Day 4 - Breath Deep

Ooops! This is gonna be quick as I (Ted) was unable to get a wireless connection until this morning.

Bev and Guy taking pictures of their new friends Zane and Leila

So day 4 was moving day! We got up early, got in cabs and headed out to the Lima airport early. Onto the plane for what proved and exciting flight in Cusco and the start of the mountain portion of the trip.

Why exciting? Well, Cusco is in a bowl in the mountains. And to get to the runway, one takes a VERY steep left hand turn to dip down into the bowl. Some of us enjoyed its. Others not so much. The latter of these opinions was perhaps summarized best by Jennifer's phrase regarding the need to have her stomach as a checked bag because it wasn't going to be accompanying you. Not even singing of "Soft Kitty" (the song that Sheldon and Penny sing on The Big Bang Theory) was sufficiently calming.

And Cusco! We were met by Puma, who will be our guide in the mountains, bright sun and cleaner, thinner air. The latter especially had an affect. In preparation for the altitude of Cusco most of the group had taken medication. I hadn't and I won't lie, the range of response to the drug was kind of funny to watch. Tingly was describe. There were some vacant deep stares. Arriving in Cusco, I wonder how many felt it was useful (a lot of the group has abandoned the medication as they found they were affected by the altitude regardless). The altitude affect was mild for most, describing some grogginess. Some had more troubles than others. It is too bad that its affect can't be well predicted (fitness doesn't help only time). The affects of the altitude has also proved to give us some of the funnier moments on the trip (stay tuned..I don't think I will have time to upload the video today).

Susan making friends and shopping

Puma took us to the Inca fortress Sasywyman (that is an incorrect spelling but I am coming up against time barriers to get this post done). Then it was to the Sun Temple upon which the Spanairds built a monestary. Curiously in earthquakes it is the monastery that crumbles while the Incan walls hardly move. As we left the sun disappeared and we were all surprised at how quickly the temperature cooled.

One of the things that the group has noticed and found interesting I think is the number of street vendors who are fairly insistent. I wonder how many of us are growing tired of the chant "Amigo, amigo!"

We are on the move again today. Sacred Valley and Aquas Calientes today. The Machu Picchu tomorrow. Whether I will get to post in the next couple of days I am not sure.....but stay tuned as some of the most exciting parts of the trip are about to occur.

Los Chicos de la Calle y su Musica

Pleases forgive the camera work and bad sound (acoustics and microphone on camera) but I think they sound pretty good!

Day 3 - Sleep, Economics and Music

Ted here! Geez I realize that as I write "sleep" and "economics" together that many of you will think going to our economics lecture and sleep perhaps happened at the same time (okay perhaps they did). Lets go to the morning to explain.

It was a chance to sleep in as the group wasn't getting together until the afternoon. Some went off and enjoyed the ruins down the road from the hotels, others chose to explore the city by foot (perhaps more exploration than was expected as they "re-found" themselves on the map and then eventually back to the hotel). All sorts of different individual experiences that I was privileged to hear about!

For me the morning was about getting as healthy as possible with rest (the scratch in my throat turned into a full on fever which seemed to break at about 10am this morning).

On with the day! We grabbed cabs and went to the offices of Hernando de Soto's Institute for Liberty and Democracy. There we met Jess's friend Gabriel Arrisueno. He told us about the impacts of regulations (or lack of) in informal economies and how they are related to the inability of people to escape poverty. For me at least it helped put into context what we had seen in Vista Alegre (I think that I have finally spelled that correctly). We then had a brief presentation from his colleague Vanessa Banchero about her work with Anyak in getting scholarships and providing support to kids whom otherwise would not be able to attend university.

Ted and his two instructors

Donna rockin' out Peruvian style

It was then onto another meeting with Luz and her merry band of street kids / musicians. We had the chance to listen to them play. They then taught us individually to play instruments. Again, a chance to experience a part of Peru that most people only see from the outside. In talking with some of the group, we commented on how these kids (boys/men mostly between the ages of 17 and 22)  acted very much like our students / other Canadian kids their age! From being able to speak their language with them I can tell you that they TALK very much like our NAIT students. However, most of them already have one child they were trying to support (if not more or at least more on the way). They had held two sessions to decide whom would come meet with us, ultimately choosing those with the best combination of musicianship and financial need.

Everyone Together!

 Some members of our group seemed to be stuck between how to "pay" them...would it be all right? Should it be through Luz?  Many wanted to give more beyond the donation that was incorporated into the cost of the trip here. I would be curious to hear people's opinions on this. I felt myself stuck in the middle of competing thoughts and idealogies as to what would be best. I don't think I was the only one that didn't know quite what was best.

Making our way through the rush hour traffic (pedestrian and automobile), we again saw the drastic change between the culture of the streets and the the culture of the more well off at the nearby mall. There we enjoyed dinner at a french-esque restaurant. Some even opted for ice cream afterwards!

Now, most of us are at the hotel, getting ready for an early flight to Cusco and the beginning of our time in the mountains!!

Learning Spanish - Would You Go to This Hospital?

Day 2 - Open Air Busses and Underground Cemetaries

Paul while on the city tour

Hello folks this is Ted! What a time to come down with a cold/flu (scratchy throat and fever so we will see how this turns out......and no I didn't catch scurvy). I have decided to call it an earlier night tonight and have decided to relax and write in the blog while I have a chance!

I didn't get as much of a chance to expand on the visit to Vista Allegre yesterday. I will leave it until later perhaps so I can get down what we did today first. I do want to say two things. First, thanks to Susan for posting a great picture of the view looking back from Vista Allegre. Second, to say that I almost feel embarrassed to give my opinions on it and have them stand as some sort of objective testimonial. Especially considering the range of experiences with that sort of poverty amongst the group members (okay I guess I am talking about it). I mean we range of experiences from Jess, whoou had lived and worked in these conditions for years, to other members of the group who were travelling not only outside of North America for the first time but perhaps making the harder journey outside of their comfort zone. If anyone of the group has a chance to added to this or do their own post with whatever reflections you had it would be great.

Unfortunately the only photos I have of us with the kids are Jess's and they are in RAW format....hope to get them downsizde to post here.

For me, it is something that I have seen and experienced before but am never "used to". Entering progressively poorer and poorer neighbourhoods I began to feel less and less comfortable. Again having some experience I was able to use rational thought to recognize that there wasn't really anything to be scared of. The group was amazing though. I did get the sense that there was some trepidation amongst people as we got off the bus. Not only because of the physical aspect (the stairs were STEEP) but the emotional one as well. I had to commend people because everyone seemed to make a conscious decision to go experience it. I think everyone was reassured by the appearance of local social worker and neighbourhood "guide" Luz, but I could be wrong. Regardless, most breathed a physical and emotional sigh of relief when we got to the top to see school age children waving flags and awaiting our arrival.

Again, I hesitate to generalize or speak for others. One of the comments that did seem universal was the hesitance of the group to take pictures out of respect for the people who live there. I think many in our group struggled with what was okay to do. Again, the group needs to be commended on their sensitivity. And it is a sensitive issue. Ironically, most of the kids seem to want to have their pictures taken and certainly Luz wanted the rest of the world to know what life was like there. She and the other school "mother" Blanca (who loans out one of the two rooms of her house as the local school) kept inviting us back, inviting us to come work there. To the extent that people's minds were completely changed about the conditions of poverty I am not sure. But conversations on the bus seemed to reflect that most of us were (oops I accidentally put werent the firt time) thinking about what we had seen and felt. I am sure that your friends/family whose trip you are reading along with will have their own stories and perspectives! Would LOVE to hear from those of you in the group who would like to post yours here.

So today! First was the National Museum. We had a guided tour of some of the pre-Cololmbian artifacts of the people whom lived there. Then, most went to the 6th floor of the museum where there was an exhibit regarding the "Shining Path" uprisings that saw tens of thousands killed. Again, a lot of questions from the group (these are an inquisitive bunch). It was a confusing time and was hard for me as an outsider to sort out who was fighting against whom and why. Others in the group expressed the same.

|City Hall in the Plaza de Armas

Gerta and Susan in the Plaza de Armas

Lunch and then the city tour! we saw pre-Incan ruins, went to the main plaza, and walked through the underground cemetery of the Franciscan cathedral. No photos allowed. and who would want to. Interesting that the excavated bones of those buried beneath had been displayed for tourism purposes. Back on the bus (but not before buying gum from the street kids) and to the Larcomar mall. We had to bid good-bye to our Habla guides Alberto, Roce and Pati and people went in different directions to enjoy dinner.

And tomorrow? Well, again a chance to mingle with some of the local street musicians...why do I think that we aren't going to just be spectators? Then Tuesday it will be off to Cusco on our way to Machu Picchu!

Peru 1 - Wow are Actucally Here

This will be a short update as we are getting ready to hop on the bus for the city tour and the NaTIONAL MUESEUM.A fun start to the trip! We started off our day a little tired (some from having arrived late into Lima, others from spending a  night late out in Lima)

First Spanish lessons....and our first 'word of the day'. Guy, in his group asking the teach how to say '%$#t out of luck! Some good laughs and good sketches.

Some time to show and garden in the market followed. Then to lunch!

We had a great lunch before going off to Vista Alegre visiting, the informal school run by Luz and Blanc in one of the squatter neighbourhoods. Just about everyone had to buy a treasure made by these kids.

On the way back, Jennifer came up with the second phrase of the day 'shrubbery'. How a Monte Python reference made it in I am not sure.....

A meal then a wander through San Isidrio to overlook the tide rolling in and have the evening ocean air sooth us. Early nights for most (I think although faces on the bus might tell a different story)...Hope to have pictures up of Vista Alegre soon!

Peru or Bust

Peru Photo Album

It’s Jess here. Ok, here we go, my first official blog entry on the first day of this journey. I can start by telling you that it feels surreal to be at the Vancouver International Airport with only a few other people – it’s a total ghost town here. The only people in sight are those lined up at Tim Hortons’s which I can see is now finally open! – be back in 5 mins.

Ok, I’m back and with a Timmies in hand the universe is right again. I am not one for corporate imperialism, but I do wonder when Tim Hortons will take Peru by storm. Wouldn’t that be great? (just kidding… sort of).

Anyhow it’s almost 6am and people are starting to come out of the woodwork. It was an odd and novel experience not to have to wait in a single line up so far, notwithstanding the 30 second line up at Tim Hortons. I breezed through security and if this keeps up I may even have some free space or an empty seat next to me to spread out in. Wishful thinking, I know.

I am enjoying my last few fleeting minutes here…. this airport is amazing, really. Everything is so new, so clean and seemingly so organized. There is even free wireless internet.

But, I am soooo excited to get on that plane to meet the rest of our group in Toronto. Experiencing a trip like this with others necessarily means the forging of new friendships. I know from experience that the next few weeks will afford me knew experiences, new friendships and a ton of personal development.

Tim Hortons will be here when I get back and soon it will be Inca Cola and Pisco Sours instead.

Vamos arriba Peru! See you soon,

Jess

June 22, 2011 (6am)

Up, Up and Away!!!

The first group is headed out today!!! Good luck ladies and gentlemen!

We will see you on Saturday!

Ted

This is the Way We Go We Go, This is the Way We Go!

So our intrepid travellers are getting ready to leave in less than 48 hours! For those of you whom are reading this at NAIT (say around, oh I don't know 10:00 am when the 'NAITUser Messages" appears in your Outlook inbox) it will be less than 24! You can see that I (Ted) have posted a tab with our itinerary on it.....BUT, I though I would give you a preview here.

Arriving - Most of the group is arriving a couple days before the start of the official tour. That means after what will most likely be a 14 hour trip from Edmonton to Lima, they will make their way through customs in the wee hours of the morning of the 23rd. A few select ones (yours truly included) won't get there until Saturday the 25th at about 12:30am.

Lima - June 24th to June 27th
This is a part of the trip which will involve most of the 'Peru today' type things. We will of course be touring around some of the museums, important buildings and locations of the city and experiencing some folklore music and dance shows.

This is also where we are going to be visiting some of the poorer areas and seeing what daily life is like for most Peruvians and "Limeños" (is that what they are called?).  A lot of people have expressed that this is the part they are looking forward to the most. It isn't often that we get a chance to get a glimpse of what the experience of life is like for those less fortunate.

Andes Mountains - June 28th to July 2nd
I say Andes because there are a couple of different things going on here.

Cuzco (June 28th, July 2rd) is the old Inca capital whose stone masonry the Spanish built upon (and whose design hardly moves while more modern structures crumble when there are the inevitable earthquakes).  It is quite a contrast from Lima, with is green mountains and red earth. It will be our first foray into what life was like for the Incans. We also get a chance to see how their descendants lived. Cuzco will serve as a "home base" for all of our adventures in the mountains.

Machu Picchu & Aguas Calientes (June 29th & June 30th) Machu Picchu is always a highlight. A lot of the group has been doing their own research into its significance. Anyone care to share what they have found? Aguas Calientes is where we stay - a village just below the ruins. The train ride up from Cuzco itself can be interesting (especially the switchbacks coming out of the Cuzco bowl!)

Chincero & Pachamanca (June 30th & July 1st) These, like Lima, are our days to truly interact with local people and experience their culture. In particular we will visit with a local shaman and get a glimpse of Andean spirituality - often a highlight for many. It also promises to provide some interesting culinary delights in the form of roast guinea pig. I wonder if it will taste like chicken?

Departure - July 4th
After getting back from the mountains, we have one last day in Lima. A chance to go see some more sights, perhaps even re-visit some of the places we were before and put into context the entire journey. I imagine most of us will be excited to get back to life in Canada and share our adventures with our friends.....this PARTICULAR adventurer will still have another 11 days in South America as he goes on to visit friends and framily (friends whom are like family) in Argentina!

The Excitement Builds for Peru

What a fun evening! This is Ted here and I wanted to take a moment to say just how nice it was to ge together with everyone last night. Canadian Chinese seemed appropriate? Who's to say.

This group feels as though it has been ready to go for a week! Those of you who are following along, you will want to know that the word was EXCITEMENT! There was a lot of buzz in the air it felt as we all started contemplating last minute packing, thinking through how we would deal with altitude, wondering what food we would be eating while there, thinking through what to pack and what to take down for the day of caring. There was also talking of night life and enjoying pisco sours!

There were questions about towels, hotel rooms, transportation, taxis, prices, gettign through customs. I believe that our might leader Jess should be sending an email soon. There was also talk of posting the itinerary here. I will add a subsequent post next week regarding the itinerary (in part as a preview for all of our friends, family and colleagues who will be living vicariously through us over the next two weeks) but will include it as a tabbed page on the blog here as a reference (once I have figured out exactly how I do that on Blogger).

For the trip participants...how are you feeling as most of you get ready to leave on Wednesday! Feel free to post a comment below this for everyone to see. Or heck, if you would like email me and I can make you a guest blogger! For those whom are following feel free to leave messages below.

Less than I week (I am leaving Friday) and it is OFF TO LIMA!!!

PERU - Deeply divided politically

Hello everyone, Jess here. As you may know, we are headed down to Peru just after the June 2011 Presidential Election. Needless to say, it is an interesting time in Peruvian politics.

I was fortunate enough to be in Peru in 2000 when the 'Vladivideos' were coming out (loooooong, fascinating story) and it was discovered that former president, Alberto Fujimori, was totally corrupt. It was almost comical to watch the news as Fujimori galavanted around the country in search of Vladmiro Montesinos (to whom Fujimori was a puppet) who had already escaped the country. Both Fujimori and Montesinos will spend the rest of their productive lives in prison for human rights abuses (mass murder), corruption, etc,etc the list goes on. Had Keiko Fujimori won the presidency, surely Alberto would have been pardoned. For this reason alone (and many others) I am so very happy she didn't win.

Thank goodness the political situation isn't as ridiculous as it used to be (for now). I think it is fair to say that Peru has made substantive strides in the way of democracy in the past decade. This is an extremely welcome phenomenon in light of the fact that in the past 20 years 30,000 people died from political violence with more than 4,000 people 'disappeared' and 400,000 people displaced.  The victims of torture are too numerous to be accurately counted.

However, it would seem that this country is on the up and up. Peru has also experienced a significant economic gain in recent years, primarily through foreign investment in mining. (Canada is a major investor, for better or worse) In 2010, Peru scored .723 (out of 1) on the UN's Human Development Index while the world averaged .624. This is encouraging! Canada scored .88.

Yet, 50% of the country lives below the poverty line and the economic gains have been shared by few. Unemployment is a huge issue. We mustn't be mislead to believe that Peru doesn't have a long road ahead. True democracy and justice, social equality, sustainability and a higher standard of living  is still out of reach for the majority.

Looking forward, it will be interesting to see what impact the newly elected president, Ollanta Humula, has. In any case, what we see now is a deeply divided country as Ollanta barely won the presidency by an extremely slim majority. In this past election Peruvians had to chose between a Hugo Chavez sympathizer and the puppet daughter of Alberto Fujimori - talk about picking from the best of the worst!

Will Humala be able to continue Peru on its growing economic path AND distribute the wealth more equitably? Will free market capitalism and social equity find some synergy? Will Peru be able to do in decades what 'developed countries' did in centuries? Will the opposing sides of Peru's political divide come together for the betterment of the nation? It's hard to be overly optimistic, but, in any case, I for one sure hope so!

Check out these links for some articles on Peru's recent election:

http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=6398

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/ollanta-humala-elected-peru-vote_n_871686.html

http://www.atthegrapevine.com/wordpress/politics/peru-2011-political-polarisation

Libraries and Machu Pichu ...Oh My!

Wow! So tonight I decided to do a little research into the Peru trip. In particular I wanted to look up where one could find a library in Lima and if there was a national library....

Jackpot!!!! I go to the page and lo an behold, I find this!

The national library is having an International Symposium entitled "Discovering Machu Pichu!" I am kinda disappointed now that I am not arriving until the early weee hours of the 25th....but I think that some of the group might be able to catch this! So here is the link to the 'Biblioteca Nacional de Peru'. I believe that if  you use Google Chrome as a browser that it will even translate the page for you into English.

It is within walking distance of the "Historic Downtown" and the "Plaza San Martin" so most likely you will find yourself in this area. Here is a link to the Google map.

The bad news is that I have yet to be able to find any soccer matches. It appears as though the season is ending before we get there. As the 'Copa America' (similar to the 'Gold Cup' for CONCACAF or the Euro Cup for UEFA in Europe) is being played in Argentina starting on the 1st of July...perhaps the league has shut down for that? I must apologize....I am no Peruvian futbol expert (why bother I figure when all the Argentine teams beat them anyways!). If anyone finds anything let me know!

Oh boy....getting excited!

Less Than Two Weeks to Go

This is Ted here...less than two weeks to go for our intrepid travellers...how's everyone doing? I am getting more and more excited by the day. I still have a couple of things to finish up at work but am looking forward to heading back to South America.

For me, this will be my second time in Peru. It will be my fifth time to South America. And one of the things that I am look forward to the most will be the chance to share this wonderful continent and its wonderful cultures with people whom are going to be experiencing it for the first time! A fair number of folks who are on this trip are doing their first "big" trip...some were almost vibrating with excitement at our last meeting. Knowing what they are going to see (and perhaps what the are going to feel) makes me excited.

I can remember my first time down in South American and what it was like for me. An 18 year old from Kamloops, the only thing I could relate South America to was Mexico. Of course looking back on that, I realize how idiotic that was. Regardless, there I was, after being picked up form the airport in Buenos Aires, adorned in a red blazer (the red representing Canada of course!) carrying a suitcase and trying to cross the widest Aventine in the world (9 de Julio). I can only imagine the inner laughter my Rotarian friend (I was on a Rotary exchange) held back upon seeing my fear-fill face. I was only halfway across the street when the light turn red/yellow and a fleet of black and yellow taxis began roaring my way! Run for your life little Ted, run!!!!  It was the first of thousands of 'culture shocks' I was to have in my unforgettable South American adventure (the second one was slightly better when a stunningly good looking Argentine goddess introduced me to kissing as a form of greeting people...on the cheek but all the same it was a pretty good experience!)

I am excited to be able to step back and share in the experiences of the group. I am hopeful that many of our families, colleagues and friends will have a chance to follow our adventures along with us on this blog!

Please feel free to comment along the way. For those reading this and who are going on the trip, where abouts are you in terms of you packing, your excitement, and your expectation levels right now? For those following along...well feel free to comment as well!

And lastly for those in Edmonton...where is a good place to book a reservation for Chinese food for our last group meeting?

I am also going to post up our itinerary so people back here can follow along..but maybe I will leave that for tomorrow.