By Jamie F., Guestblogger from Cusco, Peru SALUD program
The week is really coming to a close so we’ve been trying to take advantage of our last few moments in Cusco. Monday was our first free afternoon I met up with some friends to go do some souvenir shopping. We met at the main central artesian shop on the corner of Tullyamayo and Av. del Sol. From the outside you wouldn’t know that the place is big but inside it is absolutely huge! There is shop after shop, mostly with the same things but sometimes that have some pretty different types of things. Shop around at a few places and ask for prices before settling on one and then bargaining with them.
We met up with another friend who just finished classes and then went to the artsy area of San Blas. The area is made out of cobblestones and is one of the last traditional cities left around here. All the streets are extremely narrow and there aren’t many taxis up there. We just walked up constantly and got some good views of the city from here. After walking around and enjoying the views we tried some coca chocolate at a special coca shop. The chocolate was delicious and fairly cheap, plus we got to sample things first! We tried a new cafe restaurant right in the main plaza and I got the biggest cup of coca tea I had ever seen. The mug was entirely filled with coca. We loved just sitting there watching the artisans play music and entertain themselves. I ended up meeting everyone here later in the night for some drinks. I also was able to meet another friend who has been working in Urubamba there. From that shop we went to an absolutely delicious restaurant also in San Blas and 7 Agualitas called Juantas. They have delicious sandwiches and fries all for pretty cheap. Our next stop was another bar in San Blas that has live music every night so it’s always refreshing to go there and listen.
On Tuesday we were supposed to go to a Picanteria but we all decided we had too much to do so we didn’t go. The typical drink there is Chicha, which is made out of corn that is fermented. This is what the Incas used to drink as beer but now it’s not as pure but is still used for religious ceremonies. It’s a good thing we didn’t go though because supposedly it’s not so great for your stomach! We tried out some new discotechs later on that night and had fun getting into the music (it was almost all American music and pretty much all in English too so there were some oldies and goodies being played that we knew.)
Wednesday we went to the typical market in Cusco complete with fabrics, herbs, large chunks of meat, cheese, oats and other grains and pretty much anything else you can think of. There was a ton of meat just sitting out and it was still intact (aka you could tell which animal it was ughh). We tried some homemade juices. There are about 2 rows of women with fresh fruits who will make you whatever type of juice (jugo) you want. It was absolutely delicious!! I got aloe, pinapple (pina), mango, apple (manzana) and it was honestly one of the best juices I’d ever had. They refill your glass a couple times too. Later that night we ended up finding some salsa classes and it was so much fun because the teachers were so good and taught us by leading not just step by step. They just threw us into the music and twirled us all around.
Thursday is a huge international soccer (futbol) game. I am so excited for it. One of my friends dad’s got us cheaper tickets and we are all going to have a little fiesta before going to the game. The game is with Uruguay and Cusco and the game will most definitely be sold out and crazy. I even bought a jersey for the ocassion! I’ll let you all know how it turns out!
Click for information on AmeriSpan’s language programs in Cusco.
Click for information on AmeriSpan’s SALUD program in Cusco.
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