The main subject of this entry is all the celebrations that have been taking place in Urubamba over the past week or so. The first event we attended was an evening performance of live music put on free for the more elderly population of Urubamba when the Mayor thanked them for their input over the years in the progression of Provincia Urubamba as a whole. Whilst the speeches of the major and other dignitaries were taking place we were all served glasses of a delicious rose wine, assorted snacks and later a hot sweet punch fortified with pisco. The music was provided by students of a School of Music in Cusco and was more classical than andean but very enjoyable all the same. When I read the programme before the show I noticed there was one musician I know well - Larry who plays with other musicians in Chez Maggy restaurant in Cusco in the evenings. I don´t have the programme with me right now as I am in Cusco, but later I will amend this entry to give more details of the music performed. Larry´s performance - on metal flute, accompanied by a pianist - was excellent and I could see his surprise when he spotted me in the audience! Nohemy and Alfredo didnt want to stay on for the second half so I didn´t either, as it was already pretty late when the interval took place.
The next day we all came into Cusco for an overnight stay and I went to meet Juan and the other musicians as usual in the Plaza de Armas for a while. Whilst we were waiting for enough customers in Paititi´s restaurant to make it worth their while playing Larry came and joined us and asked what had happened to me last night, that he had looked for me after the show! Unfortunately there were hardly any customers in Paititi´s so instead of playing Juan suggested we all go and have a few games of pool and I jumped at the chance as I love that game. We walked to a snooker hall about 10 minutes away, and in the process glancing to my left as we crossed the Plaza I noticed an Indian restaurant on an upper floor of Avenida El Sol and decided I would go there for a late lunch afterwards. The snooker hall contained 6 full sized snooker tables and you paid by the hour. I paid for the first hour and they paid for the second and in that time we managed to fit in 4 games. I didnt play too well to begin with, partly through being out of practice and also not being used to playing on such large tables - also the rules are very different. We played as a foursome and both sides were hitting the same balls (spots or stripes) and you were not allowed to pot any balls behind the line from which you hit the white towards the triangle of balls until all the balls on the other side of the line had been potted. It was great fun though and I hope there will be another opportunity to play on future visits with them in Cusco. Once the two hours were up I said my goodbyes and headed off on my own to that Indian restaurant - the only one in Cusco. Since being here the food I have missed most from back home is a good roast dinner and a proper indian curry in a restaurant. Unfortunately the curry when it came was much different than I am used to back home, not as good, and I ended up with two lots of rice as I didnt realise when I ordered that rice was included, and I realised that I can make a much better curry myself (and have since made it twice for us at home).
Back at the house later we went shopping and I bought wine for the evening and snacks and we spent the whole evening playing monopoly, a game all three of us are really hooked on. On Sunday we got up early and returned to Urubamba because we wanted to be present for all the festivities taking place that day. There was a beauty contest - Miss Urubamba - the lucky winner of which would go on to enter the Miss Peru contest - we didnt stay until the end so I didnt know who that ended up being. The girls were dressed in their typical Urubamba costumes and looked lovely, walking on a catwalk from the steps of the temple onto a large stage set up in front of it decorated with tassles, flowers, balloons, andean pottery etc, where they curtsied to the audience and waved and threw handfuls of sweets into the crowd. Later on there was live music - with different bands performing until the dawn, and a fireworks display at midnight but we didnt stay long enough for all that. We watched the first band featuring a harpist called Angel Damazo from Lima for a couple of hours and shared a few beers in the process, but knew there was no way we could stay awake until midnight (plus lots of other people were drinking and when people drink here they keep drinking until they are drunk, and things can get a bit hairy later on).
On Monday was Dia de Urubamba, the main event of the recent celebrations, being celebrated for the 170th year. It began in the morning and lasted all day, with parades from all the educational and work establishments throughout the Sacred Valley - you will see the photos in the next upload later this month or early in December - it was a very hot day and we were lucky to find a shady seat on a bench below a tall palm tree. The street sellers were out in force and we enjoyed Causa de Pollo, Chinese rice dishes, and other snacks as we watched the events. In the centre of the plaza by the fountain was a photographic display of previous inhabitants of Urubamba and one large photo featured Nohemy´s parents when they were young. I took a picture of that and you will see it in my next upload of photos. After all the parades were over in the late afternoon, we proceeded to the next event, which was an evening of live music in a huge recreational field near the bus terminal. One of Nohemy´s workmen accompanied us, and he and I were buying the beers for the four of us whilst we watched the live music. Unfortunately Nohemy and Alfredo didnt want to stay there late and I missed the two bands that I really wanted to see - Pueblo Rebelde and Milder Ore. The workman Gomer would have remained with me but I didnt want to be there just with him in case he got any funny ideas so reluctantly went home earlier than anticipated with Nohemy and Alfredo.
The weather has been fantastic all the week so I have been making the most of it in the daytime and a couple of evenings this week I did the cooking of the evening meal and we followed it up with a game of monopoly. Thursday was another event - Festidanzas 2009 - and this was especially enjoyable. The entrants began with the very youngest children of nursery age, 3 or 4, the girls and boys dressed in the traditional costumes of their villages throughout the Sacred Valley and they looked so cute - a live band on stage provided the music, mostly flutes and drums, and seeing those tiny children dance so beautifully brought tears to my eyes - at times the formation went a bit awry but that only added to the cuteness of it all - I took some great photos of various entrants. Between standing and watching and the odd rest on a bench under a palm tree, with a herd of baby lambs tethered who didnt mind being fondled, it was a very pleasant 3 hours performance which we enjoyed immensely. In the very last dance, young teenagers dressed as andean shepherds utilised some of the lambs in their dancing, with the lambs wrapped around their necks as they danced to the music and this was especially enjoyable. The lambs didnt seem to mind either as when set down afterwards they looked as calm as calm could be!That evening after dinner we went into the bar next door and shared a couple of litres of ice cold beer which rounded off the day nicely.
Today Friday we got up early and came into Cusco. The workmen couldnt make it today and are coming Sunday instead, hence the sudden decision to spend a couple of days here in Cusco. We visited Immigration first to find out about extending my stay here and discovered that it will not be a problem. One can either exit the country and re-enter, or revisit Immigration not earlier than 7 days before the 6 month visa expires, and pay a dollar a day for each day the visit is extended by - which is approximately 40 days, 40 dollars, and by far the cheapest option as only 40 days are involved. Had I wanted to stay another 6 months I would have paid a quick visit to friends in Bolivia instead.
After this we went to a new restaurant for lunch, just opened 2 days ago, and the fantastic menu del dia offer drew us in. In lovely spacious and clean surroundings we enjoyed a delicious soup made from prawns and vegetables (Chupe de Camarones) followed by roast lamb and roast potatoes - real roast potatoes like you get back home which I have missed badly since being here - then a pudding like jelly made from purple maize and large glasses of freshly made apple juice. All this for three of us, as well as a litre of coca cola, came to just under a fiver, which is excellent value even for here, and we will probably lunch there every time we come to Cusco from now on.
Next we went shopping as I wanted to buy a wedding present for Carmen and Henry who are getting married on 5th December and asked me to be a godmother at the wedding. After about 3 hours shopping and looking around I settled on an extra large pressure cooker and had it gift wrapped and also bought a gift bag to carry it in. By this time it was teatime so we all enjoyed huge bowls of fresh fruit salad smothered in strawberry yoghurt and hunks of chocolate gateau before getting a taxi home. Once I leave this internet cafe I will buy some wine and snacks for us to enjoy whilst playing another game of monopoly. Tomorrow we will probably visit the street market at Plaza Tupac Amaru as we have done for the last three Saturdays. We are thinking of buying a kitten as Nohemy is pretty keen on the idea of having a pet at home - as whenever we visit Cusco there are tenants on three sides of the house who would be willing to feed it. And I am looking forward to having a kitten to enjoy too. A young girl had one on her lap last Saturday on the bus back to the house and it was so cute - it was then the idea of buying a kitten was born! My lovebird will be safe with a kitten in the house because the cage hangs from a hook beneath the verandah each day so that he can enjoy the sunshine and fresh air too. Had we come to Cusco tomorrow rather than today I would have been going to Kamikase club with Juan in the evening, but this is easily deferred until next week instead. Finding enough workers for the house extension is such a problem that visits to Cusco can only take place whenever we know for sure we dont have workmen coming. We are all anxious to proceed as far as possible with the extension as all being well, Nohemy and Alfredo will accompany me to England when I fly home, if we are successful in getting visas for them. They will spend a couple of weeks with me, then a couple of weeks with their son in London, then proceed to Spain for a couple more months before coming back here. In order to leave the extension in abeyance for 3 months we have to progress as far as we possibly can with it between now and then.
