Starbucks and Fiestas

The interior of the new Starbucks.  So plush

The statue of Saint Sebastian himself.  In real life, this statue is huge.

Hello rainy season!  When it rains, it pours in Cusco.  One night after French class, me and my two friends had to wait for an hour-and-a-half for a taxi because it was raining so hard and everyone was in a taxi.  When we finally did get a taxi, the trip back home was scary - sometimes the wheels of the car did not make contact with the road because there was so much water.  Where is the Stanford sun when I need it?

So, a new Starbucks has opened in Cusco.  After McDonalds and KFC, western businesses are slowly opening in the Plaza de Armas.  It is very interesting - when I went to Starbucks to try out their tea, I did not see one person from Cusco inside.  It was inhabited by the ¨upper class¨ of Cusco - the tourists and foreigners who live here.  While the prices are comparable to those in the United States, 7 soles for a tea is absolutely unheard of in Cusco.  Despite the cost, the tea was definitely worth it. 

Other than that, life here has settled down.  I went with a friend to the annual fiestas in San Sebastian (a district in Cusco), celebrating the saint´s day of St. Sebastian.  Everyone was there, and the main plaza of San Sebastian was packed!  We literally had to push and shove to even think about seeing some of the traditional dances that took place to honor the saint.  It was definitely well worth the effort.  There were dance groups that came from Puno (a town eight hours away from Cusco, close to Lake Titicaca) that performed at this festival.  In total, there were over 10 different types of dances!  Here are youtube links to the Diablada dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMUq9qYSwz8 and the Morenada dance:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZe0Mmf1NvM, two of the dances that were performed. 

One part of the Morenada dance.  The dance itself is around 15 minutes long with non-stop movement.  That does´t even include the procession to accompany Saint Sebastian around the town, which lasts around an hour.  These dancers must have been very tired by the end of the day.

Chiriuchu!  Yummm

We also ate a traditional plate called ¨chiriuchu.¨ It is composed of chicken, cuy al horno (baked cuy), pig, seaweed, squahs bread, and a bit of rocotto pepper.  It was delicious, but I am glad that I asked about the ingredients after I ate it.

Other than that, French exams next week and work to be done.  (We will be developing an exhibit at the Kusikancha - so exciting but still a lot of work to be done.)  Will blog more soon...