mountain dew!

I found mountain dew at a grocery store today. first time i've seen it since i've been here. $2 a can though, oh well it was worth it. I gave Miguel, 10, my camera today. The excitement on his face was unforgettable. He took pictures all day. The ones posted are his. I promised him I would make him a dvd of all the photos he took and that he could use my camera again. Tomorrow Cristhain, Nelson, Yuan and I are going to a remote site above their village with a large number of chullpas. It has never been excavated, village secret. I'm lucky the villagers like and trust me...... miguel is the boy in the top picture! he'd be very proud to know his picture was on the internet!

bam bam

Bam Bam was first and second in his classes at fairfield! Marshall is really happy with him and I am too. it's amazing what good training does. I have been spending my days at Wilkahuain. Today Juan and I hiked from Wilkahuain to Monterrey! I was about 7km. Good practice for the lake, which takes an entire day to get there and then another day to get back. Should be fun. The people here are so kind, there is an elderly lady at Wilkahuain, about 102, that the entire village makes sure she has food. She can still walk and do her chores, it's amazing. The villagers say she is over 200 but i think they are full of it. They are teaching me Spanish and Quechua. I'm slowly catching on. Tomorrow I am going to Chavin finally!

somber

today i flew from lima with the friends and family of the 3 americans who died in a climbing accident last year. they came to place a memorial plaque at site of their deaths. both families lost their children. very sad. our flight was delayed by 3 hours because we could only take 12 kilos of lugage each. one of my bags went with their stuff on a bus and hopefully i will see it tomorrow. this really is an adventure

fedex sucks

i don't know why i even bother withthem. i go to fedex in lima to send my piece of shit solar panel back to the states and they want $164 to send it not including duties! that's about half its value. i dobt they would have even gotten it there considering half the time they lose thing especially coming from a third world country. guess it wil go back in my lugage! off to the museums

cameron diaz

damn that movie star. cameron diaz was at machu picchu yesterday causing the hike to Wayanpicchu to be closed! she had the whole thing blocked off for security reasons, they usually only allow 400 people per day there anyway. oh well maybe another day. i think i am going to go back with one of the guys from huaraz so i can see areas of machu picchu tourist don't normally see and hike part of the inca trail. pays to know someone

machu picchu

it is beautiful! i will add to this at a later date. sick. even went to the clinic in machu picchu, they gave me 3 shots of god knows what. feeling better but my neck is locking up again, off insearch of a muscle relaxer

oops

it's not gay pride week here it's a ceebration of cultural heritage, the rainbow flags threw me off. rainbows are symbols of gay pride in the states. i spent the morning watching a parade. the local children were dressed in native costums doing native dances. it was beautiful to watch. i walked around town for a while then returned to the hotel and ended up sleeping until 5pm. took a taxi to the train station to get a ticket for machu picchu but they were closed. the hotel told me to get a ticket to another site in the morning and then get one to machu picchu from the other site. if i have to stay another day it will be worth it. can't not see machu picchu. still dealing with business things, yuck. and today i am sick for the first time. yuck. back to bed!

what a day

the day starts out with being in a car accident in lima. yep, my taxi driver rearended another taxi..... crazy peruvian drivers. get to the airport and my flight to cusco is delayed 3 hours. what fun. get to cusco and my bank has frozen my crdit card because there are all these charges from peru. ya think i am in peru. so finally settled in cusco, the hotel tell me not to wear my watch or carry much of anything, high crime. even higher crime this week because it's GAY PRIDE week! off at 6am to machu picchu

moche

i believe this example of moche ceramics says it all....... well after leaving marcajirca, which was the worst experience of my life i spent a few days in huaraz and then flew to lima where i am today. i must say bebel has no business running anything, no epi pins, no medical kit, no organization etc. he left people hiking up to the site with no water and further more they had no idea where they were going. people suck, i learned yet again you can't trust anyone, even my friend who igot into the project betrayed me while i was there. i hope they have fun with no water andthe freezing cold. i'm enjoying taking a nice long hot shower everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!! off to machu picchu tomorrow and then back to huaraz for some serious hiking

Insanity

Today we decided to hike into the Cordillera Blanca's! And I will never listen to another peruvian again. They always say oh the hikes easy just a couple of hours, its flat. Boy did that not describe the hike to Lake Churup! It was a 40km hike that was very difficult, it even included rock climbing. Not my forte. I reached the point i couldn't breath and stopped letting everyone get ahead of me, when i finaaly got to the lake, I was faced with a vertical ascent up a waterfall to actually reachteh lake. I decided aginst it, being I HATE height but Christian, ot Peruvian guide spotted me from the lake. So Christian bounded down the waterfall to convince me i wanted to make the climb and i'm glad i did but it was not fun! The lake is crystal clear and the peak ofthe mountain is white with snow. it was beautiful. We got back at 7pm tonight after leaving at 7am. What a day. Tomorrow we are going to Wilkawauen, an archaeological site to play soccer (watch) with Christian, Fernando and Nelson. Who have been jillian and My guides in Huaraz. they are eating guinea pig, I think I'll decline.

Peeing in Public

So today Jillian and I along with our guide went to Guiterro Cave, oldest evidence of man in south america was found there. After that we walked around Yungay, the town in Peru which was destroyed by an avalanche in 1970 caused by 7.8 earthquake. Most of the world never heard about it because it was just a little mountain town in Peru. The memorial gardens are beautiful. So we take a bus on the way home, not a normal bus more like a mini van with people crammed in it like sardines. It makes a stop to pick up people and I look out the window and the driver is peeing on the side of the road right next to the van. That would be indecent exposure in the states! No problem in Peru, everybody does it! There is no toilet paper in the public bathrooms! No toilet seats! It's a different world here. I'm addicted to caffine. Tried to go without it today and got a splittting headache. Drank a coke, bye bye headache!

Bucket Laundry!

Jillian and I spent the morning doing our laundry in buckets! No washing machines here. I don't really think the clothes get all that clean. Apparently the rumor i Saugerties is I fell off the mountain and died. Didn't know a dead person could do bucket laundry! Off hiking tomorrow!

Pictures

here are some more pictures

Civilization!

I am in Huaraz for the week! I am currently sitting in the California Cafe using WiFi on my MAC! The hotel sucks, It is so noisey. I got about an hour of sleep in total, I think I will upgrade to one of the more americanized hotels. At least I got a HOT shower this morning. There is a bit of academic competiviness going on.... Oh well. i have blood blisters on my toes from all the hiking. I will search the market for thick socks! Everything else is great. I am shrinking though...

extreme trail ride

Hello. On sunday we went to the site, which is unreal. It is situated on the peak ofthe andes at 3800-4400m depending on what sector you are in. The remains appear to be in great condition. Bebels dad showed be several tombs located away from the main site, which i am eager to excavate. The hike to the site is a monster, at least 1500 straight up! i choose to ride a sturdy mountain pony/mule. That was exciting, there were places on the trail so narrow that one false step and you fall off the ledge. My pony got me there safely. I did however choos to walk hime down the mountain, to scary to ride on the way down. i have obtained the nickname princess once again, oh well. The showers still suck! Luke warm water doesn't do it for me! I am in Huaraz forthe week, civilization and americanized food. I will post pictures tomorrow. Shrinking already!

Shower Gods

The shower gods smiled on me today! i got a warm shower. The monster hike was postponed until tomorrow, yay! i might have not made it today. We are going to look at rock paintings and the burials beneath them at a farmers farm today! It´s a bit of a hike but worth it. The town of Huari is very friendly. And you eat potatoes with every meal! I am learning Spanish. Bebel´sfamily thinks I am addicted to the computer and they are right!

no more emails from the states!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I´m not checking my email for the next 3 months. What do you people expect me to do? I´m in a third world country where I can´t even take a hot shower. Give me a break. Besides being annoyed at most people I know in the states life here is quite peaceful. It rains everyday around 4pm, Bebel forgot to say to bring a raincoat. Yesterday Jillian and I hike up to the cross above Huari which is about 1000ft above town. It was beautiful. Last night I took an ice cold shower and was cold for the rest of the nght. They don´t have hotwater heaters here, the water is heated by a light bulb connected to a shower head. You get really hot water that way, NOT! Today we hiked up to an archaeological site. It was a 2.5 hour hike straight up. I think I´ll beable to run a marathon when I get home. The site was o it was a disappointment tomorrow we are hiking to Maricajrica, 8-10hrs it total. What fun. I´ll try and post pictures