October 17, 2007
From SATA-Peru-2007
Today was a relatively calm day here in Cusco. We started off the day with Spanish as always, after which we had a shaman speak in our Ethnohistory class. He was really interesting and had a very soothing voice (great for singing as well.) He taught us about the Andean universe and its three parts: Haman Pacha (the cosmos), Kay Pacha (the natural world we live in), and Ukhu Pacha (the inferior world.) He also delved into the Andean cross and its different parts which was interesting but confusing. On Monday the Shaman will be returning to conduct a ritual with us.
After lunch, most of spent a relaxing afternoon watching movies or catching up on work before our Quechua class.
After dinner Leiacha had an interesting (but somewhat unfortunate) experience. She was asked to call a woman back in the states to inform her that her father had just died, since the woman had left Peru when she was very young and didn’t speak any English. Leia said it was definitely difficult to have to explain who she was before breaking the news, but the woman was very grateful. Just one example of the odd experiences of living abroad.
Later in the evening a few of us heading to Norton’s (an “English” bar) which has beer on tap, a rarity in Cusco. After some delicious Excalibur and some good conversation we all called it a night and headed to bed.
