Chan Chan y Huacas del Sol y de la Luna-Rotary Love

I never imagined visiting Chan Chan or Huacas del Sol y de la Luna. These are some of the most fascinating archaeological sites in the world, and they tell the story of the
Chimu and the Moche. As a Spanish professor, I was excited to learn about these Pre-Inca empires and overwhelmed by the engineering of these ancient cities. Perhaps most impressed by the visit was Nicole, and I hope she'll blog about her impression of the sites because her knowledge of this area of investigation--contemporary city planning--gelled perfectly with the information we learned from our Rotary guide, Susie.
But perhaps more important, for me, was the friendship, sincerity and true love shown by our host team this afternoon, when we went to eat at a restaurant called Wuacapiedra. First of all, I made the error of ordering ceviche with aji, even though our host suggested I order it without aji. Aji, for the innocent reader, is a very hot, HOT pepper. I was enjoying wonderful conversation and getting to know our hosts better when I ate, in one mouthful, a small slice of aji. This was probably one of the greatest errors I have ever made. My tongue was on fire; I could hardly breathe. My Rotary brothers and sisters immediately came to my aid, and the Ithaca Team offered me support. They all offered me water, beer, ice and just about anything else they could think of to take away the horrible heat from my mouth. My nose dripped and my eyes started tearing. My sinuses were immediately cleared. I was crying and at the same time laughing. Crying because I was literally in pain. Even my ears turned red from the heat. But, more important, I was also crying because I felt the love of Rotary. I have never been treated so well in my life.

Peruvian Time & Public Transit

We took an overnight bus from Huaraz to Trujillo, departing at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday and arriving at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. We arrived two hours late because the bus broke down on the side of the highway somewhere between Huaraz and Chimbote. I awoke out of a haze of barely sleep to clanging and shaking. I briefly considered whether we were being robbed before my TCAT brain kicked in and I realized that we were having a road call. I go 4,000 miles away, and I still can´t escape buses breaking down. Sigh.

Anyway, we arrived in Trujillo two hours late by American time and right on time by Peruvian time. Peruvian time is whatever time things end up happening. If you´re Rotary meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m, there´s a small chance it might start at 8:30 p.m, but it´s just as likely that it will start at 9:00, 9:30, or even 10:00 p.m. This is completely normal and you should never waste energy stressing about it. The best approach is to get yourself ready for the published start time, then sleep/ journal/ blog/ read/ play with children/ walk around/ talk with Rotarians/ drink pisco sour as appropriate.

This flexibility of time has interesting implications for public transit.

There are generally two levels of Peruvian public transit: intercity and intracity. Intercity buses, run by companies like Cruz del Sur, Ormeño, and Movil Tours, run luxury, over-the-road (MCI-type) double-deck vehicles with passenger amenities like reclining seats, on-board snack service, movies, etc. I believe that there are also non-luxury versions of intercity transit, but I´ve heard that they are pretty unsafe, as drivers drive through the night with no rest, leading to accidents, drivers speed, leading to more accidents, and buses constantly break down, leading to still more accidents. These buses seem to generally depart on time, more or less, and arrive on time, more or less. Many times less rather than more.

There is also a smorgasbord of intracity transit:

• Microbuses or micros are approximately 25-30 feet long and look sort of like shorter school buses. They run like shuttles, without a schedule.
• I affectionately think of combis as the clown car of Peruvian public transit. Combis are approximately 10´vans with sliding doors in the middle into which you can stuff 15 or 16 people. They also run like a shuttle, without a schedule.
  
• Collectivos can be any type of vehicle. Collectivos depart from major destinations when full.
• Official taxis are always yellow cars. Taxi transport is extremely cheap, and taxis abound (at least in Huaraz and Trujillo).

None of the intracity transit has anything like a schedule. A few people have commented that public transit here needs more planning, but I´m not sure that´s the case. Imposing schedules on public transit in a country where time is always flexible and relative is impossible. What´s the point of a schedule if it´s not followed? As an outsider, it seems to me that Peruvian public transit is surprisingly efficient and culturally appropriate.

Let´s conclude with a photo of a market in Lima... taken our first day in country.

Two Photos From Huaraz

We will be taking an overnight bus tonight from Huaraz, in the Andes, to Trujillo, on the coast. Our time in Huaraz has been amazing, and I hope we can write more detailed posts in the future. In the mean time, here are two photos from our stay in Huaraz.

This is for my climbing friends:

Huascaran in the sunset

This is for my mother:

Peruvian gato

Vegetarians, Stop Reading

Before we embarked on this adventure, we all had rules that we wanted to follow. Don´t drink the tap water. Don´t eat fruit or vegetables that aren´t peeled or boiled. Wear a seatbelt. Things like that.

Personally, every rule that I set for myself was broken within 24 hours of arriving in Peru, including avoidance of meat. In the United States, I´m a vegetarian, as is Molly and Maria. Both Maria and I have broken down and eaten meat, although I think life-long vegetarian Molly is still going strong.

In the interests of experiencing the full culinary heritage of our host culture, Gabriella and I decided to try cuy for lunch today. (If you´re a vegetarian, here´s the part where you should stop reading.)

Cuy is guinea pig. Cuy is surprisingly delicious. Cuy is a traditional Andean meat. Yesterday, as we were touring some ruins, we saw two people bathing a large bag of cuy (you read that right). The meat tastes a little like chicken, but with more flavor. The texture is tender. It´s almost like combining the flavor of dark meat with the leanness of white meat. Our Rotarian host, Alfredo, told us that cuy are best when they´re young, around three months. After six months, they´re too tough.

Other traditional Andean foods include potatoes, corn (maiz), potatoes, trout, potatoes, cheese, potatoes, chicken, potatoes, eggs, and potatoes. We have been fortunate to eat in several Andean restaurants since we´ve arrived in order to sample all the local dishes. Peruvian food is delicious! Everything seems much fresher, with more flavor, than in the United States. I want to put a few chickens in my backpack to bring to the U.S. for their delicious eggs, but I think I might have a problem getting through customs...

EDIT (7 mayo 2009): I forgot to say that Nancy also tried the cuy! What adventurous ladies!

We`re Here!

Hola! To everyone following our adventures, we have arrived safely in Peru and we love it! Right now, we're in Huaraz. Our days are so busy that we don't have much time to write updates, but hopefully within the next few days we can post some pictures and more stories. Hasta luego!