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Cusco Characters: Señora Nilda
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 26 September 2009
As the director of the Centro de Textiles Traditionales de Cusco (CTTC), Señora Nilda plays an important role in preserving traditional Andean weaving techniques. CTTC is the NGO where I work and it supports over 400 weavers in 9 communities around Cusco from its museum, store and office location on Avenida Sol.
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Cusco Characters: Señor Alcides
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 23 September 2009
Señor Alcides picked us up in front of the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas in a beat-up, red Volkswagen beetle. He graciously got out of the car to open the passenger-side door for us (we soon learned that this was the only way it could open). My wife and kids piled into the back and I got in front. Señor Alcides is the director of an afternoon shelter for kids in Cusco called Colibri, where our kids have been volunteering for the past few months.
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Women in Hats
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 September 2009
By Suzy Marinkovich, KF9 Bolivia We can’t get enough of them. We love them so much that they even have their own lending team of fans and a discussion on KivaFriends. Whether they are made of straw or soft fabric, bowler, flat-brimmed, or a tiny saucer looking thing on our borrower’s heads – we just love [...]
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Frog Juice and Fried Guinea Pig
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 21 September 2009
So far on this trip I’ve eaten some strange things (grasshoppers in Oaxaca and ants in San Gil, Colombia), but I have to say the things I saw in Arequipa market have to take the biscuit. As in all Latin American markets I’ve been to, there are plenty of stalls selling freshly squeezed juices and delicious [...]
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Doing Without
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 20 September 2009
When we compare our daily lives here in Cusco to our lives back in the United States, there are definitely gaps. These gaps are of two types: Things we have in Cusco but not back home and vice-versa. On the plus side, there is far less stress, less of a frenetic schedule, more time to read books and each day brings something new, unexpected and refreshing. For the things we don't have here in Cusco, it's interesting to note how we’ve coped. To illustrate, here is a sample daily schedule, highlighting the things we have gotten used to doing without:
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Peru: Then and Now
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 18 September 2009
I read the other day that the approval rating for Peru's current president, Alan Garcia, is in the mid-20's (actually up from 19% in the later part of 2008). This current displeasure mirrors public sentiment during my 1986 trip to Peru, when the same Alan Garcia presided over an economy that experienced one of the highest yearly inflation rates on record.
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Peruvian Culture Shock
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 16 September 2009
We have been in our Cusco apartment for three months now and have gotten used to its idiosyncrasies. There are many pluses to living in Cusco, but not many of them reside in the bathroom. Most of the inconveniences are minor, such as having to put the used toilet paper in the trash instead of the toilet bowl (Peruvian toilets can’t process anything but human waste and water). Another inconvenience is not being able to swallow the tap water while brushing your teeth (Peruvian tap water is not potable).
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Inca Walls
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 12 September 2009
One of the pleasures of living and working in Cusco is my daily commute walking past several beautiful Inca walls. The walls I like best (called Cyclopean) are enormous "pillowy" limestone and granite stones that seem to flow the entire length of a city block. They're made from large, smooth polygonal stones with rounded edges that are joined perfectly into irregular jigsaw patterns (see photo).
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The Nazca Lines (and a very lucky escape)
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 12 September 2009
The last stops had brought some real ups (trekking in the Andes, sandboarding in Huacachina) and downs (the Islas Ballestas). Arriving in Nazca it seemed to me that the Nazca Lines could easily go either way, and I was in two minds as to whether to bother with flying over them or not. Eventually, I realised [...]
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How to Eat Well in Peru: Eat Peruvian Food
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 9 September 2009
It was the best of food; it was the worst of food. This tale of two cuisines details our gastronomic ups and downs while dining in Peru. After only a few weeks of eating all kinds of dishes, a pattern began to emerge: Peruvian food is really good and most (Peruvian) attempts at “international cuisines” (i.e., Italian, French, Mexican and American) are pretty bad. That Peruvian food is really good should come as no great surprise.
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Sandboarding at the oasis
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 9 September 2009
As has so often been the case on this trip, it’s the unexpected pleasures that turn out to be some of the fondest memories. Huacachina is definitely a place to fall into that category. Just south of Pisco along the Panamericana sits Ica, which is surrounded by a desert landscape with some of the world’s biggest [...]
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The Poor Man´s Galapagos
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 6 September 2009
After finishing the Huayhuash circuit, stopping in Huaraz for a shower, a beer and yet another pizza at El Horno in Huaraz (my regular post-trekking dinner of choice), it was straight onto the night bus to Lima. After spending longer than planned in the mountains, I needed to head south pretty quickly in order to [...]
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Trekking the Huayhuash Circuit (Part 2)
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 3 September 2009
(You can read Part 1 here) Day Six After a tough first few days, it turned out the worst was yet to come for Aidan, my hiking companion – as if the physical exertion and affects of altitude weren’t enough, today was the day he inevitable came down with diarrhea, whereas yet again I was fine. I could [...]
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Trekking the Huayhuash Circuit (Part 1)
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 1 September 2009
Besthike.com describes the Huayhuash circuit as ‘arguably the best hike in the world’. Other sources I’ve seen reckon it’s the second best after the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. Reports like that meant that hiking there was the single thing I was most looking forward to in my entire year of travelling. I knew it’d be [...]
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The Santa Cruz Trek
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 30 August 2009
The Santa Cruz trek is the best known and most popular trek in the Cordillera Blanca, and for good reason. Over the course of four days, it loops around the highest part of the range, mostly staying beautiful alpine valleys, and giving stunning views of the range’s tallest and most beautiful mountains, as well as [...]
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Trekking to Laguna Churup
Blog: Itinerant Londoner - 28 August 2009
Arriving in Huaraz was just what I needed after six weeks in Colombia. I mean, I wouldn´t say I partied non-stop there, but it´d be fair to say it was my most sociable country so far. What I need was a bit of time up in the mountains to get away from it all, and [...]
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12: "Dinners with Élo: Part 2"
Blog: Dispatches from the Provinces of Argentina - 14 August 2009
I sent an e-mail to Élo after I got back from my trip north, just before the new semester was starting.I asked if she was staying in Paraná.A few days went by. No word. I told Daniel I thought, maybe, she’d split and gone away with her boyfriend.She wrote back, saying she was still in town, and that her friend was visiting, and that we should go canoeing on the river sometime soon. I said we should make dinner and make plans.
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World Wildlife Wednesday; Naturally Peru
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 12 August 2009
There are some incredible places to view wildlife in their natural habitat and in sanctuaries. Unfortunately it is becoming more and more difficult to see wildlife in the actual wild, but there are some great places that have set up protected reserves for animals to live fee from the encroachment of urban developement in their natural habitat.
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the Artist and the Artisan
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 11 August 2009
By Suzy Marinkovich, KF8 Peru What is an artist? What is an artisan? Are they different? The debate caught my interest when I was walking away from Ayacucho’s Ex-Carcel, a former prison now converted to an artisan market where many of our Kiva borrowers at FINCA Peru work. As I chatted with Jen, a friend of mine [...]
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10 Fellowship Gems
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 7 August 2009
By Cynthia McMurry, KF8 Ecuador Over the past year, I have learned valuable lessons about life, gotten to know myself better, greatly enriched my understanding of microfinance, observed the workings of the informal economy in Latin America, been touched by many clients’ stories and experiences, and been proud to represent Kiva at four different MFIs in [...]
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10: "Dinners with Élo: Part 1"
Blog: Dispatches from the Provinces of Argentina - 6 August 2009
My roommate Daniel’s got a friend named Martin. His mom’s a French professor at UADER.One day he told me that Martin’s mom wanted to get me in touch with Élodie, a French girl who’s doing the same thing here as me but in the French department.So I got her e-mail and we made plans to meet for dinner.This was back in June, before winter break, yet.
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I know I can. Be what I want to be.
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 22 July 2009
By Suzy Marinkovich, KF8 Peru When did I begin to learn about savings? I can’t say I’m any good at it, but at one point far and long ago, I know I learned about it. I suppose it was simply modeled to me by my parents, dedicated savers and cautious spenders. For many of us, saving seems [...]
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Is Crying An Altitude Symptom? – Lares Trek
Blog: Around The World On The Toilet - 20 July 2009
January 2008 - This was a difficult trek. We opted to do the Lares trek rather than the Inca Trail as it’s much less traveled. Although this trek doesn’t take you directly to Machu Picchu, (you have to take a train from Ollantaytambo) it is a better option for people looking for a cultural [...]
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¡Feliz Inti Raymi!
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 13 July 2009
Posted by Lee Bruner KF8 In Cusco, Perú, there are numerous holidays during the winter months of June and July. Most recently the town celebrated Inti Raymi (the Sun Festival), an Incan tradition marking the beginning of a new year with the winter soltice. Many companies make up their own traditional outfits and march through the [...]
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What if microfinance really does work?
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 26 June 2009
By Suzy Marinkovich, KF8 Peru As I sat this morning, drowning in over 50 borrower interviews I’d done that need to be typed and uploaded, I felt overwhelmed with bureaucracy. Our Kiva Coordinator then walked in to let me know we had five more community bank meetings – FIVE – meaning I had a ton more [...]
