Wednesday night reggae
Yes, folks, that´s right. Just like DC, Cusco has Wednesday night reggae too. And like the DC scene, the band is smack up against the crowd, they occasionally let someone from the crowd sing with them (I´ll try again next week to get on the mic), and the whole gang meets up there. Yup, I said it, “the whole gang.” I guess I was wrong about meeting Peruvians in Cusco, because I´ve met some great people and have been hangin´with them more than seeing the sights. I´ve needed the time to adjust to the altitude anyway, so hangin´ has worked out beautifully.
Honestly, I’m having a bit of a hard time with the altitude. I´ve decided to scrap my plans of two days at Lake Titicaca next week because of it. It lies at a higher altitude, and since I’m already having occasional trouble breathing here, I think it´s a good call. I think I feel the soroche (altitude sickness) worse because of my asthma. But I´m drinking coca tea, chewing on coca leaves, taking a daily soroche pill, and I have my inhaler, so I’m all good. I hear you need at least a month to adjust to this, and I only have 2 weeks. Oh well.
Back to the reggae. The band kicks ass. It is made up of an Argentinian, a Chilean, and 3 guys from Lima, Peru. They do some covers of Bob Marley but mainly a lot of good South American reggae, as well as some of their own stuff. The song that has been stuck in my head for a few days goes, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no quiero ir a la guerra. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, porque la guerra nos da pena.” Translated: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don´t want to go to war. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because war gives us pain.” Sounds much better in castellano.
I feel inspired. I want to translate my songs into castellano. I feel so lucky again to have met such welcoming people here in Cusco. I seem to get the cold shoulder a bit from foreigners, but maybe I’m giving out the same vibe. Or maybe it´s just the chicks who are giving me this vibe. This culture is full of passion, and I can feel it more distinctly in the air between me and other people than I can in the States. But, just as I suspected, there are so many similarities among all cultures, and last night´s reggae was just another obvious example.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no quiero ir a los estados unidos. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, quizas tengo suerte agui con mis amigos.” –I´ll let you translate that for yourself.
