More on Portland

The odd behavior of the common teasle was my first real clue that things were different here.  I'd noticed the laid-backness of the people, the minimal calm traffic, the mist, oh the great beer, the myriad bikes, but the way this plant was reacting to its environment was woah, weird by my midwestern standards.  Teasels grow all over the states, and are brown spiky lovelies in winter, awaiting regrowth in the spring.  The teasels in the Pacific Northwest  however do something different:  the relatively constant winter moisture along with the occasional bright sunshine and moderate temps encourages the seeds in the dried head to sprout right there in the seed head.  Their numbers indicate this isn't detrimental -- perhaps gives them an early start?  It's quite lovely.

While on a hike, Steve noticed these mist-frosted trees.

This statue is of Portlandia -- she's perched atop, looking down at the town.

This is our current home, in a condo on the Willamette River, right near Pearl District and downtown.   There's a jogging/biking path that follows the river for miles.

Voodoo Donuts is very popular in Portland.  Delicious, clever stuff.  There's a coffin available for purchase, filled with donuts.

This red-goo filled donut has a pretzel stake in her heart; she'll ooze/bleed upon being bitten.

Bad photo, but this donut has a poo-appearing dollop of peanut butter in the middle.  

A chess game that Steve and I left in process; these guys took over for us.  The pieces are put away at night.  

The giant outdoor holiday tree was being dismantled.  Branches at the base, except for the few at the top.

The benches and lots of other fixtures grow winter coats of moss.  

A sunny day, Mount Hood in the background.  There have
been lots of sunny days here.

Sweet 8' sculpture.

All our traveling lives, we've taken the opportunity to go on brewery tours when we've been near them.  They've mostly been big affairs, with miles of conveyor belts, lots of fork lifts, hundreds of thousands of bottles.  In 1984 Oregon changed its brewery laws to allow small scale brewing, and a whole new industry appeared.  We toured the little Bridgeport Brewery one day and gained a whole new perspective and appreciation of craft brewing.  Just Steve and me on the tour, led by a brewmaster -- went all over, cameras allowed, all questions addressed, we saw and tasted hops, saw the yeasts bubbling (below) in their lab, up close, the small batch approach.  It all happens in one city block -- all the fantastic stuff they brew and ship, obviously not much, but such a different approach and outcome.  It was fascinating.  And one small dumpster of waste -- they are so environmentally conscious -- recycle, reuse, feed pigs, fertilize with the byproducts.

These varieties of hops are grown specifically for Bridgeport.

Y-Es hiking in a nearby forest at Christmas.

Icing on the cake:  we went into the Multnomah County Library on our second day in town, and walked out laden with books an hour later, proud card holders.  Nice library, great staff, familiar patrons.

Also, I went on a tour of the Portland Mounted Police facility. It was the most in-depth, equine-conscious and -aware horse tour I've ever had, and have a new-found respect for urban-employed horses.

To be on the force (of  only 10), a horse needs to be at least 1/2 draft horse, and that means shaggy  fetlocks and legs, so  to keep them safe and clean, they're shaved weekly.  You can see his shaving lines above. They're also all geldings. 

The horses play soccer with this big ball, while learning the skill of pushing with their noses.

The PMP horses aren't shod, but wear these comfy, no slip sneakers when they work the streets.

Lake Titicaca/Puno's Diablada and procession

Our stay in the Lake Titicaca area was timed so that we'd be in Puno, known as the folkloric capital of Peru, for the famed Diablada dance/procession.  A rather pale version of the Diablada can be found on youtube, if you're so inclined.  Puno is a festival town -- it's said that there are over 300 festivals and processions in the city annually, so it's not hard to include one during a visit.  The town of only 100K at 4000m elevation has a set of bleachers, which, while sort of flimsy, appear to be a permanent fixture in the town.  The dance takes place in the center of town and moves around the square.

Part of the reason processions and festivals are so plentiful and popular, I think, is that so many people take part in them.  There must be/have been a huge expenditure on costumes and their upkeep as the costumes were waaay over the top in quality, extravagance and plenitude.  Apparently lots of groups perform each of the dances (Puno's known for 10 specific dances).  We got to see high schoolers perform our Diablada (learned this by talking with folks afterwards, trying to understand) -- and the energy, the precision, the pride, the expertise were phenomenal.   The entire dance took about 2 hours.

Excellent bands of mixed ages lead the procession, and accompany sections of the dance, then move on.  I've come to think that different groups are likely sort of competitive, and clearly take great pride in their delivery of the dances -- I really couldn't explain the energy and joy that was apparent in the dance otherwise.   These were not bored performers performing for tourists.  Mostly the audience lining the streets was locals.  

Here's one of the bands that marched/strutted/swayed in, and hung around to play for a portion of the dance.  

The boots of many dance groups, boys and girls,  had these bells attached.  Oooh!  The stomping sounds!

These were very fluffy bear/ape creatures.  One group of many such beasts.

This is a group of male dancers stomping and  dancing in unison, most impressive.  The kid in front performed throughout the entire parade, mimicking moves, strutting, gestures, often interacting with the performers.  Everyone was fine with it.  He's not long for the sidelines.

This was the only female in pants in the entire dance and she did the stomping moves with one guy; all the other ladies were in showgirl sorts of costumes, mostly stomping, strutting, wiggling in impressive unison.

Typical ladies.

Watching.

More watchers.

The final group of the dance/procession was a cadre of riders in khaki uniforms mostly, and with beautiful and for the most part well-behaved and obedient horses.  They trotted, cantered, galloped, reared up on command - sweet.  One guy from town came galloping into the group at the end, sort of messing up their organized appearance -- seemed like a rogue rider, although folks seemed to know him and steered clear.  Wish I knew the backstory there.

The next day we saw a daytime procession, taking the religious figure, San Jose, for a walk.

Biggest kids in front, nice unison.

Middle sized, then smaller.

I'm pretty sure the boy in the lower right, is the same kid who was  "participating" from the sidelines in the parade from the night before.   Then the littlest kids, below, at the end of the lead part of the procession.

The only rose we saw.

Then the local dignitaries.

And San Jose, on a sky-blue tulle float, on his way to the main church.

It takes four to carry him.

San Jose went back home later in the day, with the same pageantry and procession.  

Monasterio de Santa Catalina

                                                    

One of the more spectacular places we visited while in Arequipa, Peru was the Monasterio de Santa Catalina.  We went twice -- once during the day, and once at night when it was lit by candlelight -- and we've resisted tackling a blog entry because it was so big, so impressive, so overwhelming, and, as a result, we had so many photos.  Still not clear how best to present it, but here goes anyway...   

The monastery is only a few blocks off Arequipa's Plaza de Armas, its central plaza.  Dating from 1579 it encompasses an entire, extra large city block, covering 20,000 square meters.  It contains its own "streets," numerous courtyards, cells (private rooms) for, at its peak, about 150 nuns and 300 servants, and all the accessories needed to feed, bathe, entertain and spiritually serve the occupants.

While the monastery has been in continual use since it was established, it suffered during the mid-1900s, and, after two earthquakes devastated it in the 1960s, it was finally restored to its full splendor in 1970; electricity was added, and outsiders and tourists were welcomed.  A small section still functions as a cloistered monastery for about 20 nuns.

Malaga Street

Cordova Street

Zocodober Square.  The communal bath house with a moderately sized pool was in the doorway to the right.

More and more and more streets and plazas.

Silent Patio

Orange Tree Cloister

Great Cloister

 

Bright colors enlivened and demarcated.

Lots of vegetation throughout.

A quiet little corner of the convent, with flowered rooftops.

The monastery was founded by a rich widow, Maria de Guzman in 1579.  At the time it was traditional for a family's second child to enter a life of service in the Church.  The Monasterio de Santa Catalina accepted only women from the Spanish upper class, each family providing a dowry of 2,400 silver coins along with 25 valuable items such as paintings, lamps, statues, china, rugs, etc.  The wealthy novitiate built their own rooms in the monastery and brought elaborate furnishings and servants and/or slaves - their personal cells were quite comfortable, far from austere.  Most of the cells had in addition to a bedroom, their own privies, living rooms, and small kitchens.

examples of nun's personal cells

examples of nun's personal living rooms

imported musical instruments in one cell

Most nuns had small, private kitchens attached to their cells, where their servants would cook for them, and they'd bake special pastries and cookies to share and to sell.

baking oven in small, personal kitchen

The nuns lived luxurious and very social lives at the monastery until 1871 when a strict Dominican nun was sent by the Pope to reform foreign monasteries.  She freed their slaves, released their servants, and sent the rich dowries and extravagances to Rome.  This was happening in Catholic monasteries and convents all over the world in response to awareness of the indulgences and the excesses.  Needless to say, the local response was mixed.

There are still some nuns at the monastery today, considerably fewer than in its heyday, and wealth and Spanish heritage are no longer prerequisites.  Their living area is separated from the reconstructed tourist area, and inaccessible to tourists.

In addition to the squares, cloisters, and cells shown above, there are a number of other rooms, areas, and buildings for maintenance, feeding, washing, etc.:

Chapel Dome on the Great Cloister.

water troughs for washing

Ingenious washing system.  A soaking pool
in the back.

Gardens

Nuns' Chapel, different ends shown here and to the right

volcanic stone used as water filter

Refectory, dining area.  The head abbess would read from the elevated pulpit, center left, while the nuns ate.

Here and to the right, rooms in the Great Kitchen

 

View into Santa Catalina from one of its rooftop vantages.

More rooftop views from inside Santa Catalina; mountains - Misti in the left-hand picture, Chinchani in the right-hand.

And finally, some of the religious iconography.
 

example of cloister walkway murals

Last Supper hall mural (inset of the sinister Judas to the right)