Llamasutra?

As we walked around Lima in our first week here, we constantly saw couples holding hands and openly embracing and kissing each other. They even have parks dedicated to love (el Parque del Amor) where there is a giant statue of two people doing just that.

Also while in Lima we visited el Museo Larco, a museum displaying artifacts from each of the time periods and cultures who have lived in Peru. After visiting the main exhibits, we were shown the “erotic gallery” portion of the museum. In there, we saw figurines of males with giant penises, sculptures of people (and of animals) having sex, and other very detailed nude sculptures of males, females, and some of people with both male and female parts. Of course, we all thought they were funny because 1) we are immature and 2) our culture is one that minimizes the presence of anything erotic. In the United States, many of these pieces of art would be seen as inappropriate whereas here, they are just pieces of art.

 

 When we settled into Cuzco and began to walk around, I noticed that many of the shops sold sculptures similar to the pieces in the Museo Larco. Also, many of the stores sell these masks with very long phallic noses, and there are t-shirts with "Cuysutra" or "LLamasutra" that picture these animals in different sex positions. It was just so interesting to see how much more open the culture here is to erotica. On a similar note, I also have noticed that breastfeeding in public here is much more accepted than in the States. During Corpus Christi, Alanna and I were walking around and we saw so many women breastfeeding their babies and nobody cared or thought anything of it. Meanwhile in the US, women are being shamed for breastfeeding in public. Although our culture does use sex to sell products by objectifying both men and women (Abercrombie, Victoria’s Secret, etc.), it does not view nudity and sex and erotica in the same way as the culture of Peru does.

Last Week in Cusco

          Eggs and bread for breakfast. Everyday. With only one full day left in Cusco, I take the time to reflect back on this final week of the trip. I was able to go to a restaurant named Trujillo which served Creole Peruvian cuisine and ordered an avocado filled with veggies, bistec a lo pobre which came with fries, bananas, steak, rice, and a fried egg (definitely an interesting combination), and lemonade. I had an interesting conversation with a Polish Canadian who had seemingly travelled all over the world and kept nice company during the meal.
         After a bus ride to Ollantaytambo, I enjoyed some delicious banana pancakes after our hike up the mountain. Ollantaytambo had incredible ruins and views from the stairs. We then took a train to Machu Picchu, and I enjoyed a nice cafe con leche at the station. At our new hotel in Aguas Calientes, the water pressure in the showers was the best it had been the entire trip (and maybe of my life.)
         We woke up at 430 the next morning to wait in the long bus line for Machu Picchu, after a nice continental breakfast that included pancakes a couple doors down from our hotel. We took an "arduous" 2 hour hike to La Puente del Sol and enjoyed a spectacular view of Machu Picchu from a higher vantage point. After taking the bus back to Aguas Calientes, we departed on a 4 hour train ride back to Cusco and returned to Casa Elena for a third time.
          Having Machu Picchu as the last stop on the trip is certainly a strategic ploy, as none of the other ruins quite live up to it. Having taken a trip to the pyramid of Chichen Itza over New Years' with my family and now having been to Machu Picchu, I've now been to two of the seven modern Wonders of the World in the past five months. At this rate, I'm on pace to finish all of them in 17.5 months! In all seriousness though, it has been a good trip, and I'm better off having checked South America off of my list. 

The Craziness of Corpus Christi

     Getting to be a part of Cuzco’s enormous Corpus Christi celebration is definitely at the top of my list of favorite parts of this trip. On Wednesday we were able to see the pre-celebrations with Alexandra taking us to the San Pedro Cathedral, and it was astounding to see the number of people who came out all day long to watch the Saints all get brought to the main Cathedral.

10AM Mass Group--those hats though!

     These crowds were NOTHING compared to Thursday’s main event though. Rachel and I went to the 8 AM (though it actually started earlier) mass in the Cathedral where the Saints had stayed overnight. Somewhat amusingly, as we went to enter the church, the security guard told us we couldn’t enter, that there was mass going on. Luckily after telling him that we were indeed there to attend mass, he let us in, but it was interesting to see that he only saw us as American tourists trying to get into their church on a day of celebration.

     Attending the 10 AM outdoor mass was even more intriguing, and we got to experience parts of the mass in both Spanish and then in Quechua. Rachel and I even rocked some of the Peruvian paper hats that Profe bought!  

 

     After lunch while watching the Saints taken around the plaza, a couple of us went to el Mercado de San Pedro, which we thankfully were able to get to because of parallel streets. This was the most crowded I’ve ever seen a part of Cuzco, and we were constantly being herded and pushed through the crowds of both tourists and Peruvians.

Eucharist carried through the Plaza

     The market was also busy, but not nearly as bad as the plazas. Going on Thursday after being there Wednesday was also interesting, as it was clear that many of the shops were closed for the day for Corpus Christi. People were not nearly as pushy about selling their goods, and it was a very pleasant experience before having to make our way back through the insane crowds on the way to Casa Elena.

La comida y cultura Cuscanea

As Profe. has informed our group, the food in Cusco is not quite as sophisticated or renowned as that of Lima. While I have not been as stunned by the freshness and creativity of Cuscanean cuisine like I was in Lima, dining in Cusco has proved remarkable in the way that it forms a link between the numerous cultures that interact in this small city. For one, the slow-paced drinking and dining culture in Peru provides an opportunity to interact with strangers from different cultures. And secondly, some of my favorite restaurants and cafes in Cusco so far specialize in international fare.

Croissants at Café Panam

 One of the most fascinating conversations that I had with a Cuscanean surprisingly took place at the bar of the JW Marriott near Casa Elena. As Alejandra and I sipped tea and Pisco sours (by the way, I don’t particularly enjoy the Peruvian classic, but this particular Pisco sour was phenomenal), we chatted with the bartender. As one would imagine, this bartender spoke impeccable English (with all of the American tourists flooding the lobby, he didn’t have much of a choice!). What surprised me, however, was that his impressive vocabulary and dialect were not the results of rigorous school training; rather, he had simply learned English by interacting with visitors over the years. At another café, I helped an Israeli woman at a neighboring table navigate an airline website in English to book a reservation for a flight from Cusco to Lima.

The best empanadas we've had in Cusco (at La Valeriana)

My dining experiences on this trip have helped me realize one of my favorite things about Cusco –  although the city is such a melting pot of different cultures and identities, it somehow maintains its traditional Peruvian influences. On a given day, I may have gelato for snack and an empanada for dinner. In the same way, I overhear numerous languages in the Plaza de Armas and see women wearing traditional Peruvian costumes lining the sidewalks.

Social Interaction: Duke Meets Vandy

         I needed the Peruvians to help me find my friend. I walked through the crowded celebrations of Corpus Christi to the Limacpampa bus stop, consulting around 8 locals to guide me there. After jumping on the bus and paying 70 centimos, I anxiously texted my friend, Davis Lovvorn, on my Peruvian phone to make sure I was on the right track. At it turns out, I was. I took the bus 5 exits to Magisterio and met my friend. It was such a small world to be in the same place at the same time, and we were pumped to see each other. While catching up on life, we walked to his homestay and his family treated me with great hospitality, serving a delicious lunch of potato soup, and a bread roll with meat and veggies on the inside almost like a Shepherds Pie. 
       After lunch, Davis and I walked around the Magisterio neighborhood and ventured over to a fancy mall in Magisterio that included a movie theatre, Starbucks, Bembos, Pinkberry, and many other American attractions. Davis' host family included a 27 year-old named Eduardo, and 24 year-old named Daniela, and 4 very cute dogs. Davis and I then took the bus to Casa Elena, and I introduced him to a few members of my group. 
        We caught up on all things college basketball and talked about the goings-on on the Hill that is our high school, Montgomery Bell Academy.  We passed the Corpus Christi festivities again on the way back, which were still in full swing. The Plaza was jam-packed and it was hard to move through. It was cool for Davis to meet Profe, who got his Ph.D from Duke and also taught there.
      All things considered it was nice to get away from our group for a day and meet up with one of my best friends from high school. Not only was it interesting to rely on the Peruvian public to help me get to where my friend was staying, but it was also neat for him to meet some of Vanderbilt's students. It was a great day filled with social observations and interactions from the crowded celebrations of Corpus Christi and between students from two of the top universities in the United States. 

Cuzco's New Groove

     The thing I find most fascinating about Cuzco as a city is its ability to preserve old ruins and sites that are only a very short car ride from the center of town. In Lima, the only example of this was the Huaca Pucllana, but after our weekend trip exploring from Cuzco to Pisac, I was astounded by everything that was still intact from the Incas.

     It’s also astounding to hear the guides casually say that this church is however many hundreds of years old, and that the ruins we’re looking at are 500+ years old. Our country isn’t even 300 years old and I don’t think we’ve looked after even a quarter as many old sites, let alone how many will be left in a couple hundred years more. Sacsayhuamán was the closest site, and we had an absolutely breathtaking view of the city of Cuzco from above when there. Though the place is now a tourist site that you need tickets too, it has been there long enough to have many purposes and even just been a part for native Peruvians.

     Having tourist attractions layered on top of a city that was founded in 1100 AD is also quite the impressive feat. I overhead some of the Appalachian State students talking and one described Cuzco as if almost arriving in a cruise port--everything right in front of you is for the tourists, but you can find authenticity if you dig deeper. If you venture just outside of the main hubs of the city, you still find people who speak Quechua and live without the constant electricity or running water we take for granted. Many cuzqueños have turned to tourism to make extra money from showing their culture they have preserved for ages. I’m very excited to see how the rest of exploring Cuzco stacks up in regards to a mix of past and present.

My Mom Said Not to Talk to Strangers

Maras, Peru is a small town about an hour or so outside of Cuzco. While we learned so much from the activities and lessons from locals, what also fascinated me was simply watching the people of the town, the children in particular. The first thing that struck me about these kids was how much independence and responsibilities they had – at least in comparison with their counterparts in the US. For example, we saw several little boys no more than 9 years old herding donkeys by themselves throughout the village. Later, while others were napping, Ellen & I sat in the plaza and we saw some donkeys and sheep. We went over to them to take pictures when a young girl approached us and started talking to us about her animals (the ones we were taking pictures of). She had no reservations in coming up to us and telling us about herself. The next day, while waiting to go on our hike, we saw a girl with her little brother. He started crying and she quickly came to comfort him and shared her food with him. I’m pretty sure if that were me and my little brother, I would’ve called my mom to make him stop crying because it was annoying me. When we would stop at small shops for water and/or snacks in Maras or in Moray, there were always children working alongside adults in the shops, eager to help us out. Even in Cuzco, the children have more autonomy as we saw when we were loading the bus in the airport parking lot after arriving in Cuzco. A little girl probably around 4 years old rolled down her window and was just talking to us. She asked where we were from and we told her. Then, we asked where her parents were and she told us her mom was at home and her uncle was somewhere around here doing something. I think it was Paige who said something along the lines of “I’m glad we are not the type of people who steal little children” because she seemed so comfortable talking to strangers and like she wasn’t worried at all. Meanwhile, I couldn’t order my own food at McDonald’s until I was 12 because I was afraid to talk to the cashier. It’s so interesting to observe the differences in social norms and what is expected of children in the United States vs. in Cuzco and small town Peru.

Eating in Perú with a Chinese Stomach

Whenever people are looking for food while traveling, what catches their eye most other than the signature local food would probably be what resembles their home food. I am no exception for sure. As someone from China, I was quite amazed to find Chinese cooking hidden in the Peruvian dishes that we had on this trip.

1.     Chifa

Thanks to our one and only vegetarian friend, Jiayi, we got the opportunity to taste Peruvian “chifa”. Although now very popular in Peruvian cuisine, “chifa” is actually a type of Chinese cooking brought by early immigrants to Peru from southern China, from regions such as Canton. “Chifa” has a similar pronunciation to the Chinese word “吃饭(chī fàn)” which means to eat food and also to “炒饭(chǎo fàn)” which means fried rice. As a matter of fact, the Peruvian “chifa” is a type of fried rice with a variety of ingredients including vegetables and eggs or meat. Because of its easiness and flexibility to make, fried rice is one of the most popular homemade foods in China and now it seems “chifa” is also taking over Peruvian dining tables.

Jiayi's Chifa

2.     Kion

The first time I heard of the word “Kion” was when Profe talked about the different types of sauces that Peruvians use in their cuisine. When Profe told me that ‘Kion’ is actually an ingredient from China I realized that “Kion” is “姜(Jiāng)”, an everyday spice in almost all Chinese dishes. It seems that the early Chinese immigrants to Peru not only brought with them “chifa” but also the small plant “Kion”. Nowadays, “Kion” is no longer a spice that is only used in Chinese cuisines but finds its way into various in Peruvian dishes. One example is ceviche, a traditional Peruvian appetizer, in which “Kion” is used along with other ajís to add flavor to raw fish. Another example is the lemonade we found in Papacho in Cuzco. One of their lemonade flavors consisted of “Kion” and mint, which turned out to be a very refreshing drink. It is interesting for me to see “Kion” being used in a cold drink because Chinese families usually only drink “Kion” in hot beverages with brown sugar to warm the body up.

Kion is used in ceviche

The greenish drink in the middle has Kion in it!

3.     Tallarin Saltado

Tallarin Saltado is a combination of Lomo Saltado and fried noodles. I found this dish in the restaurant called Moreno in Cuzco. Curious about the description on the menu saying that the dish is a mixture of Chinese culture and Peruvian cooking, I decided to try it. Lomo Saltado, or stir fried beef with tomato and onion, is a typical Peruvian dish served with steamed white rice. Tallarin Saltado is Lomo Saltado mixed with stir-fried noodles instead of rice, which is a very Chinese way of cooking because in China, we like to put lots of different toppings on stir-fried noodles. Lomo Saltado is for sure a perfect topping.

Tallarin Saltado

I always found Peru to be similar to China in many ways but this experience has definitely given me a better idea of how these two cultures interact with each other.