El Misti

I don't know why this one didn't come up on the last post, but here it is: El Misti, Arequipa's beloved volcano, at 5822 meters high. When my plane landed in Arequipa, the sun was just setting behind El Misti. It was really beautiful, and pretty hilarious to see everyone getting off the plane and pulling out their cameras. I snickered at them, but now I sort of regret not taking a picture myself. Oh well, here is a twilight view from the rooftop in Arequipa.

Arequipa

Last week I made a trip to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city (which nonetheless boasts about a tenth of the population of Lima), about half an hour by plane south of Cusco. I got to stay with family of a friend from MD, and they were wonderful hosts.

Check out the view from my bedroom window. They put me up in their rooftop apartment which overlooks the whole city. Cool, huh?




Arequipa is home to the Santa Catalina monastery, a huge labyrinthine complex with "streets" named after cities in Spain. I did not hire a tour guide, but preferred rather to wander around on my own. I did, however, continually run into French- and German-speaking tour groups. My German was good enough to mutter "entschuldigung" when I squeezed past them.

Another corner of the monastery. Probably one of the world's best places for hide-and-seek. And I love those colors!







One of many, many kitchen facilities hidden inside. And almost all the rooms had these funny staircases leading nowhere.

The most beautiful surroundings in the world...

...are not the majestic Andes mountain peaks, nor the world's second-deepest canyon frequented by giant condors, nor the remnants of thousand-year-old temples built by great civilizations of the past; but rather the people you love and who love you. It's lonely here without you.

visual aids

After crashing two computers trying to connect my camera, the nice gentleman at the net café in Cusco last week finally connected my memory card, and then I waited and waited while my photos unsuccessfully attempted to upload. No luck in Arequipa, either. But now I am back in Cusco and my adopted family's computer seems to be agreeing with my camera and I got some help from Picasa, so, por fin, photos! I can't quite seem to manage the layout, but all the pictures should be showing now.

These girls begged me to take their picture. When I asked them if they were going to charge me, all three chanted "es voluntario". Still, they looked pretty disappointed when I gave them each a 20-céntimo coin.






View of the Plaza de Armas, Cusco's central square, one morning from the balcony where I ate breakfast: fresh orange juice, a sandwich with avocado, tomato, and cheese, and hot chocolate. Note the very gringo tourists in the foreground.









My home for my first few days in Cusco. Comfy, but very chilly at night.








Make no mistake about it: that is the flag of Cusco, not of the Castro.

3 and counting

Today I make my third visit to Cusco's airport, in a period of 4 days. One, when I first arrived; two, the next day when I came to pick up my luggage; 3, today for my flight to Arequipa, where I will be for the rest of the week. With a total of 5 visits to this airport by the time I leave (I hope no more than that) I should know everybody here by name!

a brief introduction to highland Peruvian cuisine

...based on my own experience up until now.

You should already know about mate de coca. If not, well, there's the link again. It is basically just an herbal tea that they make by pouring hot water over a few here-ubiquitous coca leaves. They say it cures everything. I don't know about that, but I do like it.

On Sunday afternoon I ate a huge steak. Probably not what you are thinking, though. It was wood-fired alpaca. Quite tasty as well. To drink, chicha morada. Yum!

Yesterday I grabbed a bottle of the curiously bubble-gum-flavored Inca Kola. I think it is safe to call this the unofficial national beverage.

Today, walking along Avenida del Sol, I stopped in a tiny cafe for an ice cream cone. One scoop of crema volteada, a sweet cream flavor sort of like dulce de leche. Another scoop of lúcuma, some sort of local fruit. All for a whopping 2 soles, about 60 cents. (Nothing, however, will top Mérida's huge fresh waffle cones with piña colada ice cream, I am convinced.)

una curiosidad

Anoche, mirando The History Channel en mi habitación en el hostal, veía varios comerciales para Colgate, esa pasta de dientes que conozco desde chica. Me pregunto ¿si esta marca se vende mucho en la Argentina?

a very Andean moment

On Saturday afternoon, I sat inside a small restaurant, sipping my mate de coca after a basic Peruvian meal, and I glance out the front door to see a woman walk by. She is dressed in traditional, brightly-colored Andean clothing and clutches a short rope with her llama in tow. Only the tail end of the llama remained in sight when it hit me that this vision was real, not just one of those photos or videos you see in school documenting the mystical and far-far-away land of the Incas.

Yeah, this place is pretty cool.

from the belly button of the universe

¡Saludos y bienvenidos!
After too many hours on airplanes and in airports I finally made it to Cusco. Here in Cusco begins a five-week long adventure and here in cyberspace I will offer you updates and I hope some photos, as well as confirmations that I am still alive and tropical-disease-free.

I am already charmed by this city, its cobblestone streets and tiled roofs, quintessentially Latin American and I love it. My only complaint is that it is freezing in the morning! It is a good thing that I packed my sweats in my backpack, because my checked luggage is lost somewhere in Houston or in Lima. (Thanks for the warning, Claire.) And for those of you who remember last year's trip to Mexico and my packing mishap, this time I packed plenty of underwear, thanks for asking.

A note on the blog title: The name Cusco, they say, comes from the Quechua word Q'osqo, which translates to "the belly button of the universe". If you are still confused about the blog address, well, "beebo is just the silly hippo way of saying belly button" (you can ask baby Jack about that one). Believe it or not, beebo.blogspot.com was already taken (I have not visited it so I offer no guarantee on its content), so I opted for beee-bo.

So there you have it. I am spending half the summer in the universe's belly button. Now if you will excuse me, my own belly is calling me to Peruvian cuisine, and my head and chilled body are begging for mate.