My favorite things about Cusco....it's a city full of mystery, you get a feeling of the ancient combined with spanish colonialism crashing into the 21st century in every neighborhood....it's the way all the churches are called "Templos" calling back the lives of the ancient Incas that were abolished under the weight of Spanish Imperialism and Catholicism, literally - as all the Temples were built over with Catholic Churches...the one exception being the Cusco Cathedral, the center piece of the plaza de armas. I love how you can find the foundations of an Incan Temple within an old spanish colonial building made of adobe that is currently a "lounge-bar" in the middle of Cusco....or the enterance of a temple, the same enterances you can find in Machu Picchu, that is now the doorway to a posh hotel or restaurant. Walking around Cusco, I wonder how much of the city planning around the Plaza de Armas is Incan vs Spanish city planning....overlooking the city is the ancient religious center of Sacsayhuaman (some people refer to it as "sexy-woman")....a reminder that Cusco was believed to be the umbilicus (aka navel or belly button) of the universe in the Andean Cosmology and view of the world...and in many ways, I think it still is....
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| Street in the middle of Cusco off the beaten path |
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| Old with the new: Inca + Spanish Colonialism + 2011 = Cusco |
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| View of Cusco from Templo San Cristobal |
It's been about 10 days since I've been able to blog.... soon as I arrived in Cusco I got straight to work on finalizing the approval process for my study sites and it took almost the entire week. I began work on my research at two locations last friday, I had to double up because of that week I lost...all together the approval process for a Regional Hospital and one Health center took a little over two weeks. I still have not received final approval at the other government hospital that operates in the region, still waiting :(
In the meantime, I was enjoying Cusco, my neighborhood and settling into trying to become as
Cusqueño as possible ;)
I LOVE my neighborhood, it's off of Calle 28 de Julio close to the Mercado de Ttio... I love it, because I can walk to a great local market with fresh Peruvian produce and buy enough fresh fruits, veggies, and cheeses for the 1 - 2 weeks for less than $5 USD. Everymorning, I usually buy fresh bread from the bread lady (for like .30 cents) and I can buy meat from the meat vendors....although it's usually better to go in the morning and buy it fresh for the day so you can put it in your fridge...no refrigeration and all the meat is just "hanging out" on display out in the open....gotta watch those microbes....I only have so many courses of Cipro to use ;) Pictures of the market to follow soon ;)
Another perk is the Pollos a la brasa - grilled chicken - restaurant about a block away from my apartment. It's ALWAYS filled with locals, is super reasonably priced - cheap even 4.50/soles for 1/4 chicken or 6.50 for an 1/8 of a chicken - and is probably the best Pollo a la brasa that I've had in Peru. It's called Las Delicias, they have about three or four rotisseries where they put the whole chicken on there with their secret blend of spices and put them in a wood fired oven. Then the cook takes a butcher's hatchet and cuts up the chicken. You get a HUGE plate full of french fries along with the chicken and a salad of beets and cauliflower that is super delicious - I would have never guessed beets and cauliflower could be that tasty. Sorry, no pictures right now either...didn't want to look like a tourist on my first few visits by taking pictures of my own food ;) Pictures to follow soon ;)
The other perk of being in my neighborhood is that I get to live with Cusqueños, I'm far enough away from the Historical Center that there are zero tourists, all locals...but I'm close enough that in 20 - 30 min I'm in the historical center and can visit my favorite spots in Cusco.
Here are some of my favorite spots:
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| My favorite passageway to the historical center |
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| Plaza de Armas - Center of Cusco at Night |
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| Cusco Cathedral and Plaza de Armas during the day |
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| Front of the Templo de San Cristobal |
The Templo de San Cristobal is one of my favorite spots in all of Cusco...it's on the route to the hill top overlooking the city where there is a large Cristo (statue of Jesus Christ) overlooking the city as well as the large religious site of Sacsayhuaman. The "Templo" or Temple is actually a church and there is a large decorated cross out front (from semana santa) and in the background you can see Incan terraces and doorways, there is even a blocked off passageway leading into the mountain...and top of that people build their homes.....it's a great metaphor of the layers that are readily found all around Cusco...just like you can trace back the history of the Grand Canyon through the exposed geological layers, the history of Cusco, the Andes, Peru and really all of the Americas can be traced in the historical layers found throughout the city....
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| Plaza de San Francisco - hidden away from the Plaza de Armas - the flag in the background reprsent the colors of Cusco |
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| Plaza San Blas - my favorite neighborhood in Cusco |
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| Templo San Blas |
The neighborhood of San Blas is my absolute favorite place in Cusco and probably all of Peru. One of the very best restaurants in all of Peru, Pachapampa, is found in the plaza San Blas right across the street from the church. On the steep climb up Cuesta San Blas there is "El Buen Pastor" the absolute best bakery aka "Pasteleria" in all of Cusco - they have the best Lucuma and Mango pies (mini-size), home made Peruvian Chocolates, and every other home-made Peruvian sweet you can imagine. It's an eclectic neighborhood full of great bars, lounges, art galleries, jewelery shops and has en extra dose of that mysterious air that encompasses all of Cusco....
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| Archway of Santa Ana |
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| Archway of Santa Catalina - leading to the Main Cusco Market | |
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Coming up...Hospital and Health Centers, as well as, everybody's favorite -
Dia de Las Madres aka Mother's Day....
Whoop!
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