The Jungle Kids go to the Big City (Andrew)

So last Thursday, as you were all sitting down to nice turkey dinners, we were boarding a plane to cross the Andes. We didn’t actually see the mountains until the end of the trip as we dropped down to Lima- in fact, besides a brief glimpse of the river as we took off, we saw almost nothing but a bright heavenly glow in the clouds. We arrived at the capital city around mid-day and found ourselves much more comfortable than the last time we were here. It may have been due to the fact that we knew where we were going and that we had a taxi waiting for us, or that we arrived at the domestic terminal and didn’t have to go through customs with giant bags to eventually be launched into a giant crowd of hustling taxi-drivers, but things seemed a lot more relaxed. Our taxi ride took us through the same bustling, industrial neighborhoods we had passed through before (Lima is running out of water, so everything is very dusty) and down to the road along the strip between the cliffs and the ocean (this area has been augmented by multiple jetties to catch the sediment). We got to our hostel and made a few familial phone calls and inquiries to the hostel owner about activities (yes, there was someone who could look at Jess’s computer, no, there wasn’t a bullfight for Andrew to go to). The most pleasant surprise were blankets (2!!) on the beds and hot water heaters in the bathrooms (Sidenote: You might not believe me, but little two foot tall electric water heaters that you have to flip on half an hour before you get a hot shower are fantastic! I’m just not sure if they are code-worthy in the States…). Needless to say, we don’t have any of these amenities in Iquitos because coldness is a foreign concept here. We met a couple other Fulbright scholars already at the hostel, including a biologist studying birds in the cloud forest and an anthropologist (along with her husband) studying the role of children in Cusco’s tourist industry. It was great to get to know them, and, even better for me, to realize that I was not the only one crazy enough to jump into a year-long trip with my significant other when you don’t actually speak the language.

On Friday we had a late Thanksgiving lunch at the Fulbright Commission, and I am happy to admit that it was delicious (although nothing like home): turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, green salad, and of course, cranberry sauce. It was probably one of the best Friday Thanksgivings I’ve ever had. Along with the cold weather, it made us very nostalgic. We met lots of new people, including a Peruvian piano player who studied at Bloomington, a diplomat from the Embassy who had worked with US senators on the recent free trade agreement (and was very interested in discussing mining issues, and Jared Diamond books), as well as most of the rest of the other Fulbright scholars: another biologist working in the cloud forest (although this time with beetles, and she is from Asheville/Wake Forest!), a political geographer studying the relationships between an Andean mining operation and the local communities, an economist studying the informal economy of Lima, a linguist documenting a nearly extinct language in the jungle (her spouse was also visiting, but only for a month), and a photographer retracing the route of the conquistadors. They were all very interesting projects, many of which were somewhat related to each other and we enjoyed sharing stories and project difficulties.

On Saturday we met Leonor Unger, the mother of a friend of ours who is a member of Binkley Baptist in Chapel Hill. She took us on a drive to see the neighborhood of Miraflores and the National Anthropology Museum in Magdalena. She told us many interesting stories from her lifetime, as she had watched the multiple towns around Lima merge into a vast metropolis, growing in population from a half million to nearly 8 million. At the museum we learned some fascinating things about the amazingly diverse cultures of Peru (for those of you interested, read Charles Mann’s book, “1491”), including the Chavin, Moche, Wari, and Inka. For us, it was very interesting to see many aspects of these cultures illustrated through what appeared to be teapots. There were pots with animals, pots with vegetables, pots with faces of people with different jobs, even pots showing different diseases. After several hours admiring the artwork, we realized that we had not even started to see the half of the museum documenting the Spanish colonial period, so we raced through that before finding a delicious set-menu café for lunch.

The next day, in between Jess’s attempts to put together her Fulbright presentation, we had lunch with Leonor’s husband, Tomás Unger, who is a famous science writer and artist (our cab driver back to the airport knew who he was). After seeing their beautiful home in one of the older neighborhoods of Lima (which included not one, but two interior courtyards and a backdoor that opened into a city park!), we set off for lunch on the coast. Unfortunately, there was some construction work being done on the house and Leonor had to stay behind, but Tomás treated us to some delicious seafood at a restaurant on the coast (see the youtube video), and did some sketches of the seabirds diving just outside the windows. We returned to our hostel and Jess spent most of the afternoon completing her presentation.

On Monday morning, the Fulbright scholars and partners piled into a couple cabs (ours got lost on the way) to make our way to the Fulbright Commission for the project presentations. These were meant to share the things we were doing and the difficulties we had experienced, but at this point we had discussed most of the projects with each other, so we had a pretty good idea of what was coming. We did meet the final scholars of the group, who were staying in Lima, and learned about their projects studying the development impacts of Machu Picchu and 16th century negotiations between the Spanish empire and some of the native people in Peru. All of the presentations were fascinating and it was nice to hear them fleshed out with more details and goals. Logistically, however, the presentations were a bit of a disappointment. Afterwards, the sun came out for the first time, and we were able to see mountains behind the city, so we enjoyed the brief period of sunlight to explore our local neighborhood of Barranco before a final dinner together (pictures on Flickr).

On Tuesday we were the last Americans left at the hostel as our new friends left for their respective corners of the country. We were sad to say goodbye to the city with its refreshing temperatures, low humidity, and excellent food. And I wish I could say that we were overjoyed to be going back to Iquitos, but the prospect of the upcoming hot/mosquito season didn’t seem completely appealing to us. We were rejuvenated by the excursion, and feeling more confident about our projects here, but we’re already planning trips in April to visit Cusco and hopefully Machu Picchu!