It's Raining...

You’re probably thinking: “Big deal, it’s the middle of summer and thunderstorms happen.” But if you’ve been a consistent reader (or are just in to Andean weather patterns), you might remember that now is our dry season and you’re thinking: “how weird that it should be raining right now in the Andes!” And folks, that’s exactly what I thought as I watched the rain come across the mountain to fall in buckets on our heads at the end of June. Luckily we were inside at the town’s budget meeting for next year but the rain came in a fury (like it knew that it hadn’t had its chance in a while and wouldn’t have its moment again until October) and brought the cold with it. Not only that, but the electricity went out just a few minutes before the surprising downpour and so we were returned to earlier times as we wrapped up our discussion on what to do with the budget in 2013.

Now. The telling of that story is interesting sure. because who doesn’t like to hear about unseasonal weather? But the title of this post refers to the rain of visitors I have had in Peru in the last couple of months and the outpouring of love I have felt by their willingness to come this far to see me and that I felt in their presence as they were/are here.

If you remember, my last post was about my parents’ visit for two weeks to this incredibly diverse country. To be honest, they were the only people I expected to make it down here to visit because at the time of their visit, I had been here for 20 months and hadn’t had a visitor yet. So I was incredibly surprised when, during my parents’ visit, I received an e-mail from my Grandma informing me that she and Grandpa would be arriving in Lima on June 12, just two weeks after my parents were to leave.

I was thrilled to host my grandparents in Peru’s capital city and impressed that they had chosen Peru as their first adventure traveling outside of the United States. Together we spent about one week in and around Lima and although they were unable to visit my site (due to the altitude), they were able to visit what I referred to as “real Peru” outside of the Lima’s city limits just to the south. They were struck by the amount of traffic on Lima’s roads, how difficult it was for them to be in a place where they did not speak the language and by the impoverished looking houses so near to the wealthy ones of the city. In Lima, we visited the Parque del Amor, the ruins of Huaca Pucllana, the Parque del Agua (picture!), the Plaza de Armas, the San Francisco Monestary and its catacombs, an Adventist church and walked a lot on the water front. In fact, I think I walked them out.

 The grandparents were much more adventurous in what we ate and we ate at a lot of fantastic places. One night was a buffet of many traditional Peruvian dishes at a restaurant that present typical dances while we dined. At another lunch, we enjoyed ceviche at a place with an ocean view, the best way to eat ceviche in my opinion. The day we went out of the city to visit the agricultural and Pisco-producing valley of the Cañete River, Grandpa even was convinced to try the cuy (guinea pig) and he was a great sport about it. Here he is digging in to what may have been the strangest lunch he’s ever had on Father’s Day.

It was a real treat having them visit and spending some time relaxing in Lima with them. I enjoyed showing them around a place that had become my new home and seeing how they reacted to the differences and reminding me of just how different life is here from that in the US. And then, wouldn’t you know it, as I skyped with Mom on Father’s Day morning, my brother, Joe, came in to the conversation with the surprise of “what if we came the first week of July?” I couldn’t believe it. More visitors?!

Brother Joe and his wife, Carrie, arrived to Lima the night of July 2. We spent their first day in Lima visiting most of the main site-seeing places. The day started off with a nice run (super cool to share my newfound joy of jogging with the super-active couple) along the water front. Later we walked the same route so they could take lots of pictures. We visited the center of the city where the plaza, the colonial buildings and the catacombs are. We found a new place for me near the monastery, the Parque de la Muralla, where one could see the remains of the wall that enclosed the old colonial city. At the restaurant in the park, we ate ceviche before heading out to try to visit the Parque de las Aguas. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open but at least we tried. That night, we went for sushi with other volunteers who happened to be in Lima and although I don’t think they felt they had much to input to the conversations, I think they enjoyed listening to the crazy stories of the volunteers as we checked in with each other. 

The next day was July 4^th. Instead of setting off fireworks, we traveled from Lima up to Laraos. We figured they could handle the altitude and would enjoy seeing where I lived. It took us a while to get there and arrived just as the last light was leaving. We were all glad for the journey to be over because, as they found out, although beautiful, it can be a little rough. We spent one full day in Laraos where we mainly walked around and I told them about what we were seeing. I would have liked to take them to the school to visit the kids but there were no classes because all of the teachers were celebrating National Teacher’s Day in the town over. I got them to take a little hike up my favorite canyon to visit a nice babbling brook and waterfall. 

I think they enjoyed seeing the reality of life in Laraos but were glad that it wasn’t their home. The altitude and the hills took their toll on the visitors so that after two freezing nights in the campo, they were ready to move on to see other places. For me, their visit was over too quickly; we weren’t even together one week before I had to say goodbye to them in the Huancayo bus station. I was glad to be able to share my life with them in Laraos and although I worried it had been a little rough on them, they assured me that they had a great time.  

After I waved goodbye to Joe and Carrie (they were off to Machu Picchu to finish out their trip), I checked in to a hotel in Huancayo to await the arrival of my next visitor – Liz!

She rolled in to Huancayo early in the morning after about 15 hours of travel and then the two of us climbed in to the car to Laraos. And as I sit here writing out this blog, she is taking a nap, exhausted from her last day in Lima. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her here visiting. The best part is that instead of going touring around Peru together, I got to play host to a visitor in Laraos for a whole week. I think it turned out to be the most “Peace Corps” experience a visitor could have because she spent longer than two days in my site at a time when there wasn’t a huge party going on and accompanied me to my classes and meetings. In Huancayo, we met up with other volunteers and now in Lima, we are finally able to get some actual tourist activity done. I had been worried that spending the week in Laraos would bore the good friend I had come to know in the bustling city of Charleston but she assured me that the quiet campo life was exactly what she was looking for.

And now that we have left the campo for the big city, she is getting to see more of what Peru has to offer. I am most glad that she has gotten the opportunity to see the Inquisition Museum in the center of Lima. My other visitors have missed out on what my boss has described as a classic. Though it is not the biggest museum, it still holds some interesting bits of history on an often overlooked period in Peru’s timeline. But I had a feeling that my college roommate would enjoy it because the Inquisition just happens to be her study area of interest and (I am proud to say) what she will be studying further in her graduate school this fall. We took in other areas of the city center and have met up with some other volunteers. I think that Peru has worn her out but I am certain that she has enjoyed her visit. Though I would argue that I enjoyed her visit much more.

So tomorrow, she heads home and then I am pretty sure that my downpour of visitors will end as quickly as it came on. Playing tour guide to each of the groups that have visited has further enriched my Peace Corps experience and I hope that touring Peru has enriched their own lives. It has been such a joy to see my loved ones here in what has become my home. I still cannot believe the outpouring of love I have felt by my visitors’ courage in coming to visit (in South America for the first time and even out of the United States for the first time) and their spirits of adventure in wanting to experience what I have experienced for the last two years.

Like I said, I don’t expect to have any more visitors for the rest of my service. But if you didn’t make it, don’t feel bad. I will be back and ready to visit every one of you soon enough. Until then, it is back to Laraos and back to work. Because I realize, my time here is quickly disappearing. 

Blessings.

When Worlds Collide

Well folks, I apologize once again for the long span between posts. It’s an interesting thing: The moments in which you are having lots of experiences are the moments in which you should most be writing but you are so busy experiencing them that you don’t have enough time to write about them.  And such was the case with April and May. I have now had two vacations, one town party and lots of classes since the last time I wrote. I have visited the jungle twice, Machu Picchu once, attempted to run a marathon, taught lots of kids about birds, English, and decision-making, learned what it’s like to be a translator, showed my parents around my new hometown, cleaned an irrigation canal and played in said irrigation canal.

Just a week and a half ago, I wished my parents a good trip home after spending a whirlwind two weeks with them in this country that has become a home for me. So rather than write out the details of everything (because I’m sure half of you are getting the stories from my parents as well) let’s go to a classic favorite: the top 10 list!

1. Picking up the parents at the airport. My friend, Miguel, and his father drove me there and for the first time ever, I was one of those people waiting at the exit with a welcome sign! Then we chatted as we drove through the midnight Lima streets and I enjoyed watching them take in their first glimpse of Peru. Even if it was super late at night and they were exhausted. It was that excited exhaustion that comes from being incredibly tired but not wanting to miss a thing.

2.  Stopping in Huancayo and staying in la Casa de la Abuela. This is place is “our place” as Peace Corps volunteers staying in Huancayo. The small staff has become like family to us and the hostel is a home away from home away from home. I think they enjoyed seeing the place in real life rather than through the computer on Skype.

3. Soup breakfast! Their first morning in Laraos, I knocked on the hotel door with two pots of soup that I had collected that morning from the town party hosts. A little surprised about breakfast being soup, but glad for the hot meal, mom and dad enjoyed their “desayuno Larahuino.” This was the first of many new and interesting foods for them.

4. English class. While we were in Laraos, I still had a few responsibilities and one of those was teaching my English class. Luckily, mom and dad were all for visiting the class and talking with the kids. The kids loved meeting my parents and measuring their height against dad’s. And asking about his shoe size. Ha! And conveniently for my parents, my English class for the kids served as Spanish class for the parents.

5. Canal cleaning: For the first half of the day, mom and dad helped out cleaning the irrigation canals of the town and we all (meaning the whole town) enjoyed a lunch break on a sunny hill overlooking the town. Then, finding out that the second half would get messy, mom and dad took off and we went out to play. We arrived soaking wet and pretty muddy to the plaza where we danced a couple of times and hurried off to shower and change because the cold night was setting in.

6. Pachamanca: I think Pachamanca has made it on a top ten list before but it’s because it is SO good. And this time, mom and dad were there to enjoy it! From the ground to the table, they witnessed the grandeur that is pachamanca. We were invited to sit on the benches which is a nice honor. Unfortunately, dad’s legs were too long and he feared stepping on the food. So he stood while a very insistent tía worried that we weren’t eating enough. But we assured her, we were stuffed.

7. Transportation: I’m going to make this one point even though it could be several. So here’s the list the modes of transportation we utilized over the two weeks: airplane, taxi, private car, colectivo (shared car), minivan, bus, boat, train and our own two feet. I think my parents came to understand the difficulty that it is to travel to and from where I live despite being “close” to the city and the good luck that is sometimes required to get to where we want to go.

8. Saturday church in Lima: We were able to attend at the Adventist church with Miguel and his family. And true to church-day tradition, we went out to lunch afterwards altogether. It was a wonderful morning for me because my parents were able to spend more time with this family who has come to support me like their own daughter beyond anything I could have ever wished from an assigned host family. The challenge was translating the conversation during lunch. There came a point where I said that I would have to stop translating or I wouldn’t eat anything! It was a beautiful day.

9. Marathon: So, if you’ve already found out, I didn’t finish the marathon. And now that everyone knows, you might be asking, why would this make the top ten list? Well, true; the whole, not finishing part was definitely the low for me this month. But the marathon is more than those hours you spend running the day of the race. Preparing for the marathon got me through a whole lot of hard times this rainy season and makes it on my top 10 list for those months. The day and the moments before the race there was such a contagious air of excitement and camaraderie that was definitely a positive experience. And even running (up until the point where I didn’t finish), I felt great and came to know a completely different side of Lima. Even after it didn’t end as planned, I felt such support from the friends and family who were there. So overall, “marathon” belongs on the top ten list.

10. The jungle: Is there anything more I can say about the jungle? Well, yes. I could make a top 10 list just for the jungle. I love the jungle. Sure, it’s full of bugs that make you sleep in a mosquito net and hot and humid but it’s…the jungle! Along with coral reefs, it is among the most diverse ecosystems in the world and therefore a biologist’s dream. Being here in Peru, with the jungle so close, I am taking advantage of my travel here to go whenever I can (time and money allowing). So, I convinced my semi-reluctant parents to jump in a plane to Puerto Maldonado and on a boat to our jungle lodge in the Tambopata National Reserve. Although I was recovering from the marathon, I was determined to participate in everything our jungle tour had to offer: night walk, early morning walk to and vigil of a clay lick, kayaking on the river, ziplining through the trees, fishing with a cane pole and a night boat ride to spot caimans. We also saw capuchin and squirrel monkeys, jaguar tracks, capybaras and lots of big creepy crawlies! I knew I would like the jungle but I was a little anxious for my parents’ enjoyment of it. But Dad was in his element sitting in the ground blind. So what if he was looking at scarlet macaws instead of scanning for deer? And the American Fisherman found a cane pole and became the “South American Fisherman.” Mom was a good sport with the adventuring but I have a feeling that her favorite part was waking up in our bungalow with the relaxing sound of the rain on the thatched roof before we had to pack up to leave.

 

11. Sacred Valley: Going to Cuzco for the second time, I was excited at the possibility to see the sites of Cuzco that I wasn’t able to when I was there four years ago. And my parents were on board for a tour of the Sacred Valley. This is the valley below the city of Cuzco that is littered with Incan ruins. Although it was a bummer to be herded around this valley on a bus tour, I can’t deny that the sites to be seen were pretty impressive. Although the focus was to visit Incan ruins, I think I enjoyed the colonial church at Chinchero most…but that might be because it was sunset and beautiful.

12. Aguas Calientes: This town is the train stop for all those tourists who want to see Machu Picchu and don’t want to hike there to do it. Its name also means “hot waters” and is home to a lovely hot spring. Wanting to get to Machu Picchu early, we went to Aguas Calientes to stay the night and get up early the next day. This meant we had some time to enjoy the city with some hiking and some shopping. Cuzco had been a little too hectic and in-you-face for us but Aguas Calientes was relaxed enough that we could enjoy the cloud forest we were visiting. The parents were exhausted but I took the evening to enjoy the hot springs. And it was glorious.

13. Machu Picchu: How could this not make the list, right? I mean, it’s Machu Picchu! To be honest, I was seeing it for the second time and I was sadly aware that I wasn’t struck with the same jaw-dropping awe that I had felt upon my first sighting of this world wonder. Instead, upon seeing it again, I felt peacefully nostalgic. Luckily for me, I was there with two Machu Picchu first-timers and their excitement was more than enough for me.

14. Lima layover: My parents last day in Peru we flew from Cuzco to Lima early in the morning and then had all day to spend in Lima before their flight home at midnight:thirty that night. It was such a wonderful day. We took a silly bus tour of the city which, although informative, was made sillier by wearing headsets that told us more information about the sites we were seeing. One last gourmet Peruvian meal at Chef Gaston’s restaurant, Tanta, and soon it was time to go back to the airport. We laughed a lot that day and it was a perfect end to such a wonderful vacation.

We said our “see ya laters,” knowing that later wouldn’t be until December. They went home to Chicago and I went home to Laraos. I think it was the first time I had ever been the one to be left behind at the airport when wishing someone a safe trip. I told this to my mom and she said, “Yeah, how does it feel?” I responded with: “I don’t like it.” So here’s to a sharing of perspectives. I am so glad that my parents were able to visit me where I live, to see and experience firsthand the things that I write about on this blog. But I gained some perspective from their visit too. They’re reactions to some of the “normalcies” of my town reminded me of just how special it is to be living here. And although many people have applauded my “brave” decision to leave, I learned at the airport that sometimes it is harder to be the one who stays. 

Blessings.

A Gold Star

Well folks, I apologize. I have been very lax in keeping you up to date. I mean, the last post was only a few sentences long and had a video of the last year – which if you’ve been keeping up, you already knew about. So I hope to make it up to you with this one. And I know I’m writing about this at the end of April but I want to take us back to March.

So. As you know, I like to tell you what I’ve been up to while at the same time shedding some light on Peruvian customs. And this happenstance in March is no different. One happy Saturday in March, the municipality threw a party. I know, I know. Another party? And the answer is: yes. But this party is different. It’s not to celebrate some National holiday or the anniversary of the town or school. This time, it was to celebrate the works the municipality had completed in the last year. It was an inauguration party! So that Saturday, we visited the sites of all the works and inaugurated them.

At each site, the authorities gave little speeches and then selected community members to be the “padrinos” of the place. Literally, padrinos means godfathers. In this case, it’s more like sponsors. They give little speeches, give a little toast and then break a bottle of champagne with a hammer. After the christening, there is clapping and dancing and a little more celebrating. And then, we moved on to the next site. After the last site, the municipality treated everyone in attendance to a Pachamanca lunch. And if you’ll recall, pachamanca (meat, potatoes, fava beans, sweet potato and humitas) is delicious.

Pretty fun, right? But what projects were we inaugurating? We started with a little trip up the hill to the new trash management complex. This is a really great facility. The landfill is up with all the technology – geo-membrane and everything. There are composting beds and recycling storage. There is a tree nursery greenhouse and a vegetable garden. Quiñual trees border the fence and will soon be providing a lovely decoration. I couldn’t have been more proud of the municipality for getting this project up and running and finished. I was somewhat upset at the municipality for not involving me in the project at all since that definitely falls under my project goals. But, at the same time it’s very good because it means that they are succeeding without my outside help.

Then we loaded back in to the cars and made our way to the new bakery. Let me say that again: bakery! So I don’t think I’ve made mention of this yet but the bread situation in Laraos is pretty sad. Our break gets trucked in from Tomas (about an hour’s drive away) every 15 days. This means that the bread I buy in the stores in Laraos is anywhere between 1 and 15 days old. So, it’s not the most delicious of breads. But now we have a new bakery! And a new bakery means fresh bread! And the day of its inauguration, there were free samples for all and they were delicious.

Unfortunately, the bakery is still waiting to be up and running as a business but I’m sure soon enough, there will be bread coming out daily. And my hope is to be able to try some of my own recipes in the nice bakery oven. Fingers crossed.

We then walked over to the new hotel. The hotel was an abandoned project from the previous mayor when I first got to Laraos. You have to hand it to the new mayor for taking up this project and taking it to its completion. The hotel is beautiful. Eight rooms, all with a grand view of the lake (during and just after rainy season), hot water and a television.  The hot water and television are a sought after commodity here, if you didn’t know. We were all taking in the rooms of the new hotel when one of the authorities asked me if I would like to be the madrina of the hotel. I accepted and then I and the padrino, Jonay, made our way to the front for the formalities of the ceremony. Jonay is a young Spanish guy who works for an NGO in one of our annexes. I thought it was pretty funny that the two foreigners of the town were chosen to be the padrinos of the hotel. But, it was also nice to be recognized and honored in such a way by the community I have been trying to “integrate with” since I first got here. We each gave our little speeches and then, each with a hand on the hammer, broke the bottle of champagne. Never having purposely broken a bottle of anything before, I was a little surprised at just how messy it actually was. Sticky champagne all over my arm and I plucked little bits of glass off of my co-padrino’s hand. Then the band struck up and I danced with the mayor until it was time to go to the next site.

The other works to be inaugurated were the second floor of the municipality building and the newly-installed sidewalks. And as I said, when all the formalities were over, there was Pachamanca for everyone! And the band struck up again and everyone sat around drinking and talking until night fell. I, of course, having lost my patience for the drinking customs of Peruvian parties, made my escape shortly after finishing my lunch.

I walked down later in the evening to see what was still going on. Nothing much had changed…except for the sky. Night had fallen and I marveled at the stars. As you may remember, the last several months have been rainy. This means – cloudy. This means, I haven’t seen the sky at night in a while. And, let me tell you folks, a clear night sky here is incredible. Think about it. What inhibits our viewing of the stars from our homes in the states? Well, the first thing is light pollution. There are just so many lights that the flood out the natural ones. Then, you’ve got the air pollution. There’s usually some amount of smog or general haze over our heads and blocking the stars. And then there’s our life pollution. Sometimes, we are just too busy to take a walk and look up. Luckily for me, living in a rural town at around 12000 meters above sea level and with lots of free time, I am free from all those pollutions and able to see the night sky clearly.

And it was a beautiful view. That night, I looked up and took in the immensity of the night sky, dotted with brilliant stars and was happy with the recognition I had received that day from my community. I may be one little dot in the grand scheme of things but that day I definitely felt like a star in my community.

 

Blessings. 

Better Late Than Never?

Well folks, it's been a long time coming but finally I have a new post for you!

I title it this because we are often faced with the infamous "hora peruana," the Peruvian hour. The basic idea is that when we say that something begins at a certain hour, we know we can count on it beginning about an hour after that designated time. So with that little tidbit of culture I present to you, arriving on time according to the hora peruana, my first year video! Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdWsOKMqYs

Blessings.

Painting World Pieces

Well friends, it’s been an interesting month what with the rain and the roads falling out but for the most part I’ve been here in Laraos and trying to get some short term rainy season projects started and finished. One in particular is what I want to write about today. That is the Peace Corps mapamundi initiative. In this initiative, Peace Corps volunteers get some folks together in their town and paint a giant world map somewhere public.

In my plan for summer school, I had included the world map project as part of a geography/ecology/culture class. As we know, my summer school plans fell through but from its remnants would rise the world map as a project all unto itself! (Did that sound epic? I wanted it to sound epic). In just one week I, with my battalion of niños, drew, outlined, painted, outlined, labeled and sealed a 1 meter x 2 meter mural map of the world.

Among other challenges, I found myself working with kids much littler than I had hoped. This proved challenging in a few ways. 1) The little kids couldn’t help my transfer my 8X11” drawing of the world to a 1X2 meter. So I found myself penciling Patagonia onto the wall myself and 2) The little ones couldn’t quite reach Russia. Meaning that they were a little too short to paint the countries further north. So I found myself stretching to paint Finland while the little ones painted Oceania a nice deep blue.

I could have found myself getting frustrated by plans going awry but to be honest, drawing and painting lost in the solitude of my iPod ear buds was incredible soothing. I was feeling productive and not overly stressed. As everyone passed by, they would flatteringly comment on my artistic abilities, asking for drawing lessons. The kids showed up on days I asked them to and they kept me company on the days that they were unable to help. And at the end, we had this wonderful masterpiece.

But the real eye-opening experience of this project proved to be learning just how much (or how little) my students and fellow comuneros know about the world. Most everyone could point out Peru on our map but ask about anything beyond South America and they were lost. Mention Australia and they are looking towards Greenland. Most everyone knows that I am from the United States by this point but not many people knew where that was.

Maybe most interestingly was watching everyone realize how small Peru is in comparison with other countries of the world. To people of a small town in the Andes, the biggest world they know is Lima. But when they saw the size of China, Russia, Australia, Canada and the United States, their world views expanded with their idea of what it a country can look like. And since we painted with sticky oil-based paint, hopefully the map can give some geographical perspective to the kids and any passersby for a long time. And just like that I took some baby steps back in to feeling impactful.

Blessings.

Lest January Pass Us By...

So I was waiting to post so that I could post the link to my 2011-in-review video that I made but since the internet hasn't cooperated for me, the video is still not available and January is about to pass us by without so much as a peep from your Peace Corps correspondent.

To be honest, there's not a whole lot to write about this month. It's been a slow month work-wise and I've probably talked to most of you about what I've been up to recently and you may understand why I have not posted. But because we can't let a month go by without a post (who knew that that was the goal?) and since the youtube won't upload my video quickly enough I'm just jibber jabbering on the computer screen.

Here's some cool things I did this month while in Lima:

1. Farmer's Market! Who knew Lima had one? But then, why wouldn't it?

2. Sitting in the grass in a park, watching a wedding and eating items from said Farmer's market.

3. Getting to know the Lima bus system. I can maneuver that sprawling city so cheaply now.

4. Running in to other volunteers as they came in and out of Lima on business or coming back from travel.

5. Baking (really just eating) cheese bread and playing cards at a volunteer's apartment.

6. Watching football with other volunteers at the ex-pat bar in Miraflores.

7. Girls night out.

8. Getting to know the area of Lima known as Barranco and seeing where Anthony Bourdain ate ceviche. When/if you come visit, I will take you there.

9. Beach! This was by far the best thing I did in Lima. Know why? Because it's the beach. Know why else? Because the beach is just so good for the soul. At least it is so good for my soul. It is a place of fun and playfulness in the sand the crashing waves but then, if you look out to the horizon, you realize that you are in a place of power and majesty and any turbulence is calmed.

Ultimately, here is why a trip to Lima was a good idea: it reminded me of the independent, adult person who I can be when I am not living in a "town" of 300 people, on a hill, in the mountains with limited transportation. In the city there is activity and life and people don't look at you like you don't belong. As much as I hate to admit it, as a Peace Corps volunteer, you are forced to give up parts of yourself be it because your sense of humor is lost in translation or because you are a professional in your town and professionals certainly don't splash other people in the face and swim away in to the ocean or because being a warm and friendly person may extend an unintended invitation cross-culturally. But the good thing is that while I was spending some time in Lima, I was reminded of those parts of myself that had been in hibernation for the past several months and it was good.

Blessings.

What is Christmas

Hello all and Happy New Year’s Eve. If you recall, I had posted on this day last year but the post was about Christmas. So staying true to that pattern, I thought I’d write a little bit about my Christmas this year. Sorry, it’s not in poem form, but I tried my best to paint a picture with my words of the images I saw this year on Christmas Eve.

So Christmas Eve. What a day. I had it in my head that I wanted to take a hike in the morning just like I had done last year during the day. Last year’s hike had been maybe an hour long and didn’t go far. I was still getting used to the altitude and to the area and might still have been a little nervous about getting lost. This year, I got it in to my head to take the same trail as last year but go farther, all the way to Circo, a high altitude lake. I had heard it was a 3 hour walk. So around 8:00 I set off for the Yuncalara waterfall with the dogs, Puma and Bobby, as company. I set off in the sunshine to see if I could make it to this place that people said was so far.

The first part I knew quite well. Once at the waterfall, I would make my way through the canyon that is full of beautiful rocks and a babbling stream that I can only assume gets its source from the mountain lake to which I was heading. I took a short break at the Campana, an area of the trail known for a rock formation that when struck sounds like a bell, and continued on. I passed through the known path in about an hour and once in Yuncapampa, I was treading new territory. Here the canyon opened up to small parcels of land on either side of the stream for pasturing animals and growing clover.

But that part didn’t last long. Soon I was entering what I will call quiñual forest part 1. I was actually glad to get out of the pasturelands because the dogs kept bothering the donkeys and cows. Anyway, then came the first part of the quiñuales. This is where I began to wonder if I was on the right path. There were many diverging trails and the one I had chosen, rather than following the brook, broke left and climbed and climbed in a direction seemingly perpendicular to the stream. As I climbed I encountered huge trees and knowing that they grow slowly, I could only imagine how old they were. It was also the section of the hike that I got incredibly fatigued.

Luckily, though still climbing, the trail flattened out significantly and made its way back to the brook and I came to quiñual forest part 2. This was the most magical part of the hike. After exhausting myself climbing up through the water-deprived quiñuales, I was rewarded with the vision of the papery red bark growing next to the brook, colors contrasting with the brilliant and vibrant green of the lichens and mosses growing on the rocks. The hike transformed from challenging to pleasant, wandering through what seemed like a secret and enchanted old-growth forest. It seemed that I was discovering new ways that the strong Andean sunlight could play on the leaves and the water at each turn.

Too soon, I emerged from that forest and found myself in the pampa, the high altiplano. No longer surrounded by the cover of the trees, I felt the vastness of the wide open space and the wind as my eyes took in the green scrubby grass and the ancient boulders spotting the plain. The cold, high altitude wind chilled me as it dried the sweat I had shed during the quiñual forest part 1. Now the path was nearly flat and I knew I had to be getting close. For some reason, I felt a sense of urgency to make it to the lake. The dogs were frolicking all over the plain and I couldn’t believe that they still had so much energy. Just over one more little hill and my eyes were treated to the feast of the vision that is Circo Lake.

The sun glinted off of the deep blue water, the colors so vibrant because of the strong equatorial light. The sun warmed but the wind whipped at my face. The dogs ran straight in to the water and began chasing birds. I walked along the shore looking for my own rock to rest and finding it, I sat down.

Now, I hadn’t set out on this hike with the goal in mind to jump in to this lake. It just turned out that I had gotten so sweaty on the way up that somewhere in the middle of the walk, I had decided that when I made it to the lake, I would reward myself with a refreshing dip.

So, I waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds and then I prepared for the jump. I ran in to the glacial lake just as I had seen the dogs do upon our arrival (though I didn’t chase any birds). The water was cool and refreshing. Pulling myself out of the water, I stood in the sunshine a minute to dry and then sat on the rock to sun a little bit more. For fear of sounding like a hippie, it was just me and nature up there, totally alone and surrounded by landscape splendor. It felt great, refreshing and like a grand accomplishment. Merry Christmas to me.

But my hike was only half over. I took off down the mountain and through hail, rain and sun, I was back in Laraos in just under two hours and in time for the very low-key Christmas celebration with a couple of friends. Now. I know it was dangerous to hike so far by myself. But I’m pretty sure I will keep doing it because I love the feeling, the solace and the freedom that can only be found in those moments alone and surrounded by natural beauty.

I think I like this tradition that I’ve started and I hope that every Christmas Eve morning, I can go for a hike or a walk (anything active) to clear my mind, taking personal time during the holiday to meditate on what is important. And back in my room that Christmas Eve afternoon, I got to spend time (via Skype) with those people who are important. I hope that my words could capture how great this hike was. I’m not even sure that a picture could do it justice. And although I would have much rather been spending it with hot chocolate, Christmas movies, midnight church service and caroling with family and friends, I think that this one turned out pretty well too and I can always look forward to next year for those traditions. And we can add in my new one. So for next year...will anyone be up for a hike?

Blessings.