Cuscenos, weaving and a dog

Lots of Cusco locals dress in native garb, some for tourist work, some because it's who they are.  And many dress in normal western clothing.  Their native costumes are varied, and pretty fantastic -- the area is clearly into weaving, and they do quite intricate stuff.

These are ladies for hire for photos - and get pretty much business.  Skirts are woven bands sewn together.

Sales ladies taking a siesta.

Cusco clothing and area hat.  Not especially flattering, in part because there are 2-3 underskirts.

 

Typical couple, warmer day, sitting in the park.  Typical hats, although her flower addition is special.

These typically dressed (everyday clothing) ladies were walking through the park together and noticed something in the tree here, stopped to take a look, then went on.  Pigtails tied at the bottom is the norm, as are these hats for everyday wear.

This trio was selling weavings similar to the ones sewn on their skirt hems.  The visible packed baby has one leg hanging out and was eating corn kernels.

Cute kids abound in Peru.

The school kids are mostly all in uniform, surprisingly different from one school to the next and nice looking.  Their authority figures (teacher, admin folks) often have a slightly different shade of the school's colors in their uniforms.

School uniforms contain a hat component here.

We happened onto an annual weaving exhibition, and the attendees were stylin' for the conference.  Their clothing is mostly woven.

Their standard hat shapes made fancy for the occasion with woven bands, rims, and woven shawls pinned on.

His poncho had inverwoven tinsel and sparkled in the sun.  This was the only male weaver we saw.

Backstrap looms in use.

Seemed like old friends, just getting set up. 

 There was also a contemporary weaving exhibition, amazing stuff, plays on the traditional weavings.

 

 2-D weavings of standard themes, with a trompe l'oeil 3-D look.

And this is the Peruvian hairless dog, midsize -- looks a little like it's been frosted with a light dusting of fur in places.  Not a warm-looking, beautiful dog. 

We're taking a 4 day trip into the Manu jungle reserve (Andean Cock of the Rock! clay-eating parrots!) in the eastern part of Peru, leaving tomorrow, and we'll be off the grid for awhile.

We've been on the road for a little over 4 months, and have hit a wall of sorts -- perhaps its the altitude and oxygen (3400m, over 11k feet), perhaps it's Cusco, perhaps other stuff, but life on the road feels, and is surprisingly different. We felt like we'd adjusted well and relatively easily to Quito (2850m) and Cuenca (2,500m) and other high locales, and it's hard to parse what's going on, but it'll be good to be in an area, the jungle, with more oxygen, to see how much that is a factor in our malaise.  This is surprising, undesirable, unfamiliar territory.  : \

A big nosed religious procession

Cusco is politically active, a city of protests and processions.  Today there was a protest regarding mass transit (buses); on Monday we saw another religious procession.  The religious procession was mid-afternoon, down a busy street.  I don't know where it originated or ended, but it attracted a good marching-along crowd, had great marching music and dancing, followers, and tourist photographers as deep as the procession at times (have I mentioned the tourist nature of this town?!).

At the front -- banners and photographers.

Leading the way, the banners.

Gaucho guys, acting drunk, wearing big nosed masks.

The dad was marching along, carrying this adorable little hatted  girl.

Big-nose masked boy, little hanger on who did some of the moves - so cute.

Gringo photographer in the back.  Steve.

The figure being "processed", with someone lying on his back underneath. Pretty sure it's not Maria, for a change.  I wish I knew my saints.

The somber looking band in back.

May have been a hired band, not the church's own. 

The lead big nosed guy, resting.

We learned that the big-nosed masked guys, and the blank-faced light masked woman are representations of Spaniards, from the early days (1600s) of the Spanish takeover.  They show the Spaniards in exaggerated and unflattering form and action (the guys dance drunkenly, the woman just prances around) -- a way of poking fun, disrespecting the Spaniards, while (obligatorially) including them in the religious rituals.  It's fun to watch, the masks are weirdly happy looking. 

Some Incan ruins

Huge stones, cut and sanded to fit each other, no mortar needed.

It's rather amazing what the Incans (they spell it Inkans) were able to do - in many ways their culture, especially their architecture, was very advanced.  They had the full sun calendar before Galileo presented it and got in trouble with the church.  They figured out planetary elliptical orbits before other folks and they had useful ideas on how to make earthquake tolerant buildings before much of the world.  Cool stuff.   This is little stuff, although the stuff of their daily lives --  MachuPicchu is still to come.  A few photos from the parts of the "sacred valley" (read Inkan civilization) just outside  the town of Cusco -- the word transates to "naval of the world", aka center of the [Inkan] universe:  

They worked with huge stones, lovely incredibly stable, earthquake resistant results.

Under one of their famous lintels in this, their sacred place.

View of Cusco from their sacred view on high.

Where virgins and llamas were sacrificed and bodies mummified, in the fertility temple. 

Amazing puzzle work they did.

Looking over into grounds only the royalty were allowed to walk.

Site of one of the many, many temples.

The city of Cusco in the distance.  It's grown a bit since Inkan times.

This was sacred water, where the Inkan princesses bathed.  The water prevents wrinkles.  I'm resistant to this magic.

A Peruvian family hanging out near the ruins, with their llamas and a lamb.

Other families at play near the ruins -- this time with futball/soccer.  Lots of families were doing this.  I have loved watching the fullness of family play -- all ages, sexes, abilities at play together, with great fun.

Popular Art Museum in Cusco

The Popular Art Museum of Cuenca houses an odd, interesting collection of works done by contemporary artists, winners of an anual competition of folk art held around Christmas each year.  Hence, much of the art involves nativity scenes and other religious themes -- but so much art here does anyway.  A random selection of things follows.  Forgive the shadows, lighting was an issue.

A nun wrestling -- or dancing, perhaps -- with the devil.

A demonic birthing event.  ??  Red cross?

A rather macabre nativity, with a condor eyeing a frightened baby Jesus. 

Fighting cocks, carved out of tiny sticks -- each about 2 inches tall.  Sorry the perspective was lost here. 

A cock pulling the intestines from a bull.  Don't get the meaning of this one.

Nativity scene (3 feet tall), with baby Jesus near the bottom; lots of indigenous birds, with eggs in a nest in the tree.  Again, lost in the photo.  Sorry, but a really sweet idea.

The musicians were intriguing. 

Coins sewn on his skirt, with a very tangled,contorted cross and inhabitant, interesting toes.

Sweet baby Jesu with a fig in his hand.

Another. 

Mary, baby Jesus, and Joseph of spoons, knives, forks.

Interesting last supper, with long-necked, animated figures. 

Jesus has the especially long neck.

Each of the plates for Jesus and the disciples had a variety of foods, including a whole cuy (guinea pig) second item from the right on the plate, the finger showing just nudging the cuy.

I'm guessing that none of the really interesting parts of this are very visible -- sorry if that's so.  Wish you were here to see it.  : )