Friday, July 27, 2007

three times a charm

the workweek should really be four days because one day is inevitably filled with running errands. yesterday was such a day.

1. bank
2. get duplicate keys made
curse my fancy apartment locks that costs $12 to copy one key. get annoyed when the locksmith quotes $60 + tax to replace the cylinder
3.hardware store to buy new cylinder
$13 for the cylinder
4. gym
5. back to locksmith b/c the duplicate gate key didn't work
curse that i had to waste my time going back and forth
6.buy groceries
7. track down maintenance guy to replace cylinder
happy that i only had to slip the guy a $20 for the job and saved myself $30
8. clean my apartment
9. back to locksmith AGAIN b/c the second duplicate gate key didn't work
now i'm really annoyed and this time the owner makes the dup himself. but it finally works!!
10. catch up on blogging, emails, etc
11. cook dinner
12. laundry
13. knock myself out with nyquil.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

coming home

flying back home was easier than the flight to peru. shorter layover. only complaint was dry throat due to dehydration and not being able to sleep well on the second flight.

in any case, my plane touched down ten til 6 AM. was in a cab and on my doorstep by 6:45.

home sweet home.

let myself in, took off my shoes, and dropped off my bag while scanning the apartment. oops. . forgot to throw out those old flowers and i could smell the decay. eww. i grabbed the bag and my keys and went to the trash chute just outside my door. i threw away the trash and walked the few shorts steps back to my door and realized. . .

i. had. the. wrong. keys.

shit.

i jiggled the doorknob uselessly. arggg. . i hadn't even had a chance to have a glass of water. i had no shoes on. no cell phone. no nothing. . . darnit- i've been thinking about making dups of my keys and giving them to VK or Q2 for months but had been too lazy. stupid stupid.

i spyed a neighbor taking out her trash and greeted her. i explained my situation and she let me in and looked for the super's number. . unfortunately he was away for the weekend but i left a message. my kind neighbor lended me some slippers and her key for the front gate so i could come and go and check out the locksmith nearby. still closed. it's only 7AM on sunday morning afterall.

i go back to my apartment and look at the bathroom windowsill and debate whether or not i can climb in that way. no chance. it's a few story drop down on stone. too risky.

there's a number for an emergency locksmith near the call box at my apartment entrance. i grab the business card and the yellowpages that are stacked near the mailboxes. i go back to my neighbors and call for price quotes. i get them down to $70 and they are on their way.

i'm pissed i'm wasting $70. but it'll be worth it to be back home. neighbor's husband warns me that the locksmith will try to rip me off b/c i'm a girl. he tells me not to pay any additional fees and that i can buy the cylinder myself and get one of the maintenance guys to install it.

i go wait outside for the locksmith. he arrives twenty minutes late. the lovely neighbors head out to the beach with their daughter and wish me luck. i lead the locksmith back to my apartment and he inspects the lock.

ls: i will have to drill and break the lock. so the lock has to be replaced. that will be additional.

v: i only want you to open it.

ls: but you will eventually have to replace the cylinder. regardless, it'll cost $65 just to open the lock. another $175 fee. . .

v: no no no. that's not what i was quoted on the phone this morning.

ls: i'm sorry, it must be a misunderstanding. there is an additional fee.

v: that's bad business practice. you can't change the price of a quote. i called twice and got the quote of $65 (yes, i lied, i got $75 the first time and $70 the second time).

ls: who did you talk to?

v: i don't know the names. i spoke with a woman the first time and a man the second time. you really can't change the price like that. very bad business practice.

ls: ok, maybe it's just a misunderstanding. let me make a call. ls makes a call and speaks foreign language. he sighs. ok. b/c it's a misunderstanding, i'll honor the $65.

v: ok. just open it. don't replace the cylinder.

ls: ok. (in a skeptical tone) if that's what you want to do.

minutes later the cylinder is drilled and the door is open. i grab my keys and debit card and put on my shoes. i rush to the ATM to get cash to pay the guy.

finally back at home. i have a glass of water. take off my shoes. eat some cereal. then crawl into bed. turns out the dry, itchy throat is a cold.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Day 7 Lima

sightseeing in the morning- eddie took me to pachacamac, ruins just outside of lima. a religious site with a sun and moon temple- one of the hypothesis is that virgins were housed in the temple and at some point were chose to either become courtesans for royalty or sacrificed for the gods. . . supposedly women were considered sacred- during a woman's menstrual cycle the could not be touched by men so men instead engaged in homosexuality, bestiality, etc.

after our tour, we decided to grab lunch. another amazing meal. the best was a minature version of a staple peruvian dish. bite size piecs of plaintain, rice & beans, marinated flank steak, and a piece of quail egg. . .seriously i've been in foodie heaven. who would have thought lima would be a culinary center?

pintobean and i met up in the afternoon to go to the inka market to buy gifts for friends and families. i love markets. . .such neat arts and crafts. the peruvians have some amazing furniture/woodwork, pottery, and jewelry. . . 3 hours of shopping later i had managed to finish the bulk of my gift shopping.

i learned that haggling/bargaining in peru is VERY different than in china. in china, you are given a price by the vendor. generally it's safe to counter with half of that price (sometimes more). there are several rounds and you can usually get the vendor to go down if you (1) walk away, (2) agree to buy more than one piece, (3) promise to bring your friends back to buy more. .

in peru you are given a price by the vendor. you can get maybe 15-20% off the asking price. but bargaining ends at 2-3 rounds and it's impossible to get them to take off just 2-3 solas.

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Day 6 Lima

rolled out of bed at 9:30, had a hearty breakfast, and was on the road by 10:30 for sightseeing.

first stop was the monasterio de sanfrancisco. i entered through the side doorway and walked through the church, taking in the various altars and tributes. exiting through the main entrance, i saw signs for the catacombs. i bought a ticket and joined an english tour that was already in progress. supposedly 25,000 bodies were buried under the cathedral. different bones were separated into different holes, skulls in one, ribs in the next, etc. only the franciscian monks were allowed to enter the graves, the families could look down from the church and pay tribute to deceased, loved ones.

next i stopped at the museo de la inquisicion- a building used by the spanish inquisition from 1570 to 1820. my anal tour guide (who chided me for taking up her time by stopping to take photos and chided the other two visitors in my group for stopping to read the panels) explained the system for deciding an individual's penalty and the various torture methods. apparently, the goal was not to actually kill anyone. . just get information and compliance, because death was not compatible with the religious guidelines but stretching peoples limbs out was completely fine.

marino drived me around the plaza de armas, pointing out the congress, the catedral de lima, etc. i had my fill sight seeing for the day and headed back to the hotel. eddie and i grabbed lunch at larco mar where i saw this young peruvian woman trying to swindle an older american man who was trying to swindle her. she obviously wanted a ticket to the U.S. he obviously wanted some young peruvian woman to warm his bed. kinda gross. but kinda mesmerizing to eavesdrop on.

hung out at the hotel for a bit then met up with pintobean for drinks. we went to a trendy, peruvian restaurant called scena where we had delicious scallops and carpaccio and fruity versions of pisco sours. the restaurant actually had live performances and we watched a short acrobatic show and a juggling act. after dinner, we headed to a cozy, artsy wine bar. we split a navarro correas malbec and sampled delicious snacks that was served with the wine. incredibly good food and think i'll have to make it back to the winebar for dinner!!! there was lima beans coated in a spicy pesto sauce, mini potatoes in a zesty, lemony, slightly tart sauce, and candied carrots. hmmm.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Day 5 Lima Part 2

next stop was barrio chino- chinatown!!! every major city has one and it's always fun to check out. . the chinese-peruvian are pretty well integrated and most that you see look mildly exotic but it's difficult to tell they are of chinese descent. barrio chino is pretty small- perhaps the size of DC's chinatown, just a couple streets really. . a block.

enjoyed myself wandering around the main market where they were selling meat (not so sanitary looking), produce, random odds and ends, and pet food!!!

things that i learned while driving around lima:

(1) doens't matter what way the street runs, you can park in any direction!!!

(2) street performers take it to a new level! at traffic stops it's not uncommon to see a bunch of kids doing cartweeks/break dancing, or juggling for money.

(3) new york bus/cab drivers have nothing agains limenes!!!

(4) peruvians are pretty industrious. while i was in the car waiting at a traffic light, i had a multitude of people coming by to sell various products. . got a hole in your sock? no problem! running low on engine oil? no problem!!! need to occupy your whining kid in the back of the car? no problem- coloring book!!! feelin a little hungry? no problem- chocolates, biscuits, etc!!!

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Day 5 part 1: doing the museum thing

my ever considerate friend arranged for a driver he knew to escort me around the city today. on the agenda: museo de la nacion, museo rafael larco herrera, and barrio chino.

while devouring a hearty breakfast at the hotel, marino pulled up in a weathered, blue car. i joked that marino must not be peruvian because he was actually ahead of schedule. eddie laughed then went outside to give marino instructions before coming back in to finish up the meal. we parted ways and i was off to museo de la nacion- a museum documenting peru's prehistoric civilization and heritage with extensive exhibits scattered about three floors. i was not very impressed with the museum. while there was a lot of stuff- the captions were not very informative and quite sparse and the layout of the museum did not seem to flow. efforts seemed half hearted (displays and descriptions more thorough and presentable on the first floor but quality diminished as you went up every floor). the most exciting thing was a strike that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in front of the museum. there was an ambulance truck and people shouting. after fifteen minutes it dispersed.

museo rafael larco herrera was as great as the first museum was bad. an 18th c. mansion turned into a private museum, the grounds were beautifully maintained with bright fuschia colored plants, cacti, and flowers. inside, the exhibits were impeccable. i learned about the development and evolution of pottery and ceramics in peru over the course of time- changed spurred by technological advancement, merging of civilizations, etc. walking through a huge storeroom- shelves upon shelves of ceramics in a daunting array of animals, fruits, shapes, etc- i was awestruck. even more interesting was the exhibit of pre-colombian, erotic pots that depict to a precise degree various sexual acts. yep, look close and squint and you are seeing what you think you see!!!

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Day Three: Machu Picchu

machu pichchu is a 3 hour train ride away from cusco. we had splurged on a nice train with big windows along both sides and on the ceilings of the car allowing for optimal viewing of the scenic landscape. there was a moment of confusion as all the groups tried to figure out the seating arrangement. although everyone had purchased numerically consecutive tickets, the seats were actually not together. in the end, we were able to get seats together.

i dozed in and out of sleep during train ride, listening to music, and reading bits and pieces of "conversation in the cathedral" by mario vargas llosa. before i knew it, we had arrived!!

machu picchu is simply breathtaking.

our tour guide "charlie darwin" reminded me a little of joe pesci. he was great and liked to address us as "my dear friends" and told us about the great incan traditions. at the end of the tour, he hawked his $30 book to us and suggested various hikes/tours we could take.

CD: the key is to walk S-L-O-W!!! some elderly tourist had a heart attack. yep. no luck for him. he died.

um. o-kay! the tour was nice because i got to learn about the construction and history of machu picchu. i just wish i had more time to explore the various trails. . . the day passed too quickly and before i knew it it was time to get lunch and head for our train back to cusco.

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Day 2 Cusco

woke up at 4:30 AM, which felt even earlier because eddie and i had stayed out until after midnight with his gradeschool friends. good peeps.

we got to the airport in the nick of time to board without waiting around. of course, i promptly fell asleep and woke up to views of cusco. a little town tucked away in the mountains set against a blue blue sky. touching down i noticed two things: (1) a slight headache and (2) shortness of breath. . darn, guess i would not be immune to the effects of high altitude.

the inn owner picked us up from the airport and inundated eddie with trivia about cusco. cusco- shaped like a puma- represented the earth. according to incan belief, there are three worlds: the heavens, the earth, and beneath the earth. after a short drive we arrived at llipimpac where the owner gave us some coco matte (tea made from coco leaves helps alleviate the effects of high altitude) while we waited for our room to be cleaned. a short nap later, we ventured out for lunch at pucara where we feasted on a delectable lunch. sopa a la criolla (mildly spiced creamy noodle soup with beef and peppers), broiled fish, and assorted veggies, corn (did you know there are over 20 types of corn and 18 are grown in peru?), and potatoes.

the tour started at 2:30 and the rest of the afternoon was a blur of sighseeing: convento desanto domingo del cusco, la catedral, saqsaywaman, q'enqo, pukapukara, and tambumachay. the sacred structures that the incas built were simply amazing in its precision, care, and design. every aspect of the architecture seemed to be brimming with symbolism and/or purpose.

i was struck by the beauty of the land and the sense of calm/peace i felt there. what's more, i loved the fact was that the essense of cusco did not seem to be lost by the barrage of tourism that has flooded the town. it was not at all hard to imagine what cusco was like long long ago.

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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Day 1 in Peru

Stayed up chatting for a bit, then had a nice restful sleep. Woke up around 10:45 AM to find out we were going to check out apartments with Eddie's realtor. Half an hour later, we were out the door and met up with the realtor at a set of apartments on the coast.

Apartment 1: Duplex with amazing views of the ocean and public tennis courts, handball courts, etc below. Decent sized kitchen. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Plenty of closet space. Spiral staircase. Fully furnished. Decor downstairs had a New Mexico kinda feel. Lots of dried flowers. Slightly overpriced.

Apartment 2: One level apartment. More modern decor. Views not as nice. Formal dining/living room area and informal living room. Two bedrooms and three bathrooms. More spacious living room. More spacious feel. Reasonable rent.

Apartment 3: Entire wall of the apartment was glass windows overlooking the ocean. Unfurnished. Wooden floors. Sleeker apartment and kitchen area. But overpriced and requiring too much work.

After apartment hunting, we were starving and headed to Segundo Muelle which I had read about in the Lonely Planet. They brought out roasted corn kernals (which may be the perfect bar snacks ever) and Eddie ordered a beer for himself and a pisco sour for me (hey, when in rome. . . ). We ordered an assortment of ceviche and a crawfish risotto. The ceviche was delicious- the fish extremely fresh and the sauce was light and flavorful but did not overwhelm the fish. Incredible octopus drenched in garlic. Didn't have much room for the risotto by the time it came, but it was perfectly good.

From our seats, we had a great view of the "Love Park" which I am told a lot of couples get married at. . and there is an appropriate statue of a couple embracing. I actually noticed a fair bit of that throughout the afternoon, PDA seems to be a lot more common in Peru than in the US.

After lunch, we headed to LarcoMar, an upscale mall built into a cliff overlooking the sea. I was shocked by the number of tourists there. We picked up some books for the long train ride to Machu Picchu, stopped for some gelato and coffee, and browsed the shops.

Next stop was Barranco (cliff), kind of a bohemian, artsy neighborhood Eddie equated to Venice Beach in CA. We happened across a great little market where they sold all sorts of random things and yummy looking food. (note to self: have to go back to try the skewered cow hearts).

All the walking tired us out, last stop was Wong, a very lively grocery store with amazing and cheap produce (and the biggest carrots I have ever seen!) to pick up water and altitude sickness medicine. Now, just resting a bit before heading out to meet up with some of Eddie's friends. Tomorrow will be an early day- flight leaves at 5AM.

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International flight cont'd

So 8 hours is a really really long time to layover. It is boring. No way around it. I slept a lot. Or as much as possible in uncomfortable chairs. I people watched. Read some magazines. Listened to music. Moved to a different area.

By 5 PM I was starving and decided to eat my last energy bar. With my throat being so sore and it being so painful to swallow, the idea of eating wasn't so appealing anyways. But it still blew my mind that the terminal didn't have any cafe's or restaurants!! Around 8PM, I headed to gate 4 where my flight would be boarding. I actually found a comfortable chair where I could prop my feet up and slept a bit more. Flight attendants came around and checked my boarding pass.

Finally, it was 9:40PM and still no signs of boarding. Then an announcement was made. People seemed annoyed and the man next to me threw his bag back on the ground. Hmm, either the flight is cancelled, which would really suck, or delayed, which also sucks. Really, I think I had reached my limit for waiting around.

I went and talked to the flight attendant, found out there was a temporary delay. I ended up making conversation with a nice couple from the Bay Area and we decided to leave the terminal to get something to drink. They led me through this passageway, which lo and behold had a cafe!!! EUREKA!!!

I

I ordered a jamon and queso arepa and food has not tasted sooo good. Unfortunately, I was only a 1/3 in before we were called back to our flight. I boarded and, yes, promptly fell asleep. Woke up to a meal of extremely salty fried rice which I tasted and yes, fell back asleep. Hmm, am starting to sound like a narcoleptic. . . Around 2, my flight landed and I managed to get my baggage and through customs fairly quickly. Saw Eddie almost instantaneously upon walking out of the gates- nothing like seeing an old friend again.

Friday, July 13, 2007

International Flights

I have always loved flying- not sure what it is- the sense of glamour of it all. It doesn’t matter if I’m flying back home or some international destination. However, flying internationally is always a bit more interesting because of the little differences in protocols across airlines.

Today I’m flying Avianca. What I discovered during check in and boarding is a pro-family approach. There was a separate check in line for minors traveling without their parents. Check in was relatively easy and quick and I got to my gate with an hour to spare. Announcements were made regarding boarding but I couldn’t really follow because it was in Spanish. I asked a fellow passenger what they said. He said they were boarding travelers with kids first then would call out by zones.

It actually makes quite a bit of sense from an efficiency standpoint. Families with children always take the longest to get settled in because the kids have so much extra stuff- toys, bottles, games. Then the other passengers don’t have to wait in the aisle as the parents do so.

I have always felt fortunate that I am not prone to motion sickness and have an uncanny knack of falling asleep, sound asleep, on moving vehicles be it plane, train, bus, or car. Today was no different. I slept through the majority of my 5 hour flight from NY to Bogota, waking up only to eat and drink. That’s another nice thing about Avianca compared to some American airlines is that even if you are asleep, the flight attendants will still serve you food and drink.

I am now sitting in Bogota with 8 hours to kill before my flight to Lima. I walked the entire wing but there are no shops or restaurants. Just two vendor stands serving hard liquor (nice) and snacks. Good thing that I don’t really feel like eating with my sore throat, otherwise I’d be in a bind. Across the way there are two massage chairs where travelers occasionally stop and get massaged with bizarre looking contraptions.

on route

it crept up on me slowly, wednesday night i felt the itch in my throat. body aches. i could feel a cold coming. on my way home from work, i picked up 5 bottles of vitamin water and two packages of airborne hoping to head it off. getting out of bed was brutal but i had a big corporate visit to deal with.

by thursday afternoon, my cold was in full force. swollen glands and fever mixed with chills. my boss let me leave work early and i got stuck in traffic for two hours.

got home around 7:15 and went to bed. woke up around 2AM and packed for my trip to peru. it's almost 5AM and will run to the ATM machine for cash. luckily i'm feeling a bit better. my fever is gone and i can catch up on sleep at the airport and on the plane.

Monday, July 09, 2007

bocce hustlers

mr.ct and i wound up at union hall in park slope sunday night with the purpose of checking out bocce (pronounced boche-e). the very shortened version of the game is that there are two sides with different colored balls. a small white ball, the pallino, is thrown out on the alley and the goal is to get your team's colored ball as close to the white ball without hitting the back wall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocce

while i was slightly nervous, afterall i am terribly uncoordinated, i love these type of games- bowling, skee ball, even when i'm bad at it.

v: so how competitive are you?

mr. ct: don't worry about it. if we lose i won't mind. and if you never want to play again that's fine too.

whew, pressure is off, i can just enjoy myself.

v: cool. i'm not very good at sports so just a forewarning.

while he signed us up, i settled into my barstool. by the time we were up, we had had several rounds of drinks (boddingtons for him and random glasses of red wine for me). our competitors were another couple, friendly peeps from brooklyn. the guy appeared to be a seasoned player but the gal was playing for the second time. we had a jolly time. especially me as i had a beginner's streak. we actually won the round of bocce, closed down union hall, and i discovered a new favorite bar and game!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

yesterday morning at 7AM i got a text from Rex-Mex.

RM: i know this might seem random. i now know what it must have felt like when i checked out. i'm so sorry. i suck.

huh? i was kinda stunned. . . if i still cared- it would have been too little too late. but seeing that i had long since moved on- i was annoyed by the fact that it raised my curiosity and questions- what was Rex-Mex going through that caused him to send that text? why does he feel compelled to apologize?

V: yes that is a bit random. it was a long time ago but i appreciate and accept your apology. hope you are well.

RM: sorry it's been a crazy 24 hours.

V: are you ok? let me know if you need to talk.

RM: that is sweet and considerate and consistent with the great person you are. but i don't want to bother.

then why text me at all? if you know that i'm a caring person you know that i'll want to help if i feel that you are going through hardship. so stop being so selfish and unloading your guilt on me!!! ARG!

so if you haven't figured it out by now, i'm one of those annoying people that tend to overbook/plan/fill her schedule. the next few days were looking pretty hairy especially with a big corporate visit on thursday:

saturday: work early shift. run home. change. head to JP's for a housewarming.
sunday: work all day. run home. change. meet up with mr.ct.
monday: pack. pay bills. bank. gift shopping. clean apartment. laundry.
tuesday: work early shift. meet up with jpan & Q2 for dinner.
wednesday:work 11AM-10PM.
thursday: work 8AM-10PM.
friday: leave for vacation

and at some point- fit in 3-5 workouts, go to the grocery store (one too many snack wraps), sleep, and feed myself.

i made the selfish decision to free up my saturday night and take care of my own business. JP was understanding *i think* and instead of heading out to what i'm sure was a delicious dinner party, i went to waldbaums and got groceries for the week. once home, i turned on the ipod and opened up a bottle of wine and relaxed while cooking beef basil and brown rice. after enjoying a glass of wine, US weekly, and my home cooked meal, i arranged the sunflowers i bought from the market. this was followed by some sweeping, mopping, and cleaning.

and now, it's time to hit the hay. tomorrow is a new day and while i didn't finish everything i wanted to, it was nice to have some time alone and lose myself in cooking and cleaning . . . while sounding strangely domestic, i've always found the two to be relaxing. . perhaps b/c they were "legit" excuses not to study while in grad school?

feeling overwhelmed

Thursday, July 05, 2007

it's a beautiful thing when you walk into work and you are given good news right off the bat. there had been discussion about splitting the managers' shifts on the 4th but up until tuesday, it was just that, talk.

strolled into work half an hour early on wednesday(significantly lighter traffic than anticipated) to be told by my manager that i would get to leave work at 2:30!!! i was so excited. that would give me plenty of time to get home, hit the gym, and get ready for the evening's festivities.

celestial was having a dinner/fireworks watching party at her place in LIC around 6:30 or 7 and it was the first time mr.ct would be meeting any of my friends. mr.ct arrived at 6pm as i was racing to finish getting ready and we were at celestial's sometime after 7pm. there was a nice spread- bacon wrapped dates, cheese tray, hummus & pita, bbq chicken, sangria, mojitos, and cava.

the view from celestial's apartment was amazing- right by the water and on the 22nd floor, we had an outstanding view of the macy's fireworks. afterwards, we hunkered down for a round of taboo (mr CT and i triumphed over QQ and celestial). a rainy walk home sharing an umbrella (so typical that i would leave mine behind!) ended a fun filled, enjoyable evening.