Along with my classes at UPC, our professor that came here with us from UNK is also teaching us a Culture class on Thursdays. This is my favorite class because instead of meeting in a classroom, each week we have a different activity that we get to go experience around Lima! Our first venture was to another district called San Isidro where we got to go to an art museum. The current exhibit was "de Picasso a Barcelo" and the art-lover in me fully enjoyed it. Although the exhibit was not huge by any means, the museum was beautiful and the artwork was stunning. The pieces ranged from bronze sculptures, to modern paintings that were so detailed they appeared to be photographs, to abstract multimedia using wood or cloth that was left open to interpretation, to oil scenes from the 1950's.
Last week for our culture class, our grammar professor from UPC took us on a trip to a small village up in the mountains, called Matucana. (His grandfather was from here!) The village was about a two hour bus ride from Lima, and was the starting point for a two-hour hike up to our destination, the Antankallo waterfalls. This might've been my favorite experience so far! On the drive up to Matucana we got to see many places of poverty that were very eye-opening. The little village itself also a very poor place-- many of the homes were simply tin shacks with huge boulders on the top to keep the roof on. The walk through to town to the trailhead led us by farms at the base of the mountain. These farms were like something out of an old movie, with little wooden fences and older men and women working in them. Each individual patch of land was pretty small and there were areas of cows, sheep, and goats. The main crop I saw growing was corn and it was apparent that the entirety of farming was done by hand with no help from machinery. As a girl born and raised in an agricultural state this was very interesting to see.
Last week for our culture class, our grammar professor from UPC took us on a trip to a small village up in the mountains, called Matucana. (His grandfather was from here!) The village was about a two hour bus ride from Lima, and was the starting point for a two-hour hike up to our destination, the Antankallo waterfalls. This might've been my favorite experience so far! On the drive up to Matucana we got to see many places of poverty that were very eye-opening. The little village itself also a very poor place-- many of the homes were simply tin shacks with huge boulders on the top to keep the roof on. The walk through to town to the trailhead led us by farms at the base of the mountain. These farms were like something out of an old movie, with little wooden fences and older men and women working in them. Each individual patch of land was pretty small and there were areas of cows, sheep, and goats. The main crop I saw growing was corn and it was apparent that the entirety of farming was done by hand with no help from machinery. As a girl born and raised in an agricultural state this was very interesting to see.
The hike itself was absolutely amazing. It was a rather steep trail, but no matter which direction you looked there were mind-blowing views. Lush green mountains were all around, and a huge river ran down below. It felt soo refreshing to get out and really connect with nature after being surrounded by buildings and cars for so many days. Since living in Lima, I have already grown accustomed to the never-ending sound of the city- carn horns, construction, people yelling, dogs barking, and chicken-horns announcing ice cream. The silence in the mountains sounded so sweet I wish I could've stayed there and soaked in it forever.
Our guide, Ivan, was wonderful and stopped us many times along the way to point out different native plants and how they could be used for food or medicine. Because of the high elevation, heat, and strenuous activity a few members of the group got a little dizzy but Ivan immediately came to the rescue by finding a plant that was used to for this specific purpose. He rolled the thick green leaves between his hands until they were kind of wet and gooey and then would hold it under the person's nose until the dizziness passed. Although the two hour climb was difficult, it was most definitely worth it when we reached our destination- the falls. It was a very hot day but once we were that high up the air was cool and felt so refreshing. The water itself was ice-cold but we all took turns climbing the huge boulders and running in and out of the mist and getting drenched anyway. We stopped and ate some snacks by the falls and then started our back down the mountain. Going down was a lot easier but almost felt more dangerous. The rocks on the narrow trail were very slippery under our wet feet and many people, including myself, lost our footing and slid. Nonetheless, eventually we all made it back down to the village of Matucana in one piece! The hike was such a satisfying experience and I felt very lucky that our UPC professor gave us the opportunity to see another aspect of this beautiful country.
Once we made it back to Lima, we decided to reward ourselves in the most American way possible by finding the Burrito Bar that we had heard rumors of. While Peruvian food is very tasty, there has been no chips and salsa, tacos, or burritos anywhere to be found! So we made the journey to another district named Barranco to fufill our Mexican food craving. After roaming around for about 45 minutes and asking multiple people, "Donde estas los burritos?!" we finally stumbled upon a little hole in the wall with a chalkboard sign announcing the BURRITO BAR! My oh my was it worth the effort to find! The burritos were huge and filled with everything you could dream of that would be in a perfect burrito! (And they only cost 5 American dollars :)) Once we were stuffed to the gills, we made our way across the street to a place perfected named THE GRINGO BAR. We all sipped on some Chilcanas while enjoying a little piece of an American atmosphere. The walls were covered with caricatures of famous people ranging from Elvis and The Beatles, to Will Smith and the Three Stooges and current music from the states played over the speakers! It was a great change of pace and felt nice to be surrounded by some familiarity for a little bit.
Our guide, Ivan, was wonderful and stopped us many times along the way to point out different native plants and how they could be used for food or medicine. Because of the high elevation, heat, and strenuous activity a few members of the group got a little dizzy but Ivan immediately came to the rescue by finding a plant that was used to for this specific purpose. He rolled the thick green leaves between his hands until they were kind of wet and gooey and then would hold it under the person's nose until the dizziness passed. Although the two hour climb was difficult, it was most definitely worth it when we reached our destination- the falls. It was a very hot day but once we were that high up the air was cool and felt so refreshing. The water itself was ice-cold but we all took turns climbing the huge boulders and running in and out of the mist and getting drenched anyway. We stopped and ate some snacks by the falls and then started our back down the mountain. Going down was a lot easier but almost felt more dangerous. The rocks on the narrow trail were very slippery under our wet feet and many people, including myself, lost our footing and slid. Nonetheless, eventually we all made it back down to the village of Matucana in one piece! The hike was such a satisfying experience and I felt very lucky that our UPC professor gave us the opportunity to see another aspect of this beautiful country.
Once we made it back to Lima, we decided to reward ourselves in the most American way possible by finding the Burrito Bar that we had heard rumors of. While Peruvian food is very tasty, there has been no chips and salsa, tacos, or burritos anywhere to be found! So we made the journey to another district named Barranco to fufill our Mexican food craving. After roaming around for about 45 minutes and asking multiple people, "Donde estas los burritos?!" we finally stumbled upon a little hole in the wall with a chalkboard sign announcing the BURRITO BAR! My oh my was it worth the effort to find! The burritos were huge and filled with everything you could dream of that would be in a perfect burrito! (And they only cost 5 American dollars :)) Once we were stuffed to the gills, we made our way across the street to a place perfected named THE GRINGO BAR. We all sipped on some Chilcanas while enjoying a little piece of an American atmosphere. The walls were covered with caricatures of famous people ranging from Elvis and The Beatles, to Will Smith and the Three Stooges and current music from the states played over the speakers! It was a great change of pace and felt nice to be surrounded by some familiarity for a little bit.