see this beautiful section of Peru – instead we did the popular “Gringo Trail”. The gringo trail comprises the southern part of Peru taking visitors to Machu Picchu, now one of the 7 wonders of the world, and deservedly so. After Machu Picchu, the next destination is normally Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world and home of the floating civilizations.

This blog will be kept short, because the pictures can easily do the talking, but I’ll give a short synopsis of the trip. We started out in Lima, the capital of Peru and flew to Cusco (picture is the square at night), which was the capital of the Incan empire. Cusco is about 11,000 feet high which makes every traveler not accustomed to elevation stay there for a few days before venturing on any hike. The city is beautiful…but very touristy. In fact, there are tourist police to keep venders from hassling tourists too much.

Ruins of the fallen Incans lace through the city and spending a couple days visiting the various sites is a great way to pass the time while adjusting to the altitude. The city was designed to be the shape of a puma, which has obviously been lost, but one of the neat ruins above the city that was not destroyed is the ‘head’ of the puma (pic to the left is in a passageway), a place called Saqsaywaman (meaning ‘satisfied falcon’). The best way we found to cap off the day and welcome the night is to take advantage of the hour long full-body massages for 20 soles (about $7.00).

After a few days in Cusco, we set off on the Inca Trail, a 4 day hike through the mountains to Machu Picchu. Through the hike you ascend Andean passes, descend through cloud forests, and pass numerous smaller Incan ruins that become more marvelous as you get closer to Machu Picchu. After the Spanish began their murdering of the Incans and little hope remained of defeating the Spanish, the Incan chief assigned a group to destroy all paths leading to Machu Picchu due to its importance in the Incan religious beliefs. That’s why the lost city remained intact without discovery until the early 20th century.

After getting our dose of ruins, mysticism, and exercise, we headed to Lake Titicaca (around 12,600 feet) for a day and took a boat trip around a small part of the lake. Lake Titicaca is known for the floating handmade islands that began about a thousand years ago as peaceful people tried to escape the emergence of war-happy people. For hundreds of years the people on the islands led their own lifestyles and their culture has remained as it has been over the centuries…but the sad irony of tourism is that the island culture slowly becomes distorted by tourists who want to get a glimpse at that isolated distinct culture (perhaps a catch-22?). (Picture is the quintessential picture of Machu Picchu...looks fake, huh?)

Afterwards, we descended to Peru’s second largest city, Arequipa where we finished our vacation in comfort and relaxation. There is plenty to do and see in Arequipa, but we were quite happy to eat well and get some sleep and take in some of the nightlife. I passed some of the time by getting my first tattoo (I’ll put a picture on the next blog).

All in all, it was an amazing trip. I spent a little too much money as I almost forgot I am a Peace Corps volunteer…but well worth all of it.

Thanks for reading. I’ll post another blog soon about my Christmas and New Years experience.
Love,
Jake

More Machu Picchu - one of the most captivating aspects of Machu Picchu is the location - it is completely surrounded by mountains...so the idea of building this holy city is daunting...doesn't really seem easy. (I guess it wouldn't be a 'world wonder' if it was).

These were the two guides during the trip.

The porters are incredible. They haul ass on the trail carrying 40 to 70 lbs.

This is my friend Jeff and I at the Sun Gate...the first view of Machu Picchu from the Inka Trail.

Jennifer and I in Lima before a bender. Jen and I are friends from my glorious time in DC. She works for the Dept of Agriculture and luckily, she was in Lima for work the same weekend I was meeting with Jeff.

More Machu Picchu.

I'll put up some more pictures when I get them from the rest of our group. I'm not the most avid picture taker and didn't take that many while there because my batteries were dying.