Peru 2006

All tres amigas are back in New York safe, sound and healthy.

A very Happy Birthday/Feliz Cumpleaños to amiga Jennifer (Hennifer)!

As soon as we upload all our pictures, we'll try to figure out how to post them to this site and keep the adventures rolling.

For now, we are glad to be back on the ground on home turf but still trying to keep our heads (and a small part of our spirits, superchicas) in the clouds of Peru.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone very soon!

Love always, JAL

Just needed to let you all know that we have learned the correct way to pronounce Macchu Picchu. Incidentally, until now, we have all referred to this significant Inca site as "Old Penis" (Machoo Pichoo). The correct pronunciation, to avoid further embarassment, is Machoo Peekchoo..."Old Mountain." ´

Over and out.

Cuy (guinea pig)...check!
Inca Two-step...check!
Macchu Picchu...check! (see other entry for more info.)
Alpaca...check!
Chicha (chewed up corn alcoholic beverage)...check!
Inti Raymi...check!

More to come.

Hello everyone! We are back in Cusco after a fantastic Incan exploration. Before I get into it, I should apologize for my lack of appearance on-line. In Lima, I was sleeping. In Arequipa, I was too hungry to wait my turn. In Cusco I was too sick to leave the room, or should I say the bathroom? Yup. Got the dreaded intestinal bacterial infection. Thanks to my two fantastic nursemaids (er...friends), two Peruvian doctors, and a shot in the rump that let me keep some medications down, I made it to the Inca tail in extremely rough condition a day and a half later. It was seriously tough, but well worth it. By day three I was in great shape and am so glad I rallied to the experience. I´ll let the girls tell more about the trek, but I owe them some serious gratitude. Not only did they clean my vomit, but actually slept in it! Now THAT is a good friend.

Thanks for everyone´s comments. Aliza and Jen kept me up to date. Pretty cool that I can hear about my niece/nephew´s soccer future from Peru. Hope you are all great! We´ll put some pictures up to show you what we can´t possibly express in words right now.

Hugs.

Hey all - Jen here - just a few additions to Aliza´s last two blogs 1) in case you were concerned, the professor from Johns Hopkins was not sacrificed on the mountaintop, it was the 12-year-old girl. No self respecting Inca god is appeased by the sacrifice of an anthropology prof. 2) we certainly do appreciate the comments of our family and friends. If you haven´t written us yet, please do, it makes us very happy. Of course, we will be out of Internet range for the next few days as we hike the Andes (though we were assured that the typical Indian village that we will visit tomorrow has an ATM - truly amazing).

Hi all,

Thank you for your comments thus far. We arrived in Cusco after a beautiful afternoon flight and have been taking it very easy getting used to the altitude. The sun is shining and so are very excited about our adventures on the Inca Trail starting tomorrow at 5:30am. That being said, we´re off to pack and get a good night´s rest. As it turns out, we will have the entire tour to ourselves--just tres amigas with a whole bunch of porters and a great guide we met this evening.

Looking forward to hearing from you and logging in when we get back to tell you all about the next four days.

Love to all our friends and family, JAL

Hello everyone. Aliza here, checking in with you before heading off to dinner on our second evening in Arequipa. We've had a great stay here so far and it has been a nice change from the hustle and smog of Lima. We took a 1 hour flight from Lima last night around 6 and were again picked up by a driver from our hotel who was very friendly and helpful, and spoke slow and expressive enough Spanish that even I understood. Our hotel is beautiful: brightly- and earthy- colored painted walls (like the adobe house I will someday build?!), courtyards, gorgeous plants and flowers everywhere, pottery around every corner...and our room is fantastic as well as quiet with vaulted 20-foot ceilings, beautiful wooden furniture. We had breakfast in the main courtyard today--delicious yogurt with honey and that cafe con leche we love so much (but that might be inflicting vengeance on my stomach right now). Other than feeling a bit punchy last night and laid back today, I think we have all adjusted well to the altitude. We have to leave tomorrow relatively early, but today had a chance to visit the cathedral off the main square with an incredible organ similar to one we saw in Lima, but in working order, as well as a monastery opened recently after being closed for 391 years. Every inch of the place was a photo opportunity, and we spent hours doing just that but have yet to find a place to download any of those. We ate lunch overlooking the main square--our first time eating alpaca and drinking chicha. The owner(?) took us to the back to show us the kitchen and the grills where all the meals were prepared, explaining to us that they use volcanic rock (from the nearby, still active volcano) to cook their meat on and use nothing but fresh herbs and spices. The alpaca and avocado, potato, bean salad that came with it were delicious. The chicha, on the other hand--Peruvian fermented corn beer--I should let Linda and Jen tell you. I think we are done being good sports about imbibing that specialty for the rest of the trip. After lunch we stopped in to a small restaurant with a television to watch the US vs. Italy soccer game and drink Inka Cola, and then it was off to see Juanita--a 12 year old girl found frozen in 1995 by a professor from Johns Hopkins who was sacrificed on a nearby mountain top around xxxxxx.
We are off from some traditional Arequipeno cuisine.
Linda wants you all to know that she is awake and alive and kicking.
Buen Dia del Padre (Happy Father´s Day) to my dad and all the fathers out there! We're thinking of you!
More later. xoJAL

Buenos Dias!

(Aliza) Jen and Aliza here checking in on our second day in Lima after a action-packed yesterday. Linda is still sleeping soundly and we will be off to see some erotic pottery and ancient ruins soon.

Hard to believe we've only been here a little more than 24 hours as we have already satisfied several Peruvian culinary cravings (stomachs holding up very well so far, thank you), survived an odd, politically-bent, monotoned tour of the Inquisition Museum ("the Inquisition: why the big deal? was it really so bad, or has history been told by a bunch of whiners?"), explored the catacombs (las catacumbas!) under Central Lima, and made sure to partake in at least one Pisco sour before heading to higher altitude later today.

Our flight here was (luckily) relatively uneventful after Jen made it to the airport just under the wire (we'll let her tell her own story here in a minute). Everything went quite smoothly from there, including being greeted with a sign by the driver from our hotel when we made it quickly out of customs.

Glad to be staying in a 'suburb' of Lima called Miraflores which is closer to the ocean and a bit safer. We leave for the colonial city of Arequipa in the early evening today, where we plan on slowly acclimating to the altitude and will check in with you again from there. All I have to say is, thank goodness for Jen's fine Spanish skills. We already got a date for dancing tomorrow. Or possibly we are getting married tomorrow. Jen wasn't quite sure what she agreed to, but the waiter seemed very enthusiastic. Gracias por la vendana!

(Jen) I actually got the airport a little early, and really couldn't wait to greet Linda and Aliza who had made a few comments about me being perennially tardy. Ha! I would show them. And then the nice lady at the checkout interrupted my musings by saying "where is your paper ticket?" no, I got an e-ticket, I explained to her. as she continued to insist that I needed a paper ticket, a vague memory of Linda giving me a paper ticket, charming relic of an earlier time, when people actually used those things to travel. "I'll go home and get it and come back" I said. "But we close at 10:30" she said disbelieving. I looked at my watch. I had exactly one hour. I made like in the movies and leapt into a waiting cab. "To Astoria, step on it!" As it turned out, I had found the only speed-limit observing cab driver in NYC, but 55 minutes later, I was the last person at the check-in counter and was greeted at the gate by Aliza and Linda, who are never going to believe that I actually arrive on time to things, sometimes. Really I do.

(Linda) ZZZZZZZZZ. zzzzzz. ZZZZZ.

Will write more later because we are heading out to explore, but just wanted you all to know we made it okay. More stories to come! Love to everyone, Tres Amigas

The Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere and the local harvests are the driving force behind the greatest, most majestic pre-Hispanic ceremony to render homage to the sun. Today, the Inti Raymi festival evokes the splendid Inca ritual of yore, being carefully scripted by Cusco professors, archaeologists and historians. The central event is acted out on the esplanade below the imposing fortress of Sacsayhuamán, 2 km outside the city of Cusco, easily reached by car or on foot. There, step by step, thousands of actors enact a long ceremony giving thanks to the sun god, Inti. The Inca ruler is borne on a royal litter from the Koricancha, or Temple of the Sun to the Huacaypata, the city's main square, where he commands the local authorities to govern fairly. Then all the participants set out for Sacsayhuamán, where the ceremony calls for the sacrifice of two llamas, one black and one white. The llamas' entrails and fat are handed to a pair of high priests: the first, the Callpa Ricuy, examines the intestines to predict what sort of year lies ahead; while the second priest, the Wupariruj, makes his predictions based on the smoke that wafts up from the burning fat. The high priests' predictions are then interpreted by the Willac Umo, the lord high priest, who bears the news to the Inca. Finally, at sunset, the Inca orders all to withdraw from the site, and the entire city breaks out into a festivities that will rage for several days. http://www.cusco.info/inti_raymi.htm