Peru At Last!

Wow what an incredible first few days in Peru.  First of all my trip was very nice except when I arrived in Lima my suitcase never showed up on the conveyer.  I specifically remember telling the man who took my suitcase in Waco to make sure that it was marked to go to Lima.  He just laughed.  I guess he was laughing at me.  While I waited for the suitcase at the Lima airport and then waited some more to file a lost bag claim my prearranged taxi must have thought I wasn’t coming.  I was able to use my Spanish to get someone to call my contact at PUCP (Pontificia Catolica Universidad) and she got me to the right taxi company and I got into my hotel at 2:00 a.m. 

The next day, July 1, we gathered at PUCP campus.  It is a very nice and big campus.  I work in the College of Arts & Sciences so I couldn’t resist a picture of their Arts & Sciences. 

Behind this building were open air hallways and classrooms with a courtyard in the middle.  Here is a pic of the campus:

There are several field schools sponsored by PUCP going on at the same time.  We each met with our directors and had orientation and had a tour of Lima including the historical district. 

Here are some pictures in downtown Lima of the Cathedral of Lima originally designed by the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro (conquerer of the Inca).  It dates to 1625.

Love those doors:

The wood carvings at the Altar were gorgeous:

And the church holds Pizarro’s tomb:

and others are buried there too

In the same plaza is the Presidential Palace where the President lives

The answer to my last blog’s question was potato.  The potato originated in Peru (not Ireland) and has been domesticated since 8-5,000 B.C.  Peru had over 3,000 varieties at the time of the Spanish conquest. 

Peru 101

I love everything Latin America.  I’m very fortunate to have found this interest and even more fortunate to get to study something I love.  Now that I’ve almost completed a college degree majoring in Latin American Studies I find myself frustrated by North Americans lack of L.A. knowledge.  Here are a few little tidbits I wanted to share and the highlighted fonts are links you can click and read more:

In Latin America this would be the world map:

This upside down or reverse map is a great lesson in how we perceive things.  The most famous photo of the earth from outer space is called “The Blue Marble” and was originally photographed with the south pole at the top of the frame.  It was reversed before being distributed publicly.  That is odd - there is no north or south in outer space is there?  Well there isn’t, but since the dawn of time people have made their own ideas about how the world should be ordered. 

Many of my peers grew up with the “Third World” notion of world order.  “First World” countries such as the U.S. were privileged, rich and comfortable.  “Third World” was Africa, India,and places that were poor and uncomfortable.  Now when I use the words comfortable and uncomfortable, I am not just talking about physical comfort but the uncomfortableness we feel when we encounter the unknown and something not familiar to us.  It is ironic that sometimes we have preconceived ideas about people or things we know nothing about, something that is “unknown”.  Today in my studies we use Core, Semi-Periphery, and Periphery, to describe a nation’s financial status.  This is Wallerstein's World-System Theory .  Peru is a Periphery nation.

A few facts about Peru.  Lima is the capital and was founded by Fernando Pizarro who you might have heard of because he and his brothers are credited with conquering the Incans.  Cusco or Cuzco was the Incan  Empire capital.  The population of Peru today is  around 30 million and Peruvians speak many languages including Spanish, Quechua, Aymara. 

Here is a little quiz question about Peru.  I will put the answer on the next blog entry.

Which of these items was original to Peru and brought back to Europe by the Spanish explorers:

1. Rubber

2. Peanuts

3. Sheep

4. Potato

5. Mussels

I hope today you know a little more about the unknown, Peru, and can carry that with you for future reference.

Peru

I'm going to Peru in 2 1/2 weeks for a month.  I've told people I'm going but no one has asked to see my ticket yet.  So really I could tell everyone I was going just about anywhere and then just stay home for a month, sleep in, do house projects.  Hmmmmm.
Well actually I'm going and here's the website for the archaeology field school I'm attending. 
San Jose de Moro archeaology project
Yes, I know many of you don't want to know the details - you just want pictures,  "Oh, that's where Suzie is."  (Or, "Is that Suzie photoshopped in front of the Lima airport?"  Sorry, I'm really going to Peru and not hiding out at home.) 
In order not to be a nuisance to my Facebook friends who could care less where I am the month of July, I will try to post some info occasionally on this blog page (http://www.anticookiecutter.blogspot.com/).  To be frank I will be posting info for my mother and only my mother because I know only she sincerely wants to know all the details.  I'll post a Peru 101 soon on the blog for those of you who have no idea where in the world Peru is because you never watched "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"