¡Hola!

Greetings, All!

We are still plugging away at Language School here in Cusco. Things are going well with school and we continue to practice our Spanish at home with our Cusqueñan family. The family is endlessly hospitable and generous. Peter and Victor (the dad) have made a nice connection over the universal language of soccer and Alli (the mother) and I talk knitting or politics. It has been very interesting and educational to live with families in each country. The experiences have offered insight and connections that we will carry forever. We have encountered unbridled kindness in all of our homestay experiences. I am sure that we have made lifelong friends. How great is that?!

The pace of school here is a bit slow but we are hoping this time-intensive practice will only cement what we're learning. We've met folks from around the world at school. In fact, in my small class of four students, Denmark, Norway, Peru and the US are represented. It is an interesting scenario. Whenever the Dutch/Norweigan contingency is trying to puzzle out a vocabulary word or concept the obviously speak in their native tongue (the woman from Norway speaks Dutch). The teacher and I look on as they work it out. I haven't a clue what they're saying and the language sounds like nothing I have ever heard. However, I can "read" their faces and their gestures as they talk. At first, it was annoying that I wasn't part of their conversation. Now however, I appreciate it. It is really neat to identify and to appreciate the universality of body language, facial cues and signals. That kind of communication reaches across different idiomas and provides understanding where words fail.

Last weekend, we went on two tours with our school. The first tour was to the Valle Del Sur. This valley is well known for a few reasons. First, we visited a small archelogical site called Tipon. It was made by the Incas high up in the hills in the southern valley along one of the many Inca Trails to Cusco City. This site was developed by the Incan people as a laboratory of sorts. They constructed elaborate irrigation systems that originated at an even higher point on the mountain. They also construced terraces or leveled fields to test and to acclimate different types of plants. Each terrace exists at a different temperature and this allowed the Incas to experiement with important crops for future planting in the valley or at other elevations. This site was very tranquil and offered incredible views of the surrounding hills and valleys. As we have mentioned before the sheer construction of these sites is astounding. They have been forged out of what seems to be unusable land. Additionally, the craftsmanship that went into shaping and placing the rocks to make walls, structures and "plumbing", is unparalleled.

Next, we visited another site called Pikillacta. This site dates back to Pre-Inca times. The walls of this village were not angled like those of the Incan sites. The angled construction was supposed to avoid great damage during frequent earthquakes. Additionally, at this pre-Incan site, the roads that navigated the village were cobbled and straight. The layout of the village resembled a more Colonial town. Finally, archelogists found subterranian rooms and homes with two or three stories throughout the village. Very intersesting and the entire village was surrounded by a high rock wall to thwart invaders.

Lastly, we visited (or tried to) a church with elaborately frescoed walls. When we arrived, the local folks told us that the church was being restored and thus was closed until 2:00. Since it was only 12:00 when we arrived, we opted for a spin through the teeny Coca Museum instead. The museum was rather shabby but highlighted Incan rituals involving offerings of Coca to Pachamama (mother earth) as well as agricultural triumphs in the Andes. There are hundreds of types of potatoes and corn cultivated here in the Andean Region and these crops have been part of life and culture of this area for centuries.

When we arrived back to Cusco, we went off for lunch with our housemate, Julie who is from Toulouse, France. We were just in time as the city was drenched in a pouring, soaking, thundering rain. When we looked to the hills across from our restaraunt in the Plaza de Armas, we saw what appeared to be snow! I think it was just a lot of hail, but, it was impressive nonetheless. We have heard that the weather and the women of Cusco share the same temperment - changeable at the drop of a hat and strong!

On Sunday, we went on a tour of The Sacred Valley. The trip began with a stop at an enormous market in Pisac. There was anything and everything for sale. The market definately caters to the tourists that show up by the busload on Sundays especially. There were lots of products to browse and we ended up buying a Peru soccer jersey for Pedro and a few treats for the Jac Pac crew in Vermont! We also bought some delicious, fresh from the oven, empenadas. Yum. It was interesting to see some Guinea Pig castles in the market as well. The "cuy" or Guinea Pig is considered a regional delicacy here just as ceviche is in coastal towns of Peru. Usually, it is marinated and then roasted in a tandoori-style oven. I can't say that I am itching to try it but I believe it is good. I feel about trying Guinea Pig like I felt about trying Oaxacan chapulines (roasted grasshoppers), no thanks. That way, there's more for the locals to eat!

After Pisac, we went for a HUGE lunch buffet that was beyond what we were expecting. Next, we hiked up another Incan ruin called Oyantatambo. It was a massive site that included hiking a lot of stairs which wasn't my first choice after gorging myself on the buffet lunch! However, I'm sure it worked off the four! tiny tastes of dessert that I NEEDED to sample. This site highlighted the building process of the Incas. One of the buildings was in the process of construction at the time the Incas abandoned it. It was amazing to see huge, heavy, polished stones heafted on to ramps made of other rocks to find their final spot in the building. Additionally, this site had a huge altar/temple area facing the east and some of the constructions worked seamlessly into the exisiting natural rock faces of the landscape. Finally, we visited a church in a quaint town called Chinchero. The church was an interesting mix of Incan and Catholic Traditions. The walls and altar were elaborately decorated with fine metals and detailed paintings. Very impressive.

Another highlight of last week was that Peter is feeling better. Thank goodness. It is no fun to be sick in the first place, but it is REALLY no fun to be sick in a different place than your own home. He was feeling so good that he actually agreed to go to the Salsa Class offered by our school. Suffice it to say that he is a good sport and we really aren't cut out to be dancers! It was good fun but I think there was a clear reason my Mom didn't push me to continue my Tap, Jazz, Ballet Class days with Mrs. Shirley (I think that was her name?). However, what we lacked in talent, we made up for in attitude and effort. We had a great laugh and Peter finally got to lead!

That's all from here. We are off to meet with our Travel Agent, Madeline. She is supposed to have scheduled our travels for the next two weeks starting on Saturday as our stint at Language School in Cusco comes to an end. We've got the next two weeks to travel here in Peru before we set out for Costa Rica on the 1st of March. We are hoping to visit Lake Titicaca, Puno, Arequipa, Nazca and mabye get in some beach time north of Lima to whet our whistles for Costa Rica.

Happy Valentine's Day! Love to you all!

Love,
Kerry & Peter