Snowball Fights and Piñata Parties

This weekend was one of unprecedented altitude and the celebration of my host-sister's 7th birthday.

On Saturday morning at 600am, we met at the the Temple Torrechayoc, the church next to the non-profit office, to bus to Chicon to begin our ascent to the 17,000 foot glacier.  We assembled with  our guide and porters at about 8am and began the death march up the freezing peak.

After trekking through a bunch of "microclimas," from thick forest to sheer rock, we made it to a safe spot to rest for lunch.  We fueled up on some bread and apples and prepared to forge on to our camp site for the night.  The steep face that ensued was brutal, made infinitely more challenging by my thoughts of Wilton friends lying dormant in Barnett's man cave or strolling through Cranberry Park without a care in the world (Can't wait, fellas.)  In short, the two hours after lunch were brutal.

A view of the glacier above another peak.

Finally, we made it up to our camp site at the foot of the glacier in time to relax and enjoy the view overlooking Urubamba and Chicon.

The view from our campsite down on Urubamba and Chicon.

Neil and I looking real jungle casual.

We spent the rest of the evening playing cards, resting, and chowing down on some rice with vegetables prepared by the guide and porters.

We got into our tents at about 730pm, optimistic about a good night's sleep before our final push to glacier in the morning.  Of course, the night didn't go as planned, and I found myself staring at the top of the tent for the entire night shivering in 20 degree weather.

Coming off of no sleep and hoisting my frozen water bottle, we headed off to the glacier, leaving our camp intact until we returned on our descent around lunch time.


Below are some pictures of us finally reaching the top.

The lagoon at the foot of the glacier. Nauset Beach minus twenty degrees.

Enjoying the snow at last.

Hanging out with the crew before our final push.

Quick side-note: I'm no Al Gore, but I do consider myself a pretty observant jackass.  That being said, when the guide told us that the glacier had retreated more than 100 meters in the last year due to climate change, I was taken aback.  This glacier serves as the main drinking supply for Chicon and Urubamba, and besides evident contamination problems closer to the villages, it's melting at a scary pace.  It's tough to confront an environmental issue so directly without altering the way in which you think about or use a resource, so rather than further exhausting the water supply, I settled on the celebratory Cusqueña when we got back to town on Sunday afternoon. 

When I got home from the long two-day hike, I returned to my host-sister's seventh birthday party.  I was struggling to keep my eyes open until I saw her hoisting a purple bat beating the shit out of a Disney princess piñata with the eye of the tiger only matched by Hayser on the washers court.

After a glass of the dentist's solution that is Inca Kola, and formal goodbyes to the party guests, I retreated to my room for an epic hibernation period.

Today, Hannah and I taught a couple lessons on food webs.  The word search took the cake, finally keeping our craziest class on task.  Tonight, we had a volunteer dinner at the office, and I recaptured the Bobby Flay within in me to cook up a breakfast-for-dinner meal of banana pancakes, homefries, scrambled eggs, and mimosas with sous chefs Emily and Hannah.

That's the daily wrap-up here in the land of Andino cheese.

Keep on keepin' on,
Chris

Finding My Stride

The sign outside our school.

The last couple of days have been absolutely awesome in terms of getting a lot of work done during my service projects in the morning.  On Thursday, Hannah and I taught two classes on air pollution and reviewed numbers in English with our students at 711 school, followed by another productive one-on-one Spanish class with my teacher, Miriam.  For the first time, I felt comfortable in front of the 25 fifth graders who are more than capable of making a white dude with average Spanish skills feel like an idiot.  Be that as it may, we did a cool activity with chalk and vinegar to demonstrate the effects of acid rain, and they were excitingly memorized by the little bubbles in the cup.

In between our two classes, I got to go play soccer outside with the kids.  Granted I quit the sport after my friends' moms stopped handing out oranges at halftime (circa 1999 according to Warrior Nation Sports Blog ancient archives), I had a blast just running around with the kids, finally feeling like an equal rather than an outsider.

Kids playing at recess. 

 

 

 

I went home to lunch, then trekked back up to the non-profit office, which sits at the base of a steep peak with a cross on top of it.  David, another environmental teacher at 711 from Duke, hiked with me up to the cross in our best time yet since we've been here, hopefully proving our readiness to to get up to the 17,000 ft. glacier this weekend.

This morning, Hannah, Emily, David, and I met Ameriko, our supervisor at the farm, at 7am ready to melt in the boiling greenhouse again.  To our liking, Ameriko threw us a wildcard and told us we'd be making liquid fertilizer.  The recipe was somewhat similar to my sister's, Meaghan's, first attempts at chicken stir fry.

It called for:

1. one wheelbarrow of cow shit
2. 2 kilos of fish heads
3. 3 kilos of chicken guts
4. 6 liters of Chica (Peruvian corn beer, we'll get to that at a later date)
5. banana peels
6. alfalfa
7. peas
8. water
9. brown sugar
10. yeast
-let ferment for three months, apply to soil, and in no time you'll have plants yielding bigger and brighter fruit than the occasional gems at Stew Leonard's.

After we collected all the materials from the local market (save the cow feces, which required a simple shovel job), we got to mixing and matching.

Stirring up a pot of the worst smelling soup I've never had. 

 We finished up on the farm around noon, and I've spent the majority of the afternoon preparing for our hike this weekend.  Below are some pictures from our work on the farm.

Not even Mr. Kach could cow tip these monsters in his day. If you look closely into the mountain in the background, you can make out a "711" carved into the mountain. Schools do this in Urubamba as a symbol of academic pride.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere says Wilbur.

Yours truly walking through the tomato plants.

The four greenhouses from the outside.

 Stay classy,
Chris

Two Towers Hike, Bonfire, and Ruins Tour

This past weekend, we met at 530am in the Plaza de Armas in Urubamba for our hike to two Incan towers on top of a peak surrounding the village.  Our guide, Ober, was a local Peruvian in his twenties with the lung capacity of Lance Armstrong and TheJim2.0 combined.  When we left, it was about 40 degrees, and we were all bundled up in hats and gloves.  Quickly, the chilly stroll turned into a rather challenging death march as the sun got hotter and hotter.  We made it to the top in about 3 and a half hours, albeit recharged with energy knowing that it was all downhill from there, literally.  We hung out on top for about an hour, had an early lunch, and took pictures of the ruins.  The walk, which turned into a run thanks to the incline of the hill, took about half an hour, just in time to enjoy a cold Cusqueña in town before the Duke kids who are serving in Cusco arrived for the weekend.

We ordered pizza from a small place in town, and the twenty of us Dukies hung out around the bonfire for the night.  We ended up at a "discotecha" called Manhatten, which has zero resemblance to or affiliation with the New York City borough but nonetheless brings the heat with the reggaeton.

Early Sunday morning, we left for Ollantaytambo and Pisac, two popular Incan towns.  Below is a view of Ollantaytambo, the starting point of the Inca Trail to Machu Piccu and the former palace of the Incan emperor, Pachacuti.

These stairs were tall enough to challenge my strapping, young mother, cardiovascularly speaking.

Another shot of Ollantaytambo.

 On our way from Ollantaytambo to Pisac, our van broke down, giving us some time to get laughed at by the countless tourist buses cruising by.  Fear not, I'm over it.

Side View of Pisac. Slight resemblance to the Hartford Meadows, minus the masses of underage debauchery.

Group shot on top of Pisac.

After we visited the Incan town of Pisac, we went to the Pisac Market, where a caddy loop at Rolling Hills can go further than it ever has.  I stocked up on some alpaca gear for the family, and left satisfied knowing that my mom will still be cold enough to ask me to return to Peru for more.              

Monday and Tuesday have been full of teaching the fifth graders about air and water pollution and numbers in English.  I finished my second book so far in Peru, and this sentence will serve as proof to my family that I know how to read despite how far behind I was and probably still am in terms of literacy of my older brother when he was 8. 

Tomorrow, I'll be kickin' it in the market selling tomatoes, peppers, and organic yogurt from the cows at the farm.  Tomorrow night, we have our volunteer dinner, and I'll be bringing my culinary dominance abroad with an epic spread of breakfast for dinner.  Forecast calls for some fresh fruit, chocolate chip pancakes, and a quiche good enough to make my hipster sister revert to her omnivore days.

That's all in Uru.

God speed loyal followers and casual creepers,
Chris

A Week of Epic Proportions: Full moon, water-borne illness, and Ocho's Locos

It's been a wild week here in Peru for many reasons, but the last few days specifically have been eventful for a variety of bizarre reasons.  On Wednesday, we had our first day working in the field at Lasalle Institute as well as on the street in the local market.  We arrived at the organic farm positioned on the Urubamba river and at the foot of a huge Andean peak at 630am for our tour of the greenhouses.  Our leader on the farm and at the market for the next couple weeks is a 24 year-old Uru native named Ameriko. He showed us the endless rows of tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, and peppers, while explaining that the "invernadero" can warm up to 45 degrees Celsius when the sun is at its brightest (113 degrees, not exactly air conditioned). 

While David and Emily sold the organic peppers and tomatoes in the market amongst local Peruvian women at the market, Hannah, Ameriko, and I prepared a package of organic greens to ship off to a tourist restaurant in Cusco.  After, we weeded the huge plot of tomato plants in order to expedite the speed saplings turn into soles on the market streets (and no mom, don't take this as my application to start slaving away with you in the gardens in the backyard).  We ended the day walking around the farm, checking out where they milk the cows and pile up the compost. 

My Spanish class runs from 115-245 Monday through Thursday, and I've already noticed improvement in my conversational abilities.  I still get made fun of for saying something wrong in front of the 5th graders, but I guess I'm going to chalk this one up as a small victory.

Tuesday night, my host-sister Allison and I played a few competitive rounds of Ocho's Locos (crazy eights for all of you who struggled with Dora the Explorer's interactive Spanish lessons).  I got my ass handed to me, but just like my youngest sister at home, I felt like she had a Rainman-esque gene good enough to know what move I'd make at any moment.  We had a full moon that night, so the sky was just bright enough for me to get suckered into playing jump rope with her and my roommate Dave until we could barely open our eyes.  All in all, it was a great night.

The last couple days, I've felt a little under the weather, but worry not- Giardia is no match for this guy.  I secured the anti-biotics from the local "botica," and I'm getting ready for our big hike on Saturday. 

To end on a less disgusting note, here are some pictures from the last few days in Urubamba!

On top of a peak in Urubamba with a giant cross on it.

A view of the glacier in Chicon, where we'll be hiking in two weekends.

Another view from the peak with the cross over Urubamba.

Sunset coming through the mountains.

A few of us in Moray, a neighboring village.

A sunny day in the Sacred Valley.

Meeeeester Chris

Today was my first day of teaching at "La Escuela 711" in Urubamba.  I'm co-teaching with a fellow Dukie, Hannah Arnold, and we lead two 90 minute classes a day.  We taught class 5a and 5b today, incorporating a lot of "dynamicos," or icebreakers, into the lesson plan to get to know the kids and hopefully develop a sense of trust with our students. We brainstormed topics related to the environment and the English language with the students in order to gauge interest.  We finished up our class by teaching the kids "Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes."  Whoever left this jam off of Now 14 was clearly mistaken, because it was all the rage in Urubamba.  Meester Chris and Miss Hannah were happy to say they accomplished all they wanted to on the first day.

Class went surprisingly well, and after, I hoofed it to my Spanish class on the other side of town.  After an hour and half of Spanish with my teacher, Miriam, I took a moto-taxi back to my house (for the convenient fare of 1 sol, or 40 cents) to eat my "Pollo de Coca Cola."

It's been a really rewarding day, and I'm excited to get back to the classroom on Thursday, but tomorrow is our greenhouse day.  We'll get the chance to start working in the greenhouse around 630am in order to prepare for a "market day."  My host mom explained to me that market days (Wed, Fri, Sun) are extremely hectic in Urubamba because people flock to the local market from neighboring communities in order to take advantage of the fresh produce, poultry, and beef. 

It's almost dinner time here, but I should be able to upload some good pictures tomorrow of the greenhouse and the local market!

Back on Track

For some reason, my last three blog posts were deleted when I first logged onto the internet in Peru.  They must have had the gringo-proof settings on in full force.  I found a way to get this blog back and running, and I'm excited to recount the most notable parts of my two-month stay in Urubamba so far.

A fountain in downtown Cusco

A view of the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, one of the most "touristy" areas in the Sacred Valley

Above is a picture of a statue on top of a peak in Cusco at sunset.

We arrived in Urubamba, a small village in the Sacred Valley of Peru, on Friday night.  The small van packed full of anxious volunteers spilled out into the ProPeru office, and we waited nervously to meet our homestay families.  Luckily, my family was the first family to arrive at the office, so the nerve-racking wait quickly turned into an exciting cross-cultural banter.

Dulia Acuna and her six year old daughter, Allison, live about two miles away from the ProPeru office on the river bank in Urubamba.  In addition to Allison and Dulia, I'm living with Dave, a rising junior at Duke.

We've enjoyed amazing meals so far from Dulia, including fresh fruit and coca tea for breakfast and arroz con pollo for dinner.  The days have been filled with exploring with Urubamba, hanging out with my younger sister Allison, hiking the surrounding peaks, and relaxing in the beautiful Plaza de Armas.

On Sunday, we visited the Incan grounds known as Moray, as well as the incredible salt mines of Urubamba.

Picture above is Moray.  This was taken from a ledge about 100 meters above the center-most ring in the grass field.  The Incans used these ground to supposedly experiment with different agricultural techniques because each level represent a unique "microclima."  Essentially, each layer of the concentric circles picture above is about 8 feet high, therefore creating a change in temperature from layer to layer.  Some attribute the variety of fruits and vegetables in the Sacred Valley (over 3000 kinds of potatoes) to the innovative agricultural techniques employed by the Incans.

We traveled from Moray to the salt mines, winding down easily the scariest one-lane road I've ever been on.  Yes mom, worse than Pelham lane on my way to hockey practice in the snow.  Here's the view!

 Today, we got a very detailed orientation on our work projects down here.  I'll be teaching three 5th grade classes at "La Escuela 711" in Urubamba, focusing on environmental awareness and the english language.  We'll be teaching for three hours a day, three days a week.  The other two days, I'll be working in a green house, growing local plants in order to sell them in the Urubamba market.  Besides teaching and working in the market, I'll have spanish class every day from 7pm-830pm.  Unlike my experiences in high school, this class will run four days a week for 90 minutes and be 1-on-1.  My first class is tonight, and I'm excited to note how quickly my Spanish improves- can't wait to shed the gringo title!

Next week, we're hiking to a glacier on a peak in a neighboring village, called Chicon.  The hike takes two days, and because I still need to adjust to the altitude, I'm going for a quick afternoon hike now!

I have more email access than I anticipated, and a quick hello is always appreciated!