El sitio web se llama “Uncyclopedia.com” es una forma satírica de Wikipedia; por lo tanto, como Wikipedia puede buscar todos los tipos de cosas aleatorias y leer artículos dedicados a esos temas. Si usted busca hasta Perú, encontrará que en la sección de dinero hay cosas como esta:
“La moneda es el nuevo sol, inventado en la primera presidencia de García. Eso sería mil millones de soles antiguos, la moneda cuando García llegó a la escena. No darle todas las ideas, pero este término, está celebrando bastante estable en alrededor de 3 por dólar. Sin embargo, ningún peruano nunca confía en esta última, y aparatos, cualquier cosa que requieren de tiempo de pagos, y algunos salarios, se expresan en dólares… Para intercambiar dólares, simplemente vaya al centro de San Isidro y busque un hombre sosteniendo una calculadora. (Un funcionario del gobierno anterior negó que Perú se encontraba en recesión; vio proveedores de calculadora en cada esquina)”.
Aunque sátira, evidentemente, no es sinónimo de hecho, para una cosa ser gracioso tiene que haber una verdad subyacente detrás de ella. Por lo tanto, la situación económica del Perú no puede en absoluto describirse como estable, como el artículo de Uncyclopedia alude a.
Hay un refrán que dice que el dinero puede comprar milagros, y mientras que esto podría ser una exageración creo que es cierto que el dinero abre las puertas para el progreso. Sin dinero, las personas no pueden permitirse comprar cosas, que a su vez detiene la economía. También, sin ser capaz de recaudar impuestos sobre estos articulas no vendidos, el gobierno no tiene dinero para instalar programas para ayudar a aquellos que necesitan apoyo financiero en primer lugar. Por lo tanto podría argumentarse que esta inestabilidad económica es uno de los principales factores con otros problemas nacionales en el Perú. De hecho, una de las cosas más graciosa que he visto desde el sitio web acerca del Perú fue esta imagen, con el título “Lima es centro del Perú de gobierno, el comercio y la enseñanza superior--tres de los cuales con frecuencia implican espera durante media hora sin saber porqué.”
Como hemos hablado en clase, sin embargo, el supuesto depende que el gobierno en gran medida los impuestos para financiar a sí mismo no se aplica a los millones de peruanos que ocupan puestos de trabajo informales. Nunca he tomado un micro sin ser solicitado por dinero por vendedores ambulantes, o caminé más de tres bloques sin ejecutar en un stand de concesión. Como ya comentamos anteriormente, existe una comúnmente celebrado creencia aquí que el gobierno debe tener poca reglamentación en la economía; peruanos valoran la creatividad y creo que, no regulado por un poder superior, esto permite que un “hombre que se hace a sí mismo.” Y usted puede ver esta creatividad en todos lugares. Personas legítimamente intentan venderle cualquiera cosa; he visto vendedores de perchas, fórmula de bebé y lo que pueden obtener con sus manos.
Sin embargo, creo que esta creencia de que el gobierno debe tener poco que decir de las maneras de cosas va mucho más profunda de la economía. Con toda la corrupción y la violencia en que el país ha enfrentado a lo largo de los siglos, especialmente bajo el reinado de Fujimori, creo que es difícil para cualquier persona a confiar en su gobierno con nada. Incluso en los Estados Unidos, posiblemente el país más poderoso y estable en el mundo, hay muchos que creen que su gobierno está cometiendo actos clandestinos que son corruptos, y hay poca confianza en el gobierno. Sinceramente, creo que si los peruanos no estaban obligados a votar por la ley, tengo serias dudas que muchos de ellos votarán en absoluto. Como Uncyclopedia dice satíricamente, “presidentes peruanos no sólo han manipulado la constitución, han pedido fuera, se resbaló un roofie y lo violaron.”
El sitio web con estas citas está aquí: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Peru
The website “Uncyclopedia.com” is a satiric form of Wikipedia; therefore, just like Wikipedia you can look up all types of random things and read articles dedicated to those topics. If you look up Peru, you find that under the money section it claims things like this:
“The currency is the nuevo sol (new sun), invented in García's first presidency. That would be 1 billion old suns, the currency when García came onto the scene. Not to give him any ideas, but this term, it's holding pretty steady at about 3 to the dollar. However, no Peruvian ever trusts this to last, and appliances, anything requiring time payments, and some salaries, are expressed in dollars… To exchange dollars, just go to downtown San Isidro and look for a man holding up a calculator. (A previous government official denied that Perú was in recession; he saw calculator vendors on every corner.)”
Although satire is obviously not synonymous with fact, in order for something to be funny there needs to be an underlying truth behind it. Thus, Peru’s economic situation can in no way be described as stable, as the Uncyclopedia article alludes to.
There is a saying that money can buy miracles, and while this might be an exaggeration I do believe it is true that money opens the doors for progress. Without money, people cannot afford to buy things, which in turn halts the economy. Also, without being able to collect taxes on these unsold goods, the government has no money to install programs to help those who need financial support in the first place. Thus it could be argued that this economic instability is one of the main factors with other national problems in Peru. In fact, one of the funniest things I saw from the website about Peru was this picture, with the caption “Lima is Peru's center of government, commerce, and higher learning--all three of which frequently involve waiting for half an hour without knowing why.”
As we talked about in class, however, the assumption that the government heavily depends on taxes to fund itself does not apply to the millions of Peruvians who hold informal jobs. I have not once ridden a micro without being solicited for money by street vendors, or walked more than three blocks without running into a concession stand. As we also previously discussed, there is a commonly-held belief here that the government should have little regulation in the economy; Peruvians value creativity and think that, unregulated by a higher power, this allows for a “self-made man.” And you can see this creativity all around. People will legitimately try to sell you absolutely anything; I’ve seen vendors selling hangers, baby formula, and whatever else they can get their hands on.
I think, though, that this belief that the government should have little say in the ways of things goes much deeper than the economy. With all of the corruption and violence the country has faced throughout the centuries, especially under Fujimori’s reign, I think it’s hard for anyone to trust your government when it comes to anything. Even in the United States, arguably the most powerful and stable country in the world, there are many who believe their government is committing clandestine acts that are corrupt, and there is little trust in the government as a whole. I honestly believe that if Peruvians weren’t forced to vote by law, I seriously doubt many of them would vote at all. As Uncyclopedia satirically puts it, “Peruvian presidents have not just manipulated the constitution, they have asked it out, slipped it a roofie, and raped it.”
The website for these references can be found here: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Peru
Cuando primero estaba investigando lugares para estudiar como una extranjera, la primera cosa que he leído acerca de Perú fue la calidad de su comida. De hecho, en mi guía de viajes Lonely Planet a Perú, una de las primeras cosas que menciona es cómo Perú "es un país dedicado al arte de mantener el paladar humano entretenido". En primer lugar, esto no me parece ser algo realmente importante; recursos de muchas veces como estos tienden a glorificar los aspectos gastronómicos de ciertos países para hacer que el país parece como un lugar de uno que desea visitar. Sin embargo, una vez que vine a Perú, sin duda, pensé que la comida estaba de hecho asombrosa; cada vez que yo fui a cenar o abrí mi lonchera en la escuela, mi paladar estaba “entretenido." Sin embargo, habiendo vivido aquí durante más de dos meses, he llegado a la conclusión de que esta tendencia culinaria es algo más que una característica: existe un significado cultural a la superioridad gastronómica del Perú.
Una de las primeras impresiones que yo hacía sobre peruanos fue que ellos fueron una gente que parecía estar muy orgullosa de sus alimentos. Este es un país donde las personas toman almuerzos de mínimo dos horas, donde las familias realmente comen juntos, donde conservantes son blasfemia. Si desea que jugo, obtendrá realmente jugo: directamente desde la naranja por sí mismo. Si usted está en el estado de ánimo para algún pollo, prácticamente puede escoger la carne que quiere… de una vez cuando está viva. Cada vez que un local descubrió que era un extranjero (no demasiado difícil con mi estatura física en comparación con un peruano…), lo primero que me preguntan era si yo he gustado la comida aquí. No sólo que, si usted toma un paseo alrededor de Lima de hoy en día, probablemente por lo menos dos terceras partes de las pequeñas empresas encontrará tendrá algo con la comida: restaurantes, tiendas de conveniencia, venta de mercaderías, casetas con frutas y vegetales, o los mercados de alimentos, mostrando los más frescos producen desde todo el país. Esto no puede parecer demasiado extraño si tenemos en cuenta que la mayoría de las ciudades tienen una amplia gama de alimentos para elegir; qué es diferente sobre el Perú es el valor que colocar en él, y a causa de esto, la sorprendente cantidad de cuestiones se convierte en una parte de.
Perú es considerado como una nación de razas mixtas, pero esto no significa que todas las culturas son aceptadas inmediatamente a la vida cotidiana peruana. Durante el período de la inmigración China, por ejemplo, el racismo es rampante en todo el país y especialmente en las principales ciudades como Lima. Al igual que con "normal" de los casos de racismo, los ciudadanos no quieren la cultura China "contaminar" la "auténtica" cultura peruana; ellos tenían miedo de que la gran cantidad de inmigrantes chinos iban a cambiar lo que significaba ser un peruano. Sin embargo, lo que es diferente sobre el caso peruano es el hecho de que una de las principales preocupaciones durante este período de tiempo era culinaria. Peruanos fueron aterrorizados que la dispersión de comida china, especialmente en zonas interactivas de población como Lima, en consecuencia, provocaría el cambio de la psique nacional. Este miedo no estaba saciado cuando un grupo de migrantes chinos abrieron el supermercado Wongs en 1942 en el distrito de San Isidro, demostrando así que estos inmigrantes estaban serios cuando llegó a proporcionar comida a la ciudad. Pues, los peruanos consideran comida a ser sinónimo de identidad, un concepto que no se ha perdido hasta hoy. Y con el racismo contra los chinos… pues, no hay "comida china" en Lima. En su lugar hay "chifa", una mezcla de estilos peruanos y chinos. Yo espero que esta fusión cultural pueda continuar en este país en los años venideros.
¡Y mientras que es decir sucediendo, todavía voy a sentarse, mirar sobre el océano y disfrutar de mi ceviche y el pisco sours!
When I was first researching places to study abroad, the first thing I read about Peru was the quality of its food.
Indeed, in my Lonely Planet travel guide to Peru, one of the first things it mentions is how Peru “is a country devoted to the art of keeping the human palate entertained.”
At first, I didn’t really consider this to be anything really significant; many times resources like these tend to glorify the gastronomical aspects of certain countries in order to make the country seem like a place one would want to visit.
However, once I came to Peru, I certainly thought that the food was indeed amazing; every time I went out to dinner or opened my lonchera at school, I couldn’t help but have my “palate entertained.”
Yet having lived here for more than two months, I have come to the conclusion that this culinary trend is something more than a characteristic: there is a cultural significance to Peru’s gastronomical superiority.
One of the first impressions I made about Peruvians were that they are a people that seem to be very proud of their food.
This is a country where people take minimum two hour lunches, where families actually eat together, where preservatives are blasphemy.
If you want juice, you actually get juice: straight from the orange itself.
If you’re in the mood for some chicken, you can practically pick the one you want… when it’s alive.
Whenever a local found out that I was a foreigner (not too difficult considering my physical stature compared to an average Peruvian…), the first thing they ask me was if I liked the food here.
Not only that, if you take a stroll around Lima today, probably at least two-thirds of the small businesses you will find will have something to do with food: restaurants, convenience stores selling sundries, fruit and vegetable stands, or food markets displaying the freshest produce from around the country.
This may not seem too strange if you consider that most cities have a wide range of food to choose from; what sets Peru apart is the value they place on it, and because of this, the surprising amount of issues it becomes a part of.
Peru is widely considered to be a nation of mixed races, but that does not mean all cultures are immediately accepted into the Peruvian mainstream.
During the period of Chinese immigration, for example, racism was rampant throughout the country and especially in the main cities like Lima.
As with “normal” cases of racism, citizens didn’t want the Chinese culture to “contaminate” the “authentic” Peruvian one; they were afraid the sheer number of Chinese immigrants would change what it meant to be a Peruvian.
However, what is different about the Peruvian case is the fact that one of the main concerns during this time period was culinary.
Peruvians were terrified that the dispersing of Chinese food, especially in population hotspots like Lima, would consequently lead to the changing of the national psyche.
This fear was not sated when a group of Chinese migrants opened the supermarket Wongs in 1942 in the district of San Isidro, thus proving that these immigrants meant business when it came to providing food to the city.
Thus, Peruvians considered food to be synonymous with identity, a concept that has not been lost to this day.
And as for the racism against the Chinese, well… let’s just say there is no “Chinese food” in Lima.
In its place there is “chifa”, a mixture of both Peruvian and Chinese styles.
Hopefully this cultural blending can continue in this country for years to come.
And while that is going on, I’m still going to sit back, look out over the ocean and enjoy my ceviche and pisco sours!
When I was first researching places to study abroad, the first thing I read about Peru was the quality of its food. Indeed, in my Lonely Planet travel guide to Peru, one of the first things it mentions is how Peru “is a country devoted to the art of keeping the human palate entertained.” At first, I didn’t really consider this to be anything really significant; many times resources like these tend to glorify the gastronomical aspects of certain countries in order to make the country seem like a place one would want to visit. However, once I came to Peru, I certainly thought that the food was indeed amazing; every time I went out to dinner or opened my lonchera at school, I couldn’t help but have my “palate entertained.” Yet having lived here for more than two months, I have come to the conclusion that this culinary trend is something more than a characteristic: there is a cultural significance to Peru’s gastronomical superiority.
One of the first impressions I made about Peruvians were that they are a people that seem to be very proud of their food. This is a country where people take minimum two hour lunches, where families actually eat together, where preservatives are blasphemy. If you want juice, you actually get juice: straight from the orange itself. If you’re in the mood for some chicken, you can practically pick the one you want… when it’s alive. Whenever a local found out that I was a foreigner (not too difficult considering my physical stature compared to an average Peruvian…), the first thing they ask me was if I liked the food here. Not only that, if you take a stroll around Lima today, probably at least two-thirds of the small businesses you will find will have something to do with food: restaurants, convenience stores selling sundries, fruit and vegetable stands, or food markets displaying the freshest produce from around the country. This may not seem too strange if you consider that most cities have a wide range of food to choose from; what sets Peru apart is the value they place on it, and because of this, the surprising amount of issues it becomes a part of.
Peru is widely considered to be a nation of mixed races, but that does not mean all cultures are immediately accepted into the Peruvian mainstream. During the period of Chinese immigration, for example, racism was rampant throughout the country and especially in the main cities like Lima. As with “normal” cases of racism, citizens didn’t want the Chinese culture to “contaminate” the “authentic” Peruvian one; they were afraid the sheer number of Chinese immigrants would change what it meant to be a Peruvian. However, what is different about the Peruvian case is the fact that one of the main concerns during this time period was culinary. Peruvians were terrified that the dispersing of Chinese food, especially in population hotspots like Lima, would consequently lead to the changing of the national psyche. This fear was not sated when a group of Chinese migrants opened the supermarket Wongs in 1942 in the district of San Isidro, thus proving that these immigrants meant business when it came to providing food to the city. Thus, Peruvians considered food to be synonymous with identity, a concept that has not been lost to this day. And as for the racism against the Chinese, well… let’s just say there is no “Chinese food” in Lima. In its place there is “chifa”, a mixture of both Peruvian and Chinese styles. Hopefully this cultural blending can continue in this country for years to come.
And while that is going on, I’m still going to sit back, look out over the ocean and enjoy my ceviche and pisco sours!
Well, in typical Megan-in-Peru fashion, here I am updating this thing about a trip I got back from almost a week ago... I swear this "lax society" lifestyle is really doing things to my concept of "late."
Aaaanyway, where do I even begin? The Amazon!!! Well, the original itinerary for the trip was that we would leave Lima Saturday afternoon, get to Chachapoyas Sunday night, and then use the city as kind of a home base while traveling around the rainforest until the next Saturday, when we would make the day-long bus trip back to the "City of Kings."
...Naturally, however, being in Peru and going with a bunch of old people meant that things didn't go exactly as planned. In fact, about the only thing that we did from the original schedule was take the bus up to Chachapoyas--which, if I may say, was hell on earth. Word to the wise: never, under any circumstances, eat food provided by your bus company for long journeys. Especially if, and I quote, "the meat tastes like grass and the potatoes taste like soap." I have never been in so much pain from food in all my life... well, maybe besides the Chicken Chipotle Incident, but that was a totally different type of pain. Not to mention the bathrooms on the buses aren't equipped to handle anything other than #1. Yeah.
Once we got there--a grueling, awful 26-hour hours later--we stepped out into the capital of the Amazon district, excited both to be there and to just be off the bus in general (I'd say it was honestly a toss-up to as which sentiment was stronger). Our hotel, Hotel Puma Urco, was a quaint little basic hotel right off of the Plaza de Armas; which, for those of you know know absolutely nothing about Latin American culture, is the name a city gives to its official "center of town", kind of a like a town square. Sam and I were considering exploring, but as we were just so tired, we took showers (mine was more like bathing in a cold waterfall all week...) and set off to bed.
Now here I should explain: Peru is split up into 13 departments, each with its own geography and government, much like the states in the US. An even though we were officially in the "Amazonas" department of the country, it was not the stereotypical wet, humid, canopied jungle with monkeys and jaguars that people picture when you think of the Amazon. In truth, that part, also called the "low forest", us more to the east in the department of Loreto. Where we were was the "high forest", the place where the rainforest officially begins in the northern mountains of Peru. Add that to the fact that it was the dry season, and where we were was a far-cry from this primary impression.
Don't think for a second though that this means we didn't get any of the bells and whistles the stereotypical Amazon has to offer. In fact, I think it might have been even better because alongside the thousands of flowers, palm trees, and colorful wildlife, we still got to experience the added bonus of seeing all of this beauty from the outlooks provided by the "twelve-colored mountains", and the changes in elevation meant that things like lush valleys and waterfalls were about as abundant as trees.
Anyway, back to Chachapoyas. As a city, it was honestly kind of run-down; there were a good number of unpaved roads and once you got a couple of blocks outside the Plaza de Armas, the houses were definitely below sub-par. But the key difference about it was just the general amicability of the people. When I first moved to Lima, my primary impression was that Peruvians were nice, but they have nothing, nothing, on the people of the Amazonas. Despite its poverty, you could walk around Chachapoyas without any fear of getting your bag cut or something stolen out of your pocket, which is more than I can say about the country's capital. And unlike Lima, where people generally keep to themselves, the people of the Amazon want you to be there; they smile at you as you walk by, and despite language barriers they're extremely patient when you need to communicate or get something. Not that you'll get it quickly by any definition of the word, because they take the Peruvian version of "late" to the extreme...
Our first day, according to the schedule, was supposed to be spent visiting the ancient (but still occupied) city of Leymebamba to see the museum there in the morning, and then coming back for a day tour of Chachapoyas. Since the group had used a travel agency, we were provided a driver named Walter who was instructed to take us wherever we wanted to go all week. This turned out to be fantastic, because even before we left the hotel after breakfast that morning, the old folks decided they wanted to save the day tour for another time and visit the mountain city of the dead, Revash, instead. Unfortunately, while this sounded great in theory, the fact that we were traveling with old people also meant that by the time we had finished Leymebamba, they were too tired to go to Revash. But it was okay, because we saw over 200 mummies at the museum! And llamas, which are apparently absolutely everywhere in this country hahaha.
It became quite clear after the first day, though, that any downsides of traveling with a group of seniors were completely outweighed by the sheer amount of entertainment they provided. Everywhere we went, Sam and I were like the shiny new toys; everyone wanted to take pictures with us, talk to us, and just generally be around us. Which of course was adorable, because all of the people who went with us were super sweet and wise; the entire trip, they were always trying to teach us something about the area or about life. Some memorable characters were Mechita, who felt compelled to sing about every subject imaginable; Mario, a cheerful old man with a degree in history who laughed about everything; and Selena, who was absolutely hilarious and insisted we scream "sexo!" at every photoshoot.
The second day, after having breakfast with freshly-squeezed papaya juice (typical of Peru and the Amazon in particular), we decided to completely deviate from the schedule and visit the clay caverns of Quiocta, which we weren't planning on seeing until Thursday. This was because one of the towns we'd be driving through to get there, Lamud, was having a huge festival to celebrate their patron saint, and some of the religion folks in the group were planning on going anyway. Thus, we all hopped into Walter's Mercedes Sprinter and headed into the mountains.
Luya and Lamud were absolutely charming little towns, especially with all the decorating, cooking, and general good cheer for the festival, which was to start later that day. Even though the entire city was essentially shut down (it was an adventure trying to find a street we could actually drive and park on), we still had to rent rubber boots for the cavern, so we stopped in Lamud for a while. It was really cool to see the people running about doing different tasks to beautify their city, like constructing huge colored sand murals on the streets or hanging banners across adjacent buildings.
Once we were done with this, we took the steep road up to the caverns. I have to admit, I didn't really know what to expect because when we "got there" all we saw was a wooden sign, a single Amazonian selling popcorn, grassy mountaintop as far as the eye could see. However, when I saw the old Chachapoyan hut guarding the entrance and walked inside, I was immediately floored. The place was like a cathedral: high ceiling, wide halls, and depth that extended to god knows how far. The fact that there were no lights installed in the caverns added to the intrigue, because you wouldn't realize what was around you until your guide shined his flashlight on it--and this turned out to be things like skulls, clay pyramids, jeweled ceilings, or stalactites. In a word, it was absolutely amazing. Even Mama, who fell inside because the wet clay floor was too difficult to navigate through, loved it.
Tired and yet pumped from our expedition in the caverns, we then went to our lunch spot, a small little place called Mikuy Peru (interesting tidbit: "mi cuy" in Spanish means "my guinea pig", but "mikuy" in Quechua means "radio station". Two veeeeery different things). I guess this would be a good time to explain restaurants in the Amazon. Like Mikuy Peru, they're usually small, often part of the house where the chef's family lives (so you'll often see little kids running around playing), and are full of trees and pens where hey get their food from. You want fruit? They'll go and pick what you want off a tree. Chicken? They'll kill one in the back. Trout? They just caught some that morning. This is clearly amazing, but the only downside we encountered was quantity; if they only caught ten fish that morning, or only have four mangoes left on that tree, it's all people are going to be able to get. They don't import anything. Additionally, going along with the whole "we're happy you're here" thing, most of the restaurants we went to let you pick something, like flowers or fruit, and bring it home with you for free... your own little souvenir of the Amazon.
Sooner or later Wednesday came along, and that meant it was time for one of the best parts of the trip: the pre-Inca mountain fortress-city of Kuelap. This place was built in the 6th century by the Chachapoyans, making it more than 1000 years older than Machu Picchu, and unlike Machu Picchu the archaeologists had not cut down the forest that had spread throughout the city over the years. It therefore looked and felt like a long lost paradise; crumbled houses of stone and mortar were accompanied by trees with vibrant flowers the size of one's head. It became clear that while the Inca may not have been able to get through Kuelap's solid defenses (they had only won against the Chachapoyans by "peacefully" cutting off their food supply), the rainforest certainly could. It was, in my opinion, just as cool as any Inca site; and since there were only about 100 tourists in the entire 600 meter complex, you really got to experience the serenity of it all. Getting there and back was a bit of a challenge, due to the rain and thus slick conditions, but it was most definitely one of the most impressive places I have ever seen.
At this point, the group had conference and decided that instead of staying in Chachapoyas until Saturday, we were going to split up the 26-hour bus ride by driving 10 hours to Chiclayo on the coast of Peru Thursday night, and then drive back to Lima early Saturday morning. Therefore, Thursday was deemed a "free day" to do absolutely whatever we wanted before the bus left at 7:30. So, while most of the group went with Walter to complete the Chachapoyas bus tour that they had missed on Monday, Sam and I (along with two others) took a taxi to Gocta, the third highest waterfall in the world!!! It was definitely one of my favorite things we did; even though it was the dry season, and thus the waterfall was at only about 15% of its usual volume, it was still ridiculously impressive. Not to mention the landscape there was absolutely gorgeous; Gocta was at the end of a huge valley full of wildlife, flowers, and little streams everywhere. The original plan the group had planned for Gocta was to take a horseback ride to the base of the falls, but since this took 3 hours each way, and we only had four total to visit it, we just walked along the path for about an hour each way to take some pictures. It was here, in this beautiful, almost unoccupied valley where we encountered some of the absolute nicest people I have ever met; everyone we met along the trail stopped and asked if we needed anything (one guy even offered us his horse!), and when we got back into the town to have lunch, a little village with a population of about 100, they sang and danced for us just because they felt like it, and even let us join in! Everyone there just seemed so happy; it may be true that their healthcare system was below sub-par, but when I asked them about it, they replied "well of course we could use that stuff, but we're happy... we have everything we need here: food, water, family, friends, and a great land without any contamination of excessive development." Really put things into perspective for me.
And after Gocta (and a pint of beer and sangria later), we were off to Chiclayo! As usual, the bus ride was terrible, this time because the driver was a maniac flying around corners on unpaved roads... Yeah. Needless to say, when we got there on Friday morning all of us had had little or no sleep, but there was no time to waste! It was the day to visit the department of Lambayeque, a small dry coastal region that is responsible for producing more than half of Peru's sugarcane! Not to mention its past of being home to the pre-Inca Moche and Chimu cultures. Obviously then, our day was spend visiting museums and ancient ruins; in particular, the Museum of Sican, the pyramids of Tucume, and the famous Senor de Sipan! Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures in the latter area, but that may have been a blessing in disguise, because what was in there was so amazing I might have single-handedly used up the rest of my photos haha.
Aaand then it was time to trek through the desert back to Lima. From our past experiences, we were expecting the 14-hour bus ride to be horrible; but, in actuality, it was quite decent. The meals weren't deadly, the bus had two bathrooms with toilet paper (a rarity for bathrooms in Peru), and they even provided games for us: I fulfilled my lifelong dream of winning a game of Bingo against old people!!!! Hahahaha. I must say, though, getting back into Lima was one of the most depressing things I've ever experienced; we went from fresh rainforest to beautiful, multicolored deserts, only to see signs of the approaching gray sky of Lima and smell the pollution in the air... yuck. Still, though, it was good to be back in a way... if only to do homework. Blaaaaaaah.
And that was my trip in a nutshell! Quite a big nutshell you might say, but you'd be surprised just how much I left out... it was just so awesome. I'm so glad Mama invited me!! Peru is an incredible country. =)
Ser de un país tan grande como los Estados Unidos, yo sé lo que es vivir en un lugar donde las personas de diferentes regiones tienen muy diferentes culturas y formas de ver el mundo, a pesar de ser parte del mismo país. Sin embargo, siempre pensé que esto era parcialmente porque el enorme tamaño de América permitida para mucha diversidad, ya que es casi imposible tener una cultura uniforme cuando las personas son incapaces de compartir conocimientos culturales porque son miles de millas de distancia. Por lo tanto, inicialmente asumí antes de venir a América del Sur que un país mucho más pequeño como el Perú tendría un pueblo unido generalmente por una cultura similar. Sin embargo, haber vivido y viajado aquí para más de una mes ahora y después de ver la película La Travesía de Chumpi, yo he podido ver que a pesar de ser un país mucho más pequeño, peruanos aún tienen formas muy diferentes de ver sus tierras en función de dónde vivan.
Ver La Travesía de Chumpi, sin embargo, realmente me hizo comprender que mientras puede ser cierto que las personas tienen diferentes opiniones sobre cómo deben tratar a sus tierras, no siempre significa que se les de la igualdad de derechos para hacer lo que quieren con ellas. Por ejemplo, en la película el pueblo Achuar tiene el punto de vista que la selva es un lugar rico en muchos recursos, y que las personas puedan vivir juntas en armonía con la naturaleza por utilizando los recursos proporcionados por el bosque y manteniendo el bienestar ambiental de su entorno. Por ejemplo, los Achuar utiliza el agua desde el Río Corrientes para baño, beber y cultivar sus cosechas, pero no sin respeto; de hecho, una parte del río, que ellos llaman "La Tuna", es sagrada para ellos y que intentan defender su pureza a toda costa. Personas de otras partes del Perú, sin embargo, ver la selva como "vacío" en que el valor real sólo en la selva es aprovechar ciertos recursos allí sin la necesidad de reemplazarlas o proteger a otras partes de la zona circundante. En consecuencia, en la película la compañía petrolera “Pluspetrol” explota el aceite en la región sin preocuparse de los impactos ambientales al río, que afectan a la gente de allí. Pero a pesar de su protesta, los Achuar todavía no reciben ninguna ayuda del gobierno peruano. Por lo tanto, mientras el gobierno concede "igualdad de derechos" para estas tribus en que se les permite vivir su propia cultura sin mucha influencia por el estado, estas personas aún están afectadas por las decisiones del gobierno y no reciben ningún “igualdad de derechos” para cambiarlo. Creo que el mejor resumen de esta situación es una línea directa de un residente de Chicherta, quien afirmó que la disputa con la compañía petrolera no era sólo una lucha por su salud, pero también “una lucha de mi cultura.” El pueblo Achuar está siendo lastimar físicamente y étnicamente simplemente porque no tienen el dinero, poder o influencia para convencer al gobierno a intervenir. Yo entiendo que hay beneficios a la privatización — sin duda tal cosa existe en muchos países del mundo — pero si no se limita la influencia de este sistema, esto provoca caos, porque se permiten a las compañías a hacer lo que quieran. Y en el caso de Pluspetrol, esto significa que se aprovechan de hacer ganancias y explotar un área sin tener en cuenta los derechos de las personas que viven allí.
