TTFN, Trujillo

Now that we're about to leave the coast, I figured it was time to post a few pics of Trujillo. Although we were living in Huanchaco, Trujillo was our second city. It's where we went to go to the movies, visit the mall, or eat at "Papa Juan's" (mejor ingredientes, mejor pizza). Trujillo is one of the largest cities in northern Peru, and its colonial architecture is a highlight. Here's a late-in-coming photo tour:



The Plaza de Armas is the central square of any colonial city. The one in Trujillo is especially lovely. It's a shame we didn't take any pictures when it was decorated for the holidays -- there were Christmas trees everywhere. One of them was Shrek themed.



I present to you the focal point of the city of Trujillo: some naked guy in a cape. It's kind of like an up-skirt shot.



This church is very prominent in Trujillo's Plaza de Armas. I really like the way the brightly colored buildings make the city seem so happy and friendly.



This elaborately decorated building sits directly on the Plaza de Armas.



This is one of the less attractive buildings on the Plaza, but it reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Mmmmm...my favorite flavor.



...yet another colonial masterpiece on the Plaza.



I'm not sure why I like this one, but I do.



These bizarre wood balconies (like the one in the foreground) jut out from many of the colonial buildings. They're very Trujillo.



The windows in Trujillo are quite fabulous. Mike's photos of them make a perfect sequel to his Antigua, Guatemala door series.



This window's even nicer with the building's two-tone paint job. We almost got arrested for this photo though; the window belongs to a bank. Since we got caught simply casing the joint, we decided to postpone our bank robbery plans for an easier mark.



And now for a less attractive image from the Trujillo files: this building is in disrepair, as I'm sure you can see for yourself. Take special note, however, of the broken glass lining a portion of the roof. The owners obviously calculated exactly how much space they would need to arm with bottle shards in order to deter criminals who might shimmy up the window bars, leap onto the protruding metal arm, and swing onto the roof. Clever.



Mike suspects that this man was locked out and therefore had to set up shop on the sidewalk. As if.



I don't know how many of the signs you can read, but this entire street is lined with Opticas. Guess you know where to go when you need an eye exam.

Tada! There's Trujillo in a nutshell. Come back soon for photos of our weekend get-away that left us stranded in the mountains.

Carnival in Huanchaco

Carnival is pretty much a month-long celebration in Peru. In Cajamarca people celebrate with a water balloon fight that lasts weeks and targets anyone and everyone. Every now and then the water balloons become buckets of water or even paint. Huanchaco is a bit more tame. Carnival is marked by more parties than normal and a few special events. One such event occurred last weekend: the children's costume parade. Here's the evidence:



I'm not sure the Huanchaco Carnival parade stacks up to those in Brasil, but it was fun anyway.



Mike thought that these kids looked like a freaky cross between regular clowns and KKK members.



Another strange clown crossbreed...



I liked the guerrilla girls.



This little fairy princess has quite the elaborate crown.



Some of the floats were quite elaborate as well. This pirate ship was a bit too tall however; one of the Dads had to carry a giant pole alongside the ship so that he could lift the power lines above the mast every few meters.



The Little Mermaid float! I don't know who the hell the chick in the middle is supposed to be, but Ariel and King Triton are sitting in front of her.

And now a few random photos:



Mike loved this makeshift wheelchair. Luckily nobody was using it, 'cause he would have dumped the amputee out to get this photo.



Here's our charming Huanchaco from the hill above town. Our house is on the far side of the pier, so you can't see it in this picture. I have updated our travel map (linked on the left) recently, however. It shows the exact location of our house in Huanchaco as well as the location of the language school where I am teaching.

Mike and I are heading off for a brief weekend excursion tomorrow, so it's entirely possible that I may have more posts and pictures before the end of February. Stay tuned!

Perezosos in Peru

Perezoso means lazy, in case you were wondering. Nothing much has happened recently. We're more or less hibernating in anticipation of our next several months on the road. It turns out that my parents aren't going to make it to the southern hempisphere this March, so Mike and I have been trying to decide what to do once we leave Huanchaco at the end of this month. We have a few ideas. Among them are a boat ride down the Amazon to Iquitos (which is one of the largest cities in the world not accessible by road); a small backpacking trip in the Cordilera Blanca, where Peru's tallest mountains reach about 20,000 ft.; and visits to Cuzco, Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, etc. We're struggling to figure out the logistics, but I'm sure we'll make things happen somehow.

For now, I simply have a few observations and some of Mike's pictures to include in the blog. Here goes:

1) Me gustan muchas hamburguesas con huevos fritos. In the States I like a good cheeseburger -- swiss, cheddar, american -- whatever. Sadly, the cheese isn't quite so tasty in South America; however, this doesn't matter so much when you've got a fried egg on your burger instead (or in addition). Many of the burger joints we've visited in our travels include a fried egg along with the standard meat patty, tomato, lettuce, bun, etc. Delicious! I recommend that you try it next time you're grilling out.

2) Have you ever been to visit the ruins of some ancient culture? It doesn't really matter which -- Greek, Roman, Mayan, Incan -- it turns out they were all clever bastards. Each one of these cultures knew how to construct a space to maximize its acoustic properties without using microphones! Admittedly, this is more than I could manage. What's even more fascinating to Mike, however, is the fact that this prompts the exaxt same action from all guides: they clap. And they seem to think you should gasp in awe as the sounds they've so proudly produced echo off the walls. The experience is naturally hightened by the presence of multiple guides leading various groups in the same acoustic space. It's not okay to leave the clapping up to a single guide; it's your guide's priviledge to gleefully clap his own sweaty mitts together when he gets to that part of the spiel. So, next time you're on tour at some ancient ruins wait for that clapping. When you hear it, be sure to close your eyes, cock your head ever-so-slightly, and listen with a rapt expression on your face -- your guide will feel that his training has truly paid off.

3) The circus came to Huanchaco the other day. No, Mike and I didn't attend, but we did scope-out the set-up. As we wandered up to the Big Top, Mike caught a glimpse of something moving beneath the circus supply truck. Upon closer inspection we discovered a mountain lion on a leash teathered to the axle. No cage. Oh, and did I mention that this deadly predator was about 10 ft. away from a playground? No fence. Sure, the puma was on a leash and looked pretty tame, but what if a small child wanted to pet the kitty? It's not like there's much adult supervision in Peru. Luckily, we didn't witness any maulings. I'll bet the circus was great though, what with that puma and the midget and the monkey that we saw. *Sigh* Maybe next time.



The circus tent was pitched about a block away from the English school where I teach.



"Nice kitty!" Luckily the mountain lion seemed unphased by Mike's flash.



The salty ocean air may make Huanchaco seem very different from the desert, but there are still a lot of desert plants around. The prickly pear fruit (called tuna here) that I've only ever had in ice cream while in AZ is tasty but spiky.



"Surfboards for Rent" -- a common sight in Huanchaco, though Mike and I have yet to hop aboard again...



"More bars in more places." Mike's been taking Cingular pics.



Mike takes a lot of pictures at the beach. Oftentimes they depict kids running around in see-through underwear (tighty-whiteys don't make good swimsuits!). In fact, it's hard to take a picture at the beach without a nude or might-as-well-be-nude kid in the frame. I don't know whether or not this kid is properly attired, but this was one of my favorite of Mike's recent beach pics for some reason.



These random fruit carts go by our apartment at least once a day. The sellers speak into some weird kind of megaphone that makes them sound like robots. You know those things that throat cancer victims have to hold to their necks in order to speak? That's what these guys sound like. "Hay mango, mango. Rico mango."



They really load down their trucks around here -- visibility be damned!



I like stained glass pictures, even if the glass is mostly broken.



Every latin american town has its own virgin; I think the virgin in Huanchaco is called the Virgen del Cerro, though I may be mistaken. At any rate, every so often the glorious virgin will be paraded through the streets of the town, accompanied by music and fireworks. The procession usually ends up in a park or a church where a brief religious service takes place. Good times.



The virgin gets her own band, though the members do have to improvise a bit. They fill out the notes on their sheets of music, then they clothespin them to the guy in front of them. Classy.



It's carnival month, which basically means that we are constantly subjected to loud parties. It also means that there are countless contests, parades, dances, etc. We figure that this structure was part of some kind of contest, but we never saw the culmination of the project.



Though I can't stand fried dough (elephant ears, funnel cakes, doughnuts) the fried food on the left is one of my new favorites: papas rellenas. They're basically fried potatoes that have been stuffed with meat, onions, etc. Delicious! They taste better than they look in this picture, especially when smothered with salsa picante. Furthermore, while I was double-checking my spelling I stumbled upon a Peruvian Food blog. Check it out for a papas rellenas recipe and other Peruvian favorites, like cebiche. Travel your taste buds.

That's all I have for now. It will probably be a little while before I post, but once we are moving again in March I imagine we'll have more pics and stories worthy of the blog. Until next time!

P.S. Happy birthday to Nick and Josh, and congratulations to my sister and Josh for buying their first house!