It is the end of the semester. I knew it would come fast, but it still managed to surprise me.

For our last gira, we IFSA-Butler students went to Playa Conchal in Guanacaste for two days (November 19-20). Playa Conchal is extremely unique because sand doesn’t exist on the beach; instead, it is grains of shells worn down so that they appear to be coarse grains of sand. It is a really calm, isolated bay and the water is a beautiful deep blue. We did group activities on the beach, kayaked, spent time in the pool, had long chats and reminisced, danced, played games of cards and of course laughed a lot. It was a short trip, but full of memories.

These last few weeks at the university have been full of final projects, presentations, and exams. The school system in Costa Rica is really big into final projects and presentations at the end of the semester. I personally found this to be rather irritating. I am not accustomed to having so many projects in addition to finals. Unfortunately during finals week I had three exams and a presentation in one day—Monday. I suppose it was a blessing to have all of the work done, but it sure made for a crazy day.

Since I am done with all my classes and everything, I can’t help but compare my Spanish abilities from the beginning of the semester to my abilities now. At the beginning of the semester I think I understood about 30% of what was said during my classes and it was so exhausting. By the end of the semester I understood about 75%-80% of the information that was said in the classes. I am thinking mostly of my biology classes, because those were the classes that were the most difficult. In other classes (easier classes) I understood up to 90-95% of what was said.  I say this because there are always words or phrases that I don’t know, but the context of the conversation keeps me on track.

I think I have noticed the greatest improvement in my ability to listen and understand Spanish. Obviously I can speak and read better, but because I spend so much time listening, that is where I have seen the biggest improvement. It still baffles me sometimes when I am listening in Spanish and then I realize how little I have translated into English in order to understand. Sometimes I don’t have to translate at all. I really want to improve my speaking and reading abilities next semester.

I feel incredibly accomplished for completing classes in Spanish and am very excited to stay for Christmas break and another semester.

I had my first “international” thanksgiving experience yesterday, and I must say that it didn’t go as poorly as I expected it too. It was really incredibly strange waking up and seeing that everyone was still at work, all the kids (aka the high school that we share a wall with) were still in class, everything was open as usual.

My IFSA-Butler group was having a mock thanksgiving dinner, but I was trying to not have any expectations about it as I was assuming it would be kinda crappy. I mean, we are in Perú. They don’t sell pumpkin, they don’t sell cranberry… not that I even eat any of those dishes, but it just wasn’t going to be the same.

My family called me to eat lunch, and when I walked in they all greeted me with “happy thanksgiving” which was really sweet, and they had even made turkey for lunch so I wouldn’t feel homesick. It was obviously prepared in the Peruvian way, but it was a really nice thought.

After explaining to them that no, Thanksgiving was not more important than Christmas in the United States, they asked me what we really did on the day.. Feeling like a gluttonous American I responded… uhh we all get together to spend time, you are supposed to be thankful for everything you have but mostly you just eat until you are stuffed.

For the makeshift Thanksgiving dinner last night our coordinator told us that she was providing a turkey and an apple pie, but we had to bring whatever else we wanted. On her last trip to Canada she stopped in the US to pick up canned pumpkin and cranberry for whoever wanted to tackle those items.

I was mildly concerned about our group’s possible cooking skills, but thought what the heck, we are in Peru. My friend Jessa came over in the afternoon to cook in my house, as we have two full kitchens, and her apartment isn’t exactly fit for the job. We decided to tackle green bean casserole, buttered corn (from corn on the cob I might add), stuffing, and then just bring a ton of fresh fruit.

By the time we got back from shopping it was 5:15 p.m. Crap. Dinner was scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. and it is a good 20 minute drive from my house, if you take a taxi… darn it! We tried to throw together the stuffing, which Jessa found out doesn’t work to well if you have a TON of chicken broth… and I quickly realized that we had no where near enough time to make green bean casserole.

So the green bean casserole turned into steamed green beans, the stuffing soup is currently sitting in my oven (and I have no clue what to do with it), and I discovered that cutting corn off of the cob is a huge pain in the neck.

After our magical realizations, and putting together the dishes we were going to bring, we realized (at 6:35 p.m.) that we should find a taxi and get over to the office, where our dinner was being held. After jamming our six massive containers of foods (without lids) into a taxi, and trying to explain to the taxi driver that no, we were not crazy, we were off.

We arrived at 6:55, extremely late and apologetic, but at least with a mound of food. I was honestly impressed with the food that had been prepared by everyone. We had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (thankfully someone had planned out their time better than us), pumpkin pie, salad, the turkey and apple pie from my director, and then all of the fruit and vegetables we had brought.

It actually looked really good! The turkey had been prepared by a Peruvian woman who does all of the turkey preparation for all Americans living in Lima, and it was spectacular. Everyone’s food turned out great, and all of us left commenting on how we did almost sorta feel as if we had just finished an actual Thanksgiving Dinner.

(We even cleaned up our mess too!)

So while I didn’t get to spend Thanksgiving with my family back in the states, I did get to spend the time with my lovely dysfunctional “IFSA-family” here in Peru. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the delay in getting this blog out.  I know it may be hard to believe, but I do actually have some responsibility, and do more than just travel.  Last week I had an essay due in my Scottish Literature class, a take-home test for my Genetics class, and an anatomy quiz I had to study for because I was gone last weekend.  So, needless to say I was quite busy with other things and couldn’t find the time to get a blog up.  However, I hope to remedy that by writing two this week.

As I am sure you have noticed, the majority of my blogs have actually not been about Scotland, but other various places I have been.  This is due in part to the fact that I had already seen much of Scotland when I visited with my family.  However, I have still been up to a variety of fun things while here in Glasgow, and this blog is devoted to those little events.

The first goes all the way back to the first week of class.  My anatomy class had yet to start so I had every afternoon free.  At one of the more popular pubs in the West End, Oran Mor, there is also a theater in the basement, and every afternoon they have what is called A Play, A Pie and a Pint, which is just that; a ticket that gets you a pint, a meat pie and a seat for a short one act play.  Since we were still settling in and had some free time, Will and I, along with 3 other Butler students Jonathan, Sarah, and Michelle, thought it would be a nice cultural experience.

We went on Wednesday afternoon because the tickets were discounted at only 8 quid as opposed to the usual 12 or 14.  When we got downstairs we quickly realized that we were the youngest patrons in the room, but we didn’t let that deter us and grabbed our pints and delicious meat pies with gravy.  We chatted with a few locals who were frequenters of the Triple P and had sort of like season passes because the show changes every week.  After the show I could understand completely why someone would want to invest in that because it was a wonderful way to spend an extended lunch break.  I would have loved to go again, however once classes got into full swing it made it slightly impractical, however it was a fun experience early on that helped me get integrated into the community.

The next couple of events were actually not with Scottish people at all, but were very cultural and entertaining.  My flatmates are all graduate students at the uni, 2 of which are Chinese girls, Melanie and Sarah, studying finance and the third, an Italian guy, Alesandro, who is getting his PHD in aerospace engineering.  The girls are absolutely fantastic cooks and put Will and my poor excuses for meals to shame.  After a few weeks of us complimenting them on the quality of their food, they decided to have a Chinese dinner party with a couple of their other girlfriends and would cook for all of us and a friend of Alesandro’s.

We all went over to their friend’s flat and enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal of authentic Chinese food.  They apologized that the dishes were not as good as normal because of the quality or lack of ingredients they could find in Glasgow, however I think all of us were in agreement that they were being far too modest.  We chatted for a few hours about different cultural differences in terms of school structure and what it is like studying in a foreign country.  I can’t imagine essentially studying abroad my entire college career in a place that does not speak my native language.

Having dated a Chinese girl for two years and having traveled to China last January, I knew that food was a very important part of the culture, but I learned that unlike Americans and Brits, if Chinese people want to “go out” as we term it, they will go to a restaurant and spend 3-4 hours there eating and drinking.  Sounds like my kind of party!  After dinner, they begged Will to play a few songs on his guitar, having heard him countless times playing in his room throughout the day.  Once Will finished his quick set, we were also treated to a few songs by Melody, our appropriately named cook, who had an absolutely exquisite voice.  Before she sang she talked herself up quite a bit and boy did she deliver.  She sang a couple American songs and then a few famous Chinese ones.  Apparently it is also very common for Chinese young adults to do this kind of mock talent show at parties like this.  I guess it’s a more glorified and refined version of American karaoke parties.

After the immense success of the Chinese dinner, Alesandro and his friend Alberto, also an Italian rocket scientist, volunteered to host an Italian night at our flat in a couple weeks.  Will and I eagerly counted down the days for another delicious home-cooked meal.  Again our expectations were surpassed and we enjoyed honestly one of the best Italian meals I have ever had and don’t think I have ever been so full.  We had essentially 4 courses: antipasti which consisted of fresh bread and bruchetta, olives and proscuito with mozarella, 2 pasta dishes, linguini with a cheese and bacon sauce and a lasagna bolognese, and finally tiramisu for dessert.  Foolishly I almost filled up on the bread and bruchetta, but I was able to fight through till the end.

We also enjoyed a few glasses of wine expertly selected by another friend of Alesandro’s, Frederico.  Will and I learned a little about the 5 s’s of wine tasting from them: swirl, sniff,  sip, swish, and finally swallow.  Once you have done all five, with a thoughtful look on your face, you authoritatively declare, “It’s red!”  We talked about the nightlife culture in Italy and learned how expensive and harsh it can be.  Apparently people don’t head out to clubs UNTIL about 12 or 1 and stay out till 4 or 5.  And if you are a guy you can expect to pay at twice as much as girls to get into a club, and might not even get in unless you are with a girl or two.  Boy am I glad I decided to study abroad in Scotland instead!

The last couple events I would like to share are in regards to football, hands down the most popular sport in the UK.  Since being here, Will and I have become pretty good friends with three guys who almost perfectly represent the UK: Allan from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Callum from Manchester, England, and Stewart from Dundee, Scotland.  We have yet to find a guy from Wales, but hopefully we can in the next few weeks to complete the collection.  They are second years at the uni and have been great friends to have made because they know all the ins and outs of social life here in Glasgow.

In mid October, we met them at Tennents Pub to watch Scotland take on world champions Spain in the European Championships qualifying rounds.  The game was actually being played in Glasgow, however, it being such a big game, tickets would have been very expensive and  hard to come to by, so we watched the game with a bunch of other die-hard Scots at a pub.  The first half was relatively uneventful and surprisingly evenly matched until the final minutes when Spain capitalized on a penalty kick.  Spain scored another goal early in the second half, and it was beginning to look pretty grim for Scotland, but they then countered with two spectacular goals within 5 min and the pub absolutely erupted in cheers.

The game was tied with about 20 min left and the atmosphere was absolutely electric and incredibly tense.  Scotland and Spain battled back and forth, both keepers making great saves to keep their team in the game.  Unfortunately, in the last 5 min, Spain’s all-star David Villa took advantage of a slight break in Scotland’s defense and gave the lead back to Spain.  Scotland fought hard and bravely till the very end, narrowly missing a few shots in the final minutes, but alas Spain reigned victorious.  However, despite the loss, all of the Scottish fans were still in high spirits and incredibly proud of their boys for showing such grit and determination against the best team in the world and arguably one of the best in the last couple decades.

Glasgow Celtic

After watching a game on tv, Will and I were eager to go to a game in person.  Allan tried to get us some tickets to see the Glasgow Rangers, but unfortunately wasn’t able to.  However, we were able to get our hands on some tickets to an away game of Glasgow Celtic, the Rangers’ biggest rival.  Celtic was to be playing St. Mirren in a town just outside Glasgow.  Will and I were accompanied by a couple of other friends  on the short bus ride to the stadium and enjoyed a great match from the second row.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets to sit with the incredibly enthusiastic and loyal Celtic fans because all of the tickets were reserved for season ticket holders, but we still enjoyed the game immensely.

Celtic was clearly the better team, exhibiting finesse and incredibly precise passing in set plays.  This contrasted with St. Mirren’s powerful, transition based offensive style of play.  St. Mirren fought off every  attack by Celtic and the score was tied at nil nil until the 91st min when finally Celtic was able to knock one in off a beautiful header.  The Celtic fans went absolutely ballistic, charging onto the field, chanting and cheering at the top of their lungs.

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All of these little events, though only a small portion of the fun little excursions and get togethers I have had during these past few months, but they stick out uniquely in my mind and are ones that I hope to remember.  It will be these little things that I will miss most about Scotland when I leave in amazingly a matter of a few more weeks.  It is hard to believe that my time in Scotland has flown by so quickly and I hope I can do my best to take advantage of the last few weeks as best I can before I have to head home.

November 19th, 2010

Before I came here to Chuschi everyone kept warning me about the history of this community. The terrorist group, Sendero Luminoso, committed their first violent acts here in the community, first burning ballot boxes during elections, and then committed a massive massacre in the town center.

This all happened about thirty years ago, but the only knowledge that most people have of Chuschi is that it was a terrorist haven from 1980-2000. The main thing that I have learned here so far is that the people are some of the nicest people I have met in Perú. They are also some of the most guarded.

Sendero Luminoso told them that the gringos wanted them all to die. This mentality has persevered until today, and most of the people are very apprehensive when they first meet me. Also, there were many “gringos” (white people) that came through and kidnapped children from the community to have them adopted for their own monetary gain. The language barrier doesn’t help very much either, as I speak Spanish much better than the majority of the population.

However, despite it’s history, the town is an absolutely gorgeous community. Most of the women work in making skirts, purses, and other handicrafts that they hand-make using wool that they cure and dye themselves. Today I went with the head sister to a family’s house that process wool, and then use a loom to make products to sell in the community.

The mother of the family is one of the best sewers and weavers in the community. The nuns buy products from her and take them to Lima, Piura, and the United States to sell them, as there isn’t much of a market here in Chuschi. I bought two little purses, which are only big enough to hold a camera or something small. They are absolutely gorgeous. When I asked her how much they cost, she told me 5 soles, which is less than $2. I then asked her how long it took her to make each purse: two to three days. You can see the amazing detail in her work in the picture below. These are completely hand-made. I wish I could make things like that.

All of the dyes that they use are completely natural, using mostly plants. The colors that result are amazing. The women wear the most beautifully colored and decorated skirts, which take them up to 15 days to make, as they sew them all by hand. They also have gorgeous hats with flowers, along with brightly colored shirts. I am in heaven here. I wish I could wear these outfits.

The picture above is of the woman who made the purses. She also made the skirt she is wearing. All of the detailing is done by hand. It is reversible too, and took her about 10 full days of work (12 hours per day) to make. The women really invest in their outfits, but in my opinion it is well worth it.

Today I went to the high school of the other community. They only have 1st through 8th grade there. I taught the Hail Mary to one of the classes of eighth graders and on Monday I will have the other group. The kids in this community still have problems with Spanish, so teaching them a prayer in English was quite interesting. They were really good kids, timid at first, but once they started talking to me they wouldn’t stop.

One of their favorite things was to ask me how to say a word in English, and then to ask me questions in Quechua knowing fully that I don’t speak Quechua. One thing that I don’t understand is how the teachers work. All of the other teachers live in Huamanga (Ayacucho), which is about four hours away. They come to the region of Chuschi on Monday morning for class, stay until Friday, and then go home. Many of the women are married and have children, but leave them in Huamanga every single week. I think that would be so hard, and I know I couldn’t do it. Also, it is pretty common for teachers to not show up for class. They don’t call in or anything, they simply decide not to come for the day.

I definitely am not going to be able to post all of these until I get home. I went to the internet place today. After twenty minutes my email opened and I could read all of my emails, but I couldn’t send anything. I need to go study for finals now… yuck. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!  and happy Thanksgiving to all my gringitos.  Although they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Peru, we are having our own dinner in the IFSA office.  I’m in charge of the pumpkin pie.  Since Thanksgiving is the day in which we gather together with loved ones to give thanks and stuff our faces, I figured it would be a good time to talk about Peruvian food!

I’ll start off my saying Limeñans love their rice.  I eat rice –usually accompanied by potatoes — basically everyday.  Obviously, I’ve grown pretty sick of it.  Everyday Peruvian food isn’t all that great.  Breakfast and dinner are usually pretty much the same for me: 2 dinner rolls with various toppings included but not limited to olives, ham, cheese, marmalade (the marmalade here is suuuuper delicious) accompanied by either a mixture of kiwicha and “Kwa-ker” (aka Quaker oatmeal) at breakfast or a soup at dinner.   The main meal here is lunch, which usually has an entrada and a segundo.  When you go out, you can usually find places with menus in which you get soup or salad, your choice of entree and a drink all for around s./8 more or less.

Since day to day food is pretty boring, I’ll focus on the things I LOVE and will miss greatly when I’m gone.  I’ll begin with my all time favorite, lomo saltado. 

It’s basically a tasty stir fry of beef, onions, tomatoes and cilantro.  It’s served with fries and rice (shocking).  This dish is also a reflection of Peru’s Chinese population and their influence over the country’s cuisine.  Lomo saltado is typically cooked in a wok and seasoned with soy sauce.

…Which leads me to chifa, Peruvian Chinese food.  Peru’s Chinese population immigrated to the country after slavery was abolished, as a source of cheap labor.  Lima has a good sized Chinatown, but there are chifas everywhere.  What makes chifa so distinct is its use of Peruvian flavors, ingredients and spices combined with more traditional Cantonese cuisine.  Ask any Peruvian and they will tell you their Chinese food is better than China’s.  My favorite is arroz chaufa, their variation on fried rice.

Another of my favorite Peruvian dishes is tacu tacu.  It’s a mixture of rice and beans that are fried, topped with a fried egg and served with fried banana and a breaded pan-fried steak.  It’s taaaasty. 

There are lots of other traditional Peruvian dishes that are pretty yummy: aji de gallina, pollo a la brasa, papa rellena, sebiche, arroz con pollo and each region has it’s own specialty.  The cool thing about Peruvian cuisine is that it reflects a fusion of the country’s diverse population: African, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, indigenous, French, German…and what a delicious fusion it is.

Peru also has some distinct beverages.  The national cocktail is the Pisco Sour which is made with a special type of grape brandy called pisco.  The drink is made with lemon juice, pisco, egg whites and bitters and is deceivingly tasty.  The national drink is Inca Kola, a bright yellow pop that tastes like cotton candy and bubblegum.  It’s supposed to taste like hierba louisa or lemongrass, but it absolutely doesn’t.  Peruvians adore it, particularly with chifa.

My personal favorite is chicha morada, a sweet drink made from purple corn boiled with pineapple and spices.  It has almost an apple cider-y taste, but minus the apple…the flavor is distinct but yummy just the same.

I will also miss the AMAZING fruit.  Even the bananas taste better here.  There are also all kinds of fruits you can’t find in the states.  My favorites are: granadilla, camu camu, maracuyá, mango and pepino.  Obviously, they also have delicious fruit juices everywhere, freshly prepared.

Living in Peru has also given me the opportunity to eat some interesting things.  Most notably, cuy known to you as your pet guinea pig.  To be honest, the tiny creature hardly has any meat on it.  It’s all bones.  I had a difficult time eating it because it had the head intact.  I don’t like to eat things with eyelashes… But people say it’s tasty if prepared correctly and it’s an important food for much of the country’s population in the sierra.  I’ll leave it to them.  I also had the opportunity to try anticuchos which are kabobs of cow’s heart.  My host mom cooked them at home and she assured my they are much tastier when you eat them at a restaurant.  It wasn’t that bad, just a little tough, but I can imagine they are better when served up hot on the skewer.

So, I recommend you seek out a Peruvian restaurant ASAP as I am sure you’re now hungry for some lomo saltado.  I know I am.

Last weekend I spent some time in the province of Piura in the small beach town of Máncora.  We got some sun and relaxed before finals begin next week!  I have less that 3 weeks left in Lima and am finding myself scrambling to do everything I want to before I leave.  I’m excited to get back to Chicago to spend the holidays with my family (and eat my favorite foods from home) but I’m sad to be leaving my life here in Lima– especially my host mom.  As I reflect more and more on my experience here in Peru, I realize it has been once in a lifetime and has impacted me greatly… but that’s another post.

¡Un beso y un fuerte abrazo! Chau chau

November 22nd, 2010

I was watching the news last night with the sisters, and a “special report” came on that I can’t get out of my mind. It was a report entitled “los niños de sendero”, or “the children of sendero” which is the terrorist group (Sendero Luminoso) that terrorized the entire country of Perú from 1980-2000. Thanks to our IFSA-Butler class on Peruvian Social Reality I knew exactly what the program was talking about. I really like understanding the history of the country, especially when the area I am in was so greatly impacted by the violence.

At first I thought it was going to be a story about the child soldiers of that time that are now adults, but I was unfortunately mistaken. The news station had been permitted by Sendero to film their current training and preparation for the “new war” as they called it against the Peruvian government.

This is happening in the jungle of Ayacucho, which is about 5 hours away from where I am right now. In the film they focused on the child-soldiers that are currently being trained by Sendero. There were about forty children, all under the age of 11, that are being trained by Sendero. All but one of them were abducted from their families and forced to come and be trained by Sendero.

The video clearly demonstrated the brainwashing that is occurring to these children. There is only one girl that was shown, and she sang for the cameras. As she was singing about the fight against the evil Peruvian government the only thing I could focus on was her eyes. This 10 year old child had eyes full of fear and sadness, but spoke words of hatred and violence. It breaks my heart to see the video footage of these children that are having their childhood taken away from them.

The new leader of Sendero, Alipio, has turned his extremist beliefs into a family affair. His brother is his right-hand man, his wife is the head of the women of Sendero, and his 10 year old son heads up the children and was videotaped wielding a machine gun as if it was nothing.

Beyond the horrific aspect of the abduction and brainwashing of children, the fact that Sendero is still ever-present in Perú is just as frightening. Everyone here in Chuschi talks about “when” Sendero returns, not “if”. After watching the special I better understand why.

Communities like this, Chuschi, as still extremely isolated from the rest of the country, and the cutting off of the only road that exists would completely cut off all communication that they have. The people here have been through so much, and the painful memories are still all too fresh for the people here.

I dearly hope that Sendero will never be able to come back to the level of power and terror that they once had, for the sake of the entire country of Perú. I really do not believe that the democracy is stable enough here to withstand another internal conflict. I personally believe that if Sendero came back into power it would put Perú back into the ruin that it was left in in 2000.

November 21, 2010

I need pulmones más anchos (lungs with more capacity) to live here. Holy goodness. Today I went with la hermana Deidy, the youngest nun that they have here in Perú (31) to visit an old farmer that lives by himself. He is 85 years old, and lives 45 minutes away from Chuschi, which is the nearest town. I should clarify that it takes 45 minutes to get from Chuschi to his farm, but about and hour and a half to get back. (You have to climb back up the mountain). It is a beautiful view as you are walking down, but it is pure rock and gravel.. we almost fell about 10 times each.

Deidy warned me as we were going down to visit him that he lived in a shack. He has enough money to buy a house but he doesn’t want one, he feels most comfortable living next to his chakra (crop). When we finally arrived, which included jumping over two stone walls, climbing through a grove of cactus, and over a barbed-wired fence, we were greeted by the sweetest old man I have ever met.

Don Gregorio, the man, then invited us to come to his house and sit down. I was in shock when I saw how he lives. Don Gregorio lives in a teepee which is smaller than the size of a twin bed, and about three feet tall. It is constructed of a wood frame, and then he places grass over it for protection.

(Below is a picture of his house)

Don Gregorio speaks very little Spanish, but he understands it. Between his understanding of Spanish and Deidy’s understanding of Quechua we were able to communicate for the most part. We spent just over an hour with him, just talking to him. His wife died, and he has two sons that live in Lima, but never come to visit him because they are embarrassed of how he lives.

He has three dogs, and one of them has just had puppies three weeks ago. There were five of them, and as he has nothing, the puppies are starving to death. Don Gregorio told us that he is going to give the puppies away this coming Friday to anyone that wants one. They were SO CUTE. If I could have I would have adopted one, not even kidding (David you should be grateful that it is so expensive to fly dogs to the states).

After visiting with Don Gregorio, Deidy asked me if I wanted to go down to the river. I said of course, not thinking about the fact that we would have to climb back up. So after another 30 minutes of trekking down the mountain we finally arrived at the river.

The river is where all of the locals go to wash their clothes, and many go to bathe as well. We tried to avoid the naked bathing people, but it was almost inevitable. The view was breathtaking. The sky is so blue and pure here, there is no noise, and no contamination at all.

We then crossed the only bridge within 40 miles, which we decided was not too smart of an idea, as it literally swayed and creaked as we walked across it. Thankfully cars can’t get to this bridge, as there was a landslide that closed the road.

After enjoying the view we came to the realization that we needed to climb back up the mountain to get back to Chuschi. Over two hours later we finally arrived. On the way up we discussed how don’t understand how the people here climb up and down practically every day. As we were struggling up the mountain, a woman passed us, not breathing hard at all, with a one-year old child on her back. We decided that the people here have to have much larger hearts and amazing lung capacity.

I can’t believe that my time here in Chuschi is almost up. I will leave here at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, spend the day in Huamanga (Huamanga is better known as Ayacucho, which is also the name of the province. However, people that aren’t from the city get offended if you call it Ayacucho because they technically live in Ayacucho as well) and then take the bus back home to Lima at 9:00 p.m. One of the nuns is going to go with me, and we are going to spend the day in Huamanga sightseeing, as it is a beautiful city, and hopefully going to some the artesian markets.



The Superclasico.  There is nothing in the world like it.

The UK newspaper “The Observer” has named it the #1 sporting event to attend before you die.  And with good reason.

Boca Juniors and River Plate are the two most successful and popular teams in the history of Argentine soccer.  As I have noted before, as far as sports go, soccer is life down here.  So when it comes to a rivalry like the one between these two, the teams are out for blood.

Both teams have their roots in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, situated at the Southeastern corner and port area of the city.  However, River soon moved North to the upper-class neighborhood of Nuñez.  This led to the moniker “Millonarios”, meaning “Millionaires”, from the Boca fans.  Many times the Boca fans are referred to as “Los Chanchitos” (Little Pigs) because of the supposedly bad smell of their stadium in La Boca.

Whatever the stereotypes are, the fans of Boca and River are absolutely crazy.  My friends and I decided upon arriving 4 months ago that this was one match that was absolutely necessary to attend.  The rivalry is legendary; it seems that almost everyone in the city roots for one of the two teams.  To get tickets is quite difficult; we had to go through a middle man and it cost us about 75$ US.  But it was well worth it.

We arrived at Monumental Stadium, home of River Plate, with about an hour and half to go before the game started.  Even at that point, the fans were rowdy and the stands were filled as the reserve squads played an exhibition.  We struggled for some time to find a spot until just before the big game began.

All of the sudden, we noticed a wide open space of about 4 rows right behind the goal box.  These seats were too good to be true, and we grabbed them immediately.  Soon, we found out why fans had not occupied this area.  With about 10 minutes to go before the game, all the (insane) River fans in our section reached into their jackets and pulled out long red sticks: smoke flares.

The River fans were completely unaffected.  They simply stood there, shirts off, chanting, absorbing all, turning around and taunting the Boca fans above us, and spewing streams of various insults.  We joined in, and were immediately converted to River fans.  Of course, to do otherwise would be give yourself a death sentence.

The game was incredible.  The entire hour and half was one huge riot.  In the 53rd minute, River scored a goal. The result was complete mayhem.  Everyone screamed, debris was thrown.

At the end of the night, it was a River victory, and the fans were wild.  We were forced to wait 45 minutes after the game to leave, to avoid riots and violence that would have been caused by interaction with the Boca fans.  All in all, the event was the most unforgettable sports experience of my life, and we all walked away in awe of the fútbol culture.

In the United States, we do not have one sport that everyone follows.  We have our pastimes, but nothing comes close to passion that soccer fans in Argentina have.  It was amazing to be a part of that experience.

Well, I have only 8 DAYS left in Argentina! I can not believe how quickly the time has disappeared.  I have met amazing people and seen amazing places.  Though I will miss Argentina greatly, I also can not wait to be home and see my family and friends!

Expect probably one more blog post before I leave Argentina, and one more coming back to the US, and then that will probably be it! Thanks everyone!

So this past week I have been slowing saying goodbye to Mendoza. My classes ended last Thursday, and yesterday I turned in my last project. For me, it also happens to be my last project ever of college because I can graduate when I get back.

This afternoon I am leaving for my Patagonia trip. I am going with another girl from the program, Joy. We are busing it to Buenos Aires, then boat to Uruguay, flight to Ushuaia, and traveling back up to Mendoza by land stopping in El Calafate, Rio Gallegos and Puerto Madryn. We are planning on going from Ushuaia to El Calafate through Chile in order to see Chilean Patagonia too. It should be an amazing time. The perfect way to celebrate the end of college!

In these last couple of weeks I have been doing all the things I couldn´t leave without doing, like seeing a football game.

A big group of us went all wearing our rip off Tumba jerseys.

Brian, Joy, me, Julie, Stephanie, Gina

The game was a bit calmer than I expected because we didn´t see a great rivalry. Still, it was a lot of fun learning all of the chants and seeing the fans jumping and screaming. In the end, our team won 2 to 1.

I also finally went camping, that was an interesting experience. At least we saw the full moon over the dike and took some great pictures.

Last night we had our Cena de Despedida, or Goodbye dinner, and Thanksgiving. The food was delicious, the view was spectacular. We could see the entire city lit up. There was also a cute little talent show at then end where some of our friends played guitars and sang songs. Some made a video of skiing to get us all pumped up to go back to the cold and snow. I can´t believe that it´s Tanksgiving and Christmas time. It feels like the middle of summer here.

All in all, I´d say it was an awesome semester. I´m really thankful to have had the opportunity to experience Mendoza, and I am so excited for this trip we are heading off on today

Well, Julie and Gina just got here. We´re going for one last mate in the park. So, I´m signing off.

Besos to all,

Nikki