Independence, Illness, and Inexplicable Llamas

Let me be the first to wish you a belated Feliz 28 de Julio, Happy Peruvian Independence Day! On this date in 1821, the Peruvians defeated their Spanish colonizers in the battle of Ayacucho, which took place only a few miles from where I am currently sitting.

The Plaza de Armas in Huamanga, Ayacucho

Ironically, I spent this Independence Day confined to my bed, as the inevitable has finally occurred: I'm sick. It's 100% my own fault, since I've eaten quite a few dodgy things over the past few days - some traditional sesame ice cream that my professor bought from a street vendor, unpeeled grapes, and perhaps most stupidly, a dish that contained shrimp. Remind me to never eat seafood when I'm 2,746 miles above sea level and 5 hours away from the coast.

Anyway, I'm taking antibiotics, and am feeling much better already. The good news is, since I'm wasn't up for leaving the house/celebrating Independence Day, I finally had time to sit down and write this blog entry!

Last Saturday my group and I took a 5:30am flight out of Lima to Ayacucho, a region in the Andes mountains. As much as I was not enthused about driving to the airport at 3am, I have to admit that watching the sun rise over the mountains was a sight that I will never forget. A picture can't really do it justice but it's worth a shot:

Around 7am, we landed in Ayacucho airport, where we were met by our professors, Ponciano, Lourdes, and Mariano. They whisked us straight to our homestays so we could get some sleep (you may recall from my last entry that we were out salsa dancing until 1am, then got up at 2:30 to go to the airport). My friend Annie and I are living with a wonderful family who own a bakery called La Miel (The Honey) in the Plaza de Armas, where we have class. My friends and I have visited religiously almost every day   =)

I have fallen completely in love with Huamanga, the capital city where we're staying. The sky is clear and blue, and we're surrounded on all sides by mountains. When compared to grey, cosmopolitan Lima, Huamanga is much more what you'd imagine a quaint South American city to look like. The buildings are colorful if a little dusty, the streets are full of motos, the adorable 3-wheeled taxis that will take you anywhere for 40 cents, and stray dogs wait at the crosswalk along with all the other pedestrians. Perhaps one of the coolest parts is seeing all the huamanguinas, the old women with traditional braids, hats, and outfits who sell food out of the enormous bundles they carry on their backs.

A "huamanguina" selling food (and children?)

During a typical day, I have a Political Science class from 10am-1pm, where we're learning about Shining Path, the terrorist organization that operated out of Ayacucho in the 80's and 90's. I'm going to write more about that in another post; it's obviously very affecting to learn about these events in a the city where they happened.

After class and a delicious lunch prepared by my "mom" Charo, I head to my Agency Affiliation. All of us are working with different organizations around Ayacucho, and I've been placed at Casa Hogar Los Cachorros ("The Puppies" Shelter). This is a shelter for children and adolescents who live on the street, particularly those who are recovering from drug addiction. Right now there are 7 boys living there, between the ages of 9 and 17, and for three hours every day I help them with homework, chat with them, and teach theatre games. It's been pretty funny to play Park Bench and Yee-Haw in Spanish - they like them just as much as my American campers do! They've taught me some of their favorite games as well… my shins are covered in bruises from a particularly intense game of fútbol de saltarín, a one-on-one soccer game that uses a trampoline as a field (I was creamed, 50 to 25). 

It's a really interesting to work with kids who come from such difficult backgrounds. Most of the kids still have families, but, for some reason or another, chose to leave or were forced out. Their moods are very variable, and I'm still learning how to act with each individual boy so that they'll be receptive. Some days are tough, but others they just act like normal children, joking around and playing. They call me "Sera", which I eventually figured out was not them mistaking me for someone named Sarah, but rather a shortening of profesora.

Just because this post was lacking in llamas. Also, side note, I ate alpaca the other day. It tastes like... meat.

Well, I've babbled on for an awfully long time now… I should probably take a nap so I can get better asap. Chao for now!

Lima Alphabet Book

Hello everyone!


So it turns out that my computer is broken - when I took it to an Apple Specialist store, they said there was something wrong with the hardware and that it would take 20 days to fix. Since I was leaving Lima soon, I decided it would be easier to wait until I'm back in the States to get it fixed, and at the urging of my communication-deprived parents, I've bought a tiny tablet that has internet. The guy in the store was very helpful despite my disastrous lack of Spanish technology vocabulary, and by the end of the purchase he had proposed to me several times, saying that I clearly needed a Peruvian husband to help me organize my life.


So here I am, with my tablet, writing this blog. I'm actually already in Ayacucho, the mountain city where I'll be spending the next 3 weeks of my trip, and I have lots and lots to say about that, but first I want to go back and share some of the interesting things I learned/experienced in Lima. Because I couldn't post more entries while I was there, this entry is going to take a different format from my last few (and will be really long, sorry! There's so much that I've been wanting to share but couldn't without a computer).


So, without further ado, Megasita Lowey Publications Proudly Presents:


THE LIMA ALPHABET BOOK


A is for Archaeology - As I had mentioned in my last post, a few weeks ago we visited an archaeological site called Pachacamac, which was the sacred site for 4 separate civilizations (the Lima, the Wari, the Ychma, and the Inca). It was amazing to see the temples, some of which still had paint on them from the Inca period around the 1400s. One of the Belgian girls I live with, Tatiana, works at Pachacamac as an archaeologist, and the other day her team found a burial site of over 70 bodies, some of which were preserved so well that you could still see the tattoos they had on their skin!


B is for Barranco - Lima is enormous, and is divided into many districts, or municipalidades. Barranco is the name of the district where I lived, and was about an hour taxi ride from la Católica, in the District of San Miguel.


C is for Churros - Almost every single day since arriving in Lima, our group has gone to a churrería (churro shop) called Monolo to get dessert. The workers there recognize us now. It's embarrassing.


D is for Danza de Tijeras - One night, our professors took us to a dinner show so we could see some traditional Peruvian dances. The coolest one was called the Danza de Tijeras, or Scissor Dance. The dancers literally have a pair of scissors (with the two parts separated), which they clack in time with the music while they do all sorts of tricks. It was incredible... one guy stood on his head, and the other guy did the worm!


E is for English - I would estimate that about 40% of the stores and restaurants in Lima have English names, like "Pardo's Chicken" and "Scrub and Scrub Lavandería". It seems like a strange custom, but my professor Eduardo explained to us that in Peru, anglo names denote a certain amount of success and "cool-ness". That's the case even with people - Eduardo has an English last name, Hopkins, and apparently people have talked to him about how lucky he is and how many many opportunities that must bring him.


F is for Food - Ceviche (raw fish that's "cooked" with the acid of lime juice), Anticuchos (cow heart), Chifa (Peruvian-Chinese fusion food), Picarones (Peruvian donuts made with corn meal and sweet potato), Choclo (giant corn kernels), and rice and potatoes with every meal. Peruvian cuisine is a huge source of national pride. In fact, our professor told us that the Peruvian obsession with food is turning into a method of escaping poverty... lots of people in the poor sections of Lima set up food stalls by construction sites and newly-developed apartments and cook for the workers/residents. These businesses are very lucrative and apparently a decent portion of the street vendors save up to attend culinary school and open restaurants.


G is for Grey Sky - Here's one thing that they don't tell you about winter in Lima: the sky is literally always grey. Between May and September (or so), cold currents come up the coast from the Antarctic, while warm currents come down from the Equator. The collision of these currents produces a phenomenon called "El Niño", which you probably learned about in 6th grade Social Studies class. It causes a lot of tropical storms and such, but it's effect is calmer in Lima... because the city is in a desert valley, a cloud-cover forms extremely low over the city. If you drive 3 kilometers out of Lima and into the hills, it's gone!


H is for Huaca - A huaca is any sort of sacred site from the early days of Lima. One of the coolest things about this city is that you can turn a corner and run straight into an ancient temple, preserved by the city as a huaca but surrounded by modern buildings. Our tour guide, Carlos, who is also an archaeologist, works in a huaca right next to our university.


I is for I've been trying to come up with something for "I", but I kept skipping over this letter and now I can't think of anything that I haven't already covered


J is for Jaja - That's how Spanish speakers spell "haha".


K is for Kola - As I've mentioned before, Inca Kola, the fluorescent yellow bubble-gum drink, is Peru's most popular soda. Other options include Chicha, a drink made of purple corn, and of course Pisco Sours, the national alcoholic beverage. Our Peruvian friend Ivan taught us how to make this drink (the legal drinking age here is 18): one part Pisco (a grape brandy) mixed with cane sugar, lime juice, and an egg-white, which gets all frothy and rises to the top.


L is for Literature - We've read some really interesting and beautiful things in class over the past few weeks. In case you're interested in searching for some short stories, I recommend Una mujer no hace un verano by Guillermo Niño de Guzmán, and Con Jimmy, en Paracas by Alfredo Bryce Echenique.


M is for Microbus - When my group wasn't in a hurry, we would take the Microbus instead of a taxi. These look pretty much like American busses, but there have twice the number of people squished inside! It's definitely an experience to ride them, especially since driving any sort of vehicle in Lima is mildly terrifying... they don't have traffic laws here, just suggestions.


N is for Naufragios - A couple of the girls and I went to see a show called Naufragios, or Shipwrecks, at a tiny storefront theatre in Barranco called Teatro Racional. We went in, and there were chairs facing in all directions in the middle of the room. Throughout the show, you could change your seat to see the women who performed in 3 different corners. Between this set-up and the experimental, physical nature of the show, the style was very "Chicago theatre", so I felt right at home!


O is for Ocean - One afternoon, my friends and I walked down the cliffs of Barranco (Barranco means cliff, actually, so it's appropriate) to the Pacific Ocean. The beach is all rocks, and when the waves subside you can hear the water draining from the rocks - it's one of the coolest sounds I've ever heard!


P is for Parque Kennedy - This was one of our favorite meeting/hang-out places. A beautiful and rather touristy area in the district of Miraflores, the park is full of restaurants, artesian shops, and hundreds and hundreds of stray cats. Apparently someone abandoned a couple there at one point, and they just multiplied like rabbits. Or cats, I guess.


Q is for Quechua - Our tour guide Carlos (I know I've mentioned him a lot. All the girls in our group are in love with him) is from Cuzco, which has a much higher Quechua-speaking population than Lima. He taught us a couple of words, and one of the most interesting is waxchakay, which means both "poverty" and "orphan". Family was, and still is, an extremely important part of Peruvian culture. When you get married, your spouse's family becomes a part of your family, and apparently even today families will get together to build a house for the newlyweds. The more family you have, the faster the work gets done, and the "richer" you are for having so many helping hands.


R is for Ruidoso - This means "noisy", like a street in Lima. I have never heard so many car alarms in my life.


S is for Salsa Dancing - On our last night in Lima, we went to a Salsa club, where our American friend Kerry (who goes to UVM) and our Peruvian friend Ivan gave us a lesson in salsa dancing! It was super fun, even if we weren't very good, and very interesting to see the contrast between this club and the discotecas we had gone to previously. The Salsa club had a live band, and the culture was much more dance oriented (as opposed to pick-up-girls oriented). We stayed there until 1am, then got on the bus to the airport 2 hours later! I can sleep when I'm dead... or at least when I'm somewhere less exciting.


T is for Toilet Paper -  Don't put it in the toilet, ever. The plumbing in Peru can NOT handle it.


U is for Universitario vs. Alianza - Our last Saturday, we went with our awesome Peruvian friend Ivan to a fútbol (soccer) game in the Estadio National. It was between Peru's 2 most famous teams, and the atmosphere was wild! Here's an idea of what it looked like.


V is for Venados - Those venados (deer) at the University literally have no fear. You can go right up to them and feed them a flower. I can't get over it.


W is for Whistling - As the encounter with my fiancee, Tablet Store Guy, exemplifies, the culture between men and women here is veeery different from the US, especially if you're a young foreign woman. My friends and I have received a great deal of attention, especially when we go out to discotecas with our Peruvian friends. Being blond in a discoteca is kind of like being a single flake of goldfish food in a sea of piranhas. Well-meaning latino piranhas who can shake their hips better than anyone I know.


X is for Xylophone - I'm sure someone, somewhere in Peru, has a xylophone.


Y is for Ychma -  One of Peru's ancient civilizations. The Ychma were around at the same time as the Inca, and eventually joined their empire. As rulers go, the Inca were actually not a bad bunch - whenever they discovered a new area that they wanted to conquer, they would send a messenger to the people and say "Hey. Either you can join our empire, keep all of your own gods and culture, and get protection in exchange for a couple of llamas every year, or we can send our warriors in to beat the crap out of you, and then you can join our empire". The Ychma thought that the whole llama thing was a pretty good deal, so into the Incan empire they went, and remained there until Francisco Pizarro's conquistador buddies came and attacked Pachacamac in the 1530s.


Z is for Zanahoria - "Carrot" in Spanish. One of our host mom's cooks gave us all a cooking lesson one night. We made SUCH yummy food, and now I have some recipes to bring home and make for all y'all!




Tada! That's Lima from A-Z. Congratulations for making it all the way to the end!


I can't wait to write about Ayacucho; it is SO BEAUTIFUL here in the Andes! But now I have to go do readings for the first day of class tomorrow... chao amigos!

Mala Suerte

Buenas noches!


I hope you managed to survive this Friday the 13th unscathed. I've been having a bit of mala suerte (bad luck) myself: my computer has stopped working, and I have a sinus infection that left my without a voice for the past 3 days. However, after performing many ancient Incan rituals to rid myself of the Evil Eye (jk just taking some cold medicine), my voice has returned, and I have high hopes that my computer will be fixed without too much trouble. Tomorrow my "brother" Rafael is taking me to an Apple-approved computer seller (the nearest Apple store is in Mexico) and my lovely roommate Heather is letting me use her computer for a while to check my emails and write this blog.


The only thing that wasn't backed up on my computer are my photos from this trip, so I hope hope hope I can get them back... I'm really bummed that I don't have them. But everything else is safe, and at least I'm in Lima, where there are Apple-trained employees in computer stores - it would really stink to have my computer break down in the mountain town of Ayacucho, where we're headed in 6 days.


So my blog is going to go on a bit of a hiatus until I can get this figured out. In case you're desperately unhappy about this (as I'm sure you are), here's a list of my grand Lima Blog plans, which I will execute once I have a computer again:


- Pachacamac, the huaca (ancient sacred site) that we visited last Sunday
- Parque Kennedy, the fun park in Miraflores where our group usually hangs out. It is FULL of stray cats
- A fútbol game between Universitario and Anianza, Peru's two best soccer teams (spoiler alert: I rooted for la U and they won 2-1. Gooooooooool!!!!!)
- El museo de oro (the Peruvian Gold Museum) and a museum of Peruvian History
- Peruvian Food and Fun


As one last teaser, here's one of the many pictures that random magazines took of us at the fútbol game


Well, my poor roommate probably wants her computer back, so I'm off! Have a great week and buena suerte!

Cuento #1: La Leyenda de Pachacamac

The Main Temple at Pachacamac - you can still see some of the red and yellow paint that used to cover it!

Because it's been more than a week since my trip has started, I figure it's high for a REAL story, not just my scattered ramblings - so I'd like to share with you the legend of Pachacamac, an ancient god whose temple we visited on Sunday. Another blog post is in the works, with information about what I've been up to for the past few days, but as a teaser (and so that post isn't 40 pages long) here's my first "Cuento" of the trip!


LA LEYENDA DE PACHACAMAC             (The Legend of Pachacamac)
according to our wonderful tour guide Carlos


Long ago, when the Earth was first born, the god Pachacamac created a man and a woman to inhabit it. But the land was hostile and barren, and it wasn't long before the man died. The woman cried out to Pachacamac's father, the Sun God, begging him to make another human who would keep her company and protect her in this inhospitable land. The Sun God took pity on the woman and gave her a child, Wichama, who he promised would one day grow into a strong and powerful demi-god.
When the young god Pachacamac saw his father doing so much to help this woman, he became extremely jealous. One night, he came down from the sky in a fit of rage and murdered her child, tearing the boy limb from limb. Pachacamac then decided to hide the dismembered pieces in the earth, so they would never be found. As Pachacamac finished his work, something strange began to happen: the buried parts of the child's body began to change and grow, until a plant had sprouted from every piece. From his teeth grew the first ear of corn; from his hair, the first cotton. Pachacamac rushed back to the sky, leaving a single piece of the Wichima's body by the place where his mother lay sleeping.
When the mother awoke, she found the Earth a completely different place, covered with plants which had grown from the bones of her child. When she realized that her son was dead, she once again called upon the Sun God, who used the piece which Pachacamac had left unburied to bring Wichama back to life. As the Sun God had promised, the boy grew tall and strong, and soon he began to travel long distances in his hunts for food. One night, when Wichama was far away, the god Pachacamac decided to punish these humans: he returned to the earth, this time killing the mother instead of her son.
Upon his return, Wichama was horrified to find his mother dead. He swore vengeance against Pachacamac, and spent years traveling the earth to find the cruel god. Finally, on the coast of what is now known as Lima, Perú, Wichama found Pachacamac's hiding place, and began to chase him into the sea. Pachacamac dove into the water, but as he hit the first wave he turned into an island. Wichama followed, and likewise was changed into a smaller island - and so, for all eternity, these two islands will float in the ocean, never touching, waiting to be released from their rocky prisons when the end of the world arrives.

Wichama and Pachamac, wet and cranky for all eternity

This took a lot longer to write than I thought it would, mostly because I kept second-guessing myself on my grammar. I keep writing things the way that I originally heard them/would say them in Spanish, and end up with a lot of phrases that make no sense. It's not that my Spanish is getting that much better (though it certainly has improved) - it's more that I'm a mediocre English speaker now.
¡Hasta pronto, amigos! Check back for another post (and more juicy details about Pachacamac) soon!

Lima: a few fun facts, lots of pictures

Hola todos!


I'm only 4 days into the trip, but so much happens every day that I feel like I've been here for ages. My Spanish still has a long way to go, but I'm starting to remember/figure out the phrases they don't teach you in Spanish Literature class. I can now officially ask for everything without ice (two other girls have already gotten sick from the water) and successfully bargain with the taxi drivers. There are no meters here - you hail a cab, tell them where you're going, and haggle over a price for the ride. Sometimes, if he doesn't like your price or just doesn't feel like driving wherever you're going, the taxista will just drive away and you have to start all over again! Luckily, the streets are chock-full of cabs, and the fares are extremely cheap. My roommates and I take a cab from our home in Barranco to La Universidad Católica in Lima every day... people in Peru are CRAZY drivers, but I've discovered that if I just hold my breath and press my right foot onto an imaginary break pedal, everything is fine  =)

Ocean view on our cab-ride to the Católica!

Today, the girls on my program and I took a tour around historic Lima, so I figured I would share a couple of the more interesting thing I've learned, both during our tour and in my Peruvian literature class.


DID YOU KNOW THAT...?


- The port city of Lima was founded in 1532 by Francisco Pizarro and his conquistador buddies, and was built on top of an Inca city after the indigenous people "gave up" their right to the land. As such, modern Lima is sort of a city on top of a city on top of a city, since many of the colonial buildings have been covered and are only now being excavated by people like our wonderful tour guide, Carlos. I don't have a picture of him, but he's the man.

- Since colonial times, Peru has struggled with prejudice and discrimination among its citizens. My professor, Eduardo Hopkins, explained to us that there are three main Peruvian races: Blancos, the white descendants of the Spanish colonials; mestizos, who come from mixed marriages between Europeans and indigenous peoples; and indios, the "indians" who have lived in Peru for centuries. The social system set up by Pizarro, with the Spaniards at the top and native Peruvians at the bottom, has proven difficult to change, and even now there's often a connection between the economic status of a family and their race, as well as the language they use. Although the indigenous language, Quechua, is widely spoken, official state business and university classes use Spanish, "the language of the conquistador", and there's a lot of resistance to making Peru a bilingual country. For the 15 years or so, the government has been taking steps to try and break down these class barriers and racial prejudices.

Two of the dancers at today's parade!

- Despite this clash, a lot of Peru's festivals and cultural events are the product of the country's mixed background: many of the nation's holidays combine Christian traditions with ancient indigenous rituals in a really fascinating way. Today was the start of la Fiesta de la Vírgin del Carmen, a celebration in Cusco that seems a lot like Venice's Carnival, with people in masks making mischief and partying for four days straight. When we went to visit the Plaza de Armas, representatives from Cusco were outside of the president's mansion doing native dances in honor of the festival. The thing on that little kid's back is a fake baby llama... there was some story about carrying the llama up a mountain because it represents the soul of the Virgin Mary, and also that of a bear. I don't know. I'm sure it makes sense to them.


- Our tour guide Carlos showed us a lot of buildings from the 1700's, which clearly used to be gorgeous but have fallen into disrepair. A lot of them have huge wooden balconies with lattice covering  everything (it's hard to explain, look at the picture!). Carlos explained that if you were a woman in the 18th century, you basically weren't allowed to see the light of day. When you went out, you had to wear a veil that covered everything but one eye (creepy), and the only way that these women could talk to men was through the lattice balcony, so that their faces were never seen. I'm not exactly sure who would benefit from a system like that, but at least the buildings are pretty.

- Inka Kola is the number-one selling soda in Peru. It's florescent yellow and tastes like cotton candy. The jury's still out on whether or not I actually like it.


As I settle in and get a routine, these posts are bound to be less frequent, but for now so much is new and exciting that I want to write it down/remember it! Right now the girls and I are resting in our tiny room - our Peruvian amigos took us to discotecas both last night and the night before (more on that part of Peruvian culture later) and we're completely exhausted! Tomorrow we go to an archeological site called Pachacamac. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Feliz día de Independencia!

Happy (late) Fourth of July, everyone!

Getting punny in the airport (llama means "pay attention" as well as the animal)

After 3,785 miles and 12 hours of travel on Tuesday, I celebrated the Fourth in true Peruvian style... not doing anything related to the US's Independence day! The 8 girls on the program (yes, we're all girls) spent the night in a hotel before going to La Pontífica Universidad Católica de Peru, where we're taking classes for the next 3 weeks. As we pulled up to the entrance, we were greeted by one of the many semi-tame deer that roam around the campus (!!!), as well as Professor Eduardo Hopkins, who'll be teaching my class on Contemporary Peruvian Literature.

Un venado de PUPC

Eduardo brought us to a classroom and gave us a crash course in Lima's transportation, food, money, weather, and history before bringing us to meet our "compañeros" from la Católica. These Peruvian students volunteer through the university to show us international students around and generally act as a resource. They're absolute sweeties - two of them studied abroad at Boston University last year! Ironically, they start their winter vacation this Friday, so we won't have any classes with them, but I guess that means they'll be free to hang out with us! 

After chatting with our new amigos, we were sent off once again to meet our host families. My mamá's name is Mónica, and she's been hosting international students for the past nine years. Right now, in addition to me and two other girls from my program, she's hosting two really lovely Belgian girls who've been here for about a year. Between all the international students, Mónica and her two children (Rafael, a 22 year old boy who invited me to jam with his punk band, and Camila, an adorable but wild 9 year old girl) and a bunch of friends who are in and out of the house all day, I have met more people and learned more names in the past 38 hours than I can possibly remember!

Today was our first real class, and the rest of my day was spent buying a cheap cell phone and organizing the teeny tiny room that I'm sharing with Heather and Kristen, the two girls from BU. It's very cozy: like, the 5-inches-between-each-bed-and-a-foot-from-the-bed-to-the-wall kind of cozy. But the apartment really is very nice, and I'm so glad to have such a nice family, who are used to dealing with exchange students like me  =)

Camila y yo  =D

I've keep having to hit backspace, because I'm listening to Camila (as she ricochets all over our room) and accidentally write in Spanish. And now, I'm going to kick her out of the room so I can do my readings for class tomorrow.

Hasta pronto, amigos americanos!

Let the adventures begin!

I love every kind of story, but especially travel stories. I come from a family of travelers, and grew up listening to accounts of motor-bike trips across Europe, casual references to "that time I lived in Singapore", and significantly too much information about when my mom got the flu in Greece. These stories are the result of trips that allowed them to learn about hundreds of interesting places, introduced them to our many multi-cultural friends, and helped to define their lives (and thus my life as well!).

And now, it's my turn to tell a travel story or two(Cuéntame un cuento means "tell me a story" in Spanish)! For the next 7 weeks, I'll be traveling around Peru, studying at two universities, working in a homeless shelter for children, speaking a whole lot of Spanish, avoiding the drinking water, and hopefully taking several pictures with llamas. It's important to set goals for yourself, right?

So here's a map of where I'm going:

- 3 weeks in Lima, studying Contemporary Peruvian Literature at the Universidad Católica

- 3 weeks in Ayacucho, studying Peruvian Politics During and After Shining Path at Universidad Nacional de San Cristobal, and working at la Casa Hogar los Cachorros

- 1 week in Cuzco, home of Machu Picchu and the namesake of this guy

So that's the plan! It's 1am, my bag is packed - somewhere between "light", as the program recommends, and actually bringing all the stuff that they require on our packing list - and I am ready and rearin' to go. The program's seven other students and I have 12 hours of travel tomorrow, and will land in Lima around 10pm CST. Once I get settled in my homestay and have internet access, I'll post periodic updates on my adventures.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you're all having amazing summers, wherever you may be!