Feliz Navidad!

It is traditional in Peru to celebrate christmas on the 24th but starting at midnight... technically it is the 25th, eat with family for a couple hours, then at 2 am... let the party begin!

a few people from the hostel decided to get together and make a christmas dinner because we were away from our families. Mika is a tall Dutch woman (Hollish) a very protective and relaxed persona, put the whole dinner together for about 7 people from the hostel, including a couple locals that work here.  Devin is a young american, very tall and lanky with glasses on, an independent attitude and a witty sarcasm about him. Then there is Bob... what to say about bob, older man from the States as well. Not many people understand Bob, he has a very intellectually and logically left brain way of viewing the world around and is starting to question his own belief system. There are a couple others that have come and gone like two Kiwis (New Zealanders) and a couple Russians, one of them that I had talked with has some amazing stories. He even looks like a typical Russian, tall, broad shoulders, square jaw and high cheek bones. After listening to some russian music he told us stories of his Ayahuasca experience where he went deep into the jungle and made his own which I thought was really cool. But what was more than that he was going on a 16 day trek deep in the amazon to see a tribe of Natives that have not seen any white people (Gringos) before.

Dinner was to be served at 10 pm because we believed midnight was just too late to eat... We ended up eating at midnight anyways because the power went out a few times throughout the night. Mika and a few girls that worked in the hostel (sisters of the owner) helped prepare chicken baked in the oven, peanut sauce, salad, fired potatoes and Dutch sausage.

Before dinner everyone was in a festive mood. Everyone was drinking a few people were smoking (get to that later) playing Russian trance, dancing and cooking. A few of us were sitting at the dinning table in this kitchen that is connected to an open terrance. A couple people drinking beer (me included) some drinking wine, another vermouth with ice and lime, as well as rum. Although it didn't feel like christmas with no snow and not being around family, we had created a community for the night that was fun and close. Local girls smiling and brightly proclaiming "Feliz Navidad" and a kiss on the cheek was traditional.

At one point the Russian brings out some marijuana and a couple people partake which was funny because those who smoked only lasted another hour before they were passed out and in bed hahaha. Apparently it was fairly strong. Bob surprisingly took part, as well as Devin and the Kiwi with a chinese background. The Kiwi was an extremely fast talker and most people had that damnedest time understanding him which we had openingly brought up in conversation with everyone including Bob... I guess Bob had a memory relapse from smoking because he forgot it a moment later.

Laughing, chatting about experiences we have had and drinking. You know those times when you have a pause after a laugh or a point has been made in a conversation. Well we had one of those moments where everything was quiet and Bob looked at the Kiwi and said "So... you're English then?" Before Devin and I could burst out laughing the Kiwi with a the chinese features didn't miss a beat. He replied back with a confused look on his face "Me-How?... Kung pow!" in a very convincing chinese accent. Devin and I were in hysterics because yes that was funny! But what triumphed that was the look on Bobs face. He was so confused I could almost read his thoughts, is this man chinese is that why I couldn't understand him? It goes worse from here out, the Kiwi started saying things found on a chinese food menu. "Sweet n' Sour!" or "Chow mien!" Bob started looking at him, trying to grasp what was being said... so he started to repeat the words in his american accent. "cho...mien?" Ok, I didn't smoke but that stuff much have been 'Good shit!'

After wiping the tears of my face and going to take a breather I came back and realized that Bob was gone. Yep Bob was the first one of the 'Green Rangers" to pass out. He was back to his old intellectual self the next day. Devin was hunched over the table still recovering from the laugh attack that we had as the Kiwi found a spot at the end of the table to sit. Dinner was being dished up the first plate was set down in front of Devin and Mika told him that the others would be here in a few minutes... He attacked his plate like he hadn't eaten in a week. Mika and I exchanged looks and shook our head. by the time all the plates were out and set Devin was done. The Kiwi on the other hand had already eaten dinner and didn't chip in with everyone to buy it. When a plate was put in his spot he was warned that it was Not his food and he was Not to eat it. He looked over at me and said "Of course I know its not mine" He must have forgot because 5 seconds later he grabbed the chicken leg in both hand and bit into it like a jaguar! Mikas jaw dropped and the Kiwi realized what he was doing... I guess... "I'm sorry, I feel really bad about this!" although you couldn't really hear that because his mouth was full of chicken! hahaha! Anyways the Stoners passed out I finished dinner with Mika and girls from the hostel and washed up.

After that the girls were trying to get me to dance with them as they cranked the music. Christmas here is a time for big celebration! I do like to dance, but the way the dance here is a mix between salsa and what you were see at a dance club. So needless to say I have a hard time dancing like that and it shows (there is a lot of giggling and pointing and talking in spanish from the girls, who always point out that I need to improve my spanish). Thats when Omed joined us Omed is an english guy from the hostel as well, although his spanish is very minimal, he gets by very easily by his body language and everyone knows him and loves him. Even some of the locals couldn't believe how many people he knew in the short time he was here. Omed was out with a family having a traditional dinner which he said was very cool and very comfortable. Omed doesn't drink but he decided to come out and buy a couple rounds for the girls. In Peru its very common for the man to pay for everything. On that note though, the girls don't make much money and couldn't afford it anyways and for me it is not too expensive and Hey! its Christmas!

I didn't realize how late we were going to be going out but walking back at 6:30am was exhausting, Dancing for over 4 hours the girls wouldn't let me rest! I was ready for bed by the end of it, very very hot in the bar too even that early in the morning.

I did have an interesting morning before Christmas started, but I wanted to start with the good. I decided to walk a couple blocks to the super-market and buy some food for the few days I had left here. They had quite a bit of food so I browsed around and found a few things for dinner and some for lunches and breakfast.

While at the cashier a man behind me, obvious local talks to me a bit. He had better english then I had spanish. A commotion started outside and people went over to the windows talking and pointing. I didn't really think much about it but more people went over to look and people were running in the streets. A security guard for the supermarket closed and locked the main door and told people to step away from the windows. Someone yelled in the streets something and everyone closed the big wooden shutters over the windows and locked them. The man behind me explained that a few men were outside next door robbing the place with guns... Oh yeah? ... cool... hahaha! what can I do? I was in a safe place with the doors locked... no problem. After another 10 minutes or so they opened the doors to the supermarket and I walked back to the hostel. The police had caught the men a few blocks down is what a man that works in the hostel told me.

Carry what you need for the day, leave everything else at the hostel, if you get mugged, give them what you have and go on your way.

Next post will be longer, Its about the Belen Markets (the crasiest markets I have ever seen on my travels) the floating villages on the Amazon river and Coconut grub! can you guess what we did with those... pictures and video will be uploaded for that :)

Love you all.

Welcome to the Jungle

So, I will start by saying that I found a bimbo in the supermarket and I do believe that it is a good way to start Christmas eve... but more on that later. 

My last night in Lima, I wasn't expecting so much but a girl in my room that was about to go back to Italy the next day to see her family and husband wanted to go out for one last Pisco sour. We searched for a couple places that was recommended to be the best. One place we couldn't find and the other was closed... when we realized this we were standing in front of a turkish restaurant, the same restaurant in fact that I had gone out with Quentin on my first day to have a Pisco sour and talk about spirituality. 

Why not, eh? we ventured in and ended up having the same seats... she chose them. Lots of more spiritual conversations on where are paths were and what we had learned. She was the second person to look strangely at me that I didn't have a master or a guru. I explained that I had many teachers from all corners of the world that taught me different things. One thing that we shared, that has been shared with me from not one of my teachers but from many is that this is the time to take responsibility for how our lives are and what we do and where we go and who we are. Everything. It was an easy conversation and the Pisco Sour was delicious. 

Tarot came up in conversation "You read tarot?" her eyes widened, I answered that I did and she clapped her hands excitingly. I gave her a reading back at the hostel... I guess I gave her some clarity in her life because she gave me a bracket with these beans or seeds on them, red and black for protection of evil spirits, Much thanks and a good energy exchange. Time to get a couple hours of sleep before my early flight to Iquitos the next day. I woke up a couple minutes before I was suppose to. Paid my Hostel and left. 

I flew into Iquitos on Wednesday to see what kind of an experience ayahuasca is. For those of you who do not know what ayahuasca is I will give a brief explanation. 

Basically Ayahuasca is a black liquid from a vine that is found in the Amazon rainforest. Shamans have been using this liquid to put themselves in a different state of mind, battle their inner demons, reach high connections with God or the earth, some even explain experiences of seeing their whole life from birth or seeing how the world was created. Most people or books refer to the process as rather... unpleasant, I will go into more depth later. 

Picked up from the airport and driven right to the centre, not sure where it is, Percy who is the "shaman" with apparently 15 years of experience... which is interesting because he doesn't look more than 30 said in his broken english that its about 35-40 minute drive. The lush green of trees and shrubs are tightly packed together and everywhere. We arrive after about 35 minutes and he gets one of his helpers to grab my big bag and we hike into the forest. I didn't realize that it was going to be that long of a hike, but turned out to be a good half hour. The hike was wet and a bit slippery, the ground was made up of mud and hardened clay on the beaten path. Overcast skies shielded the sun, but the hot humidity that seemed to always stick to the skin. Smell of wilderness and wet musky wood was in the air. Bugs, mosquitos, crickets all around. We finally arrived to the centre, tall huts on stilts were everywhere, and stumps of thick trees lead the way to each of them. 

I payed the money for the week I would be staying there. Talked to a couple others that were there as well, very kind, smiling, hippie type people. That oddly enough didn't have a lot to say about the ceremony that they are already taken. I had signed up for 3 over the course of a week. 

I was led to my room, which was my own hut with a hammock, how cool is that, right? No electricity, no running water, an outhouse style toilet was connected to the hut for more convenience. A black stray cat had taken a liking to me and always came around. After waiting for a while in my hut I heard a knock on the door and was given some lunch. All the meals were mostly vegetarian, sometimes with a boiled egg, usually served with a vegetable soup. after more waiting I had a wonder around the place, very calm, peaceful and very alive, got to see a sloth moving in the trees, heard many birds, lots of insects everywhere.  Later on in the day it was time for the flower bath. We were to meet at the small river that flowed through the centre and under the massive hut that was for the ceremony itself. we washed in the river. Percy blessed the water with flowers from the amazon in it by blowing smoke from a ceremonial cigar and poured it over our heads. 

Now, I had thought! this is where the fun begins, We were asked to wait in the ceremony hut with our blankets and a flashlight. We waited and waited, finally percy arrived in ceremony dress, which was pretty much that, a patterned thin robe and a hat. A single candle in the middle of this octagon sat lighting the place. about 30 feet in diameter and 30 feet at the tallest point in the centre. 

Coming to each of us we were to cup our hands and a perfume was poured, to rub on our skin. after that each one of us went up to Percy to take part, a mixture of ayahuasca was made... which stuck in my head because I always remember ayahuasca being of one plant... anyways to that later. the goblet of ayahuasca was blessed with smoke again and given, each one of us drank from the goblet and went back to our blanket and thin mattress and our personal bucket (yes, bucket). The candle was blown out by the translator and Percys' helper. 

Darkness filled the room as Percy began to sing and whistle. Dark is one thing, in the amazon it is true darkness. No moon, no stars, no light! I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Blackness. I waited, building up with anticipation. This was it, this is what I came out to the jungle, Hoping that a vision with some clarity would come to me. I waited. 

I was also very tired having not slept much the night before. I drifted in and our of sleep, my dreams of travellers smiling at me and reaching out their hands. I open my eyes again, not much has changed in the hour i had been sitting there, didn't feel much different, it should have kicked in by now. A while later, I was asked if I wanted more... Why not? 

I took another goblet, this time much fuller... and waited. 

I could hear people throwing up in their buckets, I felt queasy and my stomach was clenching itself. I still didn't see anything. My body started to feel funny, same feeling you get when you get a buzz from drinking. A light would flash every once in a while, while people headed for the toilet I couldn't comprehend why at the time. Finally I knew... yep have to get to the toilet now! standing up everything hit me. much like drinking while sitting and then standing and forgetting you just went through a case of beer. once I hit the toilet everything came out of me... Both ends... fast! If you have ever had food poisoning you will know what I mean. Except I learned later that that is what is suppose to happen? Not from what I read or heard... but from this place... 

I lay back down on my mattress, completely sober at this point... My mind began to wander and think... Why did I just pay a man that I don't know 500 dollars to make me sick? I began to think of all that I wanted to accomplish there... Middle of the amazon, Shamans, Ayahuasca... This was suppose to be a new beginning. A fresh start and clarity of what exactly was my true purpose. Did i really just leave all my loved ones in Canada to be sick in the dark with strangers trying to grasp some sort of "enlightened" experience? I felt sad for the things I left behind. Sleep. I just needed sleep... I slept and waited for the ceremony to come to an end. 

At the end, Percy came to each of us and did a final blessing and we were allowed to go to bed in our hut. I got back, groggy for I just slept for 2 hours. pulled my mosquito net around the bed and tried to sleep, Oddly enough I couldn't for how tired I was. 

My mind was unsettled, I realized that I wasn't just coming for an experience. I was coming for answers... I remembered Nepal suddenly and shook my head at what a fool I was! Nepal did bring me to new heights spiritually... but in unexpected ways. I went to Nepal with dreams of meditating on a mountain top with a great sage or guru! What happened... I meditated with a man that owned a bookshop in the middle of a very busy tourist street in Pokhara. I made an strong effort with very little direction in Nepal and that is why I got what I needed from that experience. I didn't rely on anyone else, I did my own thing and tried! why was this any different. 

2 More ceremonies and 6 more days... nothing to occupy myself with but meditation, writing and reading... doesn't sound half bad... Christmas! I realized again through doing ayahuasca and not receiving what I needed from it I remembered life is about enjoyment, pushing forward and most importantly balance... Balance was definitely missing from this. I need to go back to Iquitos and celebrate Christmas and enjoy myself. 

And so I waited... the next day I slept long, breakfast came, more vegetables and soup. Percy and the translator were no longer there... the other helpers didn't speak english. I talked to a couple people that were there. A woman from Canada, originally from Poland told me that Percy would be back the following day. She said that I should give the healing plant another chance, it had helped her a lot. She blonde hair and blue eyes... tired eyes, exhausted eyes. I told her that it wasn't more me. although she was open she was meek. She said that it has very good medicine, she said it in a way that made me smirk... She had no idea what was in it, not a clue.(seemed lost to me... but hey, so am I) It reminded me of what Michelle had said about a friend that told her that a bracelet had "energy" in it... but had no idea what kind of energy when questioned. 

Finally the next day after reading quite a bit, writing my thoughts and thinking... Percy showed up with the translator, crossing his arms he wouldn't look in my eyes. Explained that there is a policy here and he won't refund any of my money even partially. The translator was looking at me sympathetically. I realized Percy does have a business and he has to make money but ever so misleading about ayahuasca until he had to explain... of course after money had been exchanged. So, you are apparently suppose to nearly shit yourself and making your body feel like someone beat you with a bat in your mid section... its not just ayahuasca it has other cleansing effects... right! thanks buddy! you tool!  

Yeah, needless to say I wasn't too impressed with my experience. It did... by not doing anything bring me to some conclusions, in that aspect I guess I did gain something from it. Back to mediation and Balance. The hike back was ... muddy, slippery and I was slick with mud from my knees down, got to love the wet season, it had just rained before I left. 

So, I said screw it! I had dedicated that money to the ceremony and I did learn something about getting back to myself, follow my own path with balance. Try not to let this bother me. 

I waited at the main road, he said he wouldn't be long. Well, I waited some more... When he arrived, I could feel the hot energy coming off him. He wasn't all full of shit, but I definitely wouldn't call him a shaman, I truly believe there aren't that many left in the world. I wasn't too surprised by the fact, but I had hoped it would be a better ceremony. 

So, no visions other than the dream I had before Ayahuasca had kicked in. No seeing my life from birth or past lives. No seeing the universe made. I didn't get any more clarity on what to write about or what to do about this life of mine... But I did get a sense that I should keep pushing forward and take time out to meditate. 

Below I will leave a picture of that Bimbo I was telling you about. 

                                mmm tall and bubbly... Hey! I never said I wasn't a geek!

Next post will be about Iquitos, christmas and armed robbery keep reading ... :)

Lima One Week

 Night Life, Kings and Stealing Things...

First week in Lima, South America, interesting to say the least been an adventure and a half and it kind of feels like I have been here much longer than i actually have. I have met a large amount of people in Lima and it feels like I wouldn't have time to mention them all. Alas I will mention one that made a great impression on me. 

I did spend some time wandering around and found the beach that can be overlooked from a cliff, fog made the ocean look like a haze from a sauna. surfers and locals covered the beach and water. the humidity and breeze were calming, great place to reflect and think.

Jose, is actually staying on the top bunk of me in my 8 bed dorm. I didn't meet him before because I never actually saw him awake... the jokes around the hostel is that its because the beds are super comfortable. Which is actually very very true, I don't ever remember a hostel that has had better bed then this, wider than a normal cot and great to sleep on. Besides the point he liked to sleep. 

Our hostel has an area on the second floor that opens up to the sky to let the sun in, great area to relax and read or talk to other people in the hostel. Jose was chilling out there fixing a bracelet. Long but very curly dark hair and a beard to match, olive skin and very honest and kind eyes. I sat across from him... but to my surprise the man didn't even look up, not so much as even noticed me. I didn't want to interrupt him and at the same time didn't want to seem aloof. I shift a bit... waited a bit... then said in the my "the hell with it" asked him what he was doing. Looking up nonchalantly he smiled, said that he had gotten the bracelet from a vendor down the street but it was too short for his neck and so he was making a bracelet from it. The bracelet was black and had the colours of Bob Marley, very suitable.

After the initial "ice breaker" if you want to call it that, things went smoothly after that, he was warm and compassionate about all things, travel and concerts, turned about to be a local too. I think he enjoyed the atmosphere in the hostel. He explained his experiences driving in Beijing a couple years before on a motorbike with a side car, 6 people all together, hanging on even someone on the spare tire. He was a good story teller. He told me later that he was meeting a friend and going out in Barranco, the district we were in was meant for parties. 

Later on I didn't have much to do, so when he approached I said "why not?!" finished my next to full beer in a couple 'sips' and we were on our way. Jose and his friend both spoke very good english but also talked a lot in spanish, I am catching on and can understand a lot more now. where did we go? we went everywhere! No, I'm serious we went everywhere. I can say that I won't have many pictures of the night life for the fact that a camera is bulky to carry around and very easily stolen, its not recommended to bring... I will share some more interesting story in a bit about things being stolen. 

One of the first places on the agenda was 'Ayahuasca House' house turned into a bar, I think house is the wrong term, it was more like mansion, the courtyard was fairly big with two stairways that paralleled a horse shoe to the entrance. There was a lot of different nationalities sitting and talking and the drinks were more pricey than other places, everyone seems to be dressed a little better. What really made the place stand out though was the creativity that went into it, there was about 8 different rooms that you could go into and every room was different. One room was completely black with bits of colourful yarn glued to the walls and ceiling, it almost made it look as if when you looked up that colourful grass was protruding down at us. another one had an accent wall that was for lack of a better explanation rows and rows of fish bowls with colour papers inside each one. another wall that separated two rooms was made of glass but to look like a newspaper with white print. 

Other bars that we went too had less character but where in unique places such as over looking a cliff to the ocean. There were many places to sit, eat and drink along that boardwalk. The beauty and quiet atmosphere attracts a lot of couples, which seemed to be paired up all over the places, arms around each other, quiet whispers, a stolen kiss and giggles were all very common. After a mojito (yeah they really know how to make them here) and some talk about the politics of the country we were off again to the main boulevard. Crowed streets, noisy with bar upon bar, some for tourists others were packed with locals with better drink prices. I remember going to at least eight different bars, sitting on chairs that were tiny or off balance, seeing bathrooms that were ... less than appealing, drinking beers, mojitos and pisco sours. 

What I had noticed was that Jose was pacing himself and when ever we shared a "grande cerveza" I would be the one to drink most of it and/or finish it. I didn't find out till later why. 

later...

I looked at the less than crappy watch that I had purchased that day. 7 sol! yeah! I figured I only wanted the time, didn't care about the quality of the watch (sorry John) but it's better to have a crappy watch when or if it gets stolen. Well, my watch informed me it was 4:30 am and we were still drinking and playing music form the jukebox. Hahaha! wow, His friend that had come out had to bow out around midnight because he had to go pick up his wife from another party. I figured it wouldn't be too long after that when we decided to go home.  I couldn't be more wrong, He was still talking about all kinds of things, the drugs in Peru and if I decided to partake to be very careful on who I bought from (you're legally allowed to have 8 grams of marijuana and 2 grams of cocaine on your for personal use... however you're not allowed to buy or sell it... hmm quite interesting... and no I didn't partake nor do I think I will  :P). Among other conversations about music, girls and travel. It wasn't long after that, that I decided to bow out and get some sleep too. To my amazement he was just getting started... Yes, I found out first hand why Jose liked to sleep a lot... well... the beds are comfortable. :)

The next night it just seems natural or innocent to get a drink with dinner out somewhere. This time Jarod joined me. We found a place that was renowned for its seafood and anyone that was anyone would be there on sunday. I'm someone! yeah we went, one of their best dishes was the 'Ceviches'. This place was a little more expensive than the one we had found before that served the dish. This time it had big chunks of cod, shrimp, squid, and other fish and a big serving at that, garnished with a sweet potato and bits of bitter corn. I have to admit it was extremely good. The trick to Ceviche is to get it at lunch time you want it fresh, and not to sit out all day or recooked, for an obvious reason that you don't want food poisoning and the other which would be they have to 'recook' it with more lime/lemon juices, which make it too acidic.

anyways Sunday night wasn't all that exciting for the night life, most of the places that had any character were closed. We did find two bars on the boulevard open, facing each other in a quarrel, it wasn't hard to pick out which one to go to, one was offering a free 'Pisco Sour' (if you don't remember what it is from an earlier blog it is a sweet and tart drink, very tasty and refreshing with a good kick of Pisco alcohol a sort of brandy made from grapes.) When we sat down in this places with loud dance music and a dance music video playing that didn't match the music... at all! (It wasn't just out of sync it wasn't even the same genre haha) and colourful lights rotating like a disco ball. It was dead.

There was a couple tables of locals in the club one table in general made us laugh, a couple really making out, trying to get closer than what they already were... which was impossible ridiculous affection for something so public. We weren't the only two that thought it was funny. A couple of girls did come in after us, decided to order shots of tequila and dance. They a gesture toward the couple that were going 'at it' made a  "oh my" facial expression and laughed out loud. One was Israeli just started to study law here and the other was american that oddly enough spent two years living in Calgary, small world. We ordered a few more drinks, they started to dance, with Jarod... a local girl came up to me said which I must admit made me laugh... "Come dance with me! You  can't say no, you're not allowed!" yeah... so I told her that I couldn't dance that well, not the way they dance here. Wasn't a good enough excuse though, because she was determined to teach me! So, we danced and drank.

 Here comes the interesting part, I had a suspicion when I had walked into the place, just to be on alert. My suspicion died down later on, however when I had to go into the bathroom, there was a man in there, local man that tried to start a conversation, Well, I caught little what he had to say he was speaking such fast spanish, but he slowed down a bit and explained to me that he girl that was 'forcing' me to learn the art of dance was going to drug me and take my money. Yay! 

Haha, what an adventurous place, Needless to say I stopped dancing with that one, and quit drinking. I left Jarod with my knowledge of the local girl and left him with the other two that were obviously not dangerous, bid them all a "Buenas Noches" and decided to go for a walk in the park and then head home. Was a quiet night, very warm, various couples on the benches. Not going to lie every so often the calm atmosphere was interrupted by a local "where you from?" which the reply "doesn't matter" and the rebuttal "you want cocaine" always no, however other than that they were very nice. 

This didn't happen that night, happened a couple days ago, but it has given me mixed feelings. I had only heard of these things happening before and never actually happened to me. But hey, all experiences right. I bought an Osprey Bag because of the quality, warranty and design... The design this smaller bag can be zipped onto the big one, that was cool, but what really caught my eye when I bought it was the fact that when its on your shoulders no one can get into it. it has to be taken off to unzip and has many pockets protecting the most important part on the inside. 

So, two common things for thieves to do is to unzip your bag while you're walking and take the valuables that you my have inside... or slash open your bag with a razor, which is much more ... shitty! They are good, you would think that you would know or feel it, but the chances are you're not the first tourist they have ripped off. 

So, the good news is that I bought the bag for the reason that its hard to steal from me so... nothing was stolen... the bad news... I will have to find somewhere to repair my bag below.

 Now I have to decide where I am going next... I think Iquitos is in order, however I may stay in Lima for christmas... time will tell. Today I am going to spend the day chilling out and reading, I have the second book in the series from the 'Game of Thrones" called the "Clash of Kings" 

until next time. :) Keep smiling and living!

Lima day... I dont know.

Lima is a cool city, but I can't wait to go out of this busy place and head to someone near nature, and more peaceful. im not even going to begin to try to edit this so... :D enjoy

Trying to find a spanish teacher is harder than i thought, but i am picking up as much as i can day by day. Its a fairly easy language to learn so far. 

Met an american man around 30 years old named Jarod, very timid and quiet, good hearted person and ready for an adventure. He has been teaching Math in a university in Bogota and decided to go traveling in Peru and Bolivia for a few weeks. shared some traveling stories, He had been around the world as well. A spontaneous traveler just like me, follow the crowds, and see if we can find a hole in the wall that serves good food. 

I asked around and found out that there was a party happening last night near by, invite only, but hey the hostel was given some free tickets about 15 of us decided to head out. Lots of French, Germans, another Canadian that came here a couple years ago out of the blue and started teaching english and loved it. I wasn't expecting much but when we got there, the line went around the block. We were patted down before going into a massive building hundreds of locals, loud music from a DJ, and later on local bands that knew how to get the crowd moving! lets just say too much beer haha. Danced all night met some locals and tried to exchange a few words in spanish here and there. It was a really fun night, lost all my friends, but decided they hell with it, im going to keep dancing for a bit. 

finished my beer and headed out of the place... Burger Cart! I can't honestly tell you if it was any good... because everything tastes amazing when your drunk ... but it was Amazing! burger with ham, and egg and french fries, and some other sauces all piled on top of each other in a bun!. Ended up finding my american friend Jarod, so we caught a cab home, stumbled into the hostel and passed out... something about the beer here gave me such a wicked headache when i woke up the first time... after the second time it was a little less... by the 5th i was ready to get out of a bed.... mmm sleep. 

Got showered, realized that I completely missed breakfast, so i ventured down the street, got some local cuisine. Found Jared again he joined me for "breakfast" mmm breakfast at 1pm. Breakfast consisted of a small salad of lettuce, chopped up beats and a half of a boiled egg on top with some red sauce. the main plate had a bed of rice with a grilled chicken breast a few french fries and a slice of avocado. 

We caught a bus into the city this time, which got really really packed by the time we hit down town, lots of walking, caught a couple good pictures of a scenery and the hills in in the city where a lot of the poorer people live.  Checked out a cathedral and some local streets where people shouted something in spanish followed by the word 'gringo'. 

We found a hole in the wall restaurant that served Cebetche or Ceviche, (sah-vee-cheh) spelling is different to different places. basically its fish and onions in lime juices... but the fish is raw, the acidity from the lime juice somehow cooks it. It is found widely all over Peru and it actually a very very tasty dish. 

Catching a Taxi back to the hostel in rush hour was interesting, Taxi driver wanted 3 times the normal fair to go back to Barranco. We ended up splitting a cab with a couple locals and paid what we normally would. a relaxed driver and a good guy, but when he wanted to get somewhere he turned into a very aggressive driver, thought he was going to get into an accident for sure, but we turned out to be fine. Rush hour I think will be avoided from this point hahaha. 

I found a few interesting things on my journey into the city centre today... one was pork sandwiches! yes yes i know what is so special about the pork sandwich ... well... nothing... but where the get the pork is something else, they cook the entire pig whole and then shave off bits of it... I'm not sure what is so appealing about seeing a cooked pig in the sun with sandwiches garnishing it. But how can you not take a picture of it? 

                                                                  Lovely! muah!

haha other then that, stopped for some fresh fruit juices, papaya and pineapple was really good! got a cool picture of a military vehicle that i had to post. I love walking amongst all the chaos in a peaceful dream taking it all in. 

Its not going to be a big post today so i will say, Buenos Noches! here is a nice picture of the sun going down to make up for the pig  :) 

Day 2 Lima

What can I say, i woke up super early... well if you want to call 7 early, mind you did only get a light sleep and got to the hostel really late the night before. Woke up brought my computer down the the common room to write where I met a couple girls from Finland.

The girls were leaving that day, so i started writing on my blog while having a complimentary breakfast from the hostel, a fresh bun with jam and an orange juice and coffee. which were all very good.

After i was done, i promptly got up walked over to a guy that was on his laptop and asked him what his name was and what he was up to.  Quentin from Belgium a quiet man of 25 with a strong personality and eyes that know more than they should, was spending the day looking for a cheap mp3 player to replace the one he lost. so what the hell i joined him to go into the city.
What i realized is that american money is common here but not used all the time. Peruvian Soles are used, but there are many vendors on the street that exchange money... you cant miss them... its a dude in a blue or yellow vest holding a wad of money of the street corner. The vest always brings me to a realization that they are a money exchange not a drug dealer. :)

A taxi into the city was 15 Soles, about 5 dollars, crazy hectic driving, but hey I'm starting to get used to it. about a 20 minute cab ride, Lima is a huge city that stretches over a long distance with over 9 million people.

We arrived in the city centre and decided to walk around to see what we could see, neither of us knew what was around, where we were going and why... just the way i like it.

the main square was quite impressive with many buildings with exquisite architecture, very spanish in nature. Always going where the flow of people were seems to bring you to new places that are common and quite good. I explained that i wanted to take more pictures because its something that i havent done too much in the past my excuse "I guess i didn't want to look like a retarded tourist..."
his  rebuttal "well, its ok cause you are a retarded tourist" ... i had nothing to say to that he was right. hahaha, we had a good laugh.

on our walk we encountered another tourist asking for our help. A German man of about 35 with blondish hair and a nose that looked as if someone had hit it with a blunt instrument told us that he had arrived in Lima the night before only to be mugged with all his belongings and money taken away. The Embassy said they wouldn't give him anything to continue his trip, but would give him a way to get back home. Which i thought would be ok. However, instead of taking the trip home, he was asking for money to go to Cusco so he could see Machu Picchu, not going to lie that is not a cheap trip from a travellers point of view, few hundred dollars at least there and back, which doesnt cover the cost of food and accommodations. We wished him the best and suggested that maybe his family or friends could send him some money western union.

Quentin and I found a place to have some lunch, I suppose you could call what we ordered a steak haha, with rice and ... im not sure what it was called but it came with cold cooked slices of potatoes that was in a sauce that visually resembled pesto. quite good actually, the "steak" was a bit rubbery but tasted good. Can't wash that down with anything but a beer. Cusquena, first beer to try in Peru, have to admit I like it its quite good, amber ale, light, tastes good and goes down smooth.

After lunch we decided to keep exploring, we found a shop that had ... well everything it was like a little market... or wal-mart for lack of a better explanation. Shoes, shorts, t shirts, led TVs, stereo systems, phones, bicycles, stoves... you name it.
found a cheap mp3 player for 99 soles about 33 dollars give or take. but it was the last one and it was the display model, I have to admit I was very impressed with Quentins' Spanish, if he told me he was fluent i wouldn't have known the difference.

well damn he got a discount of 5 percent on the display model, he said "YEAAAH GOT EM!!!" hahaha yeah we knew the exchange rate and it turned out to be about 3 bucks off, but hey a deal is a deal! and no he has some music to listen to as he travels on the bus.

On our walk we saw many police officers, a few with riot shields, I caught a good picture of them.

Walking through the crowded local streets reminded me of the bazar in Kathmandu, people shouting to buy their things from head massagers, plastic kids toys, hard to identify foods in vendors, and insert random item here, shoulder to shoulder, people pushing and trying to get through, smell of perfume, body odour, and cooking meats rose in the air. At this point I am pretty sure someone called me "gringo" ...At the end of one of the blocks there was a couple small carts selling various cooked foods. Quentin decided to get something
"hmm that smells good, but i have no idea what it is!"
I was pretty sure it was pork, but something else caught my eye, another cart with a sweet milky smell aroma drifted into the air from it. fried coconut pieces.
... or chicken... haha no seriously it was coconut... I think.
1 Sol gave me a small paper with "coconut" pieces inside. so good!

wondering around a bit, being honked at by random cars and taxis while we made our way down narrow streets of the market and crossing major roads with hundreds of cars zooming down. I wouldn't say that pedestrians have the right of way here... and I also wouldn't say that the cars do, some will stop others will not... in that respect though I wouldn't expect to win that one if you're a pedestrian.

After wandering around taking random photos and exploring we decided that we need to find a local drink. Pisco sour is a famous cocktail made from a grape type brandy, lemons, egg whites, sirup and bitters from angostura. We caught a cab back to Barranco district close to where the hostel is and found a pub that served Pisco sour and shisha. The atmosphere in Barranco is a lot more calm and relaxed than the inner city. lots of places to sit with shade in parks with fountains and many green trees and shrubs.

Neither of us had tried coffee flavoured shisha before, so we ordered a hooka with coffee shisha and 2 pisco sours. the tastes and aroma filled the air and our taste buds. We spent a couple hours chatting as a cool breeze passed in through the curtains of the open windows.

Some interesting conversation of meditation, the world being made up of energy, everything being connected and how to use what we know about it all.

basically we boiled it down to the fact of the coincidences that we see of how people act and believe brings in life show us that things are connected. There is something else out there that hasn't been completely explained by science yet. But, we also agreed that to understand things on a deeper level, knowledge won't suffice alone we must experience things for ourselves. to go out and experience and give meditation and other similar things a chance, we may actually find something.

Quentin left a couple hours later to go on his way to Huaraz another place that is on my list to go to. Left to my own devices I tried to struck up a conversation with a couple more people from the hostel and what I have found out is that English is not dominate here. I struggled through a couple conversations with broken spanish. a group of young Germans asked me to play some mario cart on the wii that was positioned on a TV above the bar. So i had a few drinks with them before deciding to call it a night.

Today I go to learn Spanish.

safe and sound...

PRE-CAUTION:
Alright, so this is what i figured. if you are reading my blog you want to know what is actually going on. I have so many that have told me that I should write a blog so that they can live vicariously through me. So, I am now abiding. I am going to be blunt and its going to be entertaining. :) 

4am start to the morning in Canada. Which if you know me (I'm not a morning person) you would think it would bother me. But I have to admit that sleep wasn't priority on the day. was saying goodbye.
That is another story.

Spent the morning on a plane cramped between two people, got to love it seat 23e. They were tiny people though so i was fortunate in that way. I read the majority of my book Celestine prophecy, which i have to admit i was quite surprised that it had a very good message involved. The book was recommended to me to read before I reached Peru. It involved a lot of coming into ones own, seeing a new perspective on life and evolving into the best person you can be. It didn't say anything new to me, however it did give to me some things that i needed to hear again. I also tried to sleep but kept waking myself up from my own snoring, other people must have loved me. But hey no babies on the flights... score!

I arrived at Houston around noon, what i soon realized in my short stop over in Houston is that they like to charge you for everything. Even the wifi, which is normally free, Hell my cheap hostel has free wifi.

Anyways I decided not to put my credit card through a transaction on the internet to get an account to use wifi at the airport. I was feeling a bit hungry having not eaten yet, the 3 hour flight on United didn't offer any food.

I went into a pub near my gate, I had a couple hours to kill. Ordered a Heineken on tap (the best beer they had) and a chicken wrap with yam fries. The beer was flat and tasted more like the bottom of the barrel of Keiths, Heineken and Coors mixed together. mmmm 25 oz of yum. (the food was alright) ;) Afterwards the manager saw that my drink was empty... yes I drank it, it cost me 10 bucks and said to me "Hi Sir, would you like another tasty malt beverage?" hahaha! who says that? I replied "no."

boarding my flight was effortless, I know how to pack, small pack with a weeks worth of clothes and the essentials (my essentials seem to always have no less than 5 books and 2 journals.) and a small carry on with the fragiles, a good book to read and this trip my computer.

I was sat next to a Peruvian man with intelligent kind eyes and a strong jaw. I asked him how he was and he looked at me said... "uh good..." and that was that.
haha ok he did eventually talk to me 10 minutes later, I had found out that he was from Peru but has lived in Canada for some time as a biologist near in Ontario. Doing some very cool research about the metabolism of animals and trying to transfer the results to humans. A very smart and yet humble person. When he found out that I was traveling alone and the length of my stay... he became... well lets say... over protective. Gave me all kinds of advice on where to go, what to watch out for and in a very humble way... telling me there are some people that will rob you. hahaha "we have some uhh, lets say... funny people there"

I guess I didn't really look like a seasoned traveler at this point, clean looking, leather jacket, new bag.
besides the point. Hector was the mans name, which i didn't learn his name until 6 hours of flight and many conversations later when we finally introduced ourselves (sometimes names come later when you realize that you have a connection with someone and you realize you don't know what to call them). He gave me his information on a business card and told me that if i needed anything or anything happened to please call him. There was something funny though, he kept asking me if i was sure that I had a ride ready for me at the airport. I soon realized why later.

An hour to get through customs, get my bag and go through bag checkage (yes checkage, no its not a Peruvian thing is a Tyler thing) I didn't have a problem getting through customs I seldom do. The reason it took so long was apparently Lima does not have that many runways and everything is done at 1 am. so  4 planes landed in a very short time and everyone bottle necked in line.

I started feeling amazing on the plane, very excited about new avenues that I would come across. When the humidity hit me in the airport I was set. I feel good again.

When I walked out of the terminal with my bag in hands ready to look for a banner with my name on it (yes i know i know but i couldn't resist when the hostel asked me if I wanted it, going to feel very special... but it didn't) my eyes widened a bit... try to picture and yes I'm sorry I had all my luggage with me and didn't have time to get out my camera so try to picture with me now... about 500 people in a room behind a small barrier. screaming and asking if I wanted a taxi. Well i read a bit about the taxis in Lima, pretty much said there is risk of getting mugged if you take the wrong one. Anyways, very loud people shouting all grouped up, some families looking, others shouting if anyone wanted a taxi. I was asked 5 times in a within 2 minutes. what really made me laugh was the amount of signs with peoples names on them, i literally had to walk up to a lot of them and see if one was my name.  You would think that my name would stand out among all the spanish names... but apparently  my name can be spelled with extra letters. "Teylor Keialboack" that for sure made me laugh. I could see how overwhelming the airport experience could be for some people and also why Hector was making sure someone was picking me up.

I have always said Calgary has some of the worst drivers, even though other countries seem to be more erratic. So even amongst the craziness i was pretty calm getting into the cab.
I flash back of of movie I had recently seen came flooding into my head "the Art of Travel" fresh new traveler in a cabbie in South America screaming in terror as the erratic fast driving as he passes through stop signs and red lights without blinking and taking corners at race car speeds.
HOWEVER...
I didn't think too much about it as we almost hit 3 cars out of the parking lot, as he pulled up to the 3rd before the exit gate, I'm not sure if i could have slid my hand in between the two bumpers after he jerked on the breaks. Afterwards signalling was a omitted in his driving as he darted in and out of cars, he did slow down for the massive speed bumps that were randomly placed on any road. Funny thing that happened was he was always put on his hi-beams and tail gate someone that cut him off... Now that doesn't seem funny right now and would kind of remind you of Canadian driving respectfully except for one difference, he wasn't at all angry or perturbed in any way, he did it as if it was the thing to do, if someone cuts you off or you dont like their driving, put on your hi-beams and tailgate them. dont forget to smile. :)
ok, not everyone didn't forget their signal lights, very often we passed a car or motor bike with their right signal on... I figure its meant for people to pass them, but who knows.
you may think wow, too crazy... but, ... it's not over yet...

I'm paying attention to say the least but I'm still at this point not nervous, we have more accidents in Canada in my mind at this point... cough*
speeding faster and continuing to dart in between cars and just missing trucks that decided to merge in our lane at the last second, my cab driver decided to put on  a little music... which i wasn't quite sure what it was going to be like but laughed when he finally picked something he enjoyed... My mind has always thought this type of driving should be accompanied with some fast beat or heavy music to keep up with the pace of traffic and my heart beat haha.
nope! We instead got music that I can only describe as ... Mexican polka in an 80s romantic movie minus the sax.
we came to a slow down when we saw some flashing lights, I thought maybe a "Policia" had pulled someone over...
nope! was fire trucks and emergency crews that were looking at a fresh crash... Shattered glass and a badly dented side of a small red car stood in the middle of an intersection. with random people walking around.
My cabbie slowed down to take a look saying "ohhh... crash..."
So at this point my whole argument in my head that I was safe and this is normal came flooding out of me in a kind of nervous laugh. The cabbie smiled apprehensively at me probably wondering what I found so amusing.
After that I have to go down the check list.

garbage in the streets, check
dark alley ways, check
stray dog, check
almost in an accident, check, check, check
group of young men hidden in dark alleys following with their eyes, check
passing a police car over 30km more an hour, check, and check.

Got into my hostel at around 1 am, no one seemed to be awake, got my bag and everything in my room, wrote on facebook telling everyone that I got here... safely? sure why not ... safely!

My hostel is quite nice, red walls, lots of paintings on the walls, literally on the walls, as well as pictures of other backpackers... not lost or missing or anything, in fun poses smiling, I get a good vibe from this place.
One thing is for certain, I must improve on my Spanish if i was to get by here, which is a nice difference from other places I have traveled. Other people in other countries wanted to improve their english where as here they want me to improve my Spanish, awesome!

alright so... this is the morning of Day One... wish me luck!  ;)