Coca y Cacao

January 15 -

Today was another interesting day, touring around Cuzco. In the morning there weren’t many people out and about so I had a peaceful walk down past the Santo Domingo convent. Then I walked up to the Plaza de Armas and did a short walking tour of the Incan stones. Not the most thrilling thing I’ve ever seen, but there was a cool 15-sided rock and there’s just something neat about seeing things that are thousands of years old. There is another group of rocks that are supposed to be shaped like a puma, a sacred animal of the Incas, but I guess it was too abstract for my eye.

I also explored San Blas, a cute neighborhood popular with tourists where my school is. Many of the streets are pedestrian only so that was nice. I hiked up a big hill to check out a hotel Kristy and I were looking at for her visit and it was ok but I don’t think we’ll want to make that hike every day!

After some more walking, a quick trip to Starbucks (had to try one of their local flavors of frappachinos!), and the internet café, I came back for lunch and a siesta. Man am I getting lots of time to read and rest here, but I’m sure that will change tomorrow when I start a week of 8 hours of Spanish lessons daily.

After lunch I had quite an afternoon. I visited the Centro de Textiles where they were doing demonstrations of weaving and there was a small museum. It was interesting but the staff wasn’t very talkative so I left after a short while. Then I went to the Museo de Arte Precolombiano where there was a nice collection of pottery, wood carvings, gold and silver carvings, and a few out-of-place Spanish paintings. I especially liked the wood carvings, which are amazingly well preserved for being from sometime between 1 and 800 A.D. Also there were some very detailed carvings of ancient gods and mystical combinations of animals like a serpent with a cat’s head.

After that I stopped in at a café and sat on the balcony overlooking the Plaza and had my first cup of mate de coca. Its made from the leaves of coca plants but unlike cocaine it is not a drug or addictive (well no more than coffee). It tasted like green tea and it definitely helped my headache, which I had been blaming on allergies but was maybe the altitude. At the café a cute little perrito sat by my feet and kept perching one of the stools. I guess he wanted to see the beautiful view too! 

On my way back I took a short detour and ended up running into a guy promoting the Choco Museo. Sounds good to me! The second I walked in I was overwhelmed by the delicious aroma of chocolate and minutes later I was greeted with a lovely cup of chocolate tea, which I later learned is made from the stalks leftover when they remove the beans to make chocolate. They had a nice display all about the history of chocolate across the world and its production in Peru. I didn’t have enough sencillo to buy any chocolate so I’ll just have to go back!

On the way back it was starting to get dark and I ran into this little girl trying to sell hats. Throughout the day I had encountered several people hawking various goods but normally a simple no gracias was enough. But she was persistent. She showed off her English skills and knowledge of the US, reciting for me the president’s name, the colors and design of the flag, and the capital. I complimented her but refused to buy anything. All of a sudden she turned from nice to mean and I couldn’t tell what she said but I pretty sure she swore at me! Oh well, so far that is the only mean person I encountered, so not too bad, and I’m sure her life situation warrants the frustration. Overall all it was a great day. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had a travel companion (hint: visitors welcome!). I’m definitely looking forward to making some friends this week at the Spanish school and of course meeting my colleagues in Puno next week.