June 14, 2010:
Today was our first day of class since last Tuesday. It was a short day to discuss selected poems together so we could prepare for Antonio Cisneros poetry reading back at our hotel. Antonio Cisneros is a well-known Peruvian, Lima-born poet who has traveled all around the world either living, teaching, or studying.
However, before leaving UAP to meet Antonio, a few things were brought to our attention that were occurring in Peru that could and have changed our plans for this week:
(1.) The farmer’s strike in Cuzco has apparently been shortened to only 17th, instead of the 17th-19th like originally planned. We are planning to arrive in Cuzco the 17th which is going to be our adjustment day anyway, so we’ll most likely end up going to Machu Picchu on the 18th as originally planned. Hopefully, nothing crazy will happen and the strike will be short lived and our stay in Cuzco will be awesome. I’m really starting to get sick of Lima and Miraflores.
(2.) We also learned today of a small tourist airplane that had disappeared in Nazca a few days ago. As of now, the plane is nowhere to be found. Miguel informed us that UAP is postponing our trip to Nazca because of this. Once the plane has been found or more information surfaces, only then will be allowed to go there. Everyone’s spirits are pretty dampened by this news. Sure the 5.5 hour bus ride there and then back would have sucked, but we could be (A.) seeing more of Peru by bus, and (B.) getting free transportation to see the Nazca Lines which would otherwise cost around $300.
However, we tried to stay optimistic and all looked forward to Cisneros’ reading. We all met on the 11th floor of Angola in a meeting room where we all took turns reading the poems in English, followed by his reading in Spanish, ending with an open Q&A section. Some of his poems that we read which I would strongly recommend are:
“In the Waters off Conchan (Summer of 1978),” “Poem on Jonah and the Disalienated” and the “Appendix to the Poem,” “The Cemetery at Vilcashuaman,” “The Dead Conquerors,” “Three Testimonies of Ayacucho,” “Third Movement (Affettuosso) Against the Cinnamon Flower,” and “Loneliness II—Paris 5e.”
The rest of the night consisted of Jeremy, Colgan, and I watched 40-Year-Old Virgin with Spanish subtitles and eating vegetarian paella. Tomorrow will just be another day of class, I suppose. I’m having a hard time getting “Party in the USA” out of my head. Jeremy and I are going to cover MGMT’s “Kids”, a Ke$ha song, Nelly Furtado, and most definitely some blink-182 songs.
-GT
NOTE: There are entries in between. I will post soon. Trying to play catch-up. Been a busy boy! The internet’s over-rated sometimes.
