Well, the story doesn´t end there. We woke up, still on the bus and still not to Arequipa yet. They did feed us a dinner of fried rice the night before and a sandwich which consisted mostly of bread, one piece of meat and cheese. When we finally arrived at Arequipa they let us off the bus for an hour and a half, then we loaded again to trek onward to Juliaca and Puno on Lake Tititaca before heading to Cusco. Nothing really fascinating happened because we were on a bus, but the views were fantastic --- again, I will get pictures up.
On the bus I of course spoke to Natasha and Maya, but we also met a couple from the UK. They told me that they spent time in the United States and then they came to Peru. It was interesting to talk to them.
On one of our last stops a lot of native people got on the bus, which wasn´t a big deal until a half hour later we were stopped by the police and the bus was searched. They found quite a bit of contraban and some of these native people had to get off the bus. It was quite unnerving and to be totally honest scary.
My friends and I got off the bus in Cusco around 10:30pm. The keepers of my hostal were waiting for me and they gave me a free ride to the hostal. They spoke little english and so I had to work on my spanish to communicate with them. I tried to tell them that I had a trek tomorrow (July 8th) for Macchu Pichu and they understood that and we tried to get into contact with the tour operator, but it was late a night. I had received an e-mail from the tour operator saying that they would contact my hostal but they hadn´t. I went to my room and got my stuff ready for the trek and then tried to take a shower (after a 30 hour bus ride you want to get clean), but the shower didn´t work -- there wasn´t any water. I was quite upset, but I went to bed to sleep it off. The hostal owner and I decided to meet at 5am to track down the tour operator, so I needed my sleep.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
2nd Day in Lima
Well, I got up this morning at my hostal and took a shower and packed my bags because it is my last day here. After I got done packing my bags Marie (a girl from Norway that I met last night) and I went to the city center of Lima. It was a happening place this sunday morning. We saw the Plaza de San Martin and then we walked up a pedestrian mall towards the Plaza de Armas. On the way to the plaza we saw a beautiful church which was home to the convent in the area. This plaza, Plaza de Armas, was the nicest one in Lima. It had a fountain in the middle that dates back to the 1600´s. On one side sat the Presidential Palace and on another sat the Cathedral de Lima. We visited the Cathedral and it was very nice.They were getting ready to start a mass so we only stayed a little while. There was a plaque in the Cathedral that said Pope John Paul II visited this cathedral while Pope, which was pretty cool.
After the cathedral we walked up a street and saw a really cool neighborhood which was hanging on to the mountain. We also saw the Congress Building and then took a tour of a museum that was dedicated to the torture techniques of the Spanish for their inquisition on Peru during the conquest. It was intersting, but gruesome.
Then we went back to the plaza and met a kid from Lima named Eric. He took us to a free museum where we saw many different items from the ancient times of Peru. We also went into a vault in this museum where we saw many gold artifacts from the Inca times. There was so much gold, I can now understand why so many people searched for El Dorado. On the way to the museum there was a parade of people who seemed to be celebrating something important, but neither Eric nor we could figure it out. Then we returned to the plaza to watch the changing of the gaurd at the presidential palace.
Then we went out to eat to have some genuine Peruvian food. I got a mixed fish dish which was really weird looking. It has mussels, crawdads, crabs, many different types of fish, and a lemon sauce. It was cold, but it was good, until I got sick of the Lemon. Every bite was like biting into a whole lemon. We also tried Inka Cola, the Peruvian soda pop. It actually was good, but tasted a little like cough syrup.
After we ate, Mary and I returned to the hostal and I got ready to leave. While I was getting ready two girls were also getting ready and we found out that we were on the same bus. We ended up talking and hanging out on the bus. The bus left Lima at 4pm and headed for Arequipa on the southern coast. The views were absolutely amazing. Lima and most of southern Peru is situated on a desert because the mountains protect it from any possible rain and the Ocean is cold enough that little evaporation occurs. This means that almost every day is sunny without a cloud in the sky. On the bus you could look to your left and see desert and mountains and if you looked to your right you could see the massive Pacific Ocean and its mighty waves. We saw the sunset, watched some movies provided by the bus company (Knocked Up and another one) and went to sleep.
So far I really like Peru. Lima was much cleaner and nicer then I expected it to be. The weather was absolutely fantastic and the people were very nice. The contrast of the scenery is breathtaking. I can´t wait to get my pictures loaded so you can see them.
After the cathedral we walked up a street and saw a really cool neighborhood which was hanging on to the mountain. We also saw the Congress Building and then took a tour of a museum that was dedicated to the torture techniques of the Spanish for their inquisition on Peru during the conquest. It was intersting, but gruesome.
Then we went back to the plaza and met a kid from Lima named Eric. He took us to a free museum where we saw many different items from the ancient times of Peru. We also went into a vault in this museum where we saw many gold artifacts from the Inca times. There was so much gold, I can now understand why so many people searched for El Dorado. On the way to the museum there was a parade of people who seemed to be celebrating something important, but neither Eric nor we could figure it out. Then we returned to the plaza to watch the changing of the gaurd at the presidential palace.
Then we went out to eat to have some genuine Peruvian food. I got a mixed fish dish which was really weird looking. It has mussels, crawdads, crabs, many different types of fish, and a lemon sauce. It was cold, but it was good, until I got sick of the Lemon. Every bite was like biting into a whole lemon. We also tried Inka Cola, the Peruvian soda pop. It actually was good, but tasted a little like cough syrup.
After we ate, Mary and I returned to the hostal and I got ready to leave. While I was getting ready two girls were also getting ready and we found out that we were on the same bus. We ended up talking and hanging out on the bus. The bus left Lima at 4pm and headed for Arequipa on the southern coast. The views were absolutely amazing. Lima and most of southern Peru is situated on a desert because the mountains protect it from any possible rain and the Ocean is cold enough that little evaporation occurs. This means that almost every day is sunny without a cloud in the sky. On the bus you could look to your left and see desert and mountains and if you looked to your right you could see the massive Pacific Ocean and its mighty waves. We saw the sunset, watched some movies provided by the bus company (Knocked Up and another one) and went to sleep.
So far I really like Peru. Lima was much cleaner and nicer then I expected it to be. The weather was absolutely fantastic and the people were very nice. The contrast of the scenery is breathtaking. I can´t wait to get my pictures loaded so you can see them.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
First day in Lima
I got to the MPLS airport at 9am CDT --- way too early. The airport was nearly empty so security was a breeze. I then took a flight from MPLS to Toronto. We arrived in Toronto a little before 2pm EST. After a canadian stamp in the passport, I went to my gate and again waited until 4:30 pm when the Boeing 767 was going to board. Overall, Air Canada was an enjoyable flight, however the flight to Lima did not have TV´s in every seat back, which meant that I got to read a lot more. I actually missed the TV the most because I like to track the plane´s progress on the map. The flight also was delayed because some mechanical error had been found and needed to be fixed before we could taxi and depart. We finally departed almost an hour and a half after we should have. We arrived in Lima at about 1:30am still EST and all my luggage was there. Which I am extremely thankful for. I got to the hostal around 2am and basically got introduced to the place by Christian the hostal keeper and then went to bed. I got up this morning around 9am and tried to get ahold of my parents, but the computer at the hostal has the microphone on mute --- I spent almost an hour trying to get it fixed. (I am alright though and you should not worry. I will try and get ahold of you as soon as I can.) Now, I´m out walking around Miraflores, a `suburb`of Lima. I have spent most of my time along the cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean. I keep calling it a Lago which is Lake in Spanish, but I can´t remember the word for Ocean (I just remembered it is Mar, it´s there in my brain it just has to be dug out). I am going to head over to the hostal again and then try and schedule my bus to Cusco for tomorrow night. I tried to schedule one earlier, but that company was booked full. Hopefully everything works out.
Well I do already miss being able to easily communicate to people. I´m really trying to use my spanish --- well I am kinda forced to because a lot of people know only very little English. I think this is what will drive me crazy the most, wanting to say something and not knowing how. I feel like an infant.:-)
This afternoon I visited an archelogical site here in Peru that dates back before Christ. Pretty neat! It was a pyramid that was built for the purposes of sacrafices. The people who built the pyramid were called the Lima people and pre-date the Inca people who built Macchu Pichu. They had three gods, the Ocean (the most important), Mother Earth, and (____). They performed sacrafices to Mother Earth everytime they built on to their pyramid or grounds. (These pyramids however were not sites of burials only sacrafices.) The sacrafices were in the form of breaking beautiful pots that they had made. The would turn them upside down and break them. Thus, every floor between the layers of building are covered in beautiful pot shards.
Peru is on a fault line and thus has many, many earthquakes. The Lima people however delt with this issue in their building techniques. They built everything out of mud bricks and then placed them in sections that formed triangles (the most strong shape) to prevent them from moving in the event of an earthquake. I will add more about this section later when I look through my notes and I will also put pictures up that correspond to these explanations.
After touring the site, I took a Taxi to the bus station to buy my ticket to Cusco, Peru.
Well I do already miss being able to easily communicate to people. I´m really trying to use my spanish --- well I am kinda forced to because a lot of people know only very little English. I think this is what will drive me crazy the most, wanting to say something and not knowing how. I feel like an infant.:-)
This afternoon I visited an archelogical site here in Peru that dates back before Christ. Pretty neat! It was a pyramid that was built for the purposes of sacrafices. The people who built the pyramid were called the Lima people and pre-date the Inca people who built Macchu Pichu. They had three gods, the Ocean (the most important), Mother Earth, and (____). They performed sacrafices to Mother Earth everytime they built on to their pyramid or grounds. (These pyramids however were not sites of burials only sacrafices.) The sacrafices were in the form of breaking beautiful pots that they had made. The would turn them upside down and break them. Thus, every floor between the layers of building are covered in beautiful pot shards.
Peru is on a fault line and thus has many, many earthquakes. The Lima people however delt with this issue in their building techniques. They built everything out of mud bricks and then placed them in sections that formed triangles (the most strong shape) to prevent them from moving in the event of an earthquake. I will add more about this section later when I look through my notes and I will also put pictures up that correspond to these explanations.
After touring the site, I took a Taxi to the bus station to buy my ticket to Cusco, Peru.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Meet my host family!
I got an e-mail with my host family information in it. I was very excited to get this news. My host dad's name is Jaime Gonzalez and my host mom's name is Muriel Gonzalez. They have a son, my host brother, whose name is Jaime Osvaldo.
The information I got was in spanish: La familia esta compuesta por Jaime que es comerciante y estudia también, Muriel la mamá, quien trabaja como ejecutiva de un banco, Jaime Osvaldo que tiene 8 años y está en 3º básico de su colegio. Son un matrimonio que ambos tienen mucha familia extendida y eso los lleva a tener continuas reuniones familiares, donde se juntan, hacen asados y lo pasan en forma muy entretenida y amistosa. Tiene Internet. Disfrutan mucho la vida familiar al aire libre, son cristiano, dicertidos y muy cariñosos.
A rough translation is: The family is made up of Jaime who is a retailer and a student. Muriel, the mom, works as an executive at a bank. Jaime Osvaldo is 8 years old and is in the third grade at school. Their marriage has created a very large extended family. They have many reunions where they eat and spend good time with each other. They have the internet (which is good, I can keep the blog better). They like the outdoors, they are Christian, and they are very loving.
Sounds like a great family. I am very excited to have a little brother. It will be fun. I hope that I can take him to the park and spend a lot of quality time with him.
Chicago Adventure
I was suppose to get my visa processed on Tuesday, July 01, but alas they did not receive the money order and health forms that I sent the previous Friday. So, the consulate called me on Monday to inform me that they could not process it on Tuesday and that we would have to reschedule. I urged them to reschedule for Wednesday and assured them that they would receive the documents that they need later on that day or at latest the next morning. They made an appointment for 11am on Wednesday, July 02. 
I took a Greyhound bus from Minneapolis to Chicago. We stopped at Tomah, WI; Madison; WI; and Milwaukee, WI. My bus left at 1am and got into downtown Chicago around 10am. That gave me an hour to get to the Chilean Consulate. I soon found out that the Chilean Consulate was actually on the 33rd floor of the John Hancock building (875 Michigan Avenue, the fifth tallest building in America) --- which was pretty neat. I have only been on the observation deck of the building, so it is cool to say I have now been "inside" of it. I got the visa processed in a matter of about 20 minutes --- which was very short for the amount of hassle I had to go through to get it.
After I got my Chilean visa and US Passport back, I trucked it over across the Chicago River to another building on Michigan Avenue --- which houses the Turkish Consulate. You may not know this yet, but my current plan is to take a Religious Traditions in Asia class for J-term 2009. This class will be held in Turkey and Jordan. Since I will not be back in the United States until December 24th and I will leave for Asia on the 2nd of January, I need to get these visas ASAP. I dropped off my passport at the Consulate and was assured that they would have my visa processed by 3pm. This was a relief considering the Chilean visa process took almost two months.
I left the Turkish Consulate and ate lunch at the Corner Bakery Cafe. I had the Pesto Cavatappi which was pretty good. After lunch I went to Millennium Park and listened to the Grant Park Orchestra (I also found out that my cousin, Mark Eldred, is a member of the Grant Park Chorus). If you ever get to Chicago plan on visiting Millennium Park where you can listen to free classical music in one of the coolest outdoor "bandshells" in the world. Also go and visit the Crown Fountain --- a fountain that projects pictures of Chicagoans. The pictures move and eventually pucker their lips as water squirts out of their mouths on to the children who are running around in their bathing suits. It is just fun to watch. Also see the cloud gate, a sculpture by a British artist which is fascinating to gaze at. After I checked out all of these places I parked my behind in a shady area in the park and took a little cat nap.
Around two thirty I went to search for some Ice Cream (I eventually found this at Potbelly Sandwich Works) and then headed back to the Turkish Consulate where I got my passport back complete with visa. (I am still working on the Jordanian visa. The Jordanian visa is only valid for 60 or 90 days after they issue it, so I will have to obtain it later.) I strolled around Michigan Avenue for a little while longer and then headed back to the Bus Station to wait for my bus to depart at 9:15pm.
The bus was an hour late out of Chicago, and we still stopped at Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI; Tomah, WI; Eau Claire, WI; St. Paul, MN; and finally Minneapolis. At least I got two seats to myself, so I could stretch out and sleep a little better than on the way down. We arrived in Minneapolis about an hour late at 7am. I immediately went home and took a nap until noon, since you tend to not get very good sleep on a Greyhound.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Your Visa is Being Processed!
I just received news that my visa is going to be processed on July first. The consulate said that they were making a special arrangement for me... which I was very happy for. It still isn't that convenient, all that means is that I get to go to Chicago on June 30 on an overnight bus, pick up my visa, and then turn around and take another overnight bus back to Minneapolis. I am sure my i-pod and my new Napoleon book will keep me company. I haven't been to Chicago during the summer for a long time, so it should be fun. If I have some free moments (doubtful) I want to go check out millennium park. Like always, I'll keep you updated!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Update on the Visa Process
Well, I am already running up against South American bureaucratic nightmares. I was planning on backpacking in Peru, Bolivia, and the north of Chile. I need a visa to enter Bolivia and, of course, I need my student visa to study in Chile. On the Bolivian Embassy website it said that when they receive your visa application they will issue the visa within twenty four hours. This is much different from the Chilean process. The Chilean Consulate in Chicago makes you come personally and pick up your visa in Chicago. I was getting low on time, so I thought I would start by sending my application, passport, etc. to the Bolivian Embassy in Washington DC. After not hearing from them for two weeks, I called them and they told me that they were out of visa stickers and that it would be two to three weeks before I would get my visa. I was quite upset and knowing that I must get my Chilean visa, I asked them to send my materials back to them.
Currently, my passport is on its way to the Chilean Consulate in Chicago. I am hoping that everything goes off well and I can go pick it up and still leave on the 4th of July. We will see I guess. My current backup plan is to reschedule my flight for a week later. I hope this doesn't cost to much, but there really isn't much I can do.
I'll keep you updated. It should be fun! Just think how much I am learning about diplomacy and embassy work. :-)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Address in Chile
My address while in Chile will be:
Matthew John Eldred
COPA
Diagonal Paraguay 265
Oficina 1706
Santiago
Chile
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Welcome to my blog.
Hello everyone! Welcome to my travel blog. I am starting this blog so that I can share my travel experiences with family and friends. From everything I have read it is hard for your family and friends to understand your experience if they don't know how you are living and what you are doing. This blog is suppose to remedy that problem. It is my hope to blog at least once a week about my travel experiences. I will add photos, videos, links, etc. so that you can try to experience this as much as I am. Who knows, maybe I will even throw in some spanish language lessons!
If you want to "talk" to me, you may want to add Skype to your computer and get a microphone and maybe a video camera. Skype is a free program that you can download that will allow you to call me via the internet for FREE. I also have AIM. My screen-name is mjeldred1987.
I hope that all of you enjoy keeping updated through this blog!
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