Cusco – the way you make me feel

Is there anything better than wandering aimlessly in an unknown city, discovering side streets, cobblestone stairs, gorgeous old doors and little cafes with views that take your breath away? For me, it is and will always be one of my favourite ways to spend a day. As I write this, I am looking down at Cusco, and all of the red roofs and church towers, and enjoying a cool breeze after many, many stairs. What is absolutely amazing is that I am so high up but I can look across and on the other side of the valley, there are hundreds of tiny houses, schools and markets stacked into the side of the hill like some kind of incredible puzzle, and they continue to climb even higher and higher.

Today is my fourth day in Cusco and each day has given me a moment of pure joy that are probably not the type of moments most would expect from a traveler. The second day my hosts took me to a local market to shop for our All Saints Day meal, and it was both interesting and educational. It was overwhelming with sounds and smells, and to be honest, this mostly vegetarian nomad really struggled with the tables upon tables of whole cooked pigs, but it was truly special to spend my first full day with the family and I did really love the T’anta Wawa bread. But the moment that brought me so much joy was on the walk home. I was following Edi and Margarita…they are in their 70s and have been married for 53 years!!! Edi is quick as a whip mentally, although he says that he moves slower now and he takes such good care of Margarita, who has the most beautiful smile and also dementia. At one point, while waiting to cross the street, with his right hand holding her elbow, she looked at him with so much love and he brushed her cheek with his hand. Well, I just about cried on the street with the deep and steady love that one gesture symbolized. It was both sweet and hopeful and filled me with joy. They live very simply and many would not consider them wealthy but they have a deep love for each other and their family and they are kind and generous to strangers. To me they are extraordinarily wealthy and that gesture will be imprinted on my heart forever.

On my third day in Cusco, after teaching all morning, I set off to explore my neighborhood and do some pesky and boring errands. One of the aspects of a nomad life that is not the most joyful is dealing with SIM cards, currency exchange, finding places to do laundry and navigating grocery stores. My least favorite is the SIM card and despite doing this 5 times already in the past year, I still get nervous about negotiating the process in another language, and then also installing that teeny tiny stupid thing. Anyways, this time was much easier because I was on a high from a joyful exchange with Eduardo, my new friend that works at La Concha Grill. I had just found a laundry service and even managed the entire exchange in Spanish – muchas gracias – and I was on my way to deal with the dreaded SIM card. But then I noticed a young man across the street; a young man in full Peruvian traditional costume with the biggest smile underneath a restaurant sign. He waved at me and so I wandered over, as I am always on the lookout for cheap and local places to eat and this looked promising. Eduardo and I started talking, first in my limited Spanish while I asked questions about the menu. And then in English, that was about the same level as my Spanish, he asked my name and where I was from. He was thrilled to learn I was from Canada and he had many questions for me. We continued talking for quite a while switching between Spanish and English and he told me about school, how much he worked and how he wished he could practice English more. So we made a plan that I would come back next week in the afternoon lull and have a late lunch and I will help him with his English and he will help me with my Spanish. This is one of the great things about travelling with curiosity and a willingness to be open and talk to random strangers – you meet people that you normally would never meet. I feel like I have a new friend in Eduardo and I fully plan at lunching at La Concha Grill several times over the next couple of months to continue getting to know this kind, young man and to help each other out. (I just hope the food is as good as Eduardo is friendly.)

My fourth day was a wonderful day of wandering the neighborhoods of San Cristobal and San Blas and really, the whole day was a delight. But honestly the most joyful moment may have been stepping off the bus in the exact spot that I had hoped for and after only taking the 1 (correct) bus. I am often wildly unsuccessful at navigating public transportation. There are many things that I am excellent at when I travel and then there are some travelling skills that I sorely lack and catching the right bus or train that (and this is KEY) is going in the RIGHT direction is not usually a skill I possess. But I keep trying and this day, I was so good at it…lol. It is something that always makes me feel like a local, being able to navigate public transportation wherever I am but truthfully it is hit and miss. And this is not only in different countries – I almost missed an award ceremony for one of my kids because I took a bus going the wrong way….in Toronto. But this beautiful Friday, I travelled like a local. Also I am determined to only take the bus here as it is 1 sol…that is about .37 cents CAD!!! And for fellow travelers I highly recommend the app Moovit which can be used all over Central and South America. (And my discovery of this app does not take away from my joyful success… a win is a win)

All of this is to say that my really deep joyful moments are not always the times when you see the ruins that you read about or did the hike that you had always dreamed of completing (although these can take your breath away, of course) but there can be deep joy in the small moments if you are curious and present. And full disclosure, the ‘being curious and in the moment” is another skill that I continue to work on daily but I am getting more consistent. Oh and I have fully unpacked my suitcase, put out a photo of my kids and arranged the ridiculous stack of books that I lug around – it was a total delight. I have found my mom-and-pop grocery store, a gym to join and a yoga class to try. There are some things that are different and a bit weird and a little hard but I am excited to work through the challenges and really, truly live in Cusco 🙂