Volunteering with Pisco Sin Fronteras

Outside the main entrance to PSF. Here some fellow volunteers getting ready to head out for the day.

For the past week Liora and I have been volunteering with Pisco Sin Fronteras in the small town of Pisco on the coast of Peru. By the end of our seventh day we tried so hard to squeeze in any more time we could to stay and help, but alas our schedule is tight as it is and we had to move on.

Pisco was hit by an earthquake in 2007 that registered 7.9 on the Richter scale. This quake left hundreds dead, devastated the town and displaced many of its inhabitants. I witnessed a family living in a tent, sleeping seven to a single bed without any kind of sanitation. I watched kids play in piles of rubble in the streets, and had to go by foot where Tuk Tuks (local three-wheeled transportation) could no longer drive due to potholes and dirt piles in the road. And this is two years after the disaster. It was heartbreaking to see how these people live their day to day lives.

Typical street in Pisco. Not passable by tuktuk, and at times hardly any room to even walk.

So with Pisco Sin Fronteras (PSF), a non-profit that has been around for about a year, I was able to lend a hand in helping rebuild this community. Never before have I gotten more satisfaction from hard, manual labor digging trenches and removing cement foundations, or spending time with local children to keep them off the streets. Truly, unselfishly rewarding. Even when I thought I couldn´t lift that sledgehammer over my head one last time, I looked over to see the woman whose house we were helping to rebuild. I saw a smile on her face that knew with my help she could soon rest easy in a proper house. The pain in my hands disappeared, the strain in my neck released and my exhaustion temporarily forgotten.

Back-breaking work removing old housing foundation, most of the time with only shovels, pickaxes and sledgehammers.

Our days started at 8am with breakfast and the morning meeting. We volunteered for the day jobs, which could include cooking dinner for the 45+ volunteers or cleaning plates after breakfast, going on cement pours or helping with the creation of home-made bio diesel. It reminded me of an international summer camp for honest, compassionate individuals whose only goals were to leave the place better that how they found it. If I had the time, I would spend seven months volunteering with PSF, but gave it my all for the seven days I was there, pushing my body through exhaustion and fatigue, sleeping on a mattress stuffed with hay, and everyday feeling better than the last.

Even with the all the work PSF does everyday, the people of Pisco still need a lot of help.

Visit Pisco Sin Fronteras.

After saying goodbye to our new friends at PSF, we started our travels south east to Cuzco. Our journey took 30 hours by bus (a normal 18...I´ll explain later). We explored Cuzco by foot (and horse) today, and tomorrow we will head to Machu Picchu by the method only described as ¨for adventurous travelers only...¨

Needless to say, we are looking forward to it.

Take Me to the Home of the Famous ¨Pisco Sour¨ **

Today we leave for Pisco and are quite excited for our first bussing in south America. Although this one will be on the short side (a mere 4 hours), it will give us a good warm up for the longer commutes that lie ahead. But before departing, let me wrap up Lima where I left off...

Yesterday, I woke up at 8:00am still feeling the Karaoke bar from the night before, eating beans and toast for breakfast at 9:30 and on the beach ready for my the first surf lesson of my life at 11:00. There were five of us in our group, including Liora and myself, and it was the first time any of us had ever attempted riding the waves of the ocean.

Our instructors spoke limited but understandable English (heavy on the hand gestures please), the wetsuits as comfortable as wetsuits get and the waves just right for beginners. We learned how to get ourselves out in the water, navigate over the waves and stand up on the boards. After stretching and mentally preparing with a few nervous laughs, we hit the water.

It turned out to be everything we could hope for. Both Liora and I were successful in stading up on our boards and riding the waves. Don´t get me wrong, we both had our wipeout moments, which gives you the reminder of how physically demanding it is to surf, but after a while we seemed to look rather comfortable riding the pacific. Once we swallowed three gallons of salt water and exhausted to the point where we weren't able to paddle over one more wave, we crawled out of the ocean an hour and a half later with smiles and deep exhales. Rewarding? Definitely. Addicting? Most likely. The feeling I had stepping off land and into liquid? Priceless.

Surfing success.

Now where was I? Ah yes, Pisco. We depart today and will go to join the volunteers of Pisco Sin Fronteras to help rebuild the community of Pisco. We are not sure what our tasks will be, but know that we will do whatever we can to help. The accomodations will be slightly less touristy than our hostel here in Lima but I didn't come to south America to play pool on a slanted table or challenge Aussies to a game of ping pong.

Let the journey begin.

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**Rumor has it that the "Pisco Sour" is Peru's famous original drink. Apparently the people of Chile claim the same. I will look to resolve this as I travel. Who owns this drink? It is most delicious by the way so I can see why there would be some controversy. All I do know is there is only one town named Pisco and that's where I intend to start. Salud!

A Lima Lifestyle

¨Welcome to Peru Kevin...uh....Kevin Kaa...Kaa...Costner! Kevin Costner! Go on through, welcome to Lima.¨

Those were the first words I heard as I walked through customs, and I can´t think of a better way to have started my trip. It sure caught me off guard and we had a good laugh.

Check out the name at the bottom...

We pulled up to JFK at 3:30am and on the plane at 5:15, 45 minutes before takeoff and the plane was empty. After sitting for an hour, I passed out. Before long we landed in Panama City, or ¨the gateway to the South¨ as it seems. We got to our connecting flight as the "last call for boarding" announcement came on the loudspeaker, and thinking we needed to get on in a hurry, we pulled out our tickets and boarded. We quickly learned that "last call" in central America, or at least for Copa airlines really means "you have an hour so no need to rush." Needless to say, my legs were alseep long before I was. Good thing Liora woke me up for the meatloaf served for lunch. Woof.

Upon arrival, we got our bags, thankfully, since Liora always seems to get her´s lost. We hopped a taxi that was waiting for us and we took the scenic route to our hostel. Our cab driver saw that I had a video camera and was most enthusiastic about me getting shots of the paragliders and surfers. We stopped at the beach for a hot minute to see his friend who offered us surfing lessons. Needless to say we set an appointment for Saturday...

Lima is a big city and even though we are staying in ¨smaller¨ Miraflores, after living in New York, a city is a city; pollution, cars, people and Starbucks abound. Unless you stay for a while, the small local nooks are hard to find. Our hostel, Pariwana, is quite nice. I give Liora 2 points for this one. Bar, pool table, kitchen and even a projector screen playing college football. It´s like they knew Kevin was coming to stay. Good thing Oregon has a bye week while we´re here, otherwise I would spend my whole vacation watching pigskin!

We walked around the city center and took a few sights including the changing of the guards at the Palacio de Gobierno and the creepy catacombs. People laugh with us as we butcher our way through the Spanish language, but are more than happy to help us learn some vocab. So far it has been a friendly, enjoyable time getting aquainted with Lima lifestyle and meeting a few fellow travelers along the way. Aussies everywhere!

We´ve tried to local fare of seafood and fried chicken (yes, I could eat my way through this entire continent) and witnessed a concert of traditional song and tango dance. Although it is a bit smoggy during the day, we have still managed to get sunburned. The nightlife is lively and abundant, making it easy to stay out until the wee hours of the morning.

Yup, I think they fried up the whole ocean for me...Delicious.

I am quickly transitioning from New York sprint to south American stroll, and it has been most relaxing.

Next thing on our list of things to do: Surf lessons.

Countdown to Bananas, Backpacks and Bus Rides

I have been planning to take this trip since mid-June, bought my ticket halfway through August, and now in less than 24 hours I'll be landing in Lima. It's a little surreal, it came up awfully quick. I suspect that chest tightening surge of excitement to kick in about the time we take off - the one where you finally realize what you're about to do.

I'm finishing up securing the last items for my bag and planning a route suitable for 6 weeks of travel, although I never set too much in stone. I have a feeling we'll find good advice of where to spend our time from other travelers we meet along the way. Liora has been busy booking our first hostels and locating tasty, local cuisine once we get there, that way both of us keep busy and add our own flavor to the trip.

Dinner at Chimu, a Peruvian restaurant in Williamsburg. Delicious, but we'll see how it stacks up to the real thing.

A few things I wouldn't travel without:

1. New pair of shoes - in this case hiking/trail shoes;
2. Corkscrew - nothing worse than having a bottle of wine to share and no way to open it;
3. Headlamp for hands-free trekking and packing in the dark;
4. Deck of cards...rummy anyone?;
5. Scarf - also serves as a light blanket, pillow cover, headband, bag, and picnic towel;
6. Multi-tool with a knife;
7. Camera;
8. Two good books;
9. Compass and map (make sure to get a compass calibrated for the southern hemisphere) and;
10. Music. Lots and lots of music.

My hacky sack will have to suffice for a soccer ball until I find a local with one who'll teach me some tricks.

Now all there's left to do is wait.

...hmm...

...bananas...

...oh yeah...

I'll be taking a picture of my face everyday in order to track the growth of facial hair for Mustaches vs. Cancer. Although I don't officially qualify because I will technically be growing a beard, if you want to donate, I promise to sport only man'stache for a week when I return, show you each picture from every day of my trip and prove how hard I worked to stay focused and grow the best chops on the block.

The stubble starting to take over....

¡Vamos a Peru!

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Welcome

Hello there, welcome. This blog will be an online reference to my upcoming trip in South America, specifically Peru, Chile and Argentina. I hope that you find some of this information fun and useful for your own upcoming adventures, or just entertaining enough so that you can live vicariously through me as I wander our neighboring continent down south.

South America is a huge mass of land - Brazil matches the size of the contiguous United States while Argentina rivals India in square area. Once we start traveling we will be on peaks that will make us shiver and beaches that will make us sweat. It is a hard trip to pack for, but since spring time falls between now and December, the weather down south of the equator will be favorable and most inviting.

We will be landing at the international airport in Lima, Peru, staying just outside the city center in Miraflores. Once we settle in and get our bearings, (which shouldn't take long, we will be in the same time zone as the east coast) we will head 4 hours south to the coastal town of Pisco. They were hit by an earthquake in 2007 and are always looking for volunteers to help rebuild what was lost. We will spend a week there, but something tells me we might very well be tempted to stay longer. Check it out here: http://www.piscosinfronteras.org/

From there we will see Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca, the Copacabana and La Paz before heading down the desert coast of Chile into Santiago, and spend the last leg of the trip traveling due west through Argentinian wine country to Buenos Aires.

I'm realizing that when I travel through this large continent, how I move from place to place becomes almost as important as the destination itself. Long bus rides are a way to see the vast landscapes and anytime I get a chance to walk or hike or surf or bike, I most certainly will, seeing as the next day I could be sitting for 17 hours heading to the next destination.

So all in all, there is only so much I can express now about the trip, as I have gained most of my knowledge from the trusty Lonely Planet guide book, South America on a Shoestring. This will be my trusty guide during the trip, and Liora (my wonderful and adventurous girlfriend) my right hand lady. Together we will be tackling three countries in an otherwise endless continent. I hope in the next 6 weeks I can bring you some insight to life down south, the culture, people, food and drinks, as well as a rough guide if you ever find yourself traveling there and needing a place to start planning.

Welcome aboard!