The road to Pisco
I might have said it before, but I should clarify: Pisco is a province and a city. If you think that's confusing, Ica is a region, a province, and a city. I know, these people need more names.
We left San Clemente after paying our house mom for letting us stay with her, and took a taxi to Pisco (city). The place looks like a war zone. Adobe, brick, cement - structures of all construction techniques have collapsed. Armed soldiers patrol the area around the central Plaza de Armas, and twisted, crunched, and crumbled buildings are on every block. We passed by the church where 120 people died while attending a mass, when the roof came crashing down on them. It's completely cleared away; only two towers remain. Dust clogs the gutters, often in piles higher than the level of the sidewalk. Each footstep results in a soft poof of dust rising around your feet.
Our hotel is the Hostal San Isidro, the only place in the Lonely Planet Peru 2007 guidebook listings that answered my call and had rooms available. Chilling to thing that the others simply don't exist anymore. It's surprisingly nice and even has electricity, although at first there was no hot water. The staff furnished the rooms with a large, 150L bucket of water from which I could take scoop showers. I suspected the water was coming from the pool, which was starting to get murky with dust. This was confirmed when I started to smell like chlorine after bathing. (Luckily, hot water - and even wireless internet! - were restored after three days. The hostel has set up their own system; these services remain out for most of the rest of the city.)
Jodi, Marc, and I walked around Pisco and ended up meeting Pilar and Joan, the owners of another hotel in town. They invited us in, served us coffee, cookies, and then even bust out the Pisco! Hotel owners are a great resource, because they deal with many of the same things that we will, in order to set up our volunteer base. They understand the local community, usually have contacts in the local government, know what's a fair wage for people to help cook and clean, source hardware materials and other supplies, etc. Pilar and Joan were incredibly generous with their time, and extended amazing hospitality during our afternoon chat. They're also fun, charming, nice people. Good to know that if you come to Pisco anytime soon, the two hotels left standing (ok, there's probably a few more) are both great options!
One thing that will be a unique challenge to setting up a project here: running a volunteer base and a variety of projects requires a lot of materials and services. We rely on local businesses to help us in all of these areas. As the dust settles, we'll see what's left and who's reopening.
We left San Clemente after paying our house mom for letting us stay with her, and took a taxi to Pisco (city). The place looks like a war zone. Adobe, brick, cement - structures of all construction techniques have collapsed. Armed soldiers patrol the area around the central Plaza de Armas, and twisted, crunched, and crumbled buildings are on every block. We passed by the church where 120 people died while attending a mass, when the roof came crashing down on them. It's completely cleared away; only two towers remain. Dust clogs the gutters, often in piles higher than the level of the sidewalk. Each footstep results in a soft poof of dust rising around your feet.
Our hotel is the Hostal San Isidro, the only place in the Lonely Planet Peru 2007 guidebook listings that answered my call and had rooms available. Chilling to thing that the others simply don't exist anymore. It's surprisingly nice and even has electricity, although at first there was no hot water. The staff furnished the rooms with a large, 150L bucket of water from which I could take scoop showers. I suspected the water was coming from the pool, which was starting to get murky with dust. This was confirmed when I started to smell like chlorine after bathing. (Luckily, hot water - and even wireless internet! - were restored after three days. The hostel has set up their own system; these services remain out for most of the rest of the city.)
Jodi, Marc, and I walked around Pisco and ended up meeting Pilar and Joan, the owners of another hotel in town. They invited us in, served us coffee, cookies, and then even bust out the Pisco! Hotel owners are a great resource, because they deal with many of the same things that we will, in order to set up our volunteer base. They understand the local community, usually have contacts in the local government, know what's a fair wage for people to help cook and clean, source hardware materials and other supplies, etc. Pilar and Joan were incredibly generous with their time, and extended amazing hospitality during our afternoon chat. They're also fun, charming, nice people. Good to know that if you come to Pisco anytime soon, the two hotels left standing (ok, there's probably a few more) are both great options!
One thing that will be a unique challenge to setting up a project here: running a volunteer base and a variety of projects requires a lot of materials and services. We rely on local businesses to help us in all of these areas. As the dust settles, we'll see what's left and who's reopening.
posted by Stefanie at 10:30 PM
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