What I Love About Peru
What I Love About Peru
A Little Spin-off from my “Alaska vs Texas: Culture Clash” Post, I (Ethan Stranger) wanted to touch more about my background, as I already covered mentioned that I’m a Peruvian-American who was born in Alaska, but raised in Texas, but I really didn’t touch on too much on my Peruvian background (for again, in that post, I was more on “explaining about my life as an Alaskan who was raised in Texas and what those 2 states can learn from each other”), thus, now I feel like I’m all overdue to discuss about my Peruvian background with my blog, so here goes nothing, plus, I’ll also be talking about my year and a half stay in Peru during COVID.
To begin with, The first time I went to Peru was back in 2004 (it was consider my 1st ever big trip, long before I became worldwide traveler, read more of my Travel-related blogs for more details), this trip was with me, my mom and her mother, we traveled to the Capital of Peru, which is Lima, where my Mom was raised (and to visit her brother, who’s my uncle), as well as travel to Nazca, where my Mom was born (and where some of her family lives). Plus, I felt like it for me to try and reach out to “ancestral roots” that I hardly ever did, same can be almost said for Diane Ngyuen (Bojack Horseman).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ep3c5GCxzU
(Click here to refresh your memory on Diane wanted to learn more on her background)
I remember watching Pokemon and SpongeBob (Picture: Bottom Center) in Spanish (on my Uncle’s old TV over at his apartment), plus I rememebr watching Star Wars in Spanish (which later got me hooked on the Franchise once I return to the states). I also remember some shows that were specifically created for a Spanish audience (but I don’t remember the names that well), again, this trip was all the way back in 2004, only the pics can vaguely help refresh my memory (most of the time, For I was 7-8 yrs old).
Some of the stuff I got to do while in Peru for the 1st time was touring downtown, while also meeting up with my Mom’s family (I recalled having to try honey on my pancakes, as there was no maple syrup in Peru). Going to the beach, going to 2 zoos, the 1st one was an old zoo, but the 2nd one was a new one. We even traveled (by Bus) out to Nazca to visit my Mom’s family, they’re chicken farms, “I remember when one chicken laid an egg, I wanted to keep it, in the hopes of raising my own chick, but was sad to see them take away the egg to have it boiled up and eaten”. After that, I don’t remember what else happened, we were supposed to go to Cusco, but at the time, the weather was too cold and snowing, thus we didn’t prepared for that (heck, I don’t even remember how many days I stayed during my 1st trip to Lima), but this trip did help me understand a bit of my Mom’s Peruvian history and my background (while also getting me hooked on the most popular Peruvian soft drink ever, Inca Kola, Picture: Bottom Center).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHVMrLoVuPM
(Click here to view 1 of the 2 Zoos in Lima)
It wouldn’t be til 6 years later (Christmas 2010), that me my mom and (this time) my Dad went to Peru for the holiday season (while also for my Mom to attend her High School reunion), and this time, we went to Cusco, where we celebrated Christmas, what I do remember was eating Guinea Pig, which is kind of tradition within the reign of Peru, though in the US, that would just make someone want to rescue all Guinea Pigs (but hey, it’s the circle of life, hakuna matata everybody)... After the Holidays, it was just me and Dad that headed back to the states (I remember ordering Pizza and watching a movie once we returned), while my Mom stayed behind for her reunion and didn’t come back a few days later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP0Z0p4EGTM
(Click here to learn about other countries that eat bizarre animals)
It wouldn’t be til the Summer of 2018 that I went back to Peru to visit my Parents and my Dog, Chewie, for after our time in Nepal (Read more on my Navigating Nepal Post for more detail), I decided to remain in the states, along with a cousin of mine and my parents, for I felt like it was time for me to be out on my own, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t pay my own parents a visit (plus my Mom’s family tagged along for the trip as well) (Pictures: Bottom Center):
After my Mom’s family, I stayed a little bit behind, and I remember me and my Dad going off on a bus tour that later turned into a boat tour (Pictures: Bottom Center), as we sailed off into the open sea, where we spotted tons of shorebirds resting on tons of random fishing boats over at the harbor (like Seagulls and Pelicans), even Humboldt penguins (but those were more spotted out in the open ocean), while also spot huge numbers of Sea Lions resting on rocks.
After the boat tour, the bus took us to a wine factory before we headed out to the desert, where I did some sand-boarding (Pictures: Bottom Center), very different from snow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CZ58CBGtg
(Thought I put this in for fun, as I caught a good pic of the sun setting, as least I didn’t break the Sun like Homer Simpson Did)
Eventually, My time in Peru (for now) had ended and it was time for me to resume my life back in the states, however, due to my struggles with community college (read more about that in my “Growing Pains: College Edition Post)”, My parents felt like I needed to stay with them longer, so when I went back to Peru in the summer of 2019, I did my little summer job over at my dad’s workplace and thinking I was going to go back, but no (my parents pushed my return to the states til after new years of 2020), plus check out the stuff I did in my early months in Peru in 2019 (Pictures: bottom center), even went back to Nazca, where I suffered the “vertigo effect”, walked along the coast, witness the Nazca lines and even went to a Guanaco Ranch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIt0ub7PhWY
(Witness a Puma attempitng to bring down a Guanaco)
After my summer job had ended and our trip to the galapagos (which is another story), my Mom’s parents were staying with a us for a while and during Thanksgiving 2019, we all went down to the beaches of Piura and as you can see with these pics (Bottom Center), I was really enjoying my time over there, it was new part of Peru that I haven’t been to from my last 2 times I went as a kid and back and last summer of 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt7SPm7N6D8
(Perfect beach-related song)
Then, in January of 2020, right before my Mom’s parents left back for the states and I thought I was too, we all took a trip to “wine country” and even went back to that desert where me and my Dad were last summer, where I went Sand-boarding (and did it again once we arrived there, I think, this was 3 years ago and a lot has happened during that time).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCEffLFgsXg
(For the record, I don’t drink WINE, I’m not like Linda Belcher)
After my Mom’s parents left, I thought I was going to leave with them, but that didn’t happen, for my parents then told me that it was best for me to stay with them in Peru until it was time to depart, for me, I felt like I was in an awkward predicament (even my parents felt the same), I’ll never forget how they hook me with a Peruvian therapist who tried to help me make friends and keep busy while in Lima (like attending this art place), but eventually, I was put with another Peruvian therapist (who would stay with me, even virtually, until mid-2022) and then I was attending this school where I could get better with Spanish (I speak a bit of Spanish), here are my classmates and my teacher (Picture: bottom left corner). During my remaining time in Peru, I also interacting with lost family members that I never met yet (Picture: Bottom Right Corner). Then when Spring came, My parents and I were supposed to leave Peru, but then the COVID pandemic changed everything, for we were stranded and the entire city was force to be on quarantine lockdown, I was given a choice by parents to go back on my own, but I turned it down, for I didn’t want to have my aunt and uncle in the states to drive and pick me up from Washington DC and I knew for a fact my parents would need help once it was our time to leave (Read more about my COVID pandemic experience in my “Coronastrophy! Post”)
As for my late dog, Chewie (Picture: Bottom Left Corner), he didn’t care, he was enjoying life in Peru (even received this giant bone), speaking of Bones, meet the cat (Bag O’Bones) (Picture: Bottom Right Corner)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxZ5xcN2-64
(Knick Knack, Paddy whack give a Dog a Bone)
Finally, in the summer of 2020, me, my parents and Chewie maanged to catch a charter flight back to the states…but sadly, by the time we arrived back, My Aunt Lucha (Picture: Bottom Center) had passed away due to COVID (read more about that in my “Streets of COVID post”).
And thus concludes the adventures I had in Peru and (in a way), it was almost like really living the life like Tintin (Picture: Bottom Left Corner, Read about Tintin my Adventures of Tintin Post). In recent news, I would later learn of the New Transformers Movie (Rise of the Beasts, Picture: Bottom Right Corner) in Cusco, Peru, even though I tried to tell my family that lives in Cusco to be extras in the Movie (for I’ve had experience on being an extra in Dr. Strange, read my “The Strange Untold Origin of Ethan Stranger”), due to high altitude, there was no way for them to be extras, plus I don’t know if Rise of the Beasts really called for extras, if they did (and if I was stay in Peru), I would’ve jumped right at the moment to be an extra, for you know, being an extra in a movie means you get paid, plus I think shooting happened during the COVID pandemic, so no extras needed, unless it was like in downtown Cusco, then some extras must’ve been needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15yTqBcBGtg
(click here to watch the scnes of TRANSFORMERS: ROTB filmed in Cusco)
So now that my talking about my adventures is complete, I want to discuss about my struggles in being “Biracial”, for being a Peruvian-American who was born in Alaska and raised in Texas, there’s always going to be those kinds of people who question on “who are you, really and where do you really belong in the world”, I had a lot of Biracial friends in the past, but it never hit me to ask these kinds of questions, sometimes I feel like Mr. Spock (Picture: Bottom Left Corner), for he’s a half-Vulcan/half-human, struggling to find that balance within himself, I’m pretty sure that all Biracial people go through the same doubtful questions/concerns themselves every day. Plus, there’s Martha Speaks’ Helen Lorraine (Picture: Bottom Right Corner), who looks Caucasian, but raised by an American Dad and a Latina Mother and you don’t hear anybody (not even Martha) question about her being “Biracial”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I hate Peru, for I literally all the adventures I had encounter during my time in there, I love my family, the food, the many other cities I went too within Peru, but things like large gatherings, loud music and trying to adapt to the Spanish way have been my struggle ever since I was little (especially since I’m on the spectrum and I don’t think there’s a lot of Peruvian-American on the spectrum or Americans with a Peruvian background born elsewhere), if they are out there, then how come I never encounter them throughout my time in Peru or in the states? All I’m stating is that I feel like Biracial people (like me) always question about which side of the family should I connect more, due to the struggles of just wanting to be accepted within Today’s Society, personally I myself can’t really answer that, for I’ve mentioned couple times throughout my blog on how most people thought that my Eskimo (since I was born in Alaska), even though I was raised in Texas and I have some Peruvian background, I do hope to one day find a balance within myself, for I’m just trying to learn more about myself (in general), for a Peruvian-American, this is has always been a big challenge for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbAKASXtnu0
(Click here to see SpongeBob bring a piece of Texas to the Bikini Bottom)
(Thus, Should Peru try to bring a piece of Alaska to Peru)?
(That’ll be good shirt business for my Uncle, for his makes/sells shirts, plus he thinks I’m Captain America)
(Also, to my Family in Peru, Paddington 3 might be shooting in Peru, so all eyes and ears open if extras are needed)
Ethan Stranger signs off…With some sleeping music (In Spanish), take it away, Topo the Mouse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0w9bUenTk8
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