Word to the wise, study abroaders: I am of the school of thought that packing for too many contingencies is just plain silly; just bring your tools.  However, do yourself a favor, and bring yourself a full supply of GOOD Q-tips!

Last night, a Peruvian friend and I went to a really cool restaurant turística called La Candelaria  Also, there was a lot of audience participation and an MC has everyone come up and instruct people in folk dances.  It was a great time; a mix of watching these amazing dancers dance to the live band and also in between, we danced the salsa and cumbia to the live band.  At one point, all the foreigners were brought up onto the stage; the only other folks from the States that night were a family from D.C. and a gal whose mother is Peruvian from Oklahoma.  There were people from all over South America and Europe, quite a representation!  We had to dance our own ”cultural” dances for the audience.  For example, the French folks were made to do the can-can; this also experientially gives the outsiders a caution of how ridiculous it really is to water down a culture into a spectacle of festival and fashion.  I assure you that I well represented our culture with my interpretation of Boogie Nights and disco.  ¡Viva disco! 

Today, I went to Pachacamac with some other friends; these are the ruins just outside the city.  We walked and saw amazing Incan ruins on top of the ruins of other civilizations; just as the Spaniards built Cathedrals on top of temples later to prove their superiority, so did the conquering Incans.     

On a side note, not having other people my age in a study group around me, forces me to have to be outgoing and make friends with people here.  I love this because I actually spend my time relating in Spanish, which is exactly what I intended.  Not that I couldn’t have done that otherwise, but it’s too easy to slip into the comfort of your first language.  From this foreigner’s experience (in this case a US foreigner in Peru), it really does help when you raise your voice to speak to a foreigner!  It forces the native speaker to talk a little more slowly and annunciate the consonants.   I’ve been thinking a lot about my friends here.  I’ve always heard that the U.S. has one of the most mobile labor forces, and that sounds like a boring and ridiculous fact.  Knowing all the expenses of moving and the number of people who feel trapped and can’t move, this doesn’t always ring true to me…until you see the way that family works in a fairly poor and traditional working class barrio.  Here, in Callao, people build their houses, literally, floor by floor, partition by partition.  I was shocked to see a friend’s house that looks like a gutted out building with doors because it’s just cement.  Getting by is a full family effort, and it’s interesting to have conversations with people of my generation of late twenties and early thirties young adults, who have passed their youth phase and are truly into their young adulthood.  The pressure to live at home after all that time with family-not only before marriage but also after and with kids- is so strong and sometimes takes negative, guilt manifestations.  My peers I talk to are so interested and somewhat jealous in the fact that I live such a separate life from my parents, so independent and can hardly imagine it.  Family networks may be an economic survival mechanism but definitely not one that everyone would chose if they had a better economic option.

With all due respect to the multitude of belief systems, this is just a commentary of my observations.  We have become accustomed in the States to accepting nothing less than true religious tolerance, and that freedom of religion truly means freedom to practice one’s religion, not forced to follow the tenants of someone else’s.  Ahem, um, mostly.  There is a whole lot of interesting things going on in the Catholic Church in Peru, and this is a matter of political importance here since there is not separation of church here.  Internationally, and in Peru in the last decade, the Catholic Church is becoming very conservative and into evangelizing and abolishing all the ideas and music of Vatican II.  Part of it is a response to growing Protestantism here, but not in the way we even think of in the States.  To me, it’s so fascinating that many Peruvian folks don’t have a concept of how you can coexist in a family with different beliefs, nor who have a concept of what we think of mainstream Protestantism in the US.  The majority of the formation of new, Protestant, aka non-Catholic churches that are here takes on the form of holy wars with pictures of the bishop as a devil and all.  The Catholic Church in Peru for its part is now responding in kind, with similar, authority language.  Old style, liberation theologian, and community modeling Catholics still exist, but they have all been removed from any power and, some, even from their charges.

Ciao for now!

21 de junio

Last night, we went to the mass for P*’s mother.  It was really beautiful.  The whole church is the color of lavender because it represents one of the patron saints of the country.  This saint is called the Lord of the Miracles after a building that collapsed in a sismo or earthquake and left only a wall upon which a certain picture of Jesus was painted.  Every October, people who want to ask for a miracle wear a purple dress or covering all month. I was so sad for my friend P*.  She lives one block from me in Kentucky at the house where I did my internship.  She is a Peruvian, but won the lottery and has been a resident of the U.S. for several years and works in Louisville.  She is very dear, and we were planning to travel together for months just on my way to Peru, so I could help her carry her things for her and her infant.  There are quite a few Peruvians in Louisville, and I brought a whole extra suitcase with things just for some my friends’ and acquaintances’ families.  However, when her mother suddenly died, she had to leave quickly for Peru.  She still missed the burial.  I’m really glad I was able to be there.  At the very least, it demonstrated to her family, that even her friends from Kentucky, from another continent, mourn with them.  She has many friends in Louisville through her work at Kenwood and the people at St. Williams. 

The ceremony was very large, several hundred people.  The mass honors the one month anniversary of her death and is a very common celebration in addition to the traditional funeral.  It is a way to say thank you to the friends and family who supported them through their grief because at the end, a large meal is given to everyone in attendance.  In this case, C*’s favorite, the dish, Ahi de gallina, which reminded me a lot of etouffe but with chicken.  I think it’s very beautiful because families are usually too in shock at the time of a funeral to truly be present in spirit to celebrate the life of their loved one.  There were hundreds there because her family is very well loved and respected in the barrio.  Her father was involved in neighborhood politics for years, even once a city council person.  The mother ran the capilla’s program to teach First Communion classes for years, which included supervising the parejas guias and young animadores who helped and included classes for parents on raising your children in the Catholic tradition.

The humorous thing – and C* warned me about this – is because I’m hanging with the Sisters and look a little different, many people assume I am a nun.  They call me Hermana Emily and Madrecita.  This is all a stretch considering I am not Catholic!  Sister C*, or just C*, has been excellent.  She has taken charge of being my own personal tour guide.  Yesterday, we went to the market, and she pointed out all the unfamiliar fruits, and the llama jerkey, charqui.  Through her, I’ve met street vendors, people on the street, the people at the market she knows, and know who the neighborhood thieves are.  I need to get started looking for the alpaca jerkey and meat for Dr. Markowitz.  This is going to be a fun adventure.  There is much more and mostly lamb, chicken, beef, and fish.  Cow stomach is especially popular. 

Callao where I’m staying is a poorer suburb of Lima.  The buildings look ok from the street, but seen from above with the roofs, many of them are more like shacks for the quality of the roofs and the way houses are on top of one another.  The sisters try to live as close to the lives of the people in the barrio as possible, so we eat and live very simply but comfortably.  That’s what I love about my trip to Peru, many might think it is a waste of time to have to clean, cook, and hand wash their own clothing, but for me, I feel like I am gaining more of the culture because I can have deeper conversations in Spanish because I understand the language and can conform to practices of not just the people in the richest neighborhoods.

I start my charges in the parroquial school on Monday.  I’m helping tutor in math and supplement their English classes.  I think this will leave me plenty of time to handwash all my clothes, do my research paper, and study for the GRE in the afternoons and evenings.  Hasta prontito!

UPDATE – Here are some pictures.  I spent part of the afternoon at P*’s mother’s grave with the family, talking and visiting and saying some prayers.  Cemetaries are very different here.  This cemetery is most like ones we know in the United States but because land is so costly, in one grave spot, they bury five people.  A more common way in the city because of the urban problem are more like these mausoleums that are huge and are now being constructed even with second stories.  C* took me to visit to see this important and interesting cultural difference in terms of how families in a place where families and parents and grandparents are highly valued and often live In close proximity deal with the loss of a loved one.  This is an economic problem, how they honor their dead and make funerals sacred when encountering a serious scarcity of resources: land (because most Latin America countries are even more urbanized than the States with megacities like Lima attracting a huge part of the population) as well as money.

June 18, 2008 (backdated, no internet access previously)

Today, I left to embark on my 6 and a half month journey out of the country. I’m a nontraditional student at UofL in Economics, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. At 28, I have never been out of Kentucky, let along the United States for over 5 weeks at a time. I feel incredibly blessed because I’ve always dreamed of living abroad but never, but anxious. I love my life in Louisville and as a University of Louisville student. I will most miss riding my bicycle for six months, as I wouldn’t dare since traffic accidents are a major risk in Buenos Aires. I’m leaving today for Peru where I am living with the Ursuline Sisters at their Callao mission, volunteering at their school and with them in general, gathering research for my advisor, Dr. Markowitz, and hopefully for my project. I’m interested in food price inflation and substitute goods, but I need to do some reading before I get too hasty. Then, I am enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires College of Economic Sciences in Argentina from August until December. Hopefully, I will take some side trips to Uruguay and maybe Paraguay.

Emily’s Travel Tips. Anyone who knows me knows I am incredibly organized and fastidious (you have to be to return back to school as an adult), so I have been researching travel websites since December making a long list of things to prepare for travel. I was inspired by packing light websites and by lots of tips at the only blog I ever read (until now) lifehacker.com. Finding out all of this information took me hours and hours to compile. I hope some of you can benefit from my favorite tips here and the favorite things I have in my bag:

Universal Sink Stopper ($1.63 Lowes) + small bottle of mighty all for little loads (0.99 Target) + nylon rope clothesline $3: In order to pack light and if you don’t have a host family to do your own laundry, expect to do a lot of handwashing. Also, a former COB study abroader Lee informed me that washers and driers are way harsher on your clothes at least where I’m going in Argentina. My new dress? I don’t think so! You don’t need any more than a week or week and a half worth of socks and under garments.

Don’t pack your shampoo, silly! Unless you have to have a certain kind, buy your soap and toiletries there, only pack little hotel sizes to get you through the first few days until you can get to the store. I did bring fancy hair gel. Check with your airline, but carrying toiletries is not worth risking exceeding the weight limit-nor worth hauling around once you reach your destination. (Overweight bags on my flight LAN Peru cost US$300 extra in fines.) Plus, you WILL be hauling some, even if you think you won’t – if only through the airport at customs.

Get a haircut (and dentistry work) beforehand. Can you explain to a stylist how to cut your hair in your second language? Also, these services as well as manicures carry a risk for Hepatitis B transmission.

Iodine water purification tablets ($10 Gander Mountain) Water is essential to life, so I wanted to make sure I had this emergency measure if I do any country traveling.

UofL shirt – Show your school spirit while you’re abroad!

Gifts: As a Kentucky gal, I brought many little bottles of bourbon to give away. This site has some great non-alcoholic ideas-think Cardinal gear-at the bottom of the page under the category Gifts, but I found it too late.

Sea-bands (special order from Amazing Grace, 1 pair $10.50): These look like sweat bands you put on your wrists and are a completely natural way to avoid nausea by putting pressure on your wrist right below your palm. All the anxiety of a new place with new water, plus an international flight with turbulence? You want these.

Travel Pouch for passport and money – don’t leave home without it. (Eagle Creek $12)

Fifth Third is the only bank in Louisville that orders currency in advance at a minimum of US$100 at a time. The ten dollar fee seemed high, but the security of having that currency once I touch down tired and weary and not having to find an ATM or currency exchange house is so worth it to me. [NOTE: From the Sisters here, I found out the best way to get the best exchange rate and that I lost a lot this way–at least in Peru. At your destination, withdraw in dollars and find a good money changer. The big banks always overcharge. Dollars are incredibly common, especially in Latin America, so money changers here is not just a service that caters to tourists and hence, overcharges.]

Backup credit and debit card accounts – what will you do if you lose one? Check all the rates online. Capital One is the only company that eats Visa and Mastercard’s 1% foreign transaction fee, so you have 0% foreign transaction fee. WAMU credits cards are the next best with 1%, but you have to have an online bank account to get a credit card with them. Amex has 2% and most other cards charge a 3% foreign transatction fee. Watch the exchange rate and comparison shop once you get there; banks all take a cut because the actual foreign exchange rate is not the rate they give you. Check with your bank about the number of ATM withdrawals you can make; I can make 5 free foreign ATM withdrawals a month.

Skype: I have free unlimited international calling via my computer and also to personal phones for $7 a month. I could also forward my calls to a cell phone I rent once I get there for an additional fee. There really is no catch except internet access; Skype is the way to go.

Headset for Skype: Keep in mind most electronic equipment will be cheaper in the US.

Avoid fees! Check in your expensive, foreign made items, such as your laptop, camera by filling out a simply form with customs at the Louisville airport. Get there 30 minutes earlier and follow the signs to the cell phone lot and employee parking. Otherwise, you may be forced to pay import duty fees on these items upon your return if you can’t prove their US purchase.

You don’t have to buy a heavy, bulky voltage converter if your items will accept a range of volts, like mine do. Many newer, high technology items, like my laptop and digital camera all do convert from a range of voltages. Thus, you simply just want a plug adapter kit (Radioshack $20). Buy your electric shaver or hair dryer there. These kinds of items don’t convert voltage, but are easily replaceable and bulky. [World Electric Guide AND The Guide]

Copies of all your important documentation, credit cards, passports. This is important if these items get stolen, and this is not an uncommon, unfortunately. Leave some copies with trusted parents or friends in case of extreme emergency so they can help you call and cancel all your cards as soon as possible. Keep credit card copies secure just as you would your cards. Keep one copy of identifying information (NOT your credit card) in your checked baggage in case it is lost.

Bring clothes with the intention of leaving them behind to bring back souvenirs.

Book light. You may not have a bedside lamp.

Carabiner clips

BPA-free water bottle (Nalgene makes them; I ordered a new one. You can also order stainless steel, however, another friend read concerns about the mercury content in the metal.)

20-30% insect repellant for clothes and body. Malaria is rural; dengue fever is urban (there is no cure nor preventative shot). These diseases are serious business, life and limb threatening. Your best bet is prevention.

Compass: maps work better with them.

Pre-paid postage envelope with bubble wrap in my carry-on ($4.50 US Post Office on Preston). I wanted my cell phone for my 8 hour layover in Miami, so I’m mailing it home. Check airport post office availability. [NOTE: This did not turn out to be the great idea I thought it would be. Due to postal restrictions, I had to leave the secure area for a post box for letters only, but my phone envelope did not fit. Many airports have post offices, but they are only open during regular business hours. Fortunately, I was able to send my back on an international flight with someone leaving Peru for the States.]

Plastic French press coffee maker ($15 but I’ve had this for a long while) – I will not subject anyone to decaf Emily. Add hot water and beans. Save your Starbucks money and instead spend it enjoying local foods and experiences.

Dummy wallet with a few bills to throw to the muggers. Had I been more prepared I would have put those fake credit cards in it you get in credit card offers. [NOTE: I didn’t have time to make mine out of duct tape, but you can probably find one much cheaper from street vendors where you are going, like I did.]

DVD-RW in tiny case. Rewritable DVD-RWs back up your most important documents on your computer, taking up little weight and space. Don’t forget to backup those precious digital photos. Online backup is also available.

Pillow case: You can stuff it with clothing to make a pillow on the go.

Sarong ($20 Just Creations) – My purchase supports artisans, and I have a sheet for the plane, a make shift bag, a dress, a skirt, a wrap, a stylish scarf, all in one.

Stock up on medicines: I avoid taking any medication, even Tylenol. However, a little headache or cold could turn into a big problem abroad in a place with different water and bugs than your body is accustomed to. I made sure to bring Nyquil, anti-itch cream, ibuprofen, (These items were recommended by a travel clinic, but I made my own First Aid kit more cheaply.)

Travel Health clinics: In Louisville, there is Passport Health and the University of Louisville Travel Clinic because many vaccinations you cannot get from your primary care physician. The private clinic has great service but is more costly. I chose to go there because the UofL clinic was on a wait multi-week wait for Yellow Fever.