Jun
6
San Francisco Monastery is huge! The outside is covered with hundreds of pidgeons.
I’ve never seen so many birds in my life. Many parents took their children there just to people-watch and play with birds.
We toured the city on foot today. I felt like I was in a smaller version of Spain or Italy.
OU Journey to Latin American students enjoyed a day out touring the city and La Plaza Mayor
This is one of many entrances to Santo Domingo Church. I saw many Peruvians praying.
Parque de la Muralla was once barren and covered in dirt until it was discovered that underneath the dirt are homes from the 18th century. The government of Peru invested in restoring the area and turned it into a beautiful tourist attraction while keeping the homes as a historical site and incorporating modern fountains and staircases.
Santo Domingo church is beautiful! It’s also very elaborate. There were more natives than tourists in that church.
A peña is an Afro-Latin-inspired festivity with hundreds of people, dancing, food and drinks.
The emcee at the Peña del Carajo searched for foreigners to Perú, and I was asked to answer a questionaire in Spanish and show off dancing skills. I passed the speaking part, but apparently my "Pop, Lock and Drop It" and "YMCA" moves weren't sufficient because he insisted on teaching me to shake my hips and thrust in front of hundreds of people!
I went to bed before 2 a.m. for the first time in two weeks! I got more sleep last night than the past three nights combined. Yet I was still really sleepy. Maybe I need more sleep to catch up?
It was very humid and foggy this morning. The ground looked damp, but it didn’t rain. The weather reminded me of Forks, Washington, from the Twilight series, but Peruvian style. 🙂
We discussed the religious and slavery history of Peru in today’s class. Yes, OU Journey to Latin America students have class on Saturdays. There are classes for many students on Saturdays, so campus is still alive! It’s cloudy and chilly here, but the campus remains beautiful!
The school cafeteria stays open on Saturdays. We had avocado salad topped with red onions and a Peruvian-style ranch dressing, rotisserie-style chicken with rice, mixed vegetables (squash, carrots, broccoli and carrots) and flan for lunch. I love that rice and vegetables are with every meal here!
There was a graduation on campus, but we couldn’t figure out from which college or program. Their caps and gowns look just like ours in the United States.
We toured the city on foot today. My feet hurt! It was really exciting and different. It was exciting because I am Catholic, and Peru has so much Catholic history. It’s different from home because the architecture is not like that of Oklahoma. I felt like I was in a smaller version of Spain or Italy.
We visited San Francisco Monastery, La Plaza Mayor, Santo Domingo Gallery, Santo Domingo Church, San Martin Plaza and Parque de la Muralla.
San Francisco Monastery is huge! The outside of it is covered with hundreds of pigeons. I’ve never seen so many birds in my life. Many parents took their children there to people-watch and play with birds. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs or film, so it’s hard to give you a visual. The monastery was built in the 1500s. It still has bats living in it. Everything is so organized, elaborate and decorated. The strangest thing was the underground catacomb. Catacombs are ancient, human-made underground passageways for burial or protection. We saw bones of over 25,000 bodies. Some of them were displayed in a design.
La Plaza Mayor is very lively. There’s a fountain in the middle surrounded by yellow buildings.
Santo Domingo Gallery was a shopping center. We saw a lot of indigenous souvenirs, beadwork and rocks and porcelain upstairs. I didn’t buy anything because I want to buy the real-deal souvenirs from Cuzco. And I want to help the indigenous.
Santo Domingo church is beautiful! It’s also very elaborate. I saw many Peruvians there praying. There were more natives than tourists in that church.
Parque de la Muralla was once barren and covered in dirt until it was discovered that underneath the dirt are homes from the 18th century. The government of Peru, then, invested in restoring the area and turned it into a beautiful tourist attraction while keeping the homes as a historical site and incorporating modern fountains and staircases.
And we saw a senior citizen with his dog whom he taught to pose for tourists in glasses, a hat and a scarf–I wanted to play with him!
Later that night, Dr. Kenney and 16 of the 17 OU Journey to Latin America students went to the Peña del Carajo in Barranco, one of the oldest districts and about a 30-minute drive from our host home in Lima. A peña is an African Latin-inspired festivity with hundreds of people, dancing, food and drinks. Music ranged from Latina to techno to Elvis and “Grease.”
Being a journalist, the music at the peña made be think about Peru’s media regulations. I am writing my research paper over media consumption and changes the government has made from 1980 to 2000. How does the government regulate media such as copyright violations?
The highlight of my night was when the emcee at the Peña del Carajo searched for foreigners to Perú, and I was asked to answer a questionnaire in Spanish and show off my dancing skills.
He and the music crew teased me about being Asian, and chanted “China.” He also bowed to me, I bowed back and we both performed some improv of karate moves. Hundreds of people in the place found it amusing. I did not have my feelings hurt; I found it entertaining. I know they meant it in an endearing way.
I passed the speaking part, but apparently my “Pop, Lock and Drop It” and “YMCA” moves weren’t sufficient because he insisted on teaching me to shake my hips and thrust in front of hundreds of people!
Peru is so much like Vietnam. Vietnam and Peru have similar plants, infrastructure and markets. It breaks my heart when I see senior citizens on the streets begging or forced to work instead of enjoying their later years and playing with grandchildren. I find my heart breaking in Peru when I see Peruvian senior citizens pushing a bread cart or sitting on the corner selling key chains to tourists. I hope Peru’s economy, Vietnam’s economy and many others’ improve so that its citizens may have better lives.
Peru commemorates its first anniversary of Bagua clashes today. The Bagua clashes were between indigenous protesters and security forces on a remote jungle highway in northern Peru in which 33 people were killed due to misunderstanding, discrimination and inequality. Please pray for the people of Peru and the rest of our world.
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