Friday:
After
work I go directly to the Healing Nectar Center to talk to a Jewish Canadian
transpersonal and re-organizational healer/ doctor who has been living in Cusco
for over 7 years and been studying medicine for 29. His specialities: network spinal analysis, ayahuasca,
breathwork, massage, munay ki initiations and chirpractic work.
We
speak and he gives me the price for 12 sessions: 600 soles. WHAT??! That’s like 200 dollars for 12 sessions, unheard of. Usually, each session is $125 in the
states! So, of course I bite and
after 2 hours of talking we make a date for Saturday at 6PM.
Next
I meet my American friend from Viriginia, John. John arrived in Cusco last November and has decided to take
up residency here. He originally
came here with a computer job and has since decided that he wants to be a tour
guide. A non-speaking
Spanish tour-guide. We went to
Claro together which is one of the only two phone companies here to see if they
had any special offers. I check
every few weeks since making phone calls is really expensive and my life has
become about texting. Also,
there is no such thing as monthly plans here so every time you run out of
minutes you have to purchase a new phone card. Good way to lose track of how much you are spending!
Then
we head over to the Molino. I have
no idea how to describe the Molino.
It is like an indoor outdoor mall with no walls and hundreds of kiosks
next to each other all selling the same thing. Little stores that if you step up on one of the stairs, your
arms can extend to all the walls (not mine, yours!). its madness and the likelihood that you will step over
wailing babies who appear to have no mother nearby, children eating off the
dirty, wet floor in dirtier and wetter clothing, grandma’s who haven’t moved a
muscle in 2 weeks but smile at you as you walk by with their toothless grins,
young women with their cleavage showing but have no time to help you with what
you need and young men with un-designer jeans trying to force you into buying
something you don’t want and of course, getting something stolen is what makes
it so much fun. We spent much time
there, having bought nothing once again and then headed for dinner at:
“The
highest Irish bar on earth”: Paddy’s.
I only went their once since I have no desire to be around
beer-drinking, cigarette smoking, football watching gringo’s. One extreme to the other, kind of like
India, but not nearly as polar. We
had amazing fried food and then I headed home around 7:30 PM to take my 2 hour
nap before the night began.
9:00PM
my alarm goes off and I stay in bed until 9:30 at which point I pop out of bed,
brush my teeth, change my clothes, throw in my contact lenses and head off to
the only 2 dance clubs that I have salsa at this time. Inka and Myth. I call my friends Rhiana and Natalia
and we start our night at Myth (they are next door to each other with 4 bouncers at each door) and wander back
and forth endlessly throughout the night trying to catch the good song and the
few good dancers who may not have a partner at that moment. Is it getting old? Of course, that’s
why we have to make it interesting.
Usually the same music, same 7 men who dance but we are learning more
and more every day and really laughing at what little bubble we call Salsero
Land. By 11:30 the music is
finished. After having fought with
Hector (the usual) I decide to leave and meet my Limenian friends (from Lima)
out at Bull Frogs which is like a replica of an American bar but smaller and cuter
with live music and free. There
was me, Cristina her visitng friend and 5 other guys from Lima. We danced our asses off to Nikki (the
singer) until I couldn’t handle the guy’s advances. By 2PM Hector was calling me to make “amends” without saying
anything and I met him and 2 of the salsa guys in the plaza where we joked and
talked and danced outside until 3.
By 3 they walked me home then headed home themselves and I slept until 8:00.
Saturday:
Was
woken up at 8AM by Suzanne, British girl I work with, who needed to buy
furniture, etc. for her new apartment.
I had no money left on my cell phone so I had to run out in the morning
to look for a place that was open and selling. But, this Saturday was Labor Day so NOTHING was open near
the main square. I also came to
this realization after I grabbed my laundry bag, which had more than 2 weeks of
clothes in it, and was walking up and down my street for 20 minutes with no
success. So I end up bringing my
laundry back to my apartment and going to Suzanne’s first home (the hostel for
2 months.. CRAZY expensive) to find out she had already left. Now I was pissed because I woke up
after 4 hours of sleep and for no reason.
But, she called me shortly after to let me know where to meet her and
then we spent the next 6 hours going back and forth from the Molino to San
Pedro to the Molino to Mega to another Mega to Wanchaq and to her apartment
which the landlord seemed to not be there and she was not smart enough to get a
key. I wont even go
there.
By
the way, she bought a great bed for 150 soles and a mattress for 250
soles. Cheap!
So
when we left her new apartment to walk to her old apartment I decided to stop
by my Friend Rhiana’s apartment (the old apartment that I used to live in and
get nauseaus every time I think about it)
She had been sick for a few days.
So I dropped by and her and her Peruvian boyfriend (lets not go there)
were making lunch. So, I stayed
for lunch and by 4PM I headed out to do some work for Mary.
4-6
I worked on some races and then by 6PM I went to my first session with Dr.
Howard. I have no idea what he was
doing and I felt nothing but I figured I have spent $200 in so many other ways
that were bad that if this has even the slightest possibility of helping me, it
is worth it.
7:30
PM I came back to my apartment and slept until 9:30PM. Was out dancing by 10PM and stayed out
until 4AM dancing in 3 different discotechs and 2 bars. And by the end of the night, 5 guys and
3 girls walked home together.
Sunday:
8AM
I get a wake up call from Hector.
He sounded hung over (since him and his friends were drinking) and asked
me to come over as soon as possible.
Yes, we have a weird relationship but I was supposed to go over there by
9AM anyway. So I get there and he
is sleeping and doesn’t even remember calling me. By 9:30AM he came with me to Terrence Michael’s house, the
sculptor. We sat for 2 hours and
he showed us his work and we spoke about his teaching style and by the time I
left I had bargained for 4 hours of wood sculpting classes a week at 15 soles
an hour! WHAT?!?!
From
there Hector took me to make keys for the other new roommate that was moving
in. Both new roomies are
Australian, should be interesting.
Cheers. Then I left Hector
and met my first new roommate, Macarla and 2 Peruvians for Ceviche which was amazing
and lasted 3 hours. We then went
home before heading to the sauna for another 2 hours, 15 soles. Came out of the exhausted and depleted
but cleaner then we have been for a month. We immediately went to meet Rhiana at Obispo’s where we get
(at least 4 times a week) the “Menu” for 7 soles which includes this massive
soup, entrée and tea all vegetarian.
By 6:30 Macarla and I went back home to welcome Matt to the apartment
with all his many crazy and funky clothes. By 9PM I was dead for the night from the weekend.
That
is just an example of why I can never relax in Cusco.
