Photo Tour: La Academia Latinoamericana

La Academia Latinoamericana is located on a plaza called Limacpampa Grande.



It is a pretty busy traffic circle that is off of La Av. de la Cultura. Nearby is the Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun).

The building itself is actually a 19th century colonial house that was turned into the school. La Academia specializes in teaching native English speakers Spanish.

When you walk down the street, the school is on your right:



The front door is locked, so you have to be buzzed in to get into the school. You enter the front doors and come out through a nice arch:



into:



the courtyard patio.



The courtyard has some tables to sit at during break or before class, and there are some:



rose bushes that really add some comfort to it. Almost everything is Peru is made out of stone: the streets, the sidewalks, the Incan buildings. There isn't much grass or vegetation in general, so the roses are a nice touch.



Some of the classrooms open right up into the courtyard.

This is the typical size of one classroom:



When you walk inside the building, to the right is the little kitchen where they sell sandwiches, tea, snacks, and other drinks. My classroom is through the building to the left. My class only has six people in it, all from Rutgers. We are one of the Spanish grammar classes. We do a lot of group work and reading aloud, which is often a factor that is overlooked when you have a larger class size.



All in all, school doesn't seem like a chore, and the four hours definitely fly by. Still, no matter how long I attend these classes, I'll never be able to tell when to use imperfect and when to use the preterite. Sometimes Peru can't fix everything, but I'd much rather be here trying than in NJ.

More entries to come,

Victoria

Dias 5 y 6

Quick update about the vegetarian restaurant we went to on Monday: It might be my favorite place in all of Peru. For three soles/one dollar, we got a huge bowl of quinoa soup, a meal of cauliflower, potatoes, and rice in a nice sauce, corn pudding, and mate. What a steal.

Yesterday I went to class at 8:30 AM until around 12:40 PM, which is when we get out for the day. We have a half hour break in between from 10:20 to 10:50 AM, which is time where we can all sit on the patio and warm up in the sun. There is a nice little sandwich shop in the school that sells tea, sandwiches, snacks, and drinks for only a few soles.

After class a few people went and dropped by a pastelería for some pastry and then got Indian food for lunch. It was the first time I had Indian food, and it was really delicious, so I plan on getting more when I'm back in the States. We did a little shopping, and then went back to the hostal.

After doing some homework and diarios, a few people went out to dinner at a small pizza place. Pizza is actually really popular in Cusco, so you can find it almost anywhere. It was really good, and we had nice conversation, so I'd say it was a successful night out. A few other people from the other hostal went out to a club, but I'd really much rather hang back and lay low.

Today we got to class, did class like things, and then left the school. We got some delicious lunch for three soles (one dollar) that consisted of quinoa soup (a very popular meal ingredient), and Arroz a la Cubano, which was white rice, which a fried egg on top and fried platanos. Then we did some shopping, where I got some gifts for friends at a really great price (four hats for 15 soles/ 5 dollars) and a gift for my mom. The alpaca hats usually run 12 soles per hat, so I did some good haggling.

Tonight we have a meeting for our trip to Paucartambo tomorrow. Afterwards, a few people and I are going back to that awesome vegetarian restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we have to be ready to leave by 8:00 AM, so I'll probably just stay at the hostal and do some studying for my exam on Monday.

More entries to come,

Victoria

Photo Tour: Hostal San Juan de Dios

From the street (Avenue Manzanares), you can see the entrance to the hostal and this sign:



indicating that you have reached your destination: Hogar Clinica San Juan de Dios. There is a large gate that is always locked, as well as a security guard at all times. When you look to the right you see:



Behind those field houses is where the alpacas and Patricio the horse live. When you look straight ahead you see:



la clinica, and when you look to the left you see:



our hostal. The entrance to the hostal is here:



and you walk straight towards:



the lounge. This is where breakfast is served from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM every morning, and where most of the communal hanging out happens.

When you turn to the left you go down the hallway:



which leads to my room, all the way down the hall and on the left. In the picture you can see the giant water jug, which is where we can all fill our water bottles for the day. I actually just took the last of it, so I hope someone refills it for tomorrow morning.



This is my room. My bed is the one closer to the window, and it is very, very comfortable. One of the workers at the hostal comes in once a day and makes our beds and cleans our room, which is completely unnecessary, but it's fantastic to come back from class to a clean room and Green Alligator sitting on my pillow.

To the left is the bathroom:



It has a really great, clean shower that sometimes is scorching hot and sometimes ice cold, depending on how the shower gods feel that morning. Balancing the hot and cold water temperatures is going to be an Olympic sport in the next winter games, and I think I'll make the team. Either way, it's nice to be clean.

Back in the room, behind the door is a large closet:



It holds all our clothes, shoes, and dreams.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for the hostal. It's very comfortable and homey, and all of the people are wonderful. It's right off La Avenue de la Cultura, which is a main street to almost anything, and in walking distance of lots of restaurants, a supermarket, and places to hang out.

More entries to come,

Victoria

Dias 3 y 4

This is how my day began on Sunday (Sun. 07.11.10). There are three alpacas on the premises of the clinica as well as an ancient horse named Patricio. The brown one is really protective of the baby, which is red. There's also a white one that will let you squeeze it forever, which is what I look for in an alpaca.

During the day a group of people went to mass at the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas, and a few people, including myself, decided to take a look around the shops and cafes until they were all done. The plan was to meet back up to watch the world cup final. Unfortunately, while we waited at one exit of the church, the group exited another. So instead, we met up with a few other people and the programs directors, who took us to this great restaurant while we could watch the game. We had some:



good salad, a huge bowl of pasta, and a traditional Peruvian beverage called chicha, which is made from corn.

There were hundreds of people in the Plaza who were rooting for Spain, cheering and splashing around in the water. They were also really excited when Spain won, so good for them.

Afterwards, we did some shopping where I bought:



which have dos caras so they also look like this:



when you turn them inside out.

Around 7:00 PM there was a meeting, where we talked about our classes in the morning and the traveling we would be doing on Thursday and Friday to Paucartambo. Paucartambo is a small village in the mountains that has a week long festival for the procession of the virgin.

Monday I got up at 6:00 AM to get ready for a awesome breakfast of bread, jam, and a fried egg before taking a taxi to Limacpampa Grande, where



la Academia Latinoamericana is located. We got there shortly after 8:00 AM, took a placement test for my grammar class, and then got to work. There were six students in total, all from the Rutgers program, and one professor. We started off with introductions and interviews and worked our way over to reviewing the preterite tense. All in all it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Afterwards, a group of us got some lunch (soup, main dish, and mate) for only 3.50 soles. We ran into a few other people, which happens a lot actually, and we did some more shopping, where I got an alpaca blanket, and saw the:



12 Angle Stone of the Incas.

I doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a famous landmark. Most of the buildings in the Plaza are famous for the Inca walls that were built with huge stones carved to fit together. Most of them have four or five points, but this stone has twelve points that fits with every other stone it is next to perfectly. They even have guards that are stationed next to it to keep people from touching it. It's unfortunate that most of the Inca walls were built on top of by the Spanish with crummy architecture, but it is all still pretty impressive.

Tonight I may be going to get dinner at a vegetarian restaurant down the road with some of the other vegetarians that are here, and then working on my diario.

More entries to come,

Victoria

Dias 1 y 2

Bienvenidos a Cusco!

I wanted to start this blog to keep track of everything happening during the five weeks I'll be living here. It's also mostly for the people at home, so they can have a little bit of Cusco in NJ.

The adventure began on el viernes, el nueve de julio de 2010 (Fri. 07.09.10). I decided to take the shuttle from Rutgers to JFK, which was a great decision. It was a good opportunity to get familiar with a lot of the people also traveling on the trip, especially those who weren't living in the same hostal as I am. The shuttle was actually more like a prom bus, with crazy lights and a place for a built in bar and stuff. So it was nice to drive in style.

Checking in at the airport was fine. I found out that I could take 50 lbs. per suitcase, not 50 lbs. together, which means I can bring home 50 lbs. of presents. Normally passing through security is kind of a drag, because in order for the guards to do their jobs, you have to take off your jewelery and your jackets, etc. However, a man in front of us got his giant knvies confiscated, so I had a little more faith in the system and didn't mind taking off my shoes so much.

The flight from JFK to Lima wasn't as bad as I expected, about 7.5 hours. I had a window seat, so I could take pictures like these:



We were flying most of the night, but we did get to see the sunrise while we were on the plane. Also, we flew through a lightening storm, which is as terrifying as it is beautiful.

There were also screens in front of every seat, where you could watch movies, tv shows, or giant maps of what places you were flying over. I was awake when we flew over Cuba, which is probably as close to Cuba as I'll ever get, but I fell asleep when we crossed Panama.

Once we landed in Lima, we waited in the airport until our connecting flight to Cusco left. The flight was delayed about an hour, but I luckily again got a window seat, and I got to see things like this:



After we landed, we took a quick bus trip around the center of town, and then went to the hostal, el ALbergue San Juan de Dios, which is located inside the CLinica San Juan de Dios, a clinic that specializes in all sorts of rehabilitation for both adults and children.

So, just for a recap, I got to Rutgers at 6:00 PM (Fri.), departed from JFK at 12:00 AM (Sat.), landed in Lima at 6:30 AM (Sat.), departed from Lima at 10:20 AM (Sat.), landed in Cusco around 11:00 AM (Sat.), and got to the hostal around 11:30 AM (Sat.).

Later in the after, a bunch of people from our hostal took a taxi to the Plaza de Armas to get some food and watch the 3rd place World Cup game. I hardly ate anything, and when I got back to the hostal decided to take a power nap.

That night at dinner, a few people went out for Chinese food (apparently, there is a large Chinese and Japanese population in Cusco), and even though I was really hungry, the smell and sight of food made me feel so sick. That along with the headache and the lack of sleep, and probably some dehydration mixed in, I ended up going back early and sleeping for like, fourteen hours.

So, my first two days were pretty spectacular. Today I'm feeling better, I did some shopping and had some real food. Tomorrow, I look forward to class at 8:00 AM sharp.

More entries to come,

Victoria