Machu Picchu
Sunday, June 24, 2012
6th Entry 6-24-12 – Paraguay
6th Entry 6-24-12 – Paraguay
I
just had my last meal in Paraguay. The
time has flown by here just as I expected.
I’ve had a great time here. I
stayed with a Meridian tennis teammate named Andres AKA Grandpa and his family. Andres technically lives in Lambare, but it
is actually about one block from Asuncion which is the capital of Paraguay. Nic, another Meridian teammate lives in Asuncion
as well. I arrived to the Asuncion
airport at about 3 in the morning last Monday.
Nic and Grandpa were there to meet me which was great because I was
quite tired.
During
the week, Andres and I did all sorts of stuff.
Grandpa and I went to the country capital, saw some monuments around the
area, saw the congress building, drove past the president’s house, saw the
cathedral, played tennis, golf, computer, and ate some great food. The capital building where the president
actually works is an impressive building called “El Palacio de los Lopez.” I was amazed when we visited the building
that there were not any walls or fences around the boarder. I’m pretty sure if I ran fast enough; I could
have run up the front stairs of the building and given the president a hand shake! Grandpa told me that there aren’t really any
worries about terrorists or anything of that sort here so the lack of a fence
isn’t a big deal. Downtown Asuncion is
crazy busy as you would expect any national capital to be. Asuncion has about 2.5 million people in the
metropolitan area. The driving here is
well….. Let’s just say you need to be aware at all times for a possible
motorcycle rushing by, a public bus cutting you off, or a horse and carriage
slowing you down. Parking, as in any
large city, is chaos here. Something
that I’m not accustomed to, however, is the people that “help” you park and “watch”
your car while you are away. Really the ‘car
watchers’ just hang around where people park then when you come back to get
your car, they come running up to get some money. I told Grandpa that I wouldn’t pay them ever
because I don’t think they do anything. He
said it’s better to just pay them so there aren’t any problems, so that’s what
we always did.
Asuncion
and Paraguay overall are not touristy kind of places like Cusco, Peru was. In Cusco for example, I had to really watch
for pick pocketing, which if you have read the previous articles know didn’t go
so well. Here in Asuncion, I never
really got that feeling. I didn’t have people
running up to me trying to sell me stuff or following me around talking to me
in all sorts of languages trying to get my attention. It was nice to not have to worry about shop
owners try to pressure you into buying something as is common in more tourist
centered locations. Right around
downtown is a train station that had very little, if any, postings talking
about what it is/was. Without Grandpa
being with me, I would not have known that the train station was very, very old
and that Paraguay actually had the first train in all of South America. Andres and I both thought that there should
be all sorts of information about Paraguay’s train past in and/or around the
building.
I
also did some very non-tourist activities.
For example, there is a computer game that Andres and I along with a few
other teammates used to play back at Meridian, so one evening we played. J We also played golf one day with Nic. We played nine holes. I shot about 234 on the 9, which is about
average for me. The golf course was nice
except for the mosquitos that were eating me alive. Andres and Nic are both much better than I am
so I frequently just kind of dropped a ball in a convenient place for myself. We went to the driving range one day as
well. It was a lot of fun, especially
trying to not hit the guy that was picking up golf balls about 75 yards away J Honestly, Andres and I were bothered by the
guy, and we were afraid to hit him…. All part of the fun I guess. One afternoon we also played tennis. Andres’ sister, Veronica, is the #1 female
tennis player in Paraguay. She will
actually be playing in the Olympics in a few weeks. Anyway, she played with Grandpa and me as
well as one of Andres’ friends named Marcelo.
I was not only the worst one on the golf course, but also the worst one
on the tennis court. I had a great time
playing though. We played a few sets of
doubles, and I actually played pretty well for having served about 50 balls in
the last 16 months. Andres who hasn’t
played in about 3 months, of course played quite well. His sister, Vero, played at another
level. She actually just came back from
Europe where she played the qualifying rounds to get into Wimbledon and Roland
Garros (The French Open). We all had a
great time on the court and no one took it too seriously.
I’m
very glad we went to downtown and to visit the capital early in the week
because Paraguay’s president was impeached later in the week. I happened to be in the country, in the
capital nonetheless, when the first full impeachment happened in Paraguay’s more
than 200 year history. Nic had taken off
work for Friday because we all had planned to visit Iguazu and Itaipú Dam. Iguazu is home to a set of incredible water
falls that are a big attraction. The
falls are situated ten minutes from the Parguayan boarder and separate
Argentina and Brazil. We were going to
visit the Brazil side because I already have my Brazililan visa. Itaipú Dam is huge hydroelectric dam shared
between Brazil and Paraguay. The
hydroelectric dam is the most electricity producing hydroelectric plant in the
world. It was also the largest
hydroelectric dam in the world for time before China built the Three Gorges
Dam. However with all the controversy
going on with the impeachment, we opted to not make the trip. Instead, we went to a few other smaller
cities around Asuncion. We visited one
of the oldest churches in the country, Andres’ family farm, and a city that is
geared for summer vacationers built up around a lake. We spaced the trips out over two days since
we had planned to visit the other locations during those two days. It was great to see some other parts of
Paraguay, and we all got to travel together, Nic, Andres, Nic’s brother Diego,
and me.
My
next destination is Brazil. I’m excited
about Brazil, but I’m really not ready to leave Paraguay yet. Andres’ family is really top notch. They have done anything and everything to
help me have a great visit to their country.
It has also been fun to visit old friends. During my time at Meridian, I spent a lot of
time with Nic during my freshman year, and Andres during my sophomore year, so
getting to spend time with them again has been great. I’ll be posting pictures from Paraguay soon
(thanks to Grandpa’s camera… remember mine is bouncing around the black market
of South America).
In
a few hours, I’ll meet my sister in the Rio de Janeiro airport, and we’ll begin
our trip through Brazil and Argentina.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
5th Entry – June 17, 2012 – Teaching and Graduation
5th Entry – June 17, 2012 – Teaching and
Graduation
The last seven days have been busy as usual. This week was teaching week for the TEFLers
(as we are called sometimes; students in training for their Teaching English as
a Foreign Language certificate). We
still had class in the mornings but just for three hours. The class I taught was from 7-8pm and was
alto basico (High Basic). My students
ranged in age from around 18 – 30 (I think), and the students were in their 5th
month of learning English. I had 14
students on the roster, but I never had all of them in class. As a matter of fact, two of the students
didn’t show up until Friday. We had
specified topics we had to teach during the week, but how we actually went
about teaching those topics was up to us.
Some of the other TEFLers had more material than others to teach. Luckily, I didn’t have to cover too much
information. On Monday my class learned
how to talk about a schedule or routine.
For example, we talked a lot about what they did every morning. We also learned some useful frequency adverbs
like always, usually, sometimes, and never.
On Tuesday we studied “what do” questions. Questions like, “What do you do?”, “What does
he play?”, “What time does class start?”, etc.
Wednesday we covered comparatives like:
better, taller, older, more beautiful, etc. The students had a good time with the
comparatives. I started the class by
holding up a picture of two very different looking people with a few pieces of
information below each picture. The
students then compared the two pictures using the information I provided. Thursday we talked about superlatives
like: tallest, most handsome, richest,
heaviest, etc. Again it was a fun
class. I got them using some
comparatives and superlatives to talk about soccer players. Finally on Friday, we did a Jeopardy review
game. I had a total of 16 regular
questions and 2 bonus questions. The 16
questions ranged from 100 to 400 points and were arranged into 4
categories: “What Do” questions,
Comparatives, Superlatives, and Vocabulary.
The two bonus questions were 500 points each. The students did very well in the game. There was only one incorrect answer, and the
students were going for the hardest questions to get the most points. My teacher said that they really understood
what we had covered during the week to have only missed one question. Teaching a class made me very nervous,
especially the first class. Luckily, my
first class went pretty well which helped the students see me as an established
teacher rather than a first-timer. The
days were very long because I had to get to school in the morning for class,
and I stayed at school until my class was over at night. I spent most of the afternoon preparing for
the class that evening or working on other assignments. I’m really glad the class is over, and it
went well. Although the TEFL course took
much more time than I had expected, I ended up having a great time during the
course. We had a great group of people
taking the class, and I’ll miss them all.
On Thursday after class, we all planned to go out to
eat as a sort of TEFL farewell. We got
out of class at about 1pm and walked to a nearby restaurant. On the way over, I moved my wallet and camera
from my pants pockets to two separate zipper pockets in my jacket. We got to the restaurant at about
1:10ish. We went to the upstairs section
of the restaurant, pulled some tables together, and sat down. I put my jacket on the back of my chair. There was not a table behind me but there was
enough space for the waiter to walk around.
There was a table kind of diagonal from ours. A few minutes after we sat down, someone
asked if we could take some pictures. I
reached back to get my camera and the zipper pocket was open. I checked the other pocket, and the pocket
that held my wallet was also open. My
camera and wallet had been stolen. Two
of the other students came back to school with me to make sure I hadn’t just
forgotten the items in my backpack, but I didn’t leave them at school. We went to the international office at our
school, and they helped me to get ahold of my bank so I could cancel my debit
card which was in my wallet. I got ahold
of my bank at about 1:25. The thieves
had already tried to get money at an ATM unsuccessfully 4 times by 1:23. I then went to the tourist police station
with an employee from the school so we could file a report. I had to spend a good chunk of time there
answering questions and signing papers.
In the meantime, the girl who came with me went with another officer to
the restaurant to talk to the owner. The
owner said that one table came in around the same time as us, sat upstairs, but
then left without ordering any food. We
are pretty sure they must have spotted me moving the items from my pants to my
jacket and followed us to the restaurant.
We have no idea how it happened though because we were sitting
relatively close to the wall, 7 people were at our table, and the items were
zipped in separate pockets. No one saw
anything suspicious. We were all a
little rattled because it happened so quickly and without anyone noticing. Finally after signing some final papers that
had quotes of things I had said in Spanish that I didn’t actually say at all,
we went to the ATM where the thieves had tried to use my debit card. The ATM was located inside a pharmacy. Unbelievably, there were no cameras which I
thought was rather strange. In my mind, all
pharmacies have video surveillance and so do all ATMs….. how could an ATM
inside a pharmacy not have any kind of video.
We’ve talked about it since, and this was obviously not the first time
the thieves had stolen from tourists.
They followed us into a restaurant, stole my items without anyone
noticing and in a rather difficult location, and knew exactly which ATM to
use. After all of that, the police
officer asked me to pay the fee associated with filing a police report. I thought that was terrible. I got robbed and then I had to pay. I had to borrow money from someone because I
obviously had none, my wallet had just been stolen. I tried to explain that to the officer…. But
it wasn’t working. Also, going to and
from the restaurant and then to the ATM, we used taxies which we paid for. After we were done with the police, I went
home to make sure I didn’t have any other credit cards in my wallet that I had
forgotten about. When I got to the
house, my bedroom was locked and there was no toilet paper. My host parents weren’t there, but they
didn’t expect me home until about 8:30 after teaching my class. They often lock the doors inside the house
when they go out, but it really timed out poorly for me that day. The lack of toilet paper didn’t help the
situation either. Anyway, I don’t expect
to see any of my stuff again which really sucks because I have 4 more weeks of
travel coming up.
Last night there was a graduation style party for
the TEFL students. Many of the other
students were also invited. It was a lot
of fun. And more importantly, everyone
passed the course J
I am now in the airport in Lima, Peru on my way to Asuncion,
Paraguay. I’m going to be on a super
budget at least until I meet my sister in Brazil in about 8 days. My Paraguayan friends have assured me I’ll be
fine there without spending much. I hope
they are right.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
4th Entry – June 10, 2012
4th Entry – June
10, 2012
Week three done and
just one more week of Peru. I stayed
very busy last week, as usual, with school stuff. We talked about teaching different skills
like reading, speaking, listening, and writing.
Next week we take over a class and start teaching. We had to draw names to see who got what time
slot and what class level.
Unfortunately, my name was drawn last, and I got stuck with a night
class from 7-8 in the evenings. Really
the time slot wouldn’t be bad except for the fact that we have class in the
morning so I’m more than likely going to leave my house early in the morning
and not get back until around 8:30. The
class level is Alto Basico, high basic.
The students are in their 5th month of English. The class has 13 students ranging in age from
around 18-35. There are good and bad
things about teaching a lower level class like mine. Generally speaking, I won’t have to teach
anything that is too complicated so that will be nice, but I also won’t be able
to do near as many activities as I could do in a higher level class.
I wasn’t able to do a
big trip this weekend, although I would have loved to, because of all the
teaching preparation (anddddd I don’t have any money). I did get to go to a place called Tipon
yesterday afternoon though. Tipon is an
Inca site with some amazing engineering about 45 minutes by bus outside of
Cusco. The whole complex is much bigger
than I thought and what make it so impressive are the water channels that are
built throughout the entire site. I took
a bunch of pictures while there, but I’m not sure they do it justice. I also managed to go to about 4 or 5 museums
last week. When I went on my trip to the
Sacred Valley, you have to buy a tourist pass.
I got the 10 day tourist pass that includes entrance into numerous
places in and around Cusco. The 10 day
tourist pass was the same price as the partial ticket that only lasted 3 days because
I’m a student. The museums and Tipon
were part of my ticket so I’ve been trying to get as much out of it as
possible. Tonight I’m planning to go to “Centro
Qosqo de Arte Nativo” (Cusco Center of Native Art). I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it is
very close to our school and people are lined up to go there every night. I believe they have some native music and
some type of production to see. It’s
included on my tourist pass, so I’m going to take advantage of it.
Also this past week was
Corpus Christi which is a very celebrated holiday here in Cusco. There is a big parade and everything in the
city is closed. Unfortunately, the TEFL
students had class L
We were the only students in the school, and we were pretty upset about
missing the procession. We went to the
main city plaza after class and there was still a bunch of festivities going
on. It was very impressive. The statues of saints from the churches
around town are taken out and around the city.
There were a TON of people everywhere.
It is very famous here in Cusco.
I’ve posted some pictures online to see.
Over and out.
Monday, June 4, 2012
3rd Entry 6-4-12 -- Machu Picchu and Sacred Valley
3rd Entry
6-4-12
I am officially
slightly over half way through my classes here in Cusco. I’ve been staying very busy with school and
travel. This past weekend I went to the
Sacred Valley, Pisac and Ollantaytambo, and Machu Picchu. We were scheduled to have some student
teaching on Friday and the rest of the class on the following Monday, but it
was exam week for the English students so we ended up having Friday off. On Friday I left for my trip. We left Cusco at around 9am and headed to
Pisac. The drive to Pisac was really incredible. We were going up, down, and around
mountains. We were able to stop and take
a few pictures which you can see online.
In Pisac we saw some great Incan ruins.
The complex was built on the side/top of a mountain and has some really
extensive terraces. The terraces were
used for farming, decoration, and stabilizing the land. From there we headed to Ollantaytambo. Ollantayambo again had some impressive ruins
that were built on the side/top of a mountain.
Again there were large terraces built.
Ollantaytambo is actually an unfinished site. Construction on the site was stopped because
of the Spaniards. The stone used to
build Ollantaytambo was quarried from a mountain top about 7 – 8 kilometers
away. At the top of Ollantaytambo, you
can see some huge stones that seem almost impossible to have been moved.
We then took a train, Peru
Rail, from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (Hot Waters). Aguas Calientes is a small town located at
the bottom of the mountain where Machu Picchu is located on the banks of a
river that eventually empties into the Amazon River. The town is called Aguas Calientes because of
hot water springs located in the city.
We stayed in a hostel that night and the next morning it was to Machu
Picchu. Machu Picchu is an incredible
site that was discovered by the modern world until 1911 by an American
university professor. There are many
theories about why the site was built where it was, why it was abandoned, and what
it was used for. The Inca didn’t have a
written language so much of their history is based on theories. Machu Picchu is built on top of a large mountain
in the beginnings of the rainforest. The
actual structures of the site are very impressive, but the landscape of where
it was built is what makes it what it is.
Machu Picchu was built around 500 years ago and is said to be
unfinished. The Great Pyramids at Giza
were built closer to 5000 years ago, are immense, incredible structures also
built in a difficult environment. It is
amazing how the world progressed and how if information could have been shared
the same way it is today how differently civilizations would have
developed. There is a long Inca Tail
that leads to Machu Picchu that many tourists sign up to do. There is a waiting list on several of the best
treks of around 3 months. We didn’t have
time or the desire to camp and hike for days on end J There is also an Inca bridge on the back side
of Machu Picchu that I hiked to. The
bridge itself is not so impressive, but once again the landscape in which it was
built is incredible. I also opted to not
take the bus back down the mountain and decided to hike down instead back to
Aguas Calientes. It took 1 to 1.5 hours
to get back down. The scenery on the hike
was great. I saw many different plants
and heard all sorts of rain forest sounds.
After Machu Picchu, it
was back to Cusco. We finally got back
to Cusco around 10:30pm on Saturday. I
spent about 5 hours on Sunday doing homework.
Today, Monday, we are doing our student teaching and then back to normal
class tomorrow. June is month of
festivities for much of Cusco so I’m trying to stay up with all my school work
so I can try to enjoy some of it. I
currently have: a 5 page grammar paper
due on Friday along with 3 sixty minute lesson plans to go along with it, a
lesson plan and reflection of my student teaching due tomorrow, 3 classroom
observations and papers due this week, and preparations for a grammar lesson I
give on Friday.
Hasta Luego Amigos
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