Madre something, that's for sure

Today is Saturday, and while all of you are probably at 4th of July shindigs, I am spending my first evening in Arequipa. Yesterday Mike and I left Cusco, he for Lima, and I for Arequipa. So, since I'll be here for a few weeks, I now have the time (and hopefully a strong enough Airport signal) to put up some pictures and tell a few stories...

The picture above is of the Plaza de San Blas in the artisanal neighborhood of the same name. It's also where our hostel, Madre Tierra was located.

This is our hostel. It was so cute, it was like a little garden inside, with plants everywhere, the breakfasts were simple but included different, delicious, fresh juice daily, and the neighborhood was quaint, yet lively...

I wanted to like it so much...but alas, the smell of burning pine and other lumber (not chopped firewood, but 2 x 4s and other cut wood) permeated the place and came into our room through its interior windows. Our room was on the second floor, directly above where the fireplace was, with no windows to the street, so the smelly air just stayed there and got stale.

The thin walls allowed us to hear every movement made by other guests, not to mention the shared bathroom wall which had a window(?) where the wall meets the ceiling, which let in light when our neighbors used their bathroom...even if, let's say, it were 4:30 in the morning. And this wouldn't be a problem, except that our bathroom door was just glass. So when someone needed to be up early (as people traveling and going on tours often do), we were privy to their morning routine. Ugh. And they didn't accept credit cards, to boot.


Andean woman dressed in typical clothes walking with an alpaca: Women and children wander around, asking you to take a photo and you have to pay for it. You want the photo. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because the colorful, detailed clothing is beautiful? Because their bodies and faces are shaped differently than your own? Because they're walking with an alpaca? And you wonder: who's exploiting whom? Through what lens am I looking at these people? And why are the children SO adorable?!