2d Post from Peru

Am about to leave Cuzco and the Sacred Valley for Chiclayo tomorrow. Been around here since the 25th of February, with the exception of a short trip to Lake Titicaca. Nice to see the antiplano from the bus. Easy ride, cheap, comfortable. We just got our tickets from the bus station and off we went. The islands in the lake are super. The floating islands not so much, but Taquile is beautiful and that was worth it.

My impressions of the people hold true still. They are so warm. I have made acquaintances with a lot of people. Of course, it helps to be able to chat people up some. My spanish isn´t that great but it is enough to do that. Claudia and Miluska from Chez Maggie on Plateros have been particularly warm. That is where I found my first piano and they were so nice to me, telling me to play whenever I wanted, when the place was full or empty, nevermind when. And lots of kisses all around. The folks at the various hotels have been quite nice, too. My favorite has been Noemí at Suecia 1, so I´ll have to go back to see her.

What thing that surprises me is that there seems to be no central clearing house and info center for volunteer activities in Cuzco department. Both in Antigua and Xela, GT, there were organizations dedicated to keeping a list of organizations and their needs and wants with respect to volunteers. Also a completely unrelated thing is there seem to be no places to go and hang to watch film. I am thinking perhaps to combine the clearinghouse for volunteers with a place to show films. The film fee could support the volunteer organizing work . . . . and if it were possible to sell beer to movie goers, even more money could be raised for the charity side. I have always wanted to have a movie theater anyhow . . . . and there could be a POPcorn machine. Too much fun.

Anyhow, I did finally meet Luz, who Art referred me to and by a ridiculous coincidence someone else I know took spanish lessons from her in the past (canoers we know). She is great! And it turns out that she comes to Seattle and has friends there, so it will be great to see her again. She and her friend Birgit are interested in Art´s stove project. Will discuss this when get back.

My favorite things have been the trips to the sacred valley and every town there so far where I spent any time at all I like. Ollantaytambo and Chinchero and Pisac. With their easy access to Cuzco, any one could be a good place to work, at least a couple of days a week in a clinic, or in some other way. I haven´t spent time in Urubamba, just blown through. It would be good to come back and visit the rest of the towns in the valley.

Cuzco is so very touristy and in that way reminds me of Antigua. We have lived right off Plaza de Armas and one gets solicited constantly because of the color of one´s hair and skin. I think my face has become familiar by now and so it has let up a lot. And when you are first there you feel you should at least say no gracias, but now I rarely acknowledge the solicitations with anything but a smile while continuing to walk straight ahead. It is rather dehumanizing, the whole thing. I have yet to meet anyone who isn´t majoring in tourism at school. Really. And I have met a ton of people. Never any incidents of theft or attempted theft.

My abiding feeling about this place, this department, and Peruvians at this point is that they are very warm, work very hard to put it together, and are proud of their culture and heritage, as well they should be. The inka buildings in Cuzco and around are massively impressive. And of course the Spanish created churches on top of many inka buildings are amazing for their gold leaf and intensely decorative wood carvings.

The crafts as I have said before are mindblowing and are a must for anyone interested in textiles.

I don´t think I mentioned that while the weather is very changeable at this time of the year, the only time we really got skunked is when we went to Machu Pichu, a bummer because it is a journey that takes time and costs a fair amount of money. Oh well! We had about a half hour of nonpouring down rain where you could actually see something. When I get the fotos up for that part and forward for the trip, you will notice how cloudy and wet even the good 1/2 hour was!

The weather is now turning colder and rainier . . . ........... kind of falling apart-- so it is good to be off to Chiclayo on the north coast of Peru where it is 75 and sunny. It will be a nice change. Talk to you then! And I will try to put up more fotos either on facebook or some other website