This is the first in a series of posts about my adventures in Peru with Maty. This post covers our first weekend (9-11 September) in Peru, as we arrived and spent a little time with Maty’s family before flying to Cusco.
Friday, 9-Sep-11
We arrived at Charlotte-Douglas at around 11:00 to catch our 2:00 flight. Delta had informed us that our original departure time of 3:00 had been moved to 2:00, but we then got delayed until nearly 4:00 before we left. We arrived in Atlanta and had to rush to the gate for our next flight. Naturally, the gate was at the end of Concourse E. But at least we made it – others missed their flights. Surprisingly, our luggage even made it.
Our flight from Atlanta to Lima left on time. We arrived in Lima around 11:00 PM and were met by Maty’s family. We took a taxi from Lima to Santa Eulalia, just a few minutes East of Chosica. The trip takes 1-2 hours, depending on traffic. Being dark, I could only make out the mountainous terrain, and the lights of some of the buildings en route. I could see the outlines of buildings on the way, but could not tell much about them.
When we arrived at Maty’s family’s home, we sat down and ate some soup, chatting a bit before finally going to bed somewhere around 1 or 2 AM.
Sat, 10-Sep-11
I woke up to see the sun shining brilliantly, and stepped outside to see what El Perú looks like. Maty had told me that there were no trees, and very little in the way of greenery. She was not exaggerating. The gray-ish brown mountainous terrain around Chosica could pass for something you might see in a far-out space adventure. It’s just rock.
The houses here tend to look like miniature box-shaped fortresses. Frequently, offices and houses are built side-by-side in townhouse fashion for as far as the eye can see. It can be difficult to distinguish the difference between an office and a house, and sometimes they may be one and the same. It is also difficult to distinguish between rich and poor in some cases, at least from the outside. The inside is most often where one discovers what a family has – or doesn’t.
The fortress look of the buildings is not accidental. There are metal bars on every first floor door and window, and frequently on any windows at higher levels as well. Crime and corruption are serious problems in Perú. People must be constantly vigilant in their daily activities to the possibility of an attack.
I took photos around the house and chatted with Maty’s family until her uncle arrived to prepare the pacha manca, a traditional meal cooked by burying meat with hot rocks in the ground. I helped out with the pacha manca, so that I could learn about how to do it. I think the family got as much of a kick out of watching me, as I did from participating.
Eventually, more and more family members began to arrive to greet us, and especially to see Maty, whom they have not seen in 10 years or more. They brought in Mexican-style Mariachis to sing a bit, and we also ate the pacha manca. We eventually formed a circle outside and talked until fairly late. At around 9:30 or so, they brought out a cake, and we celebrated Maty’s birthday. Eventually, everyone began to leave, and we finally turned in for the night, exhausted from a full day of celebrating and dancing.
Sunday 11-Sep-11
Sunday we made a trip into Chosica, and did a little shopping. We ate some chicken “a la braza” in one of the local restaurants while we were out. We mostly relaxed for the day, knowing we had to wake up early the next morning. Maty began experiencing a stomach ache, but I did not seem to be affected. We returned to Chosica later that night and ate some Peruvian-style donuts. Back at the house, we saw some of the 9/11 memorial news, from a Peruvian perspective. A number of Peruvians also lost their lives in those attacks.
