this is long
3/11/06 4:00 PM
Just finished eating and I had a delicious calzone from Papa John’s here in the Lima airport. We are checked in and awaiting our flight to Trujillo with anticipation. So, I went to a desert today. This was the first desert I’ve been to since a vacation to Las Vegas, but that doesn’t really count in my mind. It was very hot and very dry there, people talk about the heat in Florida a lot, but this was much more difficult. The site we visited was Pachacamac. It is a pre-Inca site filled with many huacas and had a very large area, one of the rare larger sized metropolises of the early civilizations. The views from the top of the largest temple were amazing. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean and you could see out for a very long distance until the fog/smog set in. We had a very long plane ride from Miami to Lima, it did not include much sleep for me, wedged in between two people in the middle seat in the row. We are leaving for Trujillo very soon and I am very excited, because we get a good meal and a bed as well. This has already been a very long day and I am very tired.
Notes- 3.3 Soles equals 1 US Dollar
3/11/06 4:45 PM
Time to write some crap that is actually pertinent and useful. I’ve had a lot fo fun on this trip already. The drive down to Miami was very adventurous with some weird conversations, a mechanical problem with the van resulting in a god awful noise, and uncertainty until about 20 mins left in the trip as to whether or not we were actually paying the tolls on the Turnpike. We all got introduced to Gabriel, the videographer for the trip, who is very funny and helped break the ice throughout the van. We stopped in Kissimmee for dinner at one of Stuart’s favorite restaurants and he paid $10 on all of our checks which was very helpful and I had the first steak I’ve had since winter break. Stuart is great for this trip, I’m really glad I was able to come. Right now I’m flying over the Pacific Ocean, the first time I can say that in my life. Hopefully I can get more window seats on the trip when we’re in the plane so I can see the Andes, and Cuba, and the Caribbean islands. That would rule.
3/11/06 11:00 PM
We’re here in the hostel and checked in now. After the plane ride from Lima we went and ate at the Mochita Café in Trujillo, and we had some local cuisine and had a great 3 course meal. We had some carne along with some papas, 2 of the over 3500 varieties. After dinner we went around Trujillo for a little bit and saw the main plaza and the cathedral there, it’s was awesome. We then started our almost never ending drive to Magdalena de Cao and our hostel. Driving in basically darkness for what seemed like over 2 hours, seeing crazy lights that we mistook for UFOs but were really cars on mountainsides. We then went on the BUMPIEST ROAD EVER. It was very bumpy. I can really appreciate this Pisco sour right now.
3/12/06 7:30 AM
Sleeping last night went very well, much better than I had anticipated. They kept the mattresses in plastic though, very odd and makes for a very hot slumber. My roommate is Josh Crosby, my tutor from last semester in Stuart’s class. We’ve got a good room, pretty centrally located and getting a nice cross breeze when the front door is open. This location also made it very easy for Gabriel to wake us up with the camera and the spot light. Not funny at the time. Funny now. Not funny at 7 AM. We had a decent breakfast, los huevos were a little bit undercooked and runny but it was ok and some bread and jam. I had some cocoa tea and it was ok, nothing too special or buzz inducing or anything. We’re now waiting for the bus, it’s been over an hour.
3/12/06 11:00 AM
We’re now on a tour of the site, El Brujo, and the old Dominican Church that was built by the Spanish in the 1500’s. There are bones everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I’ve never really seen human bones, except for the replica of Lucy at the New York Museum of Natural History, one of my favorite museums, but here they are just everywhere. The area is so saturated with bones that you have to keep an eye out so as to not step on a femur or skullcap. The Huaca is going ot be open to Tourism pretty soon, a month I think, and they are going to have one continuous view of the front façade with all the frescos. It’s gonna be pretty exhilarating. The freizes are right in front of us now and it’s pretty crazy to think that these things are over 3,000 years old but still in decent condition and depicted ritualistic battle amongst groups as well as taking the blood of prisoners and then decapitating them. On the second level now and we’re going to see the corner that they had the rituals. From here we can see the ripe valley filled with sugar cane and the ocean is to the right. Pretty amazing. The Moche calendar is on a wall based off movement of planets and constellations. Genius. Lots of traditions followed phases of the moon, such as planting techniques or surgery. People would come to the pyramids to venerate their gods or to be healed. Now on the third level we’re standing next to the first symbol found here after excavation started in 1990, it was a symbol of the decapitator gods hand. To cut off someone’s hand is to rid the person of all bad things instantaneously. At the drawings on the frescos of the officials they found a real femur in one of the symbol’s legs. On the west side of the huaca there is a series of frescos on terraces that is covered and will never be uncovered due to conservation reasons. Near the top of the pyramid they found a tomb with a founder of the Mochica culture in it. It’s going to be featured in the May 2006 issue of National Geographic along the same level as the Lord of Sipan in 1994. How cool is that? They also found a tomb of a priestress that was totally untouched by looters. She was mummified to an effect and her skin was still intact, covered in tattoos of spiders and snakes. She is older than the Lord of Sipan and seemed to be in power and as a legend longer than the Lord of Sipan and even had her own mausoleum. The way Regulo talks it seems as though there is some competition with the archaeologists at the Lord of Sipan site and museum.
3/12/06 3:00 PM
Lunch was pretty good. We had cabrito, a small goat, along with rice and beans which was followed by a nice, refreshing cat nap. We’re going back to the site now to look at more of Huaca del Cao. The desert hasn’t been as brutal as I first expected. At the site there is a nice breeze from the ocean for the most part, cooling us off a bit. Not an especially brutal sun down here either, deoite being the end of summer/beginning of fall it’s been ok. If this area had proper sewage and water, it would boom for tourism, which it will likely do in 15 years or so.
3/12/06 4:00 PM
We’re at the top of the pyramid on a patio used for rituals. This is where the people would come before being decapitated by the priests. It’s pretty incredible up here, you can see for miles in all directions. The bodies of the decapitated prisoners were stored underneath the very ground that we are standing on right now. Eerie. Now we see the hidden gem of El Brujo. A 50 foot long uninterrupted frieze that is covered overhead because of security reasons. There are so many depictions of the decapitator god in here, one for night, one for day, ones with heads in their hands, one with the blade that is used. It ends at a tomb where a man was found with large gold chains with him. He is buried with lots of river stones and tree trunks, surprising because the nearest river is many kilometers away. In his coffin, nothing was found. No body. In the other smaller tombs with it there are women and textiles but no sign of the man. Amazingly enough, this level would connect all the way around the other side of the pyramid with the Madame de Cao’s mausoleum. We are now going to a ceremonial well found on the way to the huaca from the town. It is about 12 meters deep and there is a slick spiral staircase built into the stone to descend upon. It was covered, likely by the Spanish, and Don Regulo found it 13 years ago and wanted to dig at it. It was used for ceremonies and healings.
..
I got to go down and Don Regulo performed a ritual with me. I feel so peaceful right now. Words cannot describe my feelings of euphoria and bliss and calmness and content. No more worries on this trip at all. It’s all good.
3/13/06 4:00 PM
We had a very in depth series of lectures this morning, great information and very interesting but man this country needs fans. I think I would make a fortune selling floor fans down here, it’s crazy hot and muggy now. Ever since my comment that the desert wasn’t too bad, it has been brutally hot. I’ve been told there is a possibility for a night time ritual at the site with a Shaman as well as some San Pedro Cactus juice. That would be amazing and likely the highlight of my nineteen years. We are now headed to the ‘real’ El Brujo, Huaca del Brujo… We are at the top of the huaca right now. H.O.L.Y. C.R.A.P. I feel as though I just won some sort of amazing contest and this is my reward. If so, this is the best contest ever. This is an incredible view of the ENTIRE COMPLEX!! Regulo tells us of the traditions of the San Pedro rituals performed and how a shaman takes the form of a regal animal, such as a condor. He also told us of the origins of Santiago de Cao and Magdalena de Cao and their fight over a bell that disappeared to the foot of the mountains. Great stories.
3/14/06 10:00 AM
We are actually going to be excavating today. I’m pretty excited about it. A small group of us went to Don Regulo’s home in Magdalena de Cao and he showed us a lot of artifacts he had from the site and from various places as well as pictures of his family. It was a very intimate experience. Up here at the top of Huaca de Cao we are going to dig at an area where we might find some interesting things. The process is very meticulous and involves a lot of measurements and precision.
3/14/06 3:00 PM
I got bit by a spider. A pretty big one too. So now I am in the Hospital in Chocope after getting a shot and now they’re running some test to see whether or not it was poisonous. I’m actually not too bothered by it, despite having to travel to a guarded hospital Emergency Room and without food since basically last night. I’m looking at it as an adventure really. I wasn’t allowed to bring my camera into the hospital, but the mental images are pretty lasting, and slightly humorous too. No worries, I’m gonna be fine, but it is making for a good story for Kyle’s screenplay/journal. Strange that I got a shot and still don’t know what they shot me up with, but it’s helping..
3/15/06 6:45 AM
We’re up on the top of the huaca again performing some conservation techniques. We’re trying to cut down on the salts hitting the huaca and deteriorating the frescos due to the wind coming in from the ocean. It’s pretty tedious but it is a big part of archaeology.
3/15/06 5:00 PM
We just had an awesome meal at Big Ben’s in Huanchaco. Huanchaco is pretty nice. I guess it’s even better in the earlier summer but a nice beach city but a little too much smog in the air from Trujillo, about a half hour away. Now we are heading the museum underneath the gas station filled with pottery, and then to the hostel to check in. One odd observation is that I think I am eating more food here than I would be in Gainesville.. I expected the opposite but I am pleasantly surprised.
3/16/06 8:30 AM
We’re going to Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna today, as well as Chan Chan. The city of Trujillo is gorgeous. We were walking around the central plaza and saw the opening procession of the festival of la Virgen de la Puerta. It was a feast at the cathedral and included lots of drums and these troops of little kids doing dances and a shrine of the Madonna proceeding from outside into the cathedral and to the altar. I have this picture of the cathedral on my computer but in that picture it is white, not the cream/tan color that it is now. They look great both ways. We have the evening at our leisure which is really good because last night almost everyone was pretty tired or feeling ill.
3/17/06 9:30 PM
We are now on the plane to Lima. A little bit ago we had to say good bye to Yolanda. It was really sad, she was a great host for us. Last night we had some cuyee, that’s Spanish for Guinea Pig, and it was pretty good, not a lot of meat on those little guys but they served the entire guinea pig to us so it was kinda cool. We left Trujillo this morning for the Lord of Sipan museum in Chiclayo. 3 hours on the bus. That’s rough but the reward was pretty awesome, a huge museum filled with artifacts found at just one site! I’ve decided that at some point in my life I am going to live in Peru, it’s great here. I want to live somewhere along the coast and hopefully my Spanish will improve to the point that that will be realistic. This trip has been a lot of fun with the whole group getting along well and we’ve been able to make some strong bonds and likely lasting friendships. The first twenty minutes of this flight was spent in constant laughter dude tothe antics of OJ (Original Josh), Midnight Molester (Gabriel), and Clark just goofing off while the flight attendants shot us icy stares. This trip has been an amazing time and hey, we even got some education on this trip, much more than sitting at home watching cartoons.
3/18/06 10:50 AM
We are now on the plane on the way back to Miami and it is bittersweet. I don’t really want to eave but it will be nice to go home and see my parents. Peru has been really fun and the people are all really genuine and helpful to us. I know that none of my friends will be able to compare their Spring Break to mine. I saw a whole new type of living style as well as subsistence base and facets of communal living as opposed to individualistic. I experienced new adaptations to environments and ways to overcome the hardships placed upon an area by nature. I got a taste of what real Archaeology is and the needs of archaeologists to stay afloat and keep the education of these sites a possibility. I also got ot practice my Spanish in a real intensive environment and fell back in love with the language. As sad as it is, this trip is over but the memories will always be lasting for me. I’ve made so many memories along the way and found comfortable niches with people and had one of the best weeks of my life.
Did anyone actually read all of that?