Arriving in Cusco

Yesterday we departed from the Lima airport in a relatively small plane and headed towards Cusco, a town nestled in the Andes at 11,000 feet of altitude and the location of our Spanish school. The town and the surrounding area has a population of about one million, but it is sprawled over quite a large area. During the short flight, we had an amazing view of the tops of the Andes poking throught the clouds.

When we arrivied there, we were picked up by our host family and taken to their lovely home where we enjoyed a large lunch (common in Peru). We got to know the family: Maria, Ruben, their 27 year-old daughter Elizabeth, her three year-old daughter Valeria, and Florencia, their maid. Visiting for lunch was Alejandro, Maria and Ruben´s adult son and his five year-old, also named Alejandro. After relaxing and unpacking, we had a light dinner of bread and tea (also common in Peru) with our host family and some of their out-of-town relations. The altitude change made us very tired.

Today we awoke and walked into the city with Elizabeth. The smog here is almost as difficult to breath in as that of Lima, but the small surrounding mountains are beautiful. We visited the huge market, where Elizabeth purchased a type of trout, sugar cane, avocados, and several other fruits. The market was swarming with life. One could get a haircut, fish eggs, octopus, matches, and just about anything that anyone would need on a daily basis. After that, we visited the Spanish school that we will be attending. Then we returned to the house for lunch and some resting. For dessert, we had a purple pudding made from corn. It was somewhat runny with small chunks of fruit. It was an aquired taste.

After some resting, we returned to the town just in time to see a parade, featuring many dance students in traditional costumes. The parade was in celebration of a school´s anniversary . After watching the parade, we went back to the Spanish school to purchase of tickets for various tours this weekend.

Here, many people wear modern clothing, but it is also very interesting to see the number of older women who dress in traditional Andean-style clothing. It consists of black sandals, a knee-length black skirt, a blouse covered by a vibrant tradional poncho-style scarf, long black braided hair, and a women´s top hat. There are many incorporations of the Andean culture into daily life.