This is the writing exercise for AV2 9:05 at Icpna Cusco.
The Cusco area has a rich history with many great traditions, myths and legends. In the comments to this post, write a story about any of the legends or traditions in our area or Peru in general. This can be a well known story (e.g. origin of Cusco, Señor de Huanca, etc) or a story only you know (e.g. someone in your family who believes they saw a ghost). I especially like the less well known stories, the kind that a typical tourist would not hear about.
Make it interesting and entertaining. Above all, use your own words!!! Everyone in the class writes one story, but you get extra points for commenting on your classmates entries (or any other entries on this blog).
Ward
Life in Peru 
My favorite cusquenian myth is “The Amaru”.
Long time ago, in the world there was a terrible graught. All animals and plants died because the sun was very strong, the land was dry and the lakes didn’t have any water.
Although the Qantu flower could grew up in the dryness, it started to wither;pnly survived a cocoon. Some time later the cocoon become in a flower and it looked to the sacred mountain and its become in petals in wings, ots thorn in feathers and from the middle of the flower bud a head of picaflor.
The picaflor flew some minutes and it went to the mountain rage. It arrived to the Wacracocha lake and didn’t drink any water. After, the picaflor looked the water to the lake, the picaflor flew to the highest point of the Waitapallana; which is the highest mountain. Almost tires the picaflor was on the top of the mountain and bed it.
Waitapallana God, we believe in you, please we suply yuo, have consideration about us of the draught.
The mountain felt sad and cried and two rock tears fell down to the Wacracocha lake.
The Amaru power , which slept in the lake, woke up because the crash was very noisy. The Amaru is a snake that has head likes the llama, a red mouth and two big wings.
Native people think that all things were written in the Amaru’s scales, for example: the life, the stories, and the dreams.
Well, I like this wedsite and all entries. I think the most I like was the “Procession of Señor de los Milagros” because it is a tradition in Peru and is very interesting. In this a big procession where you van find many tourists. I think is a good idea to create a wedside because as this, you could publish all things you want…
one of the best known stories in peru is: SARA HELLEN this story emerged in the city of Pisco the woman called the vampire after more than a century cause fear among the inhabitants. Born in England, raised in a family wealthy. Known for his obsession with the practices of witchcraft and black magic and even related to Satan worship and the Count Dracula himself.
He was killed in a violent manner towards its neighbors in the year 1893, in terrible agony vowed to return from beyond the centenary of his death to punish the crime against her perpetraron.Tanto the English people, including his own family did not want to keep near the remains of the body of Sarah, for fear of the threats she made before exhaling the last thread of life.
They sent her inert body by boat to the coasts of Peru, and placed his coffin in the cemetery of the town of Pisco, where it remains at present.
Spread to an exceptional speed the rumor about his resurrection, and everyone thought for sure that the centenary of her death, Sarah would come from the dead to avenge his murder.
In 1993, the majority of the citizens of Pisco watched his grave and even put checkpoints inside the necropolis.
Absolutely all the people focused on the square, armed with crucifixes and holy water to fight the “Vampira” if this came out of his grave and be able to defend themselves from their anger.
Apart from citizens, came from other provinces a large agglomeration of witches and shamans who performed rituals to prevent the vampire woman could leave his grave, and in the case and that this came out, did not have enough power to curse his wrong. Then when the tomb was discussed and noted that it was intact, and that this resurrection did not take place, it is attributed to the shamanistic rites had taken effect and that really served as a shield protector. Even if not recognized by the church, is recognized for among its devotees endless healings and miracles, faith did this “Santa” is growing every day …
¿Vampira, witch or Santa? Anybody knows, but what is clear is that if she never imagined that today, more than a century of his death, could be as famous far from his hometown. This story is very interesnate in truth no one knows the truth will remain a mystery ….
bye bye ,,,,,,,
katyloconal@hotmail.com
CATEQUILE, GOD OF LIGHTNING
Catequile was a son of Guamansuri and Cautaguan. The youn and beautiful Cautaguan had fierce brothers, guachemines, who captured and burned Guamansuri knew that she was pregnant and had seduced the goddess.
The guachemines made Cautaguan under stict surveillance until shortly after she gave birth two eggs. The goddess died in childbirth and his brothers threw eggs away where two children were born divine: Catequile and Piquerao.
Catequile became stronger, admired and adored from Quito to Cusco. He destroyed the fearsome guachemines and resurrected his mother. He went to heaven and asked his grandfather the god who created Atagujo many people to lived and work the land.
Catequile was worshipped in the mountains as the god of thunder and lightning, and had a beautiful temple in Huamachuco. The place was very popular until one day the Inca Atahuallpa killed their priests and destroyed the temple, because a fortune-teller announcing his next and terrible end.
The next coment is about the teacher in Mama Africa!. A lot of fun!!
Thank you Mariluz, Kathy and Miguel. Those are very good stories, very interesting and entertaining.
Remember to use only your own words. There is always a way to explain what you’re thinking using words you know, not by looking up words in a dictionary.
excuse me teacher i couldn´t write my article before i´m gonig to tell you a story that happenned many years ago here in Cusco my grand father used to tell me it when i was a child.
THE GOLDEN FINGER
this story take place on the oldest neiborhood of Saphy during the 20st century a young man who came fron the surroundings of the city arrived here to study on the university “san atonio abad” and he took a room in one of these oldest houses in Saphy afther some time during a nigth he started to listened a crying of a little baby on the next door and he couldn´t study because of that noisy, every day at nigths always reapeated the same. he was upset and he started to asked all the people who leaved there if they had a bayby but all people were students nobody had a bayby, the owner of the house was a bad person. He though that the bayby was of the young man because the crying came from his room. and he asked him to abandon the room.
One nigth when he was slepping, he saw fire on the corner of the wall of room and he was scare because when he was trying to put out the fire he seems like there is no fire on the room, it was a powerful ligth behind the wall and started to took out the plaster fron the wall .
ohhh he found a frame of a painting did it of gold and whe he finished he could saw a beatiful painting of The Virgin Maria with Jesus his son in her arms afther that he hang out the painting of the wall he discovered a door then he opened the door and found another room that had been closing for years he enter inthe room and he saw many things all did it in gold and a Bayby in natural size without his finger that was the reason why the bayby crying every nigth and teh baybby wasthe same as the painting.
well at the end he wrote a letter to his father and he arrived to cusco they were a poor family they took out all the things that were on the room like they were taking sacks of potatoes.
Cool stories!
I am from Lima, so I didn’t know about these stories or legends 🙂
These exercises remind me of when I was studying English at ICPNA in Lima =]
These stories are fascinating. Yikes! Vampires buried in Pisco!
Ward, can you get your students to post more? Maybe they can edit them and work on publishing a small book. It doesn’t cost much to print books in Peru, and everyone loves ghost stories.
When I was trekking around Ausangate in September, I heard a couple of spooky stories about Apu Ausangate from local inhabitants. This 87-year-old woman told me that I must never try to kill a wild rabbit near Ausangate, because all the wild bunnies belong to the Apu (as do the vicunas) and if I shot a rabbit and ate it, Apu Ausangate would take revenge on me (or anyone else). The revenge was quite awful, she said: the mountain spirit would reach into my body and take my heart!
The only way to prevent this from happening, she said, was to smoke a cigarette immediately after hunting the rabbit. That would keep the apu from plucking my heart out.
This lady smoked a lot, BTW.
Thanks Barb. That’s a fascinating idea. I do have perhaps 20 more stories on paper (I only recently started using the blog for writing exercises) and I am getting more new stories every month.
Let me know what you think, this could be a fun project to cooperate on!