!Viva La Fiesta!

Time is flying.....especially this week, marked with FIETAS, day and night....

San Fransico square...in my hood, is usually a peaceful and relaxing square, where I had my shoes cleaned, and one of the few places that a tourists will not get accosted to buy, buy, buy....


Well, from last night...it was transformed into a large beer garden with all night drinking as people watched the fireworks too....

As my peruvian friends had pointed out...the stench of piss....even though toilets are provided....was enormously overpowering this morning....

Today, the square moved a step further into adding food stands.....thousands of them...all selling the same thing.....

Chicken,













stuffed hamster...i saw bag loads of them wriggling away, being ferried live towards San Pedro market next door....slaughter house....
In the picture they are the ones with a tomato stuffed in the mouth....


also on sale, cheese, quinoa, seaweed,

thick pancake like bread....
and of course CUSQUENA beer..... truck loads of it!!!! ..and coke....

Most of the partakers were Cusquenans....

Meanwhile on the side at Plaza de Armas and avenida del sol....men sweating away as they lagged Saints arounds the city...... IN preparation of THE CORPUS CHRISTI DAY, tomorrow

It took over 30 strong men to achieve this....

I was seriously touched....by their dedication to their culture, beliefs and practices...they did not look like hired or idle guys...there was pride in what they were doing....

The Saints are all put into the Cathedral, overnight, and tomorrow they will all be led out by the Bishop and displayed....for their once a year fresh air and sun!







The locals waited patiently all day long for the processions....

While thousands of tourists milled around....indulging in the sounds, sights, culinary and other delights

Well..now as today was my last day at school....

I can truly look forward to the rest of the festivities, travel to the Amazon jungle in Manu, 5 nights in a tent....no water, electricity and plenty of rain...should be a blast ...;(..maybe... I have my anti insect repellant and rained poncho ready....so that's already a great start


Next stop will Machhu Pichhu, and finally Arequipa in the coming weeks

For now, am Happy to be done with the hard bits of the trip, so as a reward, i tried the local...

to get rid of all the build up from the treks and prepare for the BIG ONE...my only prayer is that my knee holds out with all this physical strain....it's being dodgy....

Check and check

So much to share this week... Sometimes I think time is not moving fast enough...then other times I panic...I have only five weeks left and I still haven't done the BIG ONE....Macchu Pichu!!!

So far,
can speak enough spanish to get around....tick!
Titi Caca....Tick
sights around Cusco and beyond...Sacred Valley....Tipon, Salinares, Huchuay Cusco, Pisac, sexywaman, Andahuayllia, Puno, Julica,...tick
Voluntary teaching..tick
Lima....tick
pubs (2 Irish) cafes, markets and restaurants, 15th birthday party bash (most important for the gals....coming into womanhood...tick, and tick!!

Waiting to do
...the jungle,
...Macchu pichu
...Arequipa
...the colca canyon

Well, this week the San Domingo Iglesia, trek to Salinares and watching the preparations for the Inti Raymi kept me busy...
apart from one of the worst topics to learn in Spanish...the subjunctivo!!!!
and the gals at the school....
who won a dance in their category!!!!

there was near pandemonium that day....I was having a nice lesson after having established authority and finally silence and attention...when I thought a helicopter was landing in the school....
all the gals went into a scream....40 of them.....

it was the call of the drums from their winning dance troupe....

they could not resist the call...and class was briefly suspended

as we went to enjoy the spectacle....

The san Domingo Iglesia is most beautiful.. in

and out

it houses a lot of original oil paintings and has amazing gardens...the original site was an Inka sun temple draped in tons of gold...The conquistadors destroyed it an imposed a the present day church, looted and the gold..


The Inca walls were the only ones that survived the first earthquake that destroyed Cusco...and still stand today as originally built...wow!!!

After week in Cusco, it's always nice to go out...

The Inka salt beds (SALINERAS) in the Urubamba valley

are quite impressive... the original terraces were established by guess who....?

The salt is so compact that you can ski on it

Now, one thing I can confirm is that guys here love drama....from a demo of boiling maize in a pan in the streets, to shouting for passengers in the matatus, ever whistling traffic cops, to mounting figures

and street demos...

It's always so exciting, esp. at this time of the week of INTI RAYMI to see what the streets will bring forth...spectacles,


grotesque statues,

bizarre ......

....macabre....

..... fine events...

an animal I had never seen....a vicuna...

Always interesting for me are the 'Perros de la calle'.....street dogs.....

Some dressed for the occasion....!!!

I am so looking forward to my home ran

I'm now recognized in the streets.....given the number of students I teach....it's becoming like home for me....

TOURISTS...feel sorry for one next time..... I do

....after the Tipon trek....

it has been round and about Cuzco now seeing the city through the eyes of a local...
after 6 weeks...one quite isn't a tourist is one?
Well i'm still tagged one each time I go to the tourist area....people peddling all the time...it's the peak tourist season


Even when Mlevi...
BTW...am dropping that name....as I'm no longer worthy of it.... 1 beer a week does not do the name proud....

...goes to the non tourist areas....always a target....maybe even worse

The first one that really got me was the visit to

San Pedro market...

a few blocks from my new home....

I decided to buy some nuts...almonds, brazil, raisins...to keep up my healthy eating...
after agreeing to the price in my now reasonable spanish...after the nuts were tasted and packed away, the mami(market lady ) doubled the price....!!!!!

Not amused, I paid up and thought...now am wiser....
buying fruit should be straight forward....price agreed, paid and off I went....
But no...the second mami followed me to the exit and demanded 3 soles more...she had made mistake...I guess they figure you do not want a scene...so cough out more.

Reminds me of the first time at the market the woman who claimed (after 1 hour) that I had given her a fake note and followed us all around..!!!!

So all that put me off shopping ...for a bit...
Next i got hit, again, at a market..El Molino...big market that sells everything...

We got there after getting lost on a matutu...this was a posh mat...not like one last Sat where you fold over twice and hold your breath....


We were in search of walking sticks for the next hike...

so after we ask around, this 'nice guy' offers to bring them...we had an idea of the price....after serious negotiations from 40 to 35 soles for two sticks...money changed hands....walking around we soon came to a stick vendor....25 soles.....!!!!
Yea....too late...should have known better...FOOLISH TOURISTS!!!!

(Even the taxi guys without doubt put on an extra half sole.....)

We had 2 beers that day from my now "local" overlooking the plaza de Armas

I am determined not to buy anything..unless food for survival and in the supermarket....and enjoy the preparations for the Inti Raymi festival

Next week shall be low keyed as I continue to try to teach English to the gals...at a Nun ran school(est. in 1825 and has 1400 gals....) and ran in the efficiency that only Nuns with a certain conviction do...Even if their English is no better,at least 2,000 people in Cusco have a good idea of Kenya...
My classes have 40 X 5 groups X 5 in each family....not bad publicity for Kenya....?



But yesterday a little shoe shine boy talked me into cleaning my trainers....they were not dirty but thought he at least is making a honest living....until even he asked how much i wanted to pay given that shoe paint is expensive.....LOL!!!!

There are times, there a 3 people queuing to sell you stuff...!!!!

That's when I say I do not speak English or French.... I evoke my African roots and say I speak Swahili only.....it works...

PLAIN FACTS ABOUT PERU

Today is election day....either Keiko or ollanta

All is very calm and would not even guess that is happening...anyway, not left my chambers, so the whole city could be on fire unbeknown to me..
useless info: Massive volcunis eruptions in Chilli at the moment.

Maybe it's calm due to the ley seca, 'dry law"...i.e no ulevi 48 hours before voting...pombe will be sold from Monday again... lack of alcohol is meant to keep emotions at bay...

Saw the following info on Peru and thought to share

Peru is one of the most valuable countries on the planet due to its high landscape diversity, living resources or biodiversity, its mineral wealth and invaluable contribution of its people to the world's welfare, without Peru, this would be poor and famished world...

(My thoughts...MT)so why is Peru itself poor and famished...? Though there is much talk about poverty, there are actually no street children...

The ones you see will either be polishing shoes..

or carrying a baby goat/puppy for a photo op...at a fee...

PERU IN STATISTICS

Peru covers an area of 1'285216 sq km. Its population in 2008 reached 28 million. The official language is Spanish, but also 45 other native languages are spoken. The first men arrived to Peru about 20000 years ago and brought the dog..... and fire.

(MT..now i know why there are hundreds of street peros (dogs)....

BTW, now that am familiar with the streets and it's inhabitants...each pero has his spot and pack of amigos...also I've never noticed any poo droppings...I wonder why...?




Cusco is actually very clean,

my shoes never get dusty...don't understand why the very many mobile shoe shiners are often cleaning shoes..



LANDSCAPES AND ECO-SYSTEMS DIVERSITY

Peru has a very high ecological diversity of climates, ecological areas of production and productive ecosystems.

It is the second country in Latin America (after Brazil) and fourth in the world in tropical forests; owning 13% of the Amazon basin. In total area of forests is the eighth on the planet.

At its territory have been identified eleven eco-regions, which comprise: the cold sea, the tropical sea, the pacific coast desert, the equatorial dry forest, the pacific tropical forest, the highland steppes, the puna grassland, the high plateau Paramo, the high jungle or cloud forest, the low jungle or tropical rain forest and the pal tree savanna.

Of the 117 Life Zones recognized in the world, 84 are in Peru. Of the 32 types of weather of the earth, in Peru there are 28.

Its geography is worldwide recognized as home for ecosystems with high diversity of species such as the cold sea of the Peruvian flow, the dry forests in the northern coast, the puna grassland, the high jungle and the Amazon rainforest, where diversity in species reaches its maximum expression. The high diversity of ecosystems has allowed the development of many human groups with their own cultures and remarkable technological, culinary and cultural achievements.


It has the largest snow mountains of the tropics:

The Cordillera Blanca.











CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY
Peru has 14 linguistic families and at least 44 different ethnic groups. Of these, 42 inhabit the Amazon. These aboriginal groups have important knowledge regarding the uses and properties of many plants...

(MT....)The coca leaf grows mainly in Peru and `Columbia... while the same is used to make cocaine..it is also used in everyday stuff such as tea, candy to help with altitude sickness...you do not get high consuming it this way...am brining loads back for evidence

...and animals (4400 known useful plants and varieties of minerals)
In one hectare of traditional crop of potatoes in the highlands is possible to find from three to ten species of this tuber...This exceeds all species and varieties that are cultivated in North America.

(MT...)The papa, or potato is eaten at almost every meal and cooked in various ways
Def opening a Peruvian rest....when back...

(MT...) Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate, is the daughter of an ex (peruvian) president who is currently in jail (in Peru) for corruption....can you guess the first she's going to do should she win today????!!!!