Rocks, Protests, and Shamans

I’ve already been home for 2 weeks, so I think its time to put this procrastination to an end! I will post 2 more times about my trip to the beautiful county of Perú.

My sister and I spent our last full day in Cusco exploring some more historical sites. I love the Tourist Ticket (boleto turístico) because it’s easy to enter the different sites and we could easily choose different places to go to because of all the examples were listed on the ticket.

We started the day off at Q’inqu. In Quechua (original language from the native Incas) means “zig-zag”. This area was an enormous natural stone that was thought to have been used by the Incas for sacrifices and possibly mummification.

We spent that morning walking around the surrounding areas of Q’inqu. One of my favorite memories of that day was just spending time relaxing on a large rock, eating trail mix, and chatting with my sister; it’s such a blessing to have the time to take in such a beautiful sight without being rushed.

I was also very intrigued with learning a bit of Spanish by this point of our trip. I would try to decode everything I saw and got to the point where I would say I had about 50% accuracy😂 Erin was a trooper and let me try conversing with taxi drivers and market salespeople, but would almost always need to intervene and help.

While getting from the nature area back to the downtown Plaza de Armas we saw a protest, it was almost like a parade. The local people seemed to be voicing their opinions for an upcoming election. Their signs addressed the gender bias and inequalities that women have in Peru. The law enforcement was aware of the route that the protesters were going to take and carefully blocked off necessary intersections to make sure everyone was safe. It was such a pleasant sight to see, especially with all that is going on in the US right now: wars, education laws, the presidential election, etc. Erin and I stopped and just watched as the people strolled by, and the line grew and grew. We saw this group again about an hour later, chanting even stronger. The local people seemed to support and respect the protest and vice versa with the protestors.

If anyone reading this knows my sister or I, you know that children have a special place in our hearts. We usually make “googly eyes” at passing kids and always wave. Erin and I were looking for a place to eat and to our surprise there was a little girl, about 4 years old, hiding under one of the menu booths. Her mother was selling goods across the street. She was very outgoing and played with us for a bit. She got a kick out of my horrible Spanish and told us about her doll named Anna (I’m pretty sure she thought I was lying about my name, because she told us her doll’s name before I told her mine!). She was adorable and we played with her and her Barbie for a while. It never ceases to amaze me what simple things kids from different areas need in order to have so much endless fun.

I really think that fate brought us together on the trip with our new friends. We got to know this group throughout the trip — we ended up running into them randomly 3 different times! I loved learning more about Ho Chunk culture and what life is like in the US today for those of Native America descent. It was awesome to hear about the art, photography, and books some people from this group have created! The last time we ran into our friends was at a cultural ritual in a market. The shaman was bringing everyone together into a big family and blessed us individually with his oils. I don’t remember the name, but this celebration was to bring abundant harvests later in the seasons.

Cusco was BY FAR my favorite area of Perú. I could have easily spent another month or two there! It was extremely safe, clean, and full such a variety of fun things to do. The only downside (or should I say UPside) was the altitude! 😉