This footage was taken in Pisac, Peru on market day. Every Sunday local campasinos, Peruvians from the neighboring villages as well as tourists, students from all over the world pass the streets of Pisac to see items for sale. The paserbys were caught on tape during this impromptu filming while I was sitting in small cafe on one of the main streets leading to the market. A good study on a Sunday afternoon cross section on a street in Peru.
Archive for the ‘Traveling’ Category
A Study: Street Scene, a Peruvian Cafe, Take 1
09/11/2009Laugh Dancing in Peru
20/10/2009
Daniel & Maria Sanchez, Huaraz, Peru
Bridging Cultures with Laughter in Peru
By Randall Richards
“Laugh Dancing” – I’m not sure if that’s the name, or if there even is a name, but I first saw it at our wedding reception last spring, when someone pulled this out of their bag of tricks. Laugh Dancing is a misnomer. Maybe it should be called “StoneFace Dancing” because while you’re dancing, the object is actually to not laugh, to keep a straight face. He who laughs first, loses the round. The object is to get the other person to crack up before you do – Great fun.
Then, add the international element, in this case, my godchild’s family in Huaraz, Peru, and instantaneously, you’re breaking culture barriers with laughter.
For those too shy to dance, there’s also Laugh-Sitting, (or StoneFace sitting) where opponents face off, and stare each other down, till one starts smiling, after which it’s a slippery slope from there.
Below, the first clip is of Maria Sanchez Figeroa, my godchild’s grandmother, facing off with Amanda in the kitchen of Restaurant Salud y Vida. Instantly, this laughter, brought us one more step closer together in our 12-year friendship. The second clip is Amanda facing off with Elizabeth, a vegetarian cook in the restaurant. Next, she finally wins a round against our godchild, Joseph Sanchez. Try it on your next trip.
Spontaneous Musical Mentorship
07/10/2009Traditional Folklore Band Director from Cusco Inspires Local Young Musicians on Lake Titicaca Island
Guillermo Seminario while co-leading a Mountain Spirit Institute program on Lake Titicaca’s Amantani Island last July, spontaneously struck up a musical conversation with a few of the island’s budding local musicians. The children were playing along side a path in the small hamlet of Pueblo, when the MSI group passed by. When the kids started playing their instruments, Seminario, a professional musician, joined in. Seminario directs the Mountain Spirit Institute USA/Peruvian Music Exchange, performs, teaches and tours in the Northeastern U.S. with his band Chimu Inka and plays with his band in Cusco Peru. It was a magic moment, watching the kids play with Guillermo…….
Letting the Place Change You
30/09/2009Perceiving Without Naming – Why Traveling Can Quiet the Mind
MSI Dir., Richards with Children, Lake Titicaca
An excerpt from Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth aptly describes how some people can travel to a country without actually experiencing anything new. I’d not quite heard it put this way, and always felt I had observed two types of travelers, but couldn’t put my finger on it, that is, not until I heard the passage below by Tolle.
Our goal at Mountain Spirit Institute, and the reason we strive to take people to Peru and other such magical places, is to encourage radical growth of inner wisdom and help participants reconnect with one’s self, fellow world community members, and the mountains of a place.
Tolle writes, “Most people are only peripherally aware of the world that surrounds them. Especially if their surroundings are familiar. The voice in the head absorbs a greater part of their attention. Some people feel more alive when they travel and visit unfamiliar places or foreign countries because at those times sense perception, experiencing takes up more of their consciousness than thinking. They become more present.”
Learning about a Mud Oven, Lake Titicaca
He adds, “Others become completely possessed by the voice in the head even then, their perceptions and experiences are distorted by instant judgments. They really haven’t gone anywhere. Only their body is traveling, while they remain where they have always been, in their head.”
Tolle concludes, “This is most people’s reality. As soon as something is perceived, it is named, interpreted, compared with something else, liked, disliked, or called good or bad by the phantom self, the ego. They are inprisoned in thought forms, in object consciousness. [One does] not awaken spiritually until the compulsive and unconsciousness naming ceases, or at least until [one becomes] aware of it.”
This may be why a participant on our Peru program spontaneously had a wave of emotion come over him, at a historical site in Cusco. Maybe it had something to do with the tone setting I’d done a few minutes prior, at the start of the program, where I encouraged participants to step out of their comfort zone, open their minds and try new things.
Our job is to simply put the people, the setting, and situations in place so that the participant may have an insight. Of course, you don’t need the mountains or a foriegn country to do that, but it can’t hurt.
Peruvian Vegetarian Restaurant Grows Over Time
28/09/2009Restaurant Salud y Vida Continues to Grow After Over 13 Years in Business – The Owner’s Dream of Cultural Food Institute Becomes a Reality.
By Randall Richards
Hauraz, Peru
D. & G. Sanchez, Restaurant Salud Y Vida
David and Gracelia Sanchez started with a small vegetarian restaurant and a dream in Hauraz, Peru. Hauraz is the climbing capital of Peru, and basecamp for climbers headed to Mt. Huascaran (the highest peak in Peru) or the Cordillera Huaywash (Scene of Joe Simpon’s Touching the Void). Head cook Gracelia, learned about vegetarian cooking while attending an institute in Lima, Peru, and graduated with a diploma in whole cooking arts from the school. Since then, she and her husband have never looked back. Salud y Vida means “Health and Life”. T
Their small restaurant, originally located on a side street in Hauraz, has been through a number of transformations and four or five location changes, only to come full circle back to its original location on Avenue Leonisa Lescano 632. Their new/old location is bigger than it was 12 years ago. They’ve added a second floor, a full professional kitchen and more seating. The second floor also doubles as a meeting and lecture space for David and Gracelia to deliver programs.
Their Cultural Food Institute is a lifelong dream which continues to morph. They cover topics from healthy eating and digestion to larger issues such as factory farming and its byproducts. They teach to the locals as well as visitors from Lima and other countries. David’s other job is a school teacher, and he loves to teach. His warm subtle teaching style is laced with subtle humor and a quick wit. MSI’s blog will go into more details on Sanchez’s Institute in another entry. Stay tuned.
Joseph, Lisbeth, Kennedy, Kiara & David Sanchez
I first met the two with their *small family of six, (including my future God child, Joseph who’s now 11 years old), when they nursed me back to health after a serious bout of traveler’s bug. I ended up spending almost a month at their restaurant. We became good friends. I and a traveling buddy were asked to be Godparents of their son, Joseph, which we gladly accepted. *The family now proudly numbers eight wonderful children, who all blend well together, the older girls helping with cooking and chores and some basic childcare.
Back then we talked about their opening an Institute to educate the public about good eating habits. Now it’s a reality. Besides getting an education at Salud y Vida, Gracelia’s vegetarian fare can’t be beat. Don’t be fooled by the humble decor when you visit their restaurant – Gracelia is a master cook. Her vegetarian tortilla de vedura (vegetable pancake) has been my favorite for over twelve years. Also try her homemade granola with yoghurt and fruit. I’m admittedly a little biased – they’re great friends, but if you’re headed to Huaraz, make sure you stop in and have some great food…..and say hi to my God child for me.
For more information on Restaurant Salud y Vida, or the Cultural Food Institute contact the author and the contact link at the right of this column.
Their address is: Jiron leonisa y lescano #632 just SE of “Plaza PIP”
In the aerial image below, their location is indicated by the circle. Note Plaza de Armas on the lower right, and the main street indicated by the yellow line running N/S
MSI Director Writes Article for Travel Assoc.
18/09/2009Richards Writes Article for Sustainable Travel International Assoc.
MSI Founder R. Richards was invited to write an article for Sustainable Travel International, an association to which MSI belongs. Richards returned to Amantani Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru shortly after having led a program to the island in July of this year.
When Richards mentioned some troubling trends he’d observed on the island, to Sustainable Travel International’s Val Vanderpool, she asked him to write an article on what he’d seen during a second trip back to the island in August. Richards went back to not only observe trends and interview islands about the state of tourism in their villages and homes, but to find families willing to host MSI particpants for future programs. Read the article.
Tourism On Amantani, Peru
11/09/2009Small Island on Lake Titicaca Peru faces Tourism Issues.
Jose Mamani & Family circa 1997
Amantani is a small remote island on Lake Titicaca, Peru. It can be reached by a four-hour passenger boat ride from Puno. It’s an island facing growth and tourism issues.
During my first trip to Amantani in 1997, I fell in love with the place. There were no cars nor roads, virtually no electricity, and only a few dogs, cats, and few horses, and three thousand people which made for a serene place. What struck me then, was the way the islanders worked together to make the community function. Most of that is still true, but unplanned tourism is threatening how the islanders work and live together as a community.
Tourism has had an impact, both good and bad. My last visit to Amantani was two weeks ago, which was part, fact finding mission to discover what’s going on, and part reconnaissance for Mountain Spirit Institute’s intercultural experiential education semester programs. Although I had just been there three weeks prior, with a small group of Mountain Spirit students, I returned because I needed to update my perspective about the island. (more…)
Learning Zampoña at Altitude
04/09/2009Blowing into a Zampoña at 11,000 feet can have dizzying affects
By Randy Richards
Making Zampoñas - Cusco
On our recent Peru’09 Program participants had the opportunity to learn how to make Zampoñas and how to play them. Facilitator Guillermo Seminaro first helped participants adjust and shave down bamboo tubes, then put them together to make the Zampoña. That day, (and for the rest of the trip) he taught them some traditional Peruvian folklore songs.
Tuckered out!
All loved the experienced. S Smith really got into, not only the zampoña, but the charango as well. Here he is, at left, shown after the results of high altitude zampoña playing. Beginners have a hard enough time not getting dizzy at sea level. Here you can see the thin Cusco air, and the zampoña got the better of him. He recovered just fine, without incident. As you can see there’s a smile on his face.
Videos on the Road
04/09/2009More Than We Bargained For –
Cruz del Sur’s “In flight” Video Selection – Either Haphazard or Hypocritical:
By Randy Richards
Mt. Huascaran from Huaraz
You can’t make this stuff up. On a recent bus ride on first class Cruz del Sur, a South American bus line, from Lima to Huaraz ,Peru, we experienced quite good service until it got to the video selections. South American buses are known for their selection of violent action movies. Nobody seems to know why. Maybe they think we like them, or, there’s something embedded in the Latin American psyche that shies away from thoughtful movies on buses.
So when Denzel Washington starring in Man on Fire turned violent midway through the film, we weren’t surprised, and just covered up the speaker with Styrofoam and looked at the scenery. What was surprising was the the bus company’s next selection, Fire Proof, an evangelical Christian selection preaching salvation. While it had some good points on how to maintain a good marriage, the preaching to us, as a captive audience kind of sucked, especially being a Pacha Mama sort of guy.
It cracked me up: First came Man on Fire, then, Fire Proof. As I said, you can’t make this sort of thing up. If you’re considering Cruz del Sur, (which I have used for over 12 years), just remember to bring ear plugs and a bandana for covering your eyes, to control your own environment.
Cheers from Huaraz, Peru.
R. Richards
Simplicity
24/08/2009
Getting the lowdown from Anna Sequieros on washing
By Randall Richards
S. Smith was recently a participant on our Peru Cultural Immersion program. He did an excellent job of stretching his comfort zones, and on many occasions really sought out learnings. For someone who had never been to South America, he was a great traveler, and even got to work washing some of his clothes. T. Young also got in on the act, as did I, and we had an official clothes washing session. I’m fairly used to washing my own clothes in a basin, and hanging them to dry, but wasn’t sure about my compadres. Our host, Anna gave us some pointers regardless of our experience and comfort levels.
Abran with his kite
Abran, who was a bit shy at the time this photo was taken at right, also has a simple approach. He made a kite out of local reeds and some plastic. Granted, if he had the chance, he might prefer a store-bought kite that has Spiderman or some colors, but because of necessity, I think Abran is more ingenious than his counterparts in the USA.
(He later warmed up in front of the camera a few days later). See a previous (our first) video post, where Abran gave us wave.
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