Thursday, 30 May, 2013; our room, Cuzco hotel; 9:39 PM
Today was an awesomely long day.
This morning we went to the Machu Picchu museum, which consisted of a lot of stuff that Hiram Bingham (the 'scientific' discoverer of the city) brought back from his first expedition in 1911-1912. It was fairly interesting information. One thing that was kind of cool was that they did astrology differently than a lot of other cultures. While the Greeks and other people connected the dots among the stars and said, "Hey! A stick-figure Hercules!" or whatever, the Incas said, "Hey, that dark blob in the milky way looks like a llama!" As we learned later, that was the inspiration for the Nazca lines - the interpretations of the dark clusters. (they're so big and can only be seen from the sky because GODS AND COSMOS).
After the museum, we went out to lunch to a place allegedly (actually) run by nuns, which was very good. There were empanadas (beef and chicken) and some other things, but the desserts were the best. I got (to split) a mango pastry, some dulce de leche pastry, and a chocolate thing that was brilliant.
After lunch (and saying farewell to Lesley's friends, Ellen and Kim, who we met up with this morning), we went wandering around the city to the various small shops (almost all of which have at least one (usually more) of the following: hats, gloves, socks, sweaters, ponchos, bags, bracelets, or earrings). It's kind of like Arlington in that there are a lot of windy streets and there are a lot of hills. On the other hand, Cuzco is in the mountains, 11000 feet above sea level, and has more cultural heritage than Arlington ever will. Also, the architecture is completely different.
After much wandering (and the purchasing of a pair of earrings) we went to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina - Monastery of St. Catherine. The monastery is still going - there are around 13 nuns who worship there. We only went to the museum part, because it's a cloister convent, which means that the nuns are completely isolated and do a lot of praying. They can't leave the monastery or have contact with males unaffiliated with the church. Apparently, they do other things than pray - sewing for the church-related events and do a lot of script urestudy (I can't read that word...), especially of Saint Catherine's writings (and by 'writings,' I mean 'things that Catherine dictated to people because she couldn't write').
After the monastery, we went out and realized that a parade was about to start. This week is Corpus Christi - 9 weeks (way off in that estimate... actually 60 days) after Easter, and probably something to do with Christ's physical ascent into Heaven. It's a catholic festival, which thereby means that a parade is on, EVERY CATHOLIC PERSON IN CUZCO decides they want to celebrate by watching it. The thing is, there are more Catholics in Cuzco than there is room to move in the Plaza where the parade is held, once you factor in the tourists, vendors, balcony space, and stray dogs roaming about.
We tried to work our way around the Plaza to the Inca History Museum, but we got there right as it was closing. After hanging out in the shop across the street, the proprietor of the shop told us the name of a really good restaurant for dinner. We decided to go there after taking some time to sit down and do nothing for a little while. Upon our return to the Act of Doing Stuff, however, we spent an hour and a half looking for this restaurant. It did not exist - if it does, we were in the wrong place. After walking around for an hour and a half and multiple asks for directions, we decided to just go to the touristy place, which was decent.
After that, we went to meet someone Lesley knows as a friend of a friend. HIs name is Christo, and he's super cool - if only because he looks sort of like a Peruvian Qui-Gon Jinn. (It's the fact that he has the beard for it, and the hair for it, and his facial structure is right). He has really kind eyes, and the sort of wrinkles about the eyes that form when a person is smiling ALL THE TIME. It fit him, though - he's a cheerful guy in manner and a bit eclectic in dress - he had a rainbow scarf, a rasta sort of knit hat, and a blue coat that was a bit patched around the wrists. He's eternally energetic, too, and he makes and keeps friends well. Christo used to run a Coca Shop (I wrote 'chocolate stuff' here, but it's not that - it's a plant for altitude sickness), and he met the friend he shares with Lesley when she came in as a patron. Ten years ago. And they've kept in touch.
After that, Christo showed us a shortcut to the plaza, and now we're in the hotel. I feel kind of like a grandma for feeling tired before 11, but my excuse is a pre-6:00 wakeup every day in the Amazon.
Wild Card's Note: The Corpus Christi festival, as it is held in Cusco, has been sort of 'made by Cusco' (for lack of a better term). Many years ago, there was an earthquake in Cusco; when someone brought a saint out of the church to save the statue, the earthquake stopped. That saint became super important, and they've brought statues around the plaza every year on the same day ever since. Something like that, anyway.
Also, about Coca - it's not just a plant that has been used for altitude sickness since forever. It's the plant that was the basis for the formula for Coca-Cola (very creative name... not), and is the reason that the formula had trace amounts of cocaine.
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