Q'usikancha

Adrienne took me on a tour of one of her Archeological sites today, the Q'usikancha. It's a large Inca/pre-Inca structure, that was taken over by the Incas and then by the Spanish, so there's a large mix of architectural influences all in one space. The current theory is that it was where the priests from the local religions were brought together and housed when the Incas conquered territories. It was also a ceremonial site, with many small kanchas or alcove-style rooms for private ceremonies to specific deities and a larger grassy plaza for Incan ceremonies (remember they worshiped the sun, gotta have that space out in the open!).



What she's doing there is helping to recognize the original pieces versus the alterations and recreations that have happened over the centuries. Apparently it's been sold MANY times, as well as passed through families, and is a giant cluster of re-imaginings. Today, there is mostly Inca architecture preserved in the grassy areas, with pre-Inca canals and water systems, and, for good measure, an alpaca and a few vicuna* roaming about.



*please note: Vicuna are wild creatures in Peru. They're one of the softest animals in the world, but they're also territorial and prone to aggressive behavior such as biting or spitting at tourists who think they're cute and try to pet them.

Working Working

I spent this week working on the CTTC's 2011 Christmas cards. In order to do this, I had to find a copy of Adobe Indesign, make it my own, and then figure out how to use it. Still have a lot of learning to do, but all in all, it's a pretty decent accomplishment for a week.

Every year, the CTTC has a basic xmas card.


They also have a Chocolatada Navidena x-mas card, which is used for fundraising for the Christmas parties they host in their affiliated weaving communities. What exactly do they do, you might ask? They take hot coco and toys to their 9 weaving communities, so the children in all of those villages get at least one toy for Christmas. I have this feeling it's going to be heartbreaking going out to help with this.....

The Rainy Season Comes Early

When I got here-- Actually, even before, back when I was doing research on Cusco's climate-- I was informed that Cusco has a rainy season. It's supposed to begin sometime mid to end of October. However, looking out side the last few afternoons, and listening to the women around the office, it makes me think that global climate change hasn't had a hand in forcing the rains to come early.

I know there's a mountain out that window, but hell if I can see it... I think there's a cloud sitting on top of the city!

Another Article

Reporter Lisa Mauch contacted me a month ago, asking if she could feature me in an article for Cincinnati.com about Fulbright Scholars from the Cincinnati area. Of course, I said yes... And then the article comes out and it's only about two people-- Alex Wilkerson and myself. We graduated from the same high school, the same year, and now both have Fulbrights! How exciting and surprising!

Fulbright Scholars say adios, auf wiedersehen

Aventura del Domingo

Spent last night picking through my Alpaca wool so I will be ready to spin it soon, and woke up well enough to taxi to Molino, a big everything-you-can-think-of market in Cusco, so I could practice my Spanish. We found more movies and hunted elusive pressure cookers.... Then a 3 block walk to el Mercado de Ttio, where Avocados are far too expensive and we found fresh nutmeg and basil (also elusive, these two), and yummy looking swiss chard, which I will happily devour, no worries.

Now for a calm rest of the day, working on my website, which has been sorely neglected the last month, and maybe creating a google+ profile for myself so I can continue to hold obsessive control over my internet image...


It's such a beautiful day, I'm really glad I could get outside for a little bit!

I really hate being sick

Anybody who knows me knows I never stop going, doing, or otherwise moving. I don't take naps, I don't sit still, I don't lay in the sunshine unless I also have something to do with my hands. I don't just watch movies. Therefore it's doubly hard when I get sick, because not only do I feel awful, but I cannot be my usual self, and then I get bored and stir crazy, and I often push my luck, which is bad. I'm trying really hard not to do that now (which isn't difficult because when you're sick at a high altitude, apparently it's just that much harder to breathe if you do anything remotely active). I'd really like to go to the Saturday market. I want some fresh Avocados and flat bread for lunches this week. And we need more water in the apt, and Quinoa. However, doing last night's dishes just about did me in... So I'm taking a break for a few minutes, may work on the book I started yesterday (the first of the Dirk Pitt novels, The Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler-- they come highly recommended as far as fluff action/loosely archeological novels go). If I fall asleep, I don't have to worry about retracing my steps, and I can put it down and pick it up at whim. And then maybe I'll feel okay enough to go. It's supposed to be only a 10min walk...

Virgen de Natividad

Today is a Catholic holiday that people in the Cusco region celebrate by dressing up in costumes and dancing, and by drinking liberally for the next few days. I went out to Chinchero today, where the largest celebration for this holiday is held. It began last night with a parade, and then continued this morning with a mass in the most opulent church I've ever been inside-- 16th century colonial church, how awesome!




This is Adrienne, in case you were curious...

Adrienne and I took a bus out to Chinchero, toured the CTTC HQ there and were shooed up the hill towards the church. It was so crowded that Adrienne and I decided to talk a walk to the Chinchero Inca Ruins and wait to go inside until after mass began to empty out. For today, halfway down the steps was quite enough, especially since we weren't used to the altitude up there.







Had lunch in the market square and found myself a new hat to replace the one I lost, then I headed back up the hill to see the dancing.



The dancers come out in groups, each with their own small band, and dance for what seems like an unspecified amount of time. Each group represents a myth or an important historical event or an important person/group of people. There were clowns running about in knitted masks, being ridiculous and chasing people in full body monkey costumes.... And whenever a group was finished dancing outside the church, they meandered their way down the mountain with their band to a family's house (a family of one of the members of their group) to eat and drink and keep dancing.





I left around 4pm, as everyone was headed to the private houses for food. I usually taxi back from Chinchero to Cusco, as the buses (colectivos) run more irregularly, but the only one I found was already full in the seating area and I ended up ridding back in the trunk. **Please note: Most taxis here are hatchback cars with trunks that are open to the rest of the interior. For long drives, they fill these taxi's excessively--driver plus 2 in the front passenger seat, 4 in the back seat, and 2 in the trunk area.



When we got back to Cusco, I had to walk home from the Puente Grau (the Grau bridge). It took about 20min. By this point I was feeling my day. I was going to go back today, however I think I caught a cold over the course of the day.... Some combination of Danitza telling me that morning that everyone at my Spanish school was getting sick, stress of traveling to and from, the higher altitude, and fried (but tasty) food for lunch. Went to bed around 8pm with a mild fever and plan to spend the next few days recovering.