Guinea Pigs and Other Odds and Ends

"Make love to each other; Be free with each other; Be prisoners of love 'til you lie in the sod; Be friends to each other; Forgive one another; See God in each other; Be beggars to God."  --Sally Rogers, "Beggars to God"

It seems that I always write these blog posts from the same exact spot in our apartment. I can see the lights that seem to go up and up into the mountains. In the distance, there is the Christo Blanco, always overlooking the city of Cusco. Tonight, I have the pleasure of hearing a concert that is going on just up the street and seeing all of the people dancing for Mother's Day. [Shout out to my mom, the best mom in the world:  Happy Mother's Day! I love you! <3] Victor, our tour guide, told us that when we climb the mountains and we are out of breath it is not because we are experiencing altitude sickness. It is because our hearts are jumping for joy because we are getting closer and closer to our Creator. Maybe he's right. :)

Well, on Friday I had my final Spanish lesson with Jose. The academia changes professors every week as we progress through our curriculum, but I'm really going to miss him! He is definitely one of the most interesting and fun teachers I have ever had. We had a laid back morning as Jose went over each of our presentations and fixed the many mistakes that he found. Megan and Lariss, if you're reading this, know that I bragged both of you up and that everyone was thoroughly impressed with the awesomeness of my sisters. =] After our lessons, Elisabeth and I came home to a quick lunch and then back to the academy for a briefing on our future plans. I have been placed in Sra. Vargas' kindergarten classroom in a Pronoei School. After seeing the slideshows and hearing about my placement, I am very excited! We will be working as assistants for the next four days. I just wish that we had more time in the classroom; I didn't realize that we only had four days with the children. I have been told again and again to stay positive and not expect an American classroom, so I hope that I am ready for this experience. We start tomorrow. Kindergarten is an amazing age and the children of Cusco are possibly the cutest children I have ever seen. After our meeting, Elisabeth and I set out to explore the city of Cusco. We went shopping around the Plaza de Armas and explored Cusco's supermarket. We ended up buying toy story pasta, tomato sauce, peach juice, and peach tea. The prices here are so cheap! We also made a quick stop at McDonald's to get a taste of America for once. We went to the Plaza de Armas at around 7:30 p.m. to relax and take pictures before meeting up with the rest of the group to go to Mama Afrika's, a local disco. We hung out with the rest of the group there until around 9:30 p.m. The dance wasn't going to open until 10 p.m. and Elisabeth's contacts were acting up due to the smoke. We were both very tired! On Thursday, a group of students are going out again and I fully intend to dance and show off my new salsa skills, even if I am horrible at it . . . I'll have a good time. :)

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to visit Chincheros and Ollantaytambo. At breakfast, I discovered how much Monica and Rafael, our host parents, love peanut butter and felt horrible for hoarding it the whole time! I placed it out for all of us to share. In Peru, peanut butter is a rarity! Apparently, blueberries are also rare here and the ready-made dinners that Americans are used to are non-existent. There are so many things we take for granted; I'm definitely going to try to be more aware of that in the future. Chincheros was about a one-hour drive away from the academy and is a small farming town. One of the most magnificent parts for me was the cathedral. Similar to the Plaza de Armas, the Spanish realized what part of town was most important to the Andean people and recreated it to try to convert the locals. The chapel was actually very simple, with wooden pews and only two small rooms. The really amazing part was the paintings. Victor, our tour guide, explained to us that many of the paintings were made by native people from the Cusco Art School. They were all very beautiful and well done! As in Sacsayhuaman, the rocks were perfectly placed together and there were many terraces. The symbol of 3 was ever-present:  the heaven, the earth, and the afterlife. It truly is inspiring how smart the Andean people were to experiment with differnt layers of agriculture by making the terraces! After Chincheros, we went out to eat at a very nice Chinese buffet complete with Macaws, llamas, beautiful gardens, and places to sit and out outside. After lunch, we headed to Ollaytaytambo, a ruins even more advanced than Chincheros. In the local square, there was a celebration for Mother's Day. On the mountain opposite of the ruins, there were two heads carved into the mountain. One represented their creator, who was believed to be like Atlas:  A man holding the world on his back. As such, he looked pretty angry. There were two structures also carved into this mountain which Victor believed to be storehouses. At the bottom of Ollaytaytambo, there was a special area with special knobs carved into the rock. Victor explained that these rocks had to do with astronomy and special dates of the year:  On Dec. 21, the shadows of the knobs would fit into the other carvings of the rocks perfectly. Astronomy is believed to be the beginning of the Andean people's knowledge. When we finally reached the top, we found that Ollaytaytambo had never been finished. No one knows why. There is a legend of Ollaytaytambo:  General Ollay was the best warrior of all, and he had a secret love affair with the Inca king's daughter. She became pregnant, and General Ollay was forced to run away. He formed an army at Ollaytaytambo and built a fortress. After fighting General Ollay, the king thought the love affair was alright and General Ollay was allowed to marry the princess. Everyone was very happy. :) After Ollaytaytambo, we made a quick stop at a Chicharia. In ancient times, it was typical for everyone in town to go to a Chicharia, where a drink made solely of fermented corn (chicha) was shared by everyone as the news of the town spread. I did not like the taste at all, but at least I tried it. The chicharia also held one full room full of guinea pigs, one of my favorite pets, and it made me sad! As my Phi Sig sister, Katie Parker, told me: "Guinea pigs are friends, not food." I very much agree. As we traveled around Peru, we saw a symbol on many rooftops:  two bulls with a cross in the middle. The cross is a symbol of Catholicism, but the bulls represent duality:  progress and hope. They are meant to bring good luck to every household. The hikes up and down mountains definitely wore me out (those hiking boots really did come in handy) so Elisabeth and I just came home and rested.

 Today, we had to be at the academy by 8 a.m. Our first stop was in the Andean ruins of Pukapukara, which means "Great Fortress." There were few, if any, terraces. It was simply a safe place which was right across from Tambomachay, which means "Water Temple." Victor told us that the prettiest women of the Andes would come to Pukapukara before going to Tambomachay to purify the mind and soul. Tambomachay was beautiful. A small stream ran through it which was surrounded by beautiful plants and trees. The actual temple of Tambomachay was run down, but the same water that had been running through it for centuries continues to run through it today. Made with techniques of the Andeans, one small waterfall falls down into two separate waterfalls. The first waterfall represents the creator, and the second waterfall represents the duality he created (man and woman, night and day, etc.). Victor believes this was the first Cusco of the Andes. Our second stop was Awana Kancha, a project started by the native people to keep the ancient traditions alive. At Awana Kancha, the people use camel, llama, and alpaca wool to make different crafts following the ancient ways. It is painstaking work, but the end result is absolutely beautiful. It was a lot of fun because we were actually able to pet and feed the animals. Sixty percent of the profit goes to the community, but the products were so expensive that I could not afford to buy any. Some of the items sell for $500-600! After Awana Kancha, we headed to the famous Pisac Indian market. While there, I was able to buy some souvenirs and practice my Spanish and bartering skills. I'm not very good at bartering because as soon as the people start looking sad I give in to whatever price they want, but the prices are actually very reasonable. It was just nice to shop and look around at all the things the Pisac people had to offer. Afterwards, we headed to lunch at a Peruvian buffet. The food was good, but I especially liked a new fruit I tried. I don't remember what it was called, but the inside had seeds that looked like fish eggs and that was basically all the fruit was made of. I swallowed the seeds whole. A women came and told me that the fruit is very good for the stomach. I have been eating such healthy food since I got here! After lunch, we visited the Pisac ruins, which was definitely the hardest hike I've had so far. There were hundreds and hundreds of terraces, so it was very clearly important in the farming world. The mountain on the other side of the Pisac ruins was filled with over 10,000 tombs in the form of caves. Unfortunately, they are now only caves as all of the tombs have been excavated for their treasures. We then climbed to the highest point we have ever been to so far. It was worth it. When we got to the top, there was a breathtaking view of the Sacred Valley, home of the Sacred River and much of the source of life for the Andean people. Then we headed home. My bus buddy and new friend, LinLin, felt so sick the whole time and I just felt so horrible for her! I hope she feels better in the morning. When we got home, Elisabeth and I headed to the supermarket a few blocks down the road so I could buy some supplies for a recipe I am going to make for Monica this week. It involves a pie crust. Usually I buy the ready-made pie crusts, but there are none in Peru--it looks like I'm going to have to learn how!

It is amazing how much I have learned so far! Every day there is a new experience and something that makes me question myself and who I am. In America, I always thought I knew exactly what I was doing and felt like I had finally discovered myself. It's impossible to distinguish who I am here when I have to go through the process of learning something new everyday. It makes me question who I am and what I stand for. I cannot wait for the challenge that working in the schools presents and hope that I find something new to add to my classroom someday.

As always, thanks for keeping up with my adventures. I love and miss you. <3

Love always,

Chels =]