And she's off! Again. :)

I know, I know - I promised we'd never be separated for so long again. But traveling just gets so hectic!

I started this post yesterday while installing and updating several programs on the laptop I will be using for data collection on the next leg of my journey. Yup. One of the exciting occurrences of the last couple of weeks is that my new cute little HP sleekbook refurb decided to start going wonky the day after I got back from Peru. Yes, yes - of course it is good that a) this didn't happen IN Peru and b) I had all of my lovely Peruvian data backed up. But still.

Puma fountain in Cusco.

View of the plaza from Compania de Jesus balcony

So, in terms of travel updates, I haven't even wrapped up my adventures in Peru yet! Last time I checked in, I had just finished my work in the gabinete, attended the symphony with Eliza, and had an abundance of pisco sours with my airbnb host Carlos and Tony the Scottish Psychologist. For my last weekend in Cusco I decided to stay in the city and visit some places there, including the two huge churches on the Plaza de Armas - El Catedral and Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (the Jesuits decided to build their elaborate church just catty corner to the grand cathedral, apparently much to the consternation of the church officials there. The story goes that the guys at the Cathedral complained to the papacy while the Jesuits were building, but by the time they received a reply the Jesuit church was already finished - boat mail in the 16th century being reeeaaaalllly slow. So it goes.). There are some nice Escuela Cusquena paintings and woodwork in El Catedral, but I must say that overall I felt the admission price (which is double most other churches/museums in the city) to not really be worth it. I found La Compania to be more interesting because it has about a dozen elaborate altars, including an enormous gilt one at the front, and you can climb up a tiny staircase behind one of the altars to reach the balcony for amazing views of the Plaza and of the interior of the church.

El Catedral and the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, all decked out for Peruvian independence.

And the ornate nearby Compania de Jesus

View of El Catedral from la Compania de Jesus. Think the Jesuits sat there and privately but piously thought their bell towers were better? Cathedral wins for nice, raised platform, though.

I also toured this convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, which had displays about the purposes of the different rooms for the cloistered nuns. The monastery was built on top of the Inca palace where the emperor kept the beautiful virgins who made his clothes. It then became a monastery where the nuns specialized in making priestly vestments...

Through Tony I ended up meeting some other great people in Cusco that weekend, including a filmmaker who knows lots of archaeologists and anthropologists all over South America (he even gave me some contact info for a curator of some skeletal material in Chile!) and some Aussie and Brit expats who congregate at Paddy's Pub. And after two months of bread and jam for breakfast, I finally had a free morning and Tony took me to Jack's, where I demolished a huge plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, potatoes, beans, and avocado. Delicious.

Complimentary alfajores upon check-in @ Casa Ortiz

After bidding farewell to Cusco and heading back to Lima, I once again enjoyed the hospitality of Alejandra's family. There was even a box from La Confiteria waiting for me! As Alejandra explained to me at breakfast, "I want to feed you."

That night her parents and I went to the Parque de la Reserva, a huge park in Lima that has around 20 different fountains, just as it was starting to get dark, so all of the fountains were lit up. It was really very beautiful and a lot of fun to walk around and see everything (Alejandra's mom called multiple people later that night to tell them about it). Her parents kept thanking me for being there (which was funny because they paid for everything, so I kept thanking them) because it meant they actually got out and did touristy things. I of course can totally relate because I generally only do touristy things in NYC when people come to visit. So a good time was had by all! The iPhone pics below aren't the best but are still good for an overall feel of the place.

Fuente de la Vida

 Mama y Papa Ortiz: Fuente de la Cupula Visitable

Not quite sure what Ale and I are doing in this one...

Fuente de la Fantasia

Fuente Magica

We even rode the little train around the park!

We ended the evening with a trip to Barranco, a neighborhood that borders the ocean and has lots of fun little restaurants and shops. After visiting the Puente de los Suspiros (the Bridge of Sighs; apparently walking across hand in hand with your loved one is supposed to guarantee you a long and happy romance), we had coffee and snacks at a cafe and then strolled down to see the ocean.

For my last day in Peru, we took a short trip outside the city to the site of Pachacamac, a religious center built by the Huari and later subsumed by the Inca. There's a long path around the site you can either drive or walk to view the ruins of several large building complexes. One of the areas you can tour more closely; the path runs all the way around it for great views of the Pacific Ocean. After touring the site and watching the alpacas and Peruvian hairless dogs who live there, we returned to Lima for an early dinner at a cafe, and then I came home to nap and pack before leaving for the airport at 2am.

View of the Pacific from Pachacamac

Restored temples at Pachacamac

                          Yup. That's a human sacrum and juvenile tibia just sitting by the side of the visitor path.                    Whoever decided not to screen the excavating fill should be fired.

As I geared up to leave Peru, I realized that even though my Spanish is still pretty atrocious, I know enough to be able to understand and respond to questions about where I'm from, what's the composition of my family, what do I like about Peru, and other such conversational queries. I know this because in the 45 minute drive to the airport my taxi driver was apparently intent on learning my life story, and I was able to mas o menos share it with him. (Si, tengo una sobrina, y ella tiene doce anos!)

And so with a 5am flight to Panama City with connection to Newark, my travels in Peru were over! Leg 1 of the dissertation journey: complete! Excellent.

My two week interlude in New York flew by, as all such quick visits do when there are lots of people to see and plans to be made. But it was great to spend some quality time with Jeff and see a bunch of the NYU crowd before heading out again. Some fun highlights with the hubby included a trip to the Prospect Park Zoo, bar trivia night with Crainwater and Eva, a Yankees game with Jason, Susan, and LG, and dinner at a new restaurant in the old nabe with Maryjka and Josh. I spent the rest of the time agonizing over my laptop troubles, finalizing lots of travel deets for Uganda and London, and drinking beer with people at the pub. All in all, a great stopover in NYC. Except, even though in my head I knew it was just a stopover, it still came as a bit of shock when yesterday came around and it sank in I wouldn't be back until Christmas. Yikes. The ride to the airport was a little bittersweet, actually. But now I'm ready for the next stage in this dissertation adventure!

So, last night I took the red-eye to London. The woman on the plane next to me was literally touching up her french manicure as we landed. Seriously? Anyway, thankfully getting through immigration and customs didn't take that long (although I somehow got into a fairly drawn out conversation with the immigration guy about comparison grocery shopping - I'm sure the people in line behind me were NOT impressed, but it was totally not my fault! Jeff accuses me of having conversations with random people but I promise I generally do not initiate them. Although I do participate in them once they've begun. I guess I just look conversational. I dunno.) From the airport I grabbed the Hotel Hoppa bus to my airport hotel, and luckily I was able to check in right away. After, a nap, a run, and a soak in the hot tub I felt like a real person again and headed out to have dinner at the pub across the street - yay for fish and chips!

Which brings us to now! Tomorrow night I catch a plan to Uganda, where for the next three weeks I will be working with the collection at Makerere University. This is my first excursion to Africa (I know, I know - up til now I have been a total failure as a paleoanthropologist!), so I'm excited to see how this goes! Not sure about the internet situation where I'll be, but I'll update when I can. Thanks for the encouragement to keep writing, everybody!

Cheerio!