Cusco from the airplane!! Watch out I may just go granola on you all after living in the middle of these for a week lol

Real dark chocolate hot cocoa, shaved right off this huge block of chocolate. Mate de Coca in the back.

Parade!

Santo Santiago

San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas  doesn't look like much but this is a real life example of not being able to judge a book by its cover...

The cathedrals town where they are surrounded by these ginormous trees at least 300 years old.

The Pre-Incan Wall

The Incan Wall...also a very good example that lighting and angles are everything since the two pics were literally taken 5 seconds from each other lol

Here's another view of the wall with the channels! I also may or may not have climbed the structure using the pre-Incan steps up to where the green small bushes begin on the upper right side of the photo hehehe

See? I was careful climbing to the top and now you have a super cool photo of the top of the walls that held the channels. That person kinda lurking in the left is Juan Pablo who ran after me to when I started the climb! What? It wasn't my fault, he said that you could climb them, he just didn't think I'd make it over the first wall which was definitely my height, thanks aerial silks for all those conditioning climbs 😂

Pre-Incan Military Base Ruins

Here's another look at those pre-Inca Ruins

Definitely not the stairways to heaven!! More like Incan infinite stair master and this is only 1/20 of what we actually climbed

Don't worry I was being careful scaling walls...ninja status here I come...and yes it was just as scary as it looks but I made it all the way to the next level! Not pictured: poor Juan Pablo running after this girl...he's gonna learn sooner or later that if he tells me I'm allowed to do something crazy there's a 99.99% I'm going to do it

Inca Ruins...I'm on a new level 💁🏽

Fountain of Youth Water

Huge Inti Raymi statue

Parade costumes!

The Cusco Traditional Dress and Dance

Cusco!!

Disclaimer for Gramps: please sit down before reading the following post because it contains a wake up call you wouldn't believe would have been possible for me, don't want you to pass out standing up heheh

That's right folks, after a measly two hours of sleep I received a wake up call for our flight to Cusco at FOUR AM. As you all know, I'm no where near a morning person....but thanks to this trip, I've found that I'm basically nonfunctional that early in the morning. Which is exactly why I walked into the MENS bathroom at the airport at 5 am and was self righteously affronted by these men who dared to enter the women's bathroom. That is...until one guy kindly pointed out that I had walked into the men's washroom and mine was next door. as if that wasn't bad enough I came face to face with the very same guy not even 20 minutes later when he checked my tickets in security. Oh yeah, he totally remembered and busted out laughing. Why me?! Moral of the story? Don't wake me up before at least eight hours of beauty sleep! Never am I ever getting up that early for a flight again...that is until I have to leave Cusco on Wednesday.

We flew in and immediately noticed that the Inti Raymi festival had begun, everyone was dressed up in fancy costumes, there were parades down the streets, fantastical mischievous characters that ran among the crowd scaring people (yes I even saw the dude coming my way and he still managed to catch me unaware! Need to up my ninja skills), and this HUGE statue of Santo Santiago. Which was so funny because the last time I was in a Spanish speaking country,  the Camino De Santiago was going on and that's a whole rite of passage honoring him! What a coincidence right? Most of the morning was spent wandering the streets of Cusco and checking out all the different types of decorations, including towering paper mache figures and banners everywhere!

Then we drove out about an hours way and it was so weird because it was like we were traveling back in time. We started with a visit to the San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas which is a Catholic Church built on top of Incan temple ruins. Unfortunately no photos are allowed at all, so you guys will have to google it. But it was amazing because the entire cathedral was painted, literally from floor to ceiling (including the actual ceiling) then there were huge wall to wall paintings hanging over the murals, and the on top of that at least half the church had pure gold structures for decoration hosting a million different statues inside. I could have spent all day in there and still have missed something. What really got me the most was that it was done so long ago that the paints were made only from natural plants and such, without the more advanced paints or preservatives, and yet the images were all there almost perfectly in tact!

Then we went to Inca Ruins (dates around the 1400s) and omg they were soo cool! The Incas were known for creating an advanced hydraulic system that took water from springs and used channels to split them off over acres of land. The ruin we went to had what was left of a temple to their water goddess, multiple ritual baths, and even a house for some important governor or something like that. Legend says that the water is sacred there and like a fountain of youth, so if you drink it, it'll be like you're ten years younger! Other people were drinking it but I was like, mmmm no thank you, 10 years ago I was 13, and no one wants to go through that again!

Then we went to this wall that used to be the old pre-Incan channels and defense. When the Incas discovered the land they noticed the prebuilt walls and decided that they had to leave something to tell future generations that the Incas were here too. So basically they one upped the pre-Incas by building next to their wall with bigger stones and better structuring (which means they made pegs and holes in the rocks so they fit together and were harder to wear or even break down). It was super crazy to see what 300 years of evolution looked like right next to each other! 

We then went to pre-Inca ruins which were probably a military base. Do you see what I mean about my day kind of traveling backwards through time? Anyways by this point my appreciate for rocks has reached its peak. But don't worry I still climbed the million and one steps it took to walk among what was left of the houses from that time! (Dated around the 1100s). Let me tell you something, Led Zepplin got it all wrong when he sang stairway to heaven, because there better be an elevator there or I'm not going! After taking 38282539592726382 stairs all day to walk around, these Incas were either really fit or loved torturing their people because my legs are burning!! If you think I'm exaggerating I'm definitely not, you see we pay $30 dollars per class to go to places like crossfit to do EXACTLY what these Incas we're doing for free 900 years ago. They were the original crossfit people: box jumps, stair master, and weight lifting included when you moved into their territory!

Afterwards, our driver Juan Pablo, who also is an expert in the area after having moved here for secondary school, invited us to his home where I drank "mate de coca" for the first time. It's supposed to help curb altitude sickness so everyone drinks it here, but let me tell you it was not a pleasant experience. Think of bitter kale and plucking random leaves and making a tea out of it. No thank you! (and before you start with me drinking my white sage water, at least that leaf tastes good!) We met his family and obviously I became besties with his two kids who are five and four. Thanks to them I now know a bunch of new phrases like "cheater, cheater" and "I win, you lose"....looks like some things are universal no matter where in the world you are. 

Tomorrow is the big Inti Raymi ceremony that includes three historical reenactments of how the Incas used to celebrate, worship, and give offerings to the sun god. I sent in my application to be one of the sacrifices but apparently had already chosen them this year, however if one of them gets cold feet I volunteer as tribute!! I mean who wouldn't want to jump down a volcano? Juuusssttt kidding...

Love you all!!

Carolyn

Inca Kola: aka pee colored soda that tastes just like bubble gum!! ¿Qué raro, si?

My cappuccino. And yes I was that person who physically moved to a different empty table to take this picture with my drink, Kelly would be so proud #fortheinsta #powerinfluencer

Chicha Morada: a drink made from purple corn!

The delicious ceviche and seafood plate I couldn't eat but sure enjoyed looking at!! Apparently Peru is known for their ceviche (it's the one on the right with the yellow looking things). I'll have to take everyone's word on how good it is :)

The stray cats in the park....mom can I take one home please?

Day 2 in Perú!

You know that famous saying "not all those who wander are lost," well that was definitely not the case for me this morning!!! I decided to check out the local area, found a good cafe online, googled where to go, memorized the directions and everything. My big mistake? Forgetting that streets in Peru are not linear because they have roundabouts and basically run diagonally and cross each other. Which is exactly how I found myself among random pawn shops in some jewelry district at 9 am in the morning. :P Whoopsies. Thank god for google maps!! At least my effort wasn't in vain because now I know my way around the south part of town haha. By the time I made it back to the apartment it was around 11 and we were going out to lunch so I had to forgo my idealized notions of sitting in a cafe sipping on my latte for a more realistic croissant on the go. 

We went to the beach which is actually ten minutes from our apartment...but they're those reverse beaches with rocks in the water and sand near the parking lot so I don't think I'll be walking along the shore anytime soon. However we did go to a restaurant which was themed after old Hollywood stars for lunch to meet our tour guide, Danilo, and it had this gorgeous view of the water! I got my cappuccino there and even tried "chicha morada" which is a drink made from purple corn! Weird right?! It tasted like an exotic fruit rather than corn and was really sweet. Good news, I should have wifi in Cusco!

After lunch Uncle Ron and I walked around the park together and I should've known, it's always an adventure with Uncle Ron. This Peruvian old man randomly stopped us and started asking where we were from...one thing led to another and now we are besties with Javier. He is from Peru and lived in Montreal for 70 years and just moved back. He speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French. But that's not the best part, Javier randomly spotted three other tourists from Montreal and before I knew it we were standing around in a huge group talking about random Peruvian herbs Uncle Ron is looking for. I just had to laugh at the absurdity of it all, as Javier successfully navigated multiple conversations in Spanish, French, and English. Can I have those skills please? 

The rest of the evening was pretty quiet, since we have an 8 am flight tomorrow and have to be up by 5:30 am. Someone shoot me now...it's gonna be a rough morning hahaha. 

Can't wait for the adventure that lies at 11,000 feet!!

Besos,

Carolina

The Park!

A La Parilla

Post 20 hours of traveling. Thanks Uncle Ron for this gem of a picture! 

¡Bienvenidos a Perú!

After a very long flight that included a 10 hour layover in El Salvador, I finally made it to Lima! And before you ask, yes the layover was every bit as awful as you would imagine, especially when you can walk the entire airport in ten minutes...boredom at its finest. On the bright side, sitting in a common room for that long period forced me to be social and I made a new friend from Ecuador! She runs a nonprofit school for low income/ rural kids and invited me to come visit the school, her town, and the Galapagos! I see another trip in my future...sorry, not sorry mom and dad 😉 

On my first night here I had a typical Peruvian dish called "a la parilla" which is a bunch of grilled meat piled on a hot plate passed around the table. On this plate were normal things like, chicken breast, ribeye, sausage....and less normal things, like intestine, liver, stomach, heart, and morcilla (blood sausage). If this looks like the odds are not in my favor, it's because it totally wasn't and that's how I accidentally ate "anticucho"...in other words...cow heart😱. It was actually really good...so thank you Spanish skills for being so rusty I thought I was eating veil instead of cow heart 😂. 

I am traveling with Uncle Ron and his friend Steve (and his family). Steve's wife Luisa is from Peru and her brother is a general in the military. If you're wondering why I'm telling you all this, it's because the family has been super hospitable and with their connection to him we have been rolling high in Lima! How high? I'm talking hotel room with a jacuzzi tub, free waters/soda/candy, bubbles for the jacuzzi left in a wine glass, and breakfast delivered to my room status. I felt like a princess! 👸🏽 Don't worry, my head hasn't gotten too big since we moved into one of his apartments this morning where it's all self service. 😂

The apartment is right in the best part of town called Mira Flores and there's this huge park nearby filled with stray semi domestic cats!! You name it and they'll be there in every size, shape, and color. I'll see if I can snag some good photos tomorrow because if you sit on a bench they'll legitimately jump right on it with you! I explored the gardens, which also included one named John F. Kennedy...why? No clue, and the locals don't really know why he has a park dedicated to him either. I still found it highly amusing. 

In true Uncle Ron fashion the rest of our afternoon was spent at the markets hunting down different herbs local to Peru...unfortunately none were to be found, but we did get cool exotic fruit that we can't wait to try! Including lucuma, cherimoya, and aguaymanto. 

Finally our day ended with a visit to Luisa's family's home to meet her father (Big General), her brother (the General), sister, and two kids, Natasha and Stephen (who are older than any 5-7 years). If trying to get my Spanish back wasn't hard enough this first day, keeping up with multiple conversations in multiple languages (English and Spanish)  with that many people just about used up all my brain power. Nonetheless I powered through until 1 am! (Niurka would be so proud lol) I even think the Big General liked me because even though he didn't talk very much, half way through the night he brought me one of his collectible magazines all about Cusco to use on my trip. I'm scared to even take it out of its protective sheet but I have a snaking suspicion I might be quizzed when I get back, so looks like I have some reading to do on the plane ride over! Lol. 

Anyways this chick is pretty tired and off to bed. I'll keep you updated, haven't figured out if I have wifi or even data in Cusco yet but hopefully I'll find out tomorrow as our plane leave 8 am Friday. Eeeppp!!

Love ya lots,

Carolina 

Sing us a song, you're the organ man

Buenas!

So last week my history of music teacher took us to the old and new cathedral (they were built adjoining over the centuries) on a field trip and guess what? He played all four of the organs in the cathedrals! I'm talking about an experience that was like having backstage passes and front row seats to a private concert. We got to go behind all the roped off sections in the church and he opened up the tops of all the instruments to show us the mechanisms and explain how each organ functioned. They were amazing and I just could not get over the fact that they were from the 15th - 18h century!

Anyways, we got to go up a secret staircase where we saw that huge pumps that two men would be pulling and pushing the levers of in order to sustain the air for the organ. I bet they were super strong because the levers were taller than me. Luckily technology now sustains the air and makes sure that the pressure remains constant as long as the organist is playing. We got to go upstairs in the choir boxes so that we could access the balcony the organ was on. The new cathedrals organ was huge!

 

If you look closely near the bottom of the second photo you can see my professor playing away. 

The sound was phenomenal and the acoustics in the cathedral were every musicians dream. I was basically in a state of euphoria with a silly smile on my face the entire time our professor played for us. And then as if the afternoon couldn't get any better, one of the students, and aspiring singer was encouraged by the class to sing...Of course it would be the most unsuspecting, rather flat out nerdy, super quiet guy in our class to have one of the best voices in our class. (P.S. I tried uploading the songs I recorded but google blogger hates me and refused to upload them even though they are within the file size requirements, so you'll have to wait until i get home to hear them)

Honestly, surprises like these are what makes being a student so special, because I'm surrounded by people who have a true passion for learning and it's reflected in their ability to speak intelligently or in this case sing beautifully. While this class may be well out of my major, I'm so glad that the mean lady at the IES registrars office highly suggested I not take the history of art class if the professor had not responded to my email, because I would not have been enrolled in this class and had such an amazing afternoon. After class, I could not stop smiling to myself (I'm pretty sure half the people thought I was crazy but oh well) and rushed to share the story with my host mom. We listened to all the audios over and over again and she explained to me how special it was to have this experience because they don't let just anyone play the organs or even go into those sections of the cathedral that I had the privilege of seeing.

Well that's all for now. Hope everything is going well with you all!

Much love,

Carolyn

Dia de todos los santos y dia de las animas

Dia de todos los santos (All Saint's Day) Is a very big deal here in Spain and to be honest I wish that we adopted a day such as this one within our culture. Everyone goes to mass in the morning for those who have passed away and then visit their graves during the day. Armed with bags of cleaning supplies, flowers, and vases, everyone floods the cemetery gates. There's a small church off to the side that my host mom and I visited first. Then we proceeded to each grave and stood in a moment of silence. We cleaned the marble, replaced the fake flowers that stay all year around, and then set up vases with fresh flowers near the cross. What I thought was so special was that it didn't matter if they were her blood relations or relatives by marriage, we paid respect to everyone from her grandparents and parents to her brother-in-laws and art master (she was his apprentice).

Also it was amazing how there were very few gravestones that hadn't been visited and adorned with flower.

Dia de todos los santos is the equivalent of the Mexican Day of the Dead, but the traditions here are a lot more serious and subdued. I knew that this day meant a lot to my host mom and that she was really missing her parents so I decorated four candles and lit them while she was making lunch. She was so surprised and absolutely loved the gift, which made me happy to make her smile on a solemn day. We lit the candles yesterday and then relit them in the morning for dia de los animas (spirits day).

The big white one is for all of her family and then the three little red ones are lit to remember certain people from my life (their names are integrated in the designs). While this weekend has been rather eerily quiet, especially in terms of the lack of people walking around in the streets and going out for tapas, it's nice to know that majority of the community surrounding me is taking a moment to remember. I'm not sure I'm doing so well to describe this feeling surrounding us, but it's a pleasant, supportive camaraderie.

This is one holiday I will continue to celebrate, even after my time here in Spain ends.

Love and miss you all,

Carolyn

(p.s. sorry this post is rather sad but at the same time it really is important and such a big part of their culture here, especially since this weekend has been a polar opposite change from the customary siesta and fiesta mentality)