Chupaca, Arwaturo, and San Jironomo

This morning after breakfast we went with Mari on a combi to Chupaca.  There was a circle of people around five brightly dressed dancers in the plaza.  It looked like they were a family, a grandmother, mom, dad, daughter and son.  They were really good.  Mari said not to take pictures though because they would charge us.  We walked over to the church and there was a wedding party waiting outside.  Mari led us inside and there was another wedding finishing up.  The bride and groom were coming back down the aisle and we watched as everyone outside threw rice at them.  We took some pictures and then left since the next wedding was going to start.  There was a band playing outside of the church too.

Wedding in Chupaca.

At the bottom of the steps in Arwaturo.

We walked over to the line of taxis to go to Arwaturo.  We drove up into the mountains and they dropped us off near a long stone staircase.  It was a really pretty place in the fields.  There was a big lake nearby and mountains in the distance.  We walked up the staircase with flowers, corn fields and sheep on either side.  At the top of the staircase were archeagogical ruins.  They used to be stone houses of the Huancas.  We walked around, took pictures, and talked with the man who watched over the place, Don Hilario.  He told us that a little further on there were Incan ruins.  I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he said I should be careful because my boyfriend would ask who he was.  He was a charming old man.  Mari had me write something in Don Hilario’s guest book.

On the way up the steps in Arwaturo.

Huancan ruins in Arwaturo.

We walked back down the steps and then Mari led us over to the nearby lake.  We saw some alpacas, geese, and burros along the way.  We saw another bride and groom getting their pictures taken.  The lake we went to has a lot of myths about it.  One of them has to do with mermaids.  They say that at night you can see them in the water.  You could go on a boat ride in the water in boats that look like swans or had umbrellas on the top.  We didn’t go for a ride since it looked like there was a storm coming in.  Ylfa and Emil took pictures with an alpaca, putting on a little brightly colored poncho and a brightly colored hat.  They looked hysterical.  After that we took a taxi back to Chupaca.

Boats on the lake near Arwaturo.

In Chupaca, there were women from Cusco selling artesenia.  We got some sweaters and then caught a combi back to Huancayo.  We took another combi from there to San Jironomo to get pachamanca.  There was so much food on our plates for so little money.  Lauren and I got sheep, Mari got chicken, and Emil and Ylfa shared a plate with both sheep and chicken.  They also had two potatoes, one sweet potato, big green beans, and this bread type thing that is cooked in corn husks like tomales.  There were stray dogs hovering around us trying to get us to give them some scraps.  We gave them some out on the road after we finished.  The owner of the restaurant gave us some anise liquor after dinner.  It was actually pretty good. 

Me and my pachamanca in San Jironomo.

After lunch, Ylfa and Emil went back to Huancayo and Lauren, Mari, and I went to San Jeronimo to look at silver.  I found some things, but my card wasn’t working with their machine.  I thought I would have to come back, but the woman said she would come with us to Huancayo so I could get money.  I couldn’t believe that she had let me take the jewelry and just followed us to Huancayo...so trusting.  After I paid her, we walked around the mall and looked into a few stores.  Mari left us after awhile and then Lauren and I were about to walk home.  We looked out the doors and it was pouring rain.  We decided to wait a few minutes to see if it would die down a bit.  We got some chocolate cake at a vendor that we always look at when we pass by.  It really hit the spot.  The rain hadn’t died down, but we braved the streets anyway.  It was a little bit scary because the roads were flooding and the lightning was making the streetlights flicker.  A few streets, Lauren and I ran across arm in arm.  We were soaking wet by the time we got back to the house.  I felt so muddy, sweaty, and wet from the rains that I immediately jumped into the shower.

Emil and Ylfa decided to eat dinner at the mall, so it was just Lauren and I for dinner.  We didn’t eat as much as we usually do because the pachamanca had been so filling.  Now we’re just watching Scott Pilgim vs. the World, sipping hot water, and writing in our journals.  And it all starts again tomorrow...