Music Monday and Missing Peru

A year ago today I returned from nearly six months in Peru.

 I still tell too many stories about it and I still think that one story
about the supposed intruder in the Amazonian hostel is terrifying
and the one about accidentally calling my friend's host brother an alcoholic 

and then being caught up in his love triangle is hilarious.

That's to say, I miss Peru. 

 So does my lovely friend Kate, who studied abroad in Cusco
and has her own share of terrifying/hilarious stories. 

So why are we so happy in this photo? 

It was Kaypi Perú at the National Museum of the American Indian! 

(Kaypi is "this is" in Quechua.) 

Marca Perú! 

We have shirts with the Marca Perú on them, but we forgot to wear them...

Watch this video to understand what Marca Perú is.

 You won't regret it. It's hilarious. 

Kate is sad she is no longer in Cusco, near Machu Picchu. 

But then we drank tiny pisco sours and it was all ok. 

And no, I haven't forgotten Music Mondays!

Don Omar - Hasta Que Salga el Sol

I love running to this song!

I didn't look up the music video, because if it's like other Don Omar videos,

 it will have a lot of scantily clad women shaking their booties 

and I want this song to encourage you to work out 

NOT to get bad plastic surgery and fake tans! 

BECAUSE YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! 

link 

Prince Royce - Incondicional 

link 

Prince Royce is a bachata singer from NYC.

 (I just learned how to dance to bachata this weekend!) 

He is precious. 

(But he looks a little bit like a Latino Justin Bieber in this photo.) 

(Also, I had to look up how to spell Bieber.) 

This music video is a little strange, and seems to promote very unsafe driving practices. 

Also, stalking.

But stalking isn't stalking when you do it with a cool car and mariachi's right?

(Let's be honest, if Prince Royce stalked me, I would probably be ok with that.) 

This also reminds me of McDonald's commercials with the strange drawing with yellow light.... 

A Beautiful Film and some Peruvian Reminiscing

Last night I finished watching Claudia Llosa's beautiful film La Teta Asustada or, as it is translated in English, The Milk of Sorrow. 

It's a Peruvian film I've seen described as "art house" and it has won a few awards. All I know is that the cinematography is breathtaking and the lead actress, Magaly Solier is amazing. 

google images, yay! 

(The trailer can be watched here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uo8Sl_WAuI)

At first I watched it on the DVD a lovely Peruvian friend had given me as a goodbye gift, which had no subtitles. My Spanish is getting rusty and while I got enough to follow the story, now and then I would miss a line. The DVD was scratched so I watched the rest of it on Netflix 

(it's on instant play! With English subtitles!). 

Google has an image of Magaly Solier in La Teta Asustada...how handy!

Turns out missing one line can really change your perception of the story.... the woman I thought was being supportive of Magaly's character was actually a lier and ungrateful pituca.

Perhaps language barriers sometimes give you a rosier perception of the world... 

The film is set in Lima and I felt near physical pangs, it made me miss it so much. 

The delicious food, stray dogs, sweet talking men, the music that gets the whole family dancing, and the random relatives whom you never know exactly how they are related. 

Perhaps they aren't. 

 That was my Peruvian experience anyway...

He is very likely a sweet talking Peruvian man/boy. 

Delicious food. 

Much of the movie was filmed in neighborhoods like this one, La Encantada, where I taught English.
It made me miss my students and friends there.  

The street the center where I taught was on.  

I kept shouting for my dad to come see the movie - "Look! Mototaxies! I rode those!" 

"Look, that looks exactly like where I taught!"

"Look at those super steep stairs....listen to that music....see what she is wearing?" 

My darling dad patiently watched every random scene I asked him too, and he likely thinks this was a movie about mototaxies, sand dunes and weddings. Which it is. Sorta. 

If you are interested in either Latin America or film, I highly recommend La Teta Asustada!  Also, it is directed by a WOMAN! 

And seeing as female directors are about as rare as jobs for Medieval Literature Majors, you should support them. 

Claudia Llosa, the director! (google images) 

Except for that one Twilight movie directed by a woman. 

No social reform movement or loyalty to my gender will lead me to support those films. 

P.S I am not getting paid for talking about any of this stuff...though I really should be, don't you think?

Evidence for My Theory That Peruvians are Super Humans

Evidence:

1. They don't have to drink water.

Clinical studies show (aka me) that Peruvians can exist off Inka Cola and cheap beer and need never touch water to their lips.

2. They rarely need to use the bathroom.

The Inka Cola and beer must enter straight into their blood stream, nourishing and energizing them and allowing them to go dancing at all hours of the night. Which leads to number 3...

3. They don't need to sleep much.

I have seen Peruvians dance all night and wake up a few hours later fresh as daisy's while I grope about for my water and the bathroom (I'm weak, I know.)

And this Peruvian friend can FLY!

4. But they can sleep anywhere.

I've seen them nodding off on buses in which people are literally screaming, horns honking and reggeaton music pumping (this is a skill I have nearly mastered! The only one of the list.)

And she taught me how to FLY! On a giant sand dune!

5. They can drink liquids that would burn the faces off of lesser mortals.

I was once served hot chocolate that was steaming and burnt my tongue. My Peruvian family drank theirs (the same temperature) in 5 seconds flat and laughed at me. Kindly.

And these are just the normal, across the board, sort of Super Human traits. This doesn't even take into account jungle skills like making princess crowns out of leaves or calling monkeys, or Andean skills like herding llama and making chicha.

Jungle Princess Crown made by Super Human Peruvian Jungle Tour Guide

Perhaps, if I go spend more time in Peru, I too will become Super Human.

Reverse Culture Shock and Animal Therapy

I'm in Daytona Beach, Florida and I have now been in the United States of America for exactly one week, after nearly 6 months in Peru.

Today, I had some reverse culture shock.

I was at the beach with friends and friends of friends and I wasn't feeling very well and everything suddenly seemed so strange; the food and the conversation and the friends and the friends of friends. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was but I felt completely out of place, as if nothing I had ever done could relate to this situation or these people. It was a lovely day and everyone was friendly and kind....

....but all I wanted was for a D'nofria ice cream man with his little yellow cart to role up. I wanted to buy a Tri-color with my soles and ask him for it in Spanish. I wanted to talk about international travel and where to find the best pisco sours and what the heck was happening in Chile, anyway?

There were plenty of times in Peru when I only wanted to speak English and eat American food. But in Peru, that was ok because I felt like I was on a grand adventure...this. here, in Florida running errands, sunning on the beach, is normal life for millions of Americans, and I feel like I don't belong.

But enough moping.

Lately, I've been really loving dogs and cats. I didn't have pets in Peru and I'm not allowed to have them in DC. But I got to hang with my Grandpa's pets and now with my friend's family of 2 dogs and a cat and it is amazing therapy (I'll post photos soon!). My friend here has a cat that was raised with dogs, and she thinks she is a dog and feels like silk. My Grandpa has a dog named Banjo and a cat named Cat that is a beautiful half siamese. (We tried to get him to name it Fiddle, to go along with Banjo, but he wouldn't have it.) Animals don't care what culture you are used to. And all these animals are adorable and strangely make me miss my Ball Python I used to have name Quetzal (and also my cat, but Quetzal came to mind first).

Don't ask me why snuggling a silky kitty makes me think of my snake, but it does. He was a good snake, and where ever you are now, Quetzal, I hope your adopted family is treating you well.

Maybe the next post will make more sense and be more aesthetically pleasing. In fact, I promise it will. Please don't stop reading just because of this...

{Also, follow my blog! You just have to create a profile but don't have to start your own blog! I would love some more followers! (it helps to have a followed blog as a writing sample for jobs)}

There is no word in Spanish for Awkward.

When I first arrived at my host family's house, I was so awkward.

I mean, I'm usually somewhat awkward, but compound that times 5 when I am in a foreign country and foreign language trying to make this new place my home.

I unpacked my stuff in my room and sat, awkwardly, on my bed. Alone. My host dad popped his head in and said (and I'm translating here) "You don't have to sit in there! Come! You can be out here too!" And he lead me into the breakfast room and showed me all the magazines and sat with me, for an hour, reading Peruvian celebrity gossip magazines.

It was one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me.

He didn't want to read those magazines and had no interest in who was dating who. But he so badly wanted me to be comfortable, my kind, quiet Peruvian Dad, that he sat with me and read about how Jorge was caught with Jessica in the bar the other night.

I hope I will be that welcoming for anyone I run into who is alone and awkward and confused.

In other news, I just returned from Trujillo, which I adored! It looked like this and it was beautiful:

Fiestas Patrias are coming soon (the big holidays of Peru)!

{I leave in 13 days}

Mixed Feelings.

Right now, fear of stopping, of not getting back on a bus, of not traveling.

In two seconds, it will likely change.

At least I can write my paper in English...

Little Peruvian favorites:

- Having a Peruvian friend send me wall posts from her US American love interest's Facebook page so I can translate them. Translating jokes made about American history is hard. Harder yet is figuring out the jokes center around the fact that this guy might have rabies. Say what?!

- Hearing the sound of a dentist drill at all hours (as in, right now). My host sister's dentist office is in our small apartment. It's not as bad as it sounds, (haha pun!) the noise no longer fills me with fear, but feels kinda like home....

Our breakfast room and the dentist office. From the door of my bedroom.

- Green tea out of a Teletubbies mug.

Hydration is key!

(this was when I was sick. But I am using the same mug right now)

- Everyone complaining about the "lluvia" (rain) which is actually just a mist....

Unfavorites:

STILL working on this same paper.

The strange case of the disappearing socks. ALL of my socks.

Saying goodbyes.

PS. One month exactly until I arrive in the United States of America.

I Forgot to Post in the Fourth of July....

I have now spent the Fourth of July in Oxford, England, New York City,

the middle of the woods in a cabin with a bunch of kids, and Lima, Peru.

We are Ammurican! Red & White & Blue, Coca-Cola, Beer and MEAT!

(that's a piece of chicken)

I Love You, good ol' USA! Nothing like living abroad to make you love your home country...

And as we toasted during our makeshift 4th of July party and sing-a-long....

To the USA!

To recycling!

To flushing your toilet paper!

To drinking tap water!

To not having security guards hit on you!

To thrift stores!

To second hand book stores!

To knock-knock jokes!

(this managed to waylay us into a lesson of knock-knock jokes to one of our Peruvian friends)

and finally...

"To Harry Potter!"

"thats from England!"

"Yeah...but I like it!"

(putting old enmities aside this Fourth...)

I miss you, America. See you soon.

Starbucks Good Times

I'm sitting in Starbucks in Lima.

Now, before you accuse me of being a super commercialized American, this is my first time in Four and a half months that I have come to Starbucks. After a morning of paper editing, I am set to start on my next and final essay and staying in my apartment for the rest of the day was simply too terrifying of an option. I also wanted something sweet and the internet, so here I am.

My name is Maria today. Well, ok, my name is Maria everyday in Peru, but usually Maria Elena.

I had to fight for a table. I consider myself a city Starbucks veteran, but these people are fast...I missed two good tables before I could nab a third.

They are playing Girl in the War, by Josh Ritter, one of my favorite songs (though its very sad. as per usual, listening while you read will give you such a better blog reading experience).

Also, WHY do so few Limeños clean up after themselves in restaurants?! Seriously, everyone just leaves their cups and plates on the tables....the trashcan is right by the door, people.

These students at Catolica are not going to clean up their tray.
USA says: Jerks. Peru says: other people are paid to pick it up.

And after that rant...

It's doing it's very best to rain which means, in Lima, heavy mist that still manages to make puddles. From the window I can see the umbrellas of Pinkberry and the steeple of the lovely baroque Catholic church.

It's all very surreal and very everyday, at the same time.

I spend far too much time in Starbucks in DC, mostly because it's close, 24-hours, and on my meal plan card.

Too much Starbucks in DC. (Not all mine...)

And now here I am at the end of my semester, sitting at Starbucks in Miraflores, Lima.

As a kid, I always pictured myself jaunting around international cities, being really posh and taking weekend trips to Machu Picchu. Well, I don't look very posh and cities is more like one city, but hey, I did go to Machu Picchu... and while I have plenty of regrets from this semester (why didn't I take those salsa classes? Why did I speak so much English? Why did I eat those tamales that one time??) I'm still living the dream.

Thanks God!

(oooo now some song with a harmonica intro came on. I love harmonicas.)

This post is dedicated to Kristin, who is bold and snarky and often seen at Starbucks.

Machismo: Peruvian Social Reality

Barbie: The United States of America's favorite lady.

These are my sheets in my host family's house.

For my blog post on machismo in Peru, I held a few highly professional interviews with a couple of male Peruvian friends on Facebook chat, as well as with my host family over pizza.

My first friend I interviewed is a professor, a very well educated Limeño. I asked if he believed machismo existed in Peru and he said yes. The rest of the interview went like this: (these are all direct quotes, but not all of the conversation is posted, only the questions and answers I found most relevant).

ME - donde lo ves? (referring to machismo)

Prof - en la familia, en la escuela, en la universidad, en el trabajo, en los servicios , en la ía publica, etc

Me - Crees que machismo va a cambiar en Peru?

Prof - yo pienso que sí, pero va a pasar muchos años.

peru es un pais con muchas culturas, algunas d ellas consideran q el machismo es normal.

yo pienso que el valor del respeto hacia las personas y por ello

la igualdad de derchos entre hombres y mujeres es universal

no tiene un relativismo cultural

no puede ser q a una mujer en el mundo arabe se le castigue con la muerte porque engaña a su marido

no hay excusas culturales para ese tipo de cosas

Me- ¿ves el machismo en la publicidad o los medios de comunicación? si es así, le puede dar un ejemplo?

Prof - asi es, comerciales d cerveza.
asi, pero creo q las mujeres que participan en eso comerciales tienen la culpa d aceptar eso

no tienen dignidad

(haz click here for the Brahma commercial)

After I mentioned the veneration of certain women, such as mothers and the Virgin Mary

This is one of two Virgin's in my host family's house.

My mom placed the flowers there "for the virgin".

he responded:

Prof- la religion catolica es muy machista

I found this interesting, as most of what I have witnessed has been women being the primary adherents to the Catholic faith. It is women who get together to say the Rosary, women who are often the readers and singers at masses and women who have spoken to me about the Catholic faith. At processions and special masses I have seen many men and, interestingly, when I attended a Catholic youth group with my host sister (16 years old) there were as many young males as females, but most day to day Catholic rituals seem to be female driven. I would like to speak to my friend more about why he believes the Catholic religion is machista (their stance on abortion? On no women priests?).

I briefly interviewed another friend of mine, a fellow student at PUCP:

Student- Si creo que hay machismo

Mayormente en las familias de clase mas pobre

ME- Tienes un ejemplo?

Student - Por ejemplo

Una familia pobre donde el papa trabaja y la mama se queda cuidando a los niños.

El papa llega a la casa borracho y le pega ala mama

ME - En tu opinión, ¿por qué existe el machismo en el Perú?

Student - porque, Hay gente que no recibe la educacion y valores, Que los puedan ayudar a superar esos problema. Es un resposabilidad compartida por el estado y tambien por cada familia

I then interviewed my host family. Well, I began by interviewing my younger host sister and was then joined by my host mother and father and the interview turned into a more casual conversation. Some highlights:

• They first mentioned (like my student friend) that it was common in poor places, but then amended that to say it happens in places "con dinero" as well.
• They said the origin was the beliefs of the parents and that machismo is a generational problem
• My sister cited "not letting the woman work" as an example of machista
• Like my professor friend, they mentioned the Middle East as a place with worse machismo
• They also mentioned Mexico as having worse machismo because "men always command"
• My host mom talked about her father (who passed away) as being very machista and saying to her mother not to share her opinion.
• They mentioned how men often kill women in Peru

When I first mentioned machista to my mom, she said "Mira, él es machista, porque él quiere que sirva su plato." She referred to my dad as she said this, and handed him a plate of food. I thought she was joking, but no one laughed and he didn't respond. Later, he went and got the cola to serve, and my host sister joked "see, he's not machista!"

I feel that making a thorough analysis of machista in Peru would require more indepth research (obviously), especially within the younger generation, in which many values are changing. From conversations, advertisements, and getting cat-called on the streets, I would say Lima is very machista, but I do not wish to make such a statement without more research to back this up.

When You Gotta Go...

I have peed in many strange places in my life.

Once, in the outhouse of a shaman in the Amazon jungle during a ceremony.

Once, in a bathroom in a cave in the side of a hill

(what is this, a potty mouthed children's song?)

in Kiev, Ukraine.

Once, in some ancient Peruvian ruins, part of which can be seen below.

Yeah, you wish you knew what ruins these were...

but I wouldn't want to get in trouble with the Ancient Peruvian Ruins Police now would I?

Often times, in the woods. Especially as a camp counselor.

I never peed in the above outhouse,

which is a reconstruction from a Depression era one....

in my Grandpa's backyard.

And now, I can say that I peed in a bathroom whose floor was completely flooded

(with WATER from the SINK, ya nasty)

during an ancient Incan festival

with a bunch of chattering, arguing Peruvian women standing around.

I was desperate.

And this picture is just to let you know that sometimes I can be classy.

We were drinking wine. And discussing music and literature.

Shakira, actually...but still...

(Oh, my homework still hasn't gone away?)

Gloomin' it Up on a Gloomy Day

I'm sitting at the dining room table, supposed to be working on my Peruvian History research paper. My Peruvian family is away, so I'm just hanging,

listening to my new Jack Johnson cd I bought from Polvos Azules.

(Click here and then here and listen while you read to get the full effect)

It's chilly and wet and Father's Day and I wish I could be with my US family

My little sister's representation of our family.

I am holding a sign that says Save the Kittens and a suitcase with different country names.

Activist and traveler I suppose?

I especially wish I could be with my super cool Dad! Shout out to you Daddy!

My dad is a handy man and good with animals.

Our dog is obsessed with him and follows him everywhere.

I just skyped with my other US family, my best friend and her folks, who were all gathered together to celebrate the day, wearing sundresses and peeling potatoes and speaking English.

I'm feeling a little gloomy.

I shouldn't.

I have three awesome families that love me.

I have recently been on some amazing trips.

Last week I spent time in the Amazon and in the Andes, in Iquitos and Cuzco and Machu Picchu. They were mind blowing and I wish to return - especially to the jungle.

And there are so many little every day things I love here:

My cluttered, tiny room

Wednesday lunches with Rose

Getting Pinkberry with my host sister

(this has also lead to me sharing my obsession with kiwis with my Peru family,

a fruit they had never tried. Now we are pretty much a kiwi fan club)

Aji "poderoso" in a jar that once held peach preserves from a small town Musella, Georgia.

Leaving my Peruvian family will be very hard.

Why must I keep finding people and places I love?

Machu Picchu

My first time at Machu Picchu - I think I almost peed my pants.

Second time at Machu Picchu - that's a two I'm throwing up, even though I also support peace.

I walked to the Sun Gate. It was cloudy and I was told to turn around...but guess what...

the sun came out spectacularly and all the British tourists shouted and it was a moment that made us all feel so alive!

(Even the silent man who kept looking shiftily at me...I'm pretty sure he felt the Picchu power too)

When I first went to Machu Picchu, I sat and wrote profound things in my tiny green journal, and all was deep and tranquil.

Second time around, I brought my journal again, and again likely wrote deep and profound things about my life and Incans. (wouldn't you like to know what I wrote...)

But I also brought it just to have similar photos....I'm a sucker for little ritualistic mementos...

A year and a half ago I climbed the mountain of Machu Picchu, over the ruins, and sat like this.

This year, I hiked Wayna Picchu (after waking up at 4:45 to get in line for a ticket) and stood like this.Yes, awkward moments even happen at ancient wonders of the world.

I'm a little bit obsessed with Cusco and Machu Picchu, and I find this perfectly reasonable.

I'm glad you do too.