Today I woke up relatively early in the morning, around 7:30am. I said hello to Margarita and the rest of the family before having breakfast, which was eggs and rice, along with ham and bacon. Something I feel like I forgot to mention earlier is the custom in Peru of greeting everyone when you enter or exit a room. For example, if there are ten people in the room when you entered, you must greet all of them when you enter and when you leave, regardless of how long you stayed in the room. This is done with a light kiss on the cheek to all women and a firm handshake with all the men. In general, when men greet each other, they do it with a firm handshake, while male-female or female-female greeting is the light kiss on the cheek.
After breakfast, we headed over to the ProWorld office, where we waited for the other Cusco volunteers. The plan for today was to visit the ruins of Maras and Moray. Both of these sites are about an hour outside of Cusco, on the way to Urubamba. After everyone had piled into the van, we set out as a group towards Moray, which was our first destination. Although I don’t usually get motion sickness, I have to say that this was one of the most unpleasant car rides I have been on. There were many curves coming out of Cusco, and the driver really sped through them rather than slowing down. Never before have I seen so many people looking queasy at once. However, once we got to Moray, we all felt better, partially because we got to see the rest of our group from Urubamba for the first time in about two days.
I feel that Moray needs an introduction, as it is really that magnificent. The natural depressions of Moray are arranged in perfectly concentric circles, with each level about six feet below the one above it. This perfect terracing suggests that Moray may have been an amphitheater or a ceremonial center when the Incas populated the area. However, careful archaeological investigations have discovered that Moray has a series of microclimates, with each terrace having a slightly different combination of sun, shade, and elevation. I noticed that at the very bottom terrace, it was considerably warmer than near the top. The discovery of irrigation canals and different seeds on the terraces in recent years suggests that Moray was most probably a giant crops laboratory. It is possible that the Incas learned how to grow many of their crops, including corn and potatoes, at various elevations through the successes and failures of crops at Moray. Slowly, our group descended down the terraces one by one until we got to the very bottom. On each terrace, there were three or four stones without support that were carefully embedded in the rocks, providing a way to descent without jumping the six foot drop. My first reaction to this layout of the terraces was that it was like a real life Tomb-Raider (for any of you who have played the game, you know what I am talking about). Anyways, once we got to the bottom of the terrace at the very bottom, we were treated to an incredible view. Not only were we a couple hundred feet lower than where we began, but the concentric circles above us provided a view of everything that the Incas experienced over 600 years ago. When it was time to go back up the terraces, we experienced yet again the effect of the altitude. Moray is even higher than Cusco, sitting at around 14,000 feet above sea level. As a result, the air was really thin and it was difficult for us to breathe and to ascend through each terrace. I feel that I am relatively fit, and I had great difficulty in simply climbing up to where we began. Hopefully this is only something that is temporary, as we are going to climb up the glacier of Chicon later this month. If I am not acclimated to the altitude then, I don’t know what else I could do.
The next place that we went to was the salt flats, or salineras, of Maras. Like Moray, I feel that the salineras need an introduction. The salt mines are elaborately arranged along the mountain slope, and there are over 5,000 small pools that yield about 150 kilograms of salt per month during the dry season. This amazing natural source of salt was again a product of the Incas. They diverted a warm, salty spring to these pools, and the sunlight evaporates the water from the pools, leaving behind a crusty layer of salt. Our tour guide explained to us that there are three of four different grades of salt, with the pure white salt being of the highest quality. She even encouraged us to taste the warm water, and truth be told, it was really salty. I even tried some of the salt crystals that had formed on the side of the stream, and they were actually pretty tasty (I like salty things, so others may not feel the same way). For about half an hour, we walked around the salt mines, taking care not to fall in anyone’s pool of salt or to tumble down the mountain slope (there are no rails to prevent this from happening, so the traveler is at his/her own risk). Today, each pool is owned by a different family, and it is their responsibility to take care of the pool and exploit it to its fullest capabilities. After touring the area and tasting some of the salt for myself, I decided to purchase a small bag of salt, for only 2 Soles (about $0.70). Shortly thereafter, we bid farewell to our Urubamba friends and headed back towards Cusco.
When we got back to the ProWorld office, it was about 3:30pm. I was starving at this moment, since I hadn’t had lunch yet. Luckily I was blessed to have Margarita’s delicious cooking with me, and she had prepared lomo saltado. After eating, the nine of us in the Cusco group played cards for about an hour before finally returning to the homes of our host families.
When I got back to my host family’s house, I was surprised to see over 25 people in our living room. There were a couple of the daughters, their husbands, and Luis and Lalo. I noticed that they had a lot of beer and were celebrating something. Curious as to what the occasion was, I asked some Luis, and he explained to me that the husbands of two of the daughters (Marisa and Trini), were policeman, and that they had just broken up a large cocaine operation and seized over 170 kilograms of cocaine. Naturally, I could understand the reason for celebration. They asked me if I wanted some beer, and in the spirit of the social nature of Peru, I graciously accepted. I talked with them about their day, and they also asked me about mine, wanting to know where we went and how I liked it. They also asked me about where I was from, how long I would be in Cusco, and what I would do in the time I was here. Something I found really interesting during the conversation was their discussion on drugs and the legal limits in Peru. Like the United States, cocaine is illegal in Peru. However, marijuana is legal as long as a person has no more than three grams on them for personal consumption. Lalo then asked me about whether I knew about the uses of medical marijuana. I feel that he is more aware of the happenings in the United States than many of the others, as they were all confused when I explained to them that marijuana is sometimes given as a pain killer in the United States.
When most everyone had left, I had dinner with the family. Like every other day, dinner was again excellent. Today, Margarita prepared a kind of omelet for us, consisting of eggs, bacon, ham, and vegetables, served over a bed of rice. I found it to be really delicious, especially the omelet. It was nothing I had ever had in the United States, but was really fresh and tasted great with the rice.
After dinner, I was starting to get tired, since I knew that we would start Spanish classes the next day and that we had an orientation for our school teaching at the ProWorld office in the morning. However, Jordan and I talked a bit with Luis, this time mostly in English. He explained to us that he was in a three year English program and that his eventual goal was to get a scholarship to study in the United States. He kept talking to us about how he wished that Peru would have the same opportunities as the united states, as he felt that Peruvians would really appreciate having choices in education and in life in general. Luis really speaks English well, and I was really surprised when he told us that he had only been learning English for two years. I know from experience that learning a language is really difficult, and I know English is one of the most complicated languages. For that reason, I was even more impressed.
After our discussion, Jordan went to bed, but I continued talking with Luis about music. He explained to me that he really likes listening to American music because according to him, it has better melodies and rhythms. Additionally, since the songs are in English, it helps him with comprehension. Luis also told me that he liked orchestral music, but that he never got to listen to any because there is no orchestra in Cusco. I played some of the songs that I had on recording from this past school years, pieces that I played with the Duke Symphony Orchestra. Luis really enjoyed them, and then asked me if I had any recordings of myself playing. Fortunately, I had one from when I auditioned for college, and I played this for him. He thought it was really good, and asked if I would play for him sometime. I explained to him that I didn’t have my violin with me, but he said that he knew a friend who had a violin that I could borrow. At this point, I was really starting to fall asleep, so I said goodnight to Luis and turned in for the night.
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