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Tourism? Says Who?

Posted on Sunday, June 9, 2013


Preparing to write and reflect on today's visit to Peru's National Museum (Museo de la Nacion), I of course Googled first to verify the spelling. Discovering no museum website, I did learn I am not the first person to wonder why the museum is such a large building, with concrete walls, with so little information visible in the elevators or elsewhere about what can be seen and where, and no signs with directions to the bathrooms. The gift shop was closed and locked. Much of the lighting was turned off. Dark, empty corridors led to empty rooms. The sole women's bathroom we could find had a toilet seat in one stall, paper in the other, but not both in both. A resident of Peru wrote a review on TripAdvisor: 

"This museum use to be really good and complete, now it is only the remains of a great museum, great example of a still poor country that do not allocate resources to preserve this cultural pillar."

I don't know the full history--another TripAdvisor/Lima resident wrote that the former Fishing Ministry, a concrete block from the Velasco era, was converted to a museum, is not suited for exhibits, though it is more modern than (the commenter's words) "Soviet-era monoliths."

As a setting for an exhibit about the Shining Path years, this cold, concrete monolith is perfect. The walls and small rooms are situated in ways that make you slightly uneasy that you will disappear and never be seen again. The entire budget seems to have been spent on enlarging photographs, which seems appropriate--tell the story and don't wait until a cushiony budget for color and three-dimensional display space becomes available.  And given the horror of the stories to be told, a carpeted gallery would hardly seem right. I don't know for sure that these choices about spareness were intentional or simply a byproduct of limited dollars, but it doesn't really matter. The captions are in Spanish and English, which extends the reach of this story to Americans and millions of others. I read about the Shining Path and surrounding events before leaving Omaha for Peru; having visited the museum I am clearer on some topics and more confused on others. This will require (and motivate) further reading.

Speaking with a classmate on the bus while returning to the hotel, we marveled that a country could ever recover from being so torn apart.  The war was only a short time ago, within the lifetime of most of the people on this trip.  Is the recovery actually incomplete, but simply not visible to those of us who don't know what we're looking at?  How "recovered" was North America from its Civil War within 30 years? Europe after the world wars? More subjects for further reading. 

On the first floor of the museum, I spent a joyful 45 minutes viewing contemporary art, trying my best to memorize everything I was seeing. My memory of an artist's name is not what I wanted it to be (my backpack and notebook weren't accessible at the time). Juana Vendana? I don't recall the name of the style of artwork that combined colonial Christian and South American pagan iconography. An exhibit was shown several months ago at the Joslyn Museum in Omaha. Juana ?'s room-sized sculpture seemed to be saying something important about the price of forcing one culture on another--the characters in her birth-of-Christ scene have out-of-proportion necks and are stretched out of shape in general. The three wise men bring what appear to be the traditional gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. There are also three smaller people (or children, or just smaller because their meant to appear farther away)--one empty handed, one carrying yarn, and one carrying firewood. Peruvian artists also reinterpret the traditional "altar" art form to incorporate recent civil war history. One altar/sculpture had angels and other protective beings overlooking an agricultural village, with miniature uniformed soldiers in control of a bloody scene at the base of the altar. One artist showed multiple sculptures of angels' faces, in traditional designs, but the angels are crying. 

The art exhibit, and the war exhibit, represent the quality of story-telling that the citizens of Peru deserve for their national museum, or at least what I would want in mine. I have to wonder....was insufficient money allocated? Or was sufficient budgeted, but someone made off with part of it? 

Visiting the museum also got me thinking about Peru promoting tourism for its jobs and other economic benefits. Does a shell of a national museum say what the country wants to say to its visitors? I'm reminded of scenes I see in the central United States, in states also promoting tourism as the future, healthy, post-agricultural economy. I've also asked myself as I drive across Kansas: Do landfills, abandoned freight trucks and wrecked demolition derby relics on Main Street say what Kansans really want to say about their state and people? In both places, tourism requires investment in infrastructure. Both need new money injected into the economy to fund necessary infrastructure. But if we can't supply your visitors with clean bathrooms and scenes that are worth the cost of visiting them, they won't come. And we won't have our tourist economy.

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Mueso de Sitio Bodega Y Quadra

Posted on Saturday, June 8, 2013


Farah Hazim
Peru 
06/02/2013




Mueso de Sitio Bodega y Quadra ( Bodega Y Quadra Site Museum)  is a museum in Lima, Peru which is built over an old Spanish colonial house. Mueso de Sitio Bodega Y Quadra is big museum with many sites that carry on each corner of it either map, wall paint, or small peaces of the old Spanish colonial house material. The Museum is new, and free for everyone to visit. 

Mueso de Sitio Bodega Y Quadra is located in the downtown of Lima, Peru near the government Palace and the Cathode  church. The location of the Museum refers to the wealthiness level of the Spanish family that was living in this house during the Spanish colonial period. I have posted a picture of the wall of the old house that has been saved in the museum.

The wall of Lima was shown on the old map of Lima that was posted on the wall of the Bodega Y Quadra Stie Museum, and it shows the African slaves who were living outside of the wall because they were not allowed to live with the Spanish people inside Lima because at that time, they did not allow non-Christians or Pagans to live with them or share the same space with the Christians, and also because they  are slaves. 

I also took a picture of the new map of Lima, Peru which has been taking after the destroy of the wall that separated the city according to their races, and also the map shows the expansion of the Lima city after the destruction of the wall. Grau Avenue is one of  the main streets in Lima city. Grau street was built after the destruction of the wall of segregation that used to be in Lima, and it is been called after the the hero Grau 

The museum held a statue of an African slave who was dressing up as a servant in the Spanish house, and also a statue of a woman who is dressing up nicely which represented the fashion at that period of time.  

We also talked about Rimac river which is known as “  The talking river.”  Amazingly, Lima is named by Spanish people after the Rimac river. Sadly, Rimac river “ Secret River.” is almost dry now. Lima has a secret mountain too called “ Abo mountain” and about 300 secret huacas places. Peruvian respect the nature, and they build their cities around the river, mountain, and other nature places. In other words, they let the nature controls the shape of the city. In other countries, they try to damage the nature and build on it , and its because they respect the nature. Now, in Lima they arebuilding a new high way that connects north to south of Lima, and it makes channels to the Rimac river, so instead of going straight , now it has channels.
Finally, my first day in Peru was awesome, I visited many places,  and had have a delicious food which was a mix of Chinese dishes with Peruvian ingredients at a Chinese restaurant . Also, I enjoyed listening to Spanish throughout theday. 

due to technique issues, i could not upload the pictures throughout the paper, so i posted them all at the end.

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History Matters

Peru's history blends into the background, but is present in everything you see.

Balconies visible from homes overlooking Lima's historical center remain from when immigrants moved here from Seville.

Chinatown.  Five percent of Lima's population is Chinese, primarily descended from contract laborers brought here between 1849 and 1874, to work in mines and on plantations. They represented a historical transition from slave to "paid" labor, yet a Peruvian resident told us that an American Confederate general expressed horror at the treatment of "coolies" by the people they worked for. Another group of Chinese settlers came after the founding of Sun Yat-sen's republic in 1912, World War II, and the establishment of Communist rule in 1949.

Presence of Catholic missions. The Jesuits arrived in Peru in the 16th century. The Dominicans, and several other orders, brought Catholic influence to Peru, and built a cathedral above an Inca place of worship.

Settlements on the outskirts of Lima. Ate was settled by people who fled their rural villages during the 80s, barely escaping with their lives. Meeting citizens of Ate, we realized we had made several assumptions about the people we would meeting, that they would be desperately poor and isolated. Our assumptions moved aside as we were invited into homes, no two of which are the same, and saw taxis dropping off and picking up riders. Of course, meeting individual people also changes your perceptions, because once you meet people and watch them prepare a meal for you, it's no longer possible to think of them as nameless faces in the crowd.

We saw thousands of Catholic men, women and children celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday in San Martin Square. It seemed as if the entire city was there. We learned later that celebrants' purple robes represented a sign of penance. A Jesuit historian told us the holiday was introduced to native people as a forced alternative to indigenous celebrations.

These are only a few examples of the ways in which multiple cultures have blended against a complicated background of worldwide political and religious forces. As anything would be with so many factors in play over so much time, the picture is as complex as it can be.  Our perceptions constantly evolve as we learn more about why we see what we see.

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First Day at Day Care Caritas Felices in San Juan de Miraflores, Lima

 Since 2008, the Office of Latino/LatinAmerican Studies and the  Service Learning Academy at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, has been supporting the mothers of the Caritas Felices Daycare to improve the material conditions of this center. The daycare works on donations from the parents and houses an average of 50 children from 3 to 5 years of age. Originally, the daycare worked in the mornings. Lately, they have opened an afternoon session. It main purpose is to care for children allowing their mothers to go to work in the city. Thus, since 2008, our students have been coming to perform community work along with the mothers. They work very hard and the mothers are immensely grateful.




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First Impersions of Peru

Posted on Friday, June 7, 2013

This experience has been genuinely eye-opening so far. From the moment we arrived we were instantly immersed in the culture.  From the language barrier immediately noticed in the customs line to the heavy density of traffic congestion when going to the hotel, I felt quite a bit overwhelmed with the differences in a matter of minutes. However, once we all got settled in and the excitement quitted down it gave me an opportunity to reflect and regain the acceptance of being in another country and to reopen my mind to the experience.
                On the first day we took a tour of the downtown city area. There was a clearly distinct economical division between the different parts of the city which can be seen in the construction and maintenance of the buildings along with the commercial surroundings (the market vs. shops in Miraflores, graffiti walls in downtown coupled with a line of continuous street vendors). Not only was the socioeconomic diversity evident but to my surprise the cultural diversity was too. We had talked about the mixing of ethnicities in the online lecture course back in May and being in downtown finally introduced a visual connection to this information. Physical appearances differed so much from what I had expected. It was helpful that we arrived during an ongoing large religious festival, Corpus Christi, which called for a huge public gathering in the Plaza. The sheer volume of people reassured me of the huge Catholic influence in Peru. It was essentially a sea of purple.
                Another striking difference was the lack of most types of regulations, whether it is with building codes, traffic guidelines, or a lack of what in the US would be FDA regulations. It was astonishing to see the market where all types of fruits and commercial good were sold just steps from meat and fish that have been set out all day in normal climatic temperature. Animals were displayed in a fashion that I myself had never experienced before, split down the middle with organs still attached. It was a new experience and very interesting to see where locals would go to obtain a lot of the product they consume. On the other end of the spectrum is Miraflores, where we travel next. The atmosphere was very similar to a Village Point, but of Lima, with upper class shops and dinning surrounded by structurally taller and sounder buildings.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.
                On day two, we started out the morning at UARM where we were introduced to Father Dejo joined by Father Klaiber who later gave an interesting speech regarding the formation of the Jesuit community in Peru. This was followed by Dr. Kolok’s presentation of stream order and an overview of distinct ecological cycles. I thought the two opposing lecture contents gave a good balance to the historical and biological views of Peru. As Dr. Kolok also pointed out while in one of the museums we visited during the first day, is that historical references can yield highly insightful information into the biology of the land. This was in regards to a large map of the city from many years ago that highlighted the Rimac and really blended the importance of both lectures given that day.
                I feel I am truly absorbing a lot of really interesting information here and it has only been a few days. This experience is forcing me out of my comfort zone and causing me to reevaluate my thoughts on the culture, which I find to be nothing short of fascinating.

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First Lima then off to perspective.

Peru, a place unlike any other place i have been to.  I have traveled to almost all the major cities in the United States and have met people of all ethnicities and beliefs along my travels.  I have sat on bus stops with all walks of life and have shared thoughts with many folk. Through my travels and studies I always keep an open mind to perspective and beliefs, this is where i get my knowledge.  Perspective is history, feelings, and understanding of one's surroundings.  This trip is biology based and with that being stated I have been having my mind blown by the amount of knowledge I have gained and more importantly the amount of knowledge my fellow students hold in their brain
s.  I can not fail to mention the amount of knowledge that both Dr. Kolok and Dr. Davis hold as well.  Personally i do not study biology but i am an international business major with a minor in Spanish.  My intentions for this trip was to take in as much of the biology side of the trip as possible but to practice my Spanish as much as possible.  When applying for this trip I focused my application on social issues and social economical issues because that is what I care about most when regarding globalization raped world we live in now.  Only the third day on this beautiful trip to Peru and there is so much I have learned about Peru and how Peruvian intellects think.  In America we study economics as capital, or for the purpose of profit and do not touch on the demeanor of the capital or the profit itself.  I have been talking to professors, students, and workers about this and it has brought a smile to my face.  Here they focus on social reforms and also are conscious of social economics.  Before I go on, this doesn't include the entire Peruvian population but it does include those I have talked to and the knowledge that has been blessed upon me in classes.  The complexity that encompasses the politics here is amazing.  You have a country with political leaders trying to maneuver the land toward extraction for raw materials and you have indigenous populations still here and not as assimilated like much of the North American Indians are today in the United States.  They also face the same problems they face when the Spanish first came with their exploitative conquest to rape them of their culture and land.  These people refuse to give up their lands that feed them, themselves, their souls, and feed their live stock.  Ironically enough the game of exploitation runs just as deep through the veins of the politically powerful and these people are still committing crimes against the people and the land.  Here in Peru there are many opinions and these opinions walk the thin line of subsistence living, capitalistic ventures, history, and economic growth.  This is a quick run through with a big F-YOU to your GDP.  Tomorrow i will be touching on details on conversations, lectures, and overall experiences.
Salud y Buena vida.
To my dear friend Cristal.

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Agua es vida


A Peruvian mountain overlooking the highway sits a large water cistern. Painted across in blue letters, "agua is vida" or water is life. Here in Lima, Peru, it is not obviously to the typically America tourist the extensive and quite complicated issues surrounding the impeding water crisis. All of the hotels and shops in main districts of Lima have plenty of water all day long. However, when you reach the outskirts of the more mountainous district, water is not always readily available.

Lima is one of the worlds largest desert cities containing nine million people. The sole source of water for these people comes from the river Rimac which flows through the middle of the city. A state owned company, Sedapal, controls the only water treatment facility for the entire city. I wondered to myself why does the city only have one treatment plant for nearly nine million people. Why not build a second and relieve the stress from the single plant? After our visit to Sedapal it was quite apparent the lack of need for a second plant.

The facilities collection point of the river contains a divert that allows the river to continue flowing while a percentage is pulled out to be treated before sold to the public. The Rimac pre-plant is a rapidly flowing river but post-plant is a dry river bed. In order to meet the cities water demands, the treatment facility removes nearly 100% of the water in the Rimac. There is not only not enough water for a second plant, but not enough water to fill the demand of the city.

It is clear that an unequal distribution of the water supply in Lima. Our visit to the Sedapal water treatment plant was the perfect example. Outside the facility is desert, drought, and poverty. Inside the plant, after passing several security guards, we saw vast green lawns and extensive sprinkler systems and ponds. It was quite contradictory to see the upper portion of the slums overlooking an "almost paradise".

So, why does such an inequality of water distribution exist? Water, in my opinion, is the most precious commodity in the world. And as other commodities such as gold or silver, you have to spend money to get it.

Today we visited the city hall of Ate and spoke to several city planners and managers to better understand the governments role in solving the water crisis. We were greeted with a flashy office, handshakes, and vague plans of how to improve the city. It is interesting to notice that politicians are politicians no matter where you travel to. They spoke of educating the people, with many different customs, the proper way to dispose of waste and keep the river clean. How the men with flashy sunglasses and fake smiles would implement such plans is a mystery to me. Their answers when asked were vague, similar to the answers given at a United States presidential election campaign.

Overall, today was a good day. We saw a different portion of the city, the outskirts, completely different than downtown Lima or the Miraflores district. I am excited for what tomorrow brings.



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Dear Lima,
I love you.  My journey here has increased my understanding of ethnocentrism a lot.  Day in and day out I have been keeping my eyes wide open for sights, smells, and perspective.  What I have kept close to my conscience is the fact that i do not know how this world works completely and that everyday is a day to learn something new.  Some people live their lives as if they know everything and as if they know why people are the way they are based off no factual evidence.  Asking questions and experience are the only ways to combat one's own ethnocentrism.  We have been instilled with codes and values that at times turn our perspectives in to bias and judgmental domes of ignorance.  This translates with every countries peoples.  It is not just a sickness of the United States but people from every where wave flags of misconception as if a patriot of misunderstanding.  A great example of gaining perspective was a lecture i attended at the University of Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, a Jesuit college here in Lima.  In regards to the reader this school is the University that is hosting "us" college kids from Omaha and they're doing some really beautiful and progressive ventures here. The lecture was given by a highly intelligent lady named Carmen Ilizarbe.  Her beauty matched her words of the politics and social issues that have invaded Peruvian life for many years.

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Jaw-dropped and Humbled


6 June 2013

My time spent in Lima so far has been extremely eye-opening. Lima is a beautiful, but dirty and populated, city. Although these first few days have been exciting and jaw-dropping, I cannot wait for what the next several days will bring for me. 
We ate breakfast at 730am. It was the normal Peruvian breakfast: bread and butter or jam. Coffee, tea, and water were available to drink. The majority of the day was spent at the University Antonio Ruiz de Montoya. To begin, we took a tour of the university. It seemed similar to Creighton University in Omaha. About 1,000 students attend UARM for a regular school year. They run their school year similar to quarters with a long summer break and long Christmas break, opposite of our semesters. Because Peru is located on the southern hemisphere, the seasons are opposite of the United State's seasons. We listened to a lecture about the history of Peru and the Jesuits from Dr. Jeff Klaiber, S.J. Dr. Jeff  Klaiber, S.J. is from Indianapolis, Indiana. His lecture pulled out several key aspects from our lecture material to prepare for our travels during Peru. A few major events that Dr. Klaiber, S.J. spoke about the Jesuits in Peru. The Jesuits were expelled from Latin America and Spain in 1767. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuit order, which was more of a political movement compared to a theological movement. 1971 marks the beginning of liberation theology. Dr. Jeff Klaiber, S.J. teaches history at UARM and guest-lectures at the nearby Catholic university. This is especially important to our trip in Peru because it allows us to understand the history behind the way Peru is today.

This is UARM's coat of arms. Father Juan Dejo explained that this arm is standardized between all Jesuit universities. The difference between the shields is between the top left hand corner. UARM has three crowns in their shield because it was founded during the time of the Three Wise Men. 

After Jeff, Dr. Kolak continued with lecture regarding more biology information. He spoke about water sheds and microvertebrates. He focused on our plan for water testing and the characteristics of Lima, Cusco, ocean, and the mountains. Following Dr. Kolak's lecture, we went to lunch which was one eye-opening experience. Elizabeth and I were the students who translated for the rest of the group. The opportunity to hear Spanish and respond in Spanish to indigenous people is amazing. To me, it is literally inexplicable how amazing it feels to speak two languages. The opportunity is priceless so I thoroughly enjoyed translating and learning more Spanish. Lunch was enjoyable and most of us even enjoyed desserts as well. Following lunch, Dr. Davis bet me that if we won volleyball against the other students, then we would not have lecture later. The challenge was accepted. The science lectures were as interesting as the history lecture by Dr. Klaiber. These lectures are vital to our trip because it will increase our knowledgebase about a platform of our trip: water. Our professors taught us about the basics and complexities of toxicity, immunology, and the water quality in Peru. This helps all of us understand one of the reasons of why we were given this opportunity to travel and study in Peru. We can now appreciate our abilities to speak with locals and potentially help the city's water situation simultaneously.


Courts made of cement are common throughout Lima. I have only seen a few soccer fields made of grass. This is expected as Lima is in the center of a desert. This court triples as a volleyball court, soccer field, and basketball court. This court is in the center of the University.

Elizabeth and I asked the students if we could play volleyball with them and they were so welcoming and allowed us to play immediately! We lost the very first game but over time, we won. (Dr. Davis lost the bet.) We played volleyball for roughly three hours. I learned a lot of new words in Spanish like "fuera" which means out, "dentro" which translates to in, and "cancha de voleibol" which means volleyball court. It was extremely interesting to play volleyball with students. These students barely knew English and most do not study English at the university. At UNO, I did not have an opportunity to learn words about sports. I realize that there are many words that I have never considered speaking in Spanish, or needing to know. For instance, I never needed to know how to say "nice hit!" except for today. In Spanish, you say "Buen Mate!" After volleyball, we did listen to Dr. Davis lecture for about an hour. To me, it was all interesting. He focused on how altitude affects your body and its functions. Cusco is nearly 11,000 feet in altitude, quite a difference from the sea level that we were at right now. He said that knowing what is happening in our bodies will help us get through the mental half of the high altitude ;). Playing volleyball with locals was, and probably will remain, one of my favorite moments in Lima. This unexpected opportunity allowed us to drastically increase our confidence and abilities to speak Spanish.

For the remainder of the night, we ate a delicious dinner at Cafe Mango near the ocean in Miraflores. It was absolutely wonderful and delicate. I ate a dessert, similar to a cream puff, that was shaped like a swan in a chocolate lake.  After enjoying each others company and dinner, we walked around Larcomar, the outdoor shopping mall near the ocean. The sights were breathtaking. This situation was kind of a paradigm. We experienced one of the poorest areas of Lima, Ate, and then one of the richest and most beautiful areas of Lima, Miraflores.

This is the view of the ocean from Larcomar. To the left is a cliff, nearly straight down. There is a highway that runs along the ocean. To the upper right, Lima continues to more neighborhoods. At the end of the peninsula, there is a glowing cross that is idolized by Peruvians. There are a few crosses dedicated to several saints throughout the city. 
On Sunday the 2nd, we walked around downtown Lima as a group. This relates to the title and my opening paragraph. Words cannot describe how jaw-dropping and humbling the experience felt for me. The most crowded city I have visited is Denver, Colorado, which inhabits nearly 620,000 people. Denver is roughly 400 km^2. Lima inhabits nearly 9,000,000. Lima is roughly 805 km^2. As a group during a debriefing session, we concluded that the streets of Lima were extremely clean. We saw more people sweeping up the cement and caring for their city more so than in the United States, presumably speaking. On the contrary, graffiti dramatically covered the walls of businesses, houses, and streets in every direction in Peru. One student tour guide from UARM, Frederico, said that Lima does not have enough police force to stop or clean up the graffiti around the city. In Omaha, I see virtually no graffiti around the city. There is an area in Lima known as Ate, that is the poorest area I have seen. Surprisingly, it is not the poorest area of Lima. Our professor, Dr. Celle, informed us that only 10% of inhabitants in areas outside of the richest areas (two neighborhoods) pay municipal taxes in Lima. According to what we learned during our lecture before Peru, we learned that 33% of Lima is below the poverty line. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 15.5% of inhabitants below the poverty line in Omaha, and  18.8% of people in Denver are blow the poverty line. People in America may be able to compare and contrast the city statistics to try and understand Lima as a city. I am often overwhelmed in both cities because of the population. To me, its amazing to see that nearly 7x more people live in Lima, per square kilometer, than in Denver. Walking through downtown, street vending is quite common, and presumably the only monetary support for these people. I assume that there are a lot of people downtown and in Ate in a poor situation. Vending in small stores and in kiosks seem to be extremely common in Lima, especially downtown. In Ate, families often have to travel down the mountain for certain goods. This experience was especially jaw-dropping and humbling because I was able to compare and contrast different ideas learned throughout lecture to an actual real-life event. I am brought back to my life in the United States for a quick minute, and rapidly return to Lima: truly jaw-dropping and absolutely humbling.


Hasta Luego,
Lauren Dahlquist

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History Matters

Posted on Thursday, June 6, 2013


Peru's history blends into the background, but is present in everything you see.

Balconies visible from homes overlooking Lima's historical center remain from when immigrants moved here from Seville.

Chinatown.  Five percent of Lima's population is Chinese, primarily descended from contract laborers brought here between 1849 and 1874, to work in mines and on plantations. They represented a historical transition from slave to "paid" labor, yet a Peruvian resident told us that an American Confederate general expressed horror at the treatment of "coolies" by the people they worked for. Another group of Chinese settlers came after the founding of Sun Yat-sen's republic in 1912, World War II, and the establishment of Communist rule in 1949.

Presence of Catholic missions. The Jesuits arrived in Peru in the 16th century. The Dominicans, and several other orders, brought Catholic influence to Peru, and built a cathedral above an Inca place of worship.

Settlements on the outskirts of Lima. Ate was settled by people who fled their rural villages during the 80s, barely escaping with their lives. Meeting citizens of Ate, we realized we had made several assumptions about the people we would meeting, that they would be desperately poor and isolated. Our assumptions moved aside as we were invited into homes, no two of which are the same, and saw taxis dropping off and picking up riders. Of course, meeting individual people also changes your perceptions, because once you meet people and watch them prepare a meal for you, it's no longer possible to think of them as nameless faces in the crowd.

We saw thousands of Catholic men, women and children celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday in San Martin Square. It seemed as if the entire city was there. We learned later that celebrants' purple robes represented a sign of penance. A Jesuit historian told us the holiday was introduced to native people as a forced alternative to indigenous celebrations.

These are only a few examples of the ways in which multiple cultures have blended against a complicated background of worldwide political and religious forces. As anything would be with so many factors in play over so much time, the picture is as complex as it can be.  Our perceptions constantly evolve as we learn more about why we see what we see.

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The Beginning of Peru!

Posted on Wednesday, June 5, 2013


Our journey to Lima, Peru began at the Eppley airport 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1st 2013. I was droopy eyed and tired with an hour of sleep that morning, hoping the lack of sleep would entitle me to sleep on the plane. The first flight was on a very small plane, and was short-lived, only being a few hours to Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta airport had developed in its enormity, its own shopping mall, with concourses A-F and underground subways that find their way to each concourse. We encountered a seven hour layover that did not seem to last as long as one would imagine for we had many things to accomplish: Peruvian money was obtained through currency exchange, naps were taken, followed by Starbucks frappes and dashes to get 2 for $20 neck pillows for the upcoming seven hour international flight.

Beautiful sunrise before take-off from Omaha to Atlanta via Delta

 The plane to Atlanta was much larger, with small TV screens for every passenger, small pillows and blankets, and a couple snacks to hold us over plus a meal. We had enough time to watch several complimentary movies, which I took full advantage of. We finally arrived in Peru, and I was exhausted and ready to get to the hostel, so I could finally get my nights rest. Going through customs took longer than I expected. Gabby was the only one who got searched, but there was not any issues with our Biology equipment which was a huge "Phew" and wipe to the forehead. This was all very worth it once I saw our driver holding up a sign for our group. I knew we were finally getting to where we needed to be.
Our bus!
We checked in to Casa Kopling Hostel. I get to share a room with Gabby and Lauren, each of us having a small cot and sharing the bathroom. I tried to speak Spanish with everyone starting with breakfast the next morning, but my Spanish skills are very limited. Sometimes I feel like a disgrace to the language with my horrible grammar and insight. However, I have an amazing time learning the language, and hope to be able to be a fluent speaker someday.


Casa Kolping Hostel

We saw a fire juggler on the streets while we were in the coach style tour bus on the way to downtown Lima. You would never catch me driving in Lima, as I would not be able to keep up with all the honking and aggressive driving that Peruvians do. Pedestrians also run out on the street, and I definitely thought someone was going to get hurt while watching this occur!

When we were downtown, we were somewhat surprised by large crowds, many people dressed in purple, and music in Spanish. We soon found out that the celebration was Corpus Christi, a worship service for Catholics. There were many different colors of flower petals arranged in patterns of words and images which must have taken so much time to create. I thought this was very amazing they took the time to put on this religious event.

The banner of flower petals for Corpus Christi

We proceeded to walk around learning about the city with our friends from UARM. We visited the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, where a Catholic service was being performed. We saw a diverse group of people on our walk, seemingly through wealth, race, and religion. I was very sad at the amount of homeless people and stray animals I saw. There were many dogs that looked looked scrawny and unhealthy. This was surprising to me that they were just stranded on the side of the road, especially because that does not happen in Omaha.  

We stopped for a bite to eat because the crowd of Corpus Christi prevented us from visiting the Cathedral of Lima until later. During breakfast in Spanish, Dr. Garcia gave us an assignment to interpret some signs in Spanish. There was one that stood out to me that would not show up at a restaurant in the United States. It said, "Tomar bebidas alcoholicas en exceso es danino." I interpreted it as saying, to drink alcoholic drinks in excess is harmful. This would normally not be an advertisement, so I thought it was very neat.
The sign I deciphered during a quick bite to eat.

 Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown at a place called Chifa Ton Kin Sen, which I absolutely loved. We got a buffet of foods with different types of meats and appetizers placed in front of us. There was enough rice to feed 20 people! 
The restaurant we ate at in Chinatown

After the restaurant we were on the trek back to our bus and off to see the ocean in Miraflores. This was my favorite part of the day. I love seeing the ocean and feeling the ocean breeze. There were many happy couples and people playing soccer or playing with their dogs. It seemed as though Peruvians show affection more publicly than people in the United States. While walking on the sidewalk, I encountered a cute basset hound with a plaid shirt and a beanie! He was a preciously homeless and apparently someone thought he would be cold and needed the clothes!
Look at me!

After the visit to the ocean, we made a trip back to the hostel to eat and then headed to the Parque de la Reserva. We could not find our UARM translator Frederico when we first got there, finding out that he was trying to meet up with us on the entrance on the opposite side of the reserve. Upon entering, there was first one fountain that caught your eye. Once approaching this fountain, you notice that there are other fountains of varying heights and gazebos with benches. Some of the group ran through the dancing fountains, trying to avoid the bursts of water that would come barreling out from the ground at different times. It was an amazing time! By the time we had to leave, my clothes were soaking wet, and my flip flops squeaked the entire walk back to our tour bus.
David, Gabby, Me, and Lauren at the tunnel fountain
This fountain changes colors!
Me running through the dancing fountain.

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