6-7 January 2012
When we heard the fireworks go off this morning at 8am, Chad and I both figured that they were just the same, daily ritual fireworks that we have heard every morning. It wasn´t until after breakfast when we walked into town that we started to notice small signs of today being special in Peru. Just as we approached the internet café, I started to see people carrying the small baby Jesus in baskets with lace draped over them just like on New Year´s day except that there was no small market up by the cathedral on this particular day.
Moments later, as we sat down in the internet café, I heard the familiar sound of a band playing with music growing louder and louder. I grabbed my camera and ran to the door of the café to find people walking down the street carrying large religious shrines, with four people carrying each shrine and then a band following after. Curious about the celebration, I asked the internet café owner who explained that today is the Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos (The day that the three kings visited baby Jesus) and that all over Cusco, there would be parades and mass held throughout the day.
Within the next hour, two more parades passed with people holding similar, yet larger each time, religious shrines. They cheered with confetti all through their hair while holding their baby Jesus´…such a celebration each and every day! I think Chad and I happened to pick the perfect week to be here in Cusco to catch a glimpse of the religious culture here.
The rest of our day was pretty low key. We walked around the markets and through the streets of Cusco, watching parades pass by and stopping in here and there. We also went on a search for Magos pan, abread that my mom had mentioned is sold especially for today but unfortunately, we couldn´t seem to find any! Maybe next Dia de los Tres Reyes!
Tomorrow will be our last day here in Cusco before we fly to Lima and then on to Quito, Ecuador! Our time here has been so much fun and as much as we are going to miss it (especially our little buddy Tobias), we are both excited for the tropical thunderstorms that await us in Tena, a town just off the Amazon River. Good night from Cusco!
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Waking up in the morning on our last day here in Cusco was surreal in a way. I feel like there´s some sort of time warp in Cusco that comes along with the change in altitude. Although we have only been here 12 days, sometimes it feels like months and others it feels like we arrived yesterday. I can say that although I will not miss the altitude, I will miss the people here and their never-ending ability to celebrate even the smallest moments of life.
As Chad and I walked down to the internet cafe this morning to send our last messages before we left, I decided that today we would have a celebration of our own involving me, Chad and a lot of baked goods…a Panaderia Feast! The day itself was very calm for both of us as we needed to rest for the slight level of chaos that we knew would come with international travel tomorrow. We spent a little bit of our time sitting on the steps of the cathedral watching life go by, a little of our time saying goodbye to friends that we had made at little places around town and most importantly, we spent a little of our time picking out an assortment of the most delicious looking cakes and pastries at the panaderia.
When we went back to our room to pack our things that evening, we layed out our mass assortment of deliciousness and throughout the night, we would pack a little and then try a little of each dessert. We finally decided that Chad´s favorite was a large roll with powdered sugar on top filled with lemon cream and mine was two very crumbly powdered cakes that were held together by a caramel you can find in many of the Latin influenced stores at home that I have eaten as a treat before…my favorite. As we fell asleep, with major sugar comas, we dreamed of what was to come tomorrow…away to Ecuador we would go!
Love the life of parades and celebration!!