Tuesday, November 10: Bound for Cusco and the Sacred Valley- Part 1- The Center for Traditional Textiles!

We said goodbye to Lima and headed out in the early morning to the airport to catch our flight to Cusco. With apprehension about the effects of the high altitude, some of us started altitude sickness medications. Our 1 hour flight took us over the Andes and landed us at one of the top 25 highest altitude airports in the world.

Flying over the Andes toward Cuzco

As we disembarked and walked to the baggage claim to retrieve our luggage, we began to experience that out of breath feeling from the 11,152 ft altitude, about 2 miles high! At the airport we met our local Cusco guide, Miguel, who joined us, along with our national guide, Juan Carlos, for our stay in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Miguel speaks Spanish, English, and Quechua, the indigenous language of the Andeans. Both Juan Carlos and Miguel are extraordinary guides, so proud and knowledgeable about the history and culture of Peru. We couldn't be more fortunate to have these two wonderful Peruvians guide us on our trip.

As we drove out of Cusco, we saw a lot of unfinished construction in the city (we saw this in Lima as well). We learned that when a couple builds a home, they don't finish the second or third floor until other family members move in (such as married children) as a finished house gets taxed at a much higher rate. So some people build their homes with an unfinished second or third floor knowing someday their children may move in to the upper floor, then they finish it. In the meantime, there are a lot of buildings with rebar sticking out!

As our bus descended toward the Sacred Valley so we could get acclimated before we go back up into the high altitudes, we caught glimpses of the Andean countryside. Lots of fertile farmland surrounded by mountains.

Views from the bus window as we descended down into the Sacred Valley.

One very interesting feature seen on the center of roof tops of homes and businesses in the Cusco area are little ceramic bulls, often accompanied by small water jugs and crosses.  These bulls, called Torito de Pucara, are not just roof decorations. They are significant to the homeowner as they are often placed on the roof of a new house when it is blessed and is believed to bring economic well being to the family by honoring Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). The bulls represent happiness, wealth, and fertility. The water jugs also represent fertility and the cross shows the mixture of Catholic and native religions.

Bulls on the roof

Nilda Canallaupa and the Center for Traditional Textiles 

Our first stop after leaving the city of Cusco was in Chinchero to visit  and have lunch with Nilda Canallaupe at the Center for Traditional Textiles, an NGO founded and directed by Nilda to preserve the textile heritage of the Andean people.  As a native of the village of Chinchero, Nilda shepherded her family's sheep and took a keen interest in weaving. By the age of 14, she was presenting her weaving at the Smithsonian Institute and the American Museum of Natural History. Nilda went on to the University of Cusco, the first in her family to attend college, and spent a semester at U Cal Berkeley studying the history of textile art. She has presented at Harvard, Cornell, Brown and many U.S. universities and museums and is considered an international expert on Incan textiles and culture.

Peru has a rich history of textile art.  Traditional Andean weaving is used for both ritual and utilitarian purposes. The intricate patterns of weaving  honor Pachamama (Mother Earth) and connect people to animals and the natural world.  In the Andes, weavers pass on their knowledge through person-to-person communication, watching and practicing as their elders weave. With today's modern society, there has been great concern that the more than 2,000 year old Peruvian textile traditions could be lost in a generation. Nilda reached out and garnered support to start the Center for Traditional Textiles, a weaving cooperative (fair trade) and school for young girls. Wearing traditional dress, the Quechua-speaking women  learn and pass on the Incan techniques and patterns of weaving and also learn to market their work. Several older women teach the younger girls. Nilda is a shining example of how indigenous people can fully engage with world markets as an entrepeneur and still remain true to their ancestral roots.

 We arrived at Nilda's center and were warmly greeted by her.  Her smile is as wide as a rainbow and she has such sparkle in her eyes! A truly remarkable woman!

David and Page with Nilda

 We walked around and observed the women in the courtyard weaving and spinning their own yarn with drop spindles. I noticed how they did not look at any patterns- the patterns were in their heads and called out to each other on the double looms. It was also a social activity- one could see that the women enjoyed each others' company as they wove and spun.

We also noticed how beautiful their hats and long braids were. Their hats could even be turned inside out and worn with a different color. We also noticed several women carrying their babies wrapped in colorful swaths.

Nilda then invited us into the Center's dining room where a traditional lunch was prepared for us. Nilda presented the "Andean Chicken"- roasted guinea pig, or cuy, as the Peruvians call it! I thought about my cute little "Powder Puff" I had as a child and how she used to oink at me when she was hungry. And now I'm eating what I once had as a pet! Most of us tried it and agreed it tasted a lot like turkey dark meat! We also had soup, potatoes, potato tortillas (the favorite at our table), fava beans and corn, a carrot medley,  and lupine stew. All the ingredients were locally grown and the table cloth was a fine example of their weaving.

Roasted cuy- guinea pig!

After lunch Nilda and her women gave several demonstrations of weaving, spinning, yarn dying, and different ways textiles are used. Joyce and Mary tried their hand at yarn dying using natural materials.

After the demos we walked through the Center's store and many fine products were purchased, made by the women and their families. The quality is much higher than one can find in the cheaper, mass produced items in the markets and each item came with a tag that had the picture of the weaver, her name, and background. This visit was one of the highlights of our trip.  Click here to learn more about the work Nilda has done to preserve Andean weaving. After taking a group picture, we said our goodbyes and our new Andean weaver friends tied friendship bracelets onto our wrists. Onward to our next experience as we moved from textiles to learning about traditional music.