Cultural Immersion

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Amazingly 2 days have already gone by in Cusco. I got in yesterday at 7am and was promptly met by the Globe Aware coordinator. Within a few minutes 2 other members of our group Tami and Brian also arrived. We waited about 15 more minutes for Jacy to arrive and then headed to the car for the short drive to the Albergue aka the childrens hostel. Our coordinator Brian gave us a tour of the facilities and then we decided we all needed a nap.

3 hours later Tami, Jacy and I finally woke up. I was pretty surprised to have slept so long. We got changed and headed downstairs. Everyone wanted to check in with people back home plus just explore the area so we headed down the street to the internet café. Brian and I sat in the sun and watched the locals perform an intricate dance that was apparently a religious celebration of some saint. Lunch was being served at 2pm, so once everyone was done in the internet café we walked back to the Albergue. Apparently that high altitude air gave us all an appetite as everyone ate a significant amount of the chicken and rice that Carlotta prepared for us.

The plan for the late afternoon/early evening was to go to the baptism of the child of a friend of Carlottas. I think that we all expected that we would go to the baptism and that was that, but it ended up being a whole evening worth of activities. It was one of the most amazing evenings that I have ever experienced anywhere in the world. We went back to the home of the childs parents where we spent that next 3 hours being inundated with alcohol and food. We were welcomed as part of the family and were pulled up into the dancing and also participated in the traditional hair-cutting ceremony. It was truly so funny to watch the hosts circulating with bottles of beer and a glass. They would come to you and pour you a glass of beer and then say secca which literally translated means dry but actually meant chug. The festivities did get more and more lively the more times the husband and wife circulated with the alcohol! The food was served to each of us on an overflowing plate and included a huge piece of pork, corn tamales, and potatoes.

I think all of us were a bit amazed and overwhelmed by the experience. It is a rare opportunity to visit a country and get to step inside the lives and homes of the people who live there in the way that we did.

Around 9:30 or so we decided it was time to head into Cusco center and try out the local scene. We wandered around Plaza de Arms before settling on a bar. I tried my first and second Pisco Sours drinkand I think I liked them way too much! I am definitely going to have to pick up a bottle and make some on our family vacation this summer. Anyway, we had a few drinks and hung out chatting and some of the group even hit the dance floor. We finally decided we should probably head home around midnight, considering that not only was it our first night but also that we had an early morning and busy day planned for Sunday.

I must say that Day 1 was so far beyond my expectations that I wouldnt even know how to express it.

Day 2 Sunday (today) started with Brian waking us up around 7:15am. We all rolled out of bed and got changed and then had a continental breakfast of bread, jam and yogurt. The van that would take us around for the day arrived at 8:30 and we were off.

Our first stop was the Alpaca farm Awana Khancha. Although Im definitely not usually an animal person I have to admit that it was pretty cool. We all walked through and fed the Alpacas and took some pictures and then spent some time shopping for products made from Alpaca wool. I found a beautiful fushia Alpaca and silk scarf which I bought for myself as my first souvenir. We only spent about an hour in total at the Alpaca farm before heading off to Pisac.

Pisac is a town in the Sacred Valley that has a large open market on Sunday. Apparently we are a group of shoppers as the 6 of us managed to spend 3.5 hours at the market. I didnt buy too much an Alpaca wool blanket for myself and one for my parents, a cute little hat and scarf for Jordan, and a hat for myself to keep warm this week. It was a beautiful sunny day I had a fun time bargaining and trying out my Spanish.

After leaving Pisac we drove for a while and then stopped at a grassy spot along the river to have a picnic lunch. We discussed the plans for the week, specifically the work we would be doing on Monday and the hour of game time with the children in the late afternoon. Everyone was pretty lazy by this point and it was nice to relax in the sun. I probably should have applied some sunscreen, as evidenced by my now red nosebut that is another story.

Our last stop of the day was the salt mines. I have never seen such a unique thing. The whole side of a mountain is nothing but salt mines that they shovel and filter. We got to walk along and see it up close. It was hard to not think of it as snow when you looked at the whole mountain covered in white.

It was getting late in the day when we left the salt mines. We headed back to the Albergue for dinner a delicious pasta and vegetable dish this time - and then all generally crashed. We hung out in the bedroom for an hour or so just chatting and getting organized. Everyone has crawled into bed now Alice is just about asleep, Jacy is watching a movie, and Tami is writing in her journal. I am feeling quite tired myself and since I am finished writing I am going to head to bed as well.