who can make the sunrise, sprinkle it with goo...(and chew) the candyman can

So...last night was good. Except for the part where we blew up my (well acually it was Dad´s) battery charger for my camera. So this morning after being woken up from MUCH needed sleep we decided to head off and try to find another. We went downstairs, ate our free breakfast and took off . Before we did, Dad grabbed a handful of coca leaves and tried chewing them. I´m scared this will become a habit and an intervention may be necessary. Right now he is just twitching in the corner and picking his head but we have more important things to deal with now. Finally we ended up buying one from some hole -in-the-wall store and we thought we had lucked out and found one. Little did we know that when we turned the corner to buy our tourist tickets that we came upon a WHOLE STREET with friggin camera shops. Every place was selling the exact thing we bought. Sonofa.

So we bough our tourist ticket and took advantage by going to see a convent near the Plaza del Armas. It was pretty cool. the nuns have to stay there all the time. but we saw one. she was a rebel. So then we made our way through the Plaza del Armas where there was another festival going on. But dad did not enjoy it as much as the last :( We then wandered around a bit and went to the history museum. It was legit and had a bunch of colonial art from the 17th century. Sorry no pictures were allowed.

We decided to wander around some more when what should we come upon? But the Calle de Santa Clara! Of course Dad felt the need to score some more coca to chew, this time a whole sack for 1 sole (no kidding its really a problem.) Dad is jazzed about being the candyman so he is hounded by kids. I fear that soon he will be handing our coca to gain more followers. We made our way down and happened to find the market that dad had been really jazzed about going to.

if not for dad, think of the kids...

As we made our way into the market we were the only tourists there. It was all locals. The market is seperated into different sections. There was a meat section, fruits, crafts, fish. You name it, it was there (except tourists i guess). The meat section featured everyone´s favorite: whole pig heads. Whole pigs, whole chickens. The Peruvians are nothing if not economical. They dont waste anything. The colors were beautiful. We made our way to the back where the fresh lunch is served in the hopes of finding this soup that we had seen on "Anthony Bourdain". After to talking to um...pretty much everyone we decided to ask one more lady. Luckily there was a man who helped me fill in the Spanish I couldnt remember and the word for potatoes came to me right before we got to her stall (papas BTW). We ordered two bowls of soup for 2 soles ( aka US$ 0.60, each, holla). It was pretty delicious. It was just broth But you just belly up to the bar and start scarfing.

We decided to try and take in one of the sacred places in Cusco and made our way to Quoricancha. This was a main temple for the Inka people of Cusco. We luckilly found a guy who gave us a private tour for 20 soles ($US7). The temple was for the Sun, moon, stars, ranbow and lightning gods. But when us Spaniards came we decided to destroy their temple and build a church over it, a-holes. He showed us how to decifer between Inkan walls and counterfeit wannabes. The Inkas used no mortars between tehir stones. And their work is amazing and done entirely by hand. It really is something that cant be described unless you can get up close and personal with it. It´s ever earthquakes proof having survived 3 major ones already. (in 1353, 1653 & 1953, every 300 years. FREAKY. the next ones comin!) Ugo, our tour guide, also let us know that the Inkas celebrated the Inti Raymi (the main festival we are here for) on June 21st, but when the Catholics came they changed it to the 24th (which it still is) in order to coincide with the feast of St. Joseph. Also that the Inkas used 3 symbols (see the picture below) to represent the upper world, the middle world and the lower world: The condor, The Puma and the snake. And Cusco is in the shape of a Puma, since it was the capital of the Inka world. It was definitely a highlight.

After that we meandered around a bit more and made our way back to the Plaza del Armas for dinner. We (stupidly) tried to give pizza a chance and was dissapointed, yet again. but dad claimed that if you put hot sauce and guacamole on it, it could work. The Plaza del Armas was packed! There was a concert tonight and there was literally no room to move. We grabbed some desert. (gelato, i know in Peru!) and Dad scored some more coca (please send help) . And as we were sitting in the room watching the Tony Awards (hahah Dad) when we heard fireworks going off outside. We ran outside to watch and were joined by two douchebags from Tennessee who told us "I would rather take the chance of getting Malaria then take those pills". A gem, I know. We here you are cookin in the Yay area. And here it´s 39 degrees (at night). and the computer is outside. and i somehow have to detox dad before bed. So we bid you goodnight. Until mañana.

A NOTE TO OUR READERS: you do not need to print out copies of our blog. It will be here until I decide to take it down. Thanks for reading :) (this means you grandma, love ya!)

Adios!

Kevin, Jaque and Jen take over Peru

narrow streets & cobblestones

Well let me tell you , coming off another night of only 4 hours of sleep we are pumped to be in Cusco. We landed bright and early this morning from Lima. Last night before hitting the hay we walked over to airport and got ourselves a little MickeyD´s. But lemme tell you, there´s no fast food like home. But the food court is apparently the place where all the young houligan backpackers spend the night in the airport in order to catch their connections in the mrning. Apparently we missed the memo.

So this morning, much to his dismay Dad had to say goodbe to his friend Manuel. Manuel was a porter at the hotel in Lima and he told us all about how to adjust to the altitude, how to check in at the morning. The man could write his own advice column. But anywho we made our way to the airport to check in amongst the sound of a rooster. Yes, dear reader, you read correctly: A rooster. Dad was obsessed with the finding out who had the cock in a box. We went back to the hotel and had our free breakfast amongst the soothing sound of Mr. Eric Clapton. Yes, even here we cannot evade Eric. We boarded our plane and took off for Cusco.

After the best TV show of my life on the plane (practical jokes like candid camera) we burst through the gargantuan mountains of the Andes to take our first look at Cusco. They were the biggest mountains we´ve ever seen. The plane executed a maneuver like something out of Top Gun and we were down. Cusco is located in a bowl like valley so it was a trip to dive in. Dad and I had been very concerned with the altitude since Cusco sits at about 11, 000 feet. But as we exited the plane we didnt start hurling so we were happy. We were met at the airport and taken to our hotel where we were greeted with delicious coca tea. It´s said to help with the altitude so we were happy to have enjoyed it. On our way to the hotel we saw two cars ahead of us get into an accident. Our driver Carlos told us that no one here has insurance and when you get into an accident "the guys have a conversation". There are no stop signs, barely lanes and when you are riding in a car you can reach out with your hand and touch the car next to you. According to dad when you flip off the driver next to you, you´d be picking his nose at the same time.

just your run of the mill...

Our room is sparse. And tonight we fear we will die of frostbite. Our door, a quaint ancient looking thing barely closes and looks like a strong wind could bust it open. The floor creaks with every (no exageration) step we take. But that is the reason this place is so amazing. Plus McGuyver worked on the door a bit.

built in 1781

We went to the main plaza for lunch. A festival was going on with diferent groups performing. It is to begin the celebration for Inti Raymi. The sun festival we came for. On our way we met a boy who we gave a ring pop(candy) to. After, he walked with us for a while and I introduced us in Spanish. When I told him my dad was named Jeff he said "Jacque? That is a name of an actor here" (in spanish of course) so now apparently dad is an actor. When we gave him his candy he asked if he could have one for his brother. So we gave him one, to which he replied "I have 2 brothers" and dad told him "We´ll see you mañana." So now we both want to find a way to smuggle Kevin home with us.

Kevin

We spent the rest of the day recovering and taking in the amazing sights of the city. It really is a beautiful place. It´s like an enirely different world here and everywhere you look there is color. We ate dinner at a "gringo2 restaurant called Jack´s. we had steak sandwiches with fries and sodas and salad. For US$14. For both of us. tip included suckas. It was legit. We wandered around a bit more, shopped a bit and are now getting ready to bed down for the night. We can wait to see what this week brings.

La compania de Jesus in the Main Plaza of Cusco

Adios!

HOLY CRAP...WE´RE IN PERU!!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Well in our case it started with a 15 hour journey to Peru.



Actually I guess it started last night, when Grandma and Grandpa dropped us off at our hotel in San Francisco...after the 20 minute detour trying to find the Sheraton Gateway. But that was just a small blip in the journey that was to come.



We woke up at the butt crack of dawn this morning to catch our 6 am flight at the airport. We were driven by a friendly fellow from the hotel. After getting swindled out of $17 for TWO sandwiches we were off. Our flight to Miami was pretty uneventful. Once we reached Miami, Jen was unsure whether or not we were still in the United States. It was a freakin dump, but i digress. (and who knows what is to come ;)



While waiting for our delayed flight to Lima from Miami we noticed a woman wearing a shirt with a map of the Peruvian Amazon on the back. I squeezed my way in to talk to her (it wasnt awkward at all, i swear) and began peppering her with questions about what to wear and what to expect. Dad struck up a conversation with a young guy sitting next to us who happened to be dating a girl from Peru. He was going to law school and had just bought a Harry Potter book. A sign from God, me thinks so. After being delayed an hour we finally boarded the plane. We were offered the delicious choices of chicken or lasagna. we both went for the pollo.



As the plane touched down in Lima we were both pretty much wetting ourselves with excitement (well I was, dad was having roubles with his head). We managed to get off and get through immigration okay. Then it was time to wait for our bags. Or in our case: PRAY. Dad´s came out no problem, but of course mine was difficult. We waited, and waited and waited. I was on the verge of puking when suddenly it emerged! Sweet and glorious Gods! It had only taken a FREAKIN HALF HOUR!! With dogs barking in the background (must have been a cocaine bust) we made our way through customs and luckily avoided the dreaded red-light-button-push extra search. So we were blessed enough to make our way into the THRONGS of people waiting to offer their services. TAXI! TAXI! CELL PHONES! CELL PHONE CARDS!! TAXI?!? we pushed our way across the street and checked into our hotel.



The Lima Airport



We are staying at the ramada costa del sol. Everything is basic...except the price but what can you do. At least they gave us free pisco sours? Pisco sours are the local peruvian drink. Word on the street is that they have egg white in it. Dad says its a strong gin fizz and since he´s the expert I take his word there. So we preceeded downstairs to get our free drinks. When, YIKES! They´re made with ice. I really hope we dont have explosive diarreha by morning. So we sat in the bar watching VH1 (i know who knew they had it here) when the contestants on Smartest Supermodel start cussing. I mean F*CK and everything!?! So dad gets the bright idea to ask the non english speaking bartender about the censors in peru. But the guy doesnt understand. So now dad is PANTOMIMING the cuss words. He´s grabbing his balls and yelling "BALLS...OR DICK" while the guy stares back in horror. He´s yelling "FUCK" and its echoing. Then he asks "¿you no habla ingles?". BEST. PART. OF. THE. DAY.






our hotel





So now we are hittin the hay before we die of exhaustion. We catch our plane to Cusco tomorow morning, bright and early. Luckily the hotel is literally 2 lanes from the airport.





Travel time:


SFO-MIAMI= 5hrs.


LAYOVER= 2 hours


MIAMI-LIMA= 5 hours


WATCHING DAD PANTOMIME "BALLS" AND YELLING "FUCK" AT A PURUVIAN BARTENDER= PRICELESS





p.s. for all yáll wondering Peru is 2 hours ahead of CALI





ADIOS!!!

Travel Shots care of Sandy

So today our Peruvian adventure began...unofficially.


Bring it on mosquitos.

We made our way down to Kaiser in Santa Clara for our SECOND attempt at seeing the travel nurse. After waiting in the injection clinic and having the great opportunity of observing some of Kaiser's best clients we were taken next door to the office of Sandy the Travel Nurse.


Mixing up the cocktails...

Sandy sat us down and asked us about our previous vaccinations and our travel plans. When she asked dad how old he was he responded with:

Dad: "I'll be 48 in May"
Sandy: "..."
Jen: "Dad...it's June"

So that was reassuring. But after much deliberation (and nail biting on my behalf) we decided that we would be taking 4 vaccines today: Yellow Fever, Typhoid Fever, a Tetanus Shot and a Flu Vaccine. Dad bravely **eye roll** volunteered to go first.


He's crapping his pants.

In his left arm, she gave him Typhoid and Tetanus. In his right, the flu vaccine and yellow fever. He took 'em like a champ and didnt cry. Now it was my turn. but i figured if dad could do it...so could i.


Cool as a cucumber :)

As you could see, I was a pro. She warned us that we might be sore or feel a little sick for the next couple of days. She hooked us up with some malaria pills. She gave us 2 options: a once a week pill or a daily pill. She told us that the once a week pill could have side effects of hallucinating, intense dreams and nightmares and all around craziness. So we decided to go with the daily pills. No crazy ass trips for me, thank you very much!

So now we are ready to go, health wise that is. We still have quite a bit of planning and last minute stuff to do. I cant believe we are less than 2 weeks away. Stay tuned to the blog for more information before we leave.

Adios!

2 weeks until Peru!!

And tomorrow we get our travel shots....

:(