Not much has happened that is different than things already written up apart from a couple of visits to Cusco, once with Nohemy and Alfredo and the second time to meet up with Juan and other musicians in Plaza de Armas.
I met Juan by the fountain as usual and then sat on the cathedral steps with the other musicians who were waiting for an opportunity to play in Paititi´s restaurant. I chatted in English with Eber, who let me listen to the CD in his Walkman that his friends in Trujillo had sent - a group named Wari - and promised to get a copy of it made in time for my next visit to Cusco. Larry came over and listened to music in my iPod and I took some photos. Finally the band got the word they could play in Paititi´s and we crossed the road. While the musicians donned their ponchos I took a peek inside, saw it was very busy, so said I would wait outside and listen from there. But as soon as the band entered, a waiter appeared and said ´come on in and listen to some music´ and ushered me to a table which I thought was very kind. He must have either recognised me from previous visits to Cusco or seen me with the musicians on the cathedral steps. I have regularly listened to the musicians in Paititi´s ever since my first visit to Cusco, so he probably recognised me from those days.
They played for about half an hour and I enjoyed listening and then left with them, thanking the waiter for his kindness on the way out. We then had to hurry to Qori Chaska restaurant where they were next going to play, a short walk away up the street next to the cathedral. On arrival there we were greeted by the owner, a lovely friendly man, who I met briefly and was introduced to by Juan on my last visit to Cusco. Although there were no customers in Qori Chaska when we arrived, the owner wanted them to play anyway and said they could play just for me and him and he would join in on the bombo.
From that moment on we had the most amazing time. The owner sent a waiter out for some litre bottles of Pilsen which we all shared, and the band were playing all the songs I requested, with the owner joining in and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves and I took lots of photos. The lively music attracted customers and soon two tables were filled with Argentinians, Japanese and American people, one of whom enjoyed the music so much that after only being there 5 minutes bought a Cusquena beer for all five members of the band.
When the band stopped for a rest, one of them went out and bought another load of beers, and I could see they were enjoying themselves as much as I was. I had originally arranged to meet Nohemy and Alfredo at the house at 3.30 but was enjoying myself too much to leave and phoned and explained and said I would see them later when I got back in Urubamba. I stayed until 5.30 when Juan put me in a taxi, as I wanted to be in a carro on my way back to Urubamba before it got fully dark. I made it home by about 7.30.
I am in Cusco right now for a few hours, having come in to get money from the ATM machine in Plaza de Armas, plus get some photos developed as the quality of developed photos is much better here in Cusco than it is in Urubamba. I came in early and had breakfast in a cafe near the Plaza, an amazing breakfast of fruit salad = papaya, pineapple, banana and apple, smothered in yoghurt and granola plus toast, butter and jam, a tall glass of freshly squeeze pineapple juice and coffee = all for less than 2 quid. Unfortunately there is no chance of meeting up with Juan today because he has gone to Puno for a few days.
I am thinking of going on a trip myself within the next two or three weeks to add a bit of variation to life out here. I may go and visit my friend Elva in Ilo for a few days and will travel there by bus to keep costs down. I think the bus journey from Cusco to Arequipa is about eight or nine hours, and from there to Ilo another five hours. I imagine Elva would meet me in Arequipa and depending on arrival time either continue on to Ilo, or stay the night with her son and travel on to Ilo next day.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Nohemy and Alfredo at San Salvador
More photos have ben uploaded today - 91 so far in this photostream of my Peru2009 adventure. Another 40 or so will be added near the beginning of October.
Friday, September 18, 2009
El Senor de Huanca, More Birthday Celebrations
On Monday, Nohemy, Alfredo and I set off for San Salvador to attend the temple of El Senor de Huanca high in the hills. It involved a bus journey through the Sacred Valley as far as Pisac and then we had to cross the bridge and look for a collectivo to take us on to San Salvador. We managed this okay but with three of us crammed in the back, the driver stopped to try and fit someone else in which was impossible. Nohemy really told him off!!!
On arrival in San Salvador we could see loads of people walking up the various hill paths in the direction of the temple. Nohemy said it was a long climb and we must look for another collectivo or bus to take us the last leg of the journey. 14th September is the beginning of this week long fiesta and people come from all over Peru and even other countries to pay homage to El Senor de Huanca. The place was bustling with vendors, the sides of the roads taken up with canvas covered eating places crammed with tables and benches, people cooking like crazy in the open air, canvas topped bars selling beer etc and behind all this we found the plaza where the feria (market) was taking place - I love these markets as you never know what you may find.
It took a while but we eventually found out where we might get transport up the hill. There were tons of transport police at the bottom of this track and all down the main road, mainly keeping order but also making sure no one was profiteering from transporting people up the hill, checking papers of drivers etc. We saw a mini bus coming and Alfredo asked about a lift up and we were told to move up the hill a bit more so the police wouldn´t notice us getting in! We were jolly grateful to get in and even get a seat as it was an incredibly hot day, the sun beating down unmercifully and I knew there was no way I could get up that hill on foot.
The road was only a track, winding back and forth to climb ever upwards and there were vendors selling yet more things lining the track on one or both sides all the way up. Luckily I was able to buy a sunhat through the window of the bus because I was already feeling faint from the heat - it was the hottest day by far since my arrival here.
As we neared the top the track got really congested and eventually the bus driver made us all get out and continue on foot as there was no way he could go any further. The fare was 40p each compared to the normal 10p charged for a similar journey, so that driver was definitely profiteering! However, I would have paid ten times the price rather than walk up.
It took about 25 minutes to climb the last pàrt of the hill, huffing and puffing in that intense heat so that by the time we finally reached the temple and went inside to hear the mass I was almost on the point of collapse. On the last part of the trip up, climbing loads of steps, were multitudes of beggars, knowing that people would be generous in the vicinity of El Senor. The huge temple was filled with thousands of worshippers all standing and listening to the mass. Fortunately on the edges and around columns people were seated and I was lucky enough to find a space to sit down in albeit on a very dusty floor and it took me about 20 minutes to recover from what felt like heat exhaustion. Once I recovered from the climb, I stood up again and managed to join Alfredo and Nohemy for the remainder of the mass standing. Nohemy had told me to make a wish whilst in the temple and that El Senor would grant it.
Once outside we walked around the plaza surrounding the enormous temple and the views were incredible. You will see pictures of the temple and views when I next upload photos in about a week´s time - I want to get to Cusco and get the latest pictures downloaded to CD so that I can get to them on a computer first. I managed to buy a pamphlet telling the story of El Senor de Huanca but unfortunately mislaid it on the long climb back down, otherwise I would have told part of that story in this blog entry. And yes, that was the next shock, finding out there was no transport back down and there was nothing for it but to walk.
Even though downhill on a road that zig zagged down, it took more than an hour to get to the bottom and it was gruelling in that heat. I wanted to sit down on the odd boulder on the roadside but Nohemy and Alfredo were anxious for their lunch and were determined to keep going! When we got closer to the bottom there was a shortcut down a load of very uneven and rocky steps which they veered onto and it really was dodgy going, climbing down them without slipping or falling. Talk about a sigh of relief when we finally hit the bottom!!!
We spent the next 20 minutes trying to agree on what to have for lunch as the choice in the various outlets was incredible. Nohemy fancied guinea pig but didn´t fancy paying 25 soles for a small one. We eventually agreed on roast chicken with spaghelli, souffle stuffed rocoto peppers and potatoes which only cost 7 soles each, along with a 2 litre bottle of coca cola as we were all gasping with thirst after that long hike down. (Even though we had partaken of large glasses of chicha de quinua and hunks of water melon on the way down).
After lunch I wanted to go round the feria (market stalls in the plaza) but they were too exhausted and said they would wait in the food outlet however long it took me. I enjoyed browsing round the stalls and bought some DVDs and CDs - they are so cheap here. I also bought some ceramic dishes for my bird cage, then later realised they were probably too big to get through the openings of the cage, so bought three smaller plastic bowls instead. In those crowded market places you have to keep your hands on your purse at all times as robbers abound, even in such places where people go on pilgrimage.
When I rejoined them our next job was to find a collectivo to take us back to Pisac. This took a long time and we managed to walk up and down and enjoy the ambience in the process. During that day I took quite a lot of photos, the best of which will appear in my flickr photostream next week (accessible from this blog if you look for the photo link installed 3 or 4 weeks ago, but I might add another photo link after this or the next entry). We eventually found a mini bus calling for passengers going to Pisac and boarded it, me in the front, the others in the back - from where I had a good view to take a few more interesting pictures, including one of the lorries in which people travel in far-flung places where there is no other form of transport. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam - both sides of the road were jammed with traffic but the bus continued, turned round, and didn´t properly start the journey until it was completely full of passengers. That is the system here even in bus terminals - there is no timetable - a bus appears and only starts its journey when all the seats are taken and aisle full of standing passengers - and as one bus is leaving another parked nearby takes its place and so on. It works the same way with the collectivos (shared taxis) and people carrier carros.
Getting from San Salvador to Pisac proved to be the easy part. On arrival there we found the queues of people waiting for the bus so enormous that whenever a bus appeared there was a huge surge and no way we could even get anywhere near it. After half an hour there were lorries appearing calling for passengers to Urubamba at 2 soles a head and I was willing to try it just for the sheer experience of it as there was a ladder one could climb up but Nohemy and Alfredo wouldn´t hear of it and I decided not to as well, not wanting to travel like that with a load of strangers, clinging on to the overhead bars or sides for grim death!!!
Eventually about 6 buses later we got on one and Nohemy and Alfredo found seats but I was standing in the aisle - fortunately not for the whole journey which was nearly an hour - after about 15 minutes I was able to sit down when someone got off the bus from the seat right next to where I was standing. Back home I was anxious to get back to my love bird bought in Tupac Amaru market in Cusco on Saturday, having felt guilty leaving him on his own all day. We sat out on the patio for a good hour chatting with the bird in front of us and he seemed contented. There was a slight breeze blowing by then so he got some fresh air. I really must purchase a hen for him so that he has company when I am not there - the next time I get a chance to visit the Tupac Amaru feria I will definitely get one, along with a good supply of seed. More than anything he loves spinach which fortunately we have growing in the garden. I insert a branch of spinach leaves over his cage each morning and he really enjoys tucking in because by evening the cage floor is littered with well pecked spinach leaves. The pear I put in has been ignored so far so I will try cutting it in half tomorrow so that he knows what it tastes like.
The following morning I went to the early 6.30 session of aerobics and by the time I got home I found that what I had wished for from El Senor de Huanca had already been granted, so it really is true that he grants what one wishes for. Some people wish for money and there were vendors selling packs of false money which the people were inserting into glass covered effigies in the temple. Others were making little houses with pebbles on the sides of the hill and this was their way of wishing for a house or home.
I am really pleased with my progress in the gymnasium each morning. I have been going to the weekday hour long session of aerobics for two weeks now and things that were a bit difficult in the beginning are already more than possible to do. We do step aerobics too and sometimes you need to be a ballerina to keep your balance and I get very out of breath trying to keep up with the speed of everything. The girl leading the aerobics and the others are all slim in their leotards and I am there, the ´gordita´ amongst the ´flacas´ but some of the high kicks that were impossible two weeks ago are quite easy to do now, even though I stop for a breather when there about 40 of them at a time. There are two sessions daily from 6.30 to 7.30 am, then again from 8.30 to 9.30 am and I attend whichever is most convenient depending on what else I am doing each day. I prefer to attend the early session wherever possible though. It gets light about 5.30 am so walking to the gym isn´t a problem. There are loads of people about when I leave the house at 6.15 - even the market is bustling already with vendors and people buying. People work long hours here from 7 am or even earlier until at least 7 if not 8 pm at night.
The night before last I went to a birthday party - of one of the waiters in one of the restaurants I go to in order to watch musicians play - his name is Jorge and it was his 27th birthday and he invited musicians, all the other waiters and waitresses and other friends. After work finished at the restaurant a few of us went to a nearby bar and shared about four litres of beer and then around 5.30 pm we set off in three motos to get to his home beyond the market place. Jorge is one of nine brothers and sisters and when we got to the house we were welcomed in warmly by his mother and mother in law and there was andean music playing so I felt very much at home already! It is pretty rare for a foreigner to be invited to such events so I felt quite honoured to be among the guests. Jorge went out and came back with two crates each containing 24 litre bottles of beer and shared them out among us and we were really enjoying ourselves. I danced with several of the musicians, as well as the brothers and sisters of Jorge, the eldest of which was especially welcoming, saying I would always be welcome to visit his house anytime. Later we were all served with a delicious supper of roast chicken with spaghetti and the souffle stuffed rocotos which is a very popular dish here.
Just prior to this one of the other guests was being a bit obnoxious. He took a fancy to me and was so big headed he really thought I would be interested, whereas I was utterly repelled. I was especially mad when he started trying to put down the musician sitting next to me just because he is short, calling him dwarf etc. He yanked me up for a dance and I refused to even look at him but kept looking at Wilber, Jorge´s youngest brother, and the man said ´don´t look at him, look at me´ but I refused to. It got so bad that I eventually felt very uneasy, worrying about getting home after the party as it was already dark and we weren´t in the best part of town. I made Jorge and Wilber promise to take me home when I was ready to go and they both said they would. Fortunately soon after the food was served this obnoxious guy left and after that I was able to relax and enjoy myself as everyone else was so friendly and nice. I danced for hours with lots of people, to both andean and cumbia music which is also popular here, and eventually went home around 1 am, loyally escorted by Wilber, Jorge and a couple of others.
Well that is all for now and I will write again after the weekend when hopefully I will be visiting Cusco, with the photos following later in the week.
On arrival in San Salvador we could see loads of people walking up the various hill paths in the direction of the temple. Nohemy said it was a long climb and we must look for another collectivo or bus to take us the last leg of the journey. 14th September is the beginning of this week long fiesta and people come from all over Peru and even other countries to pay homage to El Senor de Huanca. The place was bustling with vendors, the sides of the roads taken up with canvas covered eating places crammed with tables and benches, people cooking like crazy in the open air, canvas topped bars selling beer etc and behind all this we found the plaza where the feria (market) was taking place - I love these markets as you never know what you may find.
It took a while but we eventually found out where we might get transport up the hill. There were tons of transport police at the bottom of this track and all down the main road, mainly keeping order but also making sure no one was profiteering from transporting people up the hill, checking papers of drivers etc. We saw a mini bus coming and Alfredo asked about a lift up and we were told to move up the hill a bit more so the police wouldn´t notice us getting in! We were jolly grateful to get in and even get a seat as it was an incredibly hot day, the sun beating down unmercifully and I knew there was no way I could get up that hill on foot.
The road was only a track, winding back and forth to climb ever upwards and there were vendors selling yet more things lining the track on one or both sides all the way up. Luckily I was able to buy a sunhat through the window of the bus because I was already feeling faint from the heat - it was the hottest day by far since my arrival here.
As we neared the top the track got really congested and eventually the bus driver made us all get out and continue on foot as there was no way he could go any further. The fare was 40p each compared to the normal 10p charged for a similar journey, so that driver was definitely profiteering! However, I would have paid ten times the price rather than walk up.
It took about 25 minutes to climb the last pàrt of the hill, huffing and puffing in that intense heat so that by the time we finally reached the temple and went inside to hear the mass I was almost on the point of collapse. On the last part of the trip up, climbing loads of steps, were multitudes of beggars, knowing that people would be generous in the vicinity of El Senor. The huge temple was filled with thousands of worshippers all standing and listening to the mass. Fortunately on the edges and around columns people were seated and I was lucky enough to find a space to sit down in albeit on a very dusty floor and it took me about 20 minutes to recover from what felt like heat exhaustion. Once I recovered from the climb, I stood up again and managed to join Alfredo and Nohemy for the remainder of the mass standing. Nohemy had told me to make a wish whilst in the temple and that El Senor would grant it.
Once outside we walked around the plaza surrounding the enormous temple and the views were incredible. You will see pictures of the temple and views when I next upload photos in about a week´s time - I want to get to Cusco and get the latest pictures downloaded to CD so that I can get to them on a computer first. I managed to buy a pamphlet telling the story of El Senor de Huanca but unfortunately mislaid it on the long climb back down, otherwise I would have told part of that story in this blog entry. And yes, that was the next shock, finding out there was no transport back down and there was nothing for it but to walk.
Even though downhill on a road that zig zagged down, it took more than an hour to get to the bottom and it was gruelling in that heat. I wanted to sit down on the odd boulder on the roadside but Nohemy and Alfredo were anxious for their lunch and were determined to keep going! When we got closer to the bottom there was a shortcut down a load of very uneven and rocky steps which they veered onto and it really was dodgy going, climbing down them without slipping or falling. Talk about a sigh of relief when we finally hit the bottom!!!
We spent the next 20 minutes trying to agree on what to have for lunch as the choice in the various outlets was incredible. Nohemy fancied guinea pig but didn´t fancy paying 25 soles for a small one. We eventually agreed on roast chicken with spaghelli, souffle stuffed rocoto peppers and potatoes which only cost 7 soles each, along with a 2 litre bottle of coca cola as we were all gasping with thirst after that long hike down. (Even though we had partaken of large glasses of chicha de quinua and hunks of water melon on the way down).
After lunch I wanted to go round the feria (market stalls in the plaza) but they were too exhausted and said they would wait in the food outlet however long it took me. I enjoyed browsing round the stalls and bought some DVDs and CDs - they are so cheap here. I also bought some ceramic dishes for my bird cage, then later realised they were probably too big to get through the openings of the cage, so bought three smaller plastic bowls instead. In those crowded market places you have to keep your hands on your purse at all times as robbers abound, even in such places where people go on pilgrimage.
When I rejoined them our next job was to find a collectivo to take us back to Pisac. This took a long time and we managed to walk up and down and enjoy the ambience in the process. During that day I took quite a lot of photos, the best of which will appear in my flickr photostream next week (accessible from this blog if you look for the photo link installed 3 or 4 weeks ago, but I might add another photo link after this or the next entry). We eventually found a mini bus calling for passengers going to Pisac and boarded it, me in the front, the others in the back - from where I had a good view to take a few more interesting pictures, including one of the lorries in which people travel in far-flung places where there is no other form of transport. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam - both sides of the road were jammed with traffic but the bus continued, turned round, and didn´t properly start the journey until it was completely full of passengers. That is the system here even in bus terminals - there is no timetable - a bus appears and only starts its journey when all the seats are taken and aisle full of standing passengers - and as one bus is leaving another parked nearby takes its place and so on. It works the same way with the collectivos (shared taxis) and people carrier carros.
Getting from San Salvador to Pisac proved to be the easy part. On arrival there we found the queues of people waiting for the bus so enormous that whenever a bus appeared there was a huge surge and no way we could even get anywhere near it. After half an hour there were lorries appearing calling for passengers to Urubamba at 2 soles a head and I was willing to try it just for the sheer experience of it as there was a ladder one could climb up but Nohemy and Alfredo wouldn´t hear of it and I decided not to as well, not wanting to travel like that with a load of strangers, clinging on to the overhead bars or sides for grim death!!!
Eventually about 6 buses later we got on one and Nohemy and Alfredo found seats but I was standing in the aisle - fortunately not for the whole journey which was nearly an hour - after about 15 minutes I was able to sit down when someone got off the bus from the seat right next to where I was standing. Back home I was anxious to get back to my love bird bought in Tupac Amaru market in Cusco on Saturday, having felt guilty leaving him on his own all day. We sat out on the patio for a good hour chatting with the bird in front of us and he seemed contented. There was a slight breeze blowing by then so he got some fresh air. I really must purchase a hen for him so that he has company when I am not there - the next time I get a chance to visit the Tupac Amaru feria I will definitely get one, along with a good supply of seed. More than anything he loves spinach which fortunately we have growing in the garden. I insert a branch of spinach leaves over his cage each morning and he really enjoys tucking in because by evening the cage floor is littered with well pecked spinach leaves. The pear I put in has been ignored so far so I will try cutting it in half tomorrow so that he knows what it tastes like.
The following morning I went to the early 6.30 session of aerobics and by the time I got home I found that what I had wished for from El Senor de Huanca had already been granted, so it really is true that he grants what one wishes for. Some people wish for money and there were vendors selling packs of false money which the people were inserting into glass covered effigies in the temple. Others were making little houses with pebbles on the sides of the hill and this was their way of wishing for a house or home.
I am really pleased with my progress in the gymnasium each morning. I have been going to the weekday hour long session of aerobics for two weeks now and things that were a bit difficult in the beginning are already more than possible to do. We do step aerobics too and sometimes you need to be a ballerina to keep your balance and I get very out of breath trying to keep up with the speed of everything. The girl leading the aerobics and the others are all slim in their leotards and I am there, the ´gordita´ amongst the ´flacas´ but some of the high kicks that were impossible two weeks ago are quite easy to do now, even though I stop for a breather when there about 40 of them at a time. There are two sessions daily from 6.30 to 7.30 am, then again from 8.30 to 9.30 am and I attend whichever is most convenient depending on what else I am doing each day. I prefer to attend the early session wherever possible though. It gets light about 5.30 am so walking to the gym isn´t a problem. There are loads of people about when I leave the house at 6.15 - even the market is bustling already with vendors and people buying. People work long hours here from 7 am or even earlier until at least 7 if not 8 pm at night.
The night before last I went to a birthday party - of one of the waiters in one of the restaurants I go to in order to watch musicians play - his name is Jorge and it was his 27th birthday and he invited musicians, all the other waiters and waitresses and other friends. After work finished at the restaurant a few of us went to a nearby bar and shared about four litres of beer and then around 5.30 pm we set off in three motos to get to his home beyond the market place. Jorge is one of nine brothers and sisters and when we got to the house we were welcomed in warmly by his mother and mother in law and there was andean music playing so I felt very much at home already! It is pretty rare for a foreigner to be invited to such events so I felt quite honoured to be among the guests. Jorge went out and came back with two crates each containing 24 litre bottles of beer and shared them out among us and we were really enjoying ourselves. I danced with several of the musicians, as well as the brothers and sisters of Jorge, the eldest of which was especially welcoming, saying I would always be welcome to visit his house anytime. Later we were all served with a delicious supper of roast chicken with spaghetti and the souffle stuffed rocotos which is a very popular dish here.
Just prior to this one of the other guests was being a bit obnoxious. He took a fancy to me and was so big headed he really thought I would be interested, whereas I was utterly repelled. I was especially mad when he started trying to put down the musician sitting next to me just because he is short, calling him dwarf etc. He yanked me up for a dance and I refused to even look at him but kept looking at Wilber, Jorge´s youngest brother, and the man said ´don´t look at him, look at me´ but I refused to. It got so bad that I eventually felt very uneasy, worrying about getting home after the party as it was already dark and we weren´t in the best part of town. I made Jorge and Wilber promise to take me home when I was ready to go and they both said they would. Fortunately soon after the food was served this obnoxious guy left and after that I was able to relax and enjoy myself as everyone else was so friendly and nice. I danced for hours with lots of people, to both andean and cumbia music which is also popular here, and eventually went home around 1 am, loyally escorted by Wilber, Jorge and a couple of others.
Well that is all for now and I will write again after the weekend when hopefully I will be visiting Cusco, with the photos following later in the week.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Cusco visits and African parrots
It has been about 10 days since I last wrote an entry but this is mainly because things have been pretty quiet. Life here is much the same from day to day and I don´t want to write about the same old things!
We went to Cusco for the weekend seeing as no workmen were available, setting off after lunch and on arrival went straight to the house and cooked lunch. I sunbathed up on the roof terrace in the afternoon and later in the afternoon we went to the local superstore and stocked up on things not readily available in Urubamba, and I bought 4 bottles of wine at very reasonable prices - normally it is prohibitively expensive if ordered in restaurants and the glass size really small too.In the evening we went for something to eat locally - chicken a la brasa which comes with chips and salad - and then to an internet cafe. We wanted to play monopoly but although Nohemy searched high and low she couldn`t find any games at all. I didn't bother going into town that evening as I was trying to keep my expenditure down a bit, having spent rather a lot lately.
The next morning after breakfast we decided to head straight back to Urubamba because Nohemy wanted to transport 3 armchairs back to the Urubamba house, all of which link to form a sofa, for their kitchen. A neighbour helped us get them out to the roadside and I decided I may as well sit in one of them whilst we were waiting for a taxi. That was really funny seeing peoples reaction as they went by in buses and cars, all the heads swivelling in unison, to see a foreigner sitting in an armchair on the side of the road. Eventually an estate taxi arrived and the armchairs were stowed in the back and we made it to the carro stop where they were hoisted onto the roof for the journey to Urubamba. Whilst having lunch Alfredo suddently remembered we had all been invited to Casa Grande restaurant for lunch but it was too late to go as we were already full up. Its great having a sofa in the kitchen now, because Alfredo and I often have a couple of games of scrabble after lunch.
One of the things I did this week was join a gym and I went there every morning from Monday to Friday. The cost is incredibly cheap, 40p per visit or 30 soles - 6 quid - a month, so I paid for a month as I intend to go five times a week, Mondays to Fridays.
I mainly joined for the aerobics sessions and on day one joined in the 8.30 to 9.30 session and managed to keep up mostly apart from the last 20 minutes. I was told the 6.30 am session was more basic so from Tuesday to Thursday set my alarm and went for that earlier session but unfortunately it wasn´t more basic, if anything it was more difficult and I could only keep up for the first half hour, after that you needed to be a ballerina to keep your balance with high kicks front and back and all at mind boggling speeds. So Friday I went back to the 8.30 session which is easier and there is time for coffee and a bread roll for breakfast first. The gym mainly caters for people who do weight lifting and body building but there are some machines that are used by the ladies but even those look difficult and I will bide my time until I am a bit fitter before attempting any of them. There are no cycling machines or treadmills unfortunately. On Friday I bought a padded roll up mattress that can be used as an exercise mat and from this coming Monday will try to include another half hour of stretching and exercises to supplement the sessions at the gym. Whether I continue beyond the month I have paid for remains to be seen. Nohemy said there are other classes where you can dance to music instead and that sounds more appealing to me. In the meantime we are going to find out more about what is available in that line.
On Thursday luckily I went to the 6.30 session because when I got back and had breakfast they said that as no workmen were coming that day they had decided to go to Cusco and did I want to go with them. I was pleased at the prospect and off we went in a local bus, getting there about 10.30. We spent the next couple of hours or so going round shops because Nohemy wanted to buy a microwave with oven for the house at Urubamba and I enjoyed seeing the electrical goods too and in fact ended up buying a boom box, like a portable ghetto blaster but not a huge affair, which has radio, CD and can also play mp3 CDs and it only cost me 24 quid. It will be nice to listen to my new CDs in bed as there is a socket to plug in my headphones. I have bought about 28 CDs since my arrival here and have only heard a few of them so far.
Nohemy and Alfredo enjoy listening to music sometimes too as they have no player of their own at the Urubamba house.
About 11.45 we ended up on Avenida del Sol and I decided to phone Juan to see if we could meet up, having left it until then thinking he would be at work at the airport. As it happened he was in Plaza de Armas and suggested we meet there in 5 minutes which just gave me time to walk up there. Nohemy and Alfredo went to their house in Marcavalle and said they would be there until 5 pm. It was fun to see Juan again. We sat on one of the benches chatting for a while and then went to join some other musicians and we were sitting on the steps in front of the cathedral, as they were waiting and hoping to play in one of the restaurants as soon as enough people were dining to make it worth their while. One of the musicians had visited the USA a couple of times and wanted to chat and practise his English with me, a chap called Elmer who knows many of the Urubamba musicians. Then Larry joined us, another musician who I got to know well last year, one of those playing at Chez Maggy every evening.
Around 1 pm they got the word they could play in another restaurant and we walked to Los Sabores del Inka where five of them donned their ponchos outside and I sat at a table right in front of them and enjoyed watching them perform. I ordered an alpaca stroganoff whilst listening and it was really delicious. Then they went and played in the restaurant across the road and I ordered a drink in there and enjoyed that performance too. After they had finished I walked with them round to Qori Chaska restaurant where they store their instruments and we said goodbye to the others and Juan and I walked to Saphi to look for Fernando´s new bar as he had about an hour before going somewhere else to play. We found the restaurant okay and when we walked in Fernando was absolutely delighted to see both of us. I have known Fernando since my 2001 visit and he is always thrilled whenever I visit. His new bar is lovely too and Juan promised to bring all his friends to it, Fernando only having recently set up there so people are still getting to know where it is. We shared a litre bottle of Pilsen and I bought Juan a chicken salad ciabatta sandwich - as musicians are always skint and hungry - and then around 4.30 we both had to say goodbye as he had to work and I had to get to the house in Cusco before 5. We left it that I would phone him next time I was in Cusco, to see if we could meet up again. I have known Juan since 2003 and he is a very good friend.
Today Saturday we decided to go to Cusco again as there were no workmen coming. Finding workers to build the extension isnt easy - they come for a few hours and then might not turn up for a day or two and Nohemy gets really mad when that happens. Progress is slow - because of the risk of earthquakes here the corners and centre of the building have to have metal columns which are created by craftsmen from lengths of iron and then these have to be cemented in and right up to ceiling level. The columns are in place now but the cementing up to the ceiling still has to be done. It is only when all this has been completed that the bricklaying part can begin.
As we were in no hurry to get to Cusco we caught a bus which took us about two hours and this time I had my camera in hand and took several pictures of the andean countryside and these will appear in a future upload of photos to flickr, so you can see what it is like. It is very different to the countryside we know at home - there are mountains in the background and the land undulates and is dotted with eucalyptus trees, and people live really rurally with their plots of land and their animals. The houses are made from mud baked bricks and in one of the photos you can see a house made of them and a pile of bricks baking in the sun in front of it.
On arrival in Cusco we decided to go to the big feria at Plaza Tupac Amaru and this was so enormous we ended up staying there best part of the day. I had phoned Juan before setting out but he had gone to Urcos, a village an hour from Cusco, to play at a big feria there and wouldn´t be back until early evening, but we arranged that I would revisit Cusco the following week and we would meet then. I enjoyed myself so much listening to the five musicians play in those two restaurants last Thursday that I am anxious to repeat it as soon as possible. These photos too will appear in the next upload - probably towards the end of next week.
At the feria we went through a huge section of plants first and I saw lovely palm trees available for as low as a fiver and intend to get one another Saturday. Lots of colourful flowers too. Whilst there are many familiar flowers blooming here at the moment - eg fuschias, pansies, snapdragons and roses, there are lots of unfamiliar and beautiful flowers unknown to me too. I have already bought a kantu tree because I love the flowers on it so much, but whether it flowers while I am still here remains to be seen. We next ended up in a section selling bird cages and all sorts of birds and yes, you have guessed it, I ended up falling in love with one of the birds in a cagë and when I discovered it only cost 40 soles - 8 quid - I just had to buy it, after having checked that Alfredo and Nohemy would look after it when I go back to England. It is a perequito africano and is gorgeous - it has a red beak and the colours of its feathers graduate from an orange head, with yellow ruff down to shades of green in its body, with a bit of white each side of the tail feather. Its eyes are black and ringed with white and it is absolutely beautiful. It was one of many and they sing beautifully. There were two similar in the cage and the first was female and I chose the male, and it is about 4 months old. It looks like a miniature parrot and I hope I will be able to teach it to talk - like a budgie I once had. The man packed it up in a cardboard box and in a carrier bag with some seed and I bought a bag of seed to get started and was informed I can also feed it on spinach, alfalfa, oranges and pears but no other fruit.
After that the next purchase had to be a cage and I bought a quite large one which has a central divider, not knowing how big this bird will become. If it remains small I will later buy another bird to keep it company, to keep in the other half or remove the divider so they can be together. We left the cage to be collected and went for a late lunch in a huge area with covered food stalls in the open air and were spoiled for choice on what to have. I fancied ceviche de Pejerry whereas Nohemy fancied guinea pig. We eventually agreed on roast goat with spaghetti and potato and it was absolutely delicious, all washed down with a jug of chicha de quinua, a drink I have got really partial to and you can buy large glasses of it at the side of the road everywhere for 10p a glass.
After this we went back for the cage and decided to travel back by bus with me buying an extra seat for the cage. This proved a nightmare as once I sat down the cage still protruded into the aisle even on its side and I had to lift it every time anyone went past. It took about 20 minutes for the bus to fill and then a load of extra passengers were standing in the aisle and the cage was right in my face for most of the journey and I had to keep the top of the box open so the bird could breathe so it was quite a nightmare journey back. I was very happy once we got back though, filling the containers with water and seed and placing the bird inside. We were all out on the patio until the sun went down and the bird looked really happy on its perch and everytime I spoke to it, it turned its head on one side so you could tell it was listening. I am absolutely delighted with it and hope to teach it to talk eventually. Although still nervous about being handled it doesnt attempt to peck you, so hopefully I can tame it with time.
Well that seems to be all for now and I will write again in a week or so. And if you check the photostream at flickr again in about a week there will be several new photos to see.
We went to Cusco for the weekend seeing as no workmen were available, setting off after lunch and on arrival went straight to the house and cooked lunch. I sunbathed up on the roof terrace in the afternoon and later in the afternoon we went to the local superstore and stocked up on things not readily available in Urubamba, and I bought 4 bottles of wine at very reasonable prices - normally it is prohibitively expensive if ordered in restaurants and the glass size really small too.In the evening we went for something to eat locally - chicken a la brasa which comes with chips and salad - and then to an internet cafe. We wanted to play monopoly but although Nohemy searched high and low she couldn`t find any games at all. I didn't bother going into town that evening as I was trying to keep my expenditure down a bit, having spent rather a lot lately.
The next morning after breakfast we decided to head straight back to Urubamba because Nohemy wanted to transport 3 armchairs back to the Urubamba house, all of which link to form a sofa, for their kitchen. A neighbour helped us get them out to the roadside and I decided I may as well sit in one of them whilst we were waiting for a taxi. That was really funny seeing peoples reaction as they went by in buses and cars, all the heads swivelling in unison, to see a foreigner sitting in an armchair on the side of the road. Eventually an estate taxi arrived and the armchairs were stowed in the back and we made it to the carro stop where they were hoisted onto the roof for the journey to Urubamba. Whilst having lunch Alfredo suddently remembered we had all been invited to Casa Grande restaurant for lunch but it was too late to go as we were already full up. Its great having a sofa in the kitchen now, because Alfredo and I often have a couple of games of scrabble after lunch.
One of the things I did this week was join a gym and I went there every morning from Monday to Friday. The cost is incredibly cheap, 40p per visit or 30 soles - 6 quid - a month, so I paid for a month as I intend to go five times a week, Mondays to Fridays.
I mainly joined for the aerobics sessions and on day one joined in the 8.30 to 9.30 session and managed to keep up mostly apart from the last 20 minutes. I was told the 6.30 am session was more basic so from Tuesday to Thursday set my alarm and went for that earlier session but unfortunately it wasn´t more basic, if anything it was more difficult and I could only keep up for the first half hour, after that you needed to be a ballerina to keep your balance with high kicks front and back and all at mind boggling speeds. So Friday I went back to the 8.30 session which is easier and there is time for coffee and a bread roll for breakfast first. The gym mainly caters for people who do weight lifting and body building but there are some machines that are used by the ladies but even those look difficult and I will bide my time until I am a bit fitter before attempting any of them. There are no cycling machines or treadmills unfortunately. On Friday I bought a padded roll up mattress that can be used as an exercise mat and from this coming Monday will try to include another half hour of stretching and exercises to supplement the sessions at the gym. Whether I continue beyond the month I have paid for remains to be seen. Nohemy said there are other classes where you can dance to music instead and that sounds more appealing to me. In the meantime we are going to find out more about what is available in that line.
On Thursday luckily I went to the 6.30 session because when I got back and had breakfast they said that as no workmen were coming that day they had decided to go to Cusco and did I want to go with them. I was pleased at the prospect and off we went in a local bus, getting there about 10.30. We spent the next couple of hours or so going round shops because Nohemy wanted to buy a microwave with oven for the house at Urubamba and I enjoyed seeing the electrical goods too and in fact ended up buying a boom box, like a portable ghetto blaster but not a huge affair, which has radio, CD and can also play mp3 CDs and it only cost me 24 quid. It will be nice to listen to my new CDs in bed as there is a socket to plug in my headphones. I have bought about 28 CDs since my arrival here and have only heard a few of them so far.
Nohemy and Alfredo enjoy listening to music sometimes too as they have no player of their own at the Urubamba house.
About 11.45 we ended up on Avenida del Sol and I decided to phone Juan to see if we could meet up, having left it until then thinking he would be at work at the airport. As it happened he was in Plaza de Armas and suggested we meet there in 5 minutes which just gave me time to walk up there. Nohemy and Alfredo went to their house in Marcavalle and said they would be there until 5 pm. It was fun to see Juan again. We sat on one of the benches chatting for a while and then went to join some other musicians and we were sitting on the steps in front of the cathedral, as they were waiting and hoping to play in one of the restaurants as soon as enough people were dining to make it worth their while. One of the musicians had visited the USA a couple of times and wanted to chat and practise his English with me, a chap called Elmer who knows many of the Urubamba musicians. Then Larry joined us, another musician who I got to know well last year, one of those playing at Chez Maggy every evening.
Around 1 pm they got the word they could play in another restaurant and we walked to Los Sabores del Inka where five of them donned their ponchos outside and I sat at a table right in front of them and enjoyed watching them perform. I ordered an alpaca stroganoff whilst listening and it was really delicious. Then they went and played in the restaurant across the road and I ordered a drink in there and enjoyed that performance too. After they had finished I walked with them round to Qori Chaska restaurant where they store their instruments and we said goodbye to the others and Juan and I walked to Saphi to look for Fernando´s new bar as he had about an hour before going somewhere else to play. We found the restaurant okay and when we walked in Fernando was absolutely delighted to see both of us. I have known Fernando since my 2001 visit and he is always thrilled whenever I visit. His new bar is lovely too and Juan promised to bring all his friends to it, Fernando only having recently set up there so people are still getting to know where it is. We shared a litre bottle of Pilsen and I bought Juan a chicken salad ciabatta sandwich - as musicians are always skint and hungry - and then around 4.30 we both had to say goodbye as he had to work and I had to get to the house in Cusco before 5. We left it that I would phone him next time I was in Cusco, to see if we could meet up again. I have known Juan since 2003 and he is a very good friend.
Today Saturday we decided to go to Cusco again as there were no workmen coming. Finding workers to build the extension isnt easy - they come for a few hours and then might not turn up for a day or two and Nohemy gets really mad when that happens. Progress is slow - because of the risk of earthquakes here the corners and centre of the building have to have metal columns which are created by craftsmen from lengths of iron and then these have to be cemented in and right up to ceiling level. The columns are in place now but the cementing up to the ceiling still has to be done. It is only when all this has been completed that the bricklaying part can begin.
As we were in no hurry to get to Cusco we caught a bus which took us about two hours and this time I had my camera in hand and took several pictures of the andean countryside and these will appear in a future upload of photos to flickr, so you can see what it is like. It is very different to the countryside we know at home - there are mountains in the background and the land undulates and is dotted with eucalyptus trees, and people live really rurally with their plots of land and their animals. The houses are made from mud baked bricks and in one of the photos you can see a house made of them and a pile of bricks baking in the sun in front of it.
On arrival in Cusco we decided to go to the big feria at Plaza Tupac Amaru and this was so enormous we ended up staying there best part of the day. I had phoned Juan before setting out but he had gone to Urcos, a village an hour from Cusco, to play at a big feria there and wouldn´t be back until early evening, but we arranged that I would revisit Cusco the following week and we would meet then. I enjoyed myself so much listening to the five musicians play in those two restaurants last Thursday that I am anxious to repeat it as soon as possible. These photos too will appear in the next upload - probably towards the end of next week.
At the feria we went through a huge section of plants first and I saw lovely palm trees available for as low as a fiver and intend to get one another Saturday. Lots of colourful flowers too. Whilst there are many familiar flowers blooming here at the moment - eg fuschias, pansies, snapdragons and roses, there are lots of unfamiliar and beautiful flowers unknown to me too. I have already bought a kantu tree because I love the flowers on it so much, but whether it flowers while I am still here remains to be seen. We next ended up in a section selling bird cages and all sorts of birds and yes, you have guessed it, I ended up falling in love with one of the birds in a cagë and when I discovered it only cost 40 soles - 8 quid - I just had to buy it, after having checked that Alfredo and Nohemy would look after it when I go back to England. It is a perequito africano and is gorgeous - it has a red beak and the colours of its feathers graduate from an orange head, with yellow ruff down to shades of green in its body, with a bit of white each side of the tail feather. Its eyes are black and ringed with white and it is absolutely beautiful. It was one of many and they sing beautifully. There were two similar in the cage and the first was female and I chose the male, and it is about 4 months old. It looks like a miniature parrot and I hope I will be able to teach it to talk - like a budgie I once had. The man packed it up in a cardboard box and in a carrier bag with some seed and I bought a bag of seed to get started and was informed I can also feed it on spinach, alfalfa, oranges and pears but no other fruit.
After that the next purchase had to be a cage and I bought a quite large one which has a central divider, not knowing how big this bird will become. If it remains small I will later buy another bird to keep it company, to keep in the other half or remove the divider so they can be together. We left the cage to be collected and went for a late lunch in a huge area with covered food stalls in the open air and were spoiled for choice on what to have. I fancied ceviche de Pejerry whereas Nohemy fancied guinea pig. We eventually agreed on roast goat with spaghetti and potato and it was absolutely delicious, all washed down with a jug of chicha de quinua, a drink I have got really partial to and you can buy large glasses of it at the side of the road everywhere for 10p a glass.
After this we went back for the cage and decided to travel back by bus with me buying an extra seat for the cage. This proved a nightmare as once I sat down the cage still protruded into the aisle even on its side and I had to lift it every time anyone went past. It took about 20 minutes for the bus to fill and then a load of extra passengers were standing in the aisle and the cage was right in my face for most of the journey and I had to keep the top of the box open so the bird could breathe so it was quite a nightmare journey back. I was very happy once we got back though, filling the containers with water and seed and placing the bird inside. We were all out on the patio until the sun went down and the bird looked really happy on its perch and everytime I spoke to it, it turned its head on one side so you could tell it was listening. I am absolutely delighted with it and hope to teach it to talk eventually. Although still nervous about being handled it doesnt attempt to peck you, so hopefully I can tame it with time.
Well that seems to be all for now and I will write again in a week or so. And if you check the photostream at flickr again in about a week there will be several new photos to see.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Savia Andina, Kamikase club, Birthday celebrations etc
Today is the first quiet moment since last Friday, the weekend in between having been rather hectic. I travelled to Cusco on Saturday and had fun in one of the markets looking for CDs and managed to find about 10 that aren´t in my collection, a couple of them DVDs of live concerts. Later after a bite to eat, we arrived at the Municipal Theatre and joined the queue waiting to go in. Although the show was supposed to start at 8pm people were still arriving half an hour later. Only when the seats were fully occupied did the concert begin.
It was well worth the wait though as from their first song - El Condor Pasa, followed by my favourite ´Porque estas triste´ they played for over an hour in the first half many of their better known hits, everyone was entranced and really enjoying themselves. At the half way mark the mayor of Cusco arrived on stage and presented a plaque to the band commemorating their 34 years of playing as a band. There was a 20 minute interval and then the band returned and continued the show. To hear Geraldo Arias Paz´s voice live was incredible, he has the sweetest and most beautiful voice imaginable - his brother Raphael Arias Paz was a virtuoso on guitar but the star of the show was the charango player, a real maestro of charango, especially since two of his fingers are missing on his playing hand - Donato Espinoza, who has also produced productions of his own, some of which are in my collection. Their final song was Él Minero´ their most famous hit and it was truly awesome to hear it live.
The show ended about 20 to eleven and we walked hurriedly to Kamikase club to see another live band - Pueblo Rebelde - a rock and andean fusion band who were also brilliant. Finally after being 7 weeks here I got to Kamikase club which is my favourite in all Cusco, and the drinks on offer were excellent - I chose pisco with maracuya (passionfruit juice) cocktail called Maracucha and proceed to down four of these large drinks throughout the hours that followed. Where else in the world could one buy 8 pisco cocktails for the low price of ten quid!
We danced to the band playing and then when the disco music started afterwards we continued dancing. I was with several other musicians, including those in the band who played, and we had a great time. I danced so much that if I didn´t lose weight that night I want to know why!!! I love kamikase club because they don´t play ordinary disco music but all my progressive rock favourites of the 70s and 80s, including Simple Minds and U2, as well as rock music from other countries, eg Rata Blanca, my favourite rock band of the moment who are from Spain but more famous in Spain. Before I knew it, it was 7 am, and not worth going back to the house to sleep. Several of us were going to continue to Pablo´s house outside Cusco but we waited and waited for a bus or carro and none came so I decided to return to Urubamba and sent a text message to Nohemy explaining this.
Back in Urubamba, I went to sleep for a few hours, setting my alarm for 3 pm, as I was meeting up with loads of musicians at 4 pm to celebrate Rosalio´s birthday. We went to La Chinita cafe where we meet up every Sunday and there followed another lot of dancing, all afternoon and evening until I was ready to drop with exhaustion about 10 pm. There were campesino families in the cafe and they joined in our festivities and one old guy kept wanting to dance with me, and one old lady took a fancy to Rosalio and had him up dancing time and time again. Everyone had a good laugh and when the cafe owner arrived with a big birthday cake a bit later one of the others shoved it into Rosalio´s face after he blew out the candle, which is the normal custom here!!! Then it was cut up and shared out amongst everyone there.
I was unable to drink any beer, still having a headache from all the maracucha cocktails the night before, and by 10 pm I couldn´t face another glass of coca cola, nor had the energy to dance another moment, so Daniel (Rosalio´s brother) accompanied me back to the house, saying the celebration would continue at his house in the countryside the next day and he wrote down instructions to give to a moto driver to bring me there.
I slept like a log after such a hectic weekend, and set out by moto to Daniel´s house about 1 pm next day. There I was warmly welcomed in and for a while we were sitting out in the cobbled courtyard drinking beers, with Enigma and other meditation music playing loud in the background, chickens wandering round us, one of which was so tame that I had it on my lap for a cuddle for a while. Children were playing on swings or in paddling pools and the wives were catching up on the latest gossip. Once the sun went down later we all retired to the lounge upstairs, from the window of which was an incredible view of countryside and mountains. We danced and danced, shared more beers, and had a chicken soup (Caldo de Gallina) prepared by Nohemy, Daniel´s wife, and I stayed until it started to get dark when Daniel put me into a moto to go back. They wanted me to stay longer but I knew it would have meant staying all night if I had, and I preferred to get back in daylight and get a good night´s sleep instead.
Today is a nice quiet relaxing day - sunbathing on the patio this morning, a bit of a siesta in the sunshine this afternoon after a delicious trout lunch, and more than likely an early night tonight! The rest of the week will be pretty quiet too, apart from watching a band play in the restaurant tomorrow, followed by a few hours in Cusco, and I will probably spend the weekend in Cusco with Nohemy and Alfredo, returning on Sunday and showing my face for a while at Carlos´s birthday party, especially if Daniel and Rosalio are there as they are my favourites of all the musicians. Earlier in the week I met their elder brother Valerio, who lives in Pisac but paid a visit home to see his family. It was fun to meet him and hopefully one of these days we will visit him at his home near Pisac which is on the banks of the river outside the town.
It was well worth the wait though as from their first song - El Condor Pasa, followed by my favourite ´Porque estas triste´ they played for over an hour in the first half many of their better known hits, everyone was entranced and really enjoying themselves. At the half way mark the mayor of Cusco arrived on stage and presented a plaque to the band commemorating their 34 years of playing as a band. There was a 20 minute interval and then the band returned and continued the show. To hear Geraldo Arias Paz´s voice live was incredible, he has the sweetest and most beautiful voice imaginable - his brother Raphael Arias Paz was a virtuoso on guitar but the star of the show was the charango player, a real maestro of charango, especially since two of his fingers are missing on his playing hand - Donato Espinoza, who has also produced productions of his own, some of which are in my collection. Their final song was Él Minero´ their most famous hit and it was truly awesome to hear it live.
The show ended about 20 to eleven and we walked hurriedly to Kamikase club to see another live band - Pueblo Rebelde - a rock and andean fusion band who were also brilliant. Finally after being 7 weeks here I got to Kamikase club which is my favourite in all Cusco, and the drinks on offer were excellent - I chose pisco with maracuya (passionfruit juice) cocktail called Maracucha and proceed to down four of these large drinks throughout the hours that followed. Where else in the world could one buy 8 pisco cocktails for the low price of ten quid!
We danced to the band playing and then when the disco music started afterwards we continued dancing. I was with several other musicians, including those in the band who played, and we had a great time. I danced so much that if I didn´t lose weight that night I want to know why!!! I love kamikase club because they don´t play ordinary disco music but all my progressive rock favourites of the 70s and 80s, including Simple Minds and U2, as well as rock music from other countries, eg Rata Blanca, my favourite rock band of the moment who are from Spain but more famous in Spain. Before I knew it, it was 7 am, and not worth going back to the house to sleep. Several of us were going to continue to Pablo´s house outside Cusco but we waited and waited for a bus or carro and none came so I decided to return to Urubamba and sent a text message to Nohemy explaining this.
Back in Urubamba, I went to sleep for a few hours, setting my alarm for 3 pm, as I was meeting up with loads of musicians at 4 pm to celebrate Rosalio´s birthday. We went to La Chinita cafe where we meet up every Sunday and there followed another lot of dancing, all afternoon and evening until I was ready to drop with exhaustion about 10 pm. There were campesino families in the cafe and they joined in our festivities and one old guy kept wanting to dance with me, and one old lady took a fancy to Rosalio and had him up dancing time and time again. Everyone had a good laugh and when the cafe owner arrived with a big birthday cake a bit later one of the others shoved it into Rosalio´s face after he blew out the candle, which is the normal custom here!!! Then it was cut up and shared out amongst everyone there.
I was unable to drink any beer, still having a headache from all the maracucha cocktails the night before, and by 10 pm I couldn´t face another glass of coca cola, nor had the energy to dance another moment, so Daniel (Rosalio´s brother) accompanied me back to the house, saying the celebration would continue at his house in the countryside the next day and he wrote down instructions to give to a moto driver to bring me there.
I slept like a log after such a hectic weekend, and set out by moto to Daniel´s house about 1 pm next day. There I was warmly welcomed in and for a while we were sitting out in the cobbled courtyard drinking beers, with Enigma and other meditation music playing loud in the background, chickens wandering round us, one of which was so tame that I had it on my lap for a cuddle for a while. Children were playing on swings or in paddling pools and the wives were catching up on the latest gossip. Once the sun went down later we all retired to the lounge upstairs, from the window of which was an incredible view of countryside and mountains. We danced and danced, shared more beers, and had a chicken soup (Caldo de Gallina) prepared by Nohemy, Daniel´s wife, and I stayed until it started to get dark when Daniel put me into a moto to go back. They wanted me to stay longer but I knew it would have meant staying all night if I had, and I preferred to get back in daylight and get a good night´s sleep instead.
Today is a nice quiet relaxing day - sunbathing on the patio this morning, a bit of a siesta in the sunshine this afternoon after a delicious trout lunch, and more than likely an early night tonight! The rest of the week will be pretty quiet too, apart from watching a band play in the restaurant tomorrow, followed by a few hours in Cusco, and I will probably spend the weekend in Cusco with Nohemy and Alfredo, returning on Sunday and showing my face for a while at Carlos´s birthday party, especially if Daniel and Rosalio are there as they are my favourites of all the musicians. Earlier in the week I met their elder brother Valerio, who lives in Pisac but paid a visit home to see his family. It was fun to meet him and hopefully one of these days we will visit him at his home near Pisac which is on the banks of the river outside the town.
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