Thursday, January 24, 2013

Arequipa Life

Almost lost track of what week and how long I've been here- in the best way possible, all days are starting to blur into one. In the last day, I've gone down with travellers sickness which has given me a chance to sit down and tackle this entry- it seems like this blog is popular and I like the fact I am never sure completely who I'm writing to.
I'm happy I went to BOOTS and stocked up on medicines before I came- even though Peru is ridiculously cheap, cosmetics, most clothes and medicines are pretty expensive. Plus it seems like an effort to walk the 1.5 miles to the shopping centre, with three streets to cross in between. If there's one thing you need to know about everyday life here is that there is next to no order on the roads- a nightmare if you're driving or in a vehicle (almost flying through the windscreen of a public bus is a regular happening)  but a disaster if you're crossing the road as a pedestrian. Its ironic that drivers take a blind bit of notice of zebra crossings and traffic cops blow whistles without seeming to direct traffic. You just need to take your life in the hands and run. At school yesterday, I was informed that two of my friends were late because their bus driver had decided to get out and give another bus driver a knuckle sandwich!!

Sitting here typing this, I can't help but be a little bit annoyed at the fact that this sickness has come on now. Not only am I missing a mornings teaching to rest up, I'm taking a ten hour bus journey to Cusco this evening, stopping by at another hostel in Arequipa on the way to wait for my travelling companion to finish his shift. On getting to Cusco at 5:30 tomorrow morning, its time to tackle the Inca trail. Luckily, I've managed to get myself free accommodation because the hostel in which this guy works has a sister hostel in La Paz and Cusco. There was an idea that we would take this guy's motorbike all the way (he'd bought it in Santiago and ridden it through Bolivia to Arequipa), but with the steeps hills, plus two people, two backpacks and guaranteed rain, we decided to go back to Cruz Del Sur.  Still despite complaining about illness, I'm lucky I didn't notice the altitude when getting here and maybe more lucky, that as the worst cook in the world, I haven't given myself food poisoning.

I've managed to go riding since I've been here, a memorable ride up a canyon that leads, if you follow it for many, many hundreds of miles to Cusco. Even though my guide was sleazy (my first salsa lesson in the middle of no-where..really?) and the horses skinny, the scenery was fantastic and I managed to see the whole of the city from the top. The ride jolted me but for the reason that whilst you are in the city, it is easy to forget you're nestled away in the Andes. One thing to watch out for is when you book things, the tour operators seem to have little contact with the guides. I paid 85 soles for four hours- upon my guide Annabel (yes that was his name) picking me up in his pick-up truck with his brother from the house, he told me he worked in distance,  not hours. At first I took comfort in him not over-working his horses for the needs of tourists but getting back to the house I realised I was only in the saddle for two hours. On being picked up, Annabel definitely took the piss a little bit in picking up lots of his cousins, driving around a few districts of Arequipa. Once we got to the stables, he seemed pretty keen for me to wear a cowboy hat and we spent the first hour galloping along dust tracks, in and out of trees, playing cowboys. As we were riding pretty much on the doorstep of my back garden, I decided to ride through the drive way and up to the house, banging on the gate. My house mates were a little bit surprised!

We met a few Ex-pats when riding through the district which Annabel handed out riding leaflets to. An older Canadian couple seemed interested and I recognised  the woman from the Facebook group Ex-Pats Arequipa which keeps our house entertained. Ex-Pats Arequipa is as the name suggests an exclusive closed group on Facebook that you have to ask permission to join. Started up probably innocently as a way for foreigners living in the city to meet up with one another, it now seems to harbour posts such as where to get air mattresses in the city and even inquiries about strip clubs. My house mates scoff at it because its just a way for people to show off the affluent life they're living in Peru. As one of my house mates said 'get to know the characters on Ex-Pats'.

This week at school, our subject was health which saw the kids drawing the human body, labelling it and drawing assault courses in the Gaucho with thick, colourful bits of chalk. One of the girls found an abandoned puppy that must have been no more than 2 months old, named it Dobby and has refused to be parted from it- even though its a straggly, pretty revolting stray, its very cute! We've had quite a lot of rain since my last post, interrupted with really strong sun. As sunscreen is so expensive here, I've decided to cut corners and not use it, hence my shoulders, face and back, accustomed to British winter, are pretty red.

Anyway, my window is closing to recover and pack for Cusco!. Whilst being this bad at home would mean I wouldn't leave the house for two days, I sort of relish the being tough and getting on with it attitude. Hopefully, I will survive to write up Machu Picchu- this being a trip I never thought I'd make this early in my trip but making the future easier because I can just go straight to La Paz from Arequipa in three weeks to cross the Peruvian/Bolivian border.

The only thing I want is a diet coke...Peruvians are obsessed with sugar, they just don't have it here.






Sunday, January 13, 2013

Week One

So I just had this good entry written and the computer crashed..and none of it saved, all from trying to copy and paste the Spanish for Avocado. This is too stressful for very early on a sunday morning. I've set up a new blog on a different website-  Sorry Wordpress is useless!


(I will try and remember exactly what I wrote..) At the moment, I am sitting in my pyjamas and its about seven in the morning- still jetlagged, even though its been a week since I left the comfort and safety of the UK and everyone else. The house is silent as no one else is up yet- this jetlag has left me bailing on nights out..completely unheard of so it must be serious. It is fair to say I am loving it here. Arequipa is mostly what I envisaged- a sprawling city at the foot of three volcanos with an old colonial centre with a divide here between that and the slums. I've spent quite a lot of time sitting on the colossal Cathedral steps watching yellow taxis whiz around the square narrowly missing each other, many stray, seemingly wordly stray dogs go about their business dodging them. Foreseeing that the altitude of the city would take some getting used to, I spent two days sleeping managing I think to not really notice the difference in air between here and Lima and certainly not get 'altitude sickness'. I am really happy to be here.
They call Arequipa the city of 'Eternal Spring' and its easy to see why. Apparently I've arrived in 'wet-season' meaning that excursions that I wanted to do such as the three day trek across to Misti (Arequipa's most iconic volcano) isn't advised because the ash is too slippery. However, I've seen little rain so far- on the contrary its been really hot but nice.


I've had two days at HOOP- (Helping Overcome Obstacles Peru), the school is in the poorest slums of the city, a district called Flora Tristan. The kids are great- very friendly and talkative, most keen to learn English. Some are as young as four and are too shy to talk up in class which means I get to practice my Spanish. I've found that Peruvian Spanish is really great- it is spoken slowly and clearly, and unlike on the continent, when speaking to native speakers they are happy to have a conversation and don't try and correct you. It is a half an hour trek to the school by public bus- a mini bus that runs a long a busy route in to the centre which basically means you run at its swinging doors whilst its moving at about 20 mph. It is the kids summer school really, meaning that its a short day. Lessons begin at 10:15 and finish at quarter to twelve with a half an hour play in the Gaucho (playground) afterwards with footballs and skipping ropes which is good fun. Managed to find three girls which a mutual love of horses so, so far, I've spent my time skipping about and playing with them.


The food of Arequipa is questionable. Mostly you get what you pay for and I've had some great meals out so far. All are relatively cheap- one of the housemates I share with has got himself a job at the Peruvian version of Mitchel and Star and apparently meals there go for 120 soles or thirty pounds which is by far the most you'd probably pay here. Last night, we found a quirky Spanish Tapas bar which two of my friends loved as they hadn't been home to the UK and Belgium respectively in six months and had missed cheese and 'good ham.' I just missed good wine- Peruvians seem to be under the impression they can re-create or rival Chilean and Argentinian wine..definitely not. Another good meal I've had is Abarzo- a beef stew with Amarillo (a Peruvian Chile) for 10 soles. Coming in at the worst was el menu a dia (a deal for 9 soles in which you get three courses) which sounded good on the board outside 'pescado con arroz'. I was further convinced by seeing the crowd inside consisted of wealthy looking bussinessmen. It was revolting- an avocado served up with the worst sort of mayonaised vegetables to start, then the fish with rice then an orange jelly. Coming back to the house, I was informed that places like that really were only for emergencies.


In terms of the place being dangerous- so far I've come to feel mostly like at night if I've been by myself for a little bit, as at danger as I would be in Lawrence Hill in Bristol. I did one unwise thing of hailing down the first Cab I saw when going into town (Taxi Libre- not a respectable taxi firm, if its a taxi firm at all), agreeing the fare for five soles only to find he didn't have I.D. Still, it was fine and I won't be doing that again...You hear of bad things even with the good taxi companies and I'm cautious because where I live is relatively far out of town and there are no other Gringos (westerners) living near by, as hostels are based around the Plaza. Not sure if that makes any difference or not.


I've been to one Gringos party scene so far- an Irish hostel called Wild Rovers which has two sister hostels in La Paz and Cusco. Partied the night away with Brazilians and Germans but turned up with two Peruvians who knew and loved the Inbetweeners and called one another wankers. It doesn't feel that far from home.


People are starting to wake up around me. Today we are taking the kids with the highest attendance records at the school to a waterpark (similiar excursions run every month to reward consistent and well-attending kids). Entry is three soles so we're all left wondering if swimming is a good idea or whether its going to be a bit gross. Still I'm looking forward to getting in a bikini as I hear the UK is under three foot of snow or something.

1

I'm Izzy, 19 years old and very close to going off to South America. On the sixth of January 2013, I leave idyllic, peaceful and bubble-like Bath, Somerset for Arequipa, Peru to begin my eight months on the other side of the world.

6th January- Miami
So I'm not even in the continent yet as currently I am facing a seemingly long wait of nine hours at Miami Airport, gateway of the Carribean and South America- place of boulchy immigration and to what I imagine is my first taste of native South Americans!  After establishing that I wanted a pen at this cafe by my gate, I realise my Spanish just isn't that good and the staff are circling like sharks to ensure I return said pen- its very distracting and will probably cause writer's block.
I am so unbelievably tired and cannot grasp that A- I'm no longer in the UK as I haven't been outside in hours and B, I'm going to the continent I've wanted to go to for years. Hmm..also C, I've left familarity in a haze of fatigue and other things... and won't return for eight months. My journey's started and I can't acknowledge it.
If I'm honest I want someone I know here with me now- I'm pretty lonely which is a feeling that will return to me at some points during the next eight months. I'm asking myself, have I in fact for once taken on something too ambitious. I'm determined but I'm worried that I've been too blasé about S.A and it is just as dangerous as the cynics say. I'm lacking energy and the sharks want their pen back. Will update in a bit, with a bought pen!
7th January- Lima
So I've landed and I wonder how long it will take me not to write in this diary so much. I've got a pen! Ran off with it in the Cruz Del Sur bus terminal after acquiring it to unlock a padlock that I managed to fuck up somehow. Basically it locked without me confirming a combination code on my backpack- looking back it was definitely because my head wasn't in the game and I had already been panicing on arrival in Lima. Most people will know now probably of how badly I got ripped off on one taxi fare..I obviously look like the timid girl who would pay anything as long as it got me to a bus terminal and out of smoggy and grimy Lima. This is the last time that approach will work. My card got rejected so I couldn't even really pay him leaving me wondering more this time what I'd do about budgetting and money full-stop. I remember actively deciding that I didn't care about being ripped off this one time with made up exchange rates- too tired and too worried.
Lima is not growing on me but after a fresh change of clothes I feel better. No wonder no one has anything nice to say about the capital! The Peruvians seem a little reserved but genuinely kind. Ahh...had to pinch myself I'm here!! My mind carries on wandering...just as well as this wait is eight hours.