Arequipa June 2-4

June 2, 3, & 4 2010 Arequipa
Greetings from Arequipa, a city where the garbage trucks play recordings of Bach’s flute concerto, white city (Cuidad Blanca), and city of churches and monasteries. All the churches may be necessary since you can easily be killed crossing the street by miniature taxis going way too fast and heeding neither man nor signals in their quest to arrive at their destination as rapidly as possible. Horns combine with church bells and disco music to provide a cacophony that recedes into silence as one enters our fascinating hotel or one of the many churches.
When we arrived by bus yesterday on the outskirts of the city it appeared to be just another dusty desert town, albeit with the volcanic cone, Misti (5822 meters), and Chachani Mountain (6075 meters) snow covered on the horizon. The bus depot was busy and noisy and confusing but the tourist police approached us, helped us get a taxi, told us how much we should pay and then wrote down the number of the taxi we chose along with our descriptions. Just in case we disappeared.
We were tired and felt grimy after our long bus ride from Puno in the first class section of a double decker bus. The seats were very comfortable and there was lots of leg room but the air was stale and way too warm. We did have a movie “White Fang” which was dubbed in Spanish but there was no sound for the first 30 minutes. We were quite glad, however, not to be riding up above in the second class section if only because whatever they had going up there sounded like someone screaming and shouting at them for the whole 6 hour ride. It was so loud we could hear it down below and it certainly could not have been pleasant up there. The shouting was likely one of two things – a preacher or two or the news. In Peru both seem to be characterized by shouting and gesticulation.
I really enjoyed the trip through the altiplano. We began with green hills that slowly turned to golden and then as we crested the pass between Puno and Arequipa to desert similar to that seen in AZ and the California deserts. As we climbed up higher and higher we saw huge herds of alpaca, guanaco, and vicuna grazing on the golden grass guarded by alert dogs and sometimes by a brightly clad shepherd or two. This region resembled the high plains of MT and WY. As we moved to the west side of the mountains, the brownish soil turned to sand and we began to see large mining camps with rows of dormitory like housing and columns of bright green outhouses. (I have noticed that many of the outhouses in Peru are painted green and I am not sure why). I am not sure what they were mining. However we saw many truck trailer combinations coming to and from the mining camps that had both a tanker for liquids marked “corrosives” and a dry open container. There was also a railroad that seemed to begin in the mountains near the mines and traveled west toward Arequipa. Near the top of the pass we came to the beautiful large sky blue lake Laguna Lagunillas. Vicuna, Alpaca, and sheep were grazing around the lake and along the river that flowed out of it.
The houses on the east side of the pass had been built mostly of brown clay adobe. Beginning in Puno the fences and corrals had been built of stones stacked somewhat willy nilly on one another but after the lake everything was built of stone, including the houses, until we reached the outskirts of Arequipa. Life high in the Andes is hard. The air is cold, the wind bites, puestas providing health care are few and far between and the only fuel for cooking is animal dung. There are no grocery or hardware stores just little bodegas in the mining towns. Trash accumulating along the roadside was always a signal that we were approaching a town.
Our taxi arrived at our hostal “Casa de Melgar” a rather unremarkable building in a city where most buildings are made of white Sillar, a light weight but strong volcanic rock that is quarried locally from Chichani mountain. Arequipa is in an earthquake zone and building made from this stone withstand the quakes and allow for the building of strong arches that do not collapse. Because of the quakes there are no buildings taller than 2 stories. The highest building in the city is the block long main Cathedral whose two towering spires reach perhaps 5 stories.
Casa Melgar is actually two very large private residences built in the 18th century that have been joined together by numerous courtyards. The courtyards contain flowers and trees and paths that seem to wander all over. Our room is huge with a high arched ceiling, double doors that are 12 ft high and made of wood that has weathered over the centuries. The front part of the hostal was the home of the Bishop of Arequipa in the 19th and 20th century Manuel Segundo Ballon who is remembered for scaling Mt. Misty to place a cross at the summit and for marking the beginning of the new century on January 1, 1900 by saying mass under this cross. It is also believed that the revolutionary poet, Mariano Melgar, who devoted his life to achieving Peruvian independence, was briefly a resident.
In the evening we wandered into town and visited the Church of San Francisco de Asis which is just down the street. San Francisco is perhaps my favorite church because it is the simplest with a beautiful delicately carved wood dome over the altar and the requisite gold altar piece but with less gold than either the Jesuit or the Santa Teresita church. The Spaniards truly knew how to do ostentatious.
This morning we spent exploring the huge Dominican Monastario Santa Catalina de Siena. This convent covers an entire city block and included as many as 84 apartments that were built for the nuns and their servants by their families prior to the late 1800’s when a papal decree required all women religious to live communally. The monastery is beautiful, quiet, and very peaceful. We paid for a guide who provided a wonderful introduction to the monastery and then we explored on our own. The monastery opened in 1579 and grew so large it has 8 streets or calles each named after a city in Spain. Traditionally the second daughter and son in noble Spanish families were given to the church. Many girls entered the convent of Santa Catalina when they were less than 13 years old. There is a story of one girl, aged 7, who walked from her family home to the convent arrayed in wedding attire on a sidewalk of silver that was laid down in front of her by servants as she walked. To assure that their daughters were comfortable families built entire “houses” complete with a sitting room, kitchen, sleeping room and sometimes servant’s quarters. These houses “belonged” to the families who built them and when the daughter died they were rented to the next nun and fees were collected from her family. Some “houses” were built to accommodate as many as three nuns, but only relatives were allowed to share dwellings. Each nun was allowed up to four servants, paid for by her family, who also provided furnishings, paintings, dishes, and other items necessary to keep the nun in the manner to which she was accustomed. Because Arequipa is prone to earthquakes all the nun’s beds were placed within arched alcoves to reduce the risk of the ceiling falling in on her. Servants were not so lucky; they slept on brick beds beneath the ceiling sometimes in the same room but often in another room off the kitchen. Despite these luxuries the nuns wore habits, prayed 5 times a day, and were subject to discipline from the Mother Superior. They also had limited contact with their families and the outside world. All communication took place in the Locutorio or speaking room in the presence of a “listener nun” who made sure communications were chaste and appropriate. The locutorio had a thick screen made of wide strips of metal about two inches apart. In the visitor’s room there was another similar screen and a space of a foot between the two screens assuring that the nuns and their visitors never touched. Gifts and goods were passed through a turntable where they were checked by the
“listener nun” for appropriateness. The only outsiders the nuns ever had direct contact with were the 12 or so young girls who were enrolled in the school and who boarded at the convent. However many of these children were destined to enter as nuns. (An odd and interesting fact is that today the establishments where one goes to place phone calls as well as phone booths in Peru are called locutarios)
Novices preparing to take vows as nuns led even more restricted lives. They entered the convent under a great arch that proclaimed “Silencio”. Silent they would be for the next one to four years unless given permission to speak by the mistress of novices. During the novitiate they learned how to behave, how to pray, and how to sing. They learned the scriptures by reading the paintings representing biblical stories and those who could read also read scriptures and the works of Santa Catherina. Seven novices were accepted at one time and a new class of novices could not enter until all of these 7 had taken vows and entered the convent as nuns. They did not have all the luxuries afforded fully professed nuns and lived much more simply until they passed as into the main convent as fully professed nuns. Although they theoretically had the right to decide not to enter the convent permanently choosing not to would have brought shame on their families and so was an option seldom exercised.
Beginning in the late 1800s the nuns were required to live, sleep and eat communally. The houses were abandoned and all the nuns moved into a remodeled section of the convent where they cooked in a large kitchen, ate in a large refectory, and slept in a dormitory. Only the mother superior and occasionally a “special nun”, usually one who had visions or visitations were allowed separate rooms. Servants were released and were given the option to stay or leave. Many stayed having known no other life. Dowries were outlawed and women from all stations in life were invited to join the order. With the loss of the dowries, the nuns had to make money to support the convent and did so through selling their baked goods and needlework.
In 1970, the nuns, in need of financing worked with the Peruvian Tourism Bureau and private organizations to renovate the unused parts of the convent, build a new convent on the grounds, and then open all but the new convent to the public. Thus we had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful buildings and grounds and to enjoy a fantastic lunch consisting of a beautiful salad and the best key lime pie I’ve ever had (made by the nuns) along with a well made cappuccino in one of the courtyards under an avocado tree.
After we left this monastery we went to the monastery of St. Theresa of Avila, a convent of the discalced (barefoot) Carmelites. This convent was quite different but it too contained some private houses. The art work, created by the Carmelites was outstanding including paintings with gold leaf, figures carved of cactus wood then painted and clothed, as well as needle work, and wood work. The Carmelites are a much stricter order than the Dominicans’ and are silent for all but 2 hours per day. This convent has housed 21 nuns since its founding and there are 21 living there today ranging in age from 24 to 84. These nuns never leave the convent except for emergencies, medical care, or to visit close relatives who are dying. Much of this convent is still being renovated so only a little of it was accessible. Both the church of St. Theresa and the church of Santa Catalina are only open to the public for a 7AM mass M-Sat and 8 AM mass on Sunday. I returned to the Carmelite church the next morning to hear the nuns sing and they were quite beautiful.
As if we had not had enough church we wandered down to the plaza de Armas only to find that there was a huge celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi beginning. Sand and flower paintings with religious themes created mostly by young people were emerging all around the square. A huge scaffolding had been built in front of the Cathedral and there were large numbers of very young clerics and some elderly nuns milling about hanging drapes and making an altar ready. Soon there was Christian music blasting over the loudspeakers interspersed with exhortations to take this feast seriously and not to see it as a social event. (Everywhere in Peru the music is so loud I am sure the whole country will be deaf in a few years.) After viewing the paintings and watching the various altars being set up around the square in addition to the main one we wandered over to the Jesuit church where a mass was nearly concluded. We had been in this church the day before but all the lights were out. Tonight the reredos wall was brightly lit and showed the carved wood covered with gold leaf filling the entire end of the church from floor to ceiling in all its brilliance. The intricacy of the carving of the wall along with the life like figures of Jesus, Mary, St. Ignatius and others was remarkable. Several side altars were also intricately carved and covered in gold leaf, most prominent among them those honoring the Virgin Mary under several guises including the Virgin of Guadalupe. Most remarkable to me were the long lines of people waiting to go to confession.
When we left the Jesuit church (Iglesia de la Compania) we walked back out in the square to find the Archbishop of Arequipa (Another man surnamed Ballon like at least 3 other Archbishops of Arequipa) saying mass and thousands of people standing in the square participating and watching the proceedings on giant TV screens. All around the square men were stationed in front of the sand/flower paintings protecting them from damage. We expected that we would see these paintings all weekend but by the next morning they were completely gone and one would never know they had been there at all. The altar in front of the Cathedral was dismantled and only the scaffolding the back drapes remained. By late the next day everything was gone and a loud political demonstration complete with riot police has taken its place.
We ate a dinner down the walking street behind the Cathedral having been lured into the establishment by a very young and very cute Irishman. He was traveling in South America and needed money so he took a job drawing people into the restaurant. He seems to be very good at getting Europeans and Americans to patronize the place. He works 11 hours a day and makes the princely sum of S15/day (equivalent of a little more than $3.00/day). His lodgings likely cost at least S5/day so he is not getting wealthy at all. I had the Arequipean speciality of rocoto relleno which consisted of a baked spicy pepper filled with meat and topped with local cheese. It was very tasty, just spicy enough and a great ending to a lovely day. PS. the weather all day was fabulous, warm about 70-75F sunny, with a nice breeze, as the sun set it became cooler perhaps in the 40’s but still with clear skies. All in all a perfect day.
June 4
This was a much more laid back day than we have had in some time. We left the casa at about 10 AM and walked to the Museo de la Univesidad Catlotica de Santa Maria museum where “Juanita” the girl sacrificed to the Ampato Mountain was found in 1995 is housed. We are assigned an English speaking guide and ushered with a small group into a movie theatre where we watch a movie about the discovery of this girl and several other boys and girls on the mountains of Peru and Chile. We also learn why and how they think the ceremony was conducted. They believe the children were born of noble parents and chosen from birth to be sacrificed to the mountain gods to appease their anger and prevent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The ceremony probably began in the capital Cusco with the sacrifice of up to 100 llamas and an audience with the Inca who transferred some of his divinity to the victim. From there a party of 30-50 people marched to the mountain which is near Arequipa. Then in sandals and warm alpaca wraps the party began the ascent of the 21,700 ft mountain. How they managed to reach the top dressed and shod as they were no one really knows. They did camp close to the top because remains of the camp were found at 21,500. Then it is believed the girl was given a sedative drink containing chicha (the corn alcohol) and a sedative drug and then when she was asleep she was killed with a blow to the head. There is evidence that she froze nearly immediately after death so when the priests tried to place her in the fetal position they could only get her bent halfway. She was found several hundred feet below the summit and the site of her grave artifacts. It is believed that the eruption of a nearby volcano caused the snow around her to melt causing her to roll down the mountain about 500 ft. She was found when the team rolled a rock off the summit and it landed right next to her body. She was found completely frozen except for her face which had lost it’s covering and was exposed to the sun. In the museum they treated her with respect but I left with very mixed feelings about whether she and the other sacrificed children should have been disturbed. They were given to the mountain and I am not sure we have the right to take them away even to save them for posterity. I did ask her forgiveness for disturbing her rest because it felt like the right thing to do.
After we left the museum we went to an American style coffee shop where I had a wonderful café mocha and one of the caramel filled cookies that are endemic in Arequipa. Brenda and I discussed my misgivings but I still felt perhaps we should have left the children to the mountain.
After coffee we visited a mansion that housed the Corregidor of Arequipa and his family. The house was large with multiple courtyards and a roof patio with a spectacular view. There was a display of truly lovely watercolors of the city that were the best art I have seen displayed in the city.
Following this we went to the large public market. This is an amazing place it covers a whole city block, is roofed over and has a second floor balcony where fabrics and food vendors have their shops. On the main floor there are aisles of beautiful vegetables, hats, woolen goods, household items, and unrefrigerated meat. Even though it was just after the siesta hour, the market was bustling with people and we enjoyed looking at the products of Peru. We purchased some toasted corn nuts and homemade potato chips after pondering the purchase of some truly beautiful pecans but the price was high so we passed on them. I wish I had room for another hat because they had lovely straw hats for low prices. We left the market and went back to the hotel to rest. We both agreed that we are getting weary of being tourists and are ready to go home. Tomorrow we pack and fly to Lima and then leave for the US at around midnight. It has been a lovely bittersweet goodbye trip for me and I know I will always hold the Peruvian people in my heart especially the people of Iquitos.