#whereintheworldiserin

[enrich13]

Returning Home: The Aftershock

The term ‘culture shock’ gets thrown around a lot when we talk about travel.”Traveling you see a different world.” we are told before we leave “There will be so much to learn and adjust to.” We think in anticipation. For me, the culture shock doesn’t happen as the airplane lands, as a new language fills my ears, or even as I sample some new food. For me culture shock happens the moment I get home. Here I sit, in the house I grew up in, everything so familiar, so comfortable. It becomes hard to believe that I was on a different continent yesterday...two days ago...three? The last week there starts to become a blur.

How was it already one week ago that I sat in class with small, Spanish speaking children and helped them with their math? Was it just last week that the bus climbed to the top of their grey, dull mountain dotted with brightly colored houses? Just last week that they met us at the door smiling and confused, yet excited that we had remembered their names?

Was it just last week that I walked through the colorful streets of Pueblo Libre? Visited the museum there? Ogled at the ancient, Incan art?

Was it just a few days ago that we finished our last day of Spanish class? Laughed and took pictures as we walked out the door? Contemplated what to do with our last couple days in Peru?

How does it seem like forever ago that my host mom kissed my cheek, asked me to come back one day, and called me here ‘hijita’ one last time before I whisked out the door to the airport?

Yes, for me the culture shock doesn’t set in until I’m home again. When I’m surrounded by the familiar with only the memory of an adventure that begins to grow distant; that’s when it hits me. Peru was the adventure of a lifetime and it doesn’t seem possible that six weeks flew by so quickly.

[enrich13]

Week 3- Chicken Soup in Peru

I think that every great adventure is accompanied by a little bit of adversity. It just wouldn’t be a good time without a Chevy Chase movie moment where something goes wrong. That’s how last week went. After an amazing day touring the historic city center on Monday, I woke up Tuesday really sick to my stomach. Turns out I had food poisoning that kept me home for four days straight. I know what you’re thinking “Oh, Erin must have gotten a little too confident and eaten something weird off the street.” or “Oh you need to be more careful eating when you travel.” but really, I was being safe. It happened at a program approved restaurant, a place they have been taking students for years- I just was unlucky. If anything, the experience really put things in perspective. I can travel the world and get sick trying new things or I could stay home and get sick from a fluke at my favorite restaurant. I think I would rather travel the world and get sick experiencing new things than the latter. Besides, thanks to the food poisoning, accidentally ingesting some water in Ghana, and my time as an infant- I can now use “I’ve pooped my pants on three different continents.” to spice up those boring “Tell me a fun fact about yourself” ice breaker activities.

Any who, after all those days home sick and my host family trying to get me to eat chicken soup- it was time for a weekend trip to Ica and Paracas and I was finally feeling ready to get out and explore again!

The weekend started with dune buggy rides and sand boarding in the desert! I had never been to a desert before and was surprised at how pretty a bunch of sand could be. Sand boarding was a lot like sledding except it was more important to keep your limbs up so you wouldn’t get a rash- scraping the sand was a little- well- sand paper like. Once we finished sand boarding, we headed back to the buggies and circled over to an Oasis.

The oasis was like something out of a movie. A beautiful patch of green in the midst of miles of sand. Little paddle boats with palm frond roofs even floated along through the little pond/ lake. They also sold little handmade caramel filled chocolates along the shore that may be my new favorite snack.

After lunch and a little time to explore we hopped in the bus and headed to Paracas. We were all pretty surprised by how cool the hotel was. Right on the ocean with a pool and everything! We spent the night swimming and then went out for pizza at a swanky, hipster-like place down the street. I ordered a personal pizza “Americano”. The description said ham and sausage would be the toppings, so you can imagine my surprise when it came out with shredded bologna tasting meat and chopped hot dogs... haha. I ate it anyways, not what I was expecting- but also not that bad.

The next morning started early with a boat tour of the huge, mysterious cactus/ candelabra carving in the side of a mountain. Some think it was a directional signal for pirates and others think it was part of the Nazca Lines. No one really knows how the symbol got there, though. Lots of sea lions and some penguins lined the islands we circled, and TONS of birds sat on their shores. In fact, so many birds gather on these islands that they are their sole inhabitants and they collect their droppings every 5 years or so to sell as fertilizer. Not sure if I would want that job, but I find it to be an incredibly clever business plan. I sure wouldn’t have thought to scrape years worth of bird poop off an island and sell it for profit.

After a couple hours of free time, we headed to a historic ‘hacienda’ or plantation for a traditional lunch. The food was tasty, my favorite dishes being a yellow liquid that covered shredded chicken (the name escapes me) and the thick rice pudding dessert. Lunch also came with a free dance lesson... not sure I rocked it, but I got up and tried!

All in all, despite starting off the week sick, it turned out to be another incredible week. Can’t wait to see what further adventures await!

[enrich13]

Week 5: Just When I Thought it Couldn’t get Better

With my time in Peru quickly coming to a close, it seemed to me that Machu Picchu probably would be the peak of my time here. Yet, last weekend Peru decided to surprise me one last time.  

Last weekend brought the opportunity to visit Peru’s Amazonian region with a trip to Iquitos. This ended up being my favorite part of my time in Peru, thus far. The jungle was incredible and surreal. To get to Iquitos from where I am staying in Lima, you first take a two hour plane ride, followed by a two hour bus ride, from there it’s hour boat ride upstream of one of the rivers that feeds into the Amazon to get to the bungalows we stayed in.

Our first night included a jungle walk. We saw a chameleon, big spiders, a trail of ants carrying leaves that was like a scene straight off the Discovery Chanel, a red poison dart frog, and some crazy bio-luminescent mushrooms that lit up beside our path back after dark. We got some rest before we took to the boats early the next morning. The sun was bright and the water perfectly mirrored the plant life along the shore. Or at least I thought it was the shore, I later realized it was just shallower swampy areas where the plant life was more prevalent. We floated along until we reached the area where the black and brown waters meet. They ran the boats in circles, making waves and whistling until pink river dolphins appeared at the surface. “This is where we normally invite our guests to swim with the dolphins.” Our guide announced. After some hesitation, I found myself jumping into the river and after awhile the dolphins came in closer and closer and our group watched them swim next to us for a while before climbing back into the boat.

Later that afternoon we were shown how to climb a palm tree, given the opportunity to paddle in traditional hand carved wooden canoes, saw an Anaconda that was six feet long, and a couple tarantulas. After stopping back at the lodge to rest for a while, we headed back out on the boat for an evening tour. We saw sloths, monkeys, and Cayman. Yes, Cayman, in the very waters I had swam in earlier that day- they really order the tour strategically! By the time we had finally tracked down a Cayman, night had fallen. Fire flies filled the skies, little bio-luminescent bugs and plants dotted the vegetation in the water, and the stars were some of the prettiest I had ever seen. They have what they call a southern cross in the sky of the southern hemisphere; it’s like our version of the North Star, but the tip of the cross points south. It was bright and incredible and surreal as we boated back through the dark for dinner that featured acai pudding from fruit we had helped to pick earlier that day.

After dinner, we were surprised with a traditional band and dancers. They then taught us how to dance and told us the leprechaun legend. Supposedly the leprechaun has one human foot and one animal foot and watches over the jungle. He sees everything and if you mistreat the jungle, he will lead you astray and assure you get lost and are unable to find your way out. He may have shown up at the dance party... and I am assuming he thinks we treated the jungle with respect since he chose to pose for a picture rather than lead us astray.

After the music stopped and we had fallen asleep to the sound of monkeys throwing fruit onto our roof, we got up for a quick breakfast the next morning before partaking in a traditional fishing lesson. The fishing poles were literally a shaven stick that had a string and hook attached- no reel, no bobber. Chicken and beef were used for bait. The guide explained that, unlike North America, here you have to be loud to draw in the fish as they listen for fruit and other things to fall into the water for them to eat. So, we first were told to splash and stir the water with our fishing pole before dropping the line. It sounded kind of silly, at first, but it worked! I ended up catching six fish! Four of which were red bellied piranhas (example below), one fresh water sardine, and a mojara. A seventh one jumped off my hook as I pulled it in, but the guide told us at the beginning they only count if they make it in the boat! So six fish it was.

Fishing ended with a boat ride to a near by village for shopping. Shopping turned over to a boat ride back to the bungalows to pack up. Packing ended with lunch and suddenly our journey back to the airport was upon us. On the way, the boats took a detour to the mouth of the Amazon River. We had just reached the crossing where two smaller rivers flowed into the Amazon when the skies gave way and we were shown why it’s called a rain forest. For a moment, we couldn’t see the shore in any direction and we were encompassed by a wall of grey rain. I am not sure how our driver knew where the shore was, but he got us back to shore safely and off we went.

I am so excited to see what this last week in Peru holds. While of course I miss my home, Peru is making it really hard for me to want to leave.

[enrich13]

First thoughts about Peru

For the next six weeks I will be studying abroad in Lima, Peru, finishing up my Spanish minor. I am living with a host family and two other students from Michigan Tech, Maddie and Emily. While this is my second trip abroad, it’s my first time in a Spanish speaking country and my first opportunity to test my Spanish language skills. This blog will include my general experiences and a few posts with topics assigned by my professor.

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 It’s the end of my first week studying abroad in Lima and I find myself reflecting on the humorous moments of the past few days. Nearly all of them involve language barriers. While I tend to understand what is happening in conversations- for the most part- I still manage to get confused in everyday conversation. Here are my top 3 favorite language barrier moments of the week:

 1. Confusing the words “galleta” (cookie) and “gallina” (chicken) :

 Our host family has a housekeeper. She’s really smiley and it’s her job to do general housework and make the meals. She’s always checking if we are hungry and the other day she wanted to know if I needed a snack. I thought she was asking me if I wanted her to make me some chicken- so in Spanish I replied “no thanks I don’t want any chicken” using the other word for chicken “pollo”. She gave me a funny look and held up a packet of cookies and I realized my mistake. Haha we both got a laugh out of that one.

 2. Confusing the words “pero” (but) and “perro” (dog).

 We arrived back at house and over dinner explained to our host dad that we had sampled cow heart on the street earlier that day. Our host dad is often worried for our safety and was trying to explain what foods on the street were safe to eat in the future and what foods we needed to avoid. He ended a sentence talking about eating and then started the new sentence with the word “but”. I was tired and he was speaking so quickly I thought he said “The street people eat dog” and immediately I was concerned. In reality he said “This is what you can eat from the street people, BUT careful with vegetables, etc.” I exclaimed in surprise “ THEY EAT DOG????” and was met with blank stares and confusion from not only my host dad, but my american housemates. I was very embarrassed, but looking back its kind of hilarious. Needless to say I pay more attention at dinner now.

 3.  Trying to ensure a small child was not drowned in a wave by the ocean.

 Two days ago we visited Barranco for the first time. Barranco is a beautiful town by the ocean, so of course our group visited the beach. Half of the girls I was with hopped off of the concrete break wall and walked along the beach. I was watching from the wall as a random, huge wave rolled in and soaked them up past their knees. Their shoes and pants were sopping. Luckily they were good sports and we all just laughed as they climbed back on top of the wall. A few minutes later a little girl, about 6 years old, comes along and looked as if she would hop off the wall. Having just seen a wave bigger than her- I quickly gave the best warning I could muster saying “Careful! There’s a lot of water!” she looked up at me like “Yah no shit... it’s the ocean!” and ran back to her dad. My classmates laughed- it was kind of a “duh” moment. We relayed the story later to our host family laughing about the silly warning and our host dad was cracking up, pointed to my dinner plate and said “Careful, there’s a lot of rice!” haha and my first joke in a different language was made.

It’s been an adventure full of laughter so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

[enrich13]

Week 2- Settling into Peru

They say time flies when you’re having fun! I can’t believe it’s already the end of my second week in South America. I’m really lucky to have been gifted with some amazing company that makes the experience that much better, so I’d like to take a moment to share a little about the awesome group of girls I’m spending my days with. There are nine of us in Michigan Tech’s program- 3 in each housing accommodation. It is by chance that we are all women. I am the oldest of all of them at 22. The others are all 19 or 20. I was nervous going into the program that I wouldn’t fit in with them, to be honest. They’ve all proved me wrong. 

Out of everyone, I spend the most time with my two house mates, Maddie and Emily. I lean on them a lot. We help each other with translations, share our confusing moments, and laugh together when we say something stupid. Going into this experience I did not realize I would be housed with other students- but, man, am I glad to have them. So much would be lost in translation, otherwise, and I would have no one to make late night ice cream runs with. We also go on a lot of adventures together. Once class is done for the day, we make it a point to go see something new; whether that means taking the metro bus to the next town, walking 20,000 steps from park to park along the ocean, or getting a little lost in a taxi cab with a driver who took a while to understand where our destination was (I’m okay mom- it all worked out, I swear). 

One of our many adventures included hopping in our host family’s “carrito” (accompanied by our host dad, Felix) and heading to Parque de la Reserva. The park was a collection of water fountains and lights and music. An awesome site to be seen. A lot of the fountains were interactive, one of them was even a sort of game where you tried to get to the center of the fountain and back without getting sprayed. There were girls there celebrating their quinceanera, couples on dates, families, it was a great way to experience Peruvian culture and have some fun. We even got to eat some Churros!

Not everything is about being a tourist, though. Part of the experience of being in another country for an extended period of time is not only understanding the fun they have to offer, but also their way of life. It’s learning the little tidbits of information like how its a tradition to eat lentils every Monday for good luck. Had I just vacationed to Peru and not stayed with my host family- I never would have known that and would have missed out on a LOT of good luck :)

 Our professor and program have put an emphasis on understanding the culture through service learning. This means that some of our adventures and assignments as a class revolve around involving ourselves with local non-profit programs. This past week we visited Casa Panchita- a house that helps to empower children and give them a safe place to be a kid and get help with their school work- and El Mundo Libre- a rehabilitation home for children who have previously been involved in drugs or trafficked. Casa Panchita was our first experience out side of the upscale part of town. The hillside at the district limit was filled with colorful splashes of small, one-room type homes, the hills barren dirt, lined with discarded trash and endless staircases. The change was rapid and drastic and a fence lined the district. We crossed the line and it was almost as if we were in a different country- yet we were still in the same city. You wouldn’t know any of this by talking to the kids there, though. They excitedly greeted us, joked like the kids I teach back home in Houghton, and gave lots of hugs when we left.

Our second service experience was El Mundo Libre. Boy, was that humbling. The kids there are separated into a boy’s home and a girl’s home. I chose to volunteer in the girl’s home. There we helped them with their yard work, ate lunch together, and then played a few pick-up games of volley ball. The girls had lots of questions about what the US was like, wondered if we had boyfriends, and they tried out their English skills just as we practiced our Spanish. We were advised not to show favoritism... but I couldn’t help but grow attached to Eva. All the kids there are rehabilitated in stages and part of that includes teaching them trades that they can use- like knitting, pottery, candle making, woodworking, etc.-  to make an income when they graduate from the program. The whole experience really changed my outlook and I am hoping we get a chance to spend more time with the girls before we leave. 

(Here’s their website if you have further curiosity: http://www.mundolibre.org.pe/)

Keep in mind, all these amazing experiences are taking place in Spanish- so of course a lot is still lost in translation. In the spirit of that, I will leave you with my favorite language mishap of the week. We visited a Chinese restaurant in the city center where we tried duck and other Peruvian versions of ‘typical’ Chinese dishes. Our host mom knew we were going and encouraged us to try the duck. When we got home, I really wanted to tell her I had tried it, but could not recall the word for duck. So I was flapping my arms like wings and trying to explain what I had eaten saying it was an animal and I thought it sounded like the word ‘plato’ which means plate. So she responded with ‘gato’ and I got excited and said yes that’s what I had eaten... her worried face and my remembering that ‘gato’ means cat came at about the same time and then we both had a good laugh as she had an ‘aha’ moment and giggled that I had eaten ‘pato’, duck. Whatever it was, it was tasty.

More to come next week!