What not to Pack

Dear Jo,

Since you're coming on my next great adventure with me, I thought I'd give you a few helpful hints about packing for Peru...

1) Shoes: Basically, don't bring heels, dress shoes, or anything remotely slippery - in fact, those non-slip shoes you've been wearing in food service for the last five years might be a good option... Many of the roads in Cusco are paved with stones that have been there for centuries. "Slick" doesn't even begin to describe them. These are roads I would slip on when they hadn't seen rain in two months. This time, it'll be raining every day. Rain boots, running shoes, duct-tape soles, you get the idea.

2) Clothes: The only reason you'd dress up in Cusco is to pick someone up or go to a wedding. So stay casual. But not too casual. Unless your objective is to alert every human being there that you are an American, stay away from the shorts. And unless you want people to think you're European, stay away from the sleeve-less tops. And unless you want people to think you're Australian, stay away from clingy clothes.

3) Toilet paper: Really, don't pack any for the plane, but keep it handy when you go into public restrooms. And while we're on that topic, bring coins - "public" doesn't inherently mean free.

4) Hand sanitizer: See above.

5) Passport/I.D./credit cards: You need a Passport to get into the country and Machu Picchu, but unless you have an international student card, leave the wallet at home. Pick-pocketing is a very real issue, and while they don't want your I.D., they're not going to give it back. Credit cards either won't work anywhere or will charge you a hefty fee. So leave the wallet alone. Soles are all you need to carry with you.

6) Cell phone/laptop: Most restaurants, hotels, and cafes around the plaza will have Wi-Fi, and it will be strong enough to send emails and texts. But for anything like uploading photos, you'll have to use the Internet cafes conveniently located no-where near the tourist sections.

7) Umbrella and rain gear: Essential! If you're there in the winter, you'll be lucky to see one day of rain in Cusco, in winter quite the opposite. 70% chance of rain for three months.

8) Jacket/sweater: Being wet is almost always cold, so expect to be a bit cooler than you're used to when the weather is in the 70's. It won't get much cooler at night, but it always won't get much dryer.

9) Tourist guides: Complete crap. I'm just going to shoot straight with you, Jack's may have the best French toast and La Bodega may have the most American pizza, but believe you me - they are NOT the best places to eat in Cusco. And certainly not if you're looking for authenticity! You know how many white people I saw in a Pollería? One. And that's because they have mirrors. And in a pastelaría, none, cause they don't have mirrors. The tourist guides are only good if you are hoping to see the same thing that every other tourist sees in Cusco - the bland side.

10) Power converter: Contrary to the info found on popular internet sources, the outlets and voltage are the same as those in the U.S.

11) Make-up: If you want to stand out more than you already do, feel free to put on make-up. If you were doing it to get attention, you didn't need to.

12) Camera: Bring one by all means. Just be careful where you show it. If you flash it around in the streets full of women who make their living by forcing tourists to pay for snapshots with llamas or cute children, it will not be stolen, but you'll end up shelling out FAR more than you were anticipating for pictures you didn't even want.

13) Water bottle: Don't bring one. You'll be buying all you water anyway, so just use the ones you buy.

14) Ibuprofen (or your pain-killer of choice): If you think spending the first few days of your trip to Cusco in agonizing pain due to the oxygen deficiency in your blood, leave that at home. In the case that you prefer sleeping at night and being able to breath during the day, pain-killer would come in handy.

15) English/Spanish Dictionary: Well. For a complete answer to this proposition, I'd simply like to point you to my post in this blog from 20 June called "All the Spanish..." We can just swing by the Coco Museum on our way to the hostel.

I hope this small guide will help you a bit as you ponder what you'll be wanting and needing on our trip. And I'll be more than happy to amend this list as questions arise. This should get you started tho.

You're welcome.

Peru, Day 51: Dear All-knowing Diary

Dear Diary,
First, did I really just sit and do nothing in my hostel all day?
Second, am I that sad of a person?
Third, why didn't I get up and get out there? Why didn't I brave that gray air? Why didn't I just walk out into a city where I know no one, nothing, and am completely alone?
Forth, why did I waste this entire day?
And, fifth, why am I writing to you as if you could write back?

Dear Beth,
Well hello there! I bet you didn't know that I COULD write back! I know, I get that shocked expression every time I deign a response, but your disillusioned depression was really getting me down, so I thought I would attempt a response just this once.

First, yes, you really did sit and do nothing in your hostel all day! Congratulations, I bet you are good and rested.
Second, that doesn't make you a sad person unless you are actually sad. Are you sad? If so, then yes, you are a sad person. If not, then no. Sitting in a hostel doesn't make you an inherently sad person.
Third, you didn't "get up and out there" because you're viewing this city as if it was in some way threatening you. Is it? Only if you choose to continue sitting in your hostel thinking that somehow that gray air is going to invade your soul and turn you into a minion of grayness.
You are scared of gray air.
You didn't do any of that because you are overwhelmed. Instead of just taking one step outside, one little step! You stayed in. Instead of taking a slow ramble around the block to get to know JUST ONE block of the city of Lima, you chose to ignore that option and continue thinking of Lima as a single, threatening entity.
Forth, you didn't waste the day. Days are only wasted if you neither learn nothing new nor experience nothing new. You did both. First, you experienced being completely surrounded by Hebrew-speaking Israelis, you learned that you are unreasonably overwhelmed, and you learned that...
Fifth, you are actually writing this to yourself.

Dear Diary,
Touché - I concur on every point.

Peru, Day 50: Since I did nothing today...

I figured I wouldn't write about my day! Nina left his morning so I comforted myself by sleeping in. By the time I woke up it was rainy and dreary and I was...well, sad and lonely. To cheer myself up I'll write about my lovely Chinese-Peruvian food experience of a few days ago, complete with many pictures, probably too many. Because in this case, really pictures are worth 1000 words.

 First of all I just want to point out how odd this looks when compared to Peruvian decorations. Yes, we're all familiar with the "Chinese lamps" and Asian-looking female characters stuck to the windows, but somehow it just appears a good deal stranger when it's not planted next to a sombrero and margarita-glass stickers. Second, I want to point out how faded that sticker is. Cusco is quite close to the equator. All of those things you see about the sun being stronger there, well, they're true. The sun is VERY strong. As this lovely lady would attest.

 I'm not at all certain why this picture was taken. But at least you have a clear idea of the way the dining area looked. And if you can read the menu, great! If not, you're just missing about 50 plates of every combination available: fried chicken and rice, vegetables and rice, seafood and rice, vegetables and seafood and rice, sweet and sour chicken and rice, fried chicken and vegetables and rice...and a lot more that I am lost to explain. As is, I don't know what they meant in English.

I honestly have no idea what the lime was for. We put it in our soup. It was good, but I think next time I may not squeeze those limes quite so heartily... Still, I loved every last bite of the soup because it tasted remarkable similar to the Korean-Chinese soups I grew to love in Korea. Complete with a single mandoo. (If you don't remember what that is, you can always go back and find a certain blog post entitled "Making Mandoo." Worth the time.) The limade finally came at some point after the appetizer, per usual for Peru. But they were both worth the wait.
 As I mentioned, I loved the soup.

Then the entrees arrived, after a really surprisingly short wait. They sat and got cold while we finished our soup. But we left the rest of the appetizer for dessert. Smart move, actually because it made a perfect finisher.

Now, the interesting thing about these Chifa places beyond how much variety the menu has, and how huge the the meals are, is how tasty they are. It wasn't just a dousing of soy sauce, or your normal Peruvian rice. (Yes, they eat rice every day there too.) It wasn't just fried flour wafers dipped in sweet-and-sour sauce. No, the rice is called chaufa, it tastes like no other rice, or dish in Peru. And each of those choices on that menu, is made separately, with its own ingredients. In short, way better than American-Chinese food.

 I bet you can't guess which one was mine...

But really, just in case you can't, here's a hint: I am not a fan of fried food, and like a loony, I really love vegetables. There was some seafood in there, or so the menu said, but to me it just seemed like a giant pile of delicious healthiness.

And just in case you can't tell, the last interesting fact about this Chifa food is how fast it all disappears. It's like some kind of magic. It's there, and then it's gone! And the agent of this change is left feeling very fat and very happy.

Peru, Day 49: Lima, Day 1

The long and short of today is that I left Cusco and arrived a couple hours later in Lima.

It sounds so simple when you say it like that, and it is simple. But that doesn't mean it was easy. Because I spend 7 week in Cusco, I had a life there, I had friends there, I knew where all the right restaurants were, all the Mini Markets and how late they were open, all the public restrooms, all the best (and worst) Wi-Fi spots, all the markets, I was even starting to get a handle on where the ice cream vendors parked, hospitals, travel agencies, the dried fruit store, the best place to find chocolate, where to buy which type of souvenir, which roads to avoid after dark and which were safe, which clubs to go to with whom and on which night, which stores had refrigerated (safe) drinkable yogurt, and to top it all off I knew the cheapest places to get chicken, tres leches, soap, water, and the cheapest international ATMs.

In short, I was comfortable in Cusco. From the first day I felt at home, by the end of my third day I was done getting lost, and by the end of my first week I could accurately predict where any road would come out. After one afternoon in Lima I feel like I could live here for the rest of my life and see something new every day. (That's oddly exciting, but hardly comforting.)

I knew the people in the school, and they all knew me. I knew the people in my house, and they all knew me. I knew all the people in one of the clubs, and all the people in every club knew me. (I'd rather not explain that here... But it's good, I'm sure!) Here, I know no one. Literally, there is no one in Lima who knows or cares that I am here, let alone who would go out of their way to do anything for me. (I also find the anonymity of this predicament oddly exciting, but not at all reassuring.)

Cusco was sunny and warm and full of tourists. Lima is gray and rainy and full of Peruvians. Which is actually pretty awesome. I'd never seen a black Peruvian before today. Or a blond one. So Lima's not so bad. But really, what's which these clouds? Cusco seemed welcoming even in all of it's brownness. The flowers here in Lima are shockingly colorful compared to the gray that seems to permeate not only the sky but even the air.

I went out to look for food tonight, strangely several of the places were familiar: Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, and even Pizza Hut. But why?!?! Who wanted that crap anyway - where is my Pollería, Cafe and Chocolate, and Jugería? Lima is obviously a whole new playing field. And I miss my Cusco.

There's no one to show me around here, I guess I'll have to brave it myself.

There's no one to show me how to use the buses here. I guess I'll just stay within walking distance.

There's no one to go salsa dancing with me, I guess I'll actually sleep a little here!

Ok, so Lima's not all bad. Getting here is a wonderful thing and I think the next few days could be great. But I still miss Cusco.

Peru, Day 48: Goodbye, Cusco

I knew this day would come. I knew I would have a hard time leaving. As always, it's harder than I thought it would be. Honestly, today was a wonderful day. I enjoyed every minute even though I knew the whole time that I should be sad. And I was sad. But I was also happy. Today was full of love, memories, food, beauty, and hope. And some more food.

It started here. In the road out in front of my friend's apartment. After meeting we decided to catch a bus to somewhere, but ended up in a taxi to somewhere else.

Actually, let me rewind to the part where he doesn't speak English and accidentally deleted all of the pictures I had on my camera from the last couple days. He decided he would make it up to me by 1) taking as many pictures as I would let him, and 2) hanging out with me. I'm not sure if those were entirely unselfish but either way I agreed... It was about 30 seconds before I regretted agreeing to the first one. Ok, yes, he took some nice pictures, but I am not one who enjoys cameras being stuck in my face all the time. I definitely had to steal my camera back repeatedly as my idea of a great last day in Cusco was not one seen thru a camera lens. That being said, I'll always remember all the emotions I felt today as they have ALL been captured in one photo or another. And no, you don't get to see them all. Sorry, not sorry!
*wink*

 By some magic he captured a picture of the place I'd done my volunteer work out of a taxi window even tho I'd failed to take even one, every day I walked up slowly with photo-capturing devices in my hands. (In other words, you have him to thank for a good number of pictures not only in this post, but of this whole trip in general...)

Driving to somewhere else landed us at his old apartment where he attempted to turn in his key but couldn't because no one was home. I wasn't exactly thrilled with this activity, but what can I say? He paid for the taxi so we went where he said. And I got to see a spontaneous game of football in a basketball court. And then...the next order of business was food.

Er, the next order of business was walking to find food, and if I see a pretty flower, the first first order of business all-of-a-sudden becomes to take an amazing photo of it.

And finally, it was time for food. But somehow 5 sole street pizza wasn't what we were feeling, especially since I'd been attempting to try the Peruvian-Chinese fusion food since I got here. It's called Chifa and the rice that comes with every meal is called Chaufa. It's good. Actually, next week I'll do a whole post, complete with plenty of pictures, on this meal. Anyway, it was a lot of food, but somehow we managed to push through all of it. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. (Pictured, that's not even half of it. That's not even one persons' whole serving. To be fair, it was about 2pm by this point and all either of us had eaten so far today was some chocolate...)

And you know it had to be good because below is probably the only picture you will ever see of this smile:

(Apparently no one explained to him when he was a kid that you don't actually have to be happy when you're in a picture, you're just supposed to *look* happy. Anyway, if there's ever a picture of him smiling, you know he MUST be happy... Way to go, Chifa!)

After eating I somehow talked him into taking one last trip to the mall with me since we were right next door and the last time I'd been there I'd seen a few things I wanted to invest in. It turned out to be a basically fruitless trip, and then we just wandered around looking at all the things we could find to laugh at. Turns out he got the last laugh because I got bored and he had fun taking pictures of Bored Beth. And Coke, and cake, and really EVERYTHING else. I've spared you the photos because unbeknownst to him, they look the same in Peruvian Plaza Vea as they do in American Wal-Mart. And the prices are actually comparable as well. Well, relative to the respective economies.

 Next up was dessert. (I told you there was a lot of food involved in today...) But it didn't actually last very long. Ice cream for me, tres leches for him. And we might have traded a bit...

 Some more buses and taxis and a lot more walking ensued. We wandered basically all over the city center. He was looking for something. I knew exactly where it was, but A) I didn't know it's what he was looking for, and B) he wouldn't have believed me if I'd told him I knew. We ended up in the Market San Pedro finding souvenirs for my family but naturally I can't post pictures of those because naturally they will read this before they see their gifts. *cough*cough* (You do read my blog, right??) And you see those clouds hanging ominously over the Plaza? Strangely enough it rained almost every day the last week I was in Cusco. I like to think that the place was just sad to see me go...

But...I'm not going to lie, it didn't dampen my spirits much. Still just as strange and silly as always.

My last full day in Cusco ended with a sweet, final dinner with Nina, and then the Ninja Turtles in Spanish. So many new things, so many normal things. Of course, it's bittersweet. Looking back over everything I've seen, done, experienced, and learned here, I don't want to leave. But every chapter comes to an end. Tomorrow I'll start the Lima chapter. And who knows, maybe the Cusco chapter has a sequel, or at least a follow-up...

Peru, Day 46: Nina's Back!

I just want to start this post by saying something that I already said: NINA'S BACK!!!!!!!

I'm a little excited.

And by "a little" I obviously mean "a lot."

First of all, who is Nina? Well, I have one, or two, or three, pictures of her, so I'll include them, then you'll know, right?

Nina and I met on our first day in Cusco. 

All the random people who were not in the enormous group of Middle-Schoolers who arrived the same day got thrown into a group together and taken on our own special city tour. Nina, Sophie, Soph, Yikke....more people I don't remember. Soph, Sophie, Nina, and I spent a lot of time together that first week, and then when Sophie, Nina, and I spent our second week together in the Sacred Valley we all shared a quaint room and talked non-stop, all 7 days. 

Sophie only got a few more days with us, but Nina, Sophie, and I continued to spend almost every evening together, eating, talking, practicing Spanish (Yea...right....), dancing, drinking, meeting each others' friends, and in general just getting to know each other and getting closer every day.

Nina is my age, from Cologne, and starting Graduate work in Vienna this fall. We can be very different, but also very similar. Out-spoken at times, at times hard to please, at times critical, but at other times laid-back, accepting, and adventurous. We both tend to be a bit odd. That's the nice way to put it, of course. We both loved dancing and therefore when everyone else was tired, we could always count on the other to go out with us. Neither of us big drinkers, we never had to worry about "taking care of" the other. But when it came down to it, we were always taking care of each other. She was the one who helped me figure out what to do about my stolen credit card, I was the first one (in Peru) she cried to about her back-home issues. She was the one who helped me say no the night I really wanted to say yes, and I am the one who's still here now that she's back!

After traveling around Peru for a few weeks, she ran out of things to do, and decided that 4 days in Cusco would be a beautiful way to end her 2 months in Peru. Comfortable and cozy, Cusco was like home to both of us. But one big reason why? We were both there!

So I spent a few days by myself here in Cusco. All my friends have either gone home, gone to travel, or gone for their own week in the Sacred Valley. Except Nina! She's back!

My favorite part is this: when we get on our respective planes on Saturday, they are both going to Lima. Yes, she's going to fly home on Sunday and I'll be making my own journey back to the States on Thursday. But if she can come back to Cusco to spend a few more days with me, I'm pretty sure I can jump the pond sometime in the future. In the meantime, there's Facebook.

I have thoroughly loved my time in Cusco, and I am convinced that Nina was at least half of that. Nothing would have been the same without her. Good, sure. Just not this good! 

Peru, Day 45: La Plaza San Francisco

Cusco is full of centers, Plazas, squares, and other such enchanting little spots in which people can gather around the benches in the warm, sunny afternoons, or linger around the lit fountains in the brisk evenings. After walking for a few blocks you're bound to encounter one of these pretty places. My hostel was located right on one of these Plazas, two blocks from the main Plaza de Armas. A bit off the beaten track but still clearly within the tourist sector, the Plaza San Francisco was safe, busy at times but calm at others, close to both the markets frequented by tourists and the restaurants and shops where the foreignest person they see all day is the one who wandered past because they were lost. Just two blocks the other direction from the main Plaza, through a majestic-looking arch you can find el Mercado San Pedro, full of everything from granola to earrings to raw meat to socks. Fruit, souvenirs, and warm clothing are the most popular items found two blocks North of that arch...

 Looking out the front window of my hostel, the plaza looks normal enough. A few times I looked out and could almost have imagined myself back in the states. But then the music started and just a few yards to the left, or right, there were people dancing. Little boys, teenage girls, middle-aged women with babies strapped in blankets to the backs, old men. Traditional music, traditional dancing, and the ever-present smiles.



News flash: that is NOT San Francisco. I don't remember who he is, but his pedestal lives in a star, and that is what a yukka plant looks likes when it's been given time to mature.


Just a normal street scene. Flags, flowers, clouds, sunshine, blue balconies or doors, and down below it people of every size, color, shape, and dress persuasion. As in, people wearing sweatshirts walking next to those in kapris and sleeveless tops. Incan-looking blankets-turned-backpacks walking next to Peruvian preppy khakis. 2-year-olds in llama sweaters hand-in-hand with alpaca-swathed babies on the backs of their cotten-garbed parents. And then more jeans-and-T-shirters.

 Never a dull day. Just when you think you've seen all the random statues and memorials and even all the fountains, gates, outfits, and cathedrals, well, you look down and... Is that an alligator made out of flowers? Thank you, Cusco, I needed a smile today!

Never a dull night either...

From pink to red to purple to blue to green to white and back to pink... This fountain is just one of very many that a curious explorer will encounter on the streets surrounding the Plaza de Armas, the Plaza San Francisco and every other out-lying plaza, center, square, and even corner in the Ancient Incan Wonderland.

 Developing country? Yes. Rampant poverty? Yes. Much lower standard of living? Yes. Gorgeous anyway? Yes. Happy populace anyway? Yes. Wonderful place to visit anyway? Yes. Perfect pictures anyway? Yes. Would I go back anyway? In a heartbeat.