5/23 Koricancha and ceviche

The lemonade at the restaurant 

Food we got at the restaurant

Koricancha

Then we drove back to Cusco and walked to the Koricancha ruins in the city. Next we stopped at a little seafood restaurant for lunch. There we each got the set-menu which had a plate of ceviche (raw fish with lime juice and spices), chaufa (rice with chunks of egg, pepper, peas, etc., and fried calamari. We also got lemonade. The lemonade tasted really good! Instead of being fake, with 1% real juice it was just made with the Peruvian lemons, which are smaller and have more flavor than the American lemons. Then we walked around the city and tried sugar cane from a booth.

When we were almost home with met up with Sylvia, who was going to play volleyball. She invited me to go with her and we took a cambio  to a nearby park. There we waited for a while then played with Sylvia’s friends and some other people. At about seven we left and walked home. On the way, we stopped and got picarones, donut-like things that are made by frying raw dough. When we got home, I packed for Taray and went to bed.

5/23 After Paragliding

The artist's family

Then we drove to a park and stopped so they could dry the sail/kite bag (it had gotten wet when we were packing up the kite). While they were doing that we walked around and looked in a little painter’s shop. There we got a painting of a street and buildings there for the equivalent of eight dollars. The artist gave us two cards with a watercolor painting and pressed flowers from his garden. He also gave us an ear of corn (maiz blanco) that he saw me looking at. 

5/23 paragliding

5/23 more paragliding photos

5/23 paragliding

View from jumpoff spot

Today we had breakfast at about 8:15 and left to go paragliding. A van picked us up from the school and we drove about 45 minutes to Chinchero. On the way we talked to the guide who was going paragliding with me. He knew a pretty good amount of English and we knew a little Spanish, so we could communicate pretty well. He told us that the people who live in those areas practice communal farming where one person watches all of the kids so everyone else can farm and do other jobs. He also told us about the potatoes being laid out in the sun. The most interesting thing that he told us was that in some of the towns near there, women braid their hair differently depending on their marital status. If they are single, they have more then one braid. If they are married they have one long braid.

Once we got to the place we were going to leave from we looked around and watched them set up the stuff. The area were we were leaving had a little store and a lot of tour buses stopping because you could get great views of the Urubamba River Valley. Once the wind was blowing in the right direction. We put on our pack/seat things (you put them on like a backpack but are more like a seat) and the instructor told me what to do. Then we got hooked up to the kite and started running to the edge of the cliff. The sail didn’t catch the wind right so we stopped running and backed up and waited for about ten minutes. Then we started running. Luckily the sail caught the wind after we had run ten feet or so (which was pretty hard being hooked together and having the huge seat things on our backs). We sat down in the seats and we were off! We got an amazing view of the Urubamba River Valley and into another valley. We also got to go pretty close to a glacier up on one of the mountains. After we had been in the air for 20 minutes or so it was time to land. We circled around the field we were going to land in as we got lower. We glided into the field and landed. It was a very smooth landing. The only problem was that the field had just been irrigated was pretty wet. Then we packed up the sail and carried everything to the nearest road and waited for about a minute until the van came to pick us up. 

5/22 Guinea pig on the menu

Guinea pig and alpaca on the menu

After looking at Sacsayhuaman, we walked back down to the school and had dinner at a restaurant that served Cuy (guinea pig). We didn’t get any but we do want to sometime. After dinner we went back to the school where Libby took a Salsa Dancing class while I worked on the blog.

5/22 More Sacsayhuaman

5/22 Sacsayhuaman

Camille next to one of the giant blocks

After looking around Quenko, we walked to Sacsayhuaman. Sacsayhuaman is a fort to protect the Incan city of Cusco. It has three zigzagging rows of tall walls designed to expose the attacker while protecting the Incas. It is also the ruin with the largest stone blocks; some are over 300 tons.

5/22 potatoes

In the town near Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay, all of the buildings are adobe brick construction with thatched roofs and animals are allowed to roam free. There were dogs all over the place (there are a lot of dogs even in Cusco; some people think there are more than 4,500). There were also pigs, chickens, sheep, and goats wandering around. There were also piles of straw that had potatoes laying on them. Later we learned that people did that to make the potatoes swell up a little bit and to make them easier to cook later. 

5/22 Quenko ruins

Then we rode the horses for 20 more minutes, until we arrived at Quenko, coming from the word quenqo, meaning “labyrinth” or “zigzag”, which refers to the patterns carved into the rocks. One of the main things to see there is the rock with a bowl carved into it and two zigzag channels coming off to the sides. At special ceremonies, the priest would our llama blood into the bowl; if the blood flowed to the left and didn’t make it to the end of the channel it signified bad fertility in the upcoming year.

5/22 Tambo Machay

 Then we walked to Tambo Machay (about 15 minutes from Puca Pucara), which is an Incan bath. In the town near Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay, all of the buildings are adobe brick construction with thatched roofs and animals are allowed to roam free. There were dogs all over the place (there are a lot of dogs even in Cusco; some people think there are more than 4,500). There were also pigs, chickens, sheep, and goats wandering around. There were also piles of straw that had potatoes laying on them. Later we learned that people did that to make the potatoes swell up a little bit and to make them easier to cook later.

5/22 Puca Pucara

First we rode the horses to Puca Pucara, about 35 minutes on horseback. Puca Pucara used to be an Incan hunting lodge.

5/22

The scenery around Sacsayhuaman

The scenery around Sacsayhuaman

Libby riding a horse

Camille with a llama

Today was the last class of the week. In this one week we covered all of the future tense, all of the pretérito indefinido, the pretérito perfecto, direct object pronouns, reflexive verbs, and the impersonal use of se. Next week we are continuing our classes in Taray, in the Sacred Valley near the Urubamba River Valley.

Today after class we bought our Boleto Turistico, a pass that allows the person to enter various archeological sites and museums for free. Then we walked about two miles uphill to Sacsayhuaman, the Incan guard tower for the ancient city of Cusco. Once there we decided to “rent” a horse (for 7 dollars apiece) so we could get to see the other ruins that are farther away (we wouldn’t have time to see them if we walked).

5/21 evening musical activity

The Pan Pipes

Our classmate, Ingrid, playing the Pan Pipes

The school held an evening lecture about sikuri, which is the native Incan music made with pan-flutes. The teacher showed us all the different kinds. The smallest one is smaller than your hand, made from bird bones, and is used for communicating, like a whistle. The larger ones are made in a series so that they all harmonize. The largest pipe on one size is exactly half the length of the pipe on the next size up. He told us how they were used in a call-response fashion with two instruments working together. Then he gave half the class a 6-piped instrument and the other half a 7-piped one. He wrote the musical sequence on the board and we all got to play. It mostly alternated between the two groups. He played a bass pan-flute with us and we learned a traditional song, which has an introduction, a lead-in to the war song, and then a conclusion. We all got to do a solo, and then Camille got to bang the drum. Very interesting. And the entire lecture was in Spanish!

5/21/09

After we got the yarn we decided to go get lunch. After looking around a little we decided to go to a Peruvian fast food place. Libby got a chicken leg and French fries and I got a fried trout fillet, roasted vegetables, and potatoes. We also got a large bowl of soup to share. The total cost of the two meals was 8 soles which is less than 3 dollars.

After lunch we walked down to the Central Artisans Market. On the way we saw the Sun God mural and the Sun God Fountain. The Central Artisan’s Market is a huge building filled with little booths that have mostly touristy stuff (alpaca wool clothing, little statues, blankets, etc.). I got some things for Frances as well as a present for Stuart.

Then we walked back to the Plaza de Armas and stopped at a dessert place that is La Senora’s favorite place. Libby got aguaymanto (an exotic fruit) cheesecake and I got two different flavors of ice cream (we don’t know what they are; I just pointed).

Sorry

We are in Taray (about an hour away from Cusco) and don´t have internet at the school. Right now we are in a little Internet Cafe. We can´t update the blog until the 30th when we return to Cusco. We are still typing it each day but saving it to the laptop. Make sure you check the blog on the 30th.

5/21/09 Breakfast and Class

For breakfast we had Peruvian bread with cheese, passionfruit juice, and coffee.  Then we walked to class, passing thousands of school kids in uniform on their way to school. In class we did the second half of  peretérito indefinido. Our two classmates are Ingrid from the Netherlands and Mike from England. 

5/21/09 visiting the markets

A shelf of yarn in a yarn store

Bags of grains in the San Pedro Market

After class, we walked over the San Pedro Market. It is about 6 blocks away from the Plaza de Armas, which is the center of the city. We noticed that the farther away we got from the Plaza de Armas the less tourist-y it was. In the San Pedro Market there were rows of stalls selling pretty much everything under a huge tent that took up a whole city block. There were rows and rows of smoothie and juice booths, rows of stalls where you could eat lunch, butcher stalls, fruit and vegetable stalls, grain stalls, stalls of spices, stalls that had kitchen utensils, and a few stalls with tourist-y stuff. After looking around we decided to leave and walk to an artisan market about a mile away. 

When we got outside we walked down a block and noticed that we were in the cloth and sewing store section. We looked around in the stores and found one that had 100% alpaca wool yarn. We got two of the alpaca wool (one in light gray and one in dark) for crocheting a scarf or something similar. 

5/20/09 Natural History Museum

Libby posing with spiders in The Natural History Museum

A stuffed sloth in The Museum of Natural History

Part of the diorama on the beach in The Natural History Museum

Today for breakfast we had  fresh homemade pineapple juice, Peruvian bread with avocado and butter, and coffee. Then we walked to the school and got tea. At the school we learned pretérito perfecto and reviewed half of pretérito indefinido. After school, we went back to the house for lunch, which was beef on pasta with pesto and cheese. Then we went to the Natural History Museum. It was very small but had many interesting stuffed animals. 

After we went to the Museum we walked around the city and bought large popcorn. It is a popcorn made from a corn with huge kernels. When we were walking around the city we decided to go back to the school to use the bathroom. We decided to try a road which we though lead to the road the school was on. Father up on the road there was about 4 flights of stairs which you had to climb up. The stairs were made with mismatched rocks cemented in. While we were climbing up, two bikers wearing full helmets, knee pads, and shin guards biked down the steep, stairs. They managed to make it down without falling. 

Dessert

After the Inca Museum we walked around the city, looked at the stores, and got dessert in a little cafe. Libby had a large piece of chocolate cake with cococut and dulce de leche filling between the layers of cake.  I had a 5-6" roll (with dough similar to phyllo dough) that had chocolate and dulce de leche in the middle. We also got a big bottle of water. The total cost was 7.50 soles which is only $2.50. 

Then we walked back to the house and joined the family we are staying with for a small dinner/snack of little rice patties and tea. The patties were made with cooked rice, and egg, diced cheese, a little bit of flour, salt, and pepper. Over dinner we talked about the mispronunciation of Spanish words (resulting in a different, funny meaning). They told us about a person they knew who when learning Spanish tried to say, "Happy New Year", (Feliz nuevo año) and instead said, "Feliz nuevo ano", which means happy new asshole. I also told when mom spent ten minutes talking about "su esposa" (meaning her wife) when talking in Spanish to a teacher at Scottsdale Community Collage. The whole time the teacher was scooting her chair farther away with a horrified expression on her face.

Inca Museum

After class yesterday, instead of look around, we decided to go to the Inca Museum. It is a large museum that documents the Incas and other groups of people who lived here before the Incas. It had many drawing of what scientists think the pre-Incan people looked like as well as many dioramas and artifacts (such as pieces of pottery, mortars and pestles, jewelry, tools, etc.).  All of the signs were in Spanish and only a few had an English translation but, surprisingly, we were able to piece together what they meant. 

One of the most interesting exhibits was mummies and preserved skulls. Some of the skulls had been trepanned, which was an operation in which they cut out a circular hole about the size of a golf ball from the skull. We read later that the purpose of this operation was to relieve seizures, migraines, and other conditions. Also, it was emergency surgery to relieve pressure on the brain and to get out bone chunks. The weapons they used were rocks on strings, maces, and clubs with metal stars on the end. So blows to the head were common.

The museum was housed in a colonial building with an enclosed courtyard and two stories, with wooden beams and paintings on the ceilings. We were not allowed to take photos in the museum, but this website shows many of the types of things we saw. 

http://www.precolumbiangold.com/inca.htm

Second Day of Classes

Yesterday afternoon Camille was invited to play sports with the children at our host family. Daniel (10) and Sylvia (15) and Camille went out and played volleyball in the street. The neighborhood boys were zipping down the streets on handmade scooters, using their feet for brakes. While they were out la Senora showed me all the exotic fruits, spices, types of corn and potatoes in the kitchen. Then she explained about their local treat, picarones, which are sort of like doughnuts but made from corn meal and drizzled with honey. She decided to drive us over to a local street vendor she knows so we could sample them. Tasty!

After that we came back into town for the welcome dinner for all the students at a restaurant. We had the entire restaurant for ourselves (about 20 students and 2 people who work at the school). We got to try the favorite drink Pisco Sours. Camille didn't want the alcohol, so I got two. We had chicken with gravy, fries, something like lasagna but with potatoes instead of pasta, and fruit with honey. There was a band there playing traditional Andean music and playing guitars, flute, pan-pipes, and whistling. After that it was quite late so we took a taxi home. Daniel was still finishing his homework (at 10pm). 

We just finished our second day of classes. We have two different teachers (Paola and Giovanni) every day so we can see different teaching styles and accents. Yesterday there was just one other student with us in the class; today were two. So far everything we have done has been review for us, but they have covered most of Spanish 101 in two days, so it moves very fast and we are speaking more. In that small class we really have to concentrate. Also having meals with our family and getting around town we constantly are hearing and speaking Spanish.

Today for breakfast we had homemade juice, coffee, and  fresh cheese on Peruvian bread. Then we walked to our class and got here about 15 minutes early in which we got tea/coffee (they have some in the courtyard area for the students) and checked our email and updated the blog. Now we are going to go back to the house for lunch and then we are planning to look around the city. 

First Day of Class #3

The Courtyard-like area on the Fourth Floor

Luckily, Libby and I were placed in the same class with two other people, one of whom chose to move down a level after an hour. During the class, we reviewed reflexive verbs, the present tense, irregular present tense verbs, and vocabulary. After the class we sat up in the courtyard-like area and checked our e-mail and updated the blog while drinking tea. This time we tried Anise tea.. Then we rushed back to the house thinking we were late, only to learn that they eat lunch at 2:00-3:00 and that we were actually early. For lunch we had homemade chicken-noodle soup with cilantro and other spices. Then we had mashed potatoes and roast beef with homemade gravy. To drink we had passion fruit juice, which was very good.

 

We are about to go play volleyball. Silvia invited me to join her and Angelita, then at 6:45 we have a lecture on Peruvian tourism at the school, followed by a dinner for all of the students at a restaurant a few doors down from the school at 8:00.

 

 

First Day of Classes #2

Top: Libby drinking Mate de Coca

Middle: Mug of Mate de Coca

Bottom: Coca Leaf

While the exam was being graded, we sat in a courtyard-like area that was on the fourth floor. We got to try the mate do coca tea for the first time, which is supposed to be remedy for altitude sickness. It was pretty good. It tasted similar to weak green tea but with enough sugar it tasted pretty good. We also got to meet the other people taking classes. Most of the people were from Europe (Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, England, Germany). We only met two other Americans. 

Morning of First Spanish Class

A picture across The Plaza de Armas

Today we had our first Spanish class. We woke up at 6:50 AM and had breakfast, an egg on some kind of flatbread that is common here, homemade juice, and coffee. Then we took a taxi to The Plaza de Armas (which is about a block away from the school) for 3 soles, which is about a dollar. Once at the school we took a written exam and an oral exam to determine our placement.