A list of things I have done in the past week:
-Eaten cuy (guinea pig! Deep fried is the traditional way to make it, and it is delicious. Like a cross between dark meat of chicken and duck. Lots of little bones, though...)
-Played in the traditional futbol match we have versus some of the guys that help us on the dig. They beat us only slightly badly, but it was lots of fun, for sure.
-Watched the local match (Acari vs Nasca). Futbol here is quite the event. It´s a big dirt field in a stadium sort of thing (though the walls are low-- at one point, the ball went out of the staduim and had to be retrieved), and the spectators will heckle any player, no matter what team they´re on. It was hilarious.
-Mastered the hamate (it´s a carpal bone. For the record, if you need one of them identified or sided, I will rock it). Seriously, we´ve spent a lot of time in the lab cleaning and IDing bones, which is a blast. The field isn´t so exciting-- lots of clean sand in our unit, a few artifacts and an infant´s hand.
-Today was a lab day, to help set up the museum of local artifacts that Lidio is starting here. Not much happening, really, hence more internet. But I´ll probably go get ice cream from the new love of my life, this adorable man and his wife, who practice English on me, and indulge my attempts at Spanish. Plus, he sells the best ice cream ever.
-Oh, right, and last night we celebrated Kyra´s birthday, so there was lots of food, and lots of dancing and singing. It was pretty fun.
That´s all-- only a few days left down here, until we go to Lima and I head home!!
Not much sunburn, but many bones and small children
The title says most of it.I´m braving the dial-up, which is treating me OK (knock on wood). We had a skeleton in our unit, which we got to remove yesterday, which was exciting.
Earlier today we hiked up Monte Grande Alto (a really big giveaway that it would be a tough hike-- I mean, it´s called really big high mountain...) I´ve made friends with Daniella, a five-year-old who lives across the street from us. I´m completely beat every day from hiking, digging, hiking back, and then playing with the kids, who insist on being picked up and swung around like maniacs.
There´s also been car fun-- we drive to the site in a van and a truck, and the cool kids take the truck since the fresh air is spectacular. Except the day it ran out of gas and we had to hitch a ride on a dump truck carrying copper ore. Pretty awesome stuff.
Anyway, I´ve had enough of this slowness, off to buy a calling card (watch me be able to navigate town alone now!) and such. Later.
Week 1
These keyboards are driving me insane! I´m in Nasca now, a bigger town about 3 hours away from the small town of Acari where we stay and work. Acari was a 13-hour bus ride from Lima, for reference. Turns out I´ve been pronouncing it wrong-- it´s Ah-cu-ree, with the emphasis on the first syllable.
We get up around 7 every day, have breakfast, and drive an hour to the site of Amato. We have a 4 by 4 meter unit that we work in groups of three. When it gets to be around 1 or 2, we drive back for lunch, then have a lab in the afternoon, and spend time washing off pottery and things we found. This site is rediculous-- there´s a looted cemetary to the North, where you literally walk across a field of bones.
We´re staying in a hostel run by Rosa and Angel, who are wonderful. Rosa cooks all our meals, which are huge and delicious. Some nights Lidio gives a lecture in the evening before dinner, at which he provides snacks-- which is how classes should be taught, I feel. There are maybe 20 of us total, all girls except for Craig. The girls are all super nice, (Craig too), and everyone´s been super nice and helpful.
Plus, I got to play with skeletons to help me learn to ID bones.
I know this is horribly short, but I´ve gotta run-- we´re going to go grab lunch before taking a plane over the Nasca lines. I´ll drop a line next week when we get back here.
Much love, Julia
Oh dear god, the internet is in Spanish
Tada, I made it to Peru safe and sound. The rundown goes as such-- catch the 2am flight, watch them kick extra people off since they overbooked, catch some sleep, waste about five hours in San Salvador (sleeping on the floor is totally boho), than one more flight and I´m finally in.
I found Lido very easily, and we had a nice slow taxi drive to the hostel, an adorable little place (I´ll get pictures tomorrow morning). Then we had a death'defying taxi ride (eep) to a restaurant where the rest of the gang was having dinner (I´ve never been so glad to see a roasted chicken in my life. Did I mention that the airlines didn´t feed me, and I actually failed at getting myself a sandwich?)
Anyway, dinner was fun, everyone seems really nice. After, a bunch of us went to the little cafe across the street to hang out, and I get to realize just how out of my league I am. I´m not worried, since the whole point is to learn, after all, but it´s still a bit intimidating.
Then I managed a shower (probably my last real satisfying one for a month), and am torn between going once again across the street, or going to bed, since we have to get up at 6.30 tomorrow. If you know me at all, you know what I´ll end up doing.
Later.
