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Published: November 17th 2006
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Guadalupe
Typical side street. By Huacachina I was feeling a bit too touristy, so I contacted Don Leonardo from Hospitality Club. I then grabbed a taxi and collectivo to the main square of his little suburb of Ica, Guadalupe.
The town is tiny. There was a band playing outside the mint green and white church when I arrived. The bushes in the main plaza are shaped into llamas. Someone was attempting to set off fireworks in the main square, but they weren´t working, so they were only creating a series of loud booms.
Leonardo and his wife found me, and brought me to a local bodega.
The bodegas there make wine and Pisco, which is a very strong liqour. The name Pisco comes from the port town it is shipped from (1 hour back towards Lima), but the drink is actually made around the town of Ica. They explained to me the uses of all this very old equipment, which unfortunately wasn´t functioning as the grape harvest doesn´t come in until December-February. In March there is a famous week-long wine festival.
We returned to their house for lunch, which was a local dish consisting of potatoes, peas, a yellow sauce, and ¨part of a cow¨.
C´mere, Handsome
In the Museo de la Regione in Ica. I didn´t ask which part. There was also rice, which is eaten all the time. It isn´t a Peruvian lunch if it doesn´t involve rice.
After lunch we walked outside of town to the local huaca, which is an ancient ruin. We climbed atop it; unfortunately my camera wasn´t working at the time (full of sand, I suspect). No one knows exactly what this is a ruin of - I don´t think it´s ever been excavated, and it wasn´t particularly large. Leonardo was bemoaning the fact that no one cares that they are surrounded by things like this (there are 3 others in the immediate area). He knows a lot about pre-Inca cultures, and gave me a lecture with photos on his computer.
That night I accompanied my hosts to a birthday party for their friend, a very old man. This was a family & friends affair, where I was stuffed with a second dinner consisting of some part of an animal. I sat around with the older men all night, passing around a small water bottle full of Pisco and a shot glass. It is proper for the men to pour the shot for the woman who is after
Mi Vecino
No, really. This chanchonito lived in the yard outside my room at Leonardo´s house. them. This is probably a good thing, as Leonardo was pouring me very tiny shots, and this went on for about 5 hours without a break. The whole night Leonardo had to translate for me. That is, he had to translate what the men were saying
into clear spanish. ¨Oh, she speaks
Castellano¨said one guy. Well, yes, what do you speak? It turns out that they use so much slang, it seems to them a different language - some people only know the slang. Also, they slur their words.
The next day I was a bit tired 😉. So I only went to the museum in Ica. The most interesting exhibit was the Biological Anthropology room, which contained deformed skulls and well-preserved baby skeletons.
That night I was given another interactive lecture by Leonardo, on the varieties of traditional Peruvian music - very cool, I learned a bit about all the instruments and different types from different regions. And the next night, I was given a performance by two of his friends, a father and son who play guitar and cajón, respectively. A cajón is a big wooden box (hence the name - cajón=big box) with a hole in the back. The player sits on it and plays. The sound is surprisingly rich. They did a variety of music. My favorite is la musica negra, which is based around the rythym of the cajón. This is from the town of Carmen, just outside of Chinca Alta, which is just south of Lima. There there are apparently dances all the time, festivals and fun based around this music. Next time.
All in all, this was a great few days. The town is small enough that everyone knows each other, you stop at random houses without signs for snacks and whatnot, (picarrones = Peruvian fried dough with honey = delicious). The braver kids kept yelling at me in English. Leonardo´s dogs started following me around and whining outside my door. And I hope to return some day.
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Paula
non-member comment
Skulls?
my only complaints is that there aren't more pictures of deformed skulls.