Cusco: Week 8--Last Call!

We closed out our time in Cusco with a week full of celebrations--Halloween, All Saints' Day, and Day of the Dead--and final visits to favorite places we've found over the past two months. 

Monday we got back to volunteering and school, and we enjoyed a walk through the crowded Plaza de Armas to see Halloween costumes and browse a book market. Dinner was Trent's pick--Burgers and Beer (he's not wrong--it's good!).

Halloween on the Plaza de Armas

Tuesday was a holiday and the volunteering program was closed, but we did join the Amauta Spanish School students for a tour through Plaza de San Francisco, Mercado de San Pedro, and el Cemeterio de Huancaro with Professor Hans to learn about the Peruvian traditions of All Saints' Day and Day of the Dead in Peru. The markets were full of vendors selling lechon (pork), pan wawa, and flowers and offerings for graves. We enjoyed the markets so much during our morning visit that we went back in the afternoon to try some food. On the way we ran into the Caminos del Inca Road Rally as it ended in the Plaza de Armas--it was pretty cool! Later we hit Nick's Food Co (Katreina's pick) for Indian and Mexican food (trust me, it works) before heading back to the plaza to gawk at cars a little more. Then it was time for one last trivia night at Cerveceria del Valle Sagrado! We managed to tie for 2nd place this time and stayed for part of Alex Leran's set before heading home.

Learning all things about All Saints Day and Day of the Dead in Peru.

A fun night out! Korma Sutra vs. Tacomania at Nick's and rally cars in the Plaza.

Wednesday was a bit of an odd day...we did school, ran some errands, and headed to volunteering. But only two kids showed up! We ended up getting done early and hit the markets again for some street snacks. Cookies, salchicha on a stick, quail eggs, popcorn, and pineapple were all a hit! We walked and relaxed for a while before heading out to dinner and finding many places were closed. We ended up at Mullu for some Thai food (and a little Peruvian)--no complaints!

Street food throughout the week.

Thursday we finally visited Qorikancha, an amazing 15th century Inca temple that was once covered in gold, but was destroyed by the Spanish and replaced by a Catholic church. It was so easy to see the brilliance of Incan architecture and the cruelty of conquerors. There are so many similarities between the Incans and the Native Americans and the fates their cultures suffered at the hands of the colonizers. We admittedly passed quickly through the Spanish portions and lingered in the Inca portions. It was a VERY busy day at the aftercare program and afterwards we had to unwind with dinner and drinks at Jama.

Qorikancha. Cusco means "navel" in Quechua and is the center of the Incan empire.

Friday was a "routine" morning with the kiddos wrapping up school and the adults off to run some errands in the morning. We headed out to Wanchaq to a sports store to get a new soccer ball for the program we work at and afterwards took Katreina to an art cafe in San Blas (because who doesn't love art AND coffee?). We had our final lunch with our host mum (Lomo Saltado, of course!) and our final, emotional day (at least for me) at the Colibri Program. We helped with homework, went to the park for some great outdoor fun, then I headed to Amauta to pick up our huge load of donations to the program with an agree Uber driver, and all the volunteers and some kiddos helped to carry the load from the car to the program (you literally cannot drive to the door--you have to go down and up steps). Then there was a really nice farewell celebration for us, complete with kind words, songs, and dancing. And yep, I cried (no surprise to anyone that knew me in the military). We got so many hugs from the kids, the coordinators, and even the moms as they came to get their kids. But I felt like we were the ones that should be thanking all of them. We learned so much from this experience, and I don't just mean Spanish! We learned about Peruvian culture, the working class of Cusco, the government/social programs in Peru, how kids are kids no matter what country you're in, that cursive is alive and well in Peru, and that positivity, at any age, is contagious. 

One last day of work and fun!

As part of the program we gave a financial donation to the program which bought food and school supplies. It was so much, but the kiddos all helped carry it up the steps before sending us off!

Saturday we simply walked around, got some farewell gifts for our host mum, ate all the street food, packed, and had one final meal at Nero de la 375. And then, it was time to go! We took a taxi to the Peru Hop terminal and at 2100 boarded our first overnight bus of the trip. Destination--Puno. 

Goodbye, Blanca and Cusco!

This first bus was pretty nice and cozy! We have opted to use Peru Hop busses for our slow trip from Cusco to Lima for the next two weeks.

Jo, Nomadic Momma