The biggest highlight of this week was the arrival of one Joseph Greenberg from Edmonds, Wa. I found Joseph in a dark, castle-like hostel - complete with police guards, two giant dogs (despite being gigantic and german shepard-esque, the dogs were complete loafers), and a handful of random, old drunk guys sitting around watching sports. After big hugs and hi-5´s, we all headed over to the salsa club. Joseph and my friend Dana made quite the entertaining dance couple - not nessarily for their expertise, but for their creativity! Jana and I were waiting for the moment Dana would kick over a glass or a chair while being dipped by Joe. Alas, everything remained intact. Dana was very impressed.
Speaking of intact, or lack thereof - The next day a bunch of us (3 Americans, 1 Irishman, and 2 Hollanders) went to Sacsaywahman which is the largest group of ruins in Cusco. This was a giant fort built by the Incas, which like most ruins, was ransacked by the Spaniards and the 'small' stones (probably weighing anything from 100lbs - several tons) were taken to build houses in town for the Spaniards. Thus, most of the remaining stones are as big as small houses. All of these stones are carved perfectly to fit into one another, like puzzle pieces, which interestingly, have also been carved and set at such angles and fit as to be earthquake resistant. All of Peru is fairly seismatic, and just the fact that these walls are still standing is proof of how intelligent their construction was. Unfortunately my camera cord was stolen (just the cord), so I can't show you pictures of it just yet. People here are quick, let me tell you. I will have to make a stop at Radio Shack (yes, they have one. What they don't have, which is amazing, is MacDonalds or Starbucks). Our guide apparently also works in a restaurant, so I offered him my pen to write down where it was at, and subsequently Javier fell in love with my pen. He was adamant about buying it from me, which I refused - it was just a normal ink pen. I insisted that he just have it, and now my friends and have an invite somewhere for free beer. Oh yeah. After hiking for several hours, we piled into a dark Irish pub and had Shepards Pie, Cottage Pie, chips and beer. Nothing like a little bit of Ireland in Cusco. And for the sake of being, at one time, Joseph's 'niñera' (nanny), it was very gratifying to wipe some ketchup off of his pants when his eating got a little out of hand.
The next night, my friend Dana has decided she is in love with a guy named Norberto. And you are certainly able to go ahead and wonder (romance = n-o-r-b-e-r-t ? ). Anyways. Dana, Joseph and I grab Norberto from off a street corner and ask him to lead the way to a cool club and cheap beer. Norberto starts leading us down an abandoned street for several blocks. Dana is wearing spike heels and is clinging to Norberto, Joe and I are walking ahead and Joe panics, 'Uhm where are we going? Should we get a taxi?' I remind him of my Skills and tell him that it's all going to be okay. After 15 minutes we walk into a liquorstore - now drinking on the street just for the sake of cheap beer was not what we had in mind. Norberto insisted. He lead us into the back of the store which was this crazy cool ghetto room with a table of old gnarly Peruvians drinking beer and smoking. Seriously folks, we were suddenly in a movie. The clerk pulled out a handful of stools and a liter of beer, and we all sat around chatting. Nothing at all happened, so I suppose that the setting was from a movie and not necessarily the content of the night. Afterward Norberto took us across the street to the most amazing club I have seen (aha! That's why we went to that particular drinking establishment) - the stairs were clear acrylic, and at the bottom was a giant koi fish tank you can actually walk on top of. There were waterfalls, and VIP booths, and DJ's who would play your requests within minutes of making it. Unfortunately it was also a highschool night out, and the drinking age here is 18, so the entire dance floor was all 18 year-olds and their chaperones. I hi-5-ed Joseph after he managed to dance with one of them. He resisted asking the girl if here parents were also at the dance. The night ended with Dana and Norberto dancing on the bar, Joseph jumping off speakers, and me dancing with a security guard.
(After many references to beer in the last couple of entries, for the sake of my family, I think I need to add that the alcohol content in beer here is really low - it's like the Peruvian version of Bud Light except it actually tastes good.)
Speaking of intact, or lack thereof - The next day a bunch of us (3 Americans, 1 Irishman, and 2 Hollanders) went to Sacsaywahman which is the largest group of ruins in Cusco. This was a giant fort built by the Incas, which like most ruins, was ransacked by the Spaniards and the 'small' stones (probably weighing anything from 100lbs - several tons) were taken to build houses in town for the Spaniards. Thus, most of the remaining stones are as big as small houses. All of these stones are carved perfectly to fit into one another, like puzzle pieces, which interestingly, have also been carved and set at such angles and fit as to be earthquake resistant. All of Peru is fairly seismatic, and just the fact that these walls are still standing is proof of how intelligent their construction was. Unfortunately my camera cord was stolen (just the cord), so I can't show you pictures of it just yet. People here are quick, let me tell you. I will have to make a stop at Radio Shack (yes, they have one. What they don't have, which is amazing, is MacDonalds or Starbucks). Our guide apparently also works in a restaurant, so I offered him my pen to write down where it was at, and subsequently Javier fell in love with my pen. He was adamant about buying it from me, which I refused - it was just a normal ink pen. I insisted that he just have it, and now my friends and have an invite somewhere for free beer. Oh yeah. After hiking for several hours, we piled into a dark Irish pub and had Shepards Pie, Cottage Pie, chips and beer. Nothing like a little bit of Ireland in Cusco. And for the sake of being, at one time, Joseph's 'niñera' (nanny), it was very gratifying to wipe some ketchup off of his pants when his eating got a little out of hand.
The next night, my friend Dana has decided she is in love with a guy named Norberto. And you are certainly able to go ahead and wonder (romance = n-o-r-b-e-r-t ? ). Anyways. Dana, Joseph and I grab Norberto from off a street corner and ask him to lead the way to a cool club and cheap beer. Norberto starts leading us down an abandoned street for several blocks. Dana is wearing spike heels and is clinging to Norberto, Joe and I are walking ahead and Joe panics, 'Uhm where are we going? Should we get a taxi?' I remind him of my Skills and tell him that it's all going to be okay. After 15 minutes we walk into a liquorstore - now drinking on the street just for the sake of cheap beer was not what we had in mind. Norberto insisted. He lead us into the back of the store which was this crazy cool ghetto room with a table of old gnarly Peruvians drinking beer and smoking. Seriously folks, we were suddenly in a movie. The clerk pulled out a handful of stools and a liter of beer, and we all sat around chatting. Nothing at all happened, so I suppose that the setting was from a movie and not necessarily the content of the night. Afterward Norberto took us across the street to the most amazing club I have seen (aha! That's why we went to that particular drinking establishment) - the stairs were clear acrylic, and at the bottom was a giant koi fish tank you can actually walk on top of. There were waterfalls, and VIP booths, and DJ's who would play your requests within minutes of making it. Unfortunately it was also a highschool night out, and the drinking age here is 18, so the entire dance floor was all 18 year-olds and their chaperones. I hi-5-ed Joseph after he managed to dance with one of them. He resisted asking the girl if here parents were also at the dance. The night ended with Dana and Norberto dancing on the bar, Joseph jumping off speakers, and me dancing with a security guard.
(After many references to beer in the last couple of entries, for the sake of my family, I think I need to add that the alcohol content in beer here is really low - it's like the Peruvian version of Bud Light except it actually tastes good.)
1 comment:
Dont forget about seeking massages from volatile perajuanas, spelling PUMA with humans, and the GRINGO guantlet of hell. Awesome times amiga...hasta pronto!
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