THANKSGIVING FEAST

With Tammie´s parents and grandparents in town we had the man/woman power for a great Thanksgiving feast. They rented the apartment across the patio from ours and so we had two kitchens. They brought some hard-to-come-by items from the states (like stuffing, canned pumpkin, shortening and other things.) And thanks to Tammie´s mom we had a very organized system of providing Thanksgiving dinner for the seven of us plus our 15 or so friends whom we invited.

We had ordered a turkey from the butchers, they said it would be ready on Thursday morning, but when Tammie and Alana went to pick it up they said that there are no turkeys in Cusco right now. (They are really popular around Christmas time but the rest of the year, impossible to come by.) So we decided to go over to a nearby restaurant (where I know the head manager and helped him translate his menu to English) and we got three rotisserrie chickens.

Other than that, we had all the makings for a classic Thanksgiving dinner, plus a few surprises. I helped make the pie crusts for the pies and they turned out really well thankfully (I´m kind of hit and miss with my pie crusts.) And some of our Peruvian friends brought cuy to give the dinner an Andean flair.




The time came for dinner and we ate and ate. Now, I don´t eat very big meals here so this was quite a change and I felt it the next day. We sent plenty of food home with our friends and all in all it was a great success. The Peruvians seemed to really enjoy it as well.





As for the rest of my time recently, I haven´t done much other than teaching English, learning Spanish and going through the daily routines here.

The Land Before Time MCXXVII: Journey to the Sacred Valley

Littlefoot sensed danger... What began as a joyous dew-filled world of song and dance became a stiffling, dangerous death-trap. There was nowhere to turn, nowhere to run and he knew his only chance to avoid extinction was to run.

Littlefoot ran, faster than one could imagine an apatasaurus could ever run. Oh, thank the trilobites he was no brachiosaurus with a neck that towered above the foliage. He could keep his head tucked well below green canopy avoiding detection from the hunters.

The ferns and giant horsetails whipped his humungous bulk as if

As you will no doubt recall, I am currently sharing an apartment with my cousin Alana and her friend Tammie. Tammie´s parents and grandparents came to visit this past week and will be here for another. They arrived on Wednesday and on Saturday they invited Alana and I plus a couple of our Peruvian friends to go with them on a tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

So we reserved a thirteen-passenger van hired with a tour guide and we set off. Our first stop was the town of Pisac, capital of the sacred valley, which boasts some ruins and a great town market. Because Alana, Tammie and I were too cheap to buy the tourist ticket that gets you into the ruins (because we see ruins all the time) we got out and waited at the control point while the others went on. While waiting we recruited some of the local kids into a game of Uno. I totally won twice. Those kids didn´t even know what hit `em.

Next we went down to the town market where I took this wonderful picture of myself behaving touristy. (Yes I took this picture myself with the camera you see here and I´ll give someone a piece of candy if they can explain how I did it.)


After Pisac we headed further up the valley to the town of Urubamaba, capital of the Sacred Valley, where the Schwieders (Tammie´s family) treated us all to a nice buffet lunch. Some of the dishes included such favorites as stuffed peppers, lamb stew, alpaca stew and phlagn.

Even though the Schwieders aren´t featured in the picture below, I promise they were there.

After a great lunch we headed to the town of Ollantaytambo, capital of the Sacred Valley, where we were able to see more ruins. Alana and I had been there before my first week here.

I also met a new friend there, featured in the picture below.

We stopped at one more town on the way home for some more ruins and then went back to our apartment. It had been a fun day.

THE TEA MAN

He walks down the streets with determined resolution

He´s here and he´s there... he´s a Cusqueñian Institution

He's here on the street near the old Incan ruin

Next at the market, now what is he doing?

Everyone knows him, but no one his name

Everyday see him dressed always the same

Here he comes now with his jacket and tie

This is the way (we think) he gets by

It doesn't matter if you're fat or tall

If you're native, a tourist or speak Spanish at all

To each man and each woman who might pass him by

He solicits them softly with his soft, mumbled cry:

"Hmnmnuhuhmnhuh Brhuhuhuma"

Everyone knows, it's quite easy to see

That this is Spanish for, "Please buy some tea"

Maybe your shopping or you stopped for a sit

Or crossing the street and about to get hit

With a box in one hand and some more in his bag

He holds up the tea and then gives it a wag

If you refuse it won't shake him a bit

It's on to the next person he can get

But if you're wise and don't mind giving in

A few moments of time and some Soles just for him

Ask him for tea and you'll get something more

Bright twinkling eyes and a smile's in store

And if your lucky and don't speak with a mouthful

You'll find out, as I did... his name is Rudolfo