A Bit of Culture
This morning we walked to the highway in our Sunday best and caught the Oropesa bus to Cusco. Thankfully we were able to sit down at the back and enjoyed the mountainous scene while listening to the "Eye of the Tiger" on the radio. As the old bus rattled along, I thought about how in our country this bus would have been removed from the road years ago. But here they ramble along until they literally break down while you are on them. That happened to us just after we had a caught an old tour bus at 10pm. It is about an 30 minute bus ride to our chapel and we were 15 mins late, thanks to Peruvian time, we were early and were able to find a seat before the service started. After an incredibly spiritual meeting we headed back and caught another bus. But this time they packed us like sardines. To prevent a young girl from becoming squished a middle aged man grabbed the child and put her on his lap. This would be a big NO NO in Canada. Too many fears of petifiles. In Peru, this is a common occurrence to help a mother out. Sometimes we hold a stranger's bag of goods to help make room for more bodies on the bus. It is always an adventure here. Like what happened Friday...
First the activity: We had come to Cusco for Alcides' half a century birthday celebration at his house. A nice quiet evening with friends and a slideshow presentation from his children. We ate something called Chiriuchu. Chiri means Cool in Quechua and Uchu. It is made up of cooked but cool chicken, cuy (Guinea pig), sausage, a slice of salty cheese, toasted corn, slice of tough beef all topped with seaweed and fish eggs. Usually eaten on Corpus Cristi in Cusco. You are supposed to eat a piece of each ingredient and mix the flavours in your mouth. This was my first time eating Cuy and I found it quite nice but not a lot of meat. In total, chiriuchu was a little greasy and I got tired of eating a tiny piece at a time. I am glad I had the opportunity to taste it, though and look forward to tasting more of Cusquenian cuisine.
Now the drive home:
Because the party ended at 1030pm, well we left early so we don't know when it actually ended, we didn't have a bus home as the last bus is at 7pm so we went to a place called Control and jumped into the trunk of a guys station wagon who was going home. Since he was passing Oropesa we caught a ride for 3 soles a person.
First the activity: We had come to Cusco for Alcides' half a century birthday celebration at his house. A nice quiet evening with friends and a slideshow presentation from his children. We ate something called Chiriuchu. Chiri means Cool in Quechua and Uchu. It is made up of cooked but cool chicken, cuy (Guinea pig), sausage, a slice of salty cheese, toasted corn, slice of tough beef all topped with seaweed and fish eggs. Usually eaten on Corpus Cristi in Cusco. You are supposed to eat a piece of each ingredient and mix the flavours in your mouth. This was my first time eating Cuy and I found it quite nice but not a lot of meat. In total, chiriuchu was a little greasy and I got tired of eating a tiny piece at a time. I am glad I had the opportunity to taste it, though and look forward to tasting more of Cusquenian cuisine.
Now the drive home:
Because the party ended at 1030pm, well we left early so we don't know when it actually ended, we didn't have a bus home as the last bus is at 7pm so we went to a place called Control and jumped into the trunk of a guys station wagon who was going home. Since he was passing Oropesa we caught a ride for 3 soles a person.
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