Friday, August 24, 2012

DC Chillin'

It's sort of hard to update when you have so little to update about. For example, this week I sat around, watched Hell's Kitchen, and played video games. For variety, I read a book on my balcony. You see what I'm saying? Not a lot to get excited about. Although I am happy to have down time. Possibly my last down time ever. Don't panic, it's not because the world is ending Maya-style. It's because I start work in September and don't know when I'll have another opportunity to just chill.

Some 1L friends are beginning their quest to law school. It took me back to my first week of 1L. That was a dark time...that I never have to repeat. Woooooo. But it sucks for everyone, rest assured. It takes an hour to read twenty pages, you don't understand half the words, and you pray to the Law School Deity that you don't get cold called to explain what you read but didn't understand during class. Par for the course.
I got to reminisce about this with some friends/co-law school graduates last night at the bar. (The bar had a bocce ball area. I didn't even know what that was before last night - sort of bourgeois shuffle board as it turns out - but I liked it.) We all agreed the first week took forever and was awful. Then we poured a little out in memory of Aaliyah. Well, I did that.

I got a couch! It's been three years since I promised to get a couch for this apartment. Apparently I am a little slow. But I no longer have to sit on a broken, miserable futon to watch TV. All it took was a week of craigslisting plus a U-Haul rental so that I could, um, haul it.

On my run through Georgetown, I passed a bank that was taped off with an FBI evidence truck in front of it. No Neil Caffrey sightings though. That could either be because he is based in New York or because he is a fictional character. Draw your own conclusions. The point is that White Collar episodes cannot come out fast enough.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Viva el Peru

I'm back from Peru. It was amazing. My itinerary took me all over. Lima; Cuzco; Sacred Valley; three day hike on the Lares Trek; Machu Picchu; Puerto Maldonado and the rainforest; and the desert Oasis of Huacachina. Rather than recount my entire trip, I am just going to do a Top 5 list. This is very much in the spirit of a DC-Lima in-flight movie (High Fidelity, also one of my favorites).

Top Five Favorite Parts Peru
5. The Night Sky - You just don't get stars like that in DC. Or almost anywhere. Plus the view from the southern hemisphere was totally different. I got to see the Southern Cross, called the Andean Cross in Peru. Especially on the hike, you could see the Milky Way with incredible clarity. I'm not usually a sap about things like this, but it was breathtaking. The best part about the sky is that I can only remember it - it was impossible to take a picture. On a steep descent from sappiness, I had the best pee of my life on the second night of the hike. The moon was so bright I didn't need my flashlight, and I got to pee while gazing at the universe. It was a transcendent urination.

4. The Hike - The hike was a great experience that I would be happy never to repeat. The first and third days were basically fine. The second day was quite trying. We hiked to an altitude of 4600 meters (~15,088 feet) above sea level. More than one person felt quite sick at that altitude. I actually did fine with the altitude; it only made it difficult to breathe while hiking. But Jen couldn't eat lunch because of how altitude sick she was on the second day. The last 30 minutes on the way to the 4600 meter peak were steep and difficult. On the other side lay a picturesque lagoon. If you didn't feel like you were about to roll over and die, the hike was totally worth it.

The hike also included two nights of camping. We were told it was going to get a little cold. But we were warned in Celsius, so I didn't really pay attention/understand. (Though we Americans are actually the silly ones for using Farenheit - USA! USA! - why is 32 freezing rather than 0?) The first night was cooooold. I wore two pairs of wool socks and still couldn't feel my toes. Every time I woke up I would wiggle them just to make sure all ten toes were still there. When we woke up in the morning, the condensation on the outside of the tent had frozen, and ice fell on my head as I unzipped the tent flap. Turns out it went down to -10 Celsius, or 14 degrees Fahrenheit. I was completely unprepared for that.
The second night, I wasn't getting fooled again. I put on three pairs of socks, four layers, and a hat. The extra clothing and the slightly higher temperature made for a slightly less chilly night. I am happy to never again go camping when it is below, or even approaching, freezing.

3. The People - The people were diverse and friendly. I had lots of interesting conversations: discussing Kafka with a German, how ayahuasca helped my Peruvian guide deal with alcohol abuse, and the problems of conflating religion and politics with an Egyptian. I traveled with tourists from over a dozen countries, talked with a number of locals, and made some friends. Everyone I traveled with was outgoing and inclusive. And the guides really made the trip. (Except the rainforest one. He was terrible.) Additionally, Jen made a great travel partner. The most serious conflict we had arose over a fact that we couldn't Google due to lack of internet.

2. Sandboarding and Dune Buggying - At the desert oasis of Huacachina, 'the thing' to do is to rent a dune buggy, drive to the top of some high dune, and board down it. The dune buggy itself is a bit like a roller coaster ride - with smaller drops and more danger of getting seriously injured. The buggy was great fun, and it allowed us to get amazing views of the sun setting over the desert and of the oasis. A sandboard is basically a low-tech snowboard...really just a piece of board-shaped wood. You can ride it toboggan-style on your belly, or snowboard-style standing up. The former is definitely preferred for larger dunes. I attempted the smallest dune snowboard style, having never boarded down anything before and never even been skiing. I actually made it 95 percent of the way down before falling painfully on my hip and resolving not to try that again. Sand can hurt. I popped up with a groan, saying "Nothing that a beer can't fix." The final ride lasted about 18 seconds, which is a pretty long time to be hurtling down a sand dune with absolutely no control over your tiny piece of wood.
Sidenote: In Huacachina, I heard "Wonderwall" twice. It was so damn literal that I could do nothing but laugh for the entire 4 minutes of the song.
Sidenote 2 - Sidenote Strikes Back: Huacachina was generally a silly place. It was so small that you could see just about every structure in town from any point next to the lagoon. And the lagoon itself was silly. It was one of the least impressive bodies of water I've ever seen (small - less than 7 minutes to do the circumference in a rusty, old paddle boat). But it was also very impressive because it's a freaking lagoon in the middle of the desert.

1. Machu Picchu - It lived up to the hype and then some. It deserves its status as a modern wonder of the world. The photos don't do it justice. A book ("Turn Right at Machu Picchu" - thanks Carole!) described it as "sublime." That may actually be the most appropriate word for it. Another I will try is "awesome," in the sense of inspiring awe and wonder. It was best early in the morning, when it was only "had lots of" tourists and was not yet "infested with" them. Two of the best experiences were seeing the sun rise over Machu Picchu and climbing to the Sun Gate to see the city from afar. I have tons of pictures, but none of them adequately capture the scene. You just have to go.