29 - Five Weeks in Cusco!

A long time ago I took an overnight bus from Arequipa to Cusco, Peru. I stayed in Peru a little over five weeks volunteering in an afterschool called Aldea Yanapay. It was an amazing program, and I loved every minute of volunteering. My next blog entry will be entirely about Yanapay, but for now here´s some pictures from in and around Cusco. They´re not in correct chronological order, but I´m just going to explain them as they are because I´ve been experiencing lots of technological problems lately, and I don´t want to test my luck anymore by trying to change the pictures around. Hope you enjoy the blog as much as I enjoyed the experience.

The five pictures above are of Incan ruins about 2 hours outside of Cusco. One weekend day I went with three other friends (also volunteers at the school - Casey, Cordelia, and Jared) and we headed to the Sacred Valley to check out the ruins. The Sacred Valley is a mountainous region surrounding Cusco filled with beautiful mountains and even more beautiful Incan ruins. It was a great days excursion.
P.S. Obviously I had to pose for my token ¨falling off the edge¨photo. I´m not sure how the Incans would have felt about my turning their temple into a form of photographic humor.

This is the market in the town of Pisac. This town is about 20 minutes from the ruins in the above pictures. I really liked this tree.

One day my friend Jared and I hiked up one of the mountains around Cusco. Up in the mountains we found these amazing tunnels. We made like explorers making our way through the dark narrow tunnels searching for the light at the end.

This is the hole we emerged from when we were finally able to squeeze our way out. My kind of adventure!

Question: What could be better then horseback riding for 2 hours with all your other volunteer friends through the beautiful green mountains of Cusco for under $6?
Answer: Doing it for under $5
Which is exactly what we did, and what a beautiful day it was. Definitely one of my favorite days in Cusco (I say that a lot though, so I´m not really sure how much it means).

Every week at Yanapay one volunteer is in charge of deciding the theme and the games to play at our Friday Night Party. My week, as you can tell, I chose the theme of Pirates and led the Pirate Olympics. Of course the night started off by lighting the Olympic torch of gasoline inside a tin can followed by the Olympic anthem ¨Eye of the Tiger¨(everyone sang together). Each team came up with a team name and the games began. Two teams competed against each other in 6 events and the losing team was eliminated until we were left with the one Pirate Olympic team champions. Congratulations team ¨Lost Children¨. After the Olympics we were off to enjoy Cusco´s nightlife with free Cuba Libres and of course lots of dancing. What a night to remember (or not remember).

Another day trip to the Sacred Valley and a small town called Ollantaytambo. So much beauty surrounds Cusco. No wonder the Incans chose the area as their worshipping headquarters.

Some time ago I was inspired to get another tattoo. One of the other volunteers at Yanapay, my good friend Laura, also wanted a tattoo, so after a few sketches and meetings we were both finally inked up. Laura got four stars across her toes, and I got a beautiful colorful hummingbird on my inside right ankle.

As many of you know I already have a green fern on my inside left ankle. Now I have a plant and an animal and when I put my ankles together flora and fauna are together in harmony. Make fun of me all you want Kendra and Bethany. You guys just don´t understand true beauty!

Here´s the main plaza in Cusco, the Plaza de Armas. It seemed like every weekend for one reason or another all of the plaza was closed for a parade to celebrate some event. I didn´t mind the closing. I love fiestas.

There are some amazing Incan ruins about a thirty minute hike up the mountains in Cusco. One day I went with a bunch of friends and we brought a picnic up to the ruins. That was another one of my favorite days in Cusco.

Most of the other volunteers in my hostel either had never heard of Passover or didn´t really know much about it, so on Pesach eve I led an 18 person seder. Included in the seder were 7 Americans, 4 English, 3 Peruvians, 1 Spanish, 1 Dutch, 1 Australian, and to bring it all together 1 Israeli. I printed a couple Haggadah´s from the internet and all together we participated in the Jewish tradition. Following the seder we had some delicious matzah ball soup (I bought matzah and kosher wine from the Chabad house in Cusco). It was a really great night, and a Passover I will never forget.

The Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas.

Yet another parade in the plaza.

View of the Plaza de Armas and Cusco from up in the mountains.

The street I lived on for the five weeks in Cusco (Calle Fierro).

Well that´s a very quick summary of my amazing time in Cusco. Stay tuned for my next entry about my terrific volunteering experience at Aldea Yanapay.

Miss everyone,

Amanda