LAB: Happy 4th of July!

" If I had a thousand lives, I would gladly give them for my homeland."

- José Olaya

¡Welcome to Perú!

We finally wrapped up our time in Brazil; this marks the halfway point of the trip. It feels so good to be back in a Spanish speaking country. I love the people. I love the language.

Watch Your Step

Peru has very strict Covid policies. I'm no doctor, but some of the procedures seem a little excessive and possibly unnecessary. As someone who has received three doses of the covid vaccine, I don't worry too much about getting sick.

Double masks are required unless you have a N95 mask and everyone has to be vaccinated. There are a variety of spatial positioning techniques that have been implemented. My favorite was the spray painted escalators. As a side note, the photo shows the competence level of our group.

Barrio Magdalena

We went to a local church ward and the style of the building was interesting and felt influenced by Incan culture. It was right in the middle of several apartment complexes and skyscrapers so it definitely stood out.

La Plaza Mayor de Lima

The central plaza in Lima has several historic buildings: The Archbishop's Palace, The Lima Cathedral, The Presidential Palace, and tons of other buildings nearby. This plaza is actually over a thousand years old because it was the principal plaza of the Incan Empire as well. All of the European style cathedrals, palaces, and other buildings are built on top of original Incan temples and buildings. It's cool to see all of the European buildings, but also sad because most of the city of Lima was built over the Incan empire. 

The Presidential Palace

Peruvian Independence

Declared in 1821 on July 28. Although I am abroad for my third 4th of July, it was inspiring to hear Peru's story of independence. Maybe next year I'll get to see some fireworks 🎆 🥲

José Silverio Olaya Balandra (1789 –  June 29, 1823)

José Olaya was a Peruvian hero in the Peruvian War of Independence. He was a fisherman by trade which is why he has a net in his left hand and helped the war effort by delivering the messages represented in his right hand. He would travel and swim across the ocean to communicate between the patriot forces and the Peruvian Congress.

He was capture two years after the start of the war and was tortured to reveal information. He never revealed his messages.

Street Violinist

Ran into this violinist playing on the street. Maybe I'll get myself an electric violin someday⚡️🎻

Some foods

They still like their pastries. Also, Jell-O.

Catedral de Lima

We walked around the principal catholic cathedral. The woodwork was absolutely incredible, both inside and out. The cathedral walls are built with wood canes, plaster, and egg whites to protect against Lima's earthquakes.

Skulls and Femurs

Underneath the cathedral, several bishops and religious leaders are buried. We also toured the catacombs of the nearby Basílica y Convento de San Francisco de Lima (another cathedral). It has bones from approximately 60,000 people. They would only store the skull and femur to save space and be able to count how many people had been buried there. There are tunnels connecting to the presidential palace; it's basically a maze underneath the cathedral, filled with bones. (I thought I might be able to find hidden Spanish gold!).

Circuito Magico Del Agua

After the plaza, we went to a water theme park.

Water Tunnel

We were all still in church clothes, so lots of member talked to us and several people asked if I was serving a mission lol. I got a pork sandwich and a Heineken (just kidding mom!). They had a lot of guys dressed up in super hero costumes. I wanted to take pictures with them.

Light Show

We watched a 15min show about the history of Perú and the different cultures and conflicts. It was cold out.

Contrans

I had a terrible headache on Sunday so I went to bed early and slept for 10hrs straight. 

Monday morning we had a business visit planned with a logistics and distribution company called Contrans (with-transport). They had a fairly simple operation and setup. They import goods from China, mostly furniture and tools, and distribute to a company called ProMart which is a large Home Depot-like chain in Perú. 

Aisles

Contrans has 44 aisles in this warehouse that they pick inventory from and ship to retail centers. They are like a Business to Business version of Amazon.com.

Pollo a la brasa

We had some Peruvian Rotisserie chicken and it took me right back to the mission :) I miss all the Peruvian families that fed us.

Huacas Adobe Pyramids

In the center of a Lima suburb is a cultural heritage site of a temple built by a civilization that existed in about 400 AD. Each layer of the temple was built when a new priest was ordained which made the temple pretty big after 400 years. There are several building techniques to withstand earthquakes including laying bricks vertically, leaving space in between bricks, and laying the occasional brick outward facing.

Most of the surrounding building were built on top of the rest of the temple. The temple was covered up by a later civilization for unknown reasons so it was never discovered by the Inca or the Spaniards.

Sacrifices

These sacrifices are replicas, but many bodies were found throughout the temple excavation. Only women and infants were sacrificed because women symbolized fertility and infants symbolized purity. Some sharks were also found sacrificed as supposedly their main god was a shark.

Some salad with your entrée?

Aren't they cute? Guinea pigs are a food delicacy in Peru. The one on the left is looking a little chubby; I might see him later 👀. JUST KIDDING! I would never eat one of these guys. They are too cute.

Volleyball

Of course, we ended our time in Lima with some volleyball on the beach. As you can see, it is always cloudy in Lima.

A little cocaine doesn't hurt

We had some tea with coca leaves upon our arrival in Cusco. The coca leaf is also the plant used to extract cocaine, one of Peru's top exports! (it was for medicinal purposes! @Jessica, you can google it).

Cusco

Elevation 11,150 ft

Plaza de Armas

I finally got Lomo Soltado, my favorite Peruvian dish. It's a stir fry with strips of steak, a soy sauce, and rice.

Cuy a la Brasa (Guinea Pig)

Now wait just a second before you send me hate mail!

I did not say I wouldn't eat a Guinea Pig, I only said I would not eat the ones in the photo. I found this Guinea Pig in Cusco.

I do apologize, but there was simply no way I was going to leave Peru without trying Guinea Pig. It's culture! It's perspective. It helps us reflect on our own traditions, decisions, and habits.

I decided not to add anymore photos of that lunch for those who are sensitive. And to any Guinea Pig lovers, hopefully you can find solace in knowing that he was delicious 😋.

Mint Oreo McFlurry

It was terrible. I'm sorry @Bjorn, McDonalds has failed us.

Side note, they have an apple pie sundae down here that is pretty good. It's probably available in the states too.

Saqsaywaman

This park reserve is on a mountaintop next to Cusco. The pronunciation is similar to saying "sexy woman" for those that don't squeak Quechua, but it is not a cognate! I believe it translate to something like "the place where the falcon sits" or along those lines. We saw some llamas and alpacas. (yes, they are different. One was used for meat and the other for transport. Do I remember which one is which? no).

The Sun Temple

Sadly, only 30% of the temple stones remain which is why the walls only go so high. The Spaniards used most of the temple's stones to build foundations for cathedrals and other large buildings. The temple took 80 years to build and doesn't use any binding agents. The rocks were cut to size and placed along the wall; this makes them earthquake proof as they are allowed to move around.

The temple was started under the reign of the 9th Inca Emperor and served as a place of worship for the emperor and priests. Cusco served as the capital of the Inca empire and means "bellybutton" in Quechua. Cusco was located at the halfway mark of the Incan empire, which is how it got its name.

Sunset on Saqsaywaman

The open flat space was used for festivals by the Inca. Many of the stones were taken right from the top of this mountain.

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I've loved interacting with the people in Peru so far. Even though I've only been in this country for a few days, I feel right at home. I can't wait to make my way back here someday :)

We'll be visiting some different archaeological sites in the area for the next few days, including Machu Pichu.