The Land of the Unexpected

Friday July 25th

The day ended with a final meeting with my host as he is headed to Lima on Saturday to review the production of a book on a newly discovered archeological site that he is publishing in the fall. I had been very fortunate that he had sponsored a private escort for me during my time in Cusco to teach me spanish, conversing almost exclusively in the language, explaining the culture and facilitating my interviews with other businesses. Being the only guest at the Center surrounded by workers has been an irreplaceable experience in true immersion into the culture. After a long time of reflection in front of the fire place, I ended the day at 8pm... seems to vary from early nights to no nights on this experience.

Saturday July 26th

My plans for the day were to take it easy on my last day in Cusco. I have had a rich, full and diverse experience covering business, cultural and personal growth areas. But after breakfast, I looked out into the courtyard and there was an elder gentlemen dressed in very traditional ancient Quechua clothing with the colorful beaded hat, full wool cape. I was informed that this curandero (Spanish for ´curer´) had come from a far away rural part of Cusco in a village at the foot of a mountain. He had a strong reputation among the land for healing and was the only medical person in that village. We take being able to access doctors, hospitals and medical care for granted sometimes in the USA. This man with the kind eyes and soft disposition had come to Poqen Kanchay to work with a few people. I was asked to join them. Can you believe this opportunity? And, my spanish actually was decent enough to be alone in the room with this gentlemen for 45 minutes alone and hold a conversation while waiting for the others...later I learned he didn´t speak Spanish but spoke Quechua, the native language. Some kind of way...we understood each other and enjoyed the company. Jose was his name. He was here to do a ¨despachio¨which is like a prayer cloth. It is a process of building a blessing in a large piece of paper which will later be burned with prayer in the mountains on sacred ground for these people. I watched as Jose unwrapped dozens of small envelopes of paper that contained colorful candies, llama fat, many flowers, cotton, leaves, and other symbolic items that represented love, home, family, wishes, health and other blessings. We were all asked to say our prayers for life and they were directed to this circle. He worked gently with constant prayer as he moved through building this circle of items piled systematically on each other. At the end, Jose neatly tied up the bundle with string into a square package. I had been giving him expressions of gratitude throughout the morning of water, raisins, my gift rattles but at the end, he allowed me to take a photo and say one of my traditional prayers with him. He seemed to really enjoy the effort and reached into his bag and gifted me a beautiful purse from his village.

When I thought the day couldn´t get any better, my language coach and other host advised that he wanted to take me into town. This is the beginning of the Independence Day holiday for Peru and there were cultural celebrations everywhere. We watched a variety of cultural dancers from the north, south and central Cusco in their varied colored outfits and customs. Celebrations of various schools who train chefs and bartenders had set up for demonstrations. The people from the markets were active. I am hosting an ëlder honoring ceremony for my Mother and my Aunt when I return which is an ancient tradition amond women of many indigenous cultures. I found the perfect beaded hat and cloth which are traditionally used to symbolize the Queen for cultures. They will be one of a kind in this personal celebration. I am pleased. We walked in parts of Cusco that I had never been and likely would not have ventured myself but what a flavor for the people. The town has come to a new level of excitement. We stopped by the spanish language school that I was intending to spend the week in. How could I ever replace my rich and diverse experience with this private language coach Pepe. Sitting in a class room all day just could not come close. However, Pepe works with the language school and has a fantastic idea of working with USA students to teach spanish for hours during the day in the school followed by an immersion into the community and sites speaking only spanish. I will share this idea and the contacts with both CIBER and the Center for Latin and Caribbean Studies when I return.

Finally returning to the Poqen Kanchay before dark, I say my final goodbyes to my coach and new friend, Pepe. It looks like I will not be able to accept the invitation to meet with the Women´s entrepreneur association here in Cusco who is the partner with the Lima headquarters. Just ran out of time...definitely will plan to next time. Hope to have a quiet evening and get some reading done but who knows...afterall, this is ¨The Land of the Unexpected!¨