Peru - The Tour Begins

Peru, Cont´d...

So where did I leave off? Oh yeah, we returned to Cuzco. The morning of the 12th I was finally able to sleep in. I did make sure to make it down to breakfast by 8:30, which is still quite early for me, at least when on vacation. But I needed my daily sustenance. We spent the day exploring the streets of Cuzco and shopping. I managed to resist mostly, but I did buy a belt on the street from a nice lady carrying her baby boy on her back. In the afternoon the group met for the first time. We went around the circle introducing ourselves and explaining our intent. I explained that I didn´t have one, I just came because my grandma told me to and that seemed reason enough to me. As a group, we all headed to dinner down the street where I tasted my first, and most likely last, cuy (aka guinnee pig). I wasn´t enough to order it myself but when Donna offered me a piece, it didn´t feel right to say no.

The 13th was action packed with group activities. First stop was the coca shop where we learned all about the benefits of coca as well as the importance in the culture on the Andean peoples. The best part of the meeting was the free samples. First we tasted some tea made with honey and lemon, then out came the chocolates and toffee... yum. Christo, the manager of the shop, showed us the dietic benefits of coca by showing us his drivers license from a few years and 20 kilos ago. Next was lunch, I opted for the quinua soup, which was both delisicios and educational as I´ve had quinua in my cupboard for a few months not knowing what to do with it. And then it was time to shop once more. This time Cindy and I went to uncharted territories in Cuzco in search of books for the children in the village we are heading to on Friday. At 4:00 we met the bus driver Dante and he drove us (in the bus I´ve named the Inferno) to a site up the hill from Cuzco where we finally met Don Antonio, the mystic that would be guiding us (spiritually) for the remainder of the tour. He took us into the Temple of the Moon which from what I could gather is also the temple of Pacha Mama (mother earth). We were instructed to close our eyes, picture our life, and forgive our mothers. So, Mom, I forgive you!

Today (the 14th) Dante and the Inferno picked us up and drove us to a lake in the Sacred Valley to meet with the Qèro indians. They live way up in the mountains and apparently walked for approximately two days to "do ceremony" with us. Each one of them, upon arrival came up and gave us a big hug and kiss on the cheek. But the eldest went straight for the boob and the lips. I guess at that age you get what you can get. Most of the time we all sat in a circle and the Qèro spoke in quechua to Don Americo who spoke in spanish to Oscar who translated in english to us. From what I gathered, they were all happy to see us. Later the women sang, from what I could guess, was the quechua version of Kumbaya. This brought many of the women on the tour to tears. Fortunately, I´ve been suffering from alergies that has been making my eyes water, so I´m fitting in quite well.

Tomorrow we head to Salkawasi (sp?), the ancestrial home of Don Americo, where it is going to be quite chilly at night, making me wonder if I should have packed a second pair of pants. After a few days there we head to Manu in the jungle of the Amazon. I doubt I´ll have email access (as there is no power in either place) so those of you enjoying these emails will have to wait about a week for an update, and those that wish I would stop sending them will get a nice break.