I'm back!

Well, I'm back stateside to spend the holidays with my family! I had the time of my life in South America and am looking forward to the next journey!

A few notes about Argentina...

Argentina has been really fun and it's been great having Susan here to explain the ins and outs of whats going on here to me...

1. The Moneda shortage.
It's not uncommon to have trouble getting change in Latin American countries, but the extreme of the situation in Argentina is more than I've seen anywhere else. Moneda is Spanish for coin and here, the metal is worth more than the value of the coin. Because of that, people take them, melt them, and sell their metal and the result is that hardly anyone has monedas and the people who do have them hold on to them like hoarders. You have to pay for things in a strategic way so to maximize your modeda return and some places even have signs saying "We don't have monedas. Please pay in exact change." Unfortunately, busses ONLY accept monedas, so having them really is a must.

2. Mate
This note also applies to Uruguay. People here don't eat dinner until around 10pm, so that's a pretty long day. How do they keep themselves fueled? Mate. It's a super strong green tea that you sip out of a gourd from a filtered straw and people suck it back like nothing else I have ever seen. All over, people are walking around with a gourd in hand and the straw in there mouth. The situation in Uruguay was even more hilarious as it seemed like the favorite pass time of EVERYONE was to park your car near the water and sip on mate. All ages, all places, all slurping up that mate.

3. Toilets
There is no standard for how to flush toilets here. Some are a button on the top or side of the toilet, not to strange. Some are a button or lever on the wall behind the toilet. And my personal favorite is the chain or string that hangs from the ceiling above the toilet.

In and Out of Uruguay in 24 Hours

After finally an affordable last minute ferry to Colonia, Uruguay, Susan and I crossed Rio de Plata and got one more stamp on our passports. It felt very much like taking a trip to Put-In-Bay or Mackinac Island. You go into a nice little port town, hop on a ferry, take a scenic trip, and then you land in quaint little Colonia where everyone is on vacation and therefore, in an excellent mood.

We took the slowest (and therefore cheapest) option, so we had both a boat ride through the Rio de Plata delta, which was gorgeous... well the first twenty minutes were at least, we slept for the majority of the journey. We landed in Las Palmiras and then took a shuttle to Colonia. The shuttle ride made us wonder if we had taken a ferry back to the midwest... it was through corn fields, hay fields, and there were pine trees and non-tropical trees. It was beautiful. We finally got into Colonia early afternoon.

We had a pretty lazy day eating, walking, laying around on the beach, and swimming in the river, which was more like a bay. From the beach, we had a late waterfront dinner and strolled through the historic area and the docks. I really liked the feel of the town, mostly because like I said, the vibe was similar to the Great Lakes Islands, which I love.

The next morning, we made a valiant attempt to get up to see the lunar eclipse, but failed miserably. The owner of our hostal told me that if I got up and could have a bike back before breakfast, he wouldn't charge me for the rental, so that's what I did. While Susan ran, I went on a bike ride along the coast. After breakfast we took a speed tour of the historic district before Susan had to be at the dock for her 11:15 ferry... I had another hour of which I spent napping on the beach.

Buenos Aires

We've been back in Susan's turf these past few days in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This city really is awesome. There's something to do all the time and we've been running around trying like mad women so I can get a taste of all of Susan's favorite things in the city.

Pretty much immediately after getting in and battling the subway systems will all our luggage, we met up with some of Susan's friends from her study abroad program for lunch and then went to her favorite park, El Bosque with her friend Melissa. There, we paddle boated for a bit and then walked around through the gorgeous rose garden in the park. After that, we went to dinner with her host mom. I am loving Argentine steak and wine and the fact that it's way less than twenty dollars to have both of them in front of me.

Saturday was quite busy and mostly filled with tango. We went to La Boca, the colorful neighborhood full of tango shows. We had lunch outside and watched a tango show and then walked around for a bit down the colorful streets. It feels a lot like Disney World, but it really was fun. La Boca isn't in the best part of town, so we had to be careful, but they've done a pretty clever thing to get the area back on it's feet. It was kind of a slum, but then they painted the houses bright colors, put in some funky sculptures, and the filled the streets with tango and it's now a tourist magnet in Buenos Aires. After that, we met up with Susan's friend Caitlin and her boyfriend who is visiting her to do some shopping at one of the ferias. They love their ferias here in BA and I do too.

We visited the cemetery in La Recoleta, which is where the richest of the rich rest in peace. They have to pay rent for their mausoleums and some cost more than an apartment in Buenos Aires. We went to see the Eva Peron's grave, which was beautiful. The whole cemetery though was filled with eerie sculptures and laid out like a city. I was also chilling to see that some of the tombs had been broken into and ransacked. Many housed more than one person and had coffins resting right on top of each other, which was obviously due to destruction.

Straight from the feria, we continued our tango day and went to a tango class. It was so much fun! The hall that it was at was everything that a tango hall should be. It looked super shady from the outside as well as in the hallways getting into the dance area, but then it opened up into a dark, kind of musky, enormous room with a hodge podge of art hanging on the walls and from the ceiling with a spot light dangling down over the dance floor center. It's also a bar and restaurant, so tables were crowded around the dance floor. Learning how to tango was really fun as was watching the people who actually know what they're doing do it. I'm going to remember that dance hall as one of my favorite places in South America.

We spent today in more ferias and organizing our trip to Uruguay tomorrow. I've really enjoyed Buenos Aires. The street life is great, the food is delicious, the architecture is beautiful, and I've fallen hard for the tango. I'm thinking about signing up for a class when I get back to Bloomington.

Mendoz- aaah

After one the worst night bus experience of our lives, Susan and I arrived in Mendoza, Argentina from Valparaiso, Chile. Home of Malbec, Mendoza is the wine capital of South America and one the wine hot spots of the world. That being said, we did some pretty intense relaxing during our two days there.

After getting in, we were absolutely beat. It was only a seven hour journey from Valpo to Mendoza, but we had to get up and go through customs, so our sleep was sporadic. Fortunately the bus station had some comfy benches for us to get some shut eye before we could check into our hostal. When we found our hostal, we again, slept for a few more hours before starting our day.

We spent the first day strolling around the various plazas in town, the modern art museum, and Parque San Martin, which is an enormous and beautiful park just outside the city's center. We also went the side walk museum of the development of the streets of Mendoza... we were glad that it was in route of where we were eating dinner and that we didn't venture out of way to see that "museum". That night, we went to dinner at Las Tinajas, Mark and Jenny's favorite restaurant. Thanks for the suggestion... so much food, so little money! We called it an early night. Had to be well rested for our bike and wine tour the next day.

On Thursday, we rented bikes and rode around wine tasting at the various vineyards. It was really beautiful. We went to a liquor, chocolate, and jam factory (is this a normal combination?) After that, we were about done after three wineries and various glasses. Riding through the vineyards was super relaxing and the scenery really was beautiful. It was weird for me to see the Andes and know that they are now to my west instead of to the east, like they were in Peru and Chile. Directly after we turned our bikes in, we boarded a bus for the 15 hour haul to Buenos Aires. I'll write about Buenos Aires in a post yet to come...

Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, and Darwin's Favorite Day

Susan and I spent a few days in Valparaiso, a Chilean port city. We think we definitely went at the wrong time, as there was a garbage workers were on strike, so the streets were really dirty. Our first day in, it was super windy, which made the trash problem even more disgusting. Also, because it's been really hot, dry and windy, there were a far amount of fires... luckily they didn't make it to our hill. There's more to say about Valpo, than just those unfortunate things though.

The city really is charming. It's similar to San Fransisco in the sense that it's very VERY hilly and is situated on a bay. The houses lining the hills are brightly covered and act as a canvas for beautiful murals. There are lots of cute cafes, restaurants, and boutiques that are really fun, but also dangerous on the wallet. David and Paul, some of Susan's friends from Buenos Aires' friends noted how the people in Valpo are horrible dressers, but I for one, admired there obnoxiously colored jackets and pants, funny designed high tops, and messy hair. They fit quite well with the street art. What was weird though, is that there weren't too many people out and about and the stores seemed to be closed more than they were open... we were continually puzzled as to where they were. It's true that there isn't an enormous amount to do in Valpo, but the streets were fun to stroll up and down (literally) and the views of the port are beautiful.

One unique thing to Valpo is that they use what are like giant elevators to get up and down the hills. They are old and beautiful and on our first day Susan and I wandered into one like moths to light. Before we knew it, the door was shut and we were goin' down, but we had no clue where. It took us to the center of the city and the port area, which again, was pretty (well as pretty as a down town area in the middle of a garbage strike can be) and dead. We walked around for a bit and then made our way back up the hill and to our hostal, stopping at some view points and areas where Frommers suggested we take a look.

Terremotos (earthquake) is the Chilean drink. It's pretty much like a wine float: wine, fruity flavor, a ball of vanilla icecream on top. It's delicious. We were really boggled though as to how difficult they are to find. On our first night, we went out with some of Susan's friends from Buenos Aires who happened to be in the same hostal as us, and the bar we went to did not have them. The next night, we went to bar after bar asking for them and finally found some. It got us to thinking about typical American things that you can't find in restaurants. Here's what we got so far: PB&J and raw veggies with dip. We're sure there's more, so feel free to let us know.

On Monday, we went to Vina del Mar, just a few metro stops away from Valpo. It was really beautiful and they were not in a garbage strike. It was so nice to laze around on the beach for a day, but the ocean was way to cold to get into... we're expecting warmer waters in Uruguay.

Tuesday, we recreated Darwin's favorite day and hiked to the highest summit in Parque de la Campana with David and Paul. Yes, Darwin as in Charles Darwin, said he never enjoyed a day more than they one he spent atop this summit. We made it to the top after four hours of super steep climbing and clinging to anything we could to stay on the mountain at some parts before arriving at Darwin's favorite place. You could see the Andes to one side and the Pacific Ocean to other. Lots of people had graffitied their names on rocks, so now we all know who was there, and that kind of took the magic away from the place and our pictures look more like we're we're in a hood than on top of a mountain. The four hours down were even worse than the hike up and we were so happy to reach the bottom. Throughout the hike, we saw a fair amount of animals: tarantulas, lizards, and some really cute foxes.

From there, we got some completos before getting back on the metro. Paul and David advised up against eating them, but we felt like we had to try them. They are a hot dog with avocado, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. In other words, heaven on a bun. We can't figure out why we were advised against eating them as they were incredibly delicious. When we got back to Valpo, we pretty much only had time to stop in real quick at our favorite icecream shop, shower, and hop on the night bus to Mendoza, Argentina...

Shirtless in Santiago

I really need to get out of Santiago, Chile. Why? There are just too many pretty things to buy. Today was an intense day of shopping mostly motivated by the fact that between Chile and here, most of the shirts I packed have disappeared. Maybe someone in the hostel in Cusco grabbed my bag of shirts by accident, or maybe I drank a little too much pisco on Thursday night, which affected my packing ability on Friday morning in the dark (we had to leave really early); either one is plausible.

Anyways, I really like Santiago! Before arriving, all I had heard about the city was that it's insanely expensive, the people are unfriendly, and there's nothing to do. My experience has been the opposite of all of that. Well, yeah, the food is expensive compared to everywhere else I've been in Latin America, but it's delicious and I've taken to eating off the street, which is cheap. Things aren't very expensive, which was especially good for me with my shirt crisis. I am stocked up on shirts and souvenirs for the fam and have spent less than I did on food these past few days. The people have been overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable. They are very expressive when they speak and have been more than willing to help us when we're lost, need a bit of advice, or just want to hang out.

We spent the afternoon sight seeing. Susan didn't feel great, so I went to a Moroccan Bazaar solo and we met up later. At the bazaar, I talked to some people about Chilean politics, got an idea of what it's like to be Arab in Chile, see lots of pretty things, and get a henna tattoo a long with some other Chilean ladies. It'll be around for a month and that's all, mom and dad! When I met back up with Susan, we went to the handicraft market, Plaza de Armas, the Museum of National History, a modern dance concert, and then to a discoteque. The modern dance show depicted a day in the life of a very bored Chilean woman. It was interesting and the theater was awesome! It was called Teatro del Puente (Theater of the Bridge) and was literally situated on a bridge with the river and traffic of Santiago as the backdrop. After the show, we went out and had a ball. First we went to a bar with a singer who was hysterical and then to a discoteque. At the discoteque two Chilean girls and a group of guys who may or may not be a soccer team befriended us, and following suite, they were super friendly and fun. Also, Chilean beer, Kuntsman, has been my favorite in Latin America so far. It's a pale ale and delicious.

I really like Santiago. We're staying in Chile for a few more days, but will spend them in Valparaiso, a beach town just outside of Santiago. We aren't expecting very warm weather, but either way it should be pretty and hopefully the people will be as awesome as they are in Santiago.

Susan and Mary: Stairmasters of the Andes - Machu Picchu

We woke up at 3:45am to get an early start to Machu Picchu. Instead of taking the bus, we chose walked up to the ruins from the town, which was about an hour and a half of very steep Inkan staircases. So there, while we didn’t THE Inka Trail, we did AN Inka Trail. I had to fight really hard for it, but ended up getting the national student price, which was about a quarter of the price. We got there at 6am, just in time to see the raising of the Peruvian flag and hear the national anthem. From there, we waited in a line, got our stamps to climb Waynu Picchu and spent the morning exploring the ruins.

When we got there, it was super foggy and we couldn’t see anything. Then the fog cleared and we could the entire city below us. It really is an incredible place. Situated high in the Andes surrounded by peaks and clouds, it easy to see why it wasn’t found until 1911. The city was enormous and we found ourselves lost and turned around several times.

At 9:30, we climbed up Waynu Picchu with some travelers we met at the train station the night before. Waynu Picchu is the mountain that sits right behind the city of Machu Picchu. It was super steep and easily the scariest hike I’ve ever been on! The train was mostly stairs, but slippery, irregular stairs that skirted around the side of the mountain. The views at the top were spectacular though and made it absolutely worth the struggle. Being up there really made me feel like I was on top of the world. When we arrived, we again had to wait for the clouds to clear and no one even knew where Machu Picchu was. When it did finally clear up, everyone was scrambling for their cameras and it was pretty chaotic and hilarious. It started to get misty on the hike down, making the stairs even scarier. I have a very new respect for the Inka and their agility.

By the time we got back down to Machu Picchu, it was pouring and we were soaked, so we decided to take the bus back to Aguas Calientes because we just couldn’t imagine slipping around on those stairs in the rain. We took the train back to Cusco and spent the night in our hostal’s bar singing karaoke. It was definitely a good last day in Peru.

Today, we’re off to Chile. We’re at the airport now reading the Frommer’s Chile guide book that Susan accidentally stole from my host family in Lima. Way to go, Susan. We’re getting really pumped and it’s looking like we’re going to have a great week in Chile! I know I am super excited for some warm weather and sunshine!

Moray and Ollantaytambo

Due to our tight budget, we didn’t do the same tour that dad and I took, but just hopped in a bus and headed in for ourselves. We were able to avoid buying the tourist ticket, that they say is mandatory, and just went to a few off-the-beaten-path sites that cost less to enter, especially with our student IDs -- 50% discount! We went to Moray and then to Ollantaytambo to catch our train to Aguas Calientes, where Machu Picchu is. Moray looks like an enormous amphitheater, but was used for agriculture experimentation. No one really knows how long ago it was built. There was only one other family there, so we pretty much had the ruins to ourselves, which was awesome. From there, we took another bus to Ollantaytambo. Reluctant to pay the entrance fee into the fort that dad I went to, we found a train that takes you up to some free ruins! They were storage units for corn and potatoes and perched on the mountain side. From there, we had a gorgeous view of the fort and the city. Again, we were the only ones there apart from one other person. At that point, we started to fantasize about our luck continuing and that maybe we would be the only people at Machu Picchu the following the day! We took the last train out of Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and when we got there we were immediately swarmed by people peddling their hostals. We found a pretty nice one just off the square.

Cusco

Susan kicked altitude sickness’ ass and we had a great afternoon in Cusco. We went to Qoriakancha, but the museum was already closed. We could still see a lot from the outside though and the insides of the Inkan stones. From there we continued walking around and had a really nice dinner in Fallen Angel. It’s decorated with symbolism from heaven, hell, and purgatory and was really fun to be at! The tables were bath tubs turned into aquariums, so we had gold fish watching us during our entire meal. We called it a night early so that we could wake up and head out to the Sacred Valley, but unfortunately the people we were sharing a room with weren’t nearly as sleepy as we were. The next day, we got up early to see a little more of the city before heading out to the Sacred Valley. We went to the San Blas district which is known for its cafes and art gallery, so we browsed some of those. We made a stop at El Museo de la Hoja Coca (The Museum of the Coca Leaf), and while we didn’t actually go in, I bought a fair amount at the gift shop: coca beer, coca chocolate, and coca chocolate covered raisins. It was all actually really delicious and you can only get it from the museum, where it’s made. Unfortunately, I can’t bring heaps of coca back to the United States and it’ll show up in my system as cocaine if I get drug tested, but only in the first round… for the second test they’ll see that it was only tea, beer, and chocolate. From there, we got mochas as a really cute café/ bar. They run a free school for children, so it was decorated like a child’s play room. We drank our mochas with Eeyore and a penguin. After that, it was time to find a bus into the Sacred Valley.

Last Days in Lima

I had to say my final goodbye to Lima this morning, and it was so hard. Susan got in on Saturday and while she's been seeing everything for the first time, it's been sad for me to see it all or the last time, at least for a while. It's been a weekend of pisco sours, lots of food, and visiting my favorite places in the city. For our farewell party, we had another potluck, and just like before we finished dinner very full and very happy as everything was delicious. It's so bittersweet because we're all so excited about the trips we're taking, but heartbroken over saying good. The good thing, we all travel a lot so we could easily run into each other another day in another country and I can't wait to do my tour to visit everyone!

Susan and I have been having a really nice time in Peru so far. We spent Saturday lazying around Miraflores, Sunday we went into Barranco and then cooking green bean casserole to bring to the pot luck. We couldn't find Frenchies onions, so we went with smashed potatoe chips mixed with onions and it tasted delicious. Everyone loved it. Then Monday was our major site seeing day. We went to Huaca Pucllana, el Centro, Monasterio San Fransisco (the catacombs), La Muralla, Plaza San Martin, Kokopelli's for my last cinnamon pisco, La Mora for some pastries, and then to Barranco for a latin jazz concert. It was a really nice day. We also spent some time talking to Maria and Lucia. I'm really going to miss them. I've had such a wonderful semester in Peru and I can't believe that it went by so fast. I hope to come back someday soon!

We're in Cusco now. Altitude sickness didn't get me this time, but Susan isn't feeling too hot. I hope she never gets to the point I was when dad and I came to Cusco. Stay tuned...

One more week left

I have exactly one more week left in Lima before I start traveling with Susan, my best friend who I met studying in the Dominican Republic. While we have a really fun trip planned out, I am really sad that the semester is over. I've really enjoyed Peru and living in Lima and I know I'll be back. Keep reading, as I'll post updates of me and Susan's trip. Susan's studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina right now. She gets into Lima on Saturday and we're going to travel around Peru for a bout a week and then backpack our way down to Uruguay via Chile and Argentina. We're super excited!

Family and friends, I wrote all of you post-cards and then let them sit on my desk for months. My bad.

Fiesta en Chincha

My buddy Kalle invited me and my friend Kim to his friend's birthday party in Chincha, which is about three hours south of Lima. I have never been to a birthday party like this one. It lasted two days and I felt like I was in an all-inclusive resort. We had an enormous amount of delicious food, more Cusquena that's humanly possible to consume, and band of criollo music to keep us dancing. On Saturday night, we left the house at around three to go to a discoteca and came back when the sun was rising. Sunday, the day continued with music, relaxing with Cesar's family, eating, and of course, more Cusquena and Pisco Sours. The family also enjoyed having people from Germany, Holland, and The United States over and made it very clear that we are always welcome to stay there if we come back to Chincha.

The birthday celebration was very different than any birthday party I've been to in the States. Cesar, who's birthday it was, had to dance with all the women in his family, his father gave a speech, and he too had to give a speech. It all felt very formal. There was also a photographer present taking tons of group photos and recording key moments of the party. All the Peruvians said it was a very typical way to celebrate a birthday.

Sube sube sube THE PARTY COMBI

Over the weekend, there was an electronic music party at a hacienda in Pachacamac, which is about an hour outside of Lima. While trying to decide how we could all get there, Rodrigo posed the idea of a party combi, and being that he always manages to pull things together, he made it happen. Imagine a mix of drunk Peruvians and exchange students crammed inside of an itty-bitty bus (sitting, standing, and smooshed on the floor), passing around rum and coke, and that's exactly what it was like. It was exactly like a real-life combi voyage, but it was full of friends instead of strangers and alcohol was involved, so it was a million times better than a real-life combi voyage. Unfortunately, the actual party wasn't as fun as the party combi.

Huancayo

This past Friday, Corinna, Cuchuz and I took a twelve hour train trip to the Andean town, Huancayo. The train moved a bit slow, but the trip was beautiful. I really love being in the mountains here. It was beautiful to see the llamas roaming around and Huancayo is off the gringo trail and is known for its handicraft production and trout. Of course, we spent the first night trying to kick altitude sickness (thank god it didn't get me this time).

Saturday, we took it easy and just wandered around the city. There's a really charming park called Parque de la Identidad Wanka that was all stone and full of sculptures about the area around Huancayo. It was really fun to walk around in, especially because we happened to be there while a mariachi band was following around a bride and groom! While mariachi doesn't exactly fit into Wanka identity, it was fun to hear and it great having Cuchuz, who is from Mexico, there to answer all the questions that Corinna and I had about it.

Sunday, we went to the market that sells handicrafts and everything else you could possibly need and/or want. We stopped to look at Andean skirts and were immediately encouraged to try them on, were given hats, and then pointed out all the practical uses of these skirts. We ended up buying them. Don't we look Peruvian now? After the market we took a tour of traditions, which took us to a yarn factory, a jewelry factory, a lagoon, a trout farm, and a convent. Honestly, it was a pretty long day, but some of the stuff was interesting and pretty and I got a sweet deal on alpaca yarn. After the tour, we had 3 hours to kill before heading back to Lima on the hottest bus ride of our lives.

Arequipa

Dad and I spent 2 and half very leisurely days in the colonial Andean city of Arequipa. The city was so beautiful and easy-going, that it made the all night bus ride completely worth it. Arequipa is called the white city because the buildings are all constructed of white volcanic stone and also, a tour guide told us that in the colonial days it was full of very white Spaniards. We took a tour of a cloister monastery, went to a folk music performance, toured the museum of Juanita (an Inkan mummy), checked out some antique shops, and took a tour of one of the old mansions that has a collection of maps charting Latin American development. We also spent a lot of time sitting in restaurants and in the garden of our hotel. Arequipa is always sunny and the perfect temperature, making it very difficult to get up once seated in one of the million beautiful gardens throughout the city.

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina, or as dad likes to call it "Monastery Discoteca" was where the wealthiest Spaniards sent their second-born daughters at the age of 12 or 13 to live a cloistered life of prayer. It was laid out like a city within Arequipa. There were plazas, chapels, and each nun had her own house. It really was beautiful. While I don't think I would've responded well if I had been sent away to the convent instead of Camp Storer when I was 12, it would be a beautiful place to live. So why does dad call it the "Monastery Discoteca"? Well, the nuns who lived here didn't exactly keep their vow of poverty as they each had big, beautiful, private homes, and they would also invite musicians in for parties. The pope put a stop to this after a couple hundred years and the Spanish families were no longer aloud to pay a dowry for their daughter to enter and they had to live in a communal setting while their houses were transformed into other uses. 14 nuns live there now. Our guide told us that the nuns here would live to be about 80 years old, which is much older than the average lifespan of the time. She credited this to little contact with the outside world and the diseases that live there, high quality food, and the lack of a husband and children to take care of and stress over.

Seeing Juanita, the Ice Maiden, was an experience that is difficult to discuss. She was sacrificed by the Inka about 500 years ago at the age of 12 and was perfectly preserved in an icy grave high in the Andes. Now, human sacrifices were not something that was commonplace in Inkan time; it was done only at times of crisis, and was viewed as necessary and honorable. Upon being her death, Juanita was to live with the gods and become one her self. After watching a video about her discovery, preservation, and the interpretation of the artifacts and ritual surrounding her death, we were led through galleries showing all the artifacts that were left with her. Gold figurines, ceramics, fine tapestries, among others. The final stage of the tour was being able to see Juanita. She is in a glass case -20 Celsius and still in the fetal position she was buried in. Her face, clothes, and hair are all perfectly preserved. It was humbling to realize that we were looking at the face of an Inkan goddess. For more information, visit the museum's website: http://www.ucsm.edu.pe/santury/ and for non-Spanish speakers, click "enlaces interesantes" for sites in English.

The highlight of Casa de Moral was easily the colonial map collection, but apart from that, the house was gorgeous. A fire station was built next to and thus using up what used to be enormous garden space... Dad and I spent a while on a bench imagining how beautiful it must have been.

Lunch today was interesting, to say the least. We both just wanted something light and ended up in the kitchen with this very new age-y chef assisting with the cooking of "Pre-Inkan cuisine". Hmm. It was fun for a while, but we were more than ready to split when he got too philosophical, though the food was delicious.

Excuse me, the Inka were like Arnold Schwartzenegger

Yesterday, Dad and I took a city tour of Cusco. We had the same tour guide that took us to The Sacred Valley and he was not nearly as entertaining day two. If we had a sol every time he said "excuse me, the Inka were like Arnold Schwartzenegger", we'd be rich. Also, our guide had always been upfront about the fact that Quechua was his first language. Quechua is an indigenous language of Peru that is still pretty widely spoken and, being a pre-colonial language, is nothing like Spanish. It sounds very guttural and melodic when spoken. Our guide was getting a kick out of asking us if we could pronounce the names of the places we were at, because they were all Quechua names, and then there would be a chorus of grunting and clicking that really sounded like the entire tour was vomiting.

Anyway, the tour took us to the main cathedral, Quoricancha, Saqsayhuaman, Q'enqo, and an alpaca sweater factory. We got rained out going to the Temple of the Waters, which I would've liked to see, but we saw something similar in Ollantaytambo the day before, so it wasn't too horrible of a loss. The rain really started when we were at Saqsayhuaman, which was unfortunate because I would've liked to spend all day there. The stone work was amazing and very different that what we saw in The Sacred Valley. Here, the stones were enormous (our guide says the tallest building stones in the world, but his statements weren't always factual) and they fit together perfectly. Ok, I know everyone characterizes Inkan stonework by it's perfect edges without mortar, but this were really impressive because the rocks weren't regular. They were like three times the height of dad in some parts and full of jagged corners, curves, and angles, but always fitting together like a puzzle. It was awesome. While I'm not buying that the Inka were extremely tall people, as our tour guide claimed, there is no doubt that they were machines.

Quoricancha was interesting. It is an Inkan temple that the Spanish built a convent over. It's really interesting to see the two architectural styles one on top of the other. What was also interesting, was that some of the walls had been partially disassembled and there were bricks laying out, so we could see the inner working on Inkan masonry. The rocks weren't simply piled up on against the other, but contained notches and holes that allowed them to fit together like a 3D puzzle and also be seismic-proof.

Q'enqo, or Temple of Mother Earth, is a cave site where a table and other alter-like structures out of the walls. It really was a neat place. It is debated as to whether or not human and animal sacrifices took place here or if it was used for mummification.

At the alpaca sweater factory, we learned that alpaca and vicuna clothing is some of the most expensive clothing you can buy. A sweater made of baby alpaca wool is hundreds of dollars while one vicuna scarf cost USD$900! The lady explaining this all to us said that should would give us a nice 10% discount if there was something we really liked. Thanks. Now I can afford that pretty vicuna scarf!