LookFlowers!

Life has been cruising by in the city of Miraflores (literal translation – Lookflowers, hence the witty title).  Here’s a bit more info about atypical Peruvian life to keep you occupied during the lull.

Living on the 18^th floor certainly has its perks.  The view is great, you’re away from a lot of the street noise, and there’s a nice breeze that comes in.  It seems wonderful until the power goes out.  And the power goes out rather frequently (it’s out right now as I’m typing this).  The best part is that the power usually goes out for around 6 hours!  And did I mention the plumbing doesn’t work either??  Yep, so if you want to enter or exit the apartment while the power is off, you have to brave 18 flights of stairs, and you can’t use the bathroom at that time either, unless you choose to venture across town in search of a golden opportunity elsewhere.

I know I mentioned food before in previous post, but WOW is it good here.  I had some of the best sushi I’ve ever had the other night (and yes, constant reader, you know I’ve been to Japan).  If you’ve ever had sushi with me then you know I’m all about the fancy rolls, and they certainly have them here.  There’s this fruit I’ve become fond of down here also.  I think they call it “granadilla”, but I just call it weird fruit.  It’s related to the maracuya (passion fruit), but it’s got these weird tentacle-looking things on the inside

Fiesta Casino!  My home away from home away from home.  Just a short ten minute walk from the apartment, it’s hard to find an excuse NOT to go.  You can usually find a blackjack table where the minimum bet is just over $2, making it a more economical casino than most I’ve found in Vegas.  Some nights I’m up, some nights I’m down, but it’s all about the fun of the game.  Overall I’m a little up, but I’ve had fun and gambled responsibly (if there is such a thing), so I’m a happy camper.

During our time here we’ve been fortunate enough to visit many local companies as well as the American Embassy.  For each of these days we have to dress in business attire (suit, tie, you get the picture).  In my attempt at adding my own flair, I’ve taken up using unconventional knots on my ties, including the infinity, the cape, and the eldridge (which I’ve posted below for your viewing pleasure, although I’m not sure how well you’ll be able to notice the difference in the low-res photo).

And I’m still searching for that tonic…

Mucho Machu Picchu Pictures

In the middle of the module the powers-that-be decided to give us all a little extra time off.  I’m sure glad they did. 

We took the early flight from Lima to Cusco, which is the closest big city to Machu Picchu.  The elevation there is about 10,000 feet or so, which gives the faint of heart a bit of altitude sickness.  Luckily there’s this native plant where if you chew the leaves it’s supposed to help immensely with the elevation issues.  You might have heard of it before.  It’s called “coca”.  They make some sort of substance out of it, but it’s pretty hard to find in the US.

Yep, coca is a normal thing there.  People chew it, they make tea out of it, and there’s even coca candy.  Now, there’s a BIG difference between the innocent little leaf and the highly sought after powdered substance.  The leaf just has a few medicinal-like qualities, and supposedly doesn’t show up in a drug test.  That’s what they say at least…

After the first night at our hostel, where right outside our hotel room, kids decided to do woodwork of all things in the wee hours of the morning, we woke up early to tour some of the nearby ruins in Sacred Valley.  Our guide, Miguelito, took us to the top of a mountain and showed us all the ruin-ridden hot spots.  There was also this weird flute player who kept following us around the mountain.  It was like he was composing the soundtrack of our Incan journey.  With only one song.  For two hours.

After a full day of hiking we ended up in Aguas Calientes, the town right next to Machu Picchu.  It would have been a beautiful little place if it weren’t stained with the lucrative prospect of tourism.  I’m not sure what it looked like before, but it’s kind of sad to see what it is now.  Dozens of hostels and restaurants all catering to the affluent visitors.  I guess it’s a pretty typical scene for such a prominent destination, but the town was severely lacking in character.

Luckily, Machu Picchu was just a short bus ride away, and everything there is incredible.  While I was sitting atop Machu Picchu, gazing down at the valley below, I decided to write a little rap about my experiences of the day.  I feel like it’s the only appropriate way to describe all my experiences.  Yes, it might go on my debut album.

Come gather round cuz I’m about to teach you

‘Bout the things I learned while hiking up on Machu Picchu

First I woke up in the morning and I drank my mocha

Got my little day pack, and my bag of coca

When you get there in the morning it can be a little foggy

And when it starts to rain your pants get a little soggy

The best way I found I could diffuse some drama

Is to feed a stick with leaves to a hungry llama

And if you wanna climb 700 steps I’ll try to meet you

At the top of the old mountain they call Wayna Picchu

And when it gets all cloudy and it rains a bunch

Just head for the entrance to grab some lunch

If you’ve got a bit of Pisco you can drink a smidge

Before climbing all the way up to the Inca Bridge

And the best way to admire all the ruins and greenery

Is to just sit back and soak in the scenery

Then when your time’s up and your visit’s all through

You’ll be incredibly glad that you came to Peru.

Thomas out.

Perusing Down South

Yes, South America is the next stop.  To catch some of you up to speed on what’s going on, I’ll be spending roughly 7 weeks down in Peru for a module abroad program I’m doing for my MBA.  Yes, I also did a short trip throughout Asia right before coming here which I neglected to chronicle.  I traveled without telling you about it.  I’m sorry.  I feel dirty, and it won’t happen again.

As soon as I got off the plane in Lima I got a wonderful reminder about the Latin American pace of things.  Customs took about an hour to get through because of the 20 stations open, only 2 were open.  And three planes arrived at the same time.  Wonderful stuff.  Going through the declaration line also felt like a life-or-death moment.  For the “random” searches they do they have this podium with a giant button.  You push the button and if the light turns green you’re good.  Red, and presumably you’re never heard from again.  I got green!  I wanted to snap a picture of the giant button, but I was too afraid my suspicious activity would reserve me a spot in the red line…

A 30-minute taxi ride filled with my sad attempt at Spanish conversation with the driver, and I arrived at my apartment.  The housing situation is pretty much a free for all here, so I’m rooming with a few other students: Abe, Charise, and Chelsea.  Our place is pretty nice.  A little cramped for four people, but the view from our 18^th floor apartment makes up for it (and we’re only a 10 minute walk to the ocean).  The first full day there the landlady wanted us to pay our rent in full.  American dollars.  That would have been a great thing to know before coming down here.  Luckily you can withdraw USD from the ATMs and it’s A-OK.  However, if any of your bills have ANY sort of tear whatsoever, they absolutely will not take it.  I had $180 that was slightly damaged which I couldn’t give her and had to find other bills.  This is an EXTREMELEY annoying aspect of the country.  Just shut up and take my money!!

To christen the new living establishment I thought I would be clever and purchase some duty free.  I ended up buying a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in Miami, thinking a gin and tonic would be a nice relaxing drink to have every now and then after class.  It was a bad choice on my part, because this country apparently doesn’t have any reasonably priced tonic.  Of the few supermercados I’ve been to, one place had tonic, and they were selling it in packs of four VERY small cans for the equivalent of $6.  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even make a full drink from one of the cans.  So now I’m stuck with a bottle of gin taunting me everyday.  One of these days I’ll find some tonic…

The great thing about Peru is that I finally have the chance to practice all that Spanish I never use.  I’m not fluent by any means, but I know the most of anybody in my apartment, which makes me the de facto resident Spanish-speaker.  I may not be able to talk in-depth about certain topics, but I sure am learning how to bargain with a taxi driver.  “Necesitamos ir a San Isidro, el Camino Real.  Sabes? …Cuanto cuesta?  …Doce es un robo!  Ayer estuvo siete Soles.  Es cerca de aqui, y no hay traffic ahora!”  Sometimes they drive away, but taxis are aplenty round these parts, and you can usually find a taker after a few tries.

Just a little info on classes for the scholastically curious: the class structure we have down here is completely different than anything else I’ve ever done.  We all take one class at a time for a week.  When the week is done, the class is done, so learning is rather intensive.  Yesterday we had the same class for 8 hours.   AND after class you’ve got to head back home to prepare for tomorrow’s class or work on projects and presentations.  The turnaround time for a project can be less than 24 hours, which adds just a teeny bit of pressure.  Obviously sleeping is not an important task to these people (but I signed up for it, so I can’t complain).

So after two presentations, a fancy orientation dinner, stumbling upon a parade, National Pisco Sour Day (delicious drink!), and a Superbowl in which I consumed a nacho plate for two, I’m getting adjusted to the pace of life in Miraflores.  Life is good, but I’m still searching for that tonic…

Yamagata go Home

I got there. Didn't get lost. Spiders haven't gotten me. Ok, we've taken care of those questions.

The geisha performance was held in an ancient house, a few hundred years old. The girls were actually called Maiko, which is we would consider traditional geisha. All dolled up with white makeup and silk dresses, they danced while an older lady played a samisen, a traditional Japanese guitar. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, but I was able to snag some after. It's not your typical rock concert, but definitely still an experience.

After making it back to home sweet home, there was only a day until the local food festival. Sam and fam's specialty this year was cherry curry, using their own cherries. I spent the next morning chopping onions and garlic, making a huuuuge portion of the curry to sell at the festival. 500 yen a pop. I also helped out with the sign making. I'm sure my signs are really what attracted the customers.

The day of the festival was the hottest day in the history of ever. Unfortunately curry is one of the last things you want to eat on a hot day, but we still sold a good amount. Nao signed me up for a soba making class during the festival. For such a simple looking noodle, those puppies take a lot of effort to make. My kneading skills are a little rusty, but my knifework was top notch. The knife we used was pretty epic too. It's a shame that soba is the only thing you use it for, because that would make a great souvenir. After a sticky, doughy mess everything turned out alright in the end, and we all got to eat soba along with the curry for lunch.

That's not the only culinary adventure I had recently. The next day we harvested the potato fields. Sam and fam wanted me to cook something before I left, so I decided to take advantage of the fresh potatoes and cook some gnocchi. It was incredibly, amazingly mediocre (I think they might have been the wrong kind of potatoes for the job), but my improvised Alfredo went over rather nicely. I was just happy to finally eat some cheese. It's been too long...

In the days that followed I continued the last of my work. I weeded my last paddy, dug my last ditch, and cleared my last field. I took my last onsen, ate my last meal, and drank my last beer. I went to the rose garden one last time and finally climbed to the top of the nearby mountain that had a huge bell. I rang it to let all of Murayama know I'd be leaving soon. Not sure if I was supposed to do that, but I did it anyway. What are they gonna do, kick me out of town?

I said goodbye to Sam and the fams, finally giving them my invaluable gifts from America: a picture of the Balboa fun zone and some jelly bellies. I also spent a while trying to explain what ranch dressing is to Sam, and defending the glorious meal of pancakes and bacon. Maybe someday he'll get over to America and figure out that we aren't all crazy. Just some of us. I'm going to miss them (maybe even Jerry a little bit), but its time to go home. So that's it, I'm about to leave the Yamagata prefecture and get on the bullet train bound for Tokyo one last time before I jump across the pond. Stay tuned for a final update in the coming days!

Scaring Children is Mountains of Fun.

There's no shortage of things to do on the farm. I could talk about the weeding, the different kinds of weeds, and hoe one looks exactly like a rice plant. I could talk about the different kinds of rice, how you grow them, or how you drain the paddies, but that's a rather dry subject. I think I'll talk about the local festivities and all the leisure activities I've been up to instead. You can thank me later.

Ok, I take that back. I WILL tell you a bit about one of the homemade specialties here on the farm, the umiboshi. They are these small pickled plums that you leave out to dry for a few days. They're really orange, salty, and sour. I can't eat more than one. Apparently they're healthy for you, but I swear they contain a week's worth of salt in one bite.

Ok, now work is out of the way. A few days ago this little town had a festival. Not just any festival, but a haunted house festival. They close off the main road so vendors can sell food and they convert one building into a haunted house everyone can go through. As luck would have it, Yoo was in charge if the while thing. What did that mean for me? Why, I could go drink beer and scare the children.

I went up to the second floor dressing room of the haunted house, and the only costume that would fit me was a many eyed Godzilla like costume. Seemed like it would get the job done. I proceeded to hide around the corners of the haunted house and jump out at unsuspecting children. It was perfect. I stood outside for a while too and acted like a monster. The kids caught wind I was from america, so they all came to check me out.

I've had a couple days off so far, and wouldn't you know it, I decided to climb some mountains. The first one, Yamadera, was only a couple hours away by train. There's a big path on the mountain that people climb up to get to the temple on top. Once at the top, the view is stunning. It's high enough to see the whole town below, but close enough to still see individual people going about their daily lives. There may be a few spiders and snakes along the way, but it was definitely worth it.

The second of my two lovely mountains is called Haguro-san. This one required one train and two buses to get to, totalling at about 4 hours. This was a more intense mountain. The 2446 stone steps had 33 little carvings of random items on them. If a pilgrim finds them all, it is said their dreams will come true. I searched for them, but let's just say my dreams aren't coming true any time soon.

At the top is a plethora of shrines, but the real treat lies in Saikan, the temple turned guesthouse. I opted to spend the night at the top of the mountain, and there were only 4 other guests. While you're there they treat you to dinner and breakfast if traditional monk food. It's about 12 plates of random mostly vegetarian chow. I had no clue what most of it was, but it wasn't half bad. There was some sort of savory flan, and what I believed to be white asparagus of sorts (I later confirmed this was the case. If you know how I did that, urine on the secret).

I'll leave it at that for now. I left the guesthouse at the top of mount Haguro to try and meet Sam and fam on the coast for a geisha performance. Will I get there? Will I get lost? Will the spiders finally get me? Tune in next time, when all these questions, and more, are bound to be answered!

Rice Guys Finish Last

The Japanese take their rice farming pretty seriously.

After getting all gear up in my rice paddy boots, hat, and long sleeve shirt (you need that otherwise the plants irritate your skin), Sam turns to me and asks "Do you have any leeches in America?" I guess leeches like the rice paddies. Luckily for me, they also love gaijin. Hooray. I've seen a bunch so far, but no direct contact yet, knock on wood. Well, I would knock on wood, but I don't want to disturb the spider city outside my hut.

I'll go ahead and us that as a transition to talk abut the arachnid situation. There are no spiders in my hut, but there are a certified metric ton right outside. There are too many to kill (I'd only make them angry), and I don't want to destroy their webs lest they try to seek shelter in my home. I'm at an impasse. Forced with no other option, I did what I had to do. I started naming them.

One spider in particulate occupies half of my doorway. I can only open my door halfway, otherwise we'd run into each other. I decided to name him Jerry (Jerry. Rice. Get it?). Every morning before I head to work I give Jerry a proper good morning. It helps me think he's less evil than he really is.

Back to the paddies. The view there is beautiful, albeit way too hot. Their paddies are located on the edge of a mountain, right next to wild forest. Although it makes for a pretty image, being next to the forest also means there are more weeds and spiders. Again, Lucky me.  This is weeding season, and there are a ton of weeds that grow in a rice paddy. One variety looks just like the rice plant itself. I'm not sure how these people do it...

On occasion I'll get the afternoon off. Murayama is a pretty small town so there's not much to do (not quite as bad as Canberra), but one thing they've got going for them is the rose garden. In the valley of the nearby mountains, just a short bike ride away are the rose gardens. This massive area has tons of rose varieties, and they have speakers playing music box-Raquel music nonstop. It feels like you're in a videogame of sorts. June is rose season, so at the moment the place is pretty peaceful. I go there every chance I get.

I'm getting into the swing of things now. I can't say I'm fond of the hard labor in the humid heat, but it's been good so far. Let's just say it's reinforcing my decision to go to business school. I've got a day off tomorrow, so i think I'll ditch this town and find some temples somewhere. You can do that kind of thing here.

Murayama - Spider Capital of the World

Well, I managed to find my destination somehow. After leaving Tokyo on the shinkansen I was supposed to ask around for enerugi no sakai, or the gaijin farmer. Turns out not many people know where that is. I asked a kid at the bus stop, who asked a train station employee, and eventually somebody overheard us and offered to take me to where they thought it was. I forget the guy's name, but he had his son with him and he loved the red hot chili peppers. That's what I gathered through our limited communication anyway.

I don't think I could have found this place on my own. I had to rely on others to help me, but that's ok. When we work together there's no limit to what we can accomplish! Well, we didn't really work together, he did all the work finding this place, but you know what I mean.

I had arrived at my destination. The farm I was destined to pour my soul into, one grain of rice at a time. I walked into the house and met my new family of 10. There is the great grandfather, the grandparents, Nao and Yo, their children. Yo is married to Ikumi and they have two babies, Beijan and Nikko. Sam is married to Nao and they just had Hannah, their first child. Sam has been my correspondence this whole time. He's a former Brita of all things, and he looks exactly like Eminem. He and Nao are the only ones who speak English. Life has been interesting so far.

After introductions over a dinner of homemade cherry curry, Sam showed me to my guesthouse. A quaint little shack outside the main house which stays surprisingly cool in the 100+ heat. But there are about 50 spiders right outside my door.

Murayama must be the spider capital of the world. They are everywhere. Anywhere I walk I need to duck because I'm afraid of hitting a spiderweb. Normally the walkways are fine, but I'm about two feet taller than anybody, and the spiders like to hang out just above a normal person's height. I've never hated being so tall before. The bathroom is outside if the guesthouse, and naturally the road is paved with spiders. I'm too scared to go the bathroom, but being scared makes me have to go to the bathroom. It's a vicious, vicious cycle.

The first day of work wasn't so bad, aside from the 6 oclock departure time. My first day consisted of weeding the soybean field, removing rocks, and protecting all the peaches in their orchard. It was about a 12 hour day. The hours are long, the work is tough, but the people are great. People make all the difference in anything you do. Sam is under the impression that everyone in America is a lunatic with a gun (he hasn't had a lot of US visitors) so I'm on my way to deflecting that stereotype.

After the first day of work we had an extravagant birthday dinner for everyone born in July. They have 3 born in this month, and of course I had to join in. They sang me happy birthday as we feasted on Hokkaido sausage, Yamagata beef, roasted vegetables, and of course rice. Sitting out by the hills and rice paddies at sunset drinking a beer with a huge Japanese family is one of the more interesting experiences I've had the pleasure of enjoying.

Tomorrow is rice paddy work. The real deal. This was apparently the most relaxing day I will have. Better rest up...