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Home Sweet Arequipa

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Breakfast On The Terrace Adam Working Arequipa - Plaza de Armas

We’ve really settled into our new home in Arequipa.  Instead of renting an apartment here, we decided after very little arm-twisting to stay in a sweet little hostel with 6 spacious rooms. We wake up early in Arequipa as the natural sunlight starts filtering into our room at 6AM. Every morning, we enjoy coffee, bread, and fresh juice served on the upstairs terrace with views of the nearby neighborhood rooftops and the far away volcanoes. This morning, we spied on the lady across the street watering her plants and a man 4 rooftops away laying bricks to build up a new wall on his roof.
We follow breakfast by working for a few hours before heading out to one of the 7 nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurants within one block of the hostel for a set lunch menu. If we want something a little more interesting, we walk a little further afield to a cevicheria or one of the veggie restaurants (which serves seitan and tofu) or the mercado for food-court style dining.

By 3-4pm we finish with work and head out to enjoy our new city. Like everyone else, we inevitably spend some time sitting on a bench in the main plaza watching kids chase pigeons and admiring the grand architecture that flanks this central meeting place. We’ve also been knocking off the museums, colonial mansions, churches, and viewpoints one at a time. Our favorite afternoon jaunt so far was the museum devoted to displaying the well-preserved remains of the frozen Inca sacrificial children and artifacts found in the nearby mountaintops.

At twice the population of Pittsburgh, Arequipa doesn’t have quite as many big city amenities, but so far we have enjoyed numerous happy hours, shopping, wandering, and a night of absurd Spanish theater. Our google calendar is filling up with events found on Arequipa’s cultural website, siete esquinas.  Needless to say, our Spanish is improving. We also have plans to catch up on movies we missed this year from the hostels extensive collection of questionable DVDs, but so far we haven’t been willing to devote the requisite 2 hours at night.

Dinner is a fairly late affair here and we often have an afternoon empanada and coffee to hold us over till dinnertime. In addition to classic Peruvian cuisine, the restaurants in Arequipa are varied ranging from hotdog shops to pizzerias and pollerias (chickenerias) to chifas (chinese restaurants.) In a month, we won’t need to eat at the same restaurant for dinner twice. Of course, the most fun is when we stock up on ingredients at the market and make a dinner in the hostel kitchen. The potato selection here is to die for, and we were pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of cheeses, olives, pastas, and fresh fruits and vegetables. We’re working up the courage to buy fresh alpaca meat at the market. Maybe we’ll start with alpaca-style soy product.

No Breakfast

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Before takeoff  A Nazca Line, or bird, or something

When you arrive in the town of Nazca, you are there to see the famous Nazca Lines, as featured in the latest Indiana Jones movie. Everybody in town can sell you a flight over the lines. Everybody also warns you not to eat breakfast the morning of your flight. Touts and tour agencies may tell a lot of lies, but this is not one of them. I don’t care if your hotel includes a continental breakfast, or if you’re really hungry. Do not eat breakfast. This is for your sake as much as your fellow travelers.

Around 9AM, you will board a plane that seats five people – barely. You will be given a map displaying the route the plane will take with the 13 figures that you are to look for. The pilot will also point out the plastic bags tucked behind every seat. The miniature plane will take off – barely – and begin its tortuous circling of the lines. When the pilot points out the first figure, it will be exciting. The plane will tilt and twirl to give both sides a beautiful panoramic view of the mysterious etched design. By the 2nd figure, you will be clutching your stomach. By the 13th figure, you will be praying for the end. If someone on your plane ate breakfast, you will be breathing through your mouth.

There are many theories regarding the origin of the Nazca Lines: fertility symbols, astrological mappings, religious rituals. They are a marvel of planning dating from between 200 BC and 700AD. And it’s pretty cool to see the designs of monkeys, lizards, and whales from above. But do me a favor and don’t eat breakfast.

Dry Wine

Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Grapes growing in desert  Tourist Trap, But Pretty Driving along the highway[Continue reading this entry]