El Monzon

January 21, 2012 - Had an amazing trip to Puno, will update soon. For now, here is:

January 20, 2012 - Today was my last day in Cuzco and what a day it was! I had my last classes. Just before our lunch break we had a cooking demonstration by Mariela, one of my professors. She made Causa Rellena and it was delicious. It was a “salad” served kind of like a cold casserole and basically consisted of a mixture of mashed yellow potatoes with lemon juice layered with avocado, boiled eggs, and tuna salad, plus a few peppers and olives (the latter of which I of course picked off) for garnish. It had a lot of mayonnaise in it so I would probably tone that down if I made it myself, which I plan to do in Puno.

Then in the afternoon I ran some errands including confirming my train ticket for tomorrow morning (Perurail.com turned out to be real, check) and picking up small gifts for my professors. Then in the afternoon I suggested to my professor Dorian that we go to a nearby festival because my host mom had mentioned the school sometimes takes students. He agreed it was a good idea so we left around 4:30, right as the sky was starting to turn dark. What a shame too because early in the day it had been really cold and then turned into a beautiful afternoon with sunshine and 75+ degrees. But right as we got to the festival it started to rain. It was just a light rain so we walked around and watched numerous traditional dances. They had the brightest, most colorful and detailed (sequined!) costumes I’ve ever seen and the music was infectious. The festival is in honor of San Sebastian, the saint of the village, which is now part of Cuzco municipality. In addition to dances, music, and tons of people, there were street vendors selling everything from balloons and cotton candy to pirated DVDs and food stands serving delicious-smelling-but-probably-completely-unsanitary food that I did not eat. Also saw my first cuy (guinea pig) on a stick.

So right as we were watching the final procession as all the dancers were leaving it started to pour. I’m talking monsoon. I had on my raincoat but not my umbrella and Dorian had neither. So we ran to an awning and stood there for what seemed like an eternity before he finally agreed with me that the rain was not going to let up and we should make a run for a taxi. At this point only my feet were completely dry (thanks Kathy and Jim for the great boots!). Even my trusty raincoat had failed me and water was starting to seep in, plus it was a cold rain – the worst. So finally we made a run for it and got a taxi. When we got in and started driving we realized the streets were rivers. It reminded me of when we were in India during monsoon season. And I truly thought our taxi was going to wash out like so many cars we passed. What on the way seemed like a short drive took forever and I finally arrived at my host family’s house looking like a drowned rat.

Dorian told me on the way home that this is the worst rain he has seen in Cuzco in years. It was even on the news tonight. Lluvia loca! Needless to say I did not go to dinner with some other students from the school as I had planned. (Thankfully my host mom graciously made me dinner – platanos again! – even though I had told her I wouldn’t be home.) I have a feeling the other students may have stayed inside too…it is still raining.