Death Street

Each day we put our lives at risk walking to Spanish class. Imagine the streets of Venice, except with Incan stones and car traffic. Each day is a test agility and flexibility as we avoid incoming pedestrians on the one side of the street with a sidewalk too narrow for two people to walk side by side, while stepping off the curb to play a game of chicken with the oncoming cars. This is not the only street like this. In fact, we have identified death street 1-4. It is quite amazing that these streets haven’t changed in the last 400 years. But now instead of human and horse traffic, there are cars as well.  

One day, walking back home with our backs to oncoming cars, both Kate and I, while entirely on the sidewalk, managed to get sideswiped by the side view mirror of a passing car. It didn’t even slow down. We were fine. It was just a little incredulous. Another time, a lady stepped off the curb just as a car passed by. She was lucky to just get side swiped by the mirror. Everything is an adventure here.

Apartment searching

I love our apartment in Cusco. I hope I’ll be able to find a place this nice when I get back to the states. It is a beautifully furnished 2 bed/1 bath/1 huge kitchen place, for about $400 or 1100 soles / month. It’s an unbelievable deal if I was in the states and a bit of luxury spending here in Cusco. It was not easy though.   

I imagine that looking for an apartment is a lot like online dating (I have never done either to date). You read a short blurb, see a picture, and decide whether it is worth it to look more into it. Both require a lot of failures before finally finding the right one. At least in the US both can be accomplished online. You get to see a picture, and make a harmless inquiry by email or phone. It was not so simple in Cusco. Sure, online sites exist, but they’re pretty much all overpriced and targeted exclusively to foreigners. After exhausting shortcuts, the only options left were to buy the classifieds or walk around and look for “se aquila” or “for rent” signs.

There is truly a range of options available. There are of course, the 200 soles / month “house” that is really just one unfurnished room in a courtyard with half a dozen families, with no kitchen and a one shared bathroom among everyone, as well as the $800 beautifully furnished place that is posted on every online website. After several days of searching, even the furnished yet unfinished apartment without even a kitchen of bathroom yet installed started to look good, at least to Kate. In the end, it took about a week, over 30 phone calls, some interpreting from call center owners, and several visits to truly horrendous places I wouldn’t live in if you paid me, but we finally found our home. It was pure luck at that. I was walking to see a listed apartment when I stumbled upon the wonderful place we are living in now. The rest is history. Come to Cusco and see our wonderful place for yourselves!

Things I've learned so far about Peru...

Peruvians put toilet paper in a trash can next to the toilet.

Neurocystersercosis (worms in the brain) is one of the most common neurologic conditions.

Cabs can hit you and not stop (actually this might not be so different from home).

Soup is regularly served with hunks of bone in it.

Stores close early for football(soccer).

Incan gods and traditions are just as important as the catholic ones. This is not seen as contradictory. There is no issue with the "thou shalt not worship false idols" or whatever that commandment said.

Just like at home, abortions happen all the time and no one talks about it.

Neighbors take down your laundry from the line for you because its getting dark and they are worried someone might steal your clothes.

Cheesefrites are way better then Cheetos or Nacho Cheese Doritos.

Peruvians are not tea connoisserus.

Peruvians did make an alcoholic hot tea drink that is actually pretty tasty. I appreciate this ingenuity.

You can find anything in Peru that you can in the United States for purchase except for Apple products.

Most of these products can be found in tiny individual stores that specialize in things such as "locks," "used electrical equipment," "anything plastic," or "anything that can be made for one sole."

Peruvians don't prescribe antibiotics for as many days as we do. This does not seem to have created any problems.

Two flowers on a woman's hat means she's single, one on the side means she's married, and one in the front means she's widowed. Apparently this makes hitting on women much easier.

Football(soccer) can actually be very riveting to watch. The fans contribute to this greatly.

Llamas are indeed as mean as everyone says they are. To be fair, this can also be very entertaining if you're not the one they are targeting (sorry Nansen).

Parts of the highway system that the Incans build are still in use today. Some of these roads are better than the "modern" roads.

Peruvians plants die under my care just as quickly as American plants.

There is something very cool about living in a city that is over 500 year old.

One reason why our health care costs more

This morning I shadowed the GYN doctor at the clinic. A general visit cost 5 soles. A pap smear an additional 5 soles. Additional labwork cost as much as 15 soles. There are 2.7 soles in one american dollar. Needless to say this is inexpensive medical care. Granted it is subsidized by NGOs and the government for the poor, but still. Way cheap.
Here´s the downside. The table was never once wiped clean the whole morning. There was no crinkly paper to lie one, just the hard plastic. The gloves came from a used kleenex box rather then sterile packages. The swabs came from a metal box and were made of cardboard rather than sterile plastic. The speculums are kept in a plastic tub. The patient brings her own samples down to the lab, waits at least one hour for them, and then brings them back up to the doctor. At the end of the morning nothing is cleaned save for the speculums which have been soaking in soapy water. They are washed, dried, and then thrown back into the bin.
I´m not saying all this is bad or good, but it definitely is a less expensive way to run a clinic.

Arequipa la Cuidad

Today we wandered around the city of Arequipa. We went to the archeologic museum where we learned all about Juanita- a young girl the Incas sacrificed to the gods who was found 500 years later on top of a mountain frozen in ice. And remarkably well preserved. They flew her to Johns Hopkins to learn that her final cause of death had been blunt trauma to the head- done with a ceremonial stick someone lugged up a 20,000 foot mountain. They buried her body along with sacrificial artifacts at the top of the mountain. An earthquake caused her body to shift downwards about 100 meters, and that's where the researchers found her.
Her journey started months earlier, starting out from Cusco and traveling through the country summitting various peaks before the final one here in Arequipa. They did all this in leather shoes lined with wool. No cramp-ons for them. After climbing to 20,000 feet covered only in blankets, they mercifully give the children a really strong alcoholic drink (chicha) before their deaths. They covered the graves with stones, which is how researchers find them. Three other children have been found on the mountain outside Arequipa, 14 children have been found total in various mountains. The children are offered once a year to appease the gods, more frequently if there are natural disasters.
The children are raised for this honor. They live in a special house in the capital and receive only the best food and clothes. As they grow, they select the most beautiful of the children to be considered for sacrifice. They were very egalitarian about it- even royal children were enrolled.

packing is not as much fun as traveling

2 duffles, 2 backpacks, 2 carry-ons, and much work later and we are almost completely packed and ready to go.

a selection of things to bring to peru:

antibiotics (cause no one likes diarrhea)

lots of underwear

contacts

glasses

spanish-english dictionary

capilene

hiking boots

chacos

debit and credit cards

cash

passport

vaccination record

ipod

books

camping stove

titanium pot

new neoair thermarest

sleeping bag

fleece

smartwool socks