Introduction
to Peru
Peru is drama. From the rugged terrain of the Andes
mountains, to the colorful festivals of the descendants
of the Inca, to the overwhelming variety of flora and
fauna, Peru demands a visitor's full attention. The
Spanish may have conquered Peru in the 1500's, but the
traditions and beliefs of its proud people, dating back
thousands of years, continue to
exist today.
Geography
'Extreme geography'
- this would be an appropriate term
for Peru's wildly varied and sometimes
very harsh terrain. From coastal desert
stretching north and south from Lima,
to ice covered, inhospitable peaks
in the Cordillera Blanca, to steamy
Amazonian jungles, Peru has it all!
Cusco and the surrounding sacred
valley, where CULTURE XPLORERS groups
will spend most of our time, has an
altitude of roughly 11,000 - 12,000
feet, making it moderate to warm during
the day, cold at night and changeable
at any time!
Traditions
The combination
of Catholic/European influences with
indigenous/Amerindian roots makes
Peru's colorful traditions marvels
of adaptation and blending. For instance,
in the earth offering ceremony Culture
Xplorers travelers will learn about
and participate in, the shaman (or
Paco as they are called in the Andes)
uses ingredients such as pig fetuses
with indigenous belief system of giving
strength, adding crosses and symbols
from the catholic church, finally
blessing the whole lot with the names
of mountains in the region.
We will learn about and see many
of these unique traditions during our
stay.
Festivals
and Events
Peru has a busy
calendar of festivals. We will focus
on two especially
significant ones in 2003.
El Senor de los Temblores
is solemn and powerful. Thousands
of faithful pay honor to the Statue
of Jesus Christ which they credit
for saving Cusco from a destructive
earthquake in 1650. Red rose petals,
symbolizing the blood of Christ, are strewn in the path of the statue carried
on an enormous silver litter, and
thousands of faithful follow the procession
around the main plaza.
We will have a bird's eye view of
the procession from our balcony at a restaurant overlooking the square.
La Virgen del Carmen
is playful, animated fun! Masked and
dancing revelers pay homage to the
Virgin of Carmen in Paucartambo. The
energy is contagious! Once again,
this is a blending of pre-Catholic
and Catholic beliefs. Some of the
masked dancers represent demons and
when the statue of the virgin passes
nearby, they gesticulate and shy away
from her - showing the force of good
overcoming the forces of evil.
Language
Almost everyone
knows that the language most commonly
spoken in Peru is Spanish. Fewer know
that there are other ancient languages
that thrive there even today, including
Quechua (the other official language
of the country) spoken as the first
and only language in many parts of
the Andes and Aymara, spoken by some
groups close to the border with Bolivia.
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