Peru and the Sea

     For a country of its geographic location and economic status, Peru's military history is surprising rich. From the days of the Spanish Armada to its current defense roles in South America and the Pacific, Peru has been key strategically in the region for centuries. Today, we had a chance to tour several displays of Peru's military history in Port Callao - the Abtao Submarine, the Naval Museum, and the Fort of Real Felipe. 
     The first stop was the Abtao Submarine, the first diesel submarine to be possessed by Peru's navy. It was sold to Peru in 1951 by the United States to upgrade its defenses, and was one of the most powerful weapons Peru possessed at the time. Today, it is parked by a small pier, and has been meticulously preserved for future generations, with everything from its crew quarters to its torpedoes on display. Next, we went to the Peru's national Naval Museum; it covers nearly every aspect of Peru's nautical development from the reed and wood rafts of the PreColumbian Indians to modern satellite communications used by its navy. The diversity of the ships and tactics used by Peru's navy (particularly during the 1879 Pacific War) was particularly surprising, since they became the first South American country to use submarines in war.
     Finally, we visited the Fort of Real Felipe, a Spanish colonial fort during the 1600s. Fort Real Felipe was built to defend Callao and Peru in general from pirates that would maraud the coast. After independence was declared and the region more peaceful, however, the fort became less and less useful. Today, it is used as a museum of Peru's military history, and features PreColumbian artifacts, Spanish weapons, and guns and vehicles from Peru's wars in the 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, it also serves as an administrative seat for Callao's government, and continues to to serve its home city in new ways.

Caral

     On the 30th, we went to the ruins of a city of the Caral civilization, the first PreColumbian civilization in the Americas to use agriculture. The city was founded approximately 4,500 years ago, and is the second oldest site of an agricultural civilization known. Only the state of Mesopotamia was older, for it was founded approximately 5,000 years ago. What is even more amazing is that the Caral civilization only had llamas and some vegetables to feed themselves, while the Mesopotamians had wheat, cattle, horses, and many more crops and livestock. Furthermore, the Caral only had one narrowly confined river valley to farm in, while the Mesopotamians had the entire fertile crescent. It could definitely be argued that the Caral created more with less.

     Like Pachacamac, the Caral ruins stood out of the modern settlement surrounding it. However, unlike Pachacamac, the ruins were surrounded by farms and greenery reminiscent of the conditions that must have drawn the city's founders. Amazingly, the Caral seem to have lived with minimal violence, since no tools or implements clearly meant to be weapons have been found in the ruins of their city yet. The ruins were organized, as our guide explained, in a circle to better observe the movements of the stars, moon, and sun. Most of the buildings were pyramid shaped stacks, some of them residential, others religious, and still others for governance. 

     In other words, the Caral were not so different from modern humans. They needed food, they needed shelter, they needed cultural institutions, and they needed good leadership. Despite the seemingly foreign and alien environment the Caral civilization started in, it awed me that they had many of the same institutions as modern societies. 

Final Good Byes

      Today was both cathartic and sad. It was our final day volunteering at the Quinones Air Force school, and both its students and ours showed how much the past week has been treasured. After our El Sol classes, we went to Quinones, and were instructed on the finer points of drumming and dancing in the traditional Lima fashion - with little else then some wood boxes, horse jaws, and our own two hands. As we grew more coordinated, we came to produce better and better music as the session went on.
     Next, we headed to the auditorium, where we received a demonstration of colonial dancing techniques from two female students who had previously shown them at Lima's art museum. Next, we received our honorary diplomas from the school, and danced with our guides to "Taxi" and at least a dozen other Peruvian pop songs. Finally, we concluded with games of basketball before we left on our bus.
     Today left me feeling  genuinely happy, and eager to learn more about American culture. In return, I felt like I had gained some insight into how Peru works by observing its newest generation in action. Hopefully, more dialogues like this will occur later on between our countries.

The Great Game

     Today was one of the funnest days of the volunteering sessions. After our morning classes, our day began with a round of dancing with the students of our class. After a presentation about the culture of the Peruvian Amazon region, we were instructed by two of the students. Then they brought several of their classmates up to join us (predictably, the boys were more reluctant to join). It was very humanizing to see that even though the movements and clothes the Peruvians used were different in their dances, they had the same objective as dancing in the US - to attract and bond with others, to show skill, and to lose oneself to music.
     After this, we had a presentation about the state of the Peruvian economy. It was fascinating to see how the economy of Peru is impacted by its geographic location, demographics, and resources. Its main problem is a lack of access to capital, which it is seeking by increasing trade with the USA. It is also trying to boost industry (particularly manufacturing) to increase employment.
     Finally, the day ended with rousing games of soccer and volleyball. The teams were a mix of Northeastern students and Peruvians, rather than pitting one against the other. The students were great at both sports, and their players contributed many of the points on both teams. The informality and ease with which the teams were able to organize together despite different languages and tactics is probably what struck me most. When people have a common goal, they can do a lot together.

New Dialogues

     Today's conversations with our students took on several interesting subjects. Although the primary topic was culture (such as festivities and food), we quickly went on to talk about larger aspects of American and Peruvian culture. Afterwards, the NEU students went to the library and spoke in Spanish with some of the students. My group's guide was Juan, who had lived for a time in Maryland with his father as part of Peru's diplomatic mission in the US. Together, we participated in a group activity over the history of Lima and practiced our Spanish.

      Several things stood out to me in the English practice session: First, the students had traveled more than I thought; several had been to the USA, and one had been to all of the countries in South America. Second, they had many of the same concerns as we Americans did right before graduating high school. Many of them were studying for college entrance exams and preparing for life after school. Third, they helped us understand how they perceived English as a language; they found it to be difficult as we did Spanish, and commented on our pronunciation of different Spanish words.

      After our group session, we moved to the library and practiced Spanish with the students as part of an activity in which we retraced the routes of Simon Bolivar across South America. Later, we had an impromptu dance, and walked about by the soccer field. There, we alternated between English and Spanish as we waited for the bus. It was interesting to hear how Juan perceived American culture, and differences in the regions within the US (e.g. New England, the West Coast, the South).
      Today's class reminded me of the importance of having a nuanced picture of a country. Peru is no more a uniform place than the US, for it has several regions and peoples in its borders. It also helped me understand how people build their perceptions of the US, and how it impacts their adoption or rejection of our culture. 

Parties and Guinea Pigs

     Today was my first day speaking almost entirely in English with the students at Quinones. The students in my group were each 14 and 15 years old, and possessed intermediate English skills. Overall, their English was better than my Spanish; however, they still appreciated the English to Spanish dictionary I had in my backpack, and it facilitated our conversations immensely over the course of the class. The key to the success of the class was that both of us actively wanted to learn about each other and our respective cultures.
     The primary topic for my group was festivities and food. The students talked about popular holidays in Peru, particularly All Saints Day, and food, such as cuy, ceviche, and Chifa, the Peruvian variation of Chinese food. After they finished, I talked about food my family makes; I talked particularly about food from my mother's side of the family, which is Cuban and has many similarities to Peruvian food. I also talked about how Americans like to socialize, ranging from music concerts to small apartment parties between friends. The students were surprised to hear that not all American parties had dancing and music, while I was surprised that they had adopted several American slang terms (particularly "bae" and "diva") before my visit.
     I cannot wait to continue my work tomorrow, expand on it to include more meaningful subjects, and befriend the young people I am working with.

New Friends, New Slang

     Today, we began the next phase of our stay in Peru - volunteering at the Peruvian Airforce's Quiñones School. It serves children aged five to seventeen, giving it a far greater number and range of students than at many American schools. Our tasks will alternate day by day and group by group, but for today we spoke with the students and got to know them better. Some of us spoke in English to with them to help them practice, while my group practiced our Spanish with them. We Began with a whole tour of the school, and Introduced ourselves to some of Their classes. We had little time for each class and the students we spoke With Were aged six to eleven, so we kept our introductions and conversations fairly basic. This was for the better, since my Spanish is more intermediate, and They Would not Understand everything we did in college and the US.
     Later, we spoke with older students in their teens and who spoke some English, allowing us to have more in depth conversations. Our group spoke (mostly) in Spanish with two fourteen year old girls named Olenna and Valeria. Valeria had relatives in New York and spoke some English, while Olenna explained many different cultural features of Peru, particularly food. They were ecstatic that we were going to Lima, and recommended eating cuy (guinea pigs). They were eager to learn more about the West Coast and Denver since they had not been there yet, and talked a lot about their favorite music from the US (specifically Justin Bieber) and Peru.
     Tomorrow, I will begin helping students practice their English. I feel like I am well prepared for this for a few reasons: First, the students have surprisingly good English, and will almost certainly speak it better than I speak Spanish. Second, I have a large English-Spanish dictionary split in half for both languages; I am sure several words in the Spanish half will be very handy at one point or another. Finally, both the students and I have a strong desire to learn from each other and to teach each other.

Guano and Dancing

     My day was, to say the least, eventful. It began with a bus ride to Paracas National Park and sailing around its rocky islands. They first entered the spotlight during the 1870s; at the time, bird guano was the best known agricultural fertilizer, and countries and corporations were scrambling to get it. Peru had the world's richest deposits of guano, particularly in the Paracas area, briefly making it an important global power. However, guano's value plummeted as better fertilizers became available, putting mines of it out of business. Later on, the islands were declared national parks, and are now home to thousands of birds.
     Our visit of the islands started with a sight of one of the Nazca Lines, better known as the Palabra. It is one of the more abstract lines in design - rather than representing an animal or person, it shows an abstract glyph that somewhat resembles a candlestick, giving the line its name. Next, we arrived at the islands themselves - the first thing that struck me was the clear lines on each of the stones. The boundaries between areas hit by high tide versus those that were consistently dry, and the difference between areas inhabited regularly by birds versus those that were not could have been drawn by pen. The variety of birds struck me as well - terns, boobies, pelicans, and more all crowded for space and competed for fish as we photographed them.
     After a brief interlude, we went to San Clemente to see traditional dances of Peru's African community. As with other countries in the Americas, they came as slaves to Peru with the Spanish, but have since developed a distinct, vibrant culture. They showed us how they played their music with basic instruments including drums, a violin, and even a horse jaw, while their dancers instructed us on their techniques; they seemed to alternate between tap dancing and zumba, and was accentuated with colorful clothing.
     Afterwards, we went back to Lima after a rewarding weekend. I truly hope that the rest of the trip is as fulfilling and educational.

The Nazca Lines

     It never ceases to amaze me how a civilization can be so advanced in some areas of culture, technology, and art, and be behind in others. One of the best examples of this can be seen in the remains of the Nazca culture, which lasted from 200 BCE - 950 CE. On the one hand, they were isolated from much of the world, and had not developed much of an agricultural base since their home lacked calorie rich crops like wheat and was fairly arid. On the other hand, they were able to create thousands of monumental pieces of art to pay tribute to their gods with little more than basic surveying - the Nazca Lines.
     The Nazca Lines are representations laid out as representations of various things the Nazca culture held valuable, such as their gods, glyphs representing important ideas, and in one case even a priest wide eyed from a hallucinogenic drug. They also represented animals the Nazca dealt with everyday or had heard about from other parts of Peru, such as monkeys and hummingbirds. How they were created is still a mystery, since many of the 3,000 lines can only be viewed fully from an airplane. It implies that the Nazca possessed powers of surveying the topography of the local area that few other people at the time could even dream of. They created and knew the layout of enormous patterns in the hills and plains of the desert without ever having gazed directly at them.
     Looking on the lines, I felt in awe of the work ethic and motivation their workers must have had. I often feel the need for tangible rewards when I start a project, but the Nazca made all of their lines strictly for the viewing of their gods, not themselves.

Sand Surfing on Another Planet

     Normally, one assumes the topography of a country is fairly uniform. For example, that Brazil is all jungle (much of it is actually grassland), or that Australia is all desert (actually it has rain forests to the east and some snowy mountains in the south). I made ​​the same mistake in Peru - after seeing Lima, I imagined Peru would not possess many surprises in weather except perhaps changes between fog and sunny weather.
   I first began to realize the variations yesterday after seeing the ruins at Pachacamac (see my previous post), but this was driven home during my drive to the town of Ica today. As we drove down the road and left Lima, the landscape transformed from city to desert in the blink of an eye. Mountains loomed in the distance, while enormous sand dunes surrounded us on either side. I thought they were hills at first, until the road cut through them to reveal that they really were enormous summits of sand and stray stone. The landscape looked as if someone had taken a piece of Mars and transplanted it onto Earth.
     After our drive, we arrived at our destination -  Ica. After a tour of the town and its fine pisco winery, we went back out into the desert to do the most logical thing possible on a sea of sand - surf. We rode at a break-neck pace across the dunes, and then proceeded to slide down them on waxed snowboards. The sliding reminded me more of a roller-coaster ride than anything else, except I also had to dodge my fellow surfers as well.
      After a great day, we arrived back at our hotel for dinner. Tonight, we eat relax for our real adventures tomorrow at the Nazca lines.

Pachacamac - A Place of Contrasts

     Today had a lot of contrasts for me. It started regularly enough for me - I had breakfast with my host family, my morning commute, and then classes. I thought my trip to Pachacamac would be a regular trip as well. It would be a stop on the road with plenty of tourists and trinket sellers, with precious little historical value left to show. Thankfully, I was wrong.

     The middle of my day was a stark contrast to its start - we left Miraflores and departed from Lima's outskirt to its coastal core. After a good drive on our bus, we arrived at Pachacamac. The line between it and the the rest of the city was both clear and stark. The site was hundreds of acres of sand and rock topped with brooding temples and paths which towered over the much smaller buildings and greenery around it. There were almost no other tourists besides my group, and precious few people at all apart from a few guards and our two tour guides. Despite being in the middle of one of the world's largest cities, I felt a profound sense of isolation; it was as if we had simply driven to another planet.
     The contrasts did not stop there. Despite the apparent aridity of the ruins and the silence of the stones, one could smell water wafting in from the Pacific fog, and the smell of cars and smoke from the still very much living city around it. Our knowledgeable and well spoken guide Danielle revealed even greater contrasts with every step we took. The Pachacamac site had been used as a place of worship and governance for almost 5000 years, and had been occupied by dozens of civilizations and societies, while the city surrounding it is not even 500 years old at the time of this writing. It was very much an island of antiquity surrounded by a young, modern city. 

     By the end of the tour, I had a newfound appreciation for Lima. Despite its relatively recent founding, its culture is not monolithic by any stretch of the imagination. It had absorbed all kinds of legacies from its native people, the Spanish, and others into a mix that seems contradictory at first glance, but is awe inspiring once you really get to know it.