Las fiestas de Inti Raymi

Theoretically, Inti Raymi occurs only on June 24th (originally June 21st) as the Incans celebrated their god, Inti (sol, sun) on the winter solstice.  However, Cusqueñans don´t seem to believe in celebrating for just a day.  As I previously posted, all of June seemed to have something or other occuring at the plaza.  However, little did I know what I was in for this past week until I returned from Pisaq to a Plaza de Armas filled with people, parades and random gigantic floats.  Since then, there has been a parade daily that lasts through most of daylight, lots of random fireworks going off and tons of people milling about the area.

Of course, all of these things looked like fun and it was difficult not to feel the air of excitement eminating from the city.  So, when I saw that there was a chance to dance in on the big parade the night before Inti Raymi, of course I went for it.  We spent Monday and Tuesday night rehearsing for it, which was frekain hilarious.  It was even funnier when we practiced at the plaza because all these locals were watching us and kinda laughing.  We also were not taking it too seriously so there were just good times all around. 

Wednesday definitely turned out to be an interesting day.  First, I had to buy a pair of jotas (sandals made out of car tires... yes really!) to go with the costumes.  However, when I was trying to get to the mercado, there was a parade going on and I ended up detouring through the streets with few tourists in order to get to where I needed to be. It was definitely an interesting area to be at.  There was a street with just stuff being sold on the street and sidewalk.  To top it off, there was a 5 year old who totally just whipped out his dangalang and peed on the street by where he stood.  I had to ask around for the jotas but everyone pointed me to actual shoes.  When I told them I needed jotas, they looked at me quizically but pointed to a certain direction until I finally found it.  I tried on the size 5s, which turned out a little too big.  But when I asked the kid for 4s, he thought I meant price and countered with 4.50.  So I ended up getting a pair (in the right size) for 4.50 soles.  :) 

At about 6:30, we all met to get our traditional peruvian clothing on.  It was a skirt and sandals on a winter night!  I was so afraid of freezing to death since the parade lasts til 2am and I didn´t know when we were going to go on!  However, the teachers took care of that.  When we got to our places, they handed out shots of ron y cocacola as well as bottles of cervezas for the duration of our walk before the plaza.  It was hilarious that we actually were allowed, if not had to, drink while walking in the parade!  To top it off, my Dutch friends had totally been pre-gaming and therefore were totally drunk for most of it.  This was more fun cuz they had an Amauta chant in Dutch and in general, would just randomly chant-sing-yell something or other.  When we got to the plaza, we were ordered to basically chug the beers so that we could perform.  There were so many people and they all cheered.  The announcer made a point to mention that we were comprised of people from around the world and everyone seemed to enjoy a lot.

So after that amazing experience, we were pretty much elated and just hugged everybody.  We went out to grab some dinner (it was midnight at that point) and decided that since the rest of Cusco was partying, we were gonna do the same and headed out to one of the discoteca.  Most of my friends would probably be surprised to hear this, but I actually do enjoy dancing.  And somehow, the discotecas here were more fun than whatever I encountered at home.  We ended up dancing until around 3 in the morning. 

So, basically, I had 3 hours of sleep before heading out the next morning to catch the Inti Raymi celebration, which was a steep uphill climb from the main square.  When we got there, there were so many people and all of them were pushing for space.  It got nasty though when some people pushed their way in and didn´t have space to sit because the people behind were yelling for them to sit and started throwing things at them.  This started out a little more innocently with fruit peels, but slowly turned to bottles and even pebbles.  It was definitely a little scary being around those people.

After a while, we just decided to head back down the mountain for a late lunch and I walked back home with my friend so that we could nap.  Nap was very much necessary since my other friend would be heading back this weekend and we needed to celebrate.

Okay, this is a long account already.  But basically last night, we ended up at a nice chill place for some drinks and even tried a hookah (didn´t like the flavor though).  Then we went for more dancing.. though only until 2:30 in the morning.  ;) Okay, that´s it.  I´m so tired and really need a siesta ahora!

Ciao. 

And here comes the weekend...

It has been officially 8 days since I´ve arrived in Peru.  I still trips me out when I think about where I am, but I have gotten accustomed to certain things.  It also helps that I have met a great bunch of people to share new adventures with.  =)  One of our bigger bonding sessions was during our salsa class on Friday evening.  Watching everyone learn to salsa, most especially the guys was fun.  Then the instructors handed us their cards including a club where they teach every night.   So, after eating at an Indian buffet, which made me nostalgic for my appendage and her people., we ended up at Zazu.  For a Friday night, it was pretty dead.  After seeing the empty place, we figured we´d just go in for cervezas and watch the few people dance.  However, since our instructors remembered us, we weren´t getting off easy.  We joined in for their lesson which involved dancing in a circle and switching partners every few beats or so.  Since I was still getting used to the altitude and I had some beer, I was a little winded.  At the end of the lesson, I sat down for a bit before the instuctor came back and asked me to dance.  Little did I know what I was in for.  We danced for an entire song (which was pretty long) and he put me through the paces with twists and turns.  Though I was really tired at the end, it was a lot of fun.  I felt bad thugh cuz after, another guy asked me to dance and I had to turn him down cuz I needed a rest.  Apparently I held my own very well, wich was good to know that Filipino debut dancing paid off. lol. 

the trio @ Zazu for salsa

Over all, that was good times.  Unfortunately, we didn´t end upo sleeping til late and we had planned a hike the next day.  SO when Saturday morning rolled around, we were not in the mood for much movement, particularly me.  After a night of dancing and a beer, climbing steep uphills is a challenge.  But, I was with a group of cool people and luckily we found a guy who offered to take us horseback riding to the places we wanted to visit.  All we had to do was endure the long hike into their ranch by Sacsayhuaman.  :)  As tough as the walk was, the view was gorgeous.  It was also a perfect day to ride because the sly was blue and the sun was shining brightly.

After visiting the Temple of the Sun and monkeys, we headed to see Cristo Blanco and admire the beautiful view of Cusco from above.

Then, we went back down to visit the Temple of the Sun and admired the architecture and design of the Incans, whose walls still stood at the temple.  We also got a preview of the Inti Raymi celebrations as the performers practiced on the lawn and in the Temple. 

ANyway, that´s it for now.  I´m in Pisac and the internet is annoying me, so I´ll end it here.   :)

un mes de celebraciones

     June is a very special month in Cusco as they celebrate their founding and the god of the sun .  Basically, it means there´s a lot of parades, bands, dancing, fireworks and traffic.  This morning, I decided to join in a little on the fun.  First order of business, attending mass at The Cathedral at 8:30am.  This way, I don´t have to pay money to see a church.  Normally, tourists are not allowed at this time, but as long as you are respectful and even go there to worship with them, it´s okay.

     Now, this was a particularly interesting experience because I am not Catholic, nor do I understand that much Spanish.  However, I enjoyed observing the worshippers and shaking their hands during the passing of peace.  After mass, I walked around the cathedral to view the old colonial paintings and gilded sculptures.  In many of these different areas, people would sometimes kneel in front or even touch a painting in prayer, which I did not really understand.

     Inside the churches were huge sculptures of saints that were carried by several men.  Apparently, last week was Corpus Cristi when the saints were taken from the churches to be paraded.  Now, they were being paraded again so that they could be returned to their churches.  It seems that the cathedral was home to them during the past few days.

     I followed them outside and listened to the brass ensembles that accompanied the procession.  There were also dancers in traditional costumes and fireworks.  Managed to catch some on video before sitting on a bench at the Plaza de Armas to rest and listen to the bands play.  If this is how they party for this, I wonder how it will be like when they have their major celebration.

    Anyway, that´s it for now.  Salsa class in a few.  Ciao.

Finally, a day to relax

I definitely had been attempting to cram too much in the two days that I have been here.  This took a small toll on me yesterday and ended up feeling slightly nauseated, barely ate and could hardly climb up any sort of incline for the latter part of the day.  Nevertheless, it was still fun-filled and we didn´t return home until late, again. 

looking down the hill from my school

First thing in the morning, we had to take a placement test at the school.  My housemate and I were kind of late, but at least we weren´t the only ones.  The written part of the test was okay.  The front had easier sentences to complete but the back was much more difficult.  There was a short essay portion and I definitely wrote some English words there just to explain myself. haha.  All in all, I think I did not do as badly as I thought I would on that.  However, when it came to the speaking part, I was terrible!  I thought the speaking part would ask questions that I would know, but she made it hard, I guess to get the right idea of how much I knew and not just what I memorized from a book.  I ended up at a beginner class, but with students who had already been there for a week... so at least it´s not the absolute beginner.  :)  I guess it´s slightly cheating that Filipinos have a grasp of some Spanish vocabulary because it´s part of our language. 

My class ended up being in the afternoon which is sad because my other housemates had theirs in the morning.  I spent the morning chatting with other students and went around the city to get water.  In the afternoon, I took a taxi alone for the first time, which was pretty painless.  Although I told him to drop me at the street where the school is but he dropped me at the plaza and said he couldn´t go up there.  Ack.  I ended up having to climb up that darn hill again!  Nevertheless, I felt better when class started.  The other students were fun and we just had a lot of laughs together.  Plus the view from my classroom is amazing.

When class finished, we ended up playing bullshit on the terrace.  It went on for a while until one of my classmates won in epic style... with 4 of a kind.  After that, we wondered about a presentation that was supposed to happen.  Turned out we were at the wrong place.  However, since we were the audience, the person waited for us and all we had to do was move to the classroom. 

It was an interesting presentation about a bridge that is rebuilt yearly from grass in the pasture by the eldest son of the eldest son etc. etc. etc. from Incan times.  After, we went to our welcome dinner and got our first taste of pisco sour.  It was not bad but not amazingly good... but enjoyable. haha.  Then a group of us decided to wander around and ended up at a Mexican restaurant for a jar of horchata and for them, cervezas.  Overall, another fun evening.

By the way, the stars here are amazing.  We are so much closer to the sky and the air is so clear that the stars can be seen so well.  Hopefully, I can do some stargazing while I´m here. 

Anyway, today, I ended up catching up on my sleep, trying to adjust to the altitude and new environment.  Also, I don´t want to spend on a taxi twice since I don´t have much small coins on me.  Better get ready for lunch.

Later gators.

In one of the longest days I´ve ever had

Actually, maybe this is second to my 2004 visit to the Philippines that consisted of 23 hours of travel and a family reunion for another several hours immediately after.  Neverthless, on June 6, I was in the air at midnight EST and did not return to my homestay until 11:30pm, Cuzco time... though my previous post stated that I´d be going home after the internet cafe.

So this is what went down.  Forgive me if I also don´t make sense since it took me a while to fall asleep and when I awoke 6 hours later, I felt like I hadn´t slept at all.

When I arrived in Lima, I had to go through the usual immigration procedures.  Since I managed maybe 4 hours of sleep on the place, I managed to tell the officer that I was going to be in Peru for 8 months (ocho meses) instead of 8 weeks (ocho semanas).  When he told me, in Spanish, that I could only stay 6 months without a visa, I was really confused.  Thankfully, he was very understanding of the blunder and simply smiled when I corrected myself.  The rest of my layover was interesting since I attempted to bring my check-in up to the gates, ended up buying agua con gas which exploded on my pants, got a whiff of some awful fish stench (Lima is by the ocean) and (a much happier one), ended up chatting with 3 girls who were also traveling alone and going to Cuzco to volunteer.  Unfortunately none of them were in my school, but it was nice to know that I wasn´t alone.

arriving at the airport in Cusco

Arriving in Cuzco was pretty painless.  There was a porter who helped me with my bags and we were able to immediately find my ride.  Unfortunately, my ride was waiting for other people and I was waiting in a car for an hour and a half with the driver who only spoke Spanish, but nevertheless entertained me with Peruvian music.  Finally, in came 2 more passengers from England who were very nice and we chatted until we were dropped off at our homes in different parts of town.

My host family is very very friendly and welcoming.  They speak a little English, and definitely encourage using Spanish at the house.  I met their other homestay person who isfrom Germany and had been in the house for 3 weeks.  My homestay mama had me drink mate de coca immediately and fed me a delicious meal of egg soup, a special Cuzquenan dish with potatos and cheese, chicken with an unknown sauce and carros, beets and platanos all doused with lime.  After that, I ended up taking a cold shower (misunderstood directions on how to get hot water) and went to sleep with wet hair (my blowdryer didn´t fit the adaptor).

I woke up to the sound of a guy, who kind of sounded like my sister´s boyfriend, which threw me off.  He was a third homestay-er and from Utah.  It was good that he was around because my homestay mama was able to send us into an unofficial taxi without fearing for my life.  Since it´s only 3 soles to get to the main plaza (a little over a dollar), we went there and trudged up the hill for a block and a half to get to school.  Let me tell you, 10,500 ft is no joking matter on your first day, when you are trying to hike up a hill.  But.. I managed without too much huffing and puffing and ended up at the school where we met a lot of different people from other countries.  There seemed to be very many from Holland and the U.S.

They sent us out on a walking tour with a guide.  Why they have us walking so much on the first day is beyond me.. haha.  But it was nice to see more and hear a bit about our city and get to chat with the others  along the way.  Cuzco is such a beautiful beautiful town.  I mean, I heard this before, but I didn´t realize just how much until I came here.  Halfway through our tour, my housemate managed to smell churros and had it in the brain for the rest of the tour.  So of course, when it was done, we rounded up our other classmates and went on a quest to find where the churro stand was.  We found it in a very roundabout way and only had to pay .50 soles which is like.. 20 cents.  It was amazing.  After, we had the others in the group lead and we ended up towards the more artsy district and had some drinks at El Nomade.  By that time, it was past 8.  We waved goodbye to the group but since my housemate hadn´t spoken to his family in ages, we decided to find an internet cafe.  We stayed there for an hour or so maybe and only spend 4 soles (just under 2 dollars)!  I´m really loving the prices in this town. 

After, we realized we should find some food and decided to go back to the churro stand in search of a burger.  Sadly, it closed, so we ended up at the pizzeria.  I tried Inca Kola for the first time.  Interesting.  Not too sweet and definitely tasted like how sweet fruity chewing gums do, but it was enjoyable.  We took our pizza and sat in from the the cathedral... chatting about politics, which was happily a painless conversation.  e finally decided to leave because it was getting quite cold!

Overall, I think a lack of sleep is a small price to pay for fun times with good people.  Now, I am just waiting for my class.  I ended up getting one in the afternoon.  Boo hiss.. but whatever.  I will find something to do. :)

Ciao.