It is exhausting to try all day to speak in another language. For Vincent, his long-forgotten French keeps getting in the way, as also my German. Nevertheless, we soldier on. Adelante y arriba! We had a lot of sun today and got to go to the top of the ruins of the Inca city center, at whose base is the loveliest aviary I've ever seen. Only a few species, a few cages, but they are obviously happy there and the cages are so beautiful and natural with growing plants and running streams. Some of the macaws have learned to talk from the tourists. Hola is very popular.
Our teacher told us some sad news this morning, her older sister who was pregnant for the first time miscarried last night. It was hard for her to work today, but she couldn't see her sister until the class ended anyway because of visiting hours. We urged her not to feel obligated, but she loves to teach, so we had a good, strenuous day of walking, learning, talking, museum-visiting, reading and pronouncing Spanish. I hope SOME of this sinks in and becomes usable by the end of next week! Miss you all. The snow--not so much!
At the top of the ruins is a view of the city which is gorgeous. You cannot imagine how green it is, trees and grass all around on every hillside, red-roofed houses, modern buildings and ancient cathedrals. There is no earthquake threat here, nor any active volcano, so it is very tranquil. The city center is quite peaceful on the weekends, and even though everything was closed, we walked about reading the shop signs out loud for pronunciation. Flowers are everywhere, some familiar from California to me, some not. While we were looking out over the city, I read the sign which explained why this was an important place to the Incas. First of all, they could look out for miles in every direction. No warriors could sneak up on them. But most important, the site is in alignment with the constellations in just the right configuration for astronomy, at which they were very skilled. Each area of the city was laid out with three things in mind--water, agriculture and the local animals. Such a sense of sacredness overwhelmed me--all things in order, all things related, belonging in the picture, so to speak, and the awareness of that. You could see the ancient order underneath the modern buildings, feel the spirit of the place. Sweet harmony--recalling me to the first experience of the morning. A group of musicians from the Amazon region were playing next to the church of the Immaculate Conception, beautiful panflute, flute and drum making the most melodious, haunting sounds. They were wearing ceremonial costumes made of feathers of the condor and dancing, and it moved me to tears, the beauty, the freshness, the naturalness, the music growing out of birdsong and winds passing. Such a sacred day!
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