This really must rank as the ultimate insult. My worthy plan to study Spanish for 4 weeks then to bring a little joy to the poor orphans of Cusco whilst simultaneously gaining spiritual fulfilment myself has gone horribly awry. I have spared everyone the gory details prior to this as I did not want to turn this blog into a whinge-fest, but now it is official. Clearly news of my quasi-Herodian attitude to all children who are not my own reached Peru ahead of me, but I have to admit to a sneaking sense of relief... If the demon child I live with is anything to go by, the children here have no need of my pathetic attempts to keep them amused after school and as I don't bring any of the obviously "popular skills" to the table, like being able to teach them how to play the guitar or hack into the Peruvian Defence Ministry computer, I think they are better off in the hands of those bright-eyed 20-somethings from my school, while I just knuckle down to another couple of weeks of Spanish.
Of course this means that my trip to Peru is pure, unadulterated pleasure now, so it's just as well I went along to a church here in Cusco on 1 May to confess my sins to the Virgin of Chapi and to ask for her blessing on my totally selfish endeavours. The Virgin of Chapi is the patron saint of Arequipa, but there are a lot of people from Arequipa living in Cusco, including my teacher, so we joined the throngs for the mass and then the procession. I am not a frequenter of Catholic churches (or any churches come to that), but this one combined the Cusco particularity of being freezing cold with appalling acoustics and really choking clouds of incense hanging lethargically above the congregation. The inaudible murmuring and clearly earnest prayers of the majority were lent a slightly surreal air by the hordes of little children running up and down the aisles, the lights on the heels of their trainers flashing in the church's murky half-light.
At one stage in the service, when the priest announced the peace, one rather enthusiastic parishioner decided it was his duty to make sure all the foreign visitors felt the power of God's love, and that wasn't communion wine on his breath...
Having been molested in church, I decided it was time to go outside and wait for the procession to start. There was quite a crowd outside the church and they threw petals as about 12 besuited and rather sweaty men started manhandling the statue of the Virgin out of the church to parade it around the square. I hope I don't offend anyone, but this doll-like creature looming above the crowd with her totally blank porcelain face and immaculate ringlets really gave me the creeps. I felt as though her eyes were following me and I am sure she is going to figure in one of my nightmares very soon... Perhaps she was watching me because she saw into my heart and realized that I was pleased not to be helping the orphans... I definitely feel a good deed coming on. If I survive this weekend trip to the jungle, I promise I'll be a better person, truly I will, as long as the Virgin of Chapi doll doesn't come gliding after me.
