Free Day in Cusco

We started today with pancakes (Panqueques)! We also had two different types of bread: Pan huaro and chuta. Both are so delicious that the phrase "más pan" (more bread) is heard often. We needed a good breakfast before our adventures throughout Cusco.

We first went to the bank where street painters offered canvas paintings for S/.75 ($30). Not a bad price, but we knew we were going to the market later. After the bank, we went to the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco: Museo Historico Regional. This museum explored Cusco's history in depth including the Pre-Incas to the 18th century.

Our guide spoke Spanish throughout our tour. First, he brought us into a room with a skeleton of a giant armadillo to represent the animals that early nomads would hunt for food. Then came the Pre-Incas which included Qatakaill, Killke, Lucre, Wari tribes and many more. And not too soon after, the Incas, 12,000-15,000 people strong, came with a culture all their own. One particular piece of their culture that I found fascinating was the process of making Chicha, a strong, corn-based beer. The Inca's created cone-shaped vases to ferment the Chicha because it helped the fermentation process. Then they would transport the Chicha in another cone-shaped vase called "Mak'a".

Other information that is worthy to note is about the last Inca: Tupa'q Amaru. He was the last person with royal Incan blood lineage. He inspired another man to take his name in order to lead a rebellion. This second Tupa'q fought for independence from the Spanish King and Church in 1781. He was dismembered by the Viceroys; however the name continued to inspire the people of Cusco to fight oppression.

One last influential part of Cusco's history is Garcilaso del Inca. He wrote the first official history of Peru and Cusco in his Reality Commentaries in 1572. He was born to a Spanish Captain as his father and to his mother who was Peruvian. The label mestizo (spanish and indigenous mix) was upheld by him not only in his writings but also in the shield he created which has two different designs to represent each culture.

After the museum, we couldn't wait to get lunch! Eullalia was a traditional restaurant where Beth had Trucha (trout), Amy, Dra. Shaw, Angela and I had the Roccoto Relleno (Stuffed Peppers), and Michael had Pollo (Chicken with potatoes and vegetables). And I can't forget that some of us had the infamous Inca Kola!

The rest of the day consisted of shopping in the open market where we bought much more than we intended due to our newly learned bargaining skills. We also went to a cafe for wifi to contact our families and friends. Then, to end the day, we  ate at the restaurants Ciccolina. The food we ate at lunch and here were the best we've had all week. Dra. Shaw, Angie, and I had the Tagliatelli with chicken and sautéed vegetables, and creamy sauce. Amy and Michael had Tagiolini with prawns, squid ink, coconut milk, ginger, lemon grass, and coriander. Finally, Beth had the Polenta with meat sauce. All in all, I could eat that food all day everyday!

El Día Profundo

On our fourth day of having literature class and going to the orphanage, we ate breakfast at the usual 9:00, which was once again wonderfully presented by Mery. Today she served us some fresh homemade hot chocolate, which was absolutely fantastic and rich even with no sugar in it. We also ate Chuta, a type of bread that can only be found in Cusco. 

The most interesting part of breakfast, however, was not the traditional food. Mery told us that the Peruvian government mandates that the high schools in Cusco teach the students Quechua, the native Andean language, as part of their curriculum. We were all pretty amazed to hear that, because we previously believed that the Quechua language was slipping from the main population back into just the mountain towns where it began and nothing was being done to prevent it. It appears that quite the opposite is true. Personally, I think it's wonderful that the schools are ensuring that the students learn such a deep-rooted part of Peruvian culture, because without these classes the population would slowly lose its grip on the native Peruvian cultures. 

Mery's family is actually a prime example. She and her husband can both speak Quechua, but don't do so regularly, so her own children don't really know the language. She's worried that her grandson, André, (who, as they say, is quite possibly "the cutest") will grow up without a firm grasp on the Quechua culture. My hope is that the high school Quechua classes return the importance of this language and culture to its proper place in Peruvian society. 

After breakfast, we would continue to discuss Quechua and the indigenous Peruvian's situation through José María Arguedas and his book Los Ríos Profundos. The book itself is essentially a fictionalized autobiography of Arguedas's life as a child. Arguedas was mestizo, (a mix of Spanish and indigenous blood) but had a stronger Spanish influence in his appearance. However, despite his appearance and social background, he identified much more with the native Peruvian culture. As he became more and more involved with the culture, he realized how poorly treated the indigenous population was, and was in fact on the receiving end of many travesties himself. In the novel, the narrator, Ernesto, is in a very similar situation. The story mainly follows him through high school as he both makes friends and sees the brutality of the world. From his interesting perspective as someone in between the indigenous and Spanish cultures, Ernesto offers the readers a unique view of the relationship between the two groups of people.

After discussing the book, we ate pasta with a creamy sauce filled with vegetables and beef. For desert we had a delicious chocolate pudding. 

After eating we went to the orphanage. I returned to the same casita as the day before (this time with a little help from Angela) with all of the older boys in it. Today was strictly a work day, so we didn't get to play with the color-in soccer ball that we decorated yesterday. Angela and I helped out a young boy that on our first day at the orphanage I nick-named "Tarzan" (he never sat down on the swings) with his homework on the parts of the eyes and ears. 

Now, neither Angela and I have studied anatomy for quite a while. So once the homework started asking for the inner parts of the eye in all honesty we were both pretty lost. Thank goodness Tarzan took notes from class, so with our combined knowledge we helped him to focus and finish his homework. 

At Amy's casita the kids started off by playing with her hair, which appears to be a reoccurring theme. Afterward they took out a box full of masks and tried them on. Finally, it was time for homework, and Amy ensured that the kids concentrated and got it done. 

Angie and Beth were in the casita with the younger group of kids. Their favorite memory is of the 6 month old baby girl bubbling with laughter every time that someone started dancing in the small living room. 

However, their casita quickly turned into a hair salon as you can clearly see...  

After having heard Mery's talk about the Quechua classes in high school, I was very happy to find a Spanish-Quechua dictionary on a shelf in our casita. It appears that Quechua is in fact back on the rise. 

Here are a few more photos from the orphanage today, including a few girls showing a remarkable feat of strength by picking up yours truly. 

After the orphanage we dropped by the mall for a few minutes and then returned to Mery's house. After resting for a little bit we went out to the Plaza de Armas for dinner. Just off the plaza there is a restaurant named Mesón de Espaderos and it is absolutely fantastic.

Mesón's main speciality is in meats. Beth, Dra. Shaw, and I got grilled steak; Amy had tomato soup and chicken kabobs; Angie had grilled steak topped with marinara sauce and cheese; and Angela got an alpaca steak, which I tried and was very tasty. I definitely wouldn't need any prodding to go back there again. 

Alpaca

From Mesón, we returned to Mery's house for the night. Tomorrow is going to be our last day at the orphanage, and it's going to be awfully hard to say goodbye. 

Viernes: A Day of Lasts

     After eating a wonderful breakfast of hard boiled eggs and bread courtesy of our host family, we went to Yure's house for our last formal class. We talked about the life of Mario Vargas Llosa and his essay "La civilización del espectáculo." In this work, Vargas Llosa uses an elitist tone to argue that many people in developed countries are concerned more about being entertained than learning actual facts about the world.

Here is a picture of where we have been having class during the last week:

      We had to finish class a half hour earlier than usual because unfortunately, Amy was very sick. Dra. Shaw and Yure took her to a clinic. When they came back, Amy had a list of medicines to take and only good things to say about her experience. She said that she did not have to wait very long to see a doctor, the doctors and nurses thoroughly explained everything she needed to know about her medicines, and that the cost was extremely reasonable.

     We ate our last lunch at Yure's house once they returned.

     After class, we went to the orphanage for our last time. Although Amy was feeling significantly better, Beth was sick, so she stayed at Mery's house in order to rest. In the casitas that Amy, Angie B., and Michael were in, the children worked on their homework and drew pictures. After spending four previous days with us, the orphans were definitely comfortable around us and allowed us to take some pictures, as you can see below.

     In my casita, the orphans were very excited to go to the birthday party of their mother's cousin. We worked on homework for an hour before their mother gave them all a bath and dressed them up for the party. The girls loved to twirl and dance in their dresses.

Here is a picture of them and their mother all dressed up:

           Then came the hardest part of the day. We had to say goodbye to all the children and the director Margot. I can confidently say that no one wanted to leave. We all enjoyed helping and playing with the children because they were so energetic and needed the attention. It was easy to become attached to the children, and it was a humbling experience overall. We are hoping to put together packages to send to the orphanage once we are back in the United States.

One last picture at the orphanage:

     When we arrived back at our host family's house, we had to finish our last formal lesson. We talked about Vargas Llosa's short story "El Abuelo." Although it does not represent the themes that he usually writes about, it does demonstrate his descriptive style of writing.

     After class, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Chicha and ate Peruvian food. Here is a picture of one dinner that three people in our group ate. It is called Rocoto Relleno and consists of a pepper with a filling of meat, cheese, and spices.

     When we returned to the house, we played cards and ate cake.

¡Otra Vez!

On Wednesday, we started our day off with eggs and bread for breakfast at our host family's house.  Once we had finished eating, we walked to Yure's house for our literature class.  We began class by talking about José María Arguedas, the author of Los Ríos Profundos.  After discussing the biography and thoughts of Arguedas, we began our discussion of Los Ríos Profundos.  We then ate a delicious lunch of fish, potatoes, and vegetables at Yure's house.  

Beth reading with one of the girls:

Angie helping kids with homework:

Michael playing soccer with some of the boys:

We rested for a little bit, then walked to the orphanage, "El Centro de Atencion Residencial Juan Pablo II".  We have each been rotating between the various casitas each day.  Because some of the casitas are occasionally empty and because there are sometimes other volunteers there at the same time as us, Angie C. and I went to the same house.  We spent the afternoon playing, helping the children with their homework, and reading to the kids.  The casita we were in had not received their bag of donated supplies and toys, but we decided that we wouldn't bring the toys out until everyone had finished their homework.  I did, however, take out the book in the bag.  I read the story to a few different kids about thirty times.  They were so excited to have someone read to them and were very attentive for long periods of time.  The casita houses kids ranging in age from four to about ten.  The younger kids love to spend time with the volunteers, since they rarely get one-on-one attention.  For the most part, they were really well-behaved.  Dr. Shaw, Angie C., and I spent the whole afternoon just spending time with the kids.  We all wish we could adopt them.  We headed out at 5:00, meeting up with the rest of our class.  Michael had a lot of fun coloring a soccer ball with the flags of the various countries who will be competing in this year's World Cup and then playing soccer with some of the boys.  We all really enjoy our time with the kids and wish we could continue to visit for longer.  

The wood-fire oven used to cook our dinners:

Angie, Beth, and Dr. Shaw before dinner:

Amy, Angie, and Michael before dinner:

We headed back to our host family's house and played a couple of rounds of Strategy, the game Daniel taught us at one of the campsites during the trek.  We then walked to the San Blas Plaza for dinner at Pachapapa.  We were able to eat outside and all enjoyed our meals.  We then took a taxi (it was pretty crowded with 6 of us) back to Mery's house to eat a cake that was very similar to Angel Food Cake and drink tea, followed by a few more rounds of Strategy (I lost every round), which was enjoyed by everyone.  

The Day of Fruit

On Tuesday, we began our morning with a large fruit bowl of bananas, apples, papaya, oranges, and grapes covered with yogurt (and bread on the side of course) for breakfast. Our host mother, Mery, does an amazing job preparing breakfast for us every morning. After breakfast, we gathered our things and walked to Yuré's house for our daily literature class. This day's lesson focused on Jose Carlos Mariátegui and his varioius economic and political ideas concercing Peru. We had a very interesting discussion on his essays published in Siete Ensayos de la Interpretación de la Realidad Peruana.

After class, the women in Yuré's house prepared a delicious meal of spaghetti covered in beef and vegetable sauce. Everyone enjoyed the meal very much, and we finished with a bowl of bananas for dessert, and that wasn't the last of the fruit!

After lunch, we stopped by our homestay to pick up the toys we had brought for the children at the orphanage. When we brought them to the Director of the orphanage, she was ecstatic! We had a plethora of school supplies, stickers, play dough, stuffed animals, toy figurines, card games, and much more to donate. After sorting the items into piles to take to each home (casita) of at least 10 children, we each brought a bag of toys to the mothers of the homes. These mothers, the caretakers of the orphans, are absolutely incredible--they not only work at the orphanage for 12 ours each day, but have families of their own to support. For instance, one of the mothers, Timotea, has three children of her own, and she supports them by working as the head of the home of the oldest boys at the orphanage. It is touching to see these women care for the children at the orphanage as if they were their own. 

Anyway, we brought the bags of toys to the individual houses. Most of us had good luck distributing the toys or simply giving them all to the mother of the hosue. However, when I arrived at the house, the mother was not there, and a giant swarm of little hands attacked my bag of toys (and me). It was quite disorderly to say the least, as many of the children got a hold of all the toys in the bag. Thankfully, though, most of the children were happy with these gifts. Afterwards, we played with many of the kids on the playground--jumping rope, on the swings, playing volleyball, or simply running around. We all had so much fun and didn't want to leave!

Later on, after resting a bit, we attempted to go to a well known restaurant near the main plaza; however, it had changed into a different reaturant, so we improvised and went to Gustitos de Loli. This small restaurant had many different meat and pasta dishes. We got to try rich lamb, ravioles, and pork. The students finished the meal with a chooclate chip cookie, but we were all jealous of the strawberry dessert enjoyed by Doctor Shaw. She had the right idea: to end the day just how we started it--with fruit!

A photo of the outside of the Orphanage:

Angie with her lamb dinner:

Angie, Doctor Shaw, and Beth with their lamb dinners:

Mike, Angie, and Amy with their ravioli and pork dinners:

"¿Cómo te llamas?": First Day of Literature Class and the Orphanage

Today's breakfast consisted of panqueques (pancakes) with a kind of caramel-looking sauce and fresh orange juice. What a way to start our day of "firsts". We, then, walked to the infamous "Calle de José Carlos Mariátegui" where Yure's house is located. It is here that we began our first class on Mariátegui's Siete Ensayos. It is only fitting that we talk about him on the street named after him. We explored his ideas about how cultural conflict influences the Peruvian economy.

Lunch was delicious as always here at Yure's house. We had a large plate of spaghetti! It was just the meal we needed before venturing over to the orphanage to meet the energetic children.

Today we visited a local orphanage, Centro de Atención Residential Juan Pablo II. This was the first of many afternoons teaching and playing with children of all ages and personalities.

We were each assigned to a Casita (little apartment) which had about 10 children each. From the moment we walked through the doors of the casita (little apartment), the children latched onto us. All they needed to do was ask one question: "¿Cómo te llamas?" ("What is your name?"). Other questions came later, but none repeated as much as this one. 

The orphanage is not the only one in Cusco, but it is the only one of its kind. The children range from 6 months to 15 years old. They live in 5 casitas. Each casita has a "mamá" that looks after them. These women come from a variety of backgrounds. Either they never married or have been divorced. All of these mothers, no matter their background, are focused on providing a caring environment for the children. Most of the mothers are there because they do not have a family of their own; however, who could ask for a better community than the one established at the orphanage.

The children can be adopted by foreigners as well as locals through the normal adoption process. After today, I have no doubt that many of us wished we could bring them home. 

While with the children, we helped them with a variety of tasks, whether it was homework problems or getting plenty of air on the swings. In Michael's case, the children were allowed to go the park after they had finished their homework. One girl still had not finished and the rest of the children came to help her. Teamwork at its best! Amy and her children played with blocks and sang "Bumblebee" in English. Beth and Angie C were in the same casita because one casita was not present. One little boy in particular would not let go of Angie's hand. It's the little things that made it hard to leave. I, Angie B, helped one boy with mathematics homework (to the best of my ability) as well as co-drew pictures with a 6 year old boy. 

The influence that these children had on us the very first day was incredible. The moment we went to say goodbye and "hasta mañana" (until tomorrow), the children clung to us, hugged us, kissed us, and told us a very decisive "no". The best part is, that we will return tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next.

Hiking the Lares Trail

Today we awoke at a modest three a.m. in the morning order to catch a four o'clock bus to the beginning of the Lares Trail. We couldn't eat breakfast until we arrived at the beginning of the trail for fear of an increased chance of altitude sickness. Walking out the door at a few minutes to four, we saw the smiling face of Daniel, our main guide and we briefly met our crew for the trip - Donato the cook and his assistants Isidro and Cristosomo (forgive any spelling errors please) - before boarding the bus and promptly falling back to sleep. 

After about an hour and half the bus stopped in a small town so that we could buy any necessary snacks or ponchos and go to the bathroom before heading off onto the winding, unpaved mountain roads. Over the next few hours we drove out into the Andes, circling a valley where groups of alpacas and lamas were already up searching for food. The road itself slowly zigzagged up the side of the mountains, and to the untrained eye the bus appeared dangerously close to the edge. However, our bus driver William was in complete control and delivered us all to the beginning of the trail safe and sound. 

Well, almost all of us.

No, nobody fell off a cliff, but unfortunately Alyssa and Beth weren't feeling well enough to go on the trek. After such a bumpy bus ride, the two of them decided that the combination of car sickness and altitude sickness would only get worse if they went on the trek, so they opted to return to Cusco and meet up with us later before starting the Inca Trail at a lower altitude. We bid them farewell after breakfast which, might I add, was very good, especially considering Donato and his assistants set everything up and made the meal with limited supplies in such a short period of time.

After checking all of our gear one last time, covering ourselves in sunscreen, and getting a quick tutorial in how to use walking poles from Daniel, "Team Gringo" as we were affectionately dubbed by Connor, set off. 

And here is our view from the beginning of the trail, about 8:30 in the morning.

Now a little further along the trail, if you count the three peaks (two hills, one mountain) on the left of this picture, we hiked up to the left waterfall and turned in behind the second peak. 

As we passed by a small group of houses by a lake, one of the women living there came out and gave us some fresh potatoes to eat as a snack. 

It was at this point that we suffered another casualty courtesy of the altitude, and Dr. Khawar set off for the lunch site on horseback. 

As for the rest of the hike up to lunch, they say a picture is worth a thousand words... 

At around 1:00, lunch, like breakfast, was delicious. It's amazing what you can turn out at 14,500 feet. Not to mention the view was once again fantastic. There were some large glaciers consuming the mountainside, and we even  heard the rumble of an avalanche.

After lunch we climbed the final 500 feet up to our max altitude of  15,000 before beginning our descent to the campsite for the night. Just as we came over the top of the mountain, the clouds began to roll in. 

After a slow ascent to the top of the mountain, the descent to camp went by much faster as the air got easier and easier to breathe. 

We reached the campsite at four in the afternoon, which had long since been setup by our cook, assistants, and horsemen (Guillermo and Gregorio), who had trotted by us much earlier on the trail wearing just sandals on their feet while we struggled in hiking boots and walking poles. We took a well deserved nap before dinner, and then ate in the main tent. After such a long day - our two day hike on the Lares Trail is usually done in three - we were all dead tired after dinner and retired to our tents for the night. 

We were woken up at seven the next morning to cups of hot coca tea. With breakfast at 8, we were presented with a huge surprise. For our grand effort the day before, Donato had made us a cake for breakfast. Now, keep in mind this man is baking a cake in the middle of the Andes without an oven. As you can imagine, we were all amazed by this display of apparent witchcraft, and the theories about how he did it began to form:

A.) It was pre-made and he secretly packed it in with the other food so none of us would notice.

While plausible, it tasted so gosh darn fresh and looked so pristine that it's hard to imagine it was in a box for even an minute. 

B.) A personal favorite of mine. The moment we went to sleep, Donato ran back up the mountain, down the other side to the small town of Calca where we started the trek, picked up the cake, and ran back to our campsite in Cancha Cancha all in complete darkness. 

This one is likely to go down in the great tales Andean folklore for years to come. While it would be near impossible to cross the mountain range in the pitch dark, if anyone could do it, it would be Donato.

C.) The "Real Explanation" according to Daniel. He cooked it in a big pot of water, surrounding the batter with tin foil to act as a makeshift oven. 

Wildly implausible. I can't believe Daniel would try to lie to us like that. 

Whatever theory may be correct, (certainly not C) the cake was delicious and put us all in a great mood for the second day, which, funny enough, would be a "piece of cake" according to Daniel. This time he was most certainly telling the truth. We reached our campsite just outside of the town of Huaran by 2:00, just in time for lunch, with everyone feeling much more alive than after the previous day's hike.

On the way, just after leaving our camp for the first night in Cancha Cancha, we passed by several other towns where people still work and live similarly to Incan tradition. Daniel told us that many of the people in these towns farm during part of the year and then go into the cities the other half of the year to work as construction workers, carpenters, or other similar jobs. During the growing season, many of the people will save some of their crops for their own consumption, and the rest of their crops they carry for two hours over the mountains in order to trade in the larger towns. 

In order to officially own the land they work on and get a government claim, the farmers in the mountains have to show proof that they've worked on the land for at least five years. After that, they legally own it. Many of the farms are built up into the mountainside rather than in the valley as they continue to expand their land claims.

Although the overwhelming majority of the people that live in the mountain villages would not choose to move into the city, even if they did have the money to do so as they are very poor, problems do arise with illnesses. Many people die every year because quality medical care is so far away, and medical professionals only visit the mountains a scarce handful of times each year. 

Continuing on past the villages, we began to see just how rapidly the climate in Peru changes. Of the 140 microclimates in the world, Peru has 80 of them. Before we knew it, were frantically unzipping our heavy jackets to get down to t-shirts and shorts. The vegetation on the mountainsides also rapidly changed from short, rather prickly grass as we found out, to lush vegetation such as fruit trees, thick grass, and cacti. We passes by a few groups of alpacas and lamas grazing, and watched two large bulls lock horns in competition. The trail followed a river down the mountains, passing over several smaller waterfalls, which fed life to more patches of farms and people washing their clothes and food. 

This continued for the majority of our downhill trek, as the trees were reaching higher and higher above us, and the hills went from rocky and snow capped to green. Just off the trail we got to see a patch of Quinoa that was almost as tall as me. 

Nearing the end of the hike, we passed through the town of Huaran, which was much more modernized than those a few hours back up the mountain. At the campsite just past the town, we rested for a little while before eating lunch. 

A few hours after we ate, at around four we set out in search of fire wood for a bonfire. No dry branch escaped our search. Team Gringo would wield the power of fire that night. 

By the time we had gathered all the firewood, (and it was quite an impressive collection) it was nearing dinner time. Before we ate, Daniel showed us a card game called Strategy, that proved to be incredibly addictive. 

After that it was time for dinner and some sad goodbyes. After eating, our cook, assistants, and horsemen came in to say goodbye because there would be no time to do so the next morning before heading off to the Inca Trail. Donato, Isidro, Cristosomo, and Gregorio, (Guillermo, the second horseman with Gregorio had already left) all gave us a warm farewell and wished us luck on our journey. 

Finally, we set up the bonfire and sat around it sharing stories and singing old summer camp songs, with Daniel chuckling in the background. We packed our bags for the next day and went to sleep, eagerly anticipating the Inca Trail.