Our holidays were a mix of sadness for missing our friends and family and our customary traditions and joy for being “adopted” by our host family in Cusco. We were treated as family, even given small gifts at the traditional midnight family gathering on Christmas morning. New Year’s Eve was marked with fireworks and the burning of the old and the unwanted (see photo of fire of burning mattress in the street) and the spreading of yellow confetti over everyone and around the house for good luck. We ate turkey for Christmas and a roasted pig on New Year’s Day. We attended several celebrations, including those marking the beginning and the ending of the Holy holidays and one marking the birthday of a town. The costumes were beautiful, the dancing lively, and the fiesta filled with the sounds of music and laughter. The children’s gathering for the small gifts of hot chocolate, a traditional cupcake and a trinket were both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The mixture of unending poverty and joys of family and gift-giving to those less fortunate than ourselves, reminded us of the deeper meanings of the holiday season.
We were blessed with the company of an Australian couple, who shared our host family and Spanish school. It is Travis’s music that accompanies the photos, along with the conversation and laughter of our adopted family. (In the song he mentions Manchi, our host mother.)
Here’s a short Quicktime video made from some of the photos we took during these weeks. The photos at the end were taken in Arequipa in a monastery that dates back to the 1500s and was until only recently, closed to all but the nuns who cloistered themselves there. The energy of this place brought up feelings of connection with Spirit and our Christian and Buddhist roots. We hope the photos will give you at least a taste of our experiences.
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