Peru journal--Day 3

Day 3: Monday, July 18th, 20ll
Arrival in Cabana, Peru
Finally, at about noon, we arrived in Cabana, after making two stops--one at a restaurant in the "foothills" of the massive Andes Mountains (where we saw adorable puppies, chickens, and guinea pigs! & a wild green parrot), and one stop at the home of Maria's aunt, who is really sweet and welcomed my mom and I as if we were part of her family.
A word about the Andes: however tall I thought they were prior to seeing them (and being driven up them!), I believe they are tall than I expected. As we ascended the mountains, going around windy (or, serpentine) roads, it steadily got cooler and scarier all the time! Unlink in state parks, there aren't tons of fences to keep you from crashing down into a a deep pit or chasm.
In Cabana, my mom and I are probably the only white people that have ever visited, or ever will visit. Consequently, people have been staring at us big time. But, when we walk around the town WITH one of the our friends we came with, they don't stare as much, and, as you might imagine, the staring thing is rather disturbing and makes one feel uncomfortable, as if you are under display.
Then, I met Cindy. She is the daughter of the family who lives at Maria's family's house in Cabana. They take care of it, and when Maria and her family come, they cook the meals. It feels rather strange to have servants. Anyway, Cindy is quince (fifteen). She is really nice and puts up with me even though I can't speak much Spanish (un poco!) Cindy knows some English, so we communicate as best as possible with what little we know of the other's language, and hand motions!

Tomorrow, we go to Huambo for the first time. Ciao for now!

A view of a section of the plaza in Cabana. It's such a small town that everybody knows everybody else. Notice how the houses are built on the slope: as they did in the days of the Incas, they still take advantage of the slopes and build houses behind and above the lower line of houses.

The blue building is the Catholic church in Cabana. The church and the large building next to it might remind you of Spanish architecture. See the mountains in the background? Makes a beautiful backdrop.

More buildings along the street of Cabana. The one with all the balconies is a hotel that belongs to some of Maria's relatives (although we didn't stay there, some of her relatives did, and we got to watch some of the St. James festivities from there!)

Peruvians make these cool animal pens out of bamboo. Inside you can see cuyes (guinea pigs!) and a hen. This is behind the restaurant in the Andes.

The only picture we got of me and my mom together. Here we are standing in front of the car that took us up the mountain (my mom didn't drive it though! We were traveling with Maria's brother, and one of her other relatives as we went up the mountain, and we had a driver who took us up).

A house on the way up into the Andes.

Some landscape as we're going out of Chimbote, and towards Cabana. Many of the trees you see way in the back are banana trees!
Photos: Jeanne Allie and Katy Allie