Partying at 3,400m in Cusco
Well, my last night in Areqipa and first night in Cusco were so festive that I’m actually drinking coffee on this here Monday afternoon, which I never do. Had a blast on Saturday night until 5 am with my Arequipan friends, Juanita and Pablo. They wanted me to stay, and, you know what?, so did I. Woke up after only an hour of sleep to catch a plane to Cusco. Slept a couple more hours after I checked into my hotel, then went wandering.
Cusco is beautiful and has a different feel than Arequipa. It´s houses and buildings spread out and up the surrounding hills. The weather is a bit colder than Arequipa’s climate (kind of like Lima´s–in the 50s-60s F) and rain is likely, as it is the beginning of the rainy season here. I am in a great little upstairs cafe on an off-the-beaten track road while writing this. I’m staying in an awesome hostal for $8 a night further away from the main plaza, and, as opposed to where I stayed in Arequipa, I like being in a more remote location. There are a bunch of British gals staying there too, and the market and bus station are just across the street.
Cusco is a city for tourists. It thrives on the influx of foreigners and is a bit more expensive than Arequipa. I am searching out all the cheap places to eat and trying to steer clear of those too close to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas. The bars and clubs around the plaza, however, are where it’s at. I met only other tourists, drank, and danced last night until not too late, but late enough to greatly add to the exhaustion I already felt. Met a cool gal from the States, who has been traveling abroad, with very little foreign language skills, for the last 8 years. Divorced, single mom, in her early 40s (I think), and an inspiration. After a couple weeks of traveling on my own, I feel terrific about traveling. All those years of fears seem a bit silly now, but I guess I needed them to prepare for this. So, no regrets, just more plans forming in my mind. I’ve got a mini-goal to travel as much as possible in the next 5-10 years. If anybody has job ideas for me, I´m all ears.
My new friend and I were treated to drinks by a couple of Australian guys, then we all went dancing. I think it may be difficult to meet a ton of Peruanos here. I can sense a bit of a distance between us, kind of like I am always the client and they are always the vendors. I guess it makes sense, since this is such a touristy city, it must be tiring to meet and befriend people who constantly leave. This is only my second day, though, so perhaps my analysis is premature. Despite my suspicion of the Cuzqueño attitude toward extraneros, they are friendly and welcoming people. I talked to the owner/chef of a little lunch place yesterday, who has one of those interesting Peruvian heritages of a Chinese father and a Peruvian mother. We talked about food and culture. He said the history of Peru is a sad one, but you can never look back–we always have to press on, accepting what has been and making the best of the moment and what is to come, he said. This, in general, seems to be the Peruvian attitiude. With a history of lost wars, colonial domination, and dsevastating earthquakes, Peruvians have a love for the underdog (thus, the mixed feelings for Fujimori, the last and corrupt president) and, it seems to me, persistant optimism. The latter I feel is beginning to rub off on me, and I welcome it open arms.
