Peru

Since our arrival in Cuzco last Friday, We heard the buzz around town that the largest and most anticipated soccer match in all of Peru was going to happen on Sunday afternoon. The two largest cities in Peru were going head to head: Cuzco and Lima. Peruvians are HUGE soccer fans and worship this sport as a religion. They are completely obsessed. The entire country shuts down when there is a soccer match on the tele.

Rich and I decided that we needed to be there to get the full South America experience, so we bought tickets the night before the match, right on the street from a very nice and earnest-looking scalper. He warned us to get there two-three hours ahead of time so that we could score the best seats. We followed his advice and were at the stadium at 11:00 am (the game started at 1:00). Little did we know, there were 45,000 other fans there all dressed in bright red Cuzco colors waiting in all types of lines, running, screaming and trying to get into the stadium any way possible. There was a guy giving away t-shirts and there were ten people swarming him, grabbing his cardboard box and trying to pull it away from him. The police had to rescue the guy and get the people to back off. That was a small introduction into the sheer chaos and melee that is Peruvian football.

When we got into the stadium, it was awesome! The field was enormous and everyone was buying meat on a stick (with a potato of course), people were cheering and the entire stadium was doing the wave. They had a humongous soccer jersey that the fans were sending around the stadium. The fans were setting off red smoke bombs, fireworks and throwing confetti everywhere. You´d think that they had just won a war, but the game didn´t even start yet! Our scalper was actually honest when he told us that we would have excellent seats. We doubted him because our ticket was a two for one so both of us got in for 25 soles (only 8 bucks). Super cheap! Our seats were very close to the goalie and next to some friendly people.

Before the game began, the crowd started to whistle (which we learned means very bad!) when the Lima teams´s fans took their seats next to our section.´ There was riot police all around the Lima fans, fully armed with attack dogs and machine guns. There were even riot police on the field. All of a sudden, the crowd got wild. The Lima teams fans were so high energy and to be honest, freakin nuts to be in the middle of this Cuzco crowd. They brought an entire marching band and did not stop jumping and screaming the entire game. The people around us started hollering at the top of their lungs (tu mama es tu papa), they were throwing anything they could find, and did not stop taunting them the entire game. Rich´s favorite part was when a Cuzco fan sitting next to us lobbed a large plastic bag full of Inca Kola down twenty rows and exploded it on the head of an annoyingly obnoxious Lima fan.

The game didn´t even begin yet....stay tuned for Part II

Last night we said goodbye to 11 volunteers and the entire Tinkuy family. It is very difficult to leave a house full of people who are so amazing. It was a great experience to live with so many well travelled, international volunteers and a family of artesans. We learned so much from the family and culture of Peru. Our stay was so rewarding and a great introduction to Peru. Before we cought our 11 PM bus to Lima, everyone formed a procession line to see us off. The Irish girls gave us an Irish Blessing sign to hang in our home and Gerry and Salina gave us some tasty candy from Canada and Scotland for the bus ride. Thanks everyone for a warm and unforgettable send off!

Tino and Jesus drove us to the bus station and we drove through downtown Huancayo one last time. It felt like we were leaving home. The bus ride was, well, we don't know. We slept the entire 7 hours. When we woke up, the sun was rising and we were back in hectic, overcast Lima. We took a taxi to the airport. Our driver was nice, but he comfirmed our belief that taxi drivers in Lima are on a death wish. Have you ever driven 60 miles per hour and swerved at the last minute to avoid a large bus and then come to a complete stop inches from the next car? Well, we did that more than once. It was too early for that shit. haha.

The airport felt like a sanctuary from the craziness of the streets. It was so clean and modern. We checked in and got some food at Dunkin Donuts. The coffee was a nice treat, but the egg sandwich was greasy and just plain gross. Sorry Dunkin Donuts but you have no place in Peru. We missed our usual breakfast that Maria made back in Huancayo!

We paid our airport tax (5 dollars US) and headed to the terminal. After a short wait we boarded the LAN Peru jet plane. It was interesting to board the plane because we walked onto the runway and entered the back of the plane instead of the front. The ride was really smooth and only lasted 55 minutes. They fed us a nice sandwich and some mate de coca. Outside the window we saw the Andes mountains poke through the top of the clouds. The rocks were so colorful and dry. Occasionally we could see some snow caps and deep blue lakes. We imagined what it would have been like to have taken a bus from Lima to Cusco through those mountains. It would have taken at least 20 hours! We were happy with 55 minutes of flying.

The landing in Cusco was perfect. The best landing so far on our trip. Inside the airport we were welcomed with an interesting mix of traditional Peruvian musicians and in your face travel agents ... all by the bagage claim area. One thing we quickly realized about Cusco is that there are many tourists here and it is a World apart from Huancayo. It is an absolutely beautiful city full of ancient history and beautiful stonework. The city was built by the Incas in the shape of a Puma, and it was thought of as the naval of the world. The original Incan name of the city was Qosqo, which in Quechua (Incan language) means Vital Center since we are in a valley (altitude 11,000 ft.) surrounded by the Andes mountains. The Incans regarded Qosqo as the center of corporal energy where feelings reside. The Spanish later changed the name to Cusco.

click here to learn more about the history of Cusco. It is really fascinating.

Our hostal is located in the San Blas area of Cusco. This area houses many artist galleries, cafes and plazas. All of the streets are made of cobblestone and are just big enough for one small car to squeeze through. We have really nice hot water in our shower and a tall wood planked ceiling with a sunroof. There is so much character and charm to the hostal. It beats any Holiday Inn in the states!

Tomorrow we plan to walk around and get a feel for the city. There is just so much to see and do that we want to take our time and absorb as much as possible. This area is known as the archeological capital of the World so we plan on visiting many ruins. We also want to learn about the history of the Incas and how ancient Qosqo became the modern city of today.

Today a group of students from the Andean school came to the house to receive clothes that were donated by our friends Denise and Zoelle. They were so cute as they walked in. They each gave us a hug and we could tell they were excited at the anticipation of the gifts they were about to receive.

The students that received the clothes were from very poor families and their eyes lit up as we began to hand out their new clothes. They each got 2 items and they were so grateful. It felt really nice to share something with children who are so in need. As they walked down the street toward their homes, they stopped at least 5 times to look at each others new clothes.

On Tuesday afternoon we went on a 20 mile mountain biking trip with Tino. Considering the difficulty we have had breathing at this altitude, we weren´t sure what to expect. A taxi picked us up at the house and we threw the 3 bikes on top of the car and headed off for a 30 minute ride into the mountains.

During the drive we distanced oursleves from the bustle of Huancayo and it felt like we were going back in time as we saw fewer and fewer houses. There were very few other cars in site and we got the feeling that the people in this part of the landscape are living a more traditional peruvian lifestyle. At one turn we drove past a stream and noticed about 25 women washing their clothes on the warm river rocks. Baby pigs, sheep and dogs wandered the shoulders of the road and people carried baskets of freshly cut crops from their farm plots.

The taxi stopped and we pulled the bikes off the rack, paid our 10 soles to the driver and then we were alone in the silence of the countryside. We walked our bikes to a nearby house and Tino knocked on the door. A chubby lady with an enormous smile greeted us. She was a local artesan and the Peruvian champion of gourd carving. She uses a small carving tool to create incredibly detailed works of art. We were amazed to see entire villages of people perfectly carved into the sides of the dried gourds. Her most famous gourd is about the size of a basketball and it took her nearly 6 months to carve. We bought as many gourds as we could fit in our bags, gave a her a hug and then we were off.

The bike ride was breathtaking. Much of it was downhill, which made it easier on our legs. However, the roads we were travelling on were all dirt and full of huge rocks. We wanted to go fast but we also wanted to avoid crashing. Our arms shook from the constant vibration. We rode past mud and brick houses, children playing and old men and women tending their sheep. Whenever we rode by children they would smile wide and give us a nervous laugh and a wave. Rich is a bit of a circus attraction here. He is one of very few tall blonde hair guys that the people see here. It is possible that he is the first blonde hair person some people have ever seen ... Since we are not in a partcularly touristy area.

We saw a lot of farm plots checkering the hillsides. Farmers either own or rent small squares of farmland and the plots are all connected to form a large checkerboard effect. Almost all farmwork is done by hand her and we saw many workers squatting in the fields tediously trimming their crops. One amazing thing about Peruvian farmers is their ability to irrigate the land. Their are aquaducts along the roads and along side fields. They are all man made and carry a steady flow of water from the mountains, even during the dry season that we are in now.

We rode through 6 towns on our bike ride. When we reached a town we were sometimes treated to a small patch of pavement. We usually road through narrow streets with stone buildings on each side. As we rode down the street we could look to the left or right and quickly peak into small, dark shops. It was a bit like watching a strip of film go by, with many unique frames of life.

About halfway into the ride, the bar that holds Rich´s seat up started to bend under his weight. The bike was becoming unridable. Aside from the embarassment, the situation was difficult to remedy. We were in a very small town that had no taxis to take us back home. We went all over town asking for help and finally Tino remembered a small bike repair shop nearby. What are the odds? We made our way to a house with an open garage. Inside was a display case of bike parts. They had a spare bar that was bigger and better than the original one! We were in luck. We fixed the bike and headed off again.

By this point, our bottoms were sore from the hard seats and pounding of the trail. We decided to stop for lunch. This part of Peru is known for their Trout (Trucha). We had plates of fried trout, head and all. It was delicious.

The last part of the bike ride took us down a long hill and into the town of Conception. We arrived just at sunset as a huge rainstorm was rolling through the distant mountains. The sky was huge and we saw every color of the spectrum pass over us. We snapped some photos and Tino hired a taxi for the ride back home. The driver ripped up a dirty towel so we could tie the bikes to the roof. We drove home as night fell and arrived at the house dirty and wind burned.

Today was a wonderful day.

We woke up this morning and Maria (The mother of the house) made us a fantastic egg sandwich and a fruit smoothie for breakfast. We sipped a few cups of coca tea and then we were off to the famous Huancayo market.

It was about a mile walk to the market and when we finally got to it we were amazed at just how many vendors there were. The market stretches for a few miles along a long street. There are four rows of booths running down the street. I can not even begin to imagine how many vendors were selling their crafts. There were hundreds and hundreds of them.

As we walked through the market we were amazed at the quality of the craftsmanship and the great prices. A handmade, alpaca wool coat only cost about 12 US dollars. We walked through the market for hours until our arms were full of shopping bags. We did not even see all of the market but we just had to get back home before our arms fell off. We may have to throw away most of our possessions so that we can fit everything in our bags.