Hamp’atu

Saturday we had an excursion to some Inca ruins that were right near Cusco. The first place we went was Saqsaywaman which is a huge complex where I guess the rich Incas used to live. There were three different levels, but the archeologists know that there are still more beneath where we were walking. They know this because there are huge boulders on the bottom level that still go deep into the ground. All the stones came from a quarry that is over 1 km away from the site (the Incas were crazy!) On the top level there was a really cool view of Cusco…I could almost see my house! There was also a view of Jesus (a huge white sculpture on the top of the mountain). I think a few of us are planning on hiking to Jesus on Thursday morning. There were also some workers digging while we were there…not too interesting but they had some clay pieces lying out that they had found. When we were heading toward the parking lot, we were of course swarmed by tons of ladies trying to sell us their goods (there were also a few people dressed up with llamas wanting money for pictures…I still have yet to give in to the temptation of a llama picture…in due time). The next place we went was Q’uenko. This was the number one waka (or sacred place) in the Inca world. It is a natural cave with a table and throne in it where they used to perform llama sacrifices (and maybe humans?) All in all it was a pretty creepy place. The third place was Tambomachay. This is where the original Inca trail started. There is a natural spring where the Incas built showers so that they could cleanse themselves before the journey to Machu Picchu. The water is supposed to be sacred and if you wash your face in it you will have twins. According to our guide, the spring water is now polluted with human feces and trash….and YES we did witness some people washing their face in it….awesome. We stopped at an alpaca factory on the way home (I guess I should actually call it a textile factory, as they do not manufacture alpacas). The owners showed us how to distinguish what is actual alpaca, what is baby alpaca, and what is fake…looks like I might be coming back with some fake stuff (real alpaca is REAL expensive…a hundred US dollars and up).

We got back to our houses in the early afternoon…ate some lunch with the fam and then headed out with the group to do some shopping. We were told that TipTop was the “hip” Cusco store, so of course we had to check it out. Turns out it’s basically the same as H&M and the prices are the same too…so no thank you I will use my weight limits in other ways than more US clothing. Julie, a girl in my group, and I decided we needed some exercise so we thought it would be a good idea to walk up this huge hill with tons of steps to an old neighborhood in Cusco named San Blas. Well we didn’t know exactly where we were going, so we ended up walking up some stairs to sketchyland instead. The plus of this little excursion was we found a liquor store that sold the Peruvian drink, Pisco. Naturally we bought a bottle for the group and night ahead. Later, the whole group (minus one…Maggie who has a parasite and salmonella…whoops) all met up in the Plaza to go out for the night. We started out at a bar called Mama Africa…it was alright…it was pretty dead though. Something interesting though….I met a group from West Virginia and one of the guys in their group went to school at Case Western in Ohio (I tried to explain to him that it used to be in Hudson but he had no clue). We all decided to migrate back to Mythology for another night filled with dancing. Good times and a late night.

Sunday I slept until noon, when Kelli was instructed by Rosa to go in my room and make sure I wasn’t deathly ill (sleeping late is a foreign subject here). We ate some lunch and I slept some more. Kelli and I went to the ProPeru office to get some homework and studying done…neither of these were accomplished since some others from the group were there too. We went home in time for dinner, I studied a little after dinner and was asleep by eleven….very uneventful and boring day…sorry.

Monday I got up super early so that I could study more for my test. Since I got up so early, I needed a nap by 10…Rosa came into my room thinking I was deathly ill again. I went to school and took my test (I don’t think I did too shabby but we’ll see). After lunch I had Spanish (we convinced my teacher to push back the paper and song until Monday…woohoo!) The last class of the day was Reflection (normally not my favorite class…feelings psh), but today Nancy brought in a few members from the Q’eros tribe. One of her friends actually lived with them for three years analyzing their music (songs for fertility of animals, songs to the mother earth, etc). We watched a documentary this lady made about them, and then we talked with them a little (by talk I mean this lady translated everything). They brought some stuff from their town that their wives or sisters had made…I bought an alpaca hat with all natural dyes from a guy named Victor…it’s pretty awesome.

Today we had culture class in the morning for four hours….luckily two of them were spent in a museum. We went to Qorikancha which means “Temple of the Sun” or “House of Gold.” This was the main temple of Cusco during Inca times where they worshiped the sun god, Inti. (I think that this is the Temple of Gold that they lady from Lima at the AAA office was talking about…finally figured it out after asking countless people.) The building now has a huge church attached to it and a Dominican monastery (I think that’s what it’s called). In the old original part, all the walls are made of andesite and were apparently covered in gold to reflect the sun….during the Spanish conquest they took it all (or some think that the Incas hid it somewhere that has yet to be found). After the museum we hit up a panadería that everyone has been raving about…finally found me some tres leches cake (not quite up to par with Costa Rica or even Palatine Dominick’s…but it was still quite tasty). The rest of the day was pretty low-key…lunch, Spanish, went for a run around the stadium, and now I should be studying for my Spanish exam tomorrow but am writing this instead.

Random facts:
Turns out the crazy old lady in our house IS actually sick, along with our maid, the maid’s niece, Rosa, half of our group, and what seems like half of the population of Cusco.
As I type this I am listening to the sounds of Gato trying to unclog his toilet…on that note…he never closes the door when he pees…I hear lots of great noises.
I am covered in scratches from the cacti…so much that Rosa, our maid, and my Spanish teacher have asked me if I got into a fight with a cat.
Speaking of animals…I witnessed the craziest dog fight yesterday…more than fifteen dogs all going at each other.