Okay, so I believe an apology is in order for majorly slacking off with this blog.  I think the most appropriate comparison is McComas gym the first couple of weeks after winter break.  Everyone is trying to work off the holiday treats and, as my sophomore year roommate told me "I'm planning to go everyday this semester."  This lasted about five days, and then, as is the fate of so many, the gym becomes a distant memory.  Anyway, sorry for the rambling but I really have been running on Peruvian time as of late.

I knew before I came down that the sense of time was going to be different, but sometimes the differences between the United States and Peru is absolutely amazing.  Of course sometimes people are punctual (although I can count on one hand the amount of times someone has actually showed up on time, whether it be for work or an activity), and although it can be quite annoying sometimes, such as the time I was supposed to play soccer at 6am and no one showed up until 6:45.  And not only do they show up late, but there is never really a good reason for the tardiness.  I have gotten used to it though and am thus concerned about returning to the United States and actually having to ensure that I am on time to things.  Another major factor has been lack of a cellphone.  It is actually quite liberating not having to constantly check and respond to text messages and calls, and the sun makes a decent clock.

So, on to the main content of the post.  This has been a summer of many different experiences, but yesterday's events took the cake so to speak for the most outlandish.  For the past week I have been working with the resident biologist, a lovely elderly lady named Carmen Soto.  If you haven't met her, its very difficult to describe in words her personality.  To start, she is no more than 5 feet tall (although here that is not too far below average for women) and has a distinctive grandmother demeanor about her.  She can also talk just about anyone i've met under the table, and it really doesn't matter who it is (she'll have the same gusto for her best friend as a total stranger).  And because she is in her mid sixties, she totters about as opposed to really walking, which made the event yesterday even more comical.

Carmen had told me the day before that an American Entymologist would be visiting the property the next day, and that if I was interested, we should go up to Machu Picchu to search for a missing Andean Spectacled bear cub.  Of course I said I was interested (not only are these bears extremely rare, but the hotel has actually raised three of them on property).  However, after we met the entymologist, who was a very interesting person to talk to, we set off to try to negotiate bus tickets.

If you haven't been to Machu Picchu, there is only one road that leads to the Citadel, and the only two ways to reach the summit are to walk (not recommended) or to take a bus.  Now, since we were not actually going to enter the Citadel, Carmen was convinced that we could negotiate dirt cheap tickets.  However, this being the federal government who operates the bus, they were unwilling to oblige, and i'm sorry, but if Carmen Soto cannot convince someone, then i'm fairly sure it cannot be done.  Carmen's final decision was to get a up and back for her, and a one way ticket for the rest of us, which consisted of myself, the entymologist, Carmen, and three of her workers.  I was a little concerned about having to come all the way down the mountain, considering I had no water, sunscreen, or hat, and it was the middle of the day with not a cloud in the sky and the potential of meeting a half starved and potentially aggressive bear, but come on, how many people can say they've gotten to hunt a bear.

The other red flag for this trip was that no one had any tools with which to catch the bear, and the Machu Picchu Preservation Society had convieniently not showed up to help us.  No matter, Carmen said, we would press on. When we got to the top, her three workers (armed with only an avocado in a plastic bag) set off at only slightly less than a slow jog to try to locate the bear (better them than me) leaving myself, Carmen, and the entymologist to follow them.  The idea had been for me to take pictures, because Carmen's camera is incredible, and she has actually taught me a lot about photography, but typically she had forgotten to charge the batteries, so I had to make do with binoculars.  I should have known it would be a long time before we reached the base when, after only about 200 meters of walking, Carmen said we should stop off at a cafe, which I believe was only for the employees of the Sanctuary Lodge (the hotel at the summit of Machu Pïcchu) but we sauntered in as if we owned the place.  After a solid 20 minutes of observing the trees (Carmen was insistant I photographed some birds for the end of the month newsletter) we set off again down the road.  As I said before, it was a hot day (although I get asked almost everyday about why I don't have more layers on) and I did not think to change into hiking boots (I was stuck with my leather loafers) and I had no hat or sunscreen, and as a result of the high elevation, it is much easier to get burned.

The other problem with the road is that its not paved, and as a result you have two extremes, either its marred with puddles after the rain, or, as was the case yesterday, it was incredibly dry, which in-turn created dust, lots of dust, which is almost worse, because after each bus goes by, and believe me, this occurs frequently.  And to top it all off the road is barely wide enough for two buses to pass, which means that sometimes two will converge on one another and one bus will begin backing up, which in-turn led to more than a few cases in which Carmen, myself, and the Entymologist had to essentially dive into the bushes to avoid being knocked off the mountain.

What made the situation all the more ridiculous was that after about twenty minutes of walking, Carmen decided that she was going to take the bus to the bottom of the mountain. I had thought about this earlier because she had purchased a two way ticket, but the buses only leave from the top and bottom of the mountain, and since we were about a fifth of the way down, she decided to try to hail a bus from the side of the road.  I tried to explain that what she needed to do was hold out her thumb like a hitchhiker, but it was rather difficult to communicate this from the other side of the road while she was waving her ticket at each passing bus.  At this point, I was beginning to see what a fruitless errand this was, and I kept thinking to myself, what are we going to do if we actually see the bear? We have no net, no cage, no tools of any kind save for my binoculars, which could only really be used to subdue the bear, which I didn't think the conservationists would go for.

And keep in mind, all of this knowledge was coming to a head while I was dodging buses and alternating between getting sprayed by water, which is the governments way of negating the effects of the dust on the dirt road, and getting blinded by dust clouds, all the while trying to walk in the shade of the overhanging trees as much as possible. Good times I know.

The other problem was that since the Entymologist brought his camera, he wanted to stop every 100 meters to take photos of, what else, the insects.  This would have been fine had I had a camera as well and was able to take photos with him, and at first I would look through the binoculars, but despite the vistas being absolutely breathtaking here, there are only so many times you can look at the same mountains.  So, after making sure he knew the way, I took off down the mountain.  The one saving grace is that about half way down there are shortcuts that go directly down, because the main road is shaped like a snake, because the mountain is far too steep to allow for a road straight to the top.  The shortcuts, which are only meant for people, are in fact straight down, but as a result the steps are nearly like descending a ladder.  But it is amazing how agile one can be when there is the knowledge that the end is somewhat near, and I really didn't want to miss lunch, which closed at 3pm.

Thankfully I didn't run into the bear on my frenetic descent, and when I finally made it back to the town center, which, I might add, was supposed to be our meeting place, but no one was there, I reflected on just how hair-brained this idea was, but at the same time it was one of the most hilarious experiences i've had here, or anywhere for that matter, and that's what has made this trip so special!

Check back soon-ish for the next post

Well, here goes nothing, my first blog post. Ever.  So without further ado here we go.  It's hard to describe in words what the past 3 days have been like.  I don't think i've ever taken so many methods of transport in so few days, nor spoken so much off-the-cuff Spanish.  La necesidad para Español started at Dulles airport of all places, where the ticket agents English was less than spectacular.  Once I actually did board and we arrived in Lima (after a hectic change in Bogota, which, as I veer off course, is one of the most claustrophobic and congested airports i've ever been in) it finally really hit me that the trip had started.  

As far as cities i've visited, Lima is unlike any other.  Its size is shocking (around 10 million people, 2 million more than NYC) and the traffic is much more chaotic than most American cities.  As far as I can tell, the government does not believe in stop signs, or traffic lights, or cross-walks for the most part.  And according to a local, there is a big problem of people driving without licenses registration, a fact which is illustrated clearly by the apparent lack of yielding to any other traffic (be it pedestrian or automobile).  I also think I saw more speed bumps in the day and a half I was there than in the rest of my entire life, though none quite as gnarly as the horrifically high speed bump leading into Collegiate Suites.  When I asked a taxi driver about this, he replied in Spanish that "otherwise no one would slow down."  After that I made a permanent mental note: never attempt to drive in Lima.

The "salon" of our hotel room

Anyway, enough about the traffic.  The hotel where we stayed in Lima was the Puccllana Lodge, and lets just say that if Shaquille O'Neal was staying there, they would need to cut down the wall between the living room and the bedroom just so he could fit inside, to say nothing of the beds.  One interesting thing was that much of the hotel was exposed to the elements, which is fine given the warm climate (it's technically winter right now but there has not been a day below 65 degrees, even here in Aguas Calientes, which is at 7,000 feet above sea level) but they do get quite a lot of rain, and the thought of thinking you've escaped the rain once you enter inside, only to find that there is no roof until you actually get into the room.  We had training the next day at the Corporate Offices in Lima, which leads me into my other favorite thing about Peru (besides the food and the fact it doesn't rain this time of year)  which are the people.  They are so friendly and receptive, and are generally interesting to talk to.  And if you're from the Northeast United States you know that this is not always the case.  I knew from the get-go that my Spanish speaking ability was less than stellar, but everyone i've talked to so far has generally gotten the gist of it.  I have certainly learned more slang phrases, both in Spanish and Quechua (the most widely spoken native dialect of Peru).  Quechua is a very interesting language.  For one thing, it bears absolutely no resemblance to Spanish, and it takes a good deal more time to be able to pronounce the words correctly.  For one phrase, which I am not going to risk butchering the spelling but roughly translates in English to "a ball sack having one testicle larger than the other" it took me a good 10 tries before I was able to say the word to the satisfaction of my co-workers.  Gotta love the Peruvians.

For the last part of this entry, I want to touch a little bit on the scenery around the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.  I will admit, after being here for over a week, I have yet to hike Machu Picchu, but given that I am still in the "induction period" of the internship, meaning rotating between all departments in the hotel (from the restaurant to the administration), the days have been too "loco" to merit getting to the summit.  There is also a daily visitor limit to the site, which, in 1911, was restored by an American historian by the name of Hiram Bingham, and given that this is the most popular season to visit Peru, it is difficult to obtain a spot.  Have no fear, there will be pictures to come in future entries, but in the meantime, enjoy these which were taken near Mandor, a scenic hike close to the resort.  I could probably write a short story on my first days here, but we'll stop here and continue with

more soon!

Hasta luego