if i don't ride another plane, bus, or taxi for a while to come, i will be perfectly happy. i've finally made it back to my bed and it feels delicious. so delicious, in fact, that i refuse to leave it today, except maybe for a quick snack on whatever crumbs remain in my cupboards.

so much has happened since my last entry, it's difficult to think back to the early days of cusco. during the weeks since then, we witnessed some spectacular andean sunsets, got stranded in the rainforest, navigated lake titicaca, smuggled contraband through customs, were punished by the inca trail, admired machu picchu, braved blockades to cross the border on foot, drenched ourselves at iguazu falls, and feasted and shopped till dropping in buenos aires and montevideo. our entire trip seemed to be one adventurous disaster/miracle after another. in the midst of all the action, blogging was the last thing on my mind. but now that i'm home, i finally have time to reflect on our travels as i wade through my sea of photos. to keep things simple, i guess it's best to continue posting my pictures in chronological order.

so...i left off a month ago during the corpus christi festival. kristin, mimi, sam, and i waited all day at the plaza as a result of conflicting reports as to when the procession of the saints would start. throughout the morning, brass bands would trickle in from different corners of the plaza and disappear into the cathedral, which was seething with activity. sometime during mid-afternoon, masses of musicians, standard bearers, attendants in traditional dress, and the carriers of the saints began to exit the cathedral's main portal. some of the saints were so elaborately decorated with flowers, gold-trimmed platforms, and extravagant props, that they took more than twenty men to bear them on their shoulders. even then, the carriers were still straining and sweating the entire time. but enough talk...some images from the procession:


two marias from different churches begin their circuit around the plaza.


left: one of the heaviest saints, due to the fact that this martyr (who is pincushioned by arrows, if you can make them out) was strapped to an entire tree. right: a sculpture that's both comical and worrisome in its absurdity. it depicts santiago the matamoros (later known as the mataindios, i.e. killer of indans---that can't be good in a country with a majority indigenous population) trampling a moor. the image of the poor black guy who's writhing under the horse's hooves is definitly not the most pc of religious icons.


a close-up of a row of saint bearers straining under the weight.


two players in traditional masks and costumes performing a dance with whips. we saw some kids practicing the same dance earlier in a nearby plaza.


left: sometimes the angels holding the parasols above the virgen marias were even more elaborate than the marias themselves. i especially like the little baby angel that is bobbing behind the bigger one. right: the portal to the cathedral as one of the final groups exits.


these musicians, who cleared the way for the saint-bearers, blew into seashells to produce a clear hornlike sound.

after the procession, we headed to a street fair where everyone was feasting on a dish called chiriuchu---a cold platter piled high with roast guinea pig, tortilla, steak, chicken, cheese, seaweed, and fish eggs. of course we sampled a couple orders. not for the faint of heart, but still pretty tasty. afterwards, we finished off the meal with some anticuchos---kabobs of steak topped by a lovely golden potato. all in all, the most fun i've had at a religious festival...