So now we're on to Tuesday. This was a Kafka Fam 1 and 2 day. We woke up, ate eggs, played some Rummy..the girls, not the men, for some reason they don't like this game. It's a game with a similar idea behind it as Sudoko. It requires you to think and figure out ways to work with numbers. Camila is crazy good at it. She sits there and plays like the rest of us and the all of a sudden she flips the whole board around to get her chips in and the game is over...just like that. Then we're all left there staring, wondering how in god's name did she do that.
We play rummy every morning and many nights...it's my new addiction. totally going to buy it at the Wong.
So after we finish our games of Rummy on Tuesday morning, Lucia and I run to get changed and everyone heads out for lunch. We drive to some towns and some beaches and Tio Wieland takes us to places that, in their time, were the popular and best beaches. Things have seemingly changed....kind of depressing actually how such a nice area turns into another one of the beaches with multiple fish markets behind it and overpopulating umbrellas. So we drive around many places, sometimes drive around in circles cuz my Tio missed a turn somewhere and then we head to Restaurant Rocio. This name caused a lot of confusion for me in the days leading up to this one because whenever they said "we're going to eat at Rocio's" i always thought they were talking about my aunt's house...that didnt make any sense.
Anyways, we get to Rocio's, order some food...various types of fish cooked in different ways...ceviche was on the table of course. It was good food and we took pictures of the food in an imitation of my Tio Folke and took more pictures so "Alyssa can put them in her blog". That day we took so many "pictures for the blog" i have no idea where to put all of them.
after lunch we went to a market of some kind where they sold bamba everything and a lot of clothes and pareos and really everything for wicked cheap. I was in heaven. I got 2 new dresses and a pareo and my dad got a couple of books and some underwear and my mom got some things for Vanessa....she's apparently the unselfish one.
Once again it was a good day and one of our last laguna days since wednesday and thursday morning were spent in Lima.
Tuesday night was also my sister's birthday. So that we gave her a skype phone call. So us Kafkas stood around my Dad's computer and sang Happy Birthday and Feliz Cumpleanous like 10 times...poor Vanessa haha
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
"Put your hat on, the birds will poop on you"
So i have really been awful at keeping up with this thing this year. My procrastination seems to have carried on from 1st semester to winter break. O'well.
Let's see, last time i posted was last weekend? So i have a week of events to catch people up on.
I'll take it day by day. Monday the parental unit and I went to Paracas. We woke up around quarter to 5 monday morning, crept around the house like little mice trying not wake up the big cats, and left a little past 6 am...later than we had initially planned. We get ourselves on the highway and take a nice 2 hour drive to paracas. I enjoy the long car rides, i just put my ipod in, put it on shuffle and sing to myself whatever songs that play, i try to keep it at a low voice level but i have my headphones in i really have no idea how loud i am so i'm sure my parents probably did not love a number of the songs i was singing but whatever they're the ones that plan these little adventures.
So once we get to Paracas, before we even park and get ourselves situated we have like 3 people rushing around us telling us where to put our car, trying to sell us things, rushing us places. We get out of the car and we're essentially being pushed towards the shore. All of these people are talking, men with vests are walking all around us, i felt like i was in a crocodile hunter episode...minus the crocodiles. So we park our car, people help us out, and we begin hauling serious ass towards i didn't even know. We have one vested man talking very quickly in incomprehensible spanish (for me) and another man trying to sell my dad various styles of hats.
So me, my mom, my dad, mr. vest man (his nametag said Y. Cuba) and the hat seller are all running towards the dock. We very soon went from 5 people to 4 when Mr. hat man made a sale and the 4 of us carried on, my Dad sporting a nice new Gringo fashioned sombrero. We're about to get onto the dock to get to the boat which was apparently waiting for us when my mom decided she needed to use the bathroom. Poor Mr. Guide man had to bring us to a bathroom knowing full well a boat full of people was sitting patiently a 1/4 mile away. We all use the bathroom, my mom finishes first and guide man takes her to the boat, i don't realize this though and once i'm done i stand outside the bathroom like a tool waiting for my mom and dad to come out so i can have a clue with what i'm supposed to be doing. So i'm standing there in front of a mirror trying to figure out how to prop my sunglasses on my head in a fashionable manner when Mr. Vest comes over very distraught, definitely not appreciating my slow pace, and hauls me to the boat. He starts speaking to me rapidly in spanish and i stare at him blankly, obviously making him uncomfortable...because he soon gave up on conversation and just kept on speed walking. I get to the boat and am left standing on the dock while my guide man leaves me to go get my father. My mom is sitting in the boat staring at me with this look of "what the hell is going on" and then my dad comes, trying not to lose his new hat while running. Then guide man helps us both in to the boat, i step on a couple people's feet and eventually find my way to a seat. I sit next to my mom and my Dad sits next to this nice lady who we found out, after conversing with my father for the majority of the boat ride, is a tour guide in Machu Piccu, her parents who were sitting behind my mom and had never been to the shore. CRAZY.
So here we are sitting in this boat surrounded by many people wearing orange life vests. It only takes a few minutes for us to get handed our own vests which we strap on after some embarassing difficulty...my mom couldn't figure out where the arm hole was located. Now i'm sure whoever is reading this might have an image of like a sail boat or a ferry or something of that kind...NO. The best way i can describe the boat and my feelings toward it would be to make you imagine one of the rescue boats leaving the Titanic...add a motor and you got our situation. Not kidding…you’ve got a shit load of people crammed into a boat like a can of sardines, sporting orange life vests (some with pillows attached…you know just in case you want to take a nap when you’re drowning/floating in the middle of the ocean).
During my imagining the Titanic and its multiple rescue boats, our boat had started moving towards the islands. I only know this because that’s what I’m told by the cute little old Spanish man wearing a hat very similar to my Dad’s….i couldn’t actually see our direction myself because my mom and I had the lovely pleasure of being seated next to a large bar or panel of some kind.
So now that you know what the boat looked like, and our seating area in the boat I can describe to you how the ride itself felt. You know when you see a jet ski in the water it kinda bounces up and down whenever it hits a wave. Well the ride was kinda like that. Sounds awesome right?? WRONG. It was terrifying. I all of a sudden had all of these images of the boat flipping over. I started imagining what we would do and what kind of creature lived in the water. I then began to think of a way that, if we indeed did get thrown over board, how would I protect my purse from being submerged in water…obviously the fact that my purse would get wet no matter what if the boat flipped or I fell out did not matter…I had an image of me floating in the water holding up my purse…then I started wondering why the hell I didn’t get a life vest with a pillow! It would be so much easier to hold my purse up if I had a pillow to rest my head on.
I have a very vivid imagination as you can see.
Then the overcoming sense of nausea I was feeling wiped all of those images away and I was left with an image of me puking…and where would I puke…did they have baggies handy? Should I switch places with mom so I could puke into the water? But that wouldn’t work because there wasn’t actually water next to my mom…there was a bar.
Then the boat stopped, engine turned off, my stomach stopped somersaulting…briefly, and then we were all directed to look to our left. It was there that we would be able to see the Candelabra…a Nazca line.
So everyone whips out their cameras to take a picture and stare in wonder at the design etched in the sand. It was cool but there wasn’t really much opportunity to examine it due to the fact that the lack of engine power had let the boat do it’s own thing …the boat was beginning to float in a circular motion. Funny for me because I no longer cared about the Nazca line and instead amused myself by watching all of the people twisting their heads in an effort to keep looking at the candelabra. First the twisting of the head, then the torso, then HEY other side, twist…twist…twist. I was amazed that people were so interested in the thing to keep twisting their body in such an uncomfortable way.
And then we were moving again…back towards the islands that held the lobos del mar (sea wolves…aka sea lions) and Penguinos and various birds. So we’re moving and moving and I’m holding myself back from puking and then the boat begins to slow down and the cute old Spanish man tells us to put our hats on because the various birds will likely poop on us. He also begins telling us all about the sea lions who we can now see on our left. Cute little buggers…much bigger than I expected. We move around and around these islands to see all of these animals and every single person is standing up on the moving boat taking multiple pictures of everything.
Every animal was very cute and I enjoyed looking at them but my nauciousness was hampering my enjoyment. The boat was no longer really the cause…this time I think it was the smell. It was a nice combo of sea lion poop, penguin poop, and other bird poop.
At one point we’re brought to an area of sea lions. These sea lions have names and one of them is named Paco who had a face like a polar bear and was tanning on a rock and another was named Pancho. Pancho is apparently quite the pimp…he had 15 girlfriends. He’s the “big man on campus”. The old man then directs our eyes to Pancho and very soon after we all spot him a large fight breaks out among various lobos. Pancho is in the center. The screams and yells and noises they made were not pleasant ones. So we’re all watching in wonder as sea lions jump, or rather flop, on eachother and then Pancho picks up a baby with his mouth and throws it. It was at this point that I decided I no longer cared to watch the sea lions and decided to concentrate all my attention on finding candy in my purse to ward of my nausea. Dad: “Not so cute huh”.
We stared at sea lions for what seemed like an hour and then headed back to shore on our jet ski of a boat. The ride back was welcomed, I needed the fresh air. I actually fell asleep and only woke up when we slowed down to dock.
After our boat ride we entertained ourselves with the market there and bought numerous little items for people back home. Then we went to a restaurant to order a drink because my mom had to use the bathroom again and we figured we should buy something in order to be able to use the bathroom services. As we’re drinking inca cola a man in the restaurant next to ours began singing, playing guitar, and blowing air into a pan flute. He was a one man band. Impressive actually. I found this really funny because it was the first use of a pan flute that I had seen on this particular trip and after watching that South Park episode I had a new appreciation for them. I decided to take some pictures of the guy to show to my sista’s BF Doug because I figured he’d find it amusing as well.
When we got up to leave the pan flute guy came over to our table and asked us if we would like to buy a CD. I almost peed myself from holding back the laughter. I think he figured we were interested when he saw me taking multiple photos of him. Good job Doug..it’s because of you that I gave the man false hope ;)
Then it was
back in the car to take a tour of Paracas…cute town…will be booming by next year…my parents should purchase a house there because I liked it.
Me: "Why are we driving around in the desert??"
Mom: "It's not just a desert it's a national reserve"
Me: "A reserve of what...Sand?"
I didn’t particularly enjoy the Reserve of Sand…not actually a reserve of sand…a reserve of nature but this nature consisted of a lot of sand. We drove around the desert for hours…stopped to take pictures. Had panic attacks when we were near cliff edges, and I personally had a panic attack when I questioned how to get out of how deep we’d driven ourselves in.
There was no actual road…there were like 15 roads side by side all heading in what seemed to be the same direction. Basically your choice was to pick one and see where it took you and pray that one of those destinations wasn’t over a cliff.
We eventually got ourselves out and found our way back to Las Lagunas. It was an interesting day to say the least. Totally worth the 2 hour drive…and I’m sure my parents would say the same..even with me singing songs like “Imma put you to bed, bed, bed”.
Let's see, last time i posted was last weekend? So i have a week of events to catch people up on.
I'll take it day by day. Monday the parental unit and I went to Paracas. We woke up around quarter to 5 monday morning, crept around the house like little mice trying not wake up the big cats, and left a little past 6 am...later than we had initially planned. We get ourselves on the highway and take a nice 2 hour drive to paracas. I enjoy the long car rides, i just put my ipod in, put it on shuffle and sing to myself whatever songs that play, i try to keep it at a low voice level but i have my headphones in i really have no idea how loud i am so i'm sure my parents probably did not love a number of the songs i was singing but whatever they're the ones that plan these little adventures.
So once we get to Paracas, before we even park and get ourselves situated we have like 3 people rushing around us telling us where to put our car, trying to sell us things, rushing us places. We get out of the car and we're essentially being pushed towards the shore. All of these people are talking, men with vests are walking all around us, i felt like i was in a crocodile hunter episode...minus the crocodiles. So we park our car, people help us out, and we begin hauling serious ass towards i didn't even know. We have one vested man talking very quickly in incomprehensible spanish (for me) and another man trying to sell my dad various styles of hats.
So me, my mom, my dad, mr. vest man (his nametag said Y. Cuba) and the hat seller are all running towards the dock. We very soon went from 5 people to 4 when Mr. hat man made a sale and the 4 of us carried on, my Dad sporting a nice new Gringo fashioned sombrero. We're about to get onto the dock to get to the boat which was apparently waiting for us when my mom decided she needed to use the bathroom. Poor Mr. Guide man had to bring us to a bathroom knowing full well a boat full of people was sitting patiently a 1/4 mile away. We all use the bathroom, my mom finishes first and guide man takes her to the boat, i don't realize this though and once i'm done i stand outside the bathroom like a tool waiting for my mom and dad to come out so i can have a clue with what i'm supposed to be doing. So i'm standing there in front of a mirror trying to figure out how to prop my sunglasses on my head in a fashionable manner when Mr. Vest comes over very distraught, definitely not appreciating my slow pace, and hauls me to the boat. He starts speaking to me rapidly in spanish and i stare at him blankly, obviously making him uncomfortable...because he soon gave up on conversation and just kept on speed walking. I get to the boat and am left standing on the dock while my guide man leaves me to go get my father. My mom is sitting in the boat staring at me with this look of "what the hell is going on" and then my dad comes, trying not to lose his new hat while running. Then guide man helps us both in to the boat, i step on a couple people's feet and eventually find my way to a seat. I sit next to my mom and my Dad sits next to this nice lady who we found out, after conversing with my father for the majority of the boat ride, is a tour guide in Machu Piccu, her parents who were sitting behind my mom and had never been to the shore. CRAZY.
So here we are sitting in this boat surrounded by many people wearing orange life vests. It only takes a few minutes for us to get handed our own vests which we strap on after some embarassing difficulty...my mom couldn't figure out where the arm hole was located. Now i'm sure whoever is reading this might have an image of like a sail boat or a ferry or something of that kind...NO. The best way i can describe the boat and my feelings toward it would be to make you imagine one of the rescue boats leaving the Titanic...add a motor and you got our situation. Not kidding…you’ve got a shit load of people crammed into a boat like a can of sardines, sporting orange life vests (some with pillows attached…you know just in case you want to take a nap when you’re drowning/floating in the middle of the ocean).
During my imagining the Titanic and its multiple rescue boats, our boat had started moving towards the islands. I only know this because that’s what I’m told by the cute little old Spanish man wearing a hat very similar to my Dad’s….i couldn’t actually see our direction myself because my mom and I had the lovely pleasure of being seated next to a large bar or panel of some kind.
So now that you know what the boat looked like, and our seating area in the boat I can describe to you how the ride itself felt. You know when you see a jet ski in the water it kinda bounces up and down whenever it hits a wave. Well the ride was kinda like that. Sounds awesome right?? WRONG. It was terrifying. I all of a sudden had all of these images of the boat flipping over. I started imagining what we would do and what kind of creature lived in the water. I then began to think of a way that, if we indeed did get thrown over board, how would I protect my purse from being submerged in water…obviously the fact that my purse would get wet no matter what if the boat flipped or I fell out did not matter…I had an image of me floating in the water holding up my purse…then I started wondering why the hell I didn’t get a life vest with a pillow! It would be so much easier to hold my purse up if I had a pillow to rest my head on.
I have a very vivid imagination as you can see.
Then the overcoming sense of nausea I was feeling wiped all of those images away and I was left with an image of me puking…and where would I puke…did they have baggies handy? Should I switch places with mom so I could puke into the water? But that wouldn’t work because there wasn’t actually water next to my mom…there was a bar.
Then the boat stopped, engine turned off, my stomach stopped somersaulting…briefly, and then we were all directed to look to our left. It was there that we would be able to see the Candelabra…a Nazca line.
So everyone whips out their cameras to take a picture and stare in wonder at the design etched in the sand. It was cool but there wasn’t really much opportunity to examine it due to the fact that the lack of engine power had let the boat do it’s own thing …the boat was beginning to float in a circular motion. Funny for me because I no longer cared about the Nazca line and instead amused myself by watching all of the people twisting their heads in an effort to keep looking at the candelabra. First the twisting of the head, then the torso, then HEY other side, twist…twist…twist. I was amazed that people were so interested in the thing to keep twisting their body in such an uncomfortable way.
And then we were moving again…back towards the islands that held the lobos del mar (sea wolves…aka sea lions) and Penguinos and various birds. So we’re moving and moving and I’m holding myself back from puking and then the boat begins to slow down and the cute old Spanish man tells us to put our hats on because the various birds will likely poop on us. He also begins telling us all about the sea lions who we can now see on our left. Cute little buggers…much bigger than I expected. We move around and around these islands to see all of these animals and every single person is standing up on the moving boat taking multiple pictures of everything.
Every animal was very cute and I enjoyed looking at them but my nauciousness was hampering my enjoyment. The boat was no longer really the cause…this time I think it was the smell. It was a nice combo of sea lion poop, penguin poop, and other bird poop.
At one point we’re brought to an area of sea lions. These sea lions have names and one of them is named Paco who had a face like a polar bear and was tanning on a rock and another was named Pancho. Pancho is apparently quite the pimp…he had 15 girlfriends. He’s the “big man on campus”. The old man then directs our eyes to Pancho and very soon after we all spot him a large fight breaks out among various lobos. Pancho is in the center. The screams and yells and noises they made were not pleasant ones. So we’re all watching in wonder as sea lions jump, or rather flop, on eachother and then Pancho picks up a baby with his mouth and throws it. It was at this point that I decided I no longer cared to watch the sea lions and decided to concentrate all my attention on finding candy in my purse to ward of my nausea. Dad: “Not so cute huh”.
We stared at sea lions for what seemed like an hour and then headed back to shore on our jet ski of a boat. The ride back was welcomed, I needed the fresh air. I actually fell asleep and only woke up when we slowed down to dock.
After our boat ride we entertained ourselves with the market there and bought numerous little items for people back home. Then we went to a restaurant to order a drink because my mom had to use the bathroom again and we figured we should buy something in order to be able to use the bathroom services. As we’re drinking inca cola a man in the restaurant next to ours began singing, playing guitar, and blowing air into a pan flute. He was a one man band. Impressive actually. I found this really funny because it was the first use of a pan flute that I had seen on this particular trip and after watching that South Park episode I had a new appreciation for them. I decided to take some pictures of the guy to show to my sista’s BF Doug because I figured he’d find it amusing as well.
When we got up to leave the pan flute guy came over to our table and asked us if we would like to buy a CD. I almost peed myself from holding back the laughter. I think he figured we were interested when he saw me taking multiple photos of him. Good job Doug..it’s because of you that I gave the man false hope ;)
Then it was
back in the car to take a tour of Paracas…cute town…will be booming by next year…my parents should purchase a house there because I liked it.
Me: "Why are we driving around in the desert??"
Mom: "It's not just a desert it's a national reserve"
Me: "A reserve of what...Sand?"
I didn’t particularly enjoy the Reserve of Sand…not actually a reserve of sand…a reserve of nature but this nature consisted of a lot of sand. We drove around the desert for hours…stopped to take pictures. Had panic attacks when we were near cliff edges, and I personally had a panic attack when I questioned how to get out of how deep we’d driven ourselves in.
There was no actual road…there were like 15 roads side by side all heading in what seemed to be the same direction. Basically your choice was to pick one and see where it took you and pray that one of those destinations wasn’t over a cliff.
We eventually got ourselves out and found our way back to Las Lagunas. It was an interesting day to say the least. Totally worth the 2 hour drive…and I’m sure my parents would say the same..even with me singing songs like “Imma put you to bed, bed, bed”.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hyundai
Yesterday was a family filled day. Lucho and Leila came for lunch and brought the best Chifles in the world; it's made up of normal plaintain chips, sweet plaintain chips (my favorite) and cancha. I ate more of the chifles than i did the actual meal.
So all the Parents sat outside joined by Kuno and I on the outside living area and chatted. Well they chatted, i stayed quiet. It was an adult conversation of varied subjects, including gas prices, random peruvian towns, and i don't even know what else - they were talkin way too fast. So i just sat there and stared at the cool bowl shaped like palm leaves and ate chifles. Then it was lunch time which consisted of schnitzel, kartofel salat and maracuya juice. Schnitzel was wonderful, potato salad not so good...dressing was fantastic...the potato was the wrong kind though so it was grainy and weird. too bad. then for dessert we had this crocante de mango and something, i forget the name, that was cakey and had manjar blanco in the center and had been soaked in rum or some type of alcohol. i didn't really enjoy that one but the mango one was awesome.
during the meal the parents sat at the table and camila and her two friends, kuno, and i sat at the area near the grill. kuno and i had a united front, there was one seat still at the "grown-up" table but neither one of us wanted to leave the other to sit with three 15 year old girls. Not that a conversation couldn't be had because i can always find something to talk about with Cami but because it was almost a matter of self dignity.
one of the conversations we had was based on the difference in pronunciation for the car brand Hyundai. Cami thought it was hilarious that we called it "hun-day" because they call it (heoon-die). frankly that sounds ridiculous just like their version of fung shui---which they pronounce fung shoe-eee.
then after lunch it was back to the outside seating area where the adults resumed their conversation and i fell asleep on a lawn chair...woke up when dad and mom said leila and lucho were leaving...said goodbye...and came back to go on my computer inside. my dad asked me later if i was bored stiff...i said sort of...but he understood it's because everyone was talking too fast. when i don't get it...i tune everything out and essentially stop trying to catch random words...
later in the evening when i entered the sala where everyone was sitting tio wieland said "look it's pocha!" i looked behind me, in front of me, around me...no pocha. then they all laughed at my insulted expression...he was referring to me and the fact that i sleep all day like a cat.
the rest of the afternoon my stomach wasn't feeling too good and neither was my dad's. i think it was teh mango dessert...i felt like Vanessa...it sucked ;)
that night i sat in my parents room and began watching the movie "superbad" which i had stored on my computer...my mom came in and started watching. i figured once she noticed how vulgar the way they talked was and what they were talking about she would be turned off and leave but nope...she found it hilarious. she was laughing so hard at some of the stuff. it was really funny, i would've never thought my mom would like a movie like superbad. later on we watched knocked up because neither of us were ready to go to bed. i dont think she liked that one as much...interestingly enough. but it was also very vulgar.
i also discovered after speaking to Cami when she got back from her bonfire party that Superbad is called Supercool in Peru....like that's the title of the movie here. that doesn't even make sense...why would you change the name when both versions are in english...couldnt' you keep it superbad. i guess because in english slang "bad" means like awesome...you know "that's bad ass!" and here it's just literally bad. so cool works. but still. that's a waste of manufacturing efforts.
we just talked to Vanessa again..a painfully slow conversation because our reception was awful but we caught up either way. i am now enjoying the luxury of a pisco sour and will soon go outside to sit and enjoy the feeling of a sand storm (exaggerated but it's extremely windy and we're on a beach...of sand.) today's lunch will be a Taco factory (tack-o as tio wieland likes to make fun of the americans) factory because we'll each be building our own taco and tonight will be a barbecued pizza.
i need to start running or something to work all of this food off.
So all the Parents sat outside joined by Kuno and I on the outside living area and chatted. Well they chatted, i stayed quiet. It was an adult conversation of varied subjects, including gas prices, random peruvian towns, and i don't even know what else - they were talkin way too fast. So i just sat there and stared at the cool bowl shaped like palm leaves and ate chifles. Then it was lunch time which consisted of schnitzel, kartofel salat and maracuya juice. Schnitzel was wonderful, potato salad not so good...dressing was fantastic...the potato was the wrong kind though so it was grainy and weird. too bad. then for dessert we had this crocante de mango and something, i forget the name, that was cakey and had manjar blanco in the center and had been soaked in rum or some type of alcohol. i didn't really enjoy that one but the mango one was awesome.
during the meal the parents sat at the table and camila and her two friends, kuno, and i sat at the area near the grill. kuno and i had a united front, there was one seat still at the "grown-up" table but neither one of us wanted to leave the other to sit with three 15 year old girls. Not that a conversation couldn't be had because i can always find something to talk about with Cami but because it was almost a matter of self dignity.
one of the conversations we had was based on the difference in pronunciation for the car brand Hyundai. Cami thought it was hilarious that we called it "hun-day" because they call it (heoon-die). frankly that sounds ridiculous just like their version of fung shui---which they pronounce fung shoe-eee.
then after lunch it was back to the outside seating area where the adults resumed their conversation and i fell asleep on a lawn chair...woke up when dad and mom said leila and lucho were leaving...said goodbye...and came back to go on my computer inside. my dad asked me later if i was bored stiff...i said sort of...but he understood it's because everyone was talking too fast. when i don't get it...i tune everything out and essentially stop trying to catch random words...
later in the evening when i entered the sala where everyone was sitting tio wieland said "look it's pocha!" i looked behind me, in front of me, around me...no pocha. then they all laughed at my insulted expression...he was referring to me and the fact that i sleep all day like a cat.
the rest of the afternoon my stomach wasn't feeling too good and neither was my dad's. i think it was teh mango dessert...i felt like Vanessa...it sucked ;)
that night i sat in my parents room and began watching the movie "superbad" which i had stored on my computer...my mom came in and started watching. i figured once she noticed how vulgar the way they talked was and what they were talking about she would be turned off and leave but nope...she found it hilarious. she was laughing so hard at some of the stuff. it was really funny, i would've never thought my mom would like a movie like superbad. later on we watched knocked up because neither of us were ready to go to bed. i dont think she liked that one as much...interestingly enough. but it was also very vulgar.
i also discovered after speaking to Cami when she got back from her bonfire party that Superbad is called Supercool in Peru....like that's the title of the movie here. that doesn't even make sense...why would you change the name when both versions are in english...couldnt' you keep it superbad. i guess because in english slang "bad" means like awesome...you know "that's bad ass!" and here it's just literally bad. so cool works. but still. that's a waste of manufacturing efforts.
we just talked to Vanessa again..a painfully slow conversation because our reception was awful but we caught up either way. i am now enjoying the luxury of a pisco sour and will soon go outside to sit and enjoy the feeling of a sand storm (exaggerated but it's extremely windy and we're on a beach...of sand.) today's lunch will be a Taco factory (tack-o as tio wieland likes to make fun of the americans) factory because we'll each be building our own taco and tonight will be a barbecued pizza.
i need to start running or something to work all of this food off.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Friday night i didn't want to go but my friend michelle called me on the phone so i went...to the club
I was planning on starting this with how long we've been in lima for...such as this is day # whatever but the thing is i have no idea nor do i know what the date or frankly the time if i didn't have my computer in front of me. My sense of time is warped at the moment; partial blame lies in the fact that i have no schedule or structure; Even though Lucia and I have a nice little beach ritual (lay out on the beach, submerge ourselves in the ocean water, walk back to the house, wash off the sand, jump in the pool) unless i was capable of figuring out the time based on the location of the sun i really don't know when i'm at the beach and what i'm doing next. Another part of the blame goes to my eating schedule...at home we eat at around 9 for breakfast (give or take a few hours) around 12/1 for lunch and like 6 or 7 for dinner. here we eat breakfast around 9 lunch around 4 dinner around 930. Last part of the blame lies in the fact that i don't use a watch.
This vacation has probably been the most relaxing of our peru trips. No rushing, no craziness, no praying for your life when driving to and from anywhere. It's quite nice actually. I think the fact that really the essence of this vaca as of now is relaxation i haven't felt much need to work on this blog like i did last time. But let's see if we can catch up on the daily happenings. A couple of days ago...i'm guessing that would be wednesday? we did the same, beach, pool, tanning, eating more than we should. I read a lot and have now finished my third and last book. i should've remembered that i read fast and brought a couple more. My bad. Wednesday night was basically spent on the computer, all of us. Tio Wieland constantly likes to address the internet cafe atmosphere in his house. Once one person gets their computer our all of a sudden everyone has there's out, and there all of us are in the living room staring at the monitor completely absorbed in whatever we're doing until by chance we look up and see everyone doing the same...chuckle chuckle.
Tio Wieland and i had a war of music...he accused me of having the Billboard's top 100 on my ipod...i did not take kindly to this. So for the next hour or so he and i played songs from our itunes back and forth. and then i looked at his ipod, it seems we have many artists in common. He now has a playlist on my ipod...my first choices for him were not so good, but now i have a better idea and will form a better one sometime soon.
After our Austrian style dinner, my Dad decided to take a break from his computer to call Vanessa...we all felt awful because she called us out on our neglecting her. Oops. So he called her and then Vanessa decided to download skype on her new computer and we called her through there. We're such a high tech family. The enjoyment of Vanessa realizing that there was a visual in this too was very amusing . So there she is in a bright lit kitchen...or something. and here we were in the terrace with absolutely no lighting. We saw fluorescents she saw black. Somehow we figured out where the switch was for the lights and then she was able to see a shadow..big improvement. Then Lucia came out, we let Vanessa say hi to the cats and then there was Wieland. Also during this time, on the other side, Doug joined the picture, took a seat, made some popcorn (it's because we're like a movie - that entertaining) and then we Kafka Fam 1&2 cha
tting with the missing member and her enamorado.
tting with the missing member and her enamorado. The rest of the time, after Wieland got out a large lamp, was filled with jokes. "Where is the parental supervision" (Doug's roommate mike was kind enough to say hi and avoid questions about whether there was alcohol in his drink..."It's a wednesday night!"), he also enjoyed making fun of me and the false statement "Alyssa has her own doug". He enjoyed putting bunny ears on various members of the family, i enjoyed showing off my tan, and doug and vanessa laughed and wallowed in the misery of cold weather. It's ok kids, hawaii's only a couple months away. There were also multiple awkward moments, but all in all it was a damn good time. Doug we'll be expecting a skype phone call soon, we'll be around.
Yesterday, while my parents went off to someplace that sounds like "cien-ee-guia" i stayed behind. I felt bad but i was reassured multiple times that i wouldn't have enjoyed it and only they would because it would bring back memories. So they had a nice day together and i acted as surrogate daughter/sister to Lucia and Cami. I spent another day on the beach and around 5 o'clock i left with them and cami's friend Mariana + mother to go see the movie twilight. I figured why not, i hadn't seen it and heard so many damn things about it i might as well attempt to form my own opinion. My opinion is that i'm glad i saw it in Peru where it costs 3 dollars instead of CT where it costs $10.50. Because if i had spent that much money on that movie i would not have been a happy camper. I'm sorry but i don't understand why so many people fell in love with Edward Cullen. Who the hell wants a stalker, creepy, vampire boyfriend who's obsessed with you but can't even manage to kiss you for fear of the possibility that he might eat you. Like WHAT? no thank you. I shared this opinion with some of my friends who are die hard edward fans and they said i need to read the book. I'll do that eventually, but frankly i'm in no rush. I'm glad i saw it and enjoyed going to the movies with my tia and prima but i probably wouldn't see it a second time.
I've also been told that if you're an avid Harry Potter fan you automatically have something against Twilight. and i'd say that's reasonably true.
During this time in Asia we ran across my parents which was ironic and they gave me money to pay for the
snacks for the movie. They do their popcorn in such a cool way! they put the popcorn thing attached to the soda thing and the way you drink the soda is through a long straw that goes through the bucket of popcorn. i was fascinated.
I've also been told that if you're an avid Harry Potter fan you automatically have something against Twilight. and i'd say that's reasonably true.
During this time in Asia we ran across my parents which was ironic and they gave me money to pay for the
snacks for the movie. They do their popcorn in such a cool way! they put the popcorn thing attached to the soda thing and the way you drink the soda is through a long straw that goes through the bucket of popcorn. i was fascinated. That night when everyone was sitting in la sala, i fell asleep while reading a book, only waking up to catch mom about to try and take a picture of me...after sleeping for what seemed like 30 minutes i finally woke up to a debate between my mom and Tio Wieland...about i have no idea what...i do know my name was thrown around as well as the future and things like house, location, hospital care, etc. my guess is that they were talking about where my prents are going to retire. merrr i went back to sleep...because Tio Wieland told me too ha
Today was more beach, sun, and food. I actually got a little sunburned today. nothing like 3 years ago when i got so burned i had to have egg whites rubbed all over me...not fond of those memories.
Today was more beach, sun, and food. I actually got a little sunburned today. nothing like 3 years ago when i got so burned i had to have egg whites rubbed all over me...not fond of those memories.
now i'm going to go for a walk with mis tios and parents to walk off this pasta...that i ate at 9 pm. mm good call Alyssa.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tilt Your Head
First off before i say anything about the trip itself i would like to thank my dear wonderful tio Folke for letting us use his car. Our time in Lima is much more comfortable and relaxed knowing we have a car to use whenever we choose and can go wherever we'd like when we want to. I'm so lucky to have such a generous uncle. :]
OK! This is the start of my 6th day of our third vacation in Peru, and i have to say third time is the charm. Everything is much easier this time around...Dad can actually navigate himself around Lima and is SO much better at working is way around the crazy Lima drivers. Getting together with all of the family members is no longer awkward. We're all very comfortable and small talk is a thing of the past. And apparently, based on every single person telling me so, my spanish is much much better. Which leads me to wonder, How awful was my spanish before? My actual knowledge of the language hasn't really improved drastically, really it's the fact that i finally grew a pair and am willing to speak even though i don't know how to say it perfectly.
First few days in Lima were chalked full of meeting up with each family member and eating great food (which my Dad and I paid for later). I've seen every member and i'm happy that this time they won't be left with the impression "Alyssa isn't quite comfortable speaking spanish" but instead maybe they'll think "wow, Alyssa's funny!" or witty, or nice, or idk something besides my lack of conversation.
First day, Friday, we went to this restaurant called La Mar...wonderful food, awesome ceviche, tasty causa. Small portions, meant for trying not really consuming, but good nonetheless. I probably would've been satisfied if i ate the pulpo, but i hate pulpo so no chance of that.
Saturday we went to Lagunas so the three brothers could finally be together for the first time in i don't know how long... but a long time. Just that day itself was worth the 15 miserable hours spent traveling here. The dynamic between the three is very amusing, you can see the similarities but they're all so different. I think dad definitely fits the character of the oldest brother, Folke the middle, and Wieland the youngest.
(by the way, Wieland says his mother must've been drunk when she named my Dad Cornelius, my reply to that was if that was true then she must have been wasted when she named the other two as well...i got your back dad).
During this time together we ate a lot of food (best causa i've ever had) and chatted with everyone. Karina came too so it was a ton of people all with a lot to say. Wild. After lunch, the majority of the rest of the day was spent taking pictures. Pictures of the brothers, pictures of the brothers with their wives, pictures of the brothers with one of his brother's wives, pictures of just the wives...we have enough pictures from that day to last us the rest of the trip. In these pictures there's a nice new twist to the usual...it's the tilted head. Apparently at one point sometime before that day Cami had told Lucia that her photos would come out better if Lucia would tilt her head to the right or left. So next time Lucia had her picture taken she tilted her head and found she liked the result. This story was told to us that day and after that every picture taken involved someone tilting their head, not really because they thinked they actually looked better but just because it was really funny to everyone. We all looked unbelievably foolish.
Sunday we stayed in the Lucho's house and i consumed more Chifles than anyone should. They're addictive. For lunch we ordered what Leila said is the best Chifa there is. Chifa = Chinese food. though the Chifa was tasty, i fault it for my upset stomach these past couple of days. Guillermo and Luis and Rocio came for this Chifa lunch as well as Leila's sister's kids and husband. Tons of people, tons of Chifa. After lunch while part of the family sat down to watch the movie Mamma Mia (i hate musicals on film) i chose to go with Rocio and sons to Starbucks for a coffee. During this time i found out lots about my cousin Guillermo. In our efforts to converse in a mix of spanish and english i learned what he's studying...law (i think) as well as how many credits each class is worth..3 or 4...how many exams in each class...midterm + final = 2...and the fact that his ex girlfriend is a tad nuts and still calls his brothers and mother but not him. he also taught be the word "bamba" which means illegal, in reference to pirated movies.
That night i went with Leila to go get myself a triple at La Baguette. what originally started out as a triple run for Alyssa turned into a Butifarra, triple, empenadas of every form, and tostaditos run for everyone. We waited there for about 40 minutes for our food...ironically enough the reason it took so long was because of my triple...has to be made fresh.
Monday i woke up early to play tennis with Belen, Rodrigo, and Seancito (Leila's nephew who's real name is Sean who's from Miami but they found a way to make it sound Spanish).
We got to the courts a little before 11 am but had to wait because our court wouldn't open till 12 so we sat and watched what Belen told me to be professional peruvian tennis players as well as an Argentinian one. The Mauricio character was very cute. One of the courts happened to be open during this time and seancito has one of the people in charge (which is remarkable considering he's 7) if we could play on that court while we wait for our. We were given 20 minutes.
We go to the court and start hitting around, Belen y yo against Rodrigo y Seancito. I was terrified of playing a game because every single time i hit the ball it would go out...no matter how soft i hit it! i didn't understand and then i realized, this court is half the size of a real one...each side was a bout 5 feet shorter than what it should be and i began to panic. Omg, if this is what they usually play on i'm going to be awful, i'm going to lose, i can't play on this! Then the 20 minutes were up and we went to our courts...it was normal. Apparently the other one was like a practice one for something i don't even know but i was very relieved. And i played pretty well considering it's been months since i've touched a racquet. I struggled after the first few games, my endurance isn't what it used to be and it was hot and i didn't have water AND i got 4 hours of sleep.
So i lost to Belen...i demand a rematch. But rodrigo and i were champions vs. her and seancito. I'm a doubles player yo, i don't do singles.
That afternoon we met up with Wieland, Lucia, y Cami to inspect their new home. it's HUGE. it's a like a little mansion. From the outside you would have no idea that you were about to enter a house with more hallways than we have bedrooms. That might be an exaggeration but it was much bigger than i expected and very nice. I'm excited to see the finished product next year.
We then went to lunch and then separated from Kafka family 2 to go to the museum of oro. First 10 minutes were interesting and then i was very bored. This guy collected everything in that museum on his own, how or why i have no idea but it was too much stuff. The archaeological stuff was interesting but once we got to the war stuff i was ready to go home.
Then we quickly returned to Lucho's house so i could see Francisco for approximately 10 minutes since he'd been at the beach all weekend and then i left with Wieland and fam to go to Laguna while mom and dad stayed behind for another night and day in Lima.
The drive to the beach was jam packed with Techno music..."you don't like my music Alyssa??" says Wieland..dont worry tio it's growing on me.
When we arrive to the beach Wieland cooks and feeds me pasta at 9 o'clock at night. I forgot the meal times here were so strange. Then i went to sleep and woke up to delicious croissants with this sweet syrup on top and spent the rest of the day on the beach and by the pool only to break for lunch...llomo a la huancaina. it sounded strange to me too at first but his huancaina sauce is very different from my moms...no mayo.
It was delicious. then that night after mom and dad arrived we went to Wong, no surprise, and then to dinner at Pardo's Chicken. Sounds normal enough but our waiter Luis probably thought we were all nuts. Wieland made sure Luis knew that if the chicken wasn't fresh he would send it back...i figured we were going to have to wait for them to kill a chicken before we could get our food. it ended up not being a long wait. Although it could've just felt like that since we were all distracted. Our placemats were like the ones you get at friendlys where it has a cartoon to color as well as a wordsearch and other things. we get our placemats and no one really gives it a second though, me however decided to ask for crayons...which camila helped in doing since i had no idea how to say crayon in spanish...colores. Luis chuckled and a minute later a waitress brough us a variety of very stubby crayons. Camila and i grabbed some and began coloring in the pictures of chickens surfing in what seemed to be Hawaii based on the flowers on the rooster's pants. to our surprise my mom, dad and lucia all grabbed crayons too and began coloring their placemat. Dad did the wordsearch because it was "more intellectual". Poor luis, he struggled bringing us our plates because none of us were done with our drawing for him to put the plate in front of us. Food wasn't bad, and Lucia and i left proud of ourselves for leaving the last rib...that was our diet.
Last night i slept in the top bunk of cami's room and enjoyed the luxury of air conditioning. Today is probably going to be a day for the beach and more sun. If i don't come back to CT as what will seem to be a different race, i will be disappointed in myself.
OK! This is the start of my 6th day of our third vacation in Peru, and i have to say third time is the charm. Everything is much easier this time around...Dad can actually navigate himself around Lima and is SO much better at working is way around the crazy Lima drivers. Getting together with all of the family members is no longer awkward. We're all very comfortable and small talk is a thing of the past. And apparently, based on every single person telling me so, my spanish is much much better. Which leads me to wonder, How awful was my spanish before? My actual knowledge of the language hasn't really improved drastically, really it's the fact that i finally grew a pair and am willing to speak even though i don't know how to say it perfectly.
First few days in Lima were chalked full of meeting up with each family member and eating great food (which my Dad and I paid for later). I've seen every member and i'm happy that this time they won't be left with the impression "Alyssa isn't quite comfortable speaking spanish" but instead maybe they'll think "wow, Alyssa's funny!" or witty, or nice, or idk something besides my lack of conversation.
First day, Friday, we went to this restaurant called La Mar...wonderful food, awesome ceviche, tasty causa. Small portions, meant for trying not really consuming, but good nonetheless. I probably would've been satisfied if i ate the pulpo, but i hate pulpo so no chance of that.
Saturday we went to Lagunas so the three brothers could finally be together for the first time in i don't know how long... but a long time. Just that day itself was worth the 15 miserable hours spent traveling here. The dynamic between the three is very amusing, you can see the similarities but they're all so different. I think dad definitely fits the character of the oldest brother, Folke the middle, and Wieland the youngest.
(by the way, Wieland says his mother must've been drunk when she named my Dad Cornelius, my reply to that was if that was true then she must have been wasted when she named the other two as well...i got your back dad).
During this time together we ate a lot of food (best causa i've ever had) and chatted with everyone. Karina came too so it was a ton of people all with a lot to say. Wild. After lunch, the majority of the rest of the day was spent taking pictures. Pictures of the brothers, pictures of the brothers with their wives, pictures of the brothers with one of his brother's wives, pictures of just the wives...we have enough pictures from that day to last us the rest of the trip. In these pictures there's a nice new twist to the usual...it's the tilted head. Apparently at one point sometime before that day Cami had told Lucia that her photos would come out better if Lucia would tilt her head to the right or left. So next time Lucia had her picture taken she tilted her head and found she liked the result. This story was told to us that day and after that every picture taken involved someone tilting their head, not really because they thinked they actually looked better but just because it was really funny to everyone. We all looked unbelievably foolish.
Sunday we stayed in the Lucho's house and i consumed more Chifles than anyone should. They're addictive. For lunch we ordered what Leila said is the best Chifa there is. Chifa = Chinese food. though the Chifa was tasty, i fault it for my upset stomach these past couple of days. Guillermo and Luis and Rocio came for this Chifa lunch as well as Leila's sister's kids and husband. Tons of people, tons of Chifa. After lunch while part of the family sat down to watch the movie Mamma Mia (i hate musicals on film) i chose to go with Rocio and sons to Starbucks for a coffee. During this time i found out lots about my cousin Guillermo. In our efforts to converse in a mix of spanish and english i learned what he's studying...law (i think) as well as how many credits each class is worth..3 or 4...how many exams in each class...midterm + final = 2...and the fact that his ex girlfriend is a tad nuts and still calls his brothers and mother but not him. he also taught be the word "bamba" which means illegal, in reference to pirated movies.
That night i went with Leila to go get myself a triple at La Baguette. what originally started out as a triple run for Alyssa turned into a Butifarra, triple, empenadas of every form, and tostaditos run for everyone. We waited there for about 40 minutes for our food...ironically enough the reason it took so long was because of my triple...has to be made fresh.
Monday i woke up early to play tennis with Belen, Rodrigo, and Seancito (Leila's nephew who's real name is Sean who's from Miami but they found a way to make it sound Spanish).
We got to the courts a little before 11 am but had to wait because our court wouldn't open till 12 so we sat and watched what Belen told me to be professional peruvian tennis players as well as an Argentinian one. The Mauricio character was very cute. One of the courts happened to be open during this time and seancito has one of the people in charge (which is remarkable considering he's 7) if we could play on that court while we wait for our. We were given 20 minutes.
We go to the court and start hitting around, Belen y yo against Rodrigo y Seancito. I was terrified of playing a game because every single time i hit the ball it would go out...no matter how soft i hit it! i didn't understand and then i realized, this court is half the size of a real one...each side was a bout 5 feet shorter than what it should be and i began to panic. Omg, if this is what they usually play on i'm going to be awful, i'm going to lose, i can't play on this! Then the 20 minutes were up and we went to our courts...it was normal. Apparently the other one was like a practice one for something i don't even know but i was very relieved. And i played pretty well considering it's been months since i've touched a racquet. I struggled after the first few games, my endurance isn't what it used to be and it was hot and i didn't have water AND i got 4 hours of sleep.
So i lost to Belen...i demand a rematch. But rodrigo and i were champions vs. her and seancito. I'm a doubles player yo, i don't do singles.
That afternoon we met up with Wieland, Lucia, y Cami to inspect their new home. it's HUGE. it's a like a little mansion. From the outside you would have no idea that you were about to enter a house with more hallways than we have bedrooms. That might be an exaggeration but it was much bigger than i expected and very nice. I'm excited to see the finished product next year.
We then went to lunch and then separated from Kafka family 2 to go to the museum of oro. First 10 minutes were interesting and then i was very bored. This guy collected everything in that museum on his own, how or why i have no idea but it was too much stuff. The archaeological stuff was interesting but once we got to the war stuff i was ready to go home.
Then we quickly returned to Lucho's house so i could see Francisco for approximately 10 minutes since he'd been at the beach all weekend and then i left with Wieland and fam to go to Laguna while mom and dad stayed behind for another night and day in Lima.
The drive to the beach was jam packed with Techno music..."you don't like my music Alyssa??" says Wieland..dont worry tio it's growing on me.
When we arrive to the beach Wieland cooks and feeds me pasta at 9 o'clock at night. I forgot the meal times here were so strange. Then i went to sleep and woke up to delicious croissants with this sweet syrup on top and spent the rest of the day on the beach and by the pool only to break for lunch...llomo a la huancaina. it sounded strange to me too at first but his huancaina sauce is very different from my moms...no mayo.
It was delicious. then that night after mom and dad arrived we went to Wong, no surprise, and then to dinner at Pardo's Chicken. Sounds normal enough but our waiter Luis probably thought we were all nuts. Wieland made sure Luis knew that if the chicken wasn't fresh he would send it back...i figured we were going to have to wait for them to kill a chicken before we could get our food. it ended up not being a long wait. Although it could've just felt like that since we were all distracted. Our placemats were like the ones you get at friendlys where it has a cartoon to color as well as a wordsearch and other things. we get our placemats and no one really gives it a second though, me however decided to ask for crayons...which camila helped in doing since i had no idea how to say crayon in spanish...colores. Luis chuckled and a minute later a waitress brough us a variety of very stubby crayons. Camila and i grabbed some and began coloring in the pictures of chickens surfing in what seemed to be Hawaii based on the flowers on the rooster's pants. to our surprise my mom, dad and lucia all grabbed crayons too and began coloring their placemat. Dad did the wordsearch because it was "more intellectual". Poor luis, he struggled bringing us our plates because none of us were done with our drawing for him to put the plate in front of us. Food wasn't bad, and Lucia and i left proud of ourselves for leaving the last rib...that was our diet.
Last night i slept in the top bunk of cami's room and enjoyed the luxury of air conditioning. Today is probably going to be a day for the beach and more sun. If i don't come back to CT as what will seem to be a different race, i will be disappointed in myself.
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