Working for the man every night and day!

So, I am deep into my own work these days, which is both cool and terrifying. While I helped out with samples and went on hikes, I was not ultimately responsible for anything that happened. Yes, I tried my hardest. When a syringe fell in the river and was getting sucked downstream, I ran down the bank and almost dove into the river trying to reach it (I failed because the mossy bank started to give way, so I had to back up, but I was soaked up to my elbow... That's gotta count for something.) However, it wasn't MY work, so it wasn't my fault if it failed miserably. What I'm doing now, totally is my fault if it fails... Pleasant feeling. By the way, although I did not capture the syringe, they had another one, so it was OK.

So, what have I been up to these past few days? Well, I interviewed some travel agencies to get a feel for where tourists to Huaraz were headed. After about 5 of those, I realized that there are 2 main destinations: Llanganuco and Chavin. I signed up for a tour of each to get started on my interviews. Little did I know, the tour guides talk just about 90% of the time... So, I think I'm going to have to rethink that plan. However, it was a good experience to get to know the area and what people are here to see. I had been under the impression that everyone came here to see glaciers (which is definitely more the case when the park with easy to get to glacier is open...), but now that the park is closed, people are seeing the countryside, lakes, and archaeological ruins. Most people were actually weirded out that I was asking them about glaciers... Oy.

The tours themselves were interesting though. When I wasn't feeling sick to my stomach with the car swerving across the road to avoid potholes, I liked looking at the countryside. The tour guides had a lot of interesting things to say, also. They want to make the trips more interesting, as well. The lake trip is not that exciting. You go, you see the lake, whoopdi do. However, they stop for ice cream, see a church, visit a pottery, stop for lunch, the works. So, that's kind of fun. It does mean, though, that there is NO time for interviews.

However, on the Llanganuco trip, there was one site that was almost disturbing in the tourist nature of it all: Campo Santo. This is the sight of the old town of Yungay that was destroyed in an avalanche in the 70's. We walked over top of everyone's houses, workplaces, and, of course, their dead bodies. They were buried under 13 meters of rubble, but still. We also got to see some of the damage sitting on the top. There was a bus fused to a car with an extra truck chassy sticking through the middle. They were all rusted and mangled. It was disturbing. However, even more than the tourist-ness of this ruined town, I was seriously bothered by the way people were treating it. Everyone was making jokes about what we should do if we felt the earth shake. One couple (who had been making out the ENTIRE trip... seriously, no one had any idea what they looked like when their faces weren't stuck together) sat down on the rock where they were displaying the mangled vehicles and kept right on playing tonsil hockey. I'm not saying they kissed every once in a while, they were intensely into the moment and it was LOUD. Not only did they ruin everyone's pictures, they were totally not respecting the place.

One more thing that bothered me about Campo Santo, which will probably offend everyone with my cavalier treatment of it, was the Jesus statue. Now, don't get me wrong, who doesn't love the big JC? (heehee... that's gonna get to people, either because they don't love him or because I called him the big JC) However, while everything around the statue was destroyed, they found the statue with a minimum of cracks in it, and they are now displaying the original. It's a nice enough story, but it gets.... interesting. Because this statue was saved from the wreckage, practically untouched, it just proves the holiness of God, right? This is what the tour guide wanted to point out. What I wanted to point out, but refrained, is that 72,000 people died that day. Entire towns and communities were destroyed forever, with no hope of escape. They had 7 minutes to flee 25 hectares of ice and snow moving at 350 km an hour. Even people who ran were killed. If God was concerned about protecting something, I just don't think it would have been a statue of himself. Now, I am not disputing religion at this point. Anyone can believe anything they want. I'm not even stating what I believe. What I am stating is that the statue was saved because of the fact that it was in a protected courtyard and made of concrete or something. Anyways, sorry if that offends anyone. Although I enjoy the look of consternation on my parents' faces when I say something outrageous, I can't see anyone's face when they read this, thus, it's just not as fun. However, it really bothered me, so I wanted to get it off my chest.

And now some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Hey, look, Mom!! It's a llama!! Can I keep him??? Although, at this point, I should probably be asking Sandip... However, he won't let me get a puppy, I doubt he'd feel any better about a llama.
This is the lake at Llanganuco. It's super pretty, but super cold. However, the lake has healing powers. We were attacked by bugs, and the bites were swelling up all nasty and huge. The guide said to put some of the water on them, and they immediately felt better. The next day, they were gone!! Weird, huh??
This is the infamous Jesus statue in the cemetery that they rebuilt. Each level houses memorials to people in the avalanche and other coffins and tombs that they recovered from the town. It's not a bad sentiment, but.... it really bugs me. Moving on...
Hey! It's me in my Inca Kola shirt!!! I'm in front of a mountain. I don't remember which one, but I do know that it's the hardest one to climb in the Cordillera Blanca. It's very steep and some of that ice falls down. Muy Peligroso.
This is Querococha. I massacred the spelling, but it's super pretty. This was at about 4500 meters or so. It was nice getting up that high on a bus.... Anyways, I have a new record: 4929, according to the GPS Sarah F. and I had on a water sample day. Not sure if that's right, but we're going with it. Soooo close to over 5000. Hopefully I can make it over later in the trip!!

Anyways, TTFN: tata for now!! The wonderful thing about Tiggers are Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber. Their bottoms are made out of springs. They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun ,fun. But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one.... I'm the only one!!! Love you, miss you!!!

The Expedition of Filth

Today was probably the most disgusting day I've had in a long time. Why? Because Sarah F. and I went on an expedition of filth.


She needed to get a water sample from the river that runs through Huaraz. I agreed to go with her, since I have become a water sampling master. That and I don't think she had anyone else to go with. So.... we were off. We bought some stuff before we went and then headed downhill towards the river. However, it was pretty hard to gain access. Everyone was blocking us off. We did, however, watch as women used pipes sucking water up directly to wash their clothes. We also got to smell the river as we wandered through dusty streets and over bridges looking over the murky waters below.

It was the smelliest, nastiest, dirtiest river ever. Not true, actually. In fact, not even the dirtiest river I've seen.... India took care of that. Which is AWFUL. Nasty. Gross. Images say more...
Sarah sampling at the bottom of the trash hill/river bank.... By the way, this was right before she noticed the dead pig in the water and almost fell in because she was gagging...

Red muck being poured directly into the river....



These girls were washing their clothes and themselves directly across the river from Sarah and the dead pig....

Needless to say, I feel dirty and yucky and sort of like vomiting all day.... However, other nice things happened, so that's good. But I will always remember my expedition of filth with disgust and horror....

A Pickle, a pickle, My Kingdom for a Pickle…

Well, if you can’t tell from the title, food cravings have set in full force. I would pay a good 30 soles for a crisp, juicy Wanigan pickle. 20 more soles for a nice Styrofoam soup bowl of Intermission Deli pickles- an even 50 if you throw in a nice veggie sandwich with all the fixin’s. For a while, I was simply craving pickles in general. This is a holdover from the exceptionally bad pickles available in Columbus. My standards have lowered in the past year. However, at this point, I have my specific cravings, only able to be satisfied with the high standards of Bay City’s finest. Actually, I could probably get away with a Peanut Barrel pickle, courtesy of East Lansing, but there is no Ohio pickle that could do the job.

Actually, as long as we’re discussing these things, Columbus, OH, in general, sucks in terms of food. Sure, you can satisfy the chain cravings- Panera, Cosi, etc., but they just don’t have the cool, delicious local specialties. Now, Bay City, MI really only does the deli better than anywhere else. Yes, I realize that Los Cuatro Amigos is pretty good, Tommy V’s has some nice pasta, and all those other Bay City places are nice. However, I have lived in the Mecca of local restaurants: East Lansing, MI.

I realize that this doesn’t make sense. Columbus is much bigger and has a great local restaurant scene, according to sources. However, East Lansing does really good food from all over the world at amazing prices. I think I have already passed the peak of my culinary experiences in college. Even when I’m not being subjected to the same food every day like I am here, I dream of the wonders of East Lansing cuisine. I think I would burst into tears and find religion if someone showed up at my door with a guacamole tostada with a side of chips and salsa from El Azteco right now. I would cloister myself and dedicate my life to God if it meant that I could have El Azteco, Lou and Harry’s, Peanut Barrel, Flat’s, Thai Kitchen, Georgio's, Peking Express, and Caruso’s whenever I wanted them. I would also probably be very fat.

It’s funny, since I’ve been here, I never crave things that I can make myself at home. I don’t think I’m a bad cook. In Columbus, I like my fajitas, salsas, green bean casseroles, soups, salads, and fake meat specialties. (Sandip claims to like most of them, too….) In fact, I really enjoy cooking and am always a little disappointed when we have people over and they don’t eat my food. Every time we’ve had people in from out of town, they’ve wanted to help cook, which is sweet. But, I’m always sort of sad that they wouldn’t rather see what kind of food I might make for them. Because I like my food and I like to cook. However, I CRAVE that mystical haven of deliciousness that is East Lansing, plus the deli-riffic amazingness of Bay City. I dream about them at night and wake up with my tummy growling. I come close to tears with every bad meal I’ve ever consumed, knowing that I could have had something so much better, if only I’d decided to stay in Michigan.

It may seem melodramatic, but it’s the truth. I don’t know why I don’t crave homemade food. Perhaps it is a remnant from childhood (I told you all that hash was terrible, Mom!). I don’t think either of my parents really LIKES to cook. They’re not terrible at it. My dad has made this odd concoction called Nofakejake that is sort of a crowd pleaser… J Just kidding, Dad! We’ll have to try it out with fake meat one of these days!! My mom can open a can of German Potato Salad with the best of ‘em! (Actually, I could go for some meat-less German Potato Salad… ) However, cooking for them always seemed like a stressful experience (probably because I am such a picky eater) and why not just eat out instead? Bay City food is pretty good. If nothing else, the fast food selection is pretty choice. The Chinese food is something that makes the crave list sometimes. So, I think I am pre-disposed towards preferring restaurant food. Especially for guests and special occasions!! My brother and I used to get excited when one of my mom’s business associates would come into town because it meant pizza and “real pop.” (Pop with caffeine… yes, I continue to have that problem) Sometimes, it’d mean Chinese food. However, in my family, you could not have a guest over and not get them “nice food,” which meant eating out on the town. If you were eating homemade food, it was either a holiday (and justified taking a long time to cook some ridiculous meal including turkey or ham, which also meant that everyone was bringing something. Potlucks were their own special occasion and should count separately.) or you were telling them that they just weren’t as important as other people. During sleep-overs, I would eat dinner at the other little girls’ houses and would be secretly offended that their mom was cooking. When they ate at MY house, we usually had pizza.

Of course, my addiction to eating out is probably causing all of my fabulous health problems. I’ve also grown up to appreciate a home cooked meal. In fact, the best food I’ve had in Peru has come from the little abuelita at Mi Casa that cooked for me when I was sick. She was utterly sweet and gave me flashbacks to my own Grandma Florie when I was a little girl. I got to stay in bed, and she made me food and took me to the doctor. I suppose this would be the time to admit that I miss my friends and family much more than I miss the food. Hunger passes, but love is forever. Not that I wouldn’t like to have both. Tell you what, in August, we can all meet at El Azteco and I can have the best of all worlds. Especially if my parents bring some Bay City pickles.

Love you, Miss you. Have a pickle in remembrance of your homesick little Sarah.

Lock Down in Huaraz

So, I know I just posted, but all that stuff was from camping. So, I'm writing from the California Cafe in Huaraz, Peru, with the big metal door pulled down in front. A national strike is stirring up trouble in Huaraz. All of the workers want everything to be shut down, so I guess there's a risk of rocks being thrown at any businesses that are working. People are parading through the streets chanting and waving signs, and apparently... throwing rocks.

We're all fine, though. We had a fun night last nigh at the Xtreme bar, playing fuseball and Jenga. Today is more of a data consolidation than anything else because nothing is working. You can't even leave the city in a car because the roads are blocked off. The buses aren't running. Everyone else is freaking out a bit because they want to go to Lima so they can go home. However, I'm totally here forever, so wheeee for me.

I am, however, getting work done. Interviewing and data collection- whooo!!! It's been fun. I think I'm better at this sort of data collection than the field collection that involves camping in below freezing weather. Especially with whatever I'm allergic to. I'm not the kind of girl that enjoys pottying in a hole. I'm not sure there is a kind of girl like that....

Anyways, we're on lock down in Huaraz. I'm totally enjoying myself and getting work done. Yesterday was exciting because I was at the Office of Statistics gathering some information when the parade of angry strikers went by. I got yanked down away from the window by the guy I was interviewing so that the workers wouldn't throw rocks through the window at an open business.... It was crazy! They shut the lights off and locked the door. craziness.

It'll be sad to see everyone go this week because then I'll be here alone. However, it'll be nice to have my own room for a while.... I think Kyung feels the same. We definitely don't have the same sleep schedules. However, I will miss having someone to giggle with at night. It'll be more sad than happy. Anyways, love you all!!! Wish me luck as we ride out the strike!!

Meet the team!

So, now that I've had a nice long camping experience with everyone, I have some good pictures of some of my fellow adventurers. Here is a small sample of the team....
This is Jeff Bury, who I secretly think is a mountain goat, along with his student, Adam. He's a wicked climber and also has the Indiana Jones hat... He's posing in front of the big pretty mountain whose base we climbed to. Jeff and I will be hanging out quite a bit more in the coming month.
While we had four OSU people, we had to O-H-I-O it up!!! Look at the scenery, though... Holy wow!!
When we woke up in the mornings, my water was frozen solid and the tent was covered with frost. It was darn cold!!
Kyung In, the baddest mama of them all, has been my roommate for the whole trip. She got to wake up to my beautifully swollen face in the tent...
This is Sarah 1, also known as Fortner. I've linked to her blog on the sidebar: Crampons and Cornfields. She is a water sampling fiend who has given me quite a bit of good advice about altitude.
These two characters are from McGill University. The girl on the left is Sara 2, also known as Foxy Knoxy. She speaks fluent French and has many secret conversations with the Frenchman on the right, Michelle. The McGill crew has a wicked sense of humor and keep the rest of us laughing.
This is the Erin Brockivich moment where everyone is sampling this secret water diversion system that everyone kept telling us wasn't working but it actually was. The redhead on the left is Adam, the other mountain goat working with Jeff Bury. Jeff McKenzie (also from McGill) is in the middle with the big stick and Sara Knox is on the right.

Getting my hands dirty...

Hello again, everyone!

I am writing post-camping trip with the team. Actually, everyone else will still be out through tonight, but my face swelled up, so I came back one night early. Don't worry, it's mostly back to the right size/shape, but I have no idea what happened. It was definitely some form of allergic reaction, but I'm not sure to what. It also made the lip-shrimp swelling look harmless... Anyways, I'm doing fine now, but I'm convinced I actually need to go get that fancy allergy testing done. However, before I turned into Will Smith in Hitch, I had a really great time with everyone!!



This is a video from about 4625 m. That is the elevation of the lake, and I went a bit higher than that!! I would say that I got up to almost 4700 meters. That's super high!! The hike there was incredibly steep and long. I never appreciated how exhausting walking could be. However, it was totally worth it!! Absolutely amazing scenery!! Plus, I got to know some of my fellow researchers better!!

I keep trying to upload some pictures of the team, but I seem to be having trouble. Maybe later!! Ciao!

The blog from the beginning....

Hey, I have a working computer now, so I thought I would post that first blog I wrote in Lima and Cusco. Enjoy!

Los perros tristes....

Cusco, the capital of the Incan empire, la gran ciudad por las turistas, the big Kahuna of South America, is now housing the uber famous Sarah Wright, everyone’s favorite blogger. No, I don’t care about run-on sentences. They can be their own special thing, too. Anyways, I’m here for the next couple weeks (más o menos), doing the tourist thing and taking intensive Spanish classes so I don’t look quite so much like an idiot during the research portion of the trip.

I desperately need these Spanish classes, too. I tell ya, it’s one thing to know that seca means dry when you’re writing a vocabulary answer in the climate section of a Spanish class. It’s a whole ‘nother ball game when someone brings it up out of nowhere, with no previous context. I was talking about how pretty the mountains were with my taxi driver, who spoke no English, when all of a sudden he comes out of left field with all sorts of stuff. I am not a good improv person in Spanish, I’ve decided. You tell me to act like a dog playing chess in English, no problem! But answering out of the blue stuff in Spanish- no dice. So anyways, I will learn how to respond better and I will just hire a translator for the rest. Personally, I feel like that would make my research more valid, but my advisers think that it would be better for me to do them myself. Bleh. I agree, but I am an incompetent fool, who though speaking Spanish twice a week (which got reduced to once a week, but that was totally not my fault!!) would help me be able to converse once I got here.

Anyways, Gaby is coming to Cusco tomorrow!!! Hurray!!! Me encanta Gaby!!! She’s bringing her friend Alex, also. Hurray for Alex! (?) Hmmm, so my outlet that the computer is plugged into keeps losing power. (I’m typing this on my computer and then I’m going to upload it at the internet café next door. Then I’m getting a pizza!! I know, it’s not so much Peruvian, but it’s next door… That and it seems every time I turn a corner I get lost. So, I figure I should stay within visibility of my hostel. Especially since it got dark at 6 tonight!! Can you believe it?? It’s because we are in a valley. However, it freaked me out as I got lost for the 8^th time today.

So, one thing about Cusco is all of these dogs (perros) running around. They had a bunch everywhere in Lima, but they seemed better fed. However, here, there are very dirty, hungry looking stray dogs everywhere. It breaks my heart. I wanted to pet this adorable little thing that was hanging outside the hostel, but everyone freaked out. Apparently petting stray dogs is a stupid idea here, as well. However, they all seem to be the friendliest little things. They really do have the puppy dog eyes, big and hungry. It looks like a Humane Society commercial. I tried to give one a cracker, but I scared him and he ran away.

I’m also amazed at the many types of dogs running around Cusco. It’s not like India, where they all looked like they came from the same litter. The dogs here are everything from the big shaggy dog type (like the one Tim Allen turns into in that movie I didn’t see…) to Chihuahuas (these all seemed to have owners) to terrier type dogs. I mean, they’re all probably mutts, but these are the breeds they sort of look like. They have quite a few of the small, fluffy, white kind, but not always small. They’re just running around like they own the place. I just want to buy some dog food and feed them!! Too cute! Well, if my power outlet blew a fuse or something, I should get going. Who knows when I’ll be able to plug my laptop in!! Much love to you all!!! Buenos noches!!

That's the end of the old blog... Have a good one!! Love you, miss you!!