There are still so many ruins of community buried under the sand in between the two pyramids.

I made a day trip outside of the city recently to visit the ruins of the pre-Incan Moche civilization (app. 100 A.D. - 800 A.D.) The old city consisted of two massive pyramid like constructions, in which a new story or level was added every era or epoch. They based the city at the base of a mountain for spiritual and physical protection - and to keep the fertile valley for farming.  Now lies a contradiction of the Moche train of thought, with the urban sprawl of Trujillo occupying the best farming land. 

Villages from the community made contributions to the construction of these massive temples by donating bricks. Each family signed their own bricks with a distinct marking seen here.

 One family's signature.

Although the Spanish conquistadors and more recent tomb-raiders raided the place for valuables over the years, most of the ruins lay buried under sand for thousands of years until in the late 80s. Apparently a girl climbing up the mountain, sat down to rest and fell underground deep into one of the pyramids! Around 1991 a huge operation aided by powerful international sponsors, excavated these incredible ruins - amazing jewelry, artwork, tools, architecture and important information on the culture was discovered - and more is constantly being discovered.  

More than 1500 years old and looks perfect!

The remains of the political center of the Moche, which apparently used to be double the size. Trujillo bustles away in the once green fertile valley in the background.

I can't describe the feeling of standing silently amongst these vast haunted ruins imagining people going about their daily activities for thousands of years before I existed. Courtyards where people used to sit and socialize, tombs of great warriors, little kitchens, alter where defeated warriors were presented naked and painted- to be clubbed to death as offerings to the gods.

The rituals seemed viscous and eerie. This was one civilization that believed in satisfying their gods of the elements and animals by spilling human blood. And it seemed spilled a lot of it - we were presented with one of the execution clubs - a gnarled heavy weapon stained dark brown. The chemical tests conducted showed the club had been covered with layer upon layer of human blood.

Peru

        All this for 5 soles ( $A1.80)

Life in Peru - it is a hectic, ancient, unique, enchanting and desperate place. On arrival I was hit in the face by the hot desert wind and squalls of dust coating everything. I was in Lima for a quick surf ( which turned out to be really fun) then I was jetting up North my destination for the next couple of months. Leaving Lima I saw many hills covered by depressing, dusty, arid slums - apparently the result of when TV was introduced in the 50s - thousands migrated down from the Sierra and Amazonian regions chasing lives they saw on the box. Many of these communities are still without basic infrastructure (electricity and water) - and driving through them really makes your ponder.

 In the took - took heading to the volunteer ramp

 The poor sleepy community out the back of the tourist hub of Huanchaco

I´m now set up in the fishing and surfing town of Huanchaco. Huanchaco has a really Mexican vibe on the streets with bodegas on every corner playing regaeton and a really laid back vibe. Every morning I do my educational prac in the hectic little city of Trujillo 30 minutes away. It's a public boys school of 2 000 kids - where I help out with the English classes. It's such a crazy experience having 35 Peruvian groms screaming and fighting in front of you - but as a class clown myself - I get on their level and enjoy the challenge.
The kids are from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds though the real elitists go to schools like the British international school. I'm teaching in these temporary campuses as the main campus is under construction. It's real basic, there is no electricity and if teachers give out worksheets for example - the make the students pay for the photocopies.

It's great to see some of the groms frothing on skating up at the volunteer ramp

The volunteer ramp

The view from the huge church on the hill

Coming home from work I'm either surfing really long lefts, just cruising on the pushbike around town visiting or volunteering up at the skate ramp in the poor community. The town is full of amazing seafood dishes and for less the $2 you can get a fresh juice, an entre and a delicious meal of rice, fish, and sauced up vegies - I don´t understand how they cut a profit!

Easter mass on the street in Lima

NYL - New York Latina

Suenas no cuesta NADA!!!

Leo y Negro!

A really nice part of Recoletta

Apartment living...

Mate

Fruit salad

...And the Beast

Beauty...

Montevideo

You can find anything in an Uruguayan deli...

My other family...

Maria Catalina

The last couple of weeks in Uruguay were pretty awesome, Cata´s family came up for a week - meaning mate on the beach, asados everynight and plenty of dinner table laughs and loud disputes. I was lucky enough to score a secret spot I had been scoping, absolutely pumping and tubing with only one lad out! There was this super consistent left that could reele down the beach grinding and sneezing the whole way. The water was warm and crystal clear - it made all the average sessions dissapear from memory. There was a sick vibe in the water and me and the bearded local were hooting each other into every bomb. We talked a lot about surfing Latin America - and I wasn't surprised to hear that the last Australians he surfed with - ended up in a fight. Apparently they claimed control of a known point break in Mexico as they had "invested money in land there" - bullshit...
I hadn´t organised a lift back and hitchiking failed soI ended up walking almost 10k´s in the hot sun back to the bus stop. I just had enough change to buy some food - though I decided to reward myself with an ice cold cerveza instead, and the guy cut me a discount so I had enough for the bus!

We also cruised up to Punta Del Diablo and scored super fun waves with incredible backdrops similar to remote Western Australia. We spent an afternoon at this incredible 17th century fort built to defend Brazillian conquistadores. On the way back to BA we hung out with some of the hostel crew in their home city of Montevideo. They were really warm and generous and even gave us a full Uruguayo flag to take home. At Cobra´s house, they cooked us another tremendous Uruguayo Asado - in which I tried a few new additions, including intestines with lime.

Salted meat and wine heaven...

Montevideo is smaller and more manageable than Buenos Aires and opens up to a beautiful beach front where many people gather to swim, kick the football and of course - drink mate. We arrived back in Buenos Aires with a really warm feeling of Uruguay, and I felt like I really got to know the heart and sole of the place.

Back in Buenos Aires I started getting into my distance uni course while going on city missions with Cata and skating at night with Marcos (her little brother). I started going daily to a skate park in Nuñes and met really cool crew from Columbia, Venezuela, USA and Buenos Aires. I eventually shaved my head to not look so obvious - as the possibility of getting robbed seems to around every corner! recently though - I really started feeling comfortable geting around and doing things on my own in this ghetto ass urban metropolis...