Historia y Mas Historia

Today was a big history day. I learned about the Caral and Chavin societies in my history class today. Caral was the first actual city in the Americas and the society lasted from about 2000 BCE-1500 BCE. They lived in an area about 100 miles north of Lima. The Chavin people lived from 1400 BCE-400 CE. Their society existed about 320 miles northeast of Lima in the mountains.

Of course you can't have too much history! After school we went to el Museo Nacional De Arqueologia, Antropologia y Historia. (The National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History) We learned more about the Chavin people and then our guide discussed other societies of Peru. There was the Paracas, Mochicas, Nazcas and much much more. I only really knew about the Incas, but these other societies were very interesting. They had their own systems of irrigation and trade. They sacrificed animals and humans and had very complicated burial rituals.

Center of the Museum

A stone tablet from the Chavin period

Replica of an ancient tomb

Otros observaciones sobre Peru...

• I learned yesterday that many people (including my host family) eat lentils on Monday. They believe it will bring you good luck for the week.
• It never rains here. Ever. And because it's winter, it gets dark really early which is actually harder to adjust to than I thought it would be. Actually June 21st (the day after we leave) will be the shortest day of the year here as far as sunlight goes.
• The drivers here are pretty obnoxious. The horn is used for pretty much everything. If you're passing another car, you honk. If you're going through an intersection, you honk. If a light is about to turn green (there's a countdown), you honk. It's a little ridiculous. My Spanish teacher says that's the only bad thing about Lima, so I guess if that's the worst of their issues, the city is not too bad.
• I went on a run with my friend Sam this morning and we stopped at one point to put our feet in the ocean. Peruvians say it's cold. It's not. It's really nice, although there aren't actual beaches. It's mostly rocks.