So, there's been a ton of stuff going on lately. My to-do-list currently stands at 21 and this does not include blogging, but there's some important information that needs disseminating. First of all, our formal wedding date has been moved up to February 14th in order to accommodate my sister's school schedule. Wait, I knew that sounded familiar...that was the last blog.
The other important bit of news is that the celebration for our official, legal wedding will be on May 24th, which is Memorial Day Weekend. I thought that was a good thing because I could take an extra day off work (I will probably take 5 days off in total), but now that I think about it....I hope you guys - I'm thinking in particular the Manteca crowd and sibling- don't already have Memorial Day plans! I hope everyone can make it :-# . Should I change the date??? Feedback please!
My post-30 body continues to deteriorate - in someways to my pre-30 body. My eyelids have become infected again :-| .
On Friday, Erika's last day in Peru as well as her birthday, I was (as I term it) death reincarnated. I woke up the night before shaking in my bed. Thinking I was just cold in the desert air of Lima, I got out of bed and went outside to get a sweater to put on. I found it strange that it was not freezing outside like I thought it would be. Anyway, I put my sweater on, got back in bed, did a little more shaking before falling asleep. Apparently, it was a fever that I had, as I learned the next morning when I woke up feeling like death reincarnated. I had the typical estomago gringo so I went to the bathroom to empty my stomach and when I finished, I started throwing up. And that is how my day went. I couldn't get out of bed, as much as I tried. I slept, went to the bathroom, and slept some more. Feeling a little better later in the afternoon, I ate a little bit of soup but then it was back in the bathroom to toss my cookies and go back to bed. I was on the verge of cancelling my overnight flight for the night. I decided to give it another two hour nap and see how I was. I felt well enough to make it to the airport and that was good enough for me. Strange how much you miss being in your own bed when you're sick, even if the drugs are cheaper and the care is arguably better in Peru!
Anyway, although I woke up after our overnight flight feeling a million times better, I'm still trying to shake the stomach thing and not feeling that great...
J. Riley, I have three doctors appointments on Monday, one of which is about this myotonic dystrophy thing that I supposedly have.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Visa Interview, and All That Jazz....
This week has continued the chronological trajectory of the past few weeks of being both amazing and busy at the same time. I arrived back in Lima on Saturday morning with the ultimate goal of securing Erika's paperworks that will allow her to come to the United States on her 29th birthday, Friday 4/18.
Because of the short notice of the trip, and a suffering budget, I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to get a private apartment for the week and thus decided to stay at her parent's house and work from her small bedroom, where her internet connection is. My boss was generous enough to allow me to work from Peru all week and allow me to continue my stingy-ness with vacation that was honed over the past few years when I had two weeks of vacation per year.
Saturday we had to run a few errands around town before the evening plans began, which were of course going out with her friends to some discos. Last month, I had done pretty much the same, going to an all-night party after arriving fresh off a red-eye flight and I was fearful of the same this time around. But this time, they decided they wanted to go to a karaoke bar after the first disco was found to be a dud. Normally I'm not opposed to karaoke bars (as some of you Def Leopard fans know) and this time I obliged again but something about the combination of a dark constrained atmosphere and songs in Spanish that I never even heard of and that all pretty much sounded the same caused me to hit a wall at about 1:00am. Somehow I suffered through two more hours at this location nearly falling off my chair sleeping a few times. I just didn't have it in me! I did manage to croon out Come Together from the Beatles which woke me up for a bit before I failed miserably at Jack Johnson's Flake to end the night. I guess I didn't realize how hard that song would be - notably the ending!:o/
Sunday had a lot in store for us. Besides missing Liverpool's game at 7:45am in order to get some extra sleep, we had an 11:30 meeting with our wedding planner so that I could meet her and, more importantly for her I suppose, so I could throw down some cash as a deposit for her services. For those who haven't heard, we have changed our wedding date to 2/14 to coincide with my sister's school schedule. As a coincidental, accidental bonus (not to manage the added cheese factor), this happens to be Valentine's Day which makes is great for all the bleeding-heart romantics!
Post wedding planner reservation, we headed back home where I was fed very well by her mom (not for the first time, I should add!) before we had to depart for the mammoth event of the day - for me anyway: Allianza Lima vs. Sporting Cristal soccer match at the natinoal stadium! I'd submitted my request to see a pro football match down here to Erika a few weeks back because I know the crowds are crazy and dangerous and that makes it pretty exciting! I was hoping to see gangs of hooligans roaming the streets striking fear into the fans of the opposing team, fights, police in riot gear charging the line of hooligans, etc. While the atmosphere was tense outside the stadium, it wasn't quite as volatile as I would have wanted, but there were plenty of riot police everywhere and we got to see a cracking game that included a comeback from behind by the home team (Erika's dad's favorite team) against the Allianza giants. I wanted to attend another one on Wednesday night, the "Classico" match featuring the two biggest teams in Peru that surely would have been volatile, but apparently the stadium hosting that match is in the ghetto of all ghettos and Erika won't let me go. She basically said that they would steal the shoes off your feet before you stepped onto the street getting off the "combi" bus - their version of public transportation. I'll let it slide this time, though I'd love to go still!
On Monday, I worked from home during the day and after I shut up shop at 4:00pm, Erika and I went to a giant shopping center so that she could try to find some new jeans. Given the substantial price difference between clothing here and in New York, I relented and agreed to buy her two pairs of jeans that she could bring to New York. Funny enough, spending the evening at the mall together felt like the first "date" event that we've ever had. It even included eating dinner at the food court, which isn't much different than any other food court at a mall in the states except that it featured "Bembo's", which is a Peruvian burger chain with some interesting combinations like the Hawaiian burger and the Lomo Saltado (a typical Peruvian meal) burger which I ate. They had things like fried plantains, fried eggs, and other various intersting things on the burgers, The meat itself was strangely quite tasty despite being grayish in color and of course we got fries to share and all meals came with a cup of Inca Kola. I could eat at Bembos every once in a while though I'm sure it violates even more social responsibility rules than McD's or Burger King (both of which were also at the food court, of course!).
Tuesday morning I got woken up at 6:30am and I just did not want to wake up. I was soooo tired and slightly grumpy, so all the horn honking, rooster crowing, blasting reggaeton music and dog barking that defines this neighborhood wasn't the ideal way to wake up. But this was the most important day of the trip, the interview for Erika's visa at the US Embassy. So we crowded into the combi-bus at peak rush hour time, which meant that I was hanging onto a bar of questionable strength inside the bus with half my body inches away from the street on the outside of the doorway. Gotta love Lima! In any case, we made it to the embassy with all of our paperwork in hand just in time. The interview was going fine until the interviewer looked at my passport and asked what happened to my past passport (with which I had an incident last year where I kind of left it in my pants when I Washed them). I got amazingly nervous at that moment when she stared straight at me with a death-stare and said nothing for what seemed like five minutes after I told her my story. Apparently the National PAssport Agency had stamped "Replacement for a lost of stolen passport" in my new passport. Gee, thanks for the accurate statement, US Government. After taking about five minutes for me to stop sweating all over my body (and presumptively changing my skin tone from bright red to white again), things went fine and she was cordial, telling us stories about her experience with people "losing" (i.e. selling) their passports to drug dealers and stuff like that. But everything went on without a hitch and an hour later Erika's visa was approved and we were home free!!!
To celebrate after working the rest of the afternoon, we went to Miraflores that evening to try to find that second pair of elusive jeans (black) and I ended up buying her some footwear and then at Ripley bought myself an awesome spring/fall jacket and a wonderful, quality shirt for work that were both quite cheap. We went to a few more stores, but still could not find those black jeans, but we'll save that struggle for another day I guess. For now, it's back to work for your's truely!
J. Riley, Erika is out trying to find those jeans as I type!
Because of the short notice of the trip, and a suffering budget, I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to get a private apartment for the week and thus decided to stay at her parent's house and work from her small bedroom, where her internet connection is. My boss was generous enough to allow me to work from Peru all week and allow me to continue my stingy-ness with vacation that was honed over the past few years when I had two weeks of vacation per year.
Saturday we had to run a few errands around town before the evening plans began, which were of course going out with her friends to some discos. Last month, I had done pretty much the same, going to an all-night party after arriving fresh off a red-eye flight and I was fearful of the same this time around. But this time, they decided they wanted to go to a karaoke bar after the first disco was found to be a dud. Normally I'm not opposed to karaoke bars (as some of you Def Leopard fans know) and this time I obliged again but something about the combination of a dark constrained atmosphere and songs in Spanish that I never even heard of and that all pretty much sounded the same caused me to hit a wall at about 1:00am. Somehow I suffered through two more hours at this location nearly falling off my chair sleeping a few times. I just didn't have it in me! I did manage to croon out Come Together from the Beatles which woke me up for a bit before I failed miserably at Jack Johnson's Flake to end the night. I guess I didn't realize how hard that song would be - notably the ending!:o/
Sunday had a lot in store for us. Besides missing Liverpool's game at 7:45am in order to get some extra sleep, we had an 11:30 meeting with our wedding planner so that I could meet her and, more importantly for her I suppose, so I could throw down some cash as a deposit for her services. For those who haven't heard, we have changed our wedding date to 2/14 to coincide with my sister's school schedule. As a coincidental, accidental bonus (not to manage the added cheese factor), this happens to be Valentine's Day which makes is great for all the bleeding-heart romantics!
Post wedding planner reservation, we headed back home where I was fed very well by her mom (not for the first time, I should add!) before we had to depart for the mammoth event of the day - for me anyway: Allianza Lima vs. Sporting Cristal soccer match at the natinoal stadium! I'd submitted my request to see a pro football match down here to Erika a few weeks back because I know the crowds are crazy and dangerous and that makes it pretty exciting! I was hoping to see gangs of hooligans roaming the streets striking fear into the fans of the opposing team, fights, police in riot gear charging the line of hooligans, etc. While the atmosphere was tense outside the stadium, it wasn't quite as volatile as I would have wanted, but there were plenty of riot police everywhere and we got to see a cracking game that included a comeback from behind by the home team (Erika's dad's favorite team) against the Allianza giants. I wanted to attend another one on Wednesday night, the "Classico" match featuring the two biggest teams in Peru that surely would have been volatile, but apparently the stadium hosting that match is in the ghetto of all ghettos and Erika won't let me go. She basically said that they would steal the shoes off your feet before you stepped onto the street getting off the "combi" bus - their version of public transportation. I'll let it slide this time, though I'd love to go still!
On Monday, I worked from home during the day and after I shut up shop at 4:00pm, Erika and I went to a giant shopping center so that she could try to find some new jeans. Given the substantial price difference between clothing here and in New York, I relented and agreed to buy her two pairs of jeans that she could bring to New York. Funny enough, spending the evening at the mall together felt like the first "date" event that we've ever had. It even included eating dinner at the food court, which isn't much different than any other food court at a mall in the states except that it featured "Bembo's", which is a Peruvian burger chain with some interesting combinations like the Hawaiian burger and the Lomo Saltado (a typical Peruvian meal) burger which I ate. They had things like fried plantains, fried eggs, and other various intersting things on the burgers, The meat itself was strangely quite tasty despite being grayish in color and of course we got fries to share and all meals came with a cup of Inca Kola. I could eat at Bembos every once in a while though I'm sure it violates even more social responsibility rules than McD's or Burger King (both of which were also at the food court, of course!).
Tuesday morning I got woken up at 6:30am and I just did not want to wake up. I was soooo tired and slightly grumpy, so all the horn honking, rooster crowing, blasting reggaeton music and dog barking that defines this neighborhood wasn't the ideal way to wake up. But this was the most important day of the trip, the interview for Erika's visa at the US Embassy. So we crowded into the combi-bus at peak rush hour time, which meant that I was hanging onto a bar of questionable strength inside the bus with half my body inches away from the street on the outside of the doorway. Gotta love Lima! In any case, we made it to the embassy with all of our paperwork in hand just in time. The interview was going fine until the interviewer looked at my passport and asked what happened to my past passport (with which I had an incident last year where I kind of left it in my pants when I Washed them). I got amazingly nervous at that moment when she stared straight at me with a death-stare and said nothing for what seemed like five minutes after I told her my story. Apparently the National PAssport Agency had stamped "Replacement for a lost of stolen passport" in my new passport. Gee, thanks for the accurate statement, US Government. After taking about five minutes for me to stop sweating all over my body (and presumptively changing my skin tone from bright red to white again), things went fine and she was cordial, telling us stories about her experience with people "losing" (i.e. selling) their passports to drug dealers and stuff like that. But everything went on without a hitch and an hour later Erika's visa was approved and we were home free!!!
To celebrate after working the rest of the afternoon, we went to Miraflores that evening to try to find that second pair of elusive jeans (black) and I ended up buying her some footwear and then at Ripley bought myself an awesome spring/fall jacket and a wonderful, quality shirt for work that were both quite cheap. We went to a few more stores, but still could not find those black jeans, but we'll save that struggle for another day I guess. For now, it's back to work for your's truely!
J. Riley, Erika is out trying to find those jeans as I type!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
My New Apartment
I'm going down to sign the papers for this today - I think! May 1st,
I'll be moving in and I'm looking forward to furnishing my apartment
:-\ . Can I just register for everything in advance of my wedding???
I'll be moving in and I'm looking forward to furnishing my apartment
:-\ . Can I just register for everything in advance of my wedding???
http://hrvweb.tripod.com/id9.html
J. Riley, looking forward to taking free capoeira, yoga, and tai chi
lessons at the sculpture park around the corner from my apartment all
summer!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Excited To Move?
Erika's visa interview date had been set to April 7th last week,
giving us about two weeks to get all the documentation put together.
Clearly, two weeks is not enough time to go to the plethora of
government offices required and get the forms all filled out. So, I
called back the embassy where the interview will take place and
requested that they delay the interview if possible. They have
obliged, and a week later (yesterday) I was notified that the new
interview date will be a whole week later, April 15th. Now, Erika and
I have to try to figure out synchronous plane schedules that are
reasonably affordable, which is basically impossible. For some
ludicrous reason that I can't explain, airfares coming to the US from
Peru are absolutely ludicrous! There's something like $400 in taxes
and surcharges and what not, making any flight outrageously expensive
and giving me a nice little headache.
giving us about two weeks to get all the documentation put together.
Clearly, two weeks is not enough time to go to the plethora of
government offices required and get the forms all filled out. So, I
called back the embassy where the interview will take place and
requested that they delay the interview if possible. They have
obliged, and a week later (yesterday) I was notified that the new
interview date will be a whole week later, April 15th. Now, Erika and
I have to try to figure out synchronous plane schedules that are
reasonably affordable, which is basically impossible. For some
ludicrous reason that I can't explain, airfares coming to the US from
Peru are absolutely ludicrous! There's something like $400 in taxes
and surcharges and what not, making any flight outrageously expensive
and giving me a nice little headache.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is my - GASP! - excitement to
move! No, not because I am now afraid of being gunned down in front of
my apartment in the Bronx, but because I am very excited to move to my
next borough, Queens. Astoria, to be accurate. I was stressing out
about having to move again until I visited an available apartment
recently and walked around the area a bit more. This area is sooooo
awesome and the rents are totally reasonable (relatively speaking).
This part of Queens borders the East River, giving some apartments
(including some I have visited) amazing views of Manhattan and being
just a short subway ride away from the middle of Manhattan. Furnishing
my apartment is a whole other matter, but I won't spoil my thoughts
about moving just yet.
In other news, it looks like Erika has found the perfect wedding
planner down in Peru to do some of the legwork for us while we are
both here living the city life. I'm pretty stoked about that and look
forward to meeting her when I go down to Peru in two weeks for the
interview and to celebrate Erika's 29th birthday!
J. Riley, now back to looking for flight deals....
Thursday, March 20, 2008
House Parties and Holidays and Homicides, Oh My!
I've been getting verbally body-slammed about the fact that I had absolutely no time to update my blog while I was in Peru and I've been so busy in the one, err.....two weeks I've been back that I haven't been able to update my blog. Or, I haven't created the time to update el blogo. So, here's a run-down, bulleted style for Cathy.
A. Conclusion to Peru
A. Conclusion to Peru
- My parents arrived in Peru about five days after the party. Erika and I showed them around the city, going to the downtown area and running around town trying to find the best food to eat in the short amount of time that we had. Sometimes things don't go as planned and you end up finding the best surprises that way, such as the ceviche restaurant that we went to on their second day there. Because of an earlier delay, our lunch schedule got pushed back...to about 5:00! We ran around Lima spending a good hour and a half and $8 in cab fares and found all three of the places that we wanted to eat at closed. We ended up on a quiet street (Nueva York St., as it were) eating at an awesome place in a small corner with the most AMAZING ceviche I've ever had. There are pictures of the food on my picture site.
- On Saturday, we did a meeting of the families by having lunch at Erika's family's house. I should have known when I was instructed to wear pants to the event (though it was hot and sunny outside) and told to bring my proposal speech in Spanish. But, I was foolish enough to think that I'd get away easy with the proposal the week before. Oh no, I had to do the thing ALL OVER AGAIN, and worse yet, it was in front of HER parents, MY parents, her aunt, and her cousin! It's nerve wracking enough proposing, but to have to do it twice, in front of everyone? I really didn't want to, but in the end it was the right thing to do, the traditional thing to do. And I was happy that her dad was there this time around! Her mom made an amazing lunch for us and I could tell that it was a big event for them, as it was for my parents. Despite the language barrier, we could all somehow communicate and everyone had so much fun, laughing at the pronunciation of my dad's name: "Doug? Like Hot Dog? We call that 'pancho' in Spanish", and a new nickname for my dad was borne!
- That night we took their, and my, parents to Brisas de Titicaca, a show demonstrating many of the traditional dances of Peru. Dancing is a big part of their culture and in a country steeped with so much history and ancient civilizations, it was fun to see. Her dad had never even been to the show, so it was fun that they could dress up for a night and have fun out on the town, something they don't normally get to experience.
- I went to Cusco again! Despite being there twice before, I wanted to take Erika and my parents since they hadn't been there before.
- The first day, we sucked down the mate de coca tea (from which cocaine is made) to help give us relief from the 12,000 feet altitude. The second day we wandered around slowly and met up with an acquantince that I had met the year before. She took a 2-hour bus ride to meet us and show us around town to some places I hadn't even seen before. We got the local tour of the giant market place with all the fresh food, some typical streets, some ancient buildings from the Incas, and ended up at the Inca fortress Sachsahuayman (sp.) at the end of the day before taking our guide to a fancy dinner before her bus left. We are very greatful to her for her time!
- The second day, we had a private tour of the Sacred Valley, Pisaq, and Ollyatatumbo. We had a great deal from a tourist company for the trip, paying $60 for the day. Well, you get what you pay for! We had a tour guide who's English was poor and who basically knew very little. I was a better tour guide based on my previous trips than he was! The hiking around the Pisaq ruins brought back memories of my first trip with my friends, but this trip will always remind me that my dad is in way better shape than me, trudging up the hills carrying his tripod and massive SLR camera on his shoulder! I didn't do too bad on the hills, Erika was surpisingly fit (it must be her Inca lungs!), and even my mom did all of the hills!
- The third day was the long trip to Machu Picchu on the train, leaving at 6:30am. Machu Picchu is not something you can get old of, but note to self: next time pay the $50 and hire a guide! You really can't appreciate everything without a guide telling you what each piece means. We got stuck on an early (and more expensive) train home but it wasn't a bad thing because it had started raining and you couldn't see anything after that. Next time, I recommend staying in Aguas Calientes (the town below the mountain) for at least a day so you can get a whole day on the mountain!
- The fourth day, which I was bracing for the whole week, turned out to possibly be my favorite day - since I've seen all the tourist stuff before. The day of shopping! My wallet was already light from the trip and my mom had been teaching Erika the art of spending-your-significant-other's-money all too well. We ended up aimlessly wandering around the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco looking at jewelry shops and clothing stores, finding amazing views of the city, quiet, scenic cobblestone streets, a few good deals and unique items, and more than one hippyish cafes to stop and have some corn-based chicha morrada to drink. I didn't mind spending money on some of the jewelry, purses, and other things for Erika, she deserves it all and I loved shopping with her.
- The next day, we headed back to Lima and bid my parents goodbye as they travelled back to the states. It was a very fun trip with them, like always, and it's good to know that they appreciate the gem that I have in this girl and that she loves them as much as they love her!
- Five days after I got back, Melissa had a small house / dinner party to celebrate my engagement! Everyone wanted all the details about my trip and to know about what's going to happen in the future with our wedding!
- Speaking of weddings, I didn't have many of your email addresses in my email address book! If you didn't get my "guaging the interest of attending my wedding March 28th, 2009 in Lima, Peru", you might want to send me an email so that I can invite you! If you don't know my email address, send an email to my parents, who will forward on to me. I don't publish my email address for many reasons.....nevermind, I don't have time to digress on information security!
- Monday was St. Patrick's Day, the day for drinking significant quantities of beer, wearing lots of green, and eating too much marginal corned beef and cabbage. Paul brought up a good point: why should we go eat marginal Irish food just for the holiday's sake? Why not go out for a good dinner?
- Good point Paul! So, it was off to the Meatpacking District, and under-appreciated neighbohood in our culinary repository, where we ate "Pan-African" food at Merkato 55 and dessert at the neighboring Italian, former-butcher-warehouse restaurant. Naturally, we had a lot of fun and had a few Irish beverages to boot!
- Sean Murphy, as Irish as he name indicates, was conveniently born on St. Patrick's Day, so last night we celebrated his birthday with a "company party" (i.e. I don't have to pay nothing) at his Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborly beer garden Radegast. They served up some wicked wursts, had a plethora of stellar imported beers including a rare breed of Schlenferla Rauchbier from Alex's town of Bamberg in Germany. The dinner was marginal, but the beers were great and the Hipster/Jewish music band was certainly interesting.
- As in, there was one. Close to me.
- The scene: My apartment in the Bronx.
- The situation: Me, Melissa and Jonathon were waiting for the crew to show up for our dinner party. Then, out of nowhere, we hear BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG very close to our apartment, followed by screeching tires and a minute later, sirens. The crew entered our apartment a minute later, having been in our elevator on the way to our apartment! We rubbernecked out of our 11th floor apartment and heard many sirens from the po-po and ambulances show up right next to our apartment.
- The Resolution: The next day, we see on the news that a 19 year-old was shot three times in the chest and were looking for suspects! Today, I saw a HOMICIDE poster in the subway station with the suspect's mug-shot.
- What did I do with that list of people that were going to visit me??
Friday, March 14, 2008
Aaaand...More Pictures
There's some more picture albums posted at:
http://hess.homelinux.net/~jhaines/?level=collection&id=1
http://hess.homelinux.net/~jhaines/?level=collection&id=1
Friday, February 29, 2008
Pictures!
Lots to talk about, but here's some pictures to satiate your appetites. I know, they need some captions, but I'll do that later...
http://hess.homelinux.net/~jhaines/?level=album&id=18
J. Riley
http://hess.homelinux.net/~jhaines/?level=album&id=18
J. Riley
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Salazar Family Reunion
After completing the important business of my first day in Peru, we met up with Erika's friends Ketty and Renzo to go to the beach for a little bit to pass the rest of the day before the family 
reunion party later that night. Beaches tend not to be the best place to reserve strength for a booze fest that will last until the next morning after a red-eye flight down the previous night and an emotionally draining event, but what the heck. Maybe I'm too used to my short trips down here and trying to squeeze everything possible into a day....
Anyway, we headed out to the beach, stopping at a cevicheria near the beach for a little lunch first. Ceviche is a collection of wonderful seafood dishes that is essentially raw fish, clams, etc. that are doused with lime juice, spices, and red onions. The acid in the lime juice actually "cooks" the fish so that it isn't raw like sushi, but isn't really cooked. It's absolutely a must-try and I love to eat the stuff.
After chilling late in the afternoon on a beach that had a club nearby that was blasting club music over the sand, we headed home to rest up for the night. I believe that I took a nap, but I know that at around 9:00pm, we headed down Erika's street to try to find a taxi that would take us way across town to this place where the party was. I had absolutely know idea what it would be like, but I actually mentally drew a pretty accurate picture for once. Being in Peru, it was naturally partially outdoor, which is critical considering how hot and cigarette-filled clubs can be. I found out later that it wasn't actually a purely-Salazar family reunion, in fact anyone could attend that wanted to (if they bought a ticket). It was more of a carnival celebration of Cajamarcan culture. Cajamarca is a city in northern Peru where Erika's family is from and, incidentally, was where the Spanish conquistadors first met and decimated the Incas. But I won't go off on that tangent right now :o).
The reunion was composed of live-music playing traditional "huayno" music (I was briefly taught how the dance worked earlier in the day), hordes of Salazars (there are 14 brothers and sister's in Erika's dad's family, plus their spouses, kids, girlfriends and boyfriends, nieces, etc. ) who had
taken the 18 hour bus rides down from Cajamarca or other parts of northern Peru and basically none of them spoke much English - at least until later in the night after the beer had been flowing and a about two of them spoke a few words. There was a selected/elected King and Queen of the party, amazing demonstrations of traditional dancing (marinera and huayno) by nine-year-olds, and beer, lots of beer.
In the midst of all of this, I think I violated almost all sanitary policies that could possibly be violated. I hadn't brought my bottle of Purell, I wasn't about to use the sinks in the bathrooms, and, best of all, was the way that the beer was drunk. People would buy cases of beer at a time that came with a single small plastic cup. People would kind of stand around and, after first opening the bottle of beer with their teeth (maybe that's why there are so many teeth missing here :oS ), they would take the bottle, pour a little bit of beer into the cup and pass the bottle along as a "toast". Then drink the beer in the cup, emptying the little bit of beer, backwash, and spittle left at the bottom after you down it, and pass the cup to the guy with the bottle, who would do the same. This happened ALL-NIGHT-LONG. We're talking about 8 hours! I was definitely impressed by how these people hold their liquor as it was the most beer I've seen drunk since my days at German beer festivals back in the day.
The beer also loosened everyone up so that it didn't matter if we didn't speak the same language, it was the perfect way to meet their family :o) . When Eri and I were "invited" to join a particular group of younger people, we finished our food, bought a case of beer (it was about $20 for the case), and brought it over, only to find that there were already two full cases there waiting to be drunk. And, indeed, it was drunken in short time! Interestingly enough, sometime around the time that the third case was being finished, I found my dancing shoes and sense of rhythm and did my twirling and stepping on feet with old ladies and girls alike.
One of the last events of the night was something I haven't seen before. There was a giant tree branch stuck into the ground and at the top there were "branches" and netting with a bunch of random clothes and plastic buckets and a bunch of other random things stuck the net. I guess it's sort of their version of a pinata, because when the branch was finally uprooted out of the ground, people went nuts for the stuff in the nets. I was definitely confused by this tradition but it was interesting to see. I think that people genuinely value the items for their utility, not just for the carnival value. How different me as probably the only gringo to ever attend this party sees the value of these items compared to the locals!
By six o'clock in the morning, I was basically destroyed so it wasn't a problem convincing me to head home. Apparently I had made some "amigos" at the party (some that Erika didn't even know) and apparently the family really enjoyed dancing and drinking with me, as I did as well.
It was quite a great, local event!
J. Riley, I had a splitting headache the next day :o)
reunion party later that night. Beaches tend not to be the best place to reserve strength for a booze fest that will last until the next morning after a red-eye flight down the previous night and an emotionally draining event, but what the heck. Maybe I'm too used to my short trips down here and trying to squeeze everything possible into a day....Anyway, we headed out to the beach, stopping at a cevicheria near the beach for a little lunch first. Ceviche is a collection of wonderful seafood dishes that is essentially raw fish, clams, etc. that are doused with lime juice, spices, and red onions. The acid in the lime juice actually "cooks" the fish so that it isn't raw like sushi, but isn't really cooked. It's absolutely a must-try and I love to eat the stuff.
After chilling late in the afternoon on a beach that had a club nearby that was blasting club music over the sand, we headed home to rest up for the night. I believe that I took a nap, but I know that at around 9:00pm, we headed down Erika's street to try to find a taxi that would take us way across town to this place where the party was. I had absolutely know idea what it would be like, but I actually mentally drew a pretty accurate picture for once. Being in Peru, it was naturally partially outdoor, which is critical considering how hot and cigarette-filled clubs can be. I found out later that it wasn't actually a purely-Salazar family reunion, in fact anyone could attend that wanted to (if they bought a ticket). It was more of a carnival celebration of Cajamarcan culture. Cajamarca is a city in northern Peru where Erika's family is from and, incidentally, was where the Spanish conquistadors first met and decimated the Incas. But I won't go off on that tangent right now :o).
The reunion was composed of live-music playing traditional "huayno" music (I was briefly taught how the dance worked earlier in the day), hordes of Salazars (there are 14 brothers and sister's in Erika's dad's family, plus their spouses, kids, girlfriends and boyfriends, nieces, etc. ) who had
taken the 18 hour bus rides down from Cajamarca or other parts of northern Peru and basically none of them spoke much English - at least until later in the night after the beer had been flowing and a about two of them spoke a few words. There was a selected/elected King and Queen of the party, amazing demonstrations of traditional dancing (marinera and huayno) by nine-year-olds, and beer, lots of beer.In the midst of all of this, I think I violated almost all sanitary policies that could possibly be violated. I hadn't brought my bottle of Purell, I wasn't about to use the sinks in the bathrooms, and, best of all, was the way that the beer was drunk. People would buy cases of beer at a time that came with a single small plastic cup. People would kind of stand around and, after first opening the bottle of beer with their teeth (maybe that's why there are so many teeth missing here :oS ), they would take the bottle, pour a little bit of beer into the cup and pass the bottle along as a "toast". Then drink the beer in the cup, emptying the little bit of beer, backwash, and spittle left at the bottom after you down it, and pass the cup to the guy with the bottle, who would do the same. This happened ALL-NIGHT-LONG. We're talking about 8 hours! I was definitely impressed by how these people hold their liquor as it was the most beer I've seen drunk since my days at German beer festivals back in the day.
The beer also loosened everyone up so that it didn't matter if we didn't speak the same language, it was the perfect way to meet their family :o) . When Eri and I were "invited" to join a particular group of younger people, we finished our food, bought a case of beer (it was about $20 for the case), and brought it over, only to find that there were already two full cases there waiting to be drunk. And, indeed, it was drunken in short time! Interestingly enough, sometime around the time that the third case was being finished, I found my dancing shoes and sense of rhythm and did my twirling and stepping on feet with old ladies and girls alike.
One of the last events of the night was something I haven't seen before. There was a giant tree branch stuck into the ground and at the top there were "branches" and netting with a bunch of random clothes and plastic buckets and a bunch of other random things stuck the net. I guess it's sort of their version of a pinata, because when the branch was finally uprooted out of the ground, people went nuts for the stuff in the nets. I was definitely confused by this tradition but it was interesting to see. I think that people genuinely value the items for their utility, not just for the carnival value. How different me as probably the only gringo to ever attend this party sees the value of these items compared to the locals!
By six o'clock in the morning, I was basically destroyed so it wasn't a problem convincing me to head home. Apparently I had made some "amigos" at the party (some that Erika didn't even know) and apparently the family really enjoyed dancing and drinking with me, as I did as well.
It was quite a great, local event!
J. Riley, I had a splitting headache the next day :o)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, the Story
I arrived in Lima on Saturday morning with my flight delayed thanks to a Customs issue in the USA (whatever that means!). I slept decently well on my overnight flight down there, which was a requirement because the first two days in Lima were going to be crazy because I was going to be attending her family reunion party that starts that night at 9:00pm and ends sometime around sunrise and involves large amounts of cerveza consumption!
I had a wide variety of options available for a proposal. Since we're going to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu, it would pretty awesome to do it there. Or I could do it when we celebrate our 13 month's "anniversary" this week. Or I could do it AT the family reunion. Or, as I chose, I could do it in the hours before the family reunion, and I had two options there. With a lot of time between when I arrived and the party, I could do it at the beach when we were alone together, which is a little scary if you know what the beaches are like here and how crowded they are. There was also the issue of transporting it to the beach, where I could hide it, etc. Then, at the last minute, I found out that her friends were going to pick us up and take us to the beach with them, so the solidarity became an issue with that plan.
My final option that I thought of a few days ago involved the fact that her parents are very "traditional" and Erika had told me that they wanted me to ask them for permission for her to stay with me in the apartment I'm renting in Lima for the week (which is awesome, by the way). I had asked my friend Russ to translate both this request and my proposal asking them for permission to marry her, which actually occurs AFTER you ask the girl in Peru. So I thought, wouldn't it be funny if I asked for permission for her to stay with me, which Erika expected, and then continue on to ask permission for her to marry me, which she didn't expect? I liked the idea but the fact that her dad wouldn't be there because he was busy organizing the party all day and from what I'd heard about Peruvian proposals, we were supposed to all be together with a nice dinner together, champagne, celebration, etc.
So we were sitting in her living room with her mom and waiting for her friends to pick us up and somehow the subject came up about the fact that we had always called each other "novio" and "novia", which I originally thought meant girlfriend and boyfriend, but I learned later that it actually means "fiancee" :-X ! Oops. She never had a problem with me using it and she always referred to me as her "novio" too. So the three of us were talking about this and laughing a little bit about the fact that "she can't be your 'novia' because she doesn't have a ring on her finger yet, ha ha ha!" Ha ha ha, indeed. Without saying a word, I decided to strike while the iron was hot and went to my room, got out my cheat sheet with my proposal(s) and came back in to read it.
They were both touched by me asking permission about her staying with me and I left a significant pause there for that to sink in before diving into the short proposal, which said to the effect that I was very happy to be a part of the family reunion that would happen that night and I wanted to know if we could celebrate another thing as well. Bling! The only thing I remembered was Erika covering her mouth and her eyes looking huge and her shaking her head. I thought to myself "Is she saying no, not right now, it's not appropriate, this isn't how they do it in Peru"? But I was half way done and wasn't about to stop there to find out! When I finished my translation, she said she didn't understand the last line, which was when I asked for the permission. She didn't understand it until I took the ring and rock out of my sunglasses case :o)
J. Riley, the party story comes next!
I had a wide variety of options available for a proposal. Since we're going to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu, it would pretty awesome to do it there. Or I could do it when we celebrate our 13 month's "anniversary" this week. Or I could do it AT the family reunion. Or, as I chose, I could do it in the hours before the family reunion, and I had two options there. With a lot of time between when I arrived and the party, I could do it at the beach when we were alone together, which is a little scary if you know what the beaches are like here and how crowded they are. There was also the issue of transporting it to the beach, where I could hide it, etc. Then, at the last minute, I found out that her friends were going to pick us up and take us to the beach with them, so the solidarity became an issue with that plan.
My final option that I thought of a few days ago involved the fact that her parents are very "traditional" and Erika had told me that they wanted me to ask them for permission for her to stay with me in the apartment I'm renting in Lima for the week (which is awesome, by the way). I had asked my friend Russ to translate both this request and my proposal asking them for permission to marry her, which actually occurs AFTER you ask the girl in Peru. So I thought, wouldn't it be funny if I asked for permission for her to stay with me, which Erika expected, and then continue on to ask permission for her to marry me, which she didn't expect? I liked the idea but the fact that her dad wouldn't be there because he was busy organizing the party all day and from what I'd heard about Peruvian proposals, we were supposed to all be together with a nice dinner together, champagne, celebration, etc.
So we were sitting in her living room with her mom and waiting for her friends to pick us up and somehow the subject came up about the fact that we had always called each other "novio" and "novia", which I originally thought meant girlfriend and boyfriend, but I learned later that it actually means "fiancee" :-X ! Oops. She never had a problem with me using it and she always referred to me as her "novio" too. So the three of us were talking about this and laughing a little bit about the fact that "she can't be your 'novia' because she doesn't have a ring on her finger yet, ha ha ha!" Ha ha ha, indeed. Without saying a word, I decided to strike while the iron was hot and went to my room, got out my cheat sheet with my proposal(s) and came back in to read it.
They were both touched by me asking permission about her staying with me and I left a significant pause there for that to sink in before diving into the short proposal, which said to the effect that I was very happy to be a part of the family reunion that would happen that night and I wanted to know if we could celebrate another thing as well. Bling! The only thing I remembered was Erika covering her mouth and her eyes looking huge and her shaking her head. I thought to myself "Is she saying no, not right now, it's not appropriate, this isn't how they do it in Peru"? But I was half way done and wasn't about to stop there to find out! When I finished my translation, she said she didn't understand the last line, which was when I asked for the permission. She didn't understand it until I took the ring and rock out of my sunglasses case :o)
J. Riley, the party story comes next!
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