Another flight?

So once again I will be heading out of town. This time to our beautiful capital for one last meeting about the summer project in Peru.
I will also be able to catch up with one of my best friends whom I really don't get to see that often. Hopefully we'll be able to catch a concert on Saturday night. This band recently played here but I was sick the night of the concert and had to pass on catching it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to see them there instead.

We're all going on a summer holiday...

My mom's favorite artist of all time was due to play his farewell tour this month throughout the UK and Europe. Seeing that it was our last chance to ever see him in concert, the girls in the family flew over our fair country and over the Atlantic for a chance to catch Sir Cliff Richard live in concert.

Due to classes at uni, I was the last to fly out (and also the first to return home). Being the student that I am, I took the cheapest flight available to me that ended up looking like this:
Vancouver to Chicago, Chicago to Stockholm, Stockholm to Paris.

I was lucky that I was able to spend the day in Stockholm.
Although it was quite cold (just above freezing when I arrived in the city at 8:30am), I was able to discover quite a few amazing spots. I walked across the numerous bridges that connect the different parts of the city centre, enjoyed many coffees to warm myself up, came across the Nobel Museum by pure luck, and enjoyed a fantastic lunch in a quaint plaza.

Then it was onwards to Paris and the search for a hostel for the night before catching the train to my hometown. After getting on the wrong end of my fast-train (the TGV), I arrived safe and sound in Noyers S/Cher.
It was amazing to be back "home" after being away for the last 11 years. Looking at the rolling hills, the roman roads, the vineyards, the cobblestone streets, the houses built into the cliff, all of this brings back so many childhood memories.

After a very brief stay in France (just over 36 hours) it was a quick jaunt across the Channel to London where Mom and I spent a few days exploring the city; a first for both of us.
Trust us to find two amazing Malaysian restaurants within a 4-day period. If you are in London and craving some Malaysian food, check out "Makan" on Portobello Road, just past the train overpass.

Then it was onwards to Manchester for a few days culminating to THE concert of a lifetime for my mom. Sunday October 18th: Cliff Richard and the Shadows, live in concert.
It was fantastic. I grew up listening to his music and watching his movies so it was a trip down memory lane once again. I was surprised to realize how many songs by the Shadows I knew and loved. It was great to see my mom enjoy herself so much. We even stuck around by the back gate after the concert to catch a glimpse of Sir Cliff before heading back to the hotel.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and definitely worth the long flight out and back.

Last days of the South American adventure

The days in La Paz wound down quickly with great laughs. S. and I had some fun staying at the Loki La Paz where we shared a dorm with 4 English blokes and 1 San Franciscan dude. Let's just say that there was a lot of laughing going on.

During those couple of days it was also a parade of all the uni students performing dances from different regions of Bolivia; the streets were packed with dances, live music, drunken debauchery, and the inevitable street food.

On Sunday afternoon we tackled our bus ride back to the Peruvian coast that was due to be 24hrs long...
We left La Paz well prepared to tackle the upcoming day of travel. After a quick jaunt across the border in Desaguadero (and the funniest border agent that I have ever met!), S. and I continued along on our bus journey northwest.

Towards nightfall we started traversing the Andes towards Arequipa and somewhere between Juliaca (by Lake Titicaca) and Arequipa, our bus came to a dead stop.
It turned out that there was heaps of snow on the road and being Sunday, there was no one to clean the roads. We were informed that we were going to have to wait it out... all night long... We quickly started thinking about travel time and whether or not we were going to be able to make a day trip to the National Park of Paracas located just south of Lima. Time wore on and we were still parked on the road with many other cars, trucks and buses.
Morning broke and we awoke to the most beautiful sight. Hills and mountains all around us with a covering of snow on everything. Then the good news came: traffic is starting to move, us included!

We start inching our way up the hill and start passing a stationary truck when *CRUNCH!* We all try to see what has just happened and one of the other passengers calls out that we have just lost our door as it was left open when we started moving and it got ripped off as we passed the truck!!
Now S. and I are thinking a few different things:
1) we have no door
2) it is still lightly snowing outside
3) we are 3/4 hrs away from Arequipa, the closest place for us to change buses
4) the bathroom is right next to this door
5) what is going on?!
After some consulting with the bus driver, the whole bus agrees that we are okay with heading all the way to Arequipa without a door as long as we change buses there since it's another 16 hrs to Lima afterwards.

Off again we go with nightfall once again upon us when *CRASH*, we have just hit something! For those of us in the middle of the bus, we can't figure out if we have hit another vehicle or an animal or a rock. We really don't want to spend another night stopped on the road, especially since we were running 17hrs behind schedule. Turns out that it was a rock and that it didn't do much damage, so off we go once again.

38 hours after we left La Paz, S. and I arrive in Lima at 6am on Tuesday morning. We decide to skip Paracas as it would have been a tight timeline and we would have been dead tired from all of the traveling in the end.

The two days in Lima were well spent. We took our friend's advice and stayed at the EuroBackpackers Hostel in Miraflores that we definitely recommend to anyone heading to Lima, two thumbs up!

We had a bit of an eventful taxi ride to the airport where the driver had a bout of road rage, or maybe he thought that he was a derby driver, and we had to have some words with him in order to arrive at the airport in one piece.

Now here I am, sitting in the Toronto airport, waiting for my flight home. This is the final leg of this journey and after 19 hours of travel/transit time I am very excited to be coming home to the heat wave that is sweeping the city; hello Vancouver!

Bolivian adventures... and misadventures...

So the time has come to update the old blogger...and where do I start?

I last left you from Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca where the fun and adventures were to start in Bolivia.

Well, we made our way to Copacabana (yes, just like the song that you are probably now humming to yourself) and a beautiful place called Isla del Sol. After an entertaining 3hr boat ride with a bunch of Brazilian boys to Isla del Sol, we started what was to be an incredibly hard hike uphill with our packs to our fantastic hostel (where we scored the best room in the whole place, overlooking Lake Titicaca). The next day was filled with a 6-hr hike around the island with another group of Bralizian boys. Now the tricky part of this hike was that one of us was still fighting altitude sickness and another one of us was experiencing the Bolivian equivalent of Delhi belly... not the most positive experiences for either but still an experience nonetheless.

After Copacabana, we took off on another bus ride to destination La Paz where we arrived late in the evening and got dropped off at a fantastic stop called ¨el cimentario¨, which does mean ¨the cemetary¨. Luckily we were quickly picked up by our friend´s cousin who was letting us stay with her for a couple of days.

After a couple of days in La Paz (and the purchase of amoxicilin to combat the onset of a sinus infection as well as the purchase of bronchial syrup to combat the onset of liquid in my lungs), S. and I hopped on an overnight bus last Sunday to Uyuni to start a 3-day tour of the salt flats and the surrounding desert. What they do not say in the guidebooks is that the journey by bus from La Paz to Uyuni is horrible! Not only is it 12hrs long with seriously bad toilets but also the road between Oruro and Uyuni is horribly bumpy for the entire 7hrs between the two cities!

After arriving at 6am, we decided to hop on a tour starting that day in order to save a stay in a hostel and to get us back to La Paz a day early; something that was soon to change.

Our first day went by well and was fun-filled.
Then came day 2...What started off as a beautiful day quickly turned to a horrendous sandstorm by 10am. After being turned away at a checkpoint, we took refuge in a little place called San Juan in one of the worst hostels that I have ever stayed in. The place resembled a bunker that I visited in grade 9 whilst in Normandy. Some windows had plastic coverings and sand kept blowing in (the wind was so strong that metal roofs were being ripped off). We were hoping that the wind would die down by mid-afternoon and that we could carry on our journey, boy were we hopeful. We ended up spending the night in one of the coldest places I have ever slept - we could see our breath when we exhaled.
The upside of this time bunkered down was the presence of other jeeps who had to stop because of the storm. We ended up buying most of the bottles of chilean red from the local (and maybe only) store and playing cards with yet another group of Brazilian guys. That coupled with copious amounts of chocolate kept the good vibes flowing.
The next morning was better and we continued on our tour with one day lost. If we thought that night 2 was bad, night 3 got the prize for worst sleep ever! It was colder than in the hostel/bunker and we were sleeping on concrete blocks, definitely made for stories to tell. But once again made better by meeting up with the same Brazilian guys from the bunker.

We made it back into Uyuni safe and sound a day later than expected.
Then it was another overnight bus for S. and I back to La Paz. This one was a lot more entertaining than the one down to Uyuni as the bus kept heaving like it was on its last legs. Once we arrived in Oruro at 4am we were advised that we would need to change buses as ours was broken. Off we go to the other bus only to discover that 1) the bus is quite full with locals and 2) there is no toilet on the bus and it´s a long way to La Paz. So after S. and I claimed a couple of seats at the back of the bus, I hop off to quickly run back to our broken bus that still has a functioning toilet on it only to hear a bus revving its engine like its ready to go. I run back to our ¨new¨ bus only to run into our Chilean friend A. who also needs to use the facilities before we head to La Paz. I wait for her outside of the bus thinking that if I am just outside the door then the bus will not leave without us... this is a VERY naive thought. Not one minute passes that A. is on the broken bus that the bus starts driving away with me still on the street and her in the broken bus. I start sprinting for the bus at the same time that A. emerges from the bus. We both bolt for the bus and barely make it on.

We got into La Paz yesterday morning and are heading out tomorrow afternoon on a 24hr bus ride from here to Pisco, Peru. Let´s just say that that iPods are charged and there will be some serious sleep time involved with fantastic earplugs.

Countdown until home: 5 days.

Random things and a quick update...

Heya! So it´s been a little while and I am going to try to keep things as orderly as possible but there are no guarantees...

Some cool trips that we did whilst still in the north:
Hiked to a place called Revash where the Chachapoyans had mausoleums, then it was on to a town called Leymebamba where we visited the mummy museum (they had tons of mummies that they found at Laguna de los Condores).
The next weekend was an adventure to Gocta with a couple of American guys. Gocta is the third highest waterfall in the world, I believe. AMAZING! We had to dunk ourselves in the waters although they felt about only 10degrees if that.
On our way back we had a bit of a surprise. On the road there was a dead chicken and instead of continuing along on our journey, our driver pulled over the van and went back to what I thought was move the chicken to the side of the road... WRONG! He proceeded to open up the back of the van and put the chicken underneath the backseat where S. L. and M. were sitting! Needless to say, we did not order chicken that night or the next day. :)

We finished the project in Chachapoyas with success. We did more than was expected and the ladies of the community were happy with the progress. It was a hard last day with them and tears were shed.
We left Chacha on the 5th of July for a whirlwind tour through Tarapoto at the entrance to the Amazonian jungle.
Got into Lima on the 7th late at night, finished up presentations and debriefing on the 9th then 4 of us flew out to Cusco for the start of our traveling.
It was then onto Aguas Calientes to hit up the hot springs, explore Machu Picchu and hike up Wayna Picchu (note: it´s a steep hike and definitely be careful when going up or down. An American girl bailed coming down and ended up rolling head over heels for over 2 switchbacks!).
Once back in Cusco, we enjoyed a fantastic 15 soles (approx $6) one hour massage and a great dinner in San Blas.

After a day of travels through the Andean altipano, I am now in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca which has been a dream for me since I was a child. Tomorrow we are Bolivia bound for some fun and adventure.
I will try to keep up to date a bit more.

Ciao!

Random "who would have thought?"

Here is a little list of some funny and some useful things that I have to share.

1) Note to self: do not put toilet paper in the toilet whilst in Latin America. The system does not like it.

2) If someone is whistling (ie: like a catcall) and you are the only gringa, it is most likely at you, even if it is coming from a 12 year old.

3) Beware of sidewalks, they aren't that stable.

4) To go with 3), beware of the lone puddle in the street after falling off of the unstable sidewalk. You will land in that lone puddle.

5) Pleasant discovery #1: Ice cream is cheap and good. Have lots of it.

6) Pleasant discovery #2: "raton" is a chocolate cake covered with chocolate goodness and peanuts. They cost 1 sol and San Jose makes the best ones!

7) Aguacate (aka avocado) is known as palta in these parts.

8) When ordering an egg you may need to specify without salt.

9) "Chifa" is the Peruvian answer to a chinese restaurant.

10) "Chaufa" is the Peruvian answer to fried rice.

That's the 10 that I have for you tonight. More to come when I think of more.

Week one of workshops: check!

It has been some time since I last kept everyone up to date. There is some good news to report; we completed our first week of workshops in the community and it was a successful first set. Our second set begins today and will run until Friday again. It was really amazing to spend our afternoons in the communities getting to know the women and the children whilst teaching, learning and sharing experiences with them.

This past weekend we did a day excursion to one of the local sites called “Kuelap”. It is a pre-Incan ruin that was actually discovered before Machu Picchu however as it was a Peruvian who discovered it, it did not get as much Western publicity as MP. This site is spectacular as it is located at the top of a mountain at an altitude of 3,000m and boasts the ruins of hundreds of homes. Some of the carvings in the rock are very well preserved and you can notice the different hybrid creatures that the ancient Chachapoyans worshipped. There are also some Incan ruins on site as the Incas did eventually take over the site. The main way to differentiate the two cultures is by the shape of the buildings; the Chachapoyans built theirs in a circular shape whilst the Incas built theirs in a square shape.

This week is filled with our second set of workshops as forementioned as well as the start of our report that Sarah is starting on as well as developing the final presentations that we will be giving to both the Municipality here (with the press on hand) as well as to WUSC back in Lima at the start of July. I will be working on both of these presentations with Erma who is from here.

On a side note, last week there was a congress in Lima that addressed the latest struggles in the Amazonas region for the aboriginal groups and whilst I do not have any details on the results, our friend who is from the Condorconqui group has said that things have settled for the positive for the aboriginal groups. I will try to look into more details and keep you posted.

This is not how I thought this day was going to be.

Last night I was admitted to the ER of our local hospital as I still had stomach pains since Friday. It turns out that it was definitely food poisoning coupled with good old dehydration, not a fun combo when you are trying to do work as well (ie: surveying families in shantytowns where there is no shade and it is at the height of day). I spent 6 hours between being treated and being released which isn´t bad at all, plus I was treated to many stories and jokes by two of my Peruvian counterparts.
However, this morning I awoke to my roommate and friend being in a similar state of pain but with more symptoms which led her to the emergency this morning and where she is also spending the night under observation. Luckily (or unluckily), our one and only other Canadian team member has also been in the hospital since Saturday night for internal infections so at least the two of them are going to be able to hang out together tonight.
I spent the entire day with both of them whilst everyone else was working as I was off for bedrest today to fully recuperate from my illness. What isn´t cool is that when you are admitted into hospitals here you actually get given a prescription by the doctor for everything that is needed while you are in the hospital´s care (ie: IVs, meds, etc) and half the time you have to check out more than one little pharmacy (imagine the smallest corner store that you have ever been to then halved it) to get everything that you need. So I had a great time this afternoon navigating the Peruvian pharmacy system and I am pretty sure that the 3 sick Canadians are quite well known here.
After such a crazy long day and a serious lack of sleep all that I wanted to do was have some food, go back to the hostal, check my e-mails and go to bed but our team is so amazing and so, after a great vegetarian dinner, I was surprised with a little b-day celebration.
So that´s where today is at.
Political update: looks like there is going to be a strike this Thursday in town so we have the day off again. Don´t know how long it is going to last. Please know that as of right now we are very safe, espcially staying where we are.
Ciao everyone!

Fiestas & Protests

So here I am in an internet cafe after a day of being bed-ridden and let me tell you about yesterday.
I am going to spare you the details of suffering of both food poisoning and altitude sickness but move on to something that is way more important and close to my heart.
There have been protests in our region for close to 50 days now. You may have heard of protests occuring in the high Andes around Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu but what strikes closer to where I am calling home are the blockades that are occuring only a few hours away. Our way in to Chachapoyas had to be changed last week due to a blockage to the west of us. We luckily made it into town when we did as the road to the east of us is now blocked as well. Why are they blocked? Well, what you may not know is how the Free Trade Agreement affects the lives of those who live on the lands of these natural resources. Chachapoyas is in the middle of the Amazonas region of Peru, located in the northeast portion of the country. Many aboriginal groups live in this area and for the last while, they are being pushed out of their homes for the sake of ¨development¨. Just yesterday, the government´s police force opened fire from helicopters on those protesting just 3 hrs away from us. The initial number was 20 dead but by mid-afternoon the numbers had climbed to 100 then by evening to 200. Right now the numbers being reported in the news both here and abroad are still very conservative at only 20 or 30 but the truth is that it is 10 times that. Reports from the lines include children as young as 4 being a part of the victims.
One of our Peruvian counterparts is an aboriginal from the Condorconqui group who is one of the groups protesting right now. It has been hard on most of our group as this relates closely to those around us. We were able to collect funds last night and help our Condoconqui friend purchase medicine and food to send to the front lines to help those injured in what is truly a massacre on those protecting their rights.
The reports from the Peruvian Prime Minister stating that it is a plot on the native´s part against democracy is ridiculous as just yesterday power was cut to all of Chachapoyas for several hours to stop all communication from getting out. How´s that for democracy?
If you want to read up on more info, please check out rabble.ca and look up Ben Powless´article on protests in Peru.
Naturally I will be keeping you updated from my end! Ciao

Phew! Chachapoyas arrival = good stories to tell!

Aboriginal road blocks caused a change of plans from a 20hr bus ride through the Andes to an adventure through the jungle instead.
Monday night we took a plane to Tarapoto and arrived in what ended up being a paradise. "Los Huingos" was a amazing hostel where we stayed in beautiful rooms with hammocks on the patio, a rio running behind us, and butterflies all around. We introduced the Peruvians to Maple fudge, Maple cookies and some good old Canadian wine.
The next morning led to exploring the rio and enjoying some hot hot heat (which led to a sunburn that we discovered today, YIKES!). Shortly thereafter we said adios to paradise and all 17 of us, plus luggage plus driver, piled in to a "combi" which is slightly bigger than my old Toyota van, to say that it was crowded is putting it lightly. The best was that I am pretty sure that the interior is original so to paint a picture it was metal frame with some blue vinyl over top which does not lead to the most comfortable situation for 10 hours.
To keep ourselves occupied we shared music with each other that led to pulling into Moyobambo with Tokyo Police Club blaring from the combi and eventually to a sing-a-long to Bedouin Soundclash's "When the night feels my song" by the Peruvians. Amazing!
Today was fun-filled with an adventure to Chacha's viewpoint where we had the most amazing vista of the town as well as of the surrounding mountains then it was off to the local museum for a crashcourse on the locale. After a lunch which included a soup with chicken feet in it, we were on to business when we met our project coordinator from the municipality and we went over our game plan for tomorrow's work.
Tonight we're off to enjoy festivities that are a part of the "semana de la turista" so stay tuned!

24hrs in Lima...

After an uneventful flight out of Ottawa to Toronto, we arrived in the big TO safe and sound, yet with one of us lacking a passport. Not a good idea when you are flying abroad... Luckily someone turned it in and after a wee stressful moment, we were all on our way to Lima.
Amazingly, all of us (and our luggage!) arrived in one piece and we have now settled in to our hostel that is home until Monday. From there on out, we will be working on our community projects for the next 5 weeks.
Spanish is a bit of a challenge at the moment but it should pick up any time now (I hope!).
As it turns out, I will not be enduring a 20hr bus ride to my community but a fantastic flight into "La Selva" and then a short bus ride to our spot; with some sightseeing on the way!
That's it for now, hasta pronto!

Life in the Cap...

So part 1 of 2 for pre-departure training ended today at head office.
The two days since the start of training has been a flurry of of activity; meeting and getting to know the other participants, training, getting small details for the trip all wrapped up, a gala event this evening with fair-trade shea butter from Burkina Faso; the list goes on...
I have also had the opportunity to catch up with a couple of friends from high school who have since moved out here to pursue higher education as well as careers. Then just last night I randomly ran into a friend whom I haven't seen in 2 or 3 years, always a great surprise!
This being the first time that I am in the capital, I have been playing tourist during my free time and taking advantage of my new baby, the Nikon D60.
Today I was fortunate enough to check out Parliament with someone who actually works on the Hill as one of the other participants ran into him while we were on our way downtown. It was fantastic to experience it from the other perspective.
The next couple of days are going to be filled with part 2 of training with a focus on the intercultural exchange during this seminar.
Perhaps my next entry will be from beautiful Peru. Stay tuned...

What I have learned in the last 3 days...

After a long period of contemplating, comparing and price-checking, I had finally decided on purchasing the Nikon D60. However, when I went in to my local camera shop earlier this week, I ended up having an anxiety attack. Is this strange for someone who has recently gotten teeth work done without the anaesthetic, has walked on hot coals, had her nose pierced 5 times, moved to a place that she knew nothing about? Yes, I think so.
So I had to sit and think why this is the case and yes, I think that I have found the answer. I get nervous about making large purchases. It happens every time I go to pay my tuition; my hands get sweaty, I start to stumble over my words, I can't see straight. Weird!
Tomorrow I am going to stand up tall and strong and hit the "ok" on the pinpad and claim that camera as mine! (I guess this makes it official...).
Buenos noches a todos y a todas!

Less then a week!

Wowza! This week has gone by in a flash. Family visiting, great friends getting married, and here we are at a week before I will be in Ottawa for pre-Peru training. This coming week will be filled with packing that has yet to commence and tying up last minute to-do's here. Although I did not receive the sponsorship from Nikon, I am hoping to still go ahead and purchase a nice SLR for the trip so that I can share what is looking to be an amazing experience with all of you back here at home.
Until next time...

Finally! My project announcement!

Happy Long weekend to everyone!
After a whirlwind week of: finishing classes for this semester, working the two final Canucks home games of the season (before Playoffs start bien sur!), and surviving the craziest event thus far: Britney Spears' latest concert, I am happy to announce that I have finally received my project assignment for Peru.

So on this beautiful sunny day in good old Van I am excited to announce that I will be working on an urban composting project in Chachapoyas! Some of you are aware that my urban composting proposal for the city and district of North Vancouver have been put on the back burner for the past year so I am very excited to be able to share some of the knowledge that I have gained so far in a project that means a lot to me.

On another positive note, I have also successfully raise the $3,000 needed for my contribution to make this Seminar/Project happen! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me so far, you are all amazing!
If anyone still wants to contribute I am accepting extra funds that will be used to help support a shanty town school located outside of Trujillo (north of Lima). They need school supplies as well as construction supplies for the orphanage and garden that they intend on building. I will be heading over to Trujillo after my 6-week project is over in order to volunteer there for some time.

Another news flash is that I sent in my sponsorship requests to both Nikon and Sony Canada. Keep your fingers crossed that they are willing to sponsor me and I may be the new owner of a beautiful digital SLR so that I can share my peruvian experience with all of you!

On that note, buenas dias a todos, voy a caminar al sol!

In the beginning...

Well, here is the start of this journey. The one of starting a blog and sharing my experiences as they come.
Things are in full swing for Peru. Our departure date of May 29th is fast approaching with a few days of training beforehand back east first. The complete logistics are still being finalized but I will be sure to share the details once I have them.
What I do know so far is:
a) My initial project runs for 6 weeks; from May 29th to July 11th.
b) I will be staying on afterwards for 4 to 6 weeks to: help out at a shanty town school, hike Machu Picchu, meet a shamen in Cuzco, travel to Ecuador, visit Lake Titicaca and La Paz. All these are options and nothing is set in stone.
c) Fundraising has been a success so far with most of the $3,000 raised at the evening event "Agua". Thank you to everyone who came out or helped support in their own way.
d) The online fundraising thermometer isn't reflecting the current total. It is definitely more than $325!
e) I am working on getting sponsorship from either Nikon/Canon/Sony for a digital SLR. My goal is to create a fantastic slideshow upon my return so that I can share my experience with everyone.

So that's all for now. It is late. Buenos noches!