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Published: October 21st 2005
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Battle of Ayacucho
This is the monument erected to commemorate the Battle of Ayacucho. 19 October 2005
Hi all,
Had Wawa Wasi in the morning. We stayed in our own place today!! Had taken paper plates and wool and made faces with hair (from the wool) with the kids. They all made the faces to look like their mum´s (unlikely as the plates were all white - unless their mamas are all ´gringos´!!).
In the afternoon we had a guest speaker from the University about coca leaves, and their history. It was really interesting. Coca has many good uses, but unfortunately is predominantly known as the source ingredient for cocaine. We learned a lot about cocaine!! It is produced, as well as the other (legal) products made from the coca leaves. It is used mainly by the peasants to stave off hunger and thirst, also used as a natural anaesthetic, and is the basis for Coca Cola (hence the name). It is most commonly used in Peru to alleviate altitude symptoms - mainly drunk as a strong tea (Mate de Coca). Have lots more info from the lecture, but too much to note here.
Had another Spanish lesson in the evening and then early to bed - I was pretty exhausted
Quinoa village
View of Quinoa village from the monument and slept for almost 10 hours straight!!
20 October 2005
Hi Folks,
Great day today!! Was at Wawa Wasi in the morning. Everyone was there except Alberto. Giovani and Elias were their usual tearaway selves, fighting with everyone and everything. Also struggling a bit with Andrea, Julia´s daughter who likes to get her own way. She constantly pesters Rufina (the baby) who is starting to find her independence and can´t be bothered with Andrea. It can be frustrating at times. Today we went to visit another Wawa Wasi where there were a lot of babies. After two hours of stereo crying I was pretty frazzled!! But hey - manana manana!! We made streamers today - I had bought ribbons in the market of all the primary colours and was teaching them how to move to music with the streamers (one of the many useful things I learned in Girls Brigade. At least the kids didn´t have to wear leotards like I did though!!). The ribbons also helped with a song they sing in Spanish and English about colours. It´s to the tune of Frere Jacques:
Red is rojo, red is rojo,
Azul blue, azul blue,
Amarillo
Quinoa village
Typical village street yellow, amarillo yellow,
Verde green, verde green.
After lunch we went to visit the village of Quinoa close to where the the Battle of Ayacucho was fought. This is where the Peruvians fought against the Spanish (successfully) for their independence. Peru was assisted in this fight by armies from the rest of South America, the USA and even England and Ireland. The battle took place in the early 1820s. A monument to commemorate the battle was erected in 1974 on the site of the battle above the village of Quinoa. The monument is made of white marble (photo attached).
After seeing the monument and learning about the history from Rudy (our guide for the afternoon and the CCS coordinator in Ayacucho) we went down into the village of Quinoa and spent some time there. I bought a beautiful hand made pot for 6 soles (the equivalent of one pound 20p) and a bag for 10 soles (two pounds). Quinoa is a beautiful village. Not as dusty as Ayacucho, although there is a lot of building work going on. In Quinoa, there is pottery on the roof of every single house. When a new house is built, the godparents
Quinoa Church
One of the Churches. Doesn´t need any narrative - look at the beautiful murals on the walls. of the family bring along the pottery which is installed on the roof as a blessing. They do something similar in Ayacucho, but use fresh flowers in the shape of a cross which are (obviously) not permanent. Haven´t spotted any, but will take a photo if I do. Have attached some photos of some of the Quinoa sights.
After Quinoa, we went on to the Wari ruins in the Andes close to Ayacucho. The Waris pre dated the Incas by roughly 5 centuries (they were in Peru roughly from 500 - 1,000AD). The Wari ruins are effectively a Wari village which was discovered in the mountains. They are still excavating the area, but need more funding from the government to be able to complete the work. No one knows quite what happened to the civilisation we visited. It is likely that it was wiped out as the result of a natural disaster. They have a museum there, and we saw examples of Wari pottery, knives and stones. It was pretty incredible, and the colours of the pottery was amazing even after all these years.
Rudy also showed us the cochineal beetles which flourish on the cacti. He took
Quinoa Houses
There is pottery on the roof of every single house in Quinoa. one off and crushed it. You should have seen the amazing red colour it produced and also the volume of it. These bugs are crushed to provide food colouring (e.g. in gummy sweets, Smarties and M&Ms). The locals also use it as a source of colour for fabrics, pottery etc.
Afterwards headed back to base for another Spanish lesson and a freezing cold shower!! Now home to study some Spanish and head to bed.
Tomorrow is Friday - almost the end of my second week!! Can´t believe how quickly time is flying. Staying in Ayacucho to explore this weekend. Planning to try and get around the remaining 31 Churches I have to see.
Anyway - enjoy the photos.
Buenos Naches
Lesley x
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