Tag Archives: Cusco

Visit to Accha, Peru

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Travel in Latin America

We visited Patricia’s grandmother “mama Vicky” in Accha this week. Accha is a very traditional Peruvian town about 4 hours outside of Cusco.

We see “mama Vicky” regularly here in Cusco, but this was the first time I was over at her house in Accha. She gets around great for her age, and is obviously way more in her element in Accha than at her other house here in the city.

The trip to Accha is a bit of an adventure in itself, with the Peruvian bus drivers apparently unfazed by the steep ravine along the side of most of the unpaved roads that lead to Accha. Once there, Patricia and I had a good time just relaxing in the sun, taking walks, and generally acting like city-slickers do out in the country.

Accha is a traditional Peruvian agricultural town, where the locals mostly raise sheep and grow corn and other typical Andean crops. Most of the work is still done by hand, I only noticed 2 or 3 farm tractors in town and we rarely saw more than 3 or 4 cars in one day. The tranquility was absolutely refreshing compared to life in the city.

All the locals were very friendly and greeted us everywhere. Since gringos don’t get out to Accha very often, the little kids in town tended to stare at me and tell their buddies “mira un gringo!”

I uploaded more pictures on our Flickr page.

Patricia and "mama Vicky" in Accha, Peru

Patricia and mama Vicky in Accha, Peru

In Accha, Peru

In Accha, Peru

Stories and traditions in Cusco – ICPNA AV2 writing exercise.

Posted on by under History and culture, Teaching ESL

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

Procession of Señor de los Milagros

Posted on by under History and culture, Life in Peru

The annual procession of Señor de los Milagros was held on Oct. 12 in our neighborhood. Here in Peru, much of the month of October is devoted to Señor de los Milagros. It is believed that Señor de los Milagros protects the Peruvian people from dangers and fears. I found some great info on the legend of Señor de los Milagros at kleph.com and also at americaninlima.com and Peru food.

Here’s a picture of Señor de los Milagros passing through our neighborhood in Wanchaq and also in front of the Policia Nacional (PNP) at the plaza Tupac Amaru in Cusco.

Señor de los Milagros

Señor de los Milagros

Señor de los Milagros

Procession of Señor de los Milagros

Separation of church and state is less stringent here in Peru than in the US. At the police station, there was a brief ceremony asking Señor de los Milagros to protect the police officers while on duty, as it is believed he accompanies the faithful and protects them from harm.

Ward

Patricia was in Choquequirao

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Travel in Latin America

Hello there,

My class of “Autores” decided to go to lovely Choquequirao, which is one of the last places where the Inkas lived. We left Cusco on Thursday night around 8pm and we arrived to Ramadal around 11pm. We had to get all our stuff and start walking down to Cachora for around 3 hours, then we camped there in the middle of the main square. Early in the morning we got ready to start our trekking of 32 km to Choquequirao. The whole trip was terrible because my friends and I were always the last group to arrive to the points where we were supposed to rest. Also, I got bunch of mosquitos bites everywhere, I spent more money just on water and I also started to drink water from the springs, which was the yummiest water I have ever drunk. I can’t tell everything that I went thru on this trip, but at the end it turned out to be cool. I even miss the place, but I doubt I will go back to Choquequirao again…

Patricia

Starting a business in Cusco, Peru (ICPNA I-12)

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Teaching ESL

Since I’m teaching about business in my current class at ICPNA, I decided to start a class project to open a coffee shop on the Plaza de Armas in Cusco. We already have a McDonalds in Cusco and will soon have a Starbucks, so let’s give them some competition.

Our fictional business will be a fancy coffee shop with yummie breakfast, snacks, etc. We will have wireless internet, friendly service and a hip atmosphere.

Here’s what I need from my team, that is, the class:

  • Ideas for names.
  • Ideas on how to set the place up (decorations, themes, uniforms, ….)
  • What kind of things we will sell.
  • Legal stuff: how to set up a legal entity (EIRL, SA).
  • Financial plan and accounting policies. Let’s not get in trouble with SUNAT or my uncle Alan Garcia.
  • Marketing plan.
  • A good location in anywhere in beautiful downtown Cusco Peru.
  • Employees, employee manuals, policies, procedures, …
  • Ideas on how to reward our employees.
  • Policies / ideas to prevent theft from customers and employees.
  • Suppliers: where to get good food, coffee, drinks, ice cream,…. Also furnishings and furniture to open our place.
  • Lobbyist to have lunch with the mayor and governor of Cusco once a month.
  • Business plan.
  • Exit strategy, meaning, what to do if our business doesn’t work out.
  • Any other advice or items I’ve overlooked.

Write at least 2 or 3 comments before the end of our class next Friday 9/26!!!! Any thoughts and ideas are welcome, explain/justify your ideas.

Ward

My I-12 class at ICPNA

My I-12 class at ICPNA

what’s new and exciting??

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Hello people:

Nothing is new and exciting here in Cusco. I am in my last semester if I can say that because next semester I’m just going to do my intership…I’m really ready to finish my studies and start working as soon as possible because my lovely husband doesn’t want to buy me nothing. He says if we can’t eat it we won’t buy it.

Two weeks ago Ward and I went to one of my friends wedding, we were late for the ceremony but we were on time for the reception party. Ward was trying to shake his booty but I think he needs to take some dance lessons even if he says he is good on the dance floor…hahahaha….

On the other hand we are planning to travel to Bolivia so Ward can get his peruvian visa, we don’t know exactly when are we going, but I think it will be a nice trip.

By the way I uploaded some pictures, one is when one of my fans decide to put a billboard up with my picture, another one is when Ward was dancing at the wedding.

This ain’t no Cumbia baby!

Posted on by under Life in Peru, Trabajo - Work - Werk

I have a “fun job” teaching English at the ICPNA here in Cusco. We had some workshops about using music in the classroom last week… The workshops were really good and the message was as long as there’s educational value the teacher (that’s me) gets to choose the music!!! So I went to the local mall known as “Molino” to buy some pirated CDs (you can’t buy the real thing here in Cusco) and now the ICPNA will never be the same again!!! I think it’s about time Peru got introduced to Lynnyrd Skynnyrd and Led Zeppelin.
Since I’m having a lot of fun teaching and we’re starting to do really good with my website business, I thought it would be fitting here to use this clip from my favorite movie of all time: I think we’re just around the corner from “the light of day”.

BTW, teacher Amparo (my lovely boss), if you’re reading this I was just kidding about that Led Zeppelin thing. We’re only using Neil Young and Paul Simon 😉

Ward Welvaert

10 Things I love about Peru.

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Reading my previous post could be misleading: I love Peru!!! So in the spirit of fairness, here is a list of 10 things to like about Peru (in no particular order):

10) Scenery. The landscape is breathtaking and the ancient Inca sites are stunning. When Matt Lauer, the NBC host who has traveled most of the world, says Machu Picchu is one of his favorite places, I can totally concur.
9) Food. I love the fresh foods we get at the market here. Peruvian food is a fusion of many influences. Seafood in Lima, spicier foods in the South and all sorts of unique dishes here in the Andes mountains and further East in the Jungle. My personal favorite right now is Chicharon from a little place in Saylla.
8) Stray dogs. I wish they weren’t stray here in the city, but they’re such good dogs. Ruff!
7) Friendly people. Peruvian people are fun, friendly and exceedingly open towards visitors and foreign residents.
6) Radio stations. Unlike in the US, playlists actually have more than 100 songs.
5) Bread. Come to Peru and you will never eat the industrial variety from a US grocery-store again.
4) Natural medicine. I’m really interested in opening a health spa in the Sacred Valley of the Inca, which is about 30 minutes away from Cusco. Just one of my many ideas I lack time, money and expertise for 😦
3) Pisco Sour, Anis & Cerveza Cusqueña. Just as good as real Dutch gin or Belgian beer!
2) Adventure. Make new friends, try new foods, visit great places. You can do it all here in Peru.
1) My sweet lovely wife Patricia!!!!!

Qoricancha, the ruins of the Inca Temple of the Sun, one of the holiest sites in Cusco, Peru

10 Things I don’t like about Peru.

Posted on by under Life in Peru

Since I’m going to ICPNA at 7:00 in the morning I typically see a few homeless people in the Plaza Tupac Amaru. Being that top 10 lists are all the rage, my daily walk to ICPNA inspired me to make my very own list of 10 things I don’t like about Peru (in no particular order):

10) Homeless people. Poverty in Cusco is not bad by Latin American standards, but we could still do better. I teach kids who have nicer cellphones, MP3 players and clothes than I have, so perhaps it’s a problem of priorities, not resources.
9) Papel hygenico. That is, toilet paper. Try finding it in Peruvian restrooms…
8) Stray dogs. I love dogs but hate to see so many of them run loose in the city.
7) Garbage. This is where the stray dogs and I disagree. The typical garbage pickup routine in Peru consists of throwing the garbage on the side of the street and then having a small army of city workers clean up 3 times per week. Please somebody start using garbage cans.
6) Bureacracy.

Update on Peruvian bureaucracy: it took nearly 6 months after moving to Peru to get legally married and over a year to get my Carne de extranjeria.

5) Old fashioned corporate culture. Big titles, dress codes and all sorts of junk even IBM and GE did away with in the 1980s are still all the rage here in Peru.
4) Education. People study all kinds of things, but are not always encouraged to apply their knowledge. My best friend used to say “It’s not how smart you are, it’s what you do with it.” It took me years to realize just how true this is.
3) Italian food, or lack thereof.
2) Pizza. Can someone from New York please move down to Cusco???
1) Public transportation. Try fitting in a “combi” with 21 other people when you’re 6’2″!

Typical Andean food.

Typical Andean food.

Feria de Huancaro

Posted on by under Life in Peru


The annual fair in Huancaro started Thursday so we went for a visit this weekend. The Huancaro fair is one of the biggest fairs in the Cusco area, something of the equivalent of a state fair in the US. Like any fair here in Peru there is a variety of things to do and see. We watched some of the Alpaca contests, toured the stands at the fair and ate some Chicharron de Soya, a kind of soy chip which is a popular snack at the fair in Cusco. Not quite as greasy as deep fried Snickers, but then again, this ain’t the deep South either…

I think fairs and markets still have more economic significance compared to in the US. Here in Peru the fair is still an important opportunity for producers to show and sell their products, as well as an event for families to enjoy. Anyway, here are some pictures of Patricia and I at the Huancaro fair.

Ward Welvaert