Journal Post: Diarrhea

Diarrhea...
Is no fun. Here is a list of things I couldn't eat as a missionary: Lettuce, ceviche, pork, and strawberries. Yep, some tasty stuff. Abstaining, number one precaution here. Also, common sense. But guess what, even with these preventative measures, you're going to get the runs. So, in light of this fact, here are some things you can avoid that might help you keep off the throne as much as possible.
#1: Avoid the milk.
Milk in the States is amazing. Super pasteurized, processed, etc. Comes in lovely 2 gallon jugs, can drink it cold and on cereal.
Milk in Peru is potent, less processed, and comes in can, pouch, or box. Seldom cold, not ideal for cereal (cereal isn't a big deal here). It will also give you the kick in the stomach that cows everywhere wish they could give us humans. Also the cheese, if I were you, I would exercise restraint. Especially for the hot chocolate (which isn't much like the lovely hot chocolate that comes in a pouch), which they make by mixing milk with some bar chocolate that tastes like rust. (in my opinion). It can do some serious damage.
#2: Don't eat anything in the street.
This would be good counsel in the USA, but here even more so. I once taught a lesson during my mission to a lady who sold "anticuchos" (Thin strips of cow heart in shishkabob) in the street. After watching the flies crawl over everything, the general state on uncleanliness, and the lack of refrigeration of what were already questionable meats, I gained a strong personal testimony that these are not places to frequent.
#3: Don't eat too late at night.
I don't know why, but if you don't give yourself some motion before hitting the old sack... Just try. I eat late all the time, and a lot. Bad call.
#4: You need to just say no to yogurt. Sure its tasty. Also different from the states, it comes in a bottle, is not refrigerated, and can be drunk. It's not bad, but I'd advise caution in this regard.
#5: If you see something and wonder, "Hmmm, is this parasite infested?", Don't eat it.

Well, those are some things you can avoid, but, if you are like me, you probably won't. So, in the case that you do come down with the runs, here are some tips and cures.
#1: Never leave the house with out a GENEROUS handful of TP in your pocket. This is just common sense, you never know where you will need to go and you would be surprised at how many bathrooms don't have toilet paper.
#2: Learn to hover. This is because many times, there are no toilet seats.
#3: Don't eat spicy foods, try to keep things simple. (This is obvious).
#4: Buy a few tiny yellow pills called, "Donafan", and a bottle of "Fruti Flex". The pills will fix your system and the Fruti Flex is a for super hydration. About the flex, the flavor you will want to buy (out of three) will be strawberry. Don't. You have to drink the whole liter bottle and strawberry leaves the WORST after taste. It will make you want to hurl. Best to go with Anis or Manzanilla (which are herbs, the second one is chamomile in English I believe.)
5# Due to excessive wiping, a dap of the ol hydrocortizone cream on the sensitive areas never hurt.

Well, the good news is, you'll get over it eventually. And when you do, you can delight in eating all that is bad for you and repeating the cycle. Good luck and stay solid.

Journal Entry: Museum

This is recopy of some notes I took on Sun the 17th.

Today was tourist day for my mother. We two tourist oriented places: La Mansion del Fundador (The Founders Mansion), and a place where people can go horseback riding .In the first location we visited, I found the coloring fascinating. The Founders Mansion was originally owned by the founder of Arequipa in the 16th century. It was passed hands many times and is now a museum. According to the tour guide, there are three colors typical and representative of Old Arequipa. Azulacho (Light Blue), Amarillo (Yellow), and Ochre (which is the same in English). These colors represent things. Blue signifies a private area. In the case of the Monesterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa (Another old place previously mentioned for wedding photos), the places where the public weren’t supposed to go were blue. Public areas, such as the chapel part of the Founders house, were painted ochre.
Something interesting about the artwork in the house was that some of it was the “Cuzco style”. I saw this also in the “Coricancha” and “Chinchero”, two sites in Cuzco where the Spanish Conquistadores constructed chapels over the bases of Incan temples. The interesting thing about this style is that there are representations of Christ, the Virgin, etc, but with lots of subtle Incan things snuck in. For example, in a painting of Christ in Chinchero, there is a perfect painting of “Sacsayhuaman” (A bunch of big ruins right outside of Cuzco), hidden in what appears to be the coast in the painting. Also, there are lakes, rivers, and ocean in the painting where there is really no need, which was the way the Incan artists could express their devotion to the elements and Incan construction without getting killed. This was all explained to me by the tour guides, but also my father in law, who likes history. His name is Edwar Santos. Other fascinating artifacts in the house of the founder were the really old couches, suits of armor, old mirrors, and other artifacts that have been preserved for display. One of my favorite things was the hand drawn picture (in what appeared to be charcoal) of a Chilean soldier. My Chilean mother and I enjoyed the description of the war (Peru, Bolivia, and Chile had a tiff back in the day) and it’s portrayal of events. The slang for Chileans here is “roto” which means “broke” or “broken”. There are a few theories as to why, but like the word gringo, there is no way to be sure as to where the term originated and why, only some reasonable sounding explanations. Well, Chile won the war, so of course, the fact that at one time Chile was in possession of this house isn’t something the average Arequipan enjoys to recall.
At the place where folks can ride horses, we didn’t. I am not a huge fan of riding animals. But that’s neither here nor there. At this place, we saw the Andenes (Terraced Fields for agriculture). That’s about all we saw. So, Consuelo, (my mother) enjoyed her day out and took lots of pictures.

Journal Post: Description #3

This is Adobo, a customary dish of Arequipa usually eaten Sunday mornings. Lets call it church soup. It has pork, it is hot, and it is spicy. I like it. It goes great with the wonderful bread they have here. To make adobo, you must begin the day before with the pork. To properly prepare your pork, you must give it a soak in chopped up Aji colorado(a hot pepper), Garlic, and chicha de Jora (which is made from purple corn juice -wiñapo-mixed with some pinapple peel -boiled together- and slightly fermented)and a dash of vineger. That you let soak for a day. Than (according to my mother in law), you boil it. But while boiling, you throw in a sprig of laurel, some oregano, and cinnamon. When the meat is tender, you clove an onion and toss that in. The result- Church soup ... Adobo. Yummy, but you have to brush your teeth again.

Journal Entry: Observation #3

Mass, I´ve only ever been to one before today, and that was in Chile when my Aunt happened to die when my mother and I were visiting. It was sad, and even more so because the Catholic concept of the afterlife varies a good deal from my own. I even had to carry the casket. Today, my Mass attendence was unavoidable due to it being the six month mass of my wife´s great grandmother. I am not actively avoiding Mass understand, but I have absolutly zero motivation to go under normal circumstances. Well, today was not normal, but aside from the lights being out for around six hours, nothing interesting happened until mass. That´s where I got to enter a cool old cathedral and sit on a bench with my four year old brother-in-law in my arms (he was asleep). It was interesting, the acoustics were great, and there were some pretty sweet, large cases with some statues of Christ and his mother and some other Virgins.
After mass, I accompanied my wife to our Saya practice, which was awesome because for the first time, I could do all the moves and wasn´t the guy who was totally lost. This is thanks to a nice guy named Fabio who has given me some home lessons. More on him another time. After the practice, we went to the after Mass festivities, which was mostly drinking and sitting. Interesting cultural note: There can be 10 or more people in a sitting, but they only open one bottle of beer at a time and all use one glass. (The beer brand is Cusqueña, in case you were wondering ... it´s cheap, and therfore popular at social gatherings). The custom is to recieve the bottle while the person who passed it to you drinks from the cup. That person than dumps the remaining foam from the glass, than passes the glass. After filling the glass, the person with the bottle than passes it, while drinking the glass. And so the circle continues until the bottle is empty, at which point, a new bottle is opened, and the fun continues. I was told that I needed to teach a sermon about not drinking to them by one of the Aunts (because I am LDS and don´t drink presumably), but as you may have surmised, that is one tough habit to kick. In Peru, ¨Social Drinking¨ has a whole new meaning. Often at family gatherings, the hosts are at a loss for what to do with us Mormons and desperately seek out some kind of soda or water because sitting there drinking nothing just looks wierd and makes everyone uncomfortable. In any event, the ceremony of the Mass was interesting and I even understood the parts of the Bible the Priest was reading. (As I should).

Journal Entry: My Big Fat Peruvian Wedding.

It was quite an ordeal. There was liquor, formal invitations, recuerdos (gifts) for all the guests, more liquor, the wedding dress, photos, still more liquor, the crazy hour, the chocolate fountain, and much much more.
Let me give you the gist of things that are common here that are not common there.
1) The tables are organized and it is expected that the bride and groom go table by table t greet everyone and to have their picture taken. This is in contrast to the line which is typical, at least in Utah.
2) The alcohol, I am sure that there plenty booze in normal weddings that are outside of my beloved bubble that is Utah. But I mean C'MON!. There was a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of wine at each table. In addition, the guests had free mixed drinks to the table all night. ALSO, a full bar with all kinds of beverages I don't even understand, and ON TOP OF THAT: Pitchers of beer for each table at the beginning and towards the end, a full CASE of beer per table. Dang. It was interesting to see people stumbling away.
3) The dance: I know that dances aren't rare, but dances that run a full five hours with everything from Saya to disco to 80's rock are a tad interesting.
4) The full blown meal with all of the guests. It was probably yummy. In fact I know it was … delicious pork roast with side salads. But I was down with the RUNS (which deserves an entry all of its own.)
5) La Hora Loca (The Crazy Hour). This was where crazy hats and ties and masks, and other interesting items were dispersed throughout the dancers. Also lazers, smoke, confetti explosions, and other lights. It was indeed, a crazy hour.
6) The wine bottles had our names on them, interesting.
There is much more to be said about weddings and family gatherings in general, but that will have to wait. Here is a picture that was taken in the Monesterio de Santa Catalina (A tourist monastery that demonstrates art and architecture from Old Arequipa).

Journal Post: The long trip.

Buses are not usually a very comfortable way to travel, but here in Peru, there is a wide gap between the "good" ones and the "bad" ones. Some bus companies are just plain scary. The problem with buses is that the services that have the most available departure hours are generally the ones that will make you question your decision to go on bus. Some companies that just really stink: Power, Sagatarrio, Yulsa, Del Carpio, Santa Ursula. Some companies that are ok: Flores, Cromotex, Cruz del Sur, San Martin. There are lots more, but I'm going to say right now that I usually roll on Flores. The cost for a pretty decent Bus Cama (bus Bed) is 60 soles from Arequipa to Cuzco, ($20). Not too bad. If you try to save money on bus tickets, you are asking for some scandal. On Yulsa, I have been in a wreck that was kind of scary and delayed my four hours. On Power, we had a tire blow out (because they were REALLY bald) and that set us back an hour. Also on Power, we almost hit a cow and by dodging the cow, almost hit an oncoming car. To be fair, things are so crazy on the road, that there is really no "safe" travel, but for comfort, there are better and worse.
That being said, I almost froze to death on my way to Puno. (Too bad I traveled in shorts). I had to put my backpack between me and the window to block the wind. And when you go from sea level to 13,000 feet, things get cold. I survived and am better for the experience. My parents and brother Jonathan, (who we call Cheek), now know and love cool areas in Southern Peru as I do. This audio slide show show demonstrates that a bit.

Journal Post: Come on along on a fantastic Voyage...

I have spent a lot of time on a bus lately. I cannot do the trip justice in one post but do not fear, I will get some pictures on the blog tommorrow. Also, I took notes on the trip and will be filling you in. But for todays post: Haggling. It is necessary here. Absolutely essential. If you don´t, you will never make it. For example: While in Cuzco, we traveled with some Argentines on our tours of the ruins close to the city. One of those tourists bought a blanket for 60 soles. (around 20 bucks). I later purchased the exact same blanket for 40 soles for my mother. While 8 bucks more or less may not seem like a huge deal, it adds up quickly and it´s the principle of the thing. I don´t like getting taken advantage of. If something is of a certain value, than that is the fair price. A better example, my brother wanted a sweater, a street vendor wanted 40 soles for it. Later on, in a different area, I haggled the same sweater at around 15 soles. IF YOU ARE WHITE or TOURISTY, DON´T JUST BUY STUFF!!! Apart from the fact that you could be marked for having money to steal for always whipping out the old wallet, you artificially raise the cost for everyone else. So there you go, you can haggle the price of most everything: clothes, any products in the street, taxis, electronics, and sometimes even food and bus tickets. Haggle, learn it. Love it.

Journal Post

What happened to me this weekend while you were all starving for a new post, you ask? A seven hour bus ride through a barren desert thats what happened. I am currently in Tacna, one of my favorite places. It is a mere half an hour from the border with Chile and although I have never crossed into Chile that way, it´s comforting to know it´s over there. (My mother is Chilean). Anywho, satuday I was frantically assembling a audio slide show for our reception on Friday (For my Wife´s Peruvian family) and also designing some thank you cards. I am in Tacna because this is how I am going to travel to Puno and Cuzco with my Parents and Brother (sans Malu), who were in Chile and came up for the wedding.
Quick note about why this all happended so haphazardly- My eldest Brother and Buddy Passes. My father and one of my brothers flew to Chile on a buddy pass. This is a pass that you can buy if you know someone in the business and the pass it along. They are way cheap, but this time a year it is a BAD IDEA. First of all, it´s the holiday season so everyone is flying (buddy passes are basically the extra seats on flights, so if the flight is full... well, you get the idea). And also, coming back from Chile or Peru is bad because the planes are carrying Asparagus from Peru andm Grapes from Chile. They have to go by wieght and they make more money witgh the product than with passengers.
That being said, my brother had to go back to the States and it was an ordeal. My parents were supposed to arrive here on the 8th, but that was fouled up. So now, I find myself in Tacna. More to come after the long journey.

Observation #2, Description #2

Today I saw something that I have never seen before. A woman taxista (taxi driver). As I promised previosly, I need to explain the transportation here a bit.
It´s crazy.
That being said, part of the insanity consists of little Japanese (Chinese?), made cars that only have 4 gears and are everywhere. They are generally yellow, but come in all colors of the rainbow. They generally have lots of stickers and ads on them, ranging from Looney Tunes to local Tourist services. Funny thing is, some taxista´s actually try to trick out thier rides. Speakers, lights, etc. There are usually lots of little relics and things hanging from the rear view. Air fresheners, decent sized pictures of the ¨Virgin de Chapi¨ (which will have to be explained another day, and other such things.
Check out the Ticos:



Now that you know, this lady was a taxista, and the first one I´d ever seen. I had to ask her how long she´d been doing taxi work. On and off for 15 years. I asked her if she enjoyed it. Shed doesn´t mind it. It was a short ride, so that´s all I got. But there you go: ticos.

Journal Post: The Orange Juice Lady

Today was similar in the first half to Tuesday, which you can look at at your leasure. As I found myself waiting for the nice fella to come and teach me to dance Saya, I once again found myself situated not more than five feet from the Orange Juice selling Trici (pronounced= tree-sea) lady. Since I was dressed in a shirt and tie after work, I figured I´d go all out and puchase myself a glass of OJ. I cost one sole (roughly 30 cents). It wasn´t bad, pulpy, with a hint of fear about contracting some disease or parasite. I chit-chatted with her for a bit, apperently, she has been in the OJ business for about a year. She starts the day in the morning fairly early about three blocks up the street from where I see her, at the gas station. Then, about midday, she pedals on down to in front of the police station (the comiseria). The previously mentioned taxi driver that fixed her tire is her husband (that might mean they are just shacking up, but for all practical purposes, married). I asked if there was any use for the rinds (which were all hung orderly fron the front ¨roof¨ part of the trici- side note, she peels the orange with some kind of twisty mechanism that leaves one long complete rind). She said no, she just throws them away. Interesting. So there you go. OJ Lady.

Journal Post: Food: Salchipapa and Pollo a la Brasa

As the people (Joe) demand, so I deliver.
Today, I was busy with work and I helped my bosses, Hermano Hale and Hermano Nuñez, locate and purchase HD camcorder in one of my favorite places ever, the Avelino. Why do I love the Avelino you ask? Well, because you can buy tons of different things there for cheap. I haggled like a son of a gun and got the guy to knock off about $50, which was good. Anywho, food. Salchipapas are french fries with sliced hot dog. As gross as hot dogs used to be to me, I have to tell you, Yummy. Seriously, I began my mission dreading this dish, but not I am all for it. First, you slather it with mustard, ketchup, AND mayo. Then you dribble on some aji- Which I will describe another day. Wash this all down with a glass of Chicha Morada (a purple drink made by boiling purple corn and taking that water and adding tons of sugar and lemon juice), and you have got yourself a meal.(On a side note, I used to hate Chicha Morada aswell). Something good to know about Chicha Morada: It looks similar to Chicha de Jora, which is alcholic and also served in some restaurants free. So be sure which one your getting. Pollo a la Brasa gets the same condiment treatment, but is similar to the whole chickens you could buy at Smiths or Macey´s to eat. But even better. It is generally sold by forths, and you can ask for Breast (Pecho), Leg (Pierna),and Muslo (Thigh). I like the breast, most meat and easiest to get off the bone. Oddly enough, the skin is very salty and quite good. This are the most common fair to be found in a Polleria (literally, chicken store). I love it, but you should space out these dishes because if you eat it 3 or 4 times a week (as I have), than it starts getting old.

Journal Post/Observation #1

Arequipä:
Today was my second day at the Employment Center for the LDS Church. I spend about 2 hours watching a volunteer lady teach the first segment to 4 rather timid ladies, three about my age and one older señora. I took several pictures to begin work on my major multimedia project for this semester. I than began designing the website for teh Employment center. Interestingly enough, the Center is really nice and just like all of the Churches builings, fully stocked. I was surprised to see that we have a microwave and a photo copier. Also, I get my own office, which is a first for me, with a nice comfy chair and a computer (not that I ever use it, I am pretty much chained to my laptop).
After work, I hopped onto a combi to ride back to the outskirts where we live in order to meet a nice guy that taught me some dancing- more on that in a minute.
But first, Observation # 1:
While I was waiting for the young man, (whose name is Fabio), I was sitting at our arranged meeting place in front of the police station (which is pretty small and rather hidden amongst other building), when I noticed a lady packing up her Trici to leave. Now, a trice is a bike that has ben cut in half and than jury rigged back together with 2 wheels in front, usually with some type of carrying area for people or things. In the case of this lady, it was her orange juice street vendor business. (Here there are literally tons of oranges that they put in this peeling mechanim and than squeeze the juice out.) In any event, her husband (I assume) was picking her up with his Tico (More on ticos in another post, but for now: Little cars that are generally used for taxi service here.) As they were packing things up, I noticed the rear tire was flat on the trici. Turns out, this was no biggie, because they whipped out a pump, but wait, there was a problem, the nozzle where the hose attaches was both too small for the pump end and appeared to have a hole where it connected to the tube. Once again, no biggie. With some careful wrapping of a plastic bag and a touch of slober, the baby pumped up with out further problem. As soon as it was full, away they went. Quite a little show while I waited.

Now, the reason I was waiting is because my wife and I will be participating in a good old fashioned idolatrous dance presentation in Puno. It´s like this: every February, for the Virgin of the Candelaria, there is a big concourse where dancers from all over Southern Peru, and Lima, present traditional dances and basically drink a LOT. I will be neither worshipping the Virgin, nor getting plastered. I will however, be accompanying my wife in some really cool dancing. The dance is called Caporales, or Saya, and is pretty sweet. For a demonstration, you can go here:

Anyway, my wife has danced there before and we are now inolved in the group that goes from this city to Puno to present. The dance is tricky, but I am learning and it´s coming along. More on this as it developes.

#1 Description- Showers

By way of inauguration, this blog is going to be my Peruvian experience communication. Here, I will have journal, descriptions, observations, and tips. They will be numbered accordingly, and I expect you all to appreciate just how awesome it is.
My background and why I find myself in Peru.
I served as a missionary for the LDS Church here for 2 years. There I met a girl named Malu, who after I returned home came to the state where I live to work for a few months and we began dating. About a year after that, I flew back to Peru to propose. About 6 months later, we got married in the US. Now I am back for a semester doing an internship at the Employment Center operated by the LDS Church. I will be here from Christmas 2009 to the end of April 2010. Enjoy the information.

About showers. Typically, there isn't hot water as the States are accustomed to seeing it. There is no central water heater that puts out hundreds of gallons of hot water (I am sure there are somewhere, but not in the everyday house). What there is are 'ducha elictrica' (electric shower, the name alone should give one pause). This consists of a plastic head that is connected to the pipe (usually 90 degree angle straight out from wall) that has a little metal coil inside of it.
This coil receives live current from a random wire that is either coming from the wall for this purpose or, in the case of some of my more ghetto residences during the mission, a wire ran from the light overhead. Dangerous? Yes. Functional? Mostly. Ever get shocked? Heck yes. Especially if you are tall enough that your head brushes up against it when it is running. There is a ground wire coming out that sometimes goes nowhere, but sometimes is attached to a nail in the wall.
Finally, because shower handles are usually metal, and because when the water touches you, you complete the current, you have to be cautious in how you touch the handle to turn off the shower. In the mission we got around this by wrapping the handles in electrical tape. Seems to me that the safest way to shower is cold, but that's no fun either. In some areas (I'm looking at you Puno), the water only runs in the morning so you either have to do all of your washing and other water needs then or buy a big plastic tank to put on your roof to store water.
Well, there you have it, showers in a nutshell. Shower head brands that I prefer come from Brazil and have Italian sounding names like Lorenzetti. You can buy a replacement wire that is inside the shower head for about $2 and some change (7 soles) and replace it yourself by unscrewing the top and bottom half and using needle nose pliers to yank the coil off of the nodes. Good luck and stay clean.