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.
