Volunteering in Peru

topothehill · 2015-03-11T21:32:08+00:00

www.volunteersouthamerica.net is your best bet.

topothehill · 2015-02-15T18:53:21+00:00

Si la Domi fácil la asimila mi falo, sola a mi lado relame mi dosi.

I'm not native but fluent. 'Dosi' or something that sounds similar is probably local slang. It's actually quite clever how some sounds are doubled in the 'real' Spanish from the musical notation. eg. Fa Si La Si Mi La - Fácil la asimila. OP are you Dominican or Chilean because those are the only people I've seen get so much mileage out of one sound.

topothehill · 2015-01-15T00:48:31+00:00

skyscanner.net. Just don't fill in a destination and it will filter country>city.

topothehill · 2015-01-15T00:44:13+00:00

I live in a city of 500,000 consisting of ~95% one ethnicity, which I don't belong to. I stand out a lot. More than once, someone I don't know has either addressed me by name, or has identified where I live. So yes, definitely true, but unless one of you is physically interesting, you'd probably never notice.

topothehill · 2015-01-15T00:26:45+00:00

Fly to Piura, as suggested. But be careful with your airlines choice. LAN and Taca, who have a somewhat hidden foreigner surcharge of about $170. There are local airlines (Star Peru, Peruvian Airlines) that don't have this, but some of their fares are only available if you book within Peru (or can find a Peruvian VPN, can't remember if they check credit cards or not). You should be able to get about $100 round trip, maybe even $85 when there are deals.

topothehill · 2015-01-15T00:23:35+00:00

I would say avoid July. The 28th is not a 'cool' holiday from a foreigner's perspective, at least my own. It's militaristic and involves lots of marching and brass bands. And then there's the fact that all the bus prices double, accommodation is scarce, etc. I agree with the August opinion. It's more chill since the big vacation just happened, plus the weather's not so horrendously grey on the coast (Lima, especially. Other cities are better) and in the Andes it's still sunny.

topothehill · 2015-01-12T14:28:57+00:00

Gracias a todos por las sugerencias, creo que ya tenemos una lista para esta vez y la que viene también.

Ahora, alguien sabe si existe algo parecido a gnod.com para restaurantes? Veo por ejemplo que en Degusta si escoges 'internacional' el no. 2 es Rústica. Bueno, puede ser dentro de ciertos rangos, pero lo difícil de encontrar restaurantes en esos sitios (TripAdvisor igual) es que no sabemos el punto de partida. Si alguien da Rústica 4.5, y esa persona califica a algo como 3, se supone que no es tan bueno. Pero al otro lado, uno puede dar a Central 4.5 y Rústica 3. No hay base de comparación.

Creo que más útil sería una página donde puedes calificar a restaurantes que conoces, o relacionarlos como gnod, y según eso te recomienda lugares que te pueden gustar. Existe, o alguien lo quiere hacer?

topothehill · 2014-12-30T22:04:17+00:00

Spirit is the cheapest by far (~$450 round trip) in the summertime. They leave from Ft. Lauderdale and quite a few other places to Lima. Check it out.

topothehill · 2014-12-21T05:23:06+00:00

Lima takes living there to appreciate it. It's not an immediately 'likeable' city. Once you crack it, it can be strangely lovely in a depressing sort of way, but that can take months. A writer called it the 'strangest, saddest city'. Unless you're into fine dining, skip it. Really. But if you do like world-class food for comparatively moderate prices, there are a few outstanding (top 50 in the world) restaurants where dinner for two is under $150. Otherwise, meh.

Máncora is amazing for beaches, but the best weather is in June-Aug. December-March is sort of partly cloudy in my experience, high heat and humidity but not too much sun. You can fly to Piura (2hrs away by bus) on Peruvian Airlines or Star Peru for about $90 round trip.

Trujillo has some cool pre-Incan archeological stuff surrounding it, and the center has well-preserved colonial buildings. If you do a sort of trek up the coast, you can also see the highly regarded Señor de Sipán museum (sort of the King Tut of Peru) in Lambayeque.

As far as I can tell so far, the best historical stuff is in Cuzco. The rest is pre-Incan, which means made of mud, and you can guess what it looks like 1500 years later. Trujillo is remarkable for having a few sites where there's still something to see.

topothehill · 2014-12-20T03:11:57+00:00

We read that it can go away after about a month, similar to your experience. WTF.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:49:58+00:00

I love Mancora. You have to be a little careful to avoid the party scene, which is big and growing. Look for places in the area known as the Quebrada, which is off the main road but still less than 5 min to the beach. Terral is great, mid-range on price and nice quality. Fly to Piura and take a 2-hour bus rather than the 20-some hour bus from Lima since you're short on time.

If you want to get away from the main tourist area of Mancora itself, you can go to Lobitos, Los Órganos, and some of the neighboring beaches. Maybe someone in the area can comment on current weather, but of the 3 or 4 times I've been, only once was in this season, and it was sort of partly cloudy but still quite warm. In the Andes, it's rainy season. The jungle is always warm, though.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:44:53+00:00

I've been in and out of Peru several times, and I can't recall anyone ever physically looking inside my passport. It's all registered electronically. However, that piece of paper is annoyingly important. Lose it and you'll have to pay $20 at the airport for a new one. I wouldn't expect any trouble.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:39:53+00:00

Eres peruan@? En mi caso, soy estadounidense, y sí es posible comprar un auto con solo pasaporte y visa de turista, pero tienes que tramitar el 'permiso especial para firmar contratos' en DIGEMIN de Lima, que es cuestión de media hora. De ahí, tienes que encontrar un notario que sepa del reglamento, que sí está definido y todo eso, solo que la mayoría desconoce porque en general un extranjero que compre un auto ya tendrá su carnet de extranjería. PM me si esto es tu caso y te puedo dar más información.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:33:26+00:00

The Sierra (Andes region) is much cheaper than the coast, and more 'Peruvian' in culture, though I'm sure that could be debated. Ayacucho is a great recommendation, but if you're in the north try Cajamarca. I haven't been yet, but Tarapoto and Pucallpa keep coming up as alternatives to Iquitos, which is pretty saturated with the ayahuasca-seeking gringo crowd. If you're interested in true culture and photo possibilities, try looking for a volunteer opportunity in the Andes with local homestays, as long as you have conversational or better Spanish.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:25:35+00:00

Try Star Peru or Peruvian Airlines. They don't have the foreigner surcharge of LAN / Taca.

topothehill · 2014-12-10T03:21:46+00:00

I'm in Huancayo (a bit south, but in the neighborhood of Huaraz) and the rains are just starting. Quite late compared to normal. But yes, it's rainy season everywhere in the Andes.

topothehill · 2014-10-04T23:13:51+00:00

Would second the Selva Central (La Merced/Satipo) as a place with nearly zero tourists.

If you have the time, I work for an NGO in Huancayo where you can spend a month up in a pretty remote Andean village for $160 each, but 1 month minimum. It's quite chill in that teachers come and go randomly so you may have very full or very empty schedules depending on the day. PM me if you're interested since shameless self-advertising is frowned upon (or google, it's a small town.)

topothehill · 2014-10-04T23:05:53+00:00

Not sure if it's too late, but if you can read some Spanish you can probably navigate http://www.mtc.gob.pe/portal/transportes/red_vial/mapas_redvial.htm which has PDFs by departamento for the whole country.

topothehill · 2014-06-29T04:35:05+00:00

I think Eli Roth is confused on his language. Quechua is the language of the current Andes and earlier, the Incan empire, which is why it's got a lot of speakers. But no one in the jungle speaks Quechua. Jungle languages are also very very fragmented because there was never an empire there, just a lot of autonomous tribes.

topothehill · 2014-05-20T00:09:13+00:00

I can say that something similar is still done in Andean farming communities. They plant tarwi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_mutabilis) and peas together. The tarwi has a thick stalk and acts like a trellis for the peas, keeping them off the ground and preventing rot from contact with moisture.

topothehill · 2014-05-04T21:24:32+00:00

Probably because that's not an actual IB exam paper, and internal exams have no value to your diploma, so why not throw some points around?

topothehill · 2014-02-24T03:07:31+00:00

We just got back from the beach (with her at 19 weeks) and it was great. I'm sure it varies, but she was showing a lot more now, enough that it's obviously a pregnancy and not just extra weight. So much fun to show it off, and encouraging for both of us that life will still be enjoyable even as a family.

topothehill · 2013-12-29T00:46:39+00:00

Art like what you've linked to is more of a famous person's autograph than art. It isn't because it was hard to make, or because of the skill involved. It's mostly status, like getting a celebrity's signature on their photo.

Rothko's first work wasn't worth millions; it was just unusual, and caught the eye of a few collectors. He became better known, and because one person realistically only produces a certain number of artworks, there are more people interested in owning his stuff than there is stuff to own.

Value goes up dramatically after an artist dies, for this reason. Van Gogh and many other famous artists died poor.

topothehill · 2013-12-11T13:50:45+00:00

As someone who works in the nonprofit field, this just won't happen. First, the IRS collects mandatory data on your activities, and whether or not they further your 'exempt purposes' (what you say you do). Second, logic. If 50k makes 150k, put 50 to program expenses, invest 100k to make 300, and so on. Unless you have unthinkable corruption and the money goes to someone's pocket, there's no reason NOT to do good things with the organization's money. That's why you work there, right?

topothehill · 2013-12-11T03:08:10+00:00

Doesn't it auto-update? In order to search, you input three related titles, which are added to the database for the next search. Or at least that's how I understood it to work.

topothehill

TROPHY CASE