At last I have finished writing my endlessly long paper (29 pages in spanish...not doubled spaced). I did the presentation and handed in my work journal. The only thing left to do is wait for the grades but that wont come for awhile so I am free to be on summer vacation!!! We celebrated Dia de Arica on the 6th with fireworks and such and it was the perfect way to end my time in Chile.
My saint of a mother changed my plane ticket for me to stay in South America for ten days after my classes ended so I packed up a backpack and Anneliese (a friend of mine from our program) and I headed to Peru enroute to Machu Pichu!!! We have not yet gotten there but we have had quite the adventure.
We left Monday morning from Arica in a taxi to cross the border of Peru into Tacna (only about 45 minutes away). I love the border into Peru because even though there were signs everywhere saying not to bring fruits or vegetables into the country...I still brought two tomatos, a kiwi, and a lemon through without anyone saying anything. Also Anneliese had lost her Chilean visa and the border guard was just like...you shouldnt lose you visa and gave her a new one to fill out. Overall it didnt take us very long. We thought we might be late for the bus in Tacna but at the bus station we learned that we gained an hour when we went into Peru!! Had time to buy snacks and use the bathroom (very important). At ten we got onto the bus to Arriquippa. It was about a 7 hour trip but I didnt notice at all because I slept most of the way (catching up from the sleep I lost with all the festivities of the dia de arica). In Arriquippa we had four hours to kill before our next bus so we took a terrifying taxi ride into the center of the city to Plaza de Armas. I thought that drivers in Chile were scary...but it was nothing compared to this ride. It seems to be that there are no traffic laws at all!! Very funny. At one point we asked the driver if you had to drive on the left side of the road in Peru (he said yes...but we have yet to see any other evidence of this in other parts of Peru). Plaza de Armas is supercool. It feels like being in Italy or some European country with a huge church on one side and buildings all around a park with fountains. We ate dinner outside on a second story balcony (Soup, rice, vegetables, eggs and orange juice for 15 soles = $5). Got back safely to the bus station for our next bus at 9pm.
At about 7am we stopped for awhile and then the driver turned the engine off. I got out to see what was going on and there was a huge line of buses and trucks and a few cars just stopped. The driver said that there had been a landslide and no one could get through. Anneliese and I walked up to the front to see what was going on. When we got to the front there was only like a few rocks in the middle of the road and a few wooden beams and no one was doing anything to move them. It was very odd, we were like...Do they want help?? Because we can move these... I asked a woman if there were more rocks ahead and she said yes so we accepted this answer and just started walking around. We happened to be stopped in the bread capital of chile so we of course bought some bread and it was awesome. After a while Anneliese went to take a nap in the bus and I walked back up front to see what was going on. There were a lot more people this time and a man standing up on a hill speaking to all the people and kind of like rallying then together. I got the jist that they were very angry about something. I started asking around and finally this guy from Arriquippa helped me out. It wasnt a strike after all...the people who live in the campos were having strikes (paros) all over the area. They were trying to get the attention of the government to help pay for damages that destroyed a lot of places in floods in February. They would only break up and let the people by if a sufficient number of police came to break them up. In the mean time we were stuck there and a mini-riot broke out with rock throwing and everything. I got out of there pretty quick with the helpful guy (michol). We were stuck there for about 6 1/2 hours.
Finally we were able to pass and we got to Cusco but it was around 4:30pm. Still we wanted to get to Aguas Calientes to stay for the night so we could go to Machu Pichu early in the morning so we got a taxi with a nice couple from Chile that we had spent a lot of the last couple hours with to take us to the train station. The entire way there were giant boulders and trees in the roads from where people had been striking all day. We almost got to the train station when we were stopped dead again. Again, Anneliese and I went out to explore what was happening. Along the way we met a couple from England, a few people from Minnesota, and 15 roudy Canadians :) who had all been stuck in this spot for awhile. We sent one of the Minnesota boys all the way up the road to see what was going on. He came back saying it was another angry mob with about 100 meters of rock piled up behind them. Instead of waiting around for the drunken angry people to move the rock, the chilean couple and we decided to go and find a place to stay in the last little pueblo for the night. We found a place for cheap with hot shower(!) and went out for pizza where the pizza guy tried to get us to go out dancing. Instead we went to bed around 10:00pm. We were so exhausted. Got up at 2:40am and took a taxi with the same chilean couple to go to the train station to get a ticket early. Unfortunaltey...everyone who had had tickets for the day before but had not been able to get to the train station due to the strikes were given first priority and we couldnt get a train until 10:10am!!! We wandered around and got breakfast (I asked for an egg sandwich but instead got chicken and tomatoes and lettuce sandwich...a bit odd at 6am...and i am a vegetarian but i ate it anyway). Finally got on the bus to go to the train...got on the train without flaws and then AT LAST got to aguas calientes more the 24 hours later than planned. Got a bus up to Machu Pichu and everything was all worth it. It was incredible. We literally could not take enough pictures...It was the coolest. I am very very very glad it all worked out. Taking a break from being on the road for a bit and spending some time in Agua Calientes.
Until next time...Laura
