Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Ayacucho

Que tal mis amores,
I hope that whomever is reading this, and wherever you are, that you´re having a wonderful day. I am currently super sunburnt, yet centered and happy - writing from my hostel in Cusco, Peru. This post will reflect on Ayacucho. This proved to be the most eye-opening stop, and I am very thankful for my time there, despite my ignorance and poor attitude upon arrival.

Ayacucho is a city in the middle of the Peruvian Andes, halfway between Lima and Cusco. I first heard of it at 2am at the Peruvian boarder, when I found an informational brochure while waiting in line to enter the country. The town looked beautiful, and there were llamas on the cover, so my sleep-deprived mind decided to add it to the itinerary. During the first two days, I regretted that decision. The city itself was quite large, which I was not expecting, and exploring it was a bit lackluster compared to the excitement of the other places I previously visited. There were very few tourists, which was made it challenging to get enough people on board for a natural excursion. The city was also under quite a bit of construction, which made my first night a sleepless one. I was fortunate enough to evade altitude sickness, but I got very homesick because I didn`t meet any other travelers. It was challenging, especially because the wifi service at the hostel was very poor, so I didn`t have good contact with home. In summary, after two nights I was in a bad mood and considered leaving a few days early to see Cusco sooner.

That morning, things began to change. I had a mood-booster dance party and decided to try again, and to engage in a more constructive activity than just wandering the city aimlessly. So, I looked in my guide book for a bit of historical context or advice on Ayacucho, and was stunned by what I found. It was the hardest hit town by Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, which was a maoist insurgency that swept through the outskirts of Lima in the 80s and 90s. I learned about this group within the context of the Cold War and different social movements in Latin America at the time, but completely forgot that Ayacucho accounted for most of the movement`s deaths and forced disappearances, most of whom were young men. With this information, the things that previously confused me about Ayacucho began to make sense. There were tons of hostels but very few tourists. The town center hosted a beautiful Plaza de Armas and a rich colonial history, but a majority of the buildings were new brick constructions with little effort to modernize. It is very close to Lima, yet still pushed to the margains of the Andes. Finally, when just wandering the streets, you see way more older women in traditional dress than older men. It all made sense. The city is thriving, yet is still working to rebuild and re-establish itself, while bearing the scars of armed conflict.

The guidebook mentioned a museum dedicated to the relationship between Sendero Luminoso and Ayacucho, so I went over there to learn more. My cab driver took me across town for free, because he was so excited that I wanted to see the museum. It was small, but incredibly humbling and surreal. It hosted portrait photos and brief biographies of many who had died or disappeared, as well as many of their personal belongings. It also had a torture cell replication and buried body replication, like those found in harsly built mass-graves. These things were challenging to see, but gave important and personal context to the historical period. In addition to the challenging artifacts, the stories and portraits of those who lost family members during the conflict gave me hope. Even today, many are fighting for justice, answers, and government accountability in an organization started by women in 1983, la Asociacion Nacional de Familiares de Secuestrados, Detenidos y Desaparecido del Peru (ANFASEP). They built the museum, a memorial park outside of the museum, a safe and sacred burial site for the bodies of their loved ones, originally thrown into mass graves by the insurgency. The story of these women were incredible, and their hard work has ensured that this event will never be forgotten in Ayacucho.

During my remaining time there, I met many incredible native people, relied very heavily on Spanish, ate a lot of delicious and inexpensive food, and embraced my inner history nerd. I look forward to returning, and am very thankful for my time here. From here on, I will spend 5 more nights in Cusco, and will post about my experience here when that time comes to an end. Wishing everyone a happy Valentine`s Day, full of love both for yourself and for those around you.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Lima

Buenos tardes,

Lima, the "city of kings" was nothing short of impressive. I spent 5 days and 4 nights there, and had an incredible time. I arrived in the early morning, after taking two overnight buses from Guayaquil and getting a Peruvian stamp on my passport. This left me with two softball-sized ankles, but I was excited regardless to see this city that I had heard SO many wonderful things about. I washed my mildew-scented clothes, showered, power napped, then began to meet the other people staying in my hostel. I met two super rad Auzzies, one of which had been on a city tour earlier that day, and she orchestrated a group from that tour and a group from our hostel to go to a laser fountain show. I went along with it, and after a super sweaty bus ride to the national stadium, we arrived at the water park. It was touristy as hell but we loved it. A huge show with pictures projected onto the spray ensued, and after the show we proceeded through the park until we found a path lined with bars. Apparently, we chose to hit the town on "national pisco sour weekend," which we were immediately roped into. Pisco is to Peruvians what vodka is to Russians, and the locals loved watching the gringos throw back. We danced, ate some amazing street food, and then went to central Miraflores, (the neighborhood our hostel was in,) and danced the night away to ACTUAL dancing music! What a concept! None of the bump and grind bs in the clubs at home. It was refreshing to say the least.

The following day, I chose to take it on the easier side. I managed to stave off a hangover, but wanted a me-day regardless. I journaled, blogged, napped, and went for a little walk around Miraflores. I continued the treat-yo-self mentality, and went out to dinner with the Auzzies at a nicer restaurant, which was delicious and the sunset backdrop complimented it perfectly. Super boujie, I know, but I'm ok with it.

Day 3 was a day full of personal adventure. I wandered along the street that boardered the ocean until it gave into a tangled highway system. Then, I walked along the beach until boom. I had entered Barrancos. This colorful neighborhood had the feel of a beach town, but all of the infrastructure and things you would expect to find in a big city. This is a completely different neighborhood than Miraflores, which is a bit on the nicer side, and feels more like a financial district full of trophy wives than anything else. I had an amazing lunch in Barrancos for dirt cheap, explored the vast collection of murals, and took a 30 cent bus back home. When I got back, I met a few Peruvian guys who used to work at my hostel, and played jenga with them for a while. They were so cool and very patient with my broken spanish, as are many of the local people I have met so far. I hung out with them and a few of their friends who were equally kind and hospitable, and we talked about everything from Peruvian cuss words to American politics. Great night overall.

After a second me-day, which I figured was affordable in a big city, I met a few girls from Greece in my hostel and we went to the historical district and back to Barrancos. We met a guy from southern Lima, and a girl from Muckleteo (PNW BABY, YEAH!) who joined us, and ended up serving as tour guides. It was a rad day overall, and I plan on meeting up with my lovely Greek goddesses when I get to Cusco.

Lima was both a relaxing and exciting place, but I am excited to get out of the big city environment for a while. I am currently in Ayacucho, which is smack dab between Lima and Cusco, and will blog about it upon leaving.

Hope you all are having an awesome day, and I can't wait to see you all soon! <3


Sunday, February 5, 2017

La costa ecuatoriana

¡Hola!
Oh man. The past 2 weeks have scorched by literally and figuratively, and I think by the time I get home my face will have morphed into one huge freckle. Since my last post, I have made many stops: Puerto López, Montañita, and Guayaquil in Ecuador, and am currently in Lima, Peru. I will keep this post Ecuadorian, but I will say that, yes, standing in line for hours to cross the Peruvian  boarder at 2am on an overnight bus is an absolute dream come true and is the ultimate tourist attraction for anyone looking to further some misery.

I'll start with Puerto López. This is by far one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been, and I very much look forward to returning. The bus trip to get there was a bit of a drag, and I burned the hell out of my leg on a motorcycle tailpipe, but it was well worth it. The small beach town is nestled in the center of el Parque Nacional Machallila, which hosts an incredible variety of protected lands to explore. I began my exploration at Isla de La Plata, which is commonly known as the "poor man's (or person's???) Galapagos." It did not disappoint. While I did not discover any new theories on natural selection or see 4 different colors of sand in the same place, I also didn't spend thousands of dollars, and for that, I am super happy. I did, however, get to live out my dream of seeing a blue-footed boobie and massive sea turtle up close. I also had the chance to snorkel in the shallow reefs near the island, where I saw tons of coral and many types of colorful fish. The following day, I took a bus with some hostel-mates to La Playa de los Frailes, which is a gorgeous protected beach that hosts some of the most fascinating tide pool systems I've ever seen. We scaled some rocks and scraped some knees but it was an absolutely incredible day overall. Later that day, I got to reunite with a former Camp Sealth coworker in all of her turtle conservation glory, and look ridiculously awkward in a salsa dancing class. My salsa has since improved, but I still uphold the stereotype of the white tourist with two left feet. I met many incredible people at this point in my trip, which made it all the better. I ended up joining a sweet young couple from Córdoba, Argentina on the next stage of their backpacking adventure in Montañita, in a hostel recommended by a fellow U.S. backpacker, and ran into the women at my hostel from New Zealand and Germany who came to Montañita several days after we did.

Montañita was not originally on my itinerary, but I'm very glad I went. It lives up to it's raging reputation, which was not kind to my shoestring budget, but was an absolute blast. Here, I met people from all corners of the world coming together to live a nocturnally for a weekend. In a way, it united everyone under a blanket of booze and created a welcoming and celebratory energy. It was a super touristy pit stop, I'm not going to lie, but sometimes it's fun to own your tourist side and have some fun. Here, I met even more incredible people, some of whom I hope to have in my life for a long time.

After Montañita, I went to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I planned on staying here for a simple pit stop to Peru, but the atmosphere of the hostel I randomly picked kept me there another night. I arrived to a grey-looking city dumping buckets of rain, and fell flat on my ass right outside of the main bus terminal. American Idiot may or may not have been playing in the background. I was miserable, had been on a bus for hours, and all of my stuff was wet, but I felt immediately welcomed and happy among the wonderful family gathered there. During my first day, I left the hostel in the morning with a team of 5 Dutch people, (all traveling separately?? Crazy coincidence,) and the group slowly broke apart until it was just me and a 65 year old pot farmer from Amsterdam named Dirk. I thought this guy was super strange when I first met him, but we ended up going on a massive adventure through the rain-soaked city and having a wonderful time. He began backpacking when he was my age, and has traveled and lived all over the world. He went to school for philosophy, and has a fascinating take on life, which was incredible to soak in. During this trip, I also spent a ton of time with the woman who owns the hostel, and she wants me to come back and work for her at some point in the near future.

In a nutshell, Ecuador was absolutely brilliant, and I can't wait to go back. The wildlife was incredible, the food was incredible, and the fact that I didn't have to lose money during a foreign currency exchange was incredible. Despite all of this, the best part was the people. Each Ecuadorian I met was unbelievably helpful, kind, patient, and thorough. They made this experience what it was, and I hope to take some of their energy with me on the next stage of my travel, and my life.

Sending all of my love to friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers back home. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon, and hearing about your adventures!

Ps. This blog site doesn't allow me to post photos from my phone, so I put a link for my Facebook album of photos below if you'd like to check them out. ❤Click here for Photos