I think the timing of my last post may have confused some of you. The vacation I blogged about was actually in the last weeks of February and early March....but I was slow to write about it. I have now in fact been back since in Ayacucho since March 7 but am getting ready to leave this weekend...for good!
The last two months have flown by but have been overall pretty good (but busy). Work at FINCA in particular in the last two months was quite demanding. The children's program, AFLATOUN, started up again the second week of March and I was pretty busy organizing everything, writing lesson plans and of course teaching the little ones. Honestly, saying goodbye to the kids this week was one of the hardest goodbyes I've had to do here in Ayacucho! I also dedicated a lot of my time to working on a video for FINCA, a tribute to women at FINCA and in Ayacucho that will premier for the socias on Mother's Day. FINCA employees wrote the script and I did the filming, editing, etc...I will post a link to the video as soon as I get it uploaded!
Today was my last day at FINCA which I am mostly happy about but is definitely a big deal for me. Working there was an experience I will never ever forget and from which I have learned so much. Today the employees surprised me with a mini going-away party that was very sweet. They gave me gifts and made little speeches for me. I felt very honored by the gesture and even more so to have had the opportunity to work alongside such strong women during the past 7 months.
Changing subjects, one very exciting thing that has happened in Ayacucho recently was Semana Santa...the holy week leading up to Easter. Semana Santa is taken very seriously in Ayacucho and is actually considered, after Spain, to be the most important holy week in all of Latin America. Tourists come from all over the world to see the elaborate processions and reenactments of the events leading up to Christ's resurrection. Though I did not witness it, there is even a day in which a man dressed as Jesus is violently whipped and tied to a cross....interesting. Events for Semana Santa usually begin Thursday (10 days before Easter) but I didn't really start participating and checking out the scene until a little later in the week. What I did see though, was really beautiful. Each afternoon/evening locals fill the plaza to create elaborate "alfombras," or carpets, made out of painted saw dust, flower petals and/or paint (typical to latin america). Then, elaborate processions that commemorate the story of Christ pass over the alfombras each night. Perhaps the most unique procession that I witnessed, was on Good Friday. A lit up "coffin" of christ" and a large Mary Magdelen dressed in black and mourning was carried through the streets. Most of the lights in the center of town were turned off and people only carry candles. Very catholic women in Ayacucho actually dress in all black and weep as they walk through the streets. Other exciting Semana Santa events included a running of the bulls (also like in Spain) and a party on Saturday night with nearly 3 hours of fireworks!
Pictures of Semana Santa to come soon!
Well as I mentioned, today is my last day in Ayacucho. Tomorrow I leave for a five week trip around Peru!! I am going with one of my Peruvian friends and expect to have an amazing adventure. I will update you all on my whereabouts! Muchos besos!!
Lindsay
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Travels to the North: Part 2
After Pimentel and Chiclayo, we headed to Peru's best beach: Mancora. Mancora has warm waters and great night life. We couldn't stay long but it was well worth the stop. After an amazing 24 hours on the beach, we finally crossed the border to the north into Ecuador. Though we only were in Ecuador a total of 5 days, I saw enough to know it is a place I want to return to one day. The border region between Peru and Ecuador is nothing special, it is even rather ugly, but only a few hours or so driving through the country it because a beautiful green landscape full of banana plantations and lush mountain views. Our destination was Cuecna and the drive from the coast to this mountain city (and back) was in itself worth the trip!
Cuenca is awesome. It is a colonial city in the Andes, nearly the same altitude (8,300ft.) as Ayacucho (9,000ft). However, it couldn't be more different in terms of landscape, architecture and level of development. What really struck me about Cuenca (especially in comparison to my current Andean home) was the level of cleanliness and order to the city. The colonial styles streets and buildings are just gorgeous and the streets are super clean and not full of dust. Cuenca is much bigger and much more developed. I have been told there is a lot of foreign money invested in Cuenca both from foreigners (mostly Americans) settling and retiring in Cuecna as well as remittance money from Ecuadorians living abroad. While in Cuenca, we visited a Lewis and Clark friend, Jaqueline, who told us that an estimated 1 in 10 Ecuadorians live outside Ecuador, mostly in the United States and Spain. On our first day there we actually took a strip to a beautiful small town outside of the city called Chordeleg and were struck by the enormous houses that can be seen lining the countryside. Jaqueline says many of the houses were built remittance money and that many aren't even finished inside or lived in! They are simply symbols of status the dream of one day inhabiting a large, american style home. The views in Cuenca also are breathtaking. The mountains are much greener than in Ayacucho and there are 7 rivers that go through the city! The girls and I basically spent our time in Cuenca exploring the gorgeous city, eating tasty food and visiting a few museums.
One of Cuenca's main attractions are the numerous Panama Hat museums and shops. These straw hats originated in this region and to this day are a prime export. In spanish they are called Paja Toquilla hats because of the straw they are made from but in english we know them as panama hats because they were very popular in the 1920s during the building of the Panama Canal. Hats range in price from $20 to $1000 depending on how finely woven they are. Functionally, these hats are to protect people from the sun, but they have also been a global fashion accessory throughout the last century.
On our last day in Cuenca, Cotty, Cami and took an excursion to Caja National Park about an hour outside of the city. We took a beautiful hike around several alpine lakes at approximately 13,000ft!
Unfortunately, after Cuenca, we had a long journey back to Ayacucho. We broke it up by spending two more nights and one full day in Mancora (more heavenly sun and sand) but still had to spend a total of 36 hours busing back, not including 3 hours at the border. The poor Chileans had another 25 hours on top of all that to get back south!
Overall, it was a wonderful wonderful vacation and I am thrilled we were able to make it happen!!
Cuenca
The girls and I in the Cajas National Park, Ecuador
Cuenca
In Chordegleg, outside of Cuenca
Showing off our new hats in Mancora
Friday, April 1, 2011
Presidential Politics
For those of you who like politics, I have fun blog I think you should read about the upcoming presidential election in Peru. It was written by my friend and co-volunteer at FINCA, Geeta. It is a great summary of what is going on here and I enjoyed helping her do research for this post!
Geeta is a fellow with Kiva, the organization through which you can lend money to FINCA socias online (wink wink)! www.kiva.org
Travels to the north: Part 1
Going backwards a bit, I suppose one month after the fact is as good of a time as any to finally tell you all about our trip up north and to Ecuador! Unfortunately, Sara got sick right before traveling and so I started the trip without her. Our friend Else and I headed to Lima on Feb. 16. As I mentioned in the last post,the weather was really crazy during that time and we weren't able to get out of Ayacucho by bus! We ended up purchasing a more expensive than desired flight to Lima for 5:30am. Due to rain/fog/clounds, we didn't even take off until 3pm. Oy. However, we finally got to Lima that afternoon and I had a very very happy reunion with my wonderful Chilean friends, Cotty and Cami!!!! We spent a day and night in Lima doing some of the typical tourist stuff (many of which I hadn't done yet) - visiting the catacombs of the San Francisco Church, Magic Water Park (a park of unique water fountains that are lit up at night) and wandering around downtown. Then, on Friday night we took our first of many overnight buses, to the city of Trujillo. Trujillo is nice, not super special, but our real destination was the AWESOME: the beach town of Haunchaco. Huancacho is about a 20 minute cab ride from Trujillo and is a beautiful beach/surf town where tourists from all over the world come to learn to surf. While the chilenas and I were content sunning on the beach, Else got adventurous and went out for what was her second surf lesson ever there. She did great!! Only two hours after arriving to Haunchaco we decided to extend our time there to three days and we all had wonderfully relaxing time sunning on the beach, walking around the cute town, and eating ceviche (duh). We also spent one day visiting ruins outside of town. The ruins are of a pre-incan civilazation called the Moche people that lived in that region from about year 100 - 1000. We saw the Hauca del Sol (Pyrimad of the Sun) that is full of colorful paintings carved into stone.
Huanchaco ended up being the first of three beaches we visited in Peru. Our next destination was the Chiclayo, a 20 minute ride from the beach called Pimentel. Sara met us in Chiclayo along with our friend Carlos from Ayacucho. Carlos grew up in Chiclayo and was able to show us the best restaurants and markets in the city. We also got in a few more good beach days in Pimentel though the scene there was not nearly as exciting as that of Hauncacho or our final beach destination, Máncora. Chiclayo, only three hours north of Trujillo, is also ancient Moche territory so we took the opportunity to go a local museum to learn more. The Moche culture is known for extravagant burials and excellent metalworking. Tombs of ancient royalty have been discovered in the past 20 years or so, filled with gold, copper, sliver and turquoise pieces. The archeological museum is home to much of this beautiful jewelry and other artifacts.
Trujillo main plaza
Painted/Carved walls at the Haunca del Sol (Moche ruins outside of Trujillo)
Lindsay, Cotty, Cami at the Huaca del Sol
Fabulous Huanchaco
The crew reunited in Chiclayo: Else, Sara, Carlos, Cami and Cotty
Also if you haven't already seen the rest of my pictures from the trip, here they are: http://picasaweb.google.com/lsaperstone/
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