August 2nd - on the road again

Yep, I'm moving on. Alina didn't appear in Acari as scheduled and she sent no word, so after a few days of waiting, I've decided it's time to get myself in motion again. It's been a truly peruvian day of traveling, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

The dig last week was really amazing. I got my own 4 meter square unit to excavate, and while the going was slow and my particular piece of earth didn't yield evidence of the next King Tut, I had a great time and learned a lot about excavation technique. The units near mine had some very interesting finds, so I vicariously enjoyed all that while sifting my broken pottery bits and shells. The archaeology project in the Acari valley is really special because the goal is to prove that Acari and its two sister valleys to the south hosted a unique pre-columbian culture, which may have traded with the Nasca culture, but wasn't controlled by them. The passion behind it is focused on building the heritage and pride of the local people, and the archaeology is supporting the hypothesis. There are something like 160 identified sites in the Acari valley alone, most of which are largely unexcavated. It's very intriguing.

By Thursday we were off the dig, with some folks heading back to Lima to catch their planes. On Friday the rest of the group left, and I was by myself for a few days, finishing up the textile processing, catching up on some reading, and generally taking it easy. By Monday morning, the group was back with a bus load of new recruits, and I was completing my preparations to go. It was nice to meet the new crowd, and I joined them for an afternoon field trip to a local site I hadn't seen. We had a good time there, and I got to share my textile knowledge - every time anyone found an interesting piece they called me over to explain it. I don't even pretend to be an expert on these things, but it turns out that I did pick up some useful tidbits during my time in Arequipa, and they were grateful for the information. Among the things we saw was an example of twining - a pre-weaving technique, which I've seen in books, but hadn't actually touched before. It was very interesting.

Today was my drop dead date for getting out of town. I was almost out of money with no atm in sight. The previous day I had cashed in my last $14 USD. Oh, that's a funny story... I had to wait until Monday because the national holidays were the previous week and the bank was closed, so I'd been budgeting for a few days. Monday morning I went to the bank, waited in line, and when I got up to the single window I was told that they didn't do exchange there, I should go to the pharmacy instead. The pharmacy? Yes, the pharmacy. So, off I went to the pharmacy. However, the fellow there said no, he didn't exchange US Dollars, but I should try the auto parts store or the hardware store. Why not? So I went to the auto parts store, and sure enough, they were happy to take my dollars and give me a straight exchange for soles at the going rate with no commission. Go figure. Okay, back to my original story.

This morning I caught the 11am bus from Acari, which actually left about 12:15. I got into Nazca and walked over to the bus station to buy my ticket to Arequipa. Yes, they had seats available on the night bus tonight, but no, they don't take credit cards. I'll need to go to the atm machine and get some cash. But they will store my bags for the day without a fee (score!).

So, on the way to the cash machine, I stopped at the phone card place and bought a card to work out my travel plans. I'm hoping to change my return flight for one week sooner - I'm feeling like I've had about as many amazing adventures as I can handle for a while and it would be nice to have some time at home before the school year starts again. So, I bought my card and called the agency from whom I bought the ticket. Good news- they answered the phone and confirmed that there's plenty of room on the flight I want. Bad news- they can't do anything about it, I have to talk to the airline. So, I call the airline with the number the woman from the phone card place gave me. Nobody answers. So, I call Arequipa to make a reservation at the hotel I plan to stay at. They're full. Bother. So, I start walking again.

I stopped at another travel agency which has a Lan sign to see if they can help with the ticket issue. Well, they can't really, but Enrique (who I've run into in one context or another for 3 weekends this past month) has the right phone number and dials it without charging me anything for the call. Yippee. I get a helpful agent on the line eventually who tells me that yes, I can change the ticket for a fee, but no I can't do it from Nazca because I have a paper ticket. I need an office. Well, there's one in Arequipa, so I'll add that to my errands to do while I'm there.

From there, I go to the atm machine and it's out of service with a message saying it's being maintenanced. Fine, I'm starving anyway so I find a swanky tourist restaurant that takes Visa and live it up for a couple of hours - fresh juice and sea bass 'a lo macho' and a cold beer and then a double espresso ----ahhhhhh.

Okay, back to the quest - so I'm back to the atm, which still is 'being maintenanced'. I go into the bank, and ask the guard how long the maintenance will take. He says two more days. Interesting. So, I ask him if I can get money with my card inside. Of course he says, and gives me a ticket with a number. The banks here have a system not unlike the DMV in California, where you take a number and take a seat. After about 20 minutes, my number came up, but the teller says she can't give me cash with my ATM after all, and I should walk over to a swanky hotel around the corner. Well glory be, the swanky hotel actually has a functioning ATM, so I'm back in business. Now, back to the hotel problem. I walked back to the phone place and called another hotel, and glory be, they have a room for both nights, so now I can buy my bus ticket. I walked down to the bus station, and again, glory be, there's still a seat for tonight, so suddenly I'm batting 1000. I have cash, a full belly, a bus ticket, and a hotel that's expecting me in the morning. Oh, and fast internet, so I can update the blog. Life is good.

My bus is a double decker cushy one with reclining seats, so between that and my day of logistics, I think I'll sleep really well. I expect that you'll be hearing from me more often now that I'm back in the world of internet.

Hope everyone at home is doing well. I'm counting the days until I'll be there lounging in the sun along with you!

Karen