i am not entirely sure how more than a week has gone by without a peep from me. actually, that's a bald-faced lie. i know exactly how it happened. i arrived in buenos aires on sunday, october 5 and have been playing with my sister ever since. let me give you a rundown of what we've been up to...
* dining at ridiculously good restaurants
* staying out late (the 'until the birds start singing in the morning' kind of late)
* going to the argentina-uruguay world cup qualifier football game
* wandering around buenos aires - different neighborhoods, gardens, parks, etc.
* eating steak
* shopping (i have doubled the number of shoes i have here - brought four pairs with me on this trip and have, in the last week, acquired four more)
* enjoying spa treatments (i had my first hot stone massage) at our hotel
* drinking malbec and torrontes
* lounging around around fantastic hotel, in the room, in the lobby, a little by the pool (though the weather has been iffy)
* watching tango
good times have been had by all, but all good things must come to an end, they say. (i don't know why people say that - it's really not true.) my sister left argentina last night to return to chicago and i left our fabulous hotel this morning to return to hostel-land, which is more in my budget range. i'm currently looking for an apartment to live in for the next month, which i claim will help me save money on food. keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually will...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
last days in peru...
it's exactly one month after i left the states and here i am preparing to leave peru. jamie and i left cusco yesterday (tear!) for a brief overnight in lima and are prepping and packing to fly to buenos aires today.
our last night in cusco was all good fun. we bounced around to many different places, but the highlight for me was certainly a lounge that luis and moses took us to called mushrooms. THEY HAD A POOL TABLE!! i hadn't seen a pool table in a month and almost had a coronary when i walked in. we sat down and ordered a few drinks but, before long, i left the conversation and was making new friends at the pool table. i even played a few games but was really nervous because they were all guys and i hadn't played in so long and my hands were clammy and they had no chalk so i SUCKED and lost every game, except for the last one and the guy totally let me win.
i still made a few good shots and had a fantastic time. i even met a bunch of peruvian guys and, random, a few from california.
other highlights of the evening
* dinner at fallen angel, running into kevin from boston, whom we'd met at another restaurant last week
* seeing jesús, my spanish friend, again, at siete angelitos
* cards and beers at gypsy bar with my friend brian and a few of his friends
* dancing at siete angelitos with moses and luís
it was a good last night. i was full of good food, good drinks, good conversation and good feelings about my time here. i have totally fallen in love with peru - with cusco, with iquitos and with the jungle. and there's so much i didn't get to see! i'm excited to go to argentina but, as michael (one of my new pool buddies) told me last night, 'it's amazing in argentina, but you're basically going to europe now.' yeah, i know.
but that will be fun, too!
our last night in cusco was all good fun. we bounced around to many different places, but the highlight for me was certainly a lounge that luis and moses took us to called mushrooms. THEY HAD A POOL TABLE!! i hadn't seen a pool table in a month and almost had a coronary when i walked in. we sat down and ordered a few drinks but, before long, i left the conversation and was making new friends at the pool table. i even played a few games but was really nervous because they were all guys and i hadn't played in so long and my hands were clammy and they had no chalk so i SUCKED and lost every game, except for the last one and the guy totally let me win.
yeah, that's me not winning
but i've still got a winning attitude!
but i've still got a winning attitude!
i still made a few good shots and had a fantastic time. i even met a bunch of peruvian guys and, random, a few from california.
other highlights of the evening
* dinner at fallen angel, running into kevin from boston, whom we'd met at another restaurant last week
this was a salad of red quinoa, tomatoes, fava beans, corn and andrean cheese
it was phenomenomal!
it was phenomenomal!
* seeing jesús, my spanish friend, again, at siete angelitos
* cards and beers at gypsy bar with my friend brian and a few of his friends
* dancing at siete angelitos with moses and luís
moses and luís
it was a good last night. i was full of good food, good drinks, good conversation and good feelings about my time here. i have totally fallen in love with peru - with cusco, with iquitos and with the jungle. and there's so much i didn't get to see! i'm excited to go to argentina but, as michael (one of my new pool buddies) told me last night, 'it's amazing in argentina, but you're basically going to europe now.' yeah, i know.
but that will be fun, too!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hablas espanol muy bien!
Let me recount for you a conversation I have had over and over and over in my last three weeks in Peru. (My sister can even vouch for me on this one.) I’m writing it in English, but pretend it’s in Spanish, kay?
(Introduction, beginning of conversation - in Spanish - on a plane, in a restaurant, at a bar, wherever.)
“Where are you from? (Blah blah blah, leading to, inevitably…) Where did you study Spanish?”
“The United States.”
“Ahh, really? You speak Spanish very well!”
“Well, thank you!”
At first I thought it was a joke. Yes, I studied Spanish from the age of 13 to 18. But from then on, though I lived in California, I never really practiced or studied or immersed myself, other than a few trips to Spanish-speaking countries, which account for a total of three weeks or so in a ten-ish-year period. It always came back enough to get by, but I wasn’t really that proud of my ability because of lack of upkeep, compounded by the fact that I compared myself to the people around me, native Spanish speakers and others who lived or studied in Spanish-speaking countries for years. Relatively, I was not good at Spanish. I had enough in the back of my brain, but never brought it to the forefront of my mind.
Enter my trip to Peru. Relatively here, as an American-born tourist who has never actually studied the language in a Spanish-speaking country, I am apparently pretty good. I try not to think about whom I’m being compared to, but I have had feedback about my pronunciation and general conversation skills, thank you. I've been here for for weeks (to the day!) and can feel it getting easier and easier, even in just a month. And on Tuesday my sister and I did an all day tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The tour was in Spanish and English, and I realized that I could have gotten by with only the Spanish tour and understood about 95% of what was being told to me.
That was pretty uplifting, let me tell you. It’s rekindling a dream of mine that I haven’t had since I was in high school - to become fluent. I could have reached it then, and know that I can reach it now, too, with practice. And, I have to say, I really enjoy being able to communicate in another language. Sure, when I’m really tired (after a 4 hour train ride from Machu Picchu, for example) it’s challenging enough to focus in English, let alone converse in Spanish, but think about how many people immigrate to America and have that exact experience every day? And, in the states, people expect you to speak English - they do not cater to you as a tourist and try to speak your language. You are the one who has to conform.
This leads me to a realization I had my first week here, which has only been reaffirmed the more time I spend here. Though I’m incredibly excited about my time in Southeast Asia and Oceania next year, I’ve decided to shorten that trip from eight months to five or six. I want to come back to the states in June or July and then continue on to another Spanish-speaking country. And, I don’t know how many of you know this, but, biologically I’m a quarter Mexican, so where is a better place for me to go than to Mexico? I don’t know what exactly I’ll do - I have visions of traveling and art classes and cooking school and jobs in film - but I do know that this will be a great opportunity for me to strive for fluency and to explore my Mexican roots.
I'll keep you all updated as to what comes with this new realization, as I'm sure my thoughts and desires will continue to evolve over my next six weeks here. No matter what, it's going to be interesting!
(Introduction, beginning of conversation - in Spanish - on a plane, in a restaurant, at a bar, wherever.)
“Where are you from? (Blah blah blah, leading to, inevitably…) Where did you study Spanish?”
“The United States.”
“Ahh, really? You speak Spanish very well!”
“Well, thank you!”
At first I thought it was a joke. Yes, I studied Spanish from the age of 13 to 18. But from then on, though I lived in California, I never really practiced or studied or immersed myself, other than a few trips to Spanish-speaking countries, which account for a total of three weeks or so in a ten-ish-year period. It always came back enough to get by, but I wasn’t really that proud of my ability because of lack of upkeep, compounded by the fact that I compared myself to the people around me, native Spanish speakers and others who lived or studied in Spanish-speaking countries for years. Relatively, I was not good at Spanish. I had enough in the back of my brain, but never brought it to the forefront of my mind.
Enter my trip to Peru. Relatively here, as an American-born tourist who has never actually studied the language in a Spanish-speaking country, I am apparently pretty good. I try not to think about whom I’m being compared to, but I have had feedback about my pronunciation and general conversation skills, thank you. I've been here for for weeks (to the day!) and can feel it getting easier and easier, even in just a month. And on Tuesday my sister and I did an all day tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The tour was in Spanish and English, and I realized that I could have gotten by with only the Spanish tour and understood about 95% of what was being told to me.
That was pretty uplifting, let me tell you. It’s rekindling a dream of mine that I haven’t had since I was in high school - to become fluent. I could have reached it then, and know that I can reach it now, too, with practice. And, I have to say, I really enjoy being able to communicate in another language. Sure, when I’m really tired (after a 4 hour train ride from Machu Picchu, for example) it’s challenging enough to focus in English, let alone converse in Spanish, but think about how many people immigrate to America and have that exact experience every day? And, in the states, people expect you to speak English - they do not cater to you as a tourist and try to speak your language. You are the one who has to conform.
This leads me to a realization I had my first week here, which has only been reaffirmed the more time I spend here. Though I’m incredibly excited about my time in Southeast Asia and Oceania next year, I’ve decided to shorten that trip from eight months to five or six. I want to come back to the states in June or July and then continue on to another Spanish-speaking country. And, I don’t know how many of you know this, but, biologically I’m a quarter Mexican, so where is a better place for me to go than to Mexico? I don’t know what exactly I’ll do - I have visions of traveling and art classes and cooking school and jobs in film - but I do know that this will be a great opportunity for me to strive for fluency and to explore my Mexican roots.
I'll keep you all updated as to what comes with this new realization, as I'm sure my thoughts and desires will continue to evolve over my next six weeks here. No matter what, it's going to be interesting!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
a fantastically indulgent wednesday
i had a really great day yesterday. it was relaxing and indulgent and filled with new friends, great food, fantastic drinks and shopping.
since my sister and i have been doing a lot of walking and hiking in the last few days, our quads have been a bit sore. so we decided to start the day in the jacuzzi and sauna in our hotel. for two hours, we had private access to them, which were in a room at the top of the hotel with a fantastic view of cusco. she spent most of her time in the jacuzzi, while i scampered back and forth between the jacuzzi and the sauna as my whims dictated.
after the relaxation, we headed out to do some shopping, armed with our gift lists. i ended up finding a few things for people, but indulged in mostly shopping for myself. i bought a beautiful cream alpaca sweater that has a turtleneck so large it can also be used as a hood. i found a cute black and white and green hat and scarf set. and a cool gray hoody with incan patterns by a local designer. and some insanely cool beaded earrings. let me just say that i really need to stop spending money here, sor i won't have any left for buenos aires, and that would be a serious tragedy.
after our day of shopping, we had some down time at the hotel before heading to dinner at a restaurant called cicciolino, which had a menu of tapas and other mediterranean-influenced dishes, along with a fantastic latin american wine list. (now, let me take a minute to digress. i've had some pretty damn good food here in peru. the vegetables and fresh fish in the jungle, choclo con queso, superb steak, alpaca, piranha, cuy, amazing potatoes, even good chinese food. but the meal i had last night blew the rest of them away. seriously.) we started with a salad of smoked trout, manchego cheese, roasted wild tomatoes with a mustard dressing, which was fairly good (though the dressing was more oily than mustardy, which made me a bit sad because i love mustard.)
but my entree. oh, my entree... i ordered a seared tuna dish with a sauce of various chilis that came with mashed potatoes filled with huacatay, which is a lovely local herb. the tuna was perfectly cooked. the sauce was spicy and smoky and complexly flavorful. the mashed potatoes were substantial but not hard or lumpy, very creamy but not too rich. it even came with a garnish of a toffee candy filled with caraway seeds. ridiculous, i know, but fantastic and it complimented the potatoes rather well. i know my descriptions don't do it justice, but, trust me, it deserves to be at the top of list of 'the best dishes i've had in peru'.
after that, we had planned to head to a small bar in our neighborhood called siete angelitos, where they have live music every night. we ended up chatting with a couple from the yukon in canada on the way, and they joined us for a drink. we had a great conversation with val and danny, but they were tired, so left around 10:30. we stuck around, because the music was just starting. the band played mostly covers of old punk songs, and my sister had a fantastic time on the dance floor. (and leave i t to her to find the one person in the bar who was also from chicago.) i was content with chatting with my new friends at the bar. i met a spanish guy named jesús, a jewelry designer who has been living and traveling in south america for five years, and he in turn introduced me to all the people who work there, walter, amelia and antonio. there were shots of pisco involved, and even some jameson on my part. it was a nice night to meet new friends, and even see old ones! i ran into my friend brian, whom i met my first week here. he had just come back from sand boarding in ica (which i may need to do when i come back to peru for my last week here.)
all in all, it was a really great day. and we have another great one planned for today, too! we are going to the post office so i can send home this really cool picture frame i bought the other day. (i'm going to turn it into a mirror.) then we're hiking up to sacsayhuaman to see the ruins. and dinner tonight will be at another highly recommended restaurant called tika bistro, followed by dancing. it's shaping up to be another falling in love with peru kind of day...
since my sister and i have been doing a lot of walking and hiking in the last few days, our quads have been a bit sore. so we decided to start the day in the jacuzzi and sauna in our hotel. for two hours, we had private access to them, which were in a room at the top of the hotel with a fantastic view of cusco. she spent most of her time in the jacuzzi, while i scampered back and forth between the jacuzzi and the sauna as my whims dictated.
after the relaxation, we headed out to do some shopping, armed with our gift lists. i ended up finding a few things for people, but indulged in mostly shopping for myself. i bought a beautiful cream alpaca sweater that has a turtleneck so large it can also be used as a hood. i found a cute black and white and green hat and scarf set. and a cool gray hoody with incan patterns by a local designer. and some insanely cool beaded earrings. let me just say that i really need to stop spending money here, sor i won't have any left for buenos aires, and that would be a serious tragedy.
after our day of shopping, we had some down time at the hotel before heading to dinner at a restaurant called cicciolino, which had a menu of tapas and other mediterranean-influenced dishes, along with a fantastic latin american wine list. (now, let me take a minute to digress. i've had some pretty damn good food here in peru. the vegetables and fresh fish in the jungle, choclo con queso, superb steak, alpaca, piranha, cuy, amazing potatoes, even good chinese food. but the meal i had last night blew the rest of them away. seriously.) we started with a salad of smoked trout, manchego cheese, roasted wild tomatoes with a mustard dressing, which was fairly good (though the dressing was more oily than mustardy, which made me a bit sad because i love mustard.)
cicciolino
but my entree. oh, my entree... i ordered a seared tuna dish with a sauce of various chilis that came with mashed potatoes filled with huacatay, which is a lovely local herb. the tuna was perfectly cooked. the sauce was spicy and smoky and complexly flavorful. the mashed potatoes were substantial but not hard or lumpy, very creamy but not too rich. it even came with a garnish of a toffee candy filled with caraway seeds. ridiculous, i know, but fantastic and it complimented the potatoes rather well. i know my descriptions don't do it justice, but, trust me, it deserves to be at the top of list of 'the best dishes i've had in peru'.
so f-ing good!
after that, we had planned to head to a small bar in our neighborhood called siete angelitos, where they have live music every night. we ended up chatting with a couple from the yukon in canada on the way, and they joined us for a drink. we had a great conversation with val and danny, but they were tired, so left around 10:30. we stuck around, because the music was just starting. the band played mostly covers of old punk songs, and my sister had a fantastic time on the dance floor. (and leave i t to her to find the one person in the bar who was also from chicago.) i was content with chatting with my new friends at the bar. i met a spanish guy named jesús, a jewelry designer who has been living and traveling in south america for five years, and he in turn introduced me to all the people who work there, walter, amelia and antonio. there were shots of pisco involved, and even some jameson on my part. it was a nice night to meet new friends, and even see old ones! i ran into my friend brian, whom i met my first week here. he had just come back from sand boarding in ica (which i may need to do when i come back to peru for my last week here.)
danny, val and my sister, jamie
walter and amelia
jamie on the dance floor
baco, the guard dog at siete angelitos
all in all, it was a really great day. and we have another great one planned for today, too! we are going to the post office so i can send home this really cool picture frame i bought the other day. (i'm going to turn it into a mirror.) then we're hiking up to sacsayhuaman to see the ruins. and dinner tonight will be at another highly recommended restaurant called tika bistro, followed by dancing. it's shaping up to be another falling in love with peru kind of day...
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